Australia’s core inflation slowed in November, supporting the case for the Reserve Bank to keep interest rates unchanged for now as it assesses the impact of earlier policy easing. The closely-watched trimmed mean gauge advanced 3.2% from a year ago, easing from 3.3% and matching economists’ expectations, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Wednesday. The headline CPI rose 3.4% in...
Australia’s core inflation slowed in November, supporting the case for the Reserve Bank to keep interest rates unchanged for now as it assesses the impact of earlier policy easing. The closely-watched trimmed mean gauge advanced 3.2% from a year ago, easing from 3.3% and matching economists’ expectations, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Wednesday. The headline CPI rose 3.4% in the 12 months through November, versus a forecast 3.6% increase. The Australian dollar declined 0.2% as rates traders trimmed bets on a February hike to 30% from 40%. Stocks extended gains. Australia entered a brief easing cycle between February and August last year, cutting rates by 75 basis points to 3.6% — the lowest level since April 2023. However, a recent resurgence in price pressures prompted Governor Michele Bullock in December to rule out further rate cuts and signal that the next move in rates may be a hike. Minutes of the RBA’s last meeting showed the rate-setting board discussed the circumstances under which it would have to begin raising rates, though any future moves will hinge on incoming data. Read more: RBA Board Discussed Conditions in Which Rate Rise May Be Needed The RBA will want to see a comprehensive quarterly inflation report released on Jan. 28 before deciding whether a policy pivot is necessary. Money markets are pricing in a solid chance of a rate rise in May, while economist are split on the central bank’s next move. Other key data points: The largest contributor to annual inflation in November was housing, up 5.2%. This was followed by food and non-alcoholic beverages, up 3.3% per cent, and transport, 2.7% higher Annual Goods inflation was 3.3% in the 12 months to November, down from 3.8% to October. Services inflation was 3.6%, down from 3.9% Black Friday sales were not a major contributor to the change in annual CPI inflation from October to November, the ABS said
The cybersecurity industry is one of the most attractive industries for investors in 2026 and beyond. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » *Stock prices used were the afternoon prices of Jan. 2, 2025. The video was published on Jan. 4, 2025. Should you buy stock in CrowdStrike right now? Before you bu...
The cybersecurity industry is one of the most attractive industries for investors in 2026 and beyond. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » *Stock prices used were the afternoon prices of Jan. 2, 2025. The video was published on Jan. 4, 2025. Should you buy stock in CrowdStrike right now? Before you buy stock in CrowdStrike, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and CrowdStrike wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $493,290!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,153,214!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 973% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 195% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of January 6, 2026. Parkev Tatevosian, CFA has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends CrowdStrike, Fortinet, Okta, Rubrik, and SentinelOne. The Motley Fool recommends Palo Alto Networks. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Parkev Tatevosian is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through his link, he will earn some extra money that supports his channel. His opinions remain his own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
Growth stocks continue to lead the market higher. If you're looking to start out investing, putting your money into an exchange-traded fund (ETF) focused on growth stocks can be a great way to start. Growth stocks are the shares of companies that are growing their revenue and profits more quickly than the overall market. While growth stocks can come from any sector, they tend to be bunched up in t...
Growth stocks continue to lead the market higher. If you're looking to start out investing, putting your money into an exchange-traded fund (ETF) focused on growth stocks can be a great way to start. Growth stocks are the shares of companies that are growing their revenue and profits more quickly than the overall market. While growth stocks can come from any sector, they tend to be bunched up in the technology and consumer discretionary sectors. Growth stocks have helped lead the market higher for much of the last decade. In fact, they have outperformed value stocks in eight of the last 10 years, often by a wide margin. With artificial intelligence (AI) looking like it is still in its early days, there is a good chance that growth and technology stocks will continue to lead the market over the next decade, as well. Growth ETFs are a simple way for investors to own a portfolio of top growth stocks. They are also an easy way to implement a dollar-cost averaging strategy. This is simply investing a set amount each month, regardless of whether the market is doing well or poorly. While investing $1,000 is a great start, investing $1,000 each month over the long haul can help you build long-term wealth. Let's look at three growth ETFs to consider investing in today. The Vanguard Growth ETF The Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG +0.36%) essentially tracks the growth side of the S&P 500 index. The fund is heavily weighted toward tech stocks, with more than 60% of its holdings in the sector. Meanwhile, its top three holdings of Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft comprise about a third of its portfolio. Advertisement Expand NYSEMKT : VUG Vanguard Index Funds - Vanguard Growth ETF Today's Change ( 0.36 %) $ 1.78 Current Price $ 490.23 Key Data Points Day's Range $ 487.40 - $ 490.56 52wk Range $ 316.14 - $ 505.38 Volume 1.9M The ETF has been a strong performer over the years. It's produced an average annual return of 17.5% over the past decade, and it's been even better more recently, with a y...
