Peru’s chaotic presidential election is taking a toll on business sentiment as a radical candidate edges closer to a runoff following a prolonged vote count. Short-term business confidence plunged in April to its lowest level in almost two years, according to a central bank report published this month. Peru’s bonds and currency have also lagged peers in recent weeks. The Andean nation’s markets an...
Peru’s chaotic presidential election is taking a toll on business sentiment as a radical candidate edges closer to a runoff following a prolonged vote count. Short-term business confidence plunged in April to its lowest level in almost two years, according to a central bank report published this month. Peru’s bonds and currency have also lagged peers in recent weeks. The Andean nation’s markets and top-performing economy are normally resilient to political turbulence. However, one of the frontrunners, Roberto Sánchez, is questioning the country’s whole business-friendly model, saying it has failed to deliver for rural regions. “There has been a sharp deterioration mainly driven by election uncertainty and fear of a radical shift in the way the country is governed,” said former finance minister Luis Miguel Castilla . Sánchez now appears poised to take on conservative Keiko Fujimori in the June 7 runoff. A month after the first round vote, Sánchez is in second place behind Fujimori, and 15,000 votes ahead of right-wing candidate Rafael López Aliaga , with 99% of ballots counted. Electoral authorities are expected to announce the final outcome this week, after reviewing thousands of contested ballots. The chance of Sánchez making it to the runoff is “extremely high,” according to Fernando Tuesta, former head of Peru’s electoral authority ONPE. At this point it is now virtually impossible for López Aliaga to close the gap with the remaining ballots, Tuesta said in an interview. Fujimori is popular with investors, while the prospect of a Sánchez administration alarms them. Polls show the pair evenly matched in a runoff. Sánchez wants to alter key features of Peru’s model, with a greater role for the the state in key sectors and higher taxes on mining companies. Investors also fret that his backing for a constitutional reform would change the rules of the game by undermining investor protections and contract stability. “Over the last decade, political noise has become the...
Social Security is a lifeline for many older adults, and delaying claiming by even a year or two can boost your benefits by hundreds of dollars per month. By waiting until 70 to file, you'll earn larger checks for the rest of your life. But just how much will delaying benefits affect your monthly payment? Here's exactly how to find out. The first figure you'll need to know is your full retirement ...
Social Security is a lifeline for many older adults, and delaying claiming by even a year or two can boost your benefits by hundreds of dollars per month. By waiting until 70 to file, you'll earn larger checks for the rest of your life. But just how much will delaying benefits affect your monthly payment? Here's exactly how to find out. The first figure you'll need to know is your full retirement age (FRA). This is the age at which you'll receive 100% of the benefit you're entitled to based on your work history. Your FRA depends on your birth year, but it's between 66 and 67 for everyone. Continue reading
Tech stocks looked set to drop on Tuesday, as investors took the opportunity to lock in some profit following a stellar rally in chip stocks. Futures tracking the Nasdaq 100 were 0.7% lower. Red-hot Intel and Micron Technology both slid by about 2% and Qualcomm, which hit a record high on Monday, was down by a similar amount.
Tech stocks looked set to drop on Tuesday, as investors took the opportunity to lock in some profit following a stellar rally in chip stocks. Futures tracking the Nasdaq 100 were 0.7% lower. Red-hot Intel and Micron Technology both slid by about 2% and Qualcomm, which hit a record high on Monday, was down by a similar amount.
Alistair Berg/DigitalVision via Getty Images There's a sector that doesn't give expected returns higher than the S&P 500, nor a distinctive contribution to volatility, yet today it's one of the most demanded sectors by the market. Like a luxury watch: it tells the same time as the others, but for some inexplicable reason people are willing to pay much more for it. And that's how I imagine the cons...
Alistair Berg/DigitalVision via Getty Images There's a sector that doesn't give expected returns higher than the S&P 500, nor a distinctive contribution to volatility, yet today it's one of the most demanded sectors by the market. Like a luxury watch: it tells the same time as the others, but for some inexplicable reason people are willing to pay much more for it. And that's how I imagine the consumer staples sector today, and therefore also the Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples Index ETF (FSTA). And the question is clear: does it still make sense today to keep this "watch" in the portfolio? In my opinion yes. But under certain conditions. What is FSTA? FSTA was created with the objective of replicating, before fees and expenses, the performance of the MSCI USA IMI Consumer Staples 25/50 Index with an expense ratio of 0.084%, and a representative sampling strategy (with a turnover today below 15%). An indicative replication considering that the tracking error is still above 15% (not negligible). FSTA: 1Y Price Performance (Seeking Alpha) FTSE manages to have a 30 day SEC yield of 2.16% higher compared to that of the S&P 500, for a TTM distribution yield of 2.17%. An element that I personally appreciate a lot today, and apparently the market does too. FSTA: Dividend Grade Metrics (Seeking Alpha) What it's composed of Of almost 100 stocks, where the top 10 holdings weigh almost 64.89% of the total , with specifically the first 3 weighing over 37%. It has a geographical concentration equal to 99% in USA, and a distribution by market cap unbalanced on the large segment for over 42%. Following is mid with 26% and small with 9% the remaining micro cap. FSTA: Core Holdings Overview (Seeking Alpha) The valuations It makes sense to look at the top 10 holdings, and specifically the first 3 that not only weigh ⅓ also in valuation terms but are also leaders in the sector, influencing the performance of the others too. WMT - COST - PG: Consumer Staples Giants (Seeking Alpha) And it...
