Stock Market Relationship w/ Debt Ceiling Fight
Hello, and welcome to today's episode of 'Money Talk Sundayz'. I'm your host, Stevie Bee, and today we're diving into a topic that's been making headlines all around the world: the stock market and its seemingly unshakeable relationship with the U.S. debt ceiling.
Now, if you're a seasoned investor, you're likely aware of the turmoil that ensues every time this topic resurfaces. If you're new to the scene, don't worry. By the end of this podcast, you'll have a clearer understanding of why this little thing called the debt ceiling is causing such a big stir.
First things first, what is the debt ceiling? Well, simply put, it's the maximum amount of money that the U.S. government can borrow. Now, why would the government need to borrow money? To fund a myriad of things, from military operations to social services, infrastructure, and everything in between.
However, there's a catch. The debt ceiling needs to be increased periodically to keep up with the spending demands of a growing economy. Without this increase, the government can default on its debts, causing economic uncertainty and a ripple effect that can send waves across global markets.
Now, let's connect the dots between this debt ceiling and the stock market.
When there's uncertainty around the debt ceiling, investors get jittery. The possibility of a government default sends shivers down their spines. It's important to remember that the stock market is, in essence, a reflection of future expectations. When investors are faced with a potential default, they predict a bleak future, leading to a sell-off of stocks, which in turn causes the market to struggle.
The stock market thrives on stability and predictability. The back-and-forth around the debt ceiling creates an environment of uncertainty. Investors cannot plan for the future if they're unsure whether the government will default on its obligations or not.
Moreover, if the debt ceiling is not increased and the U.S. defaults, the credit rating of the country may be downgraded. This downgrade can increase borrowing costs, not just for the government, but for corporations as well. This can directly impact their profitability, and by extension, their stock prices.
The debt ceiling also plays a significant role in fiscal policy. If the ceiling isn't raised, government spending will need to be cut dramatically. This could lead to a slowdown in economic growth, another factor that could negatively impact the stock market.
In conclusion, until the debt ceiling issue is resolved, the stock market will struggle to rally. The uncertainty and potential negative consequences of a default create an environment that's not conducive to a thriving stock market.
It's important to keep this in mind as you navigate your investment journey. Remember, investing is not just about picking the right stocks. It's also about understanding the macroeconomic factors that can influence the performance of those stocks.
And with that, we've reached the end of today's episode. Thanks for joining me on Money Talk Sundayz. As always, invest smart and stay informed. Happy Trading.
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Trading Against the S&P 500; Is That a Good Idea
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Money Talk Sundayz, where we discuss intriguing and sometimes, counterintuitive topics in finance. I’m your host, Stevie Bee. Today, we're delving into a concept that may seem unusual to some, trading against the S&P 500. Yes, you heard it right! Going against one of the most trusted and widely followed indexes in the world.
Before we start, I must clarify that this isn't investment advice but an exploration of a diverse approach in the financial markets.
The S&P 500 is often hailed as the holy grail of indexes. It comprises 500 of the largest companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges, essentially providing a snapshot of the U.S. economy. It's stable, reliable, and has a long history of delivering steady returns. So why would anyone consider trading against it?
First, let's clarify what trading against the S&P 500 means. It's not necessarily about short selling the entire index. Instead, it involves strategies such as taking positions in assets that are inversely correlated to the S&P 500, or buying into sectors or companies that are currently underrepresented or not included in the index.
One reason for trading against the S&P 500 is diversification. While the S&P 500 includes a broad range of companies, it's heavily skewed towards the largest ones. The top 50 companies make up over 50% of the index's value. Hence, if you're only following the S&P 500, your investments are highly concentrated in a few big players, leaving you exposed to sector-specific or company-specific risks. By trading against the index, you can diversify into other sectors, smaller companies, or different asset classes that can offer opportunities for alpha, or risk-adjusted outperformance.
Another reason is the potential for higher returns. The S&P 500 has historically provided steady, but not spectacular, returns. In bull markets, it's common for certain sectors or asset classes to significantly outperform the S&P 500. For example, during the tech boom of the late 1990s, tech stocks massively outperformed the broader market. Similarly, during the housing boom of the mid-2000s, real estate-related stocks and assets outperformed. Trading against the S&P 500 allows you to seek these higher returns.
