The major stock market indexes were getting pulled in different directions by a deluge of earnings reports. The Dow was flat, but it would actually be rising solidly if not for International Business Machines, which shaved roughly 135 points from the index. The Nasdaq was down 0.3%.
The major stock market indexes were getting pulled in different directions by a deluge of earnings reports. The Dow was flat, but it would actually be rising solidly if not for International Business Machines, which shaved roughly 135 points from the index. The Nasdaq was down 0.3%.
hapabapa/iStock Editorial via Getty Images When the stock markets fell this year, I saw an abundant opportunity to buy shares of the "Mag 7" stocks at fire-sale levels. The stock market had turned heavily against the likes of Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Nvidia ( NVDA ), and even Amazon.com, Inc. ( AMZN ) wasn't spared, despite building enthusiasm for AWS' marquee deals with Anthropic. Recently, Amazon ...
hapabapa/iStock Editorial via Getty Images When the stock markets fell this year, I saw an abundant opportunity to buy shares of the "Mag 7" stocks at fire-sale levels. The stock market had turned heavily against the likes of Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Nvidia ( NVDA ), and even Amazon.com, Inc. ( AMZN ) wasn't spared, despite building enthusiasm for AWS' marquee deals with Anthropic. Recently, Amazon agreed to invest $25 billion in Anthropic in exchange for Anthropic pledging to spend $100 billion on infrastructure spending on AWS over a 10-year timeframe. Data by YCharts Unsurprisingly, the Anthropic news has provided a huge boon to Amazon stock, reversing the year's downside and shooting Amazon up ~20% from March lows around $200. Now that I'm sitting on healthy gains on my position, however, I've decided to take a deeper look at my Amazon stock. Even using the most aggressive sum-of-the-parts analysis that assigns heavy value to AWS, I'm struggling to justify Amazon's current ~$2.7 trillion market cap. I'm locking in gains on my position and rating Amazon at a "Sell." As a reminder for investors who are newer to Amazon, the company is comprised of three business segments: its U.S. retail operations, international retail, and AWS. Segment results for these three divisions are shown below: Amazon segment results (Amazon Q4 earnings release) We'll now dive into a sum-of-the-parts analysis, leaning on peer multiples, digging into these three businesses in turn. North America Segment Amid a tough macroeconomy, Amazon's core North America retail segment, which is the heart of the Amazon business, has been doing quite well. In the most recent quarter, Amazon posted 10% y/y sales growth, which largely held pace against 11% y/y growth in each of the previous two quarters. North America segment (Amazon Q4 earnings deck) Amazon's sales trends have held up well even in the wake of a tougher macroeconomy. Largely, we don't think the weak macro/consumer spending picture will be a ...
Removal site in Dunkirk will hold people of 10 nationalities trying to reach UK in small boats under new deal with French UK politics live – latest updates The UK will pay for 200 French officers to detain and deport people seeking asylum from some of the world’s most oppressive and war-ravaged regimes under a new UK-France deal to try to reduce Channel crossings. In what is being billed as the fi...
Removal site in Dunkirk will hold people of 10 nationalities trying to reach UK in small boats under new deal with French UK politics live – latest updates The UK will pay for 200 French officers to detain and deport people seeking asylum from some of the world’s most oppressive and war-ravaged regimes under a new UK-France deal to try to reduce Channel crossings. In what is being billed as the first time the French government has agreed to target those heading to the UK in small boats, a removal site in Dunkirk will be used to hold people from 10 countries: Eritrea, Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Syria, Vietnam and Yemen. The Home Office said they were the top 10 nationalities who crossed the Channel by small boat last year. Continue reading...
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images News Market expectations for Federal Reserve rate decisions are unlikely to change dramatically even if Kevin Warsh is confirmed as the central bank’s next chair, according to a new analysis from SoFi released Thursday. “In reality, the FOMC won’t make rate decisions without substantial amounts of data support, and members will debate the decision based on the facts at h...
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images News Market expectations for Federal Reserve rate decisions are unlikely to change dramatically even if Kevin Warsh is confirmed as the central bank’s next chair, according to a new analysis from SoFi released Thursday. “In reality, the FOMC won’t make rate decisions without substantial amounts of data support, and members will debate the decision based on the facts at hand and the models they rely on,” wrote Liz Thomas, head of Investment Strategy at SoFi. The assessment comes as the Senate held its confirmation hearing for Warsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to succeed Jerome Powell, whose term ends May 16. While some observers have questioned whether Warsh would be influenced by political pressure to lower borrowing costs, Thomas noted that the Fed chair is only one of 12 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) votes that determine rate changes. “Although they’re tasked with helping build consensus around that decision, they don’t ultimately make the call alone,” Thomas wrote. Market expectations volatile amid Iran war Rate expectations have swung wildly in recent months, driven largely by inflation data and uncertainty surrounding the ongoing conflict with Iran. Before the war, markets had anticipated two or three rate cuts in 2026. At one point, expectations swung to the opposite extreme, with markets pricing in the possibility of rate hikes. Now, markets are pricing in less than a 50% chance of a single cut this year, Thomas noted. “I don’t expect that to materially change simply because Warsh is head of the Fed, especially since there is still the possibility of an inflationary oil shock,” Thomas wrote. Balance sheet reduction expected to be Warsh’s focus The widely held expectation is that Warsh will favor lower rates while also pushing to shrink the Fed’s balance sheet—moves that have somewhat offsetting effects on monetary conditions. The Fed’s balance sheet currently sits at $6.7T, and while Warsh has not indicated a target siz...
New gas projects linked to just 11 data center campuses around the US have the potential to create more greenhouse gases than the country of Morocco emitted in 2024. Emissions estimates from air permit documents examined by WIRED show that these natural gas projects—which are being built to power data centers to serve some of the US’s most powerful AI companies, including OpenAI , Meta , Microsoft...
New gas projects linked to just 11 data center campuses around the US have the potential to create more greenhouse gases than the country of Morocco emitted in 2024. Emissions estimates from air permit documents examined by WIRED show that these natural gas projects—which are being built to power data centers to serve some of the US’s most powerful AI companies, including OpenAI , Meta , Microsoft , and xAI —have the potential to emit more than 129 million tons of greenhouse gases per year. As tech companies race to secure massive power deals to build out hundreds of data centers across the country, these projects represent just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the potential climate cost of the AI boom. The infrastructure on this list of large natural gas projects reviewed by WIRED is being developed to largely bypass the grid and provide power solely for data centers, a trend known as behind-the-meter power. As data center developers face long waits for connections to traditional utilities, and amid mounting public resistance to the possibility of higher energy bills, making their own power is becoming an increasingly popular option. These projects have either been announced or are under construction, with companies already submitting air permit application materials with state agencies. Read full article Comments