(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, surging almost 1,900 points or 6.3 percent along the way. Now at a record closing high, the Taiwan Stock Exchange sits just above the 30,575-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Wednesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets continues to be positive, despite several of the regional bourses alr...
(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, surging almost 1,900 points or 6.3 percent along the way. Now at a record closing high, the Taiwan Stock Exchange sits just above the 30,575-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Wednesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets continues to be positive, despite several of the regional bourses already at record closing highs. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to at least open in similar fashion. The TSE finished sharply higher again on Tuesday following gains from the technology and plastics companies, while the financial sector was mixed. For the day, the index jumped 471.26 points or 1.57 percent to finish at the daily high of 30,576.30 after moving as low as 29,933.65. Among the actives, Cathay Financial lost 0.65 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.62 percent, First Financial improved 0.67 percent, Fubon Financial sank 0.82 percent, E Sun Financial fell 0.44 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company jumped 2.10 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation expanded 1.44 percent, Hon Hai Precision gained 0.64 percent, Largan Precision strengthened 1.58 percent, Catcher Technology shed 0.48 percent, MediaTek tanked 2.62 percent, Delta Electronics vaulted 3.96 percent, Novatek Microelectronics soared 4.13 percent, Formosa Plastics added 0.53 percent, Nan Ya Plastics surged 5.94 percent, Asia Cement tumbled 1.98 percent and CTBC Financial was unchanged. The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened in the green on Tuesday and trended higher through the day, ending near session highs. The Dow surged 484.90 points or 0.99 percent to finish at a record high 49,462.08, while the NASDAQ climbed 151.35 points or 0.65 percent to end at 23,547.17 and the S&P 500 gained 42.77 points or 0.62 percent to close at 6,944.82, also a record. The Dow benefitted from a sharp increase by shares of Amazon (AMZN) a...
We recently published 10 Stocks With Eye-Popping Double-Digit Gains; 4 Hit All-Time Highs. Warby Parker Inc. (NYSE:WRBY) was one of the top performers on Tuesday. Warby Parker rallied for a third day on Tuesday, jumping 11.57 percent to finish at $25.94 apiece as investors took heart from an investment firm’s price target upgrade for its stock. In an updated market report, TD Cowen raised its fair...
We recently published 10 Stocks With Eye-Popping Double-Digit Gains; 4 Hit All-Time Highs. Warby Parker Inc. (NYSE:WRBY) was one of the top performers on Tuesday. Warby Parker rallied for a third day on Tuesday, jumping 11.57 percent to finish at $25.94 apiece as investors took heart from an investment firm’s price target upgrade for its stock. In an updated market report, TD Cowen raised its fair value target for Warby Parker Inc. (NYSE:WRBY) by 8 percent to $26 from $24 previously, buoyed by strong optimism for its artificial intelligence glasses. Photo by KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA on Pexels Last month, Warby Parker Inc. (NYSE:WRBY) confirmed that the AI glasses—a new product in partnership with Google—is set to be launched sometime this year. The AI glasses will incorporate multimodal AI with prescription and non-prescription lenses. The partnership was inked in May last year, where Warby Parker Inc. (NYSE:WRBY) would design and develop the AI glasses, while Google would finance the product development for $75 million, alongside an optional investment in the former for another $75 million, subject to the achievement of certain milestones. “Since our launch, we’ve set out to transform the optical industry by leveraging pioneering technology to design better products and experiences—and over the past 15 years, we’ve done just that,” said Warby Parker Inc. (NYSE:WRBY) co-Founder and co-CEO Dave Gilboa last month. “Looking ahead, we believe multimodal AI is perfectly suited for glasses, enabling real-time context and intelligence to augment a wearer’s surroundings as they move through the world. We couldn’t be more excited to be partnering with Google to bring together the best of AI and the best of eyewear,” he added. While we acknowledge the potential of WRBY as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is als...