Lastly, trading against the S&P 500 can provide a hedge against market downturns. When the market crashes, the S&P 500 usually falls with it. But some assets, such as gold or certain defensive stocks, often perform well during these periods. By trading against the S&P 500, you can include such assets in your portfolio, providing a hedge against market volatility.
Now, trading against the S&P 500 is not without risks. It requires a thorough understanding of market dynamics, careful risk management, and a willingness to accept potential losses. But with careful planning and execution, it can provide diversification, the potential for higher returns, and a hedge against market downturns.
And that's it for today's episode. Remember, the world of finance is not black and white. It's a rainbow of opportunities. Don't limit yourself to the standard paths. Be curious, be bold, explore, and you might just find a pot of gold at the end of your financial rainbow.
Until next time, this is your host, Stevie Bee, signing off. Keep exploring, folks!
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Artificial Intelligence Picks These Stocks to Survive Market Downturn
Being an IT junkie as well as someone who dabbles in the market does not make me an SME or subject matter expert. That however doesn’t stop my coworkers asking for my opinion on market related topics from Tesla to SalesForce and more. The latest craze out now is ChatGPT and how this AI is revolutionizing education, the workplace, and more. As someone who is always trying to find an edge in the market I tested out how this AI could be useful in investing. Truthfully, it was hit or miss trying to get the desired output BUT a recent article posted yesterday March 25th showed me what I was doing wrong. Now while this firm did not necessarily use ChatGPT specifically, the AI that they did use came up with 5 stocks that has been outperforming the S&P 500 consistently. Here are those stocks.
Welcome to Money Talk Sundayz. I’m your host Stevie Bee. Hit that like, share, and subscribe button. Make sure you ding that notification bell to get alerted to new drops. Last weekend I did not drop an episode. I was on vacation. I was on a cruise with my family, and we had a good time. Can’t say it was restful since it was a very active vacay, but it was a welcome disconnect from the day to day drudgery of life.
Anyway if you’ve made it this far, you’re curious to hear what stocks were recommended by this AI to weather further market downside. So without further ado… Stock #1 is:
Realty Income
Ticket symbol O, Realty Income has a market cap of $41 billion. Realty is one of the most consistent dividend payers in the markets. It is currently down more than 5.5% this quarter and is facing it’s fourth quarterly decline. Back when Covid was surging around the globe causing mass shutdowns, many investors fretted over physical retail locations and office spaces. This led to a monumental selloff in the REIT space and Realty Income was caught up in the wave. Even after a bounce back of the markets, O has not achieved new all-time highs.
Despite the relatively poor price action over the past few months and few years, Realty Income stock holds a number of positives.
First, the company pays a monthly dividend and has an annual yield of 5.1%. It has also raised its payout in 102 consecutive quarters — or more than 25 years straight. That alone makes this stock attractive for certain income-oriented investors.
Unfortunately, the FED is still raising interest rates causing investors to cash out. If this pattern continues, be ready to catch the dip at around $55-56 range. Why? This was a big support level for several quarters after the initial covid-19 selloff. It’s also the 50% retracement from the 2022 high down to the 2020 low. Lastly, this zone contains the 2022 low.
So if we get a dip down to this area, it’s possible we get another bounce.
If the selling persists, we could have a test of the $51 to $52 area. Should we test this zone, it would be the lowest price Realty Income stock has traded at since May 2020. In this zone we have the 61.8% retracement and gap-fill level.
Lastly, the 78.6% retracement and 200-month moving average currently sit near the $45 area, which stands out as another potential support zone. Let’s keep an eye on this stock and set your alerts accordingly.
The 2nd stock recommended by this AI is Buckle with a market cap of $1.8 billion. Ticket symbol BKE, Buckle has a 1 year low of $26.50 and a 1 year high of $50.35. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $41.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.04.
BKE last announced its earnings results on Friday, March 10th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. Buckle had a net margin of 18.93% and a return on equity of 65.52%. The business had revenue of $401.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $386.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.69 earnings per share. Buckle's revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year.
Buckle also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 13th. Buckle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.29%.
If you’re not familiar with Buckle, BKE engages in retailing of casual apparel, footwear, and accessories for men and women. It offers brands such as BKE, Buckle Black, Red by BKE, Daytrip denim, Gimmicks, Gilded Intent, FITZ + EDDI, Willow & Root denim, Outpost Makers, Departwest, Reclaim, Nova Industries, and Veece. The company was founded by David Hirschfeld in 1948 and is headquartered in Kearney, NE.
The most economically advantageous stock option promoted by the AI is Crawford and Company. With ticker symbol CRD, Crawford & company is a solid choice for "trend" investing. Here’s why.
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Multiple Banks Taken Over by FEDS; Bank Run Imminent; SVB, Signature, Silvergate, Ripple (XRP)
Multiple Banks Taken Over by FEDS; Bank Run Imminent; SVB, Signature, Silvergate, Ripple (XRP)
The risks of failing banks in the American economy is a topic I want to discuss with you today because it concerns all of us. Banks play a significant role in our economy by offering services including lending, financing, and investing. Our financial system depends on them, but when they falter, there may be dire repercussions.
The effect of failing banks on the US economy is best illustrated by the financial crisis of 2008. Major banks like Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns failing set off a domino effect that resulted in a severe recession, massive job losses, and a sharp decline in the stock market. While the government had to intervene with significant bailouts to stop the collapse of the whole financial system, millions of People lost their homes, their jobs, and their savings.
A bank failure may set off a chain reaction that quickly spreads throughout the economy. A liquidity crisis brought on by failing banks may result in a credit crunch and a reduction in the quantity of credit accessible to both individuals and companies. This may result in a sizable drop in consumer spending, which could have an effect on overall economic growth.
In addition, the stock market may suffer significantly from bank failure. Stock values significantly decline when banks fail because investors lose faith in the market. A stock market catastrophe could result from this, setting off a domino effect that would be disastrous for the economy.
As you may already be aware, the Silicon Valley Bank has announced its closure, which has had a significant impact on the stock market and the world of cryptocurrency.
The Silicon Valley Bank was founded in 1983 to offer financial services to the technology sector, which has fueled the expansion of the world economy. The financial markets have been rocked by the bank's announcement that it is closing, though. It's no secret that Silicon Valley was instrumental in the development of the technology industry, and many of these businesses have benefited from the bank's services.
The stock market is one of the areas where the closure has had the most profound impact. Several of the top technological companies in the world have relied on the financial services provided by Silicon Valley Bank. The technology sector is a crucial part of the stock market. Many of these businesses could experience financial difficulties as a result of the bank's liquidation, which would cause their stock prices to fall.
The world of cryptocurrencies has also been impacted by the Silicon Valley Bank's demise. The bank's liquidation has left a hole that will be difficult to fill because it was one of the main financial partners for several of the top bitcoin exchanges. As a result, cryptocurrency traders might have trouble getting access to the banking services they need to purchase and sell cryptocurrencies.
SVB has been a key banking partner for Ripple for several years, facilitating its cross-border payment solutions for customers around the world. Ripple has used SVB's services to hold and transfer funds in various currencies, including U.S. dollars, euros, and British pounds. SVB has also been instrumental in helping Ripple navigate the complex regulatory landscape for digital currencies and blockchain technology.
SVB closing down could potentially have a negative impact on Ripple's ability to conduct its business. Ripple would need to quickly find alternative banking partners to provide the same level of service that SVB has offered. However, this may not be easy, as not all banks are comfortable with dealing with digital currencies and the associated regulatory risks.
Aside from that, during the past few years, Ripple has had to cope with legal and regulatory challenges. Accusing Ripple of selling unregistered securities in the form of its XRP cryptocurrency, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched a complaint against the company in December 2020. In the midst of a legal battle, Ripple has refuted the accusations. Regardless of whether SVB is operational or not, the outcome of the litigation will have a big impact on Ripple's future.
Ripple may suffer severe difficulties because of SVB's closure, but the business has proven resilient in the face of legal and regulatory difficulties. In addition to extending its services beyond cross-border payments and into the field of decentralized finance, Ripple has been actively looking for additional banking partners (DeFi). Although it is unclear how Ripple will continue to manage the rapidly evolving blockchain and cryptocurrency markets, it is obvious that the business is dedicated to fostering innovation in this field.
