Select a category

The last days of the U.S. presidential campaign have been plenty dramatic for the candidates–and for the stock linked with their political—and, partly, personal—fortunes. 

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT), majority owned by former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, finished today's session down 13% to less than $31. They’ve this week risen as high as 40% above last Friday’s close near $39 and fallen more than 20% below it, meaning big swings in the market value of Trump's majority stake, which nevertheless is worth billions of dollars.

And that’s on little in the way of actual news about the company, which operates the Truth Social platform. Instead, traders have seized on the story as a way to wager the outcome of the presidential election, seen broadly as a race between Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. (There was at least one interesting report Friday: said some investors believe Tesla (TSLA) CEO and X owner Elon Musk might look to acquire the company.)

Polls generally point toward a close contest ahead of Election Day. On some prediction markets, speculators seem to more strongly believe in the likelihood of a Trump win: On Polymarket, for example, traders have generally backed a more-than-60% likelihood of a Trump victory for most of this week; those odds were a bit lower on some other platforms. (Here's guide to elections betting,)

Meanwhile, Trump Media shares have moved dramatically, with trading in the stock subjected to volatility-based halts multiple times this week. At one point, the shares traded at levels not seen since the high-flying days after their debut on public markets earlier this year. 

For now, they’re back around July levels after climbing off September lows.

: This article has been updated to reflect fresh share price information and to incorporate the article.

Read more on Investopedia

Oil-and-gas giants Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) surpassed subdued third-quarter earnings expectations Friday. But substantially weaker profit margins for refined products, reflecting lower summer fuel prices, dropped overall net income for both companies from a year ago.

Exxon reported net income of $8.6 billion, or $1.92 per share. That beat the consensus projection as tracked by Visible Alpha. But profits fell 5% from the same period a year ago and 7% from this year's second quarter. Year-to-year profits at Exxon have declined in five of the past six quarters.

Chevron suffered a steeper earnings hit from a year ago. The company reported net income of $4.5 billion, or $2.48 per share. Profits fell 31% from the same period a year ago, though they increased marginally from this year's second quarter.

Chevron's shares were 3% higher in afternoon trading, while Exxon's were off nearly 1%.

Exxon said its "significantly weaker industry refining margins" declined from historically high levels as "supply from industry capacity additions outpaced record global demand."

Indeed, average U.S. prices for all gasoline grades fell to $3.48 per gallon during the quarter, down 10% from $3.87 in last year's third quarter. Average diesel prices dropped to $3.69 per gallon from $4.48, down 18%.

U.S. fuel prices peaked late this winter and early this spring, a seasonal anomaly that helped consumers and the Federal Reserve's fight against inflation. But for energy producers, falling prices of oil, natural gas, and fuel have reduced the historically strong profits they enjoyed in late 2022 and much of 2023.

Read more on Investopedia

Shares in Peloton Interactive (PTON) were down sharply Friday, giving back a chunk of the near-30% gain recorded yesterday after the fitness equipment maker announced a new chief executive officer and reported better-than-expected quarterly results.

The company said it had appointed Ford (F) and former Apple (AAPL) executive Peter Stern as its new CEO. Stern currently heads the legacy automakers’ digital business services, and while at Apple, oversaw a range a subscription services, including Apple Fitness+.

On the earnings front, Peloton posted a significantly narrower-than-expected loss during the quarter, indicating the company’s cost-cutting initiatives had begun to deliver results as it works on a turnaround effort to reinvigorate sales after a post-pandemic demand slump. 

Peloton shares were down 13% at $7.40 in mid-afternoon trading Friday, cutting the stock's year-to-date gain to around 22%.

Below, we navigate Peloton’s chart using technical analysis and identify key price levels worth watching out for.

Since breaking out above the neckline of a double bottom pattern earlier this month, Peloton shares continued trending higher, with the stock’s price staging a breakaway gap yesterday following the company’s upbeat news events.

Importantly, Thursday’s move occurred on the highest trading volume since late August, signaling buying participation by larger market players, such as institutional investors and asset managers.

However, while the relative strength index (RSI) confirms bullish price momentum, it also warns of extremely overbought conditions with a reading above the 80 threshold.

Let’s take a look at important chart levels on Peloton’s chart that investors may be watching following yesterday's news-driven buying.

Amid a move higher, investors should monitor how the shares respond to the $9.50 level. This area on the chart could attract selling pressure near a trendline connecting the March trough and several peaks from June to August last year

A close above this level could fuel a bullish move up to around $13, a location where investors may look to lock in profits near the prominent December 2022 swing high, which also corresponds with a range of similar trading levels on the chart between February and March 2023.

Upon an initial pullback, such as Friday's move lower, investors may look for buying opportunities near the stock's pre-breakout level around $6.70, a region on the chart that closely aligns with a range of peaks and troughs between May 2023 and January this year.