Former Meta scientist and AI pioneer Yann LeCun has openly questioned Meta Platforms Inc.'s (NASDAQ:META) AI leadership overhaul. LeCun Questions Wang's Research Credentials In an interview with the Financial Times published on Friday, LeCun described Wang, 28, as "young" and "inexperienced," arguing that the Scale AI co-founder lacks a deep understanding of how elite AI research teams operate. Le...
Former Meta scientist and AI pioneer Yann LeCun has openly questioned Meta Platforms Inc.'s (NASDAQ:META) AI leadership overhaul. LeCun Questions Wang's Research Credentials In an interview with the Financial Times published on Friday, LeCun described Wang, 28, as "young" and "inexperienced," arguing that the Scale AI co-founder lacks a deep understanding of how elite AI research teams operate. LeCun said Alexandr Wang is intelligent and learns quickly, but does not yet grasp what attracts — or alienates — top researchers. Don't Miss: The AI Marketing Platform Backed by Insiders from Google, Meta, and Amazon — Invest at $0.85/Share Missed Tesla? EnergyX Is Tackling the Next $200 Billion Opportunity — Lithium He added that while Wang briefly became his boss following Meta's AI reorganization, he was not actively directing his work. He noted that people usually should not tell senior scientists like him how to conduct their work. Meta did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comments. Meta's $14 Billion AI Bet And Llama Fallout Wang's appointment followed Meta's $14 billion investment in Scale AI, part of Mark Zuckerberg's aggressive push to regain momentum in the AI race. LeCun said the move came after Zuckerberg grew frustrated with slow progress on Meta's flagship open-source model, Llama. According to LeCun, internal confidence eroded after Meta was criticized for allegedly overstating benchmark results tied to Llama 4. He said the controversy angered Zuckerberg and led him to sideline much of Meta's existing generative AI organization. He said that "a lot of people" have already left Meta and those who haven't yet "will leave." Trending: An EA Co-Founder Shapes This VC Backed Marketplace—Now You Can Invest in Gaming's Next Big Platform Before the Raise Ends 1/19 LLMs ‘A Dead End,' LeCun Says LeCun, who announced in November that he is leaving Meta to launch a new startup called Advanced Machine Intelligence, also reiterated his long-held belief that ...
The US Department of Justice has released video transcripts of the man they believe killed two people at Brown University on 13 December and killed an MIT professor two days later. In the videos, the shooter talks about how long he planned the attack on the college campus. The shooter was a former Brown student and Portuguese national, whom law enforcement found dead in a New Hampshire storage fac...
The US Department of Justice has released video transcripts of the man they believe killed two people at Brown University on 13 December and killed an MIT professor two days later. In the videos, the shooter talks about how long he planned the attack on the college campus. The shooter was a former Brown student and Portuguese national, whom law enforcement found dead in a New Hampshire storage facility days after the shootings. Along with his body, investigators found “an electronic device” with video recordings the suspected shooter made, which the justice department translated from Portuguese to English and released to the public. In the recordings, the shooter admits that he had been “planning the Brown University shooting for a long time”, according to a press release. He did not provide a motive for targeting Brown or the MIT professor, with whom he attended school in Portugal decades earlier. The Brown University president, Christina Paxson, said the shooter was enrolled at Brown from the fall of 2000 to the spring of 2001. He was admitted to the graduate school to study physics beginning in September 2000. “He has no current affiliation with the university,” Paxson said. In the recording, the shooter says he’s had the storage space, where his body would be found, for about three years. He adds he feels he has nothing to apologize for. He also complains in the videos about injuring his eye in the shootings. On 13 December, the shooter came onto the Brown campus, killed two students and wounded nine others in a classroom in the school’s engineering building. Days later, he went to the MIT professor’s home in Brookline, Massachusetts, and shot him. Law enforcement, including the FBI, searched for the shooter for five days before authorities found him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, which is about 40 (65km) miles north of Brookline and more than 80 miles north of Brown University. The two students killed were ...
Illegal dog trapping and cat smuggling have become alarmingly common, with an animal rescue group reporting that it saved 351 animals in Hong Kong over the past six months – an average of two per day. As Paws Guardian Rescue Shelter, now in its 10th year, released a report on Tuesday detailing the condition of the animals it had saved in the past six months, its founder – who led most of the opera...
