The state of the consumer may be strong in 2025, according to Goldman Sachs, and there are several stocks that could be primed for upside as a result. “We forecast a still robust consumer as [ disposable personal income ] continues to grow, albeit at a slower rate and as elevated interest rates ease,” the firm’s analysts wrote in a note to clients this week. Goldman expects essential expenditure growth to lessen to 2.3% this year, down from 3.6% in 2024, saying that it should benefit from dwindling energy costs, a deceleration in health-care spending growth and food inflation in…
Author: usaeverydaylife
The corporate earnings season kicks off in earnest this week, led by the six major U.S. banks. Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America are all scheduled to post fourth-quarter results. UnitedHealth is also among the roughly 20 S & P 500 names on deck to report. Expectations for the reporting period are high, with analysts estimating nearly 12% year-on-year earnings growth for the fourth quarter, according to FactSet data. If that’s the case, it would be the strongest yearly profit expansion since the fourth quarter of 2021. Take a look at CNBC Pro’s…
An Uber rideshare sign is posted nearby as taxis wait to pick up passengers at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on February 8, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.Mario Tama | Getty ImagesThe new year has only just started, but macro uncertainty is already hanging over investors, with Federal Reserve officials raising concerns over inflation and its impact on the rate-cutting path.In these shaky times, investors can enhance their portfolio returns by adding stocks backed by solid financials and long-term growth opportunities. The investment thesis of top Wall Street analysts can inform investors as they pick the right stocks, as pros…
China economic policy kicked off 2025 with an expanded consumer stimulus program that analysts expect will benefit a handful of specific stocks. While the country has rejected handing out cash directly to consumers, since late summer it has subsidized some home appliance purchases through a trade-in program. Officials on Wednesday added microwaves, water purifiers, dishwashers and rice cookers to an existing list of eight product categories eligible for subsidies of up to 20% the retail price. “The new measures should mostly benefit leading home appliance manufacturers like Midea , Gree and Haier ,” Morningstar equity analyst Jeff Zhang said in…
Taiza Carine da Costa got her first taste of gambling when she was just 9.Growing up in the rundown fringes of Rio de Janeiro, Ms. Costa’s godparents would send her down the block, a few coins in hand, to bet on a popular lottery that, though illegal, has been a staple of life in Brazil for over a century.The habit stuck and, as an adult, she would bet daily on the game, in which players place wagers on animals represented by sets of numbers. Like many Brazilians, whenever she dreamed of a creature, she saw it as a sign to…
U.S. President Joe Biden attends a briefing on the federal response to the wildfires across Los Angeles, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., Jan. 10, 2025. Elizabeth Frantz | ReutersThe Biden administration delayed until June an order for Nippon Steel to abandon its $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel, the companies said on Saturday, giving them some time to revive the politically contentious deal.President Joe Biden blocked the acquisition on national security grounds on Jan. 3, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said this week the proposed deal had received a “thorough analysis” by the interagency review…
There seem to be no limits to the dark revelations laid bare by the downfall of Syria’s 54-year Assad regime.Prisons have emptied, exposing the instruments of torture used on peaceful protesters and others considered opponents of the government. Stacks of official documents record thousands of detainees. Morgues and mass graves hold the gaunt, broken-bodied victims, or at least some of them.Many others have yet to be found.For these and many other atrocities, Syrians want justice. The rebel alliance that overthrew President Bashar al-Assad last month has vowed to hunt down and prosecute senior regime figures for crimes that include murdering,…
British special forces soldiers used extreme methods against militants in Afghanistan, including covering a man with a pillow before shooting him with a pistol, as well as killing unarmed people, according to testimony released Wednesday by an inquiry into the actions of British troops during the war there.“During these operations it was said that ‘all fighting-age males are killed’ on target regardless of the threat they posed, this included those not holding weapons,” one officer said in a conversation with a fellow soldier in March 2011 that he confirmed in testimony given during a closed-door hearing.Britain’s Ministry of Defense announced…
President-elect Donald J. Trump said Tuesday that he planned to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” one of several foreign policy proposals that left world leaders reeling.“It has a beautiful ring,” he said of the proposed name change for the body of water that borders several U.S. and Mexican states. Mr. Trump’s proposal was met with derision in Mexico and glee by late-night comedians, although supporters such as Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, vowed to make it a reality.Who named the Gulf of Mexico?The gulf’s name first appeared on maps used…
Firefighters work to put out flames in the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on January 11, 2025, as the Palisades Fire continues to burn.Agustin Paullier | Afp | Getty ImagesLOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office confirmed the death toll from the wildfires ravaging the area has risen to 16.The total of confirmed fatalities stands at 16 victims, and the cases remain under investigation. Five of the deaths were attributed to the Palisades Fire, and 11 resulted from the Eaton Fire, the coroner’s office said in a statement Saturday evening.The previous number of confirmed…