Finally, a deeper retracement could see the shares revisit lower support around $5, where bargain hunters may seek entry points near the double bottom pattern’s neckline.

Read more on Investopedia

Cardinal Health (CAH) shares hit a new all-time intraday high Friday as the healthcare products provider posted better-than-expected results and raised its outlook even as it took a financial hit from the ending of a big contract.

The company reported fiscal 2025 first-quarter adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.88, with revenue down 4% year-over-year to $52.28 billion. Both exceeded consensus forecasts of analysts polled by Visible Alpha.

Sales at its Pharmaceutical and Specialty Solutions unit slid 5% to $48.0 billion because of the impact of the expiration of its distribution contract with pharmacy benefit manager OptumRx. Cardinal Health said excluding that, revenue would have been up 16%, lifted by increased brand and specialty pharmaceutical sales by existing customers.

Revenue at the Global Medical Products and Distribution segment increased 3% to $3.1 billion on higher volumes from existing customers, and other revenue soared 13% to $1.2 billion on "at-Home Solutions, Nuclear and Precision Health Solutions and OptiFreight Logistics."

The company now sees full-year EPS of $7.75 to $7.90, up from its previous guidance of $7.55 to $7.70.

Shares of Cardinal Health were up almost 7% at $115.76 Friday afternoon after earlier touching a new all-time intraday high of $119.12.

Read more on Investopedia

The October Cadre Harmonisé report has estimated that 33.1 million people across 26 states and the FCT may experience a food and nutrition crisis from June to August 2025.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, the World Food Programme, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, and other partners conducted this analysis, with the findings released on Friday, November 1, in Abuja.

The affected states include Sokoto, Zamfara, Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Gombe, Taraba, Katsina, Jigawa, Kano, Bauchi, Plateau, Kaduna, Kebbi, Niger, and Benue.

Other states affected are Cross River, Enugu, Edo, Abia, Kogi, Nasarawa, Kwara, Ogun, Lagos, Rivers, and the FCT.

The report indicates that this figure includes 514,474 Internally Displaced Persons in Borno, Sokoto, and Zamfara.

It revealed that approximately 25 million people across the 26 states and the FCT are currently experiencing food crises.

#Instablog9jaNews #TrendingStory #Awareness #StayUpdated

Continue reading on Instablog

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) is set to report its third-quarter earnings on Saturday morning. Here are some things investors will be watching out for.

Berkshire Hathaway’s cash pile swelled to a record $277 billion in the second quarter, up nearly $100 billion from the prior quarter. The majority of that money, roughly $235 billion, was invested in U.S. Treasurys.

Investors will be looking at this upcoming earnings report for any clues about how Berkshire plans to use or invest its massive war chest. Will Buffett unveil new positions or will the company use the money to buy back shares as it has in the past?

Buffett said early this year that there were "only a handful of companies" in the U.S. that aligned with the firm's value-minded acquisition and investment strategy. The firm has since substantially trimmed a few major equity holdings.

CFRA’s Berkshire analyst Catherine Seifert expects the company to pursue “transactions as it deploys part of its $277B cash hoard (as of June 30, 2024) amid a declining interest rate environment.”

Though cut in half this year, Apple Inc. (AAPL) likely remained Berkshire’s largest equity position in the third quarter while Buffett continued to sell one of his long-favored stocks—Bank of America (BAC.)

Berkshire trimmed its Bank of America position by about 20% to 800 million shares in the third quarter, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. And it has since sold more stock. Those sales have shrunk Berkshire's stake in the bank to less than 10%, meaning the firm is no longer required to promptly disclose changes to its position.

Buffett reportedly enjoys listening to Frank Sinatra on Channel 70 on Sirius XM. And like many of his other investments in products that he enjoys, like Coca-Cola (KO), he’s betting on Sirius XM as well. 

In September, Sirius XM and Liberty Media, which owned tracking shares of Sirius XM, underwent a complicated split-off transaction to create one new entity. Berkshire, which previously owned both Sirius XM as well as the tracking shares, ended up with roughly 105 million shares in the new Sirius XM entity (SIRI). It upped its stake in October, to over 108 million shares, accounting for more than a third of all outstanding shares in the satellite radio provider.

Investors will be curious to see if Buffett changed some of his other significant holdings in the quarter. He unveiled new stakes in beauty products company Ulta Beauty (ULTA) and aerospace and electronics manufacturing company Heico Corp. (HEI) during the second quarter.

Buffett has time and again expressed his dislike for traditional earnings metrics, choosing instead to look at operating income to appropriately capture the state of Berkshire’s businesses. 

In the second quarter, operating income increased to $11.6 billion, driven primarily by underwriting and investments in its insurance businesses. The insurance business thrived as claims and catastrophe-related costs scaled back.

The size of claims and catastrophe-related losses, and the outlook for the insurance business, will be in focus on Saturday, especially with several major hurricanes having hit the Southeast in recent months.

Read more on Investopedia