Illegal dog trapping and cat smuggling have become alarmingly common, with an animal rescue group reporting that it saved 351 animals in Hong Kong over the past six months – an average of two per day. As Paws Guardian Rescue Shelter, now in its 10th year, released a report on Tuesday detailing the condition of the animals it had saved in the past six months, its founder – who led most of the operations – told the Post how brutal recent cases had become. Founder Kent Luk Ka-chit said that in December alone, the group rescued four seriously injured dogs caught in illegal traps set up by residents to catch wild boars on hillsides in areas including Lau Fau Shan, Ngau Chi Wan and Siu Lam. Advertisement “The most common trap has a wire noose with a spring mechanism. Shortly after a dog is trapped, the noose tightens around its limb as it struggles, cutting off blood circulation and exposing bones in many cases,” Luk said. “Of the four rescued dogs, one was being treated. Three had one of their limbs amputated. It already incurred massive vet bills of more than HK$200,000 [US$26,000] for saving their lives so far. Advertisement “The situation has become alarmingly common in recent months. It’s really hard for us to keep raising enough funds.”
Irina Zhou’s five-year-old cat has gained about a kilogram every year for the past three years. She knows the extra weight puts her pet at risk of obesity-related diseases and could even shorten his life. “My parents just can’t bear to see the cat go hungry,” the 29-year-old Zhou said. “If the weight starts to affect his health, I might consider trying weight-loss medicines for him.” The idea of u...
Irina Zhou’s five-year-old cat has gained about a kilogram every year for the past three years. She knows the extra weight puts her pet at risk of obesity-related diseases and could even shorten his life. “My parents just can’t bear to see the cat go hungry,” the 29-year-old Zhou said. “If the weight starts to affect his health, I might consider trying weight-loss medicines for him.” The idea of using obesity drugs for pets drew public attention after Fosun Pharma ’s unit Yao Pharma signed a US$2.1 billion out-licensing deal with Pfizer on December 9 last year for an experimental oral obesity drug intended for both human and veterinary use. Advertisement Days later, a unit of Huadong Medicine received acceptance notices from Chinese regulators for veterinary drug registration applications targeting weight management in adult obese cats, signalling the treatment could soon enter the domestic market. Both drugs from Yao Pharma and Huadong Medicine act on the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP‑1) pathway. GLP-1 is a natural hormone primarily produced in the gut after eating. Once released into the bloodstream, it acts as the body’s “satiety signal”, travelling to the pancreas to stimulate insulin, to the brain to reduce appetite and to the stomach to slow digestion. Some pet owners are wary of possible side effects from weight-loss drugs for animals. Photo: Shutterstock GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs are designed to mimic the hormone, which normally disappears from the bloodstream within minutes.
UPS has an exciting long-term growth strategy, but its near-term capital allocation strategy is questionable. The two package delivery giants continue to compete intensively in the marketplace. Still, there's only one winner in terms of stock price performance over recent years, with FedEx (FDX +3.52%) stock outpacing UPS (UPS +3.16%) stock. However, I think UPS is a better long-term buy, but with...
UPS has an exciting long-term growth strategy, but its near-term capital allocation strategy is questionable. The two package delivery giants continue to compete intensively in the marketplace. Still, there's only one winner in terms of stock price performance over recent years, with FedEx (FDX +3.52%) stock outpacing UPS (UPS +3.16%) stock. However, I think UPS is a better long-term buy, but with one important caveat. UPS growth strategy The company's growth strategy makes sense. Under CEO Carol Tomé, UPS has accelerated its transition toward more targeted end markets and deliveries rather than chasing delivery volume. This strategy entails aiming to voluntarily reduce low- or negative-margin Amazon deliveries by 50% from the start of 2025 to the middle of 2026. For reference, FedEx is filling in some of the void left by UPS and resuming delivery for Amazon after previously ending the service in 2019. Expand NYSE : UPS United Parcel Service Today's Change ( 3.16 %) $ 3.22 Current Price $ 105.22 Key Data Points Market Cap $87B Day's Range $ 102.08 - $ 105.24 52wk Range $ 82.00 - $ 136.99 Volume 6.9M Avg Vol 6.7M Gross Margin 18.48 % Dividend Yield 6.43 % It also involves targeted growth in end markets like small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), healthcare, and business-to-business e-commerce. At the same time, its investments in technology (automation, smart facilities, etc.) will increase productivity and allow it to rationalize facilities. Instead of making low- and negative-margin deliveries to costly and hard-to-find residential addresses, UPS is pivoting toward higher-priced, higher-margin deliveries for small businesses and healthcare companies. Moreover, this pivot is enabling substantial cost reductions and job reductions. Advertisement The caveat These changes make perfect sense. However, the reality is that UPS is a company that has missed its initial full-year guidance for three consecutive years, largely due to weaker-than-anticipated U.S. delivery vo...