2 more banks also announced that they would be shuttering operations this past week, Signature Bank and Silvergate. Now this just in… in order to stem the bank run the Federal Reserve has stepped in and assured that all depositors would be able to recoup their funds. We know that accounts are FDIC insured up to $250K but the fed has stated that anyone who had money in Silicon Valley Bank will get 100% of their money back but if you’re a shareholder you are out of luck. The same goes for Signature Bank and more than likely Silvergate as well.
Cryptocurrency-friendly lender Silvergate Capital (NYSE:SI) is crumbling and that is “definitely not good for the crypto industry,” said Konstantin Shulga, CEO and co-founder of institutional crypto liquidity marketplace Finery Markets.
After announcing plans to wind down operations and voluntarily liquidate, Silvergate (SI), the bank with connections to Sam Bankman-defunct Fried's cryptocurrency exchange FTX (FTT-USD), has become the latest casualty of the ongoing market collapse.
Prior to that, the 35-year-old company from San Diego, California, which reported $1 billion in losses in Q4, stated about two weeks ago that it was forced to evaluate its ability to continue as a growing concern, which caused an exodus of its institutional clients, including Coinbase Global (COIN) and Galaxy Digital (OTCPK:BRPHF). The crypto-payments network Silvergate Exchange Network, which was launched in 2018 to facilitate rapid, round-the-clock transactions between market players and crypto exchanges, was later announced to be discontinued by Silvergate (SI), one of its key growth drivers.
After the collapse of FTX (FTT-USD) and its sister trading firm Alameda Research in November, which both reportedly had accounts at Silvergate, what was once a $200 stock in late 2021 — the same year that bitcoin (BTC-USD) reached all-time highs — is now less than $3. Silvergate (SI) witnessed its customers rushing to withdraw money out of the bank. It was reported last month that the Department of Justice had begun looking into Silvergate's connections to Bankman-crypto Fried's enterprise.
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2023 Top 5 Side Hustles to Start w/ Little to No Cash
What’s up Bros Nation. It’s Stevie Bee and welcome to another episode of Money Talk Sundayz. This episode is all about side hustles and some of the best side hustles you can do in 2023 with little to no startup costs. In this day and age you're going to need at least one side hustle to help offset the rising costs of inflation. Have you seen the prices of eggs lately? It seems insane but it's not really that insane to actually have a side hustle. Back in 2020 a study showed that 45% of Americans had a side hustle with the percentage increasing every single year. One out of every 10 people that had a side hustle profited over one thousand dollars per month. That is pretty good that one out of every 10 people Americans had a side hustle that made over a thousand dollars a month. How could an extra grand a month help you? Keep it locked on Money Talk Sundayz for more.
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Welcome to Money Talk Sundayz. I'm your host Stevie Bee. For those tuning in via your favorite streaming platform hit that like and share button. You can also subscribe to the Money Talk Sundayz podcast. The link will be in the description box. For those viewing on YouTube, like, share, and subscribe. You can even hit the notification bell to receive the alerts of new videos dropping. Now let’s get into it.
Add up to $300 a month in passive income storing other people's stuff
Do you have extra space around the house and want to make money off it? Perhaps you have an unused driveway, garage, basement, shed, or parking spot. If it’s just sitting there wasting away, you could turn that unused space into passive income every single month… without ever lifting a finger. All you have to do is go to neighbor.com and sign up to be a host. It’s like an AirBNB of storage.
Neighbor is a website that lets you rent out your unused space to make extra money on autopilot. You can turn your garage, spare room, or even closet into a profitable side hustle that earns several hundred dollars a month. Seriously. You just sign up on their site, list what space you have available, and people in your city can rent out your unused space to store their stuff, while paying you a premium for the storage.
The entire process works seamlessly and money is deposited into your account automatically. You don’t even need to move anything — your renters will move their stuff in (and out) on their own, while you collect a sweet paycheck month after month. Neighbor takes the work out of collecting payments from your renter! Oh, and you’re protected by up to $1 million in liability insurance too. Sign up today to see how much you could earn.