As Australians grapple with higher inflation and other flow-on effects from the war in Iran, the government unveiled its 2026-27 budget, seeking to tackle generational inequality, while shoring up the country’s fuel supplies and defenses. Here’s a breakdown of the winners and losers in Treasurer Jim Chalmers ’ fiscal blueprint. Winners: Workers Workers are set to keep more of their income in their...
As Australians grapple with higher inflation and other flow-on effects from the war in Iran, the government unveiled its 2026-27 budget, seeking to tackle generational inequality, while shoring up the country’s fuel supplies and defenses. Here’s a breakdown of the winners and losers in Treasurer Jim Chalmers ’ fiscal blueprint. Winners: Workers Workers are set to keep more of their income in their pockets from next year. Building on tax cuts in previous years, 13.3 million workers will get an annual tax offset of up to A$250 from July 2027, increasing the effective tax-free threshold by almost A$1,800 to A$19,985. Taxpayers will also be able to claim A$1,000 worth of work expenses without a receipt from next financial year. Small Business Owners The A$20,000 instant asset write off for small business has been made permanent from July 1. Businesses with turnover of under A$10 million will be able to immediately deduct assets up to that threshold. Venture Capital Expanded tax incentives are being offered for venture capital, from July next year, in a bid to help unlock capital “for young, expanding firms that find it hard to access traditional finance.” The changes will also provide investors, like superannuation funds, more flexibility to invest for longer periods, according to the government. Drivers and Farmers Drivers and the agriculture sector can rest a bit easier after the government invested A$10.7 billion in measures to improve fuel and fertilizer security, in the wake of supply disruptions from the war in Iran. Some A$3.2 billion of that will go to establishing the Australian Fuel Security Reserve, to increase the nation’s stocks of diesel and jet fuel to 50 days. Defense Sector An extra A$53 billion in defense spending in the next 10 years is aimed at improving the country’s ability to respond to threats, including investments in nuclear-powered submarines, drones and upgraded frigates. An initial A$12 billion has been allocated to establish the Henderson D...
JD.com Inc. reported better-than-expected profit after Beijing clamped down on its fierce food delivery battle with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Meituan . Net income fell 53% to 5.1 billion yuan ($750 million) in the quarter ended March, less sever than the 65% drop forecast by analysts. Revenue was 315.7 billion yuan, while analysts on averaged looked for 311.4 billion yuan. Dwindling profitabi...
JD.com Inc. reported better-than-expected profit after Beijing clamped down on its fierce food delivery battle with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Meituan . Net income fell 53% to 5.1 billion yuan ($750 million) in the quarter ended March, less sever than the 65% drop forecast by analysts. Revenue was 315.7 billion yuan, while analysts on averaged looked for 311.4 billion yuan. Dwindling profitability may continue to haunt JD, which is challenged by the ongoing rivalry with its two bigger rivals and a prolonged economic slowdown. Earlier this year, China set its lowest annual growth target since 1991 partly due to weak consumption and protracted woes in the property market. The Beijing-based company, meanwhile, is hoping to partially offset macroeconomic headwinds by winning a bigger slice of the overall food delivery business. JD said in February that it aims to control 30% of the market by the end of the year, doubling from roughly 15%. China’s antitrust watchdog in January opened a probe into the competition practices in the food delivery sector. Market regulators also fined JD and its e-commerce peers including Meituan and Alibaba last month a total of 3.6 billion yuan for failing to filter out unqualified merchants on their platforms. The penalty came after a series of government investigations into “ghost deliveries,” in which merchants registered with delivery platforms using fake locations and falsified documents. What Bloomberg Intelligence Says Investments can boost JD.com’s revenue growth, yet an offset could arise from weak demand for home appliances this year due to 2025’s subsidy-driven high base. We expect increasing economies of scale to narrow the firm’s logistics margin gap with competitors. - Catherine Lim and Jason Zhu , analysts Read the research here Read More: China Fines Alibaba, PDD for Food Delivery Business Failures To drive growth while challenged by cutthroat competition at home, JD has stepped up its overseas expansion, rolling out its ...