The new year brought a new person into the CEO's office. The weather might be prohibitively cold and miserable, but it's awfully warm where Camping World (CWH +12.78%) stock has pitched its tent. Investors were cheered by the specialty retailer's awarding of large piles of stock to two of its new leaders. With the morale boost this provided, Camping World's shares rose by nearly 13% across the day...
The new year brought a new person into the CEO's office. The weather might be prohibitively cold and miserable, but it's awfully warm where Camping World (CWH +12.78%) stock has pitched its tent. Investors were cheered by the specialty retailer's awarding of large piles of stock to two of its new leaders. With the morale boost this provided, Camping World's shares rose by nearly 13% across the day. Skin in the game With the turn of the year came new leadership at the top of Camping World. High-profile co-founder Marcus Lemonis recently stepped down from his roles as CEO and chairman of the board, and on Jan. 1, he was officially replaced by Matthew Wagner in the former position and by Brent Moody in the latter. As is standard for both roles in publicly traded companies, the two men have been granted Camping World equity in the form of restricted stock units (RSUs), as per their current employment agreements. Regulatory filings submitted after market close Monday reveal that Wagner received 465,000 class A shares of the company's stock, while Moody was handed 59,518. The transition was announced in early December. Although Lemonis is retiring, he has pledged to stay on as an advisor to the company. Wagner, Camping World's former COO, has been with the company since 2007. Moody joined Camping World in 2002 and has served in a variety of managerial roles, including president and chief operating and legal officer. Expand NYSE : CWH Camping World Today's Change ( 12.78 %) $ 1.25 Current Price $ 11.03 Key Data Points Market Cap $614M Day's Range $ 9.73 - $ 11.14 52wk Range $ 9.49 - $ 24.36 Volume 4.1M Avg Vol 2.1M Gross Margin 28.48 % Dividend Yield 5.11 % Veterans rewarded There's a reason equity awards are popular -- when done right, they provide compelling incentive for an incoming executive or board member to act in the very best interests of a company and its investors. If I were a Camping World shareholder, I'd be satisfied with these and confident that these vetera...
Goldman Sachs has updated its top European stock picks for January, rating five stocks with an upside of at least 70%, including one as high as 147%. Here's where the investment bank sees the biggest upside on their 12-month price targets, in order: Ceres Power The U.K.'s Ceres Power could return a 147% upside, according to Goldman analysts. They see the company, which manufactures products for po...
Goldman Sachs has updated its top European stock picks for January, rating five stocks with an upside of at least 70%, including one as high as 147%. Here's where the investment bank sees the biggest upside on their 12-month price targets, in order: Ceres Power The U.K.'s Ceres Power could return a 147% upside, according to Goldman analysts. They see the company, which manufactures products for power generation, including for hydrogen, as a "leading fuel cell player with licensees positioned to benefit from next wave of Datacentre growth." Ceres Power's stock is up 17% over the past 12 months. Online retailer Zalando Goldman analysts kept a positive outlook on German retailer Zalando , whose share price has shed more than 23% over the past year. In December, analysts expected an upside as high as 90% , calling Zalando an "online channel shift winner with underappreciated upside from About You acquisition." The analysts stuck by their rationale but tapered back expectations in January and are now expecting an upside of 78%. In the month between the publication of the two lists, Zalando's share price moved over 7% higher. Hon Hai Hon Hai 's growth acceleration from both AI servers and smartphones has caught Goldman analysts' attention, reaffirming their position from last month's conviction list. They gave the multinational electronics manufacturer an upside of 75%. Its share price has fallen more than 25% over the last 12 months, but advanced nearly 3.8% in December. U.K. finance firm Wise British finance firm Wise , whose share price has slipped a fifth over the last year, is tipped for a 72% upside. It was also on the December list, with its stock rising almost 1.7% over the month . Analysts expect better growth in 2026 with "higher visibility plus cash returns." Horizon Robotics Analysts expect China's Horizon Robotics to earn a 71% upside due to its upgraded product mix that will "capture high end smart-driving demand." It represents a dip in expectations, howeve...