Select a category

The newest stock to join the S&P 500 has had a volatile introduction to the stock market. After skyrocketing more than 22% to lead the benchmark index in their first day of trading on Monday, shares of Amentum Holdings (AMTM) gave up most of those gains Tuesday.

Amentum began trading this week as an independent public company following a spinoff from the engineering and construction firm Jacobs Solutions (J). Jacobs announced last year that it would separate its Critical Mission Solutions as well as its Cyber and Intelligence businesses to combine them with Virginia-based technology services provider Amentum to form the new entity. The merger between Amentum and the former Jacobs divisions was finalized last Friday.

Coinciding with the Amentum stock's first day of trading on Monday, the government services firm also became the newest addition to the S&P 500, replacing fragrance and personal care products retailer Bath & Body Works (BBWI) on the benchmark index.

With more than 20% upward and downward swings, the rise and fall of Amentum shares in their first two days of trading proved a dramatic welcome to the stock market. However, it is common for stocks joining the S&P 500 to experience a temporary rise as funds that track the widely followed index purchase the new constituent.

Amentum finished Tuesday at $25.75, off 20%. Jacobs shares, meanwhile, avoided any major price swings, ticking about 1.6% higher over the two sessions since the completion of the spinoff, ending Tuesday at $132.04. The company said the transformation will allow it to streamline operations and focus on higher-margin opportunities related to critical infrastructure and sustainability.

Read more on Investopedia

Several evenings a week, as Tyler VanderWeele gathers around the dinner table with his wife and two young kids, the family deliberately pauses during the meal to do something simple but profound. Each member shares several things for which they're grateful — an act that VanderWeele, co-director of the Initiative on Health, Spirituality, and Religion at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, feels changes his family dynamic for the better.

"I do think it makes a difference and can be a very powerful practice," he says. "Even on those bad days where life seems difficult, that effort is worthwhile."

Gratitude, health, and longevity

How can the power of gratitude affect our lives? Recent research has pointed to gratitude's myriad positive health effects, including greater emotional and social well-being, better sleep quality, lower depression risks, and favorable markers of cardiovascular health. Now, new data from the long-term Nurses' Health Study shows that it may extend lives.

"Gratitude has been one of the most widely studied activities contributing to well-being, but we couldn't find a single prior study that looked at its effects on mortality and longevity, much to our surprise," says VanderWeele, co-author of the new research.

What did the study look at?

Published July 2024 in JAMA Psychiatry, the new study drew on data from 49,275 women enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study. Their average age was 79. In 2016, participants completed a six-item gratitude questionnaire in which they ranked their agreement with statements such as, "I have so much in life to be thankful for," and "If I had to list everything I felt grateful for, it would be a very long list."

Four years later, researchers combed through participants' medical records to determine who had died. There were 4,608 deaths from all causes, as well as from specific causes such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory diseases, neurodegenerative disease, infection, and injury. Deaths from cardiovascular disease — a top killer of women and men in the United States — were the most common cause.

What did the researchers find?

Participants with gratitude scores in the highest third at the study's start had a 9% lower risk of dying over the following four years than participants who scored in the bottom third. This did not change after controlling for physical health, economic circumstances, and other aspects of mental health and well-being. Gratitude seemed to help protect participants from every cause of death studied — including cardiovascular disease.

But what does this actually mean?

"A 9% reduction in mortality risk is meaningful, but not huge," VanderWeele says. "But what's remarkable about gratitude is that just about anyone can practice it. Anyone can recognize what's around them and express thanks to others for what's good in their life."

While the study couldn't pinpoint why gratitude is associated with longer life, VanderWeele believes several factors may contribute.

"We know that gratitude makes people feel happier. That in itself has a small effect on mortality risk," he says. "Practicing gratitude may also make someone a bit more motivated to take care of their health. Maybe they're more likely to show up for medical appointments or exercise. It may also help with relationships and social support, which we know contribute to health."

What are the study's limitations and strengths?

The study was observational. This means it can't prove that gratitude helps people live longer — only that an association exists. And the particular sample of people analyzed is both the biggest strength and limitation of the research, VanderWeele says. All were older female nurses with high socioeconomic status. The vast majority were white.

"Does the longevity effect extend to men, to those who are younger, and to those with lower socioeconomic resources?" VanderWeele asks. "Those are all open questions."

On the plus side, he says, the study sample's large size is one of its biggest strengths. So is the extensive data gathered on potential confounding factors such as participants' physical health, social characteristics, and other aspects of psychological well-being.

"Between the quality of the data and the size of the sample, we were able to provide reasonable evidence for this modest longevity effect," he says.

Try this: Six questions to evoke gratitude

Not feeling especially grateful today? You have the power to change that. Asking yourself certain questions can evoke gratitude, such as

Similarly, a few simple actions can infuse gratitude into your days. Try VanderWeele's family routine of regularly expressing gratitude around the dinner table. Another well-known practice — that's perhaps becoming forgotten in this digital age — is penning thank-you notes.