Being a Virtual Assistant
As companies grow in size, it becomes increasingly difficult to stay on top of the daily tasks necessary to keep the business running. When employees wear many hats in a fast-paced environment, it can be tricky keeping operations and administrative needs running smoothly. But hiring full-time, on site support staff isn’t always an option, either – and that’s where your services can come in.
Thanks to the disruptive force of the Coronavirus pandemic, remote work has been normalized and in many cases preferred to the traditional brick and mortar ways of yesterday. Business Wire estimates that virtual assistants’ market size alone will reach $25.6 billion by 2025.
You can work as a virtual assistant from anywhere in the world on a laptop, making it a good side hustle for digital nomads or full-time travelers. As more people are launching digital businesses, there is an incredible demand for people to help run them.
There are no set tasks that virtual assistants perform, and assignments can vary depending on the employer. Some of the most common tasks given to virtual assistants include the following: administrative work, ie. scheduling meetings and booking travel etc., bookkeeping, customer service, data entry, personal assistant, social media production and more. If you are proficient in any of these areas, you could essentially loan out your skills as a virtual assistant. A sub-genre of that would be IT support services. I personally offer my IT services outside of my day job as well as a side hustle.
Lost Luggage Delivery Services
Side hustle number three is actually a delivery service but it’s not what you think. When you hear delivery service Uber Eats, DoorDash and the like immediately come to mind. Don’t worry though. This is not that. Right now, the travelling season is about to start kicking off again A lot of people are going to start flying. Now this service right here delivers lost luggage to Travelers. This could be very lucrative. There's been articles of people making a thousand dollars every single day from delivering lost luggage. I don't know personally if you can make that amount still but it is way better than being an Uber driver and transporting strangers and food inside your car if you’re not comfortable with it. This is better option than being an Uber Eats or a DoorDash person where you have food inside of your car making your car smell or better than being an Instacart person where you're picking up groceries at the grocery store. Again you have food in your car just smelling away.
Now you’re just picking up luggage that you can put inside your trunk or inside your back seat and deliver it from the airport over to the travelers’ hotels. You can get started and make a profit right away. You can sign up at grabmybag.com. This is where you can sign up for that delivery service. You get the book now and you can ship your own bags that way or you could become a grabber by clicking Be a GRAB-ber Nationwide and once you click on that you can sign up to be a part of them. That's just like applying to be an Uber driver, a Lyft driver, Instacart shopper and other delivery services. I would love for you guys to try this out and let me know how much you're making down in the description if you're already doing this. I want to see if there are people still making upwards to a thousand dollars a week or a thousand dollars per day like they were in the past.
Grab my bag is awesome for people that live near airports that have a major airline like Delta, JetBlue, Frontier, Spirit Airlines and American Airlines. If you live inside a big city that has multiple airports or if you live inside a city that has one big airport this could be a very cool side hustle for you. I'm sorry for the people that stay out in the country that don't have airports but everyone that does live inside the city, this could be an awesome side hustle for you if you don't like having strangers inside your car being an Uber or a Lyft driver.
Freelancer
Being a freelancer actually runs pretty closely to the Virtual Assistant side gig but with a bit more of a flair of creativity and way more control of your own time and what you do with it. When it comes to freelance work, you can do just about anything there is a demand for. Platforms like Fiverr make it easier to find odd jobs and get paid, allowing you to focus on growing your freelance practice and making even more money.
Freelancing is the perfect side hustle for flexibility. You get to set your own hours and rates but remember that you will be competing with other freelancers from all over the world. In any case, this means that you can easily keep your day job while joining other side hustlers in the gig economy.
Graphic design, editing, and virtual assisting are some of the most popular freelancing gigs on Fiverr, but the possibilities are endless. This actually is a great segue to our fifth side hustle.
Social Media Marketing Consultant
There are many different avenues you can take here from SEO Consultant to Google Ads and Facebook Ads. In either case, you stand to make some good money but of course you will have to build up your portfolio as well as your client base.