"I do think writing a thank-you note or gratitude letter gets your mind to dwell on something positive for a longer period, to think more deeply about it, because you have to put it not just in words, but in writing," VanderWeele says. "It also deepens the relationship and builds that bond."

One less-recognized but valuable gratitude practice is called a "savoring exercise," which builds on aspects of mindfulness. All that's required is "pausing, looking around you, and taking in and enjoying everything that's good in your current setting," VanderWeele says. "It's not a big leap to go from recognizing the good to expressing gratitude for what you have."

Source: Harvard Health Publishing

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will leave Abuja today, October 2, for the United Kingdom to kick off a two-week vacation as part of his annual leave.

Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga in a statement said he will use the two weeks as a working vacation, and a retreat to reflect on his administration’s economic reforms.

He will return to the country after the leave expires.

#Instablog9jaNews #Information #Awareness #StayUpdated

Continue reading on Instablog

It was déja vu on Wall Street Tuesday as stocks slumped at the start of a new month for the third consecutive time, as market participants assessed the escalation of conflict in the Middle East and the possible fallout of U.S. port strikes.

The S&P 500, which closed at a record high on Monday to wrap up a strong third quarter, fell 0.9% on Tuesday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended 1.5% lower.

Markets were rattled on Tuesday by a massive U.S. dockworker strike that threatens to throw a wrench in domestic supply chains and disrupt economic activity. Dockworkers at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports handling more than 68% of U.S. imports walked off the job Tuesday morning after the expiration of their contract with an industry group representing global shipping companies.

Stocks got another shock Tuesday afternoon when Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel, which came soon after Israel launched an incursion in Lebanon and following the killing last week of a Hezbollah leader. The escalations by Israel and Iran sent oil prices soaring more than 5% amid concerns that a deeper conflict could stem the flow of crude out of the Middle East, a major global supplier.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) popped amid the tumult, jumping as much as 24%. Investors flocked to traditional safe havens like gold, which was up nearly 1% Tuesday afternoon, and Treasurys. 

Tuesday’s volatility resembled both September's and August's in certain ways. Early August’s selloff was sparked by worrisome jobs data and shifting global interest rates. Treasury yields and stocks declined this morning as markets digested data showing a continued hiring slowdown.

September’s early rout was led by tech stocks after chip giant Nvidia (NVDA) posted good but not perfect earnings, leading some investors to pull back from richly valued tech stocks. Tech led markets lower on Tuesday, with Nvidia off nearly 4%, and Apple (AAPL) and the PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX) each down about 3%. 

Investors will be hoping Tuesday's slump is as short-lived as the last two. Stocks rebounded throughout both August and September to finish out each month at or near record highs.

Read more on Investopedia

Lululemon (LULU) shares moved lower Tuesday as Morgan Stanley analysts said that the company's better-than-expected sales growth over the last several years will be challenged to increase at a similar pace.

The analysts, lowering their price target to $314 from $326, said consensus expectations that the company's China sales will see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of at least 20% in the coming years are likely too optimistic. Their price target is a bit below the roughly $316 mean of analysts tracked by Visible Alpha.

Lululemon shares fell more than 1% Tuesday afternoon, more than the S&P 500. The shares have lost nearly half their value since the start of the year.

Over the last several years, Lululemon has been "one of the few Western specialty retailers to successfully enter China" thanks to a "more thoughtful and localized entry approach vs. peers, and particularly relevant brand positioning" in the region, the analysts wrote.

But a worsening macroeconomic picture and the potential for Chinese consumers to gravitate to lower-cost and domestic brands could slow Lululemon's sales growth, they said.

The analysts said that using Lululemon's growth metrics in other markets, they see a likely projection of $2.3 billion in annual China sales by the end of 2028, compared with the $2.7 billion in annual sales that a low-20% CAGR would lead to.

Read more on Investopedia

Data from the manufacturing sector showed little improvement in September as firms wait for the effect of interest rate cuts to take hold.

The Institute of Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a survey of economic trends, was 47.2% in September, the same result as the prior month. (A reading below 50 indicates a contraction.) Inflation and the high interest rates used to fight price pressures have been a burden for manufacturers.

At the end of September, the Federal Reserve cut rates for the first time in four years, lowering its influential federal funds rate by a half-percentage point. September's data was gathered before the cut, and economists said the survey showed that purchasing managers were waiting to see the effects of lower interest rates.

“Demand remains subdued, as companies showed an unwillingness to invest in capital and inventory due to federal monetary policy—which the U.S. Federal Reserve addressed by the time of this report,” said Timothy Fiore, chair of the ISM manufacturing business survey committee.

The manufacturing survey showed some positive signals, with production improving and prices paid to suppliers falling to their lowest reading of the year.  

At the same time, data showed a decline in employment, with only two of the 18 industries surveyed reporting growth. The data comes ahead of the Friday release of the September jobs report, the first since the Federal Reserve cut interest rates. Softness in the labor market helped push the Federal Reserve to cut the interest rate more than some economists expected. 

“The broad jobs data are still consistent with a stalling in hiring rather than widespread layoffs,” Wells Fargo wrote. 

Read more on Investopedia