Running search and social campaigns is a major deal with everyone being on social media. Everyone is competing for your screen time. You can get started by reaching out to small businesses in your community and offering your services. Make sure to have something to show them because the devil is in the details. Seeing is believing and you’re going to want to start with your own personal or mock social media accounts to provide results of the growth using your expertise. You never know. The business owner might in fact be in the market for a part-time social media manager. My brother is currently doing social media content work for the City of Homestead which has him brushing shoulders with the local business owners and staying in the know of what is going on in the city.
Now before we tap out for the day on this episode of Money Talk Sundayz I want to leave you with some things to do before embarking on your side hustle journey.
Figure out what you want to do. Because you’re your own boss, you can test out a lot of different ideas to find the one you really love and/or that makes you the most money. That’s the beauty of side hustling – you aren’t stuck with any one idea. That being said, it’s best to start off with one side hustle, a niche that you can work in. Don’t spread yourself too thin doing too many things at once. Use every opportunity to learn, build new skills (I’m always taking online courses whether it is Coursera, Linkedin Learning, etc). And always be open to making new connections. Your net worth is directly tied to your network.
Open a high-yield savings account. Beginning with every penny earned, your side hustle money needs to be stored in a safe place earning as much interest as possible, even as you sleep. That’s just one example of passive income. An alternative to a high-yield savings account, or in addition to it, would be investing in stocks with a high dividend payout. Again, you want your money to continue making money even while you’re off the clock.
Finally, keep track of your net worth. Manage your finances and keep track of your side hustle money in one place. Do that while tracking your progress towards your financial goals and then I’m sure ultimately, retiring early. One free tool you can find online is Personal Capital.
Not all side hustles are created equal. The best side hustle is something you love that has loads of profit and growth potential. If you just want to fill some extra spare time, try making food deliveries or taking online surveys. Understand that you can make a ton of money in your spare time. Having the right mindset and strategy as you evaluate your side hustle ideas will help maximize the return on your time.
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Top 5 Stocks Eating Off ChatGPT, OpenAI
OpenAI introduced ChatGPT on November 30, and since then, it has demonstrated its ability to perform a variety of jobs, including writing stock stories, layoff emails, and even messages for dating apps. It is an illustration of generative AI, which is educated on enormous amounts of data and may produce text-based or even visual responses. Like any new fancy toy, the need to replicate and monetize is booming and many tech companies are scrambling to be the next best thing in the market. So who stands to gain the most for the next generation in tech and will this help resurrect a an ailing sector? Lets find out in today’s episode of Money Talk Sundayz.
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Welcome to Money Talk Sundayz. I'm your host Stevie Bee. For those tuning in via your favorite streaming platform hit that like and share button. You can also subscribe to the Money Talk Sundayz podcast. The link will be in the description box. For those viewing on YouTube, like, share, and subscribe. You can even hit the notification bell to receive the alerts of new videos dropping.
The rumor mill has gone into overdrive, and Microsoft is reportedly investing $10 billion in OpenAI. OpenAI is not listed on open markets, but public stocks related to artificial intelligence have been benefiting from the trend.
ChatGPT, the lazy man’s key to adequacy is here and everyone is catching the buzz. Since the phenom burst into the public eye, copycats have been popping up left and right clamoring for a piece of the pie.
It goes without saying that some of these imitators will be more successful than others. Others still will try to expand on the capabilities of this AI and make it more all-encompassing. One thing they have in common is the parts under the hood that they will need to get the engine running. It is for this reason, these 5 stocks are making major moves in the market currently.
Nvidia
The artificial intelligence mania is ingrained in Nvidia, which is best known for designing and manufacturing graphics processing chips. The company's technology is used for numerous AI integrations, from self-driving vehicles to robotics.
Jensen Huang, the company's creator and CEO, has become significantly wealthier as a result of the Nvidia stock boom; according to Bloomberg data, his worth has increased by more than $5 billion so far this year.
Also optimistic is Wall Street. According to recent estimates from Citigroup analysts, a surge in ChatGPT usage may result in $3 billion to $11 billion in sales for Nvidia over the course of the next year. According to the bank, Nvidia's ChatGPT might be a significant computational demand driver.
Nvidia's new chips, according to Wells Fargo and Bank of America analysts, are positioned to benefit from the increased compute demands of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools.
Ambarella
Another chip manufacturer that caters to the AI sector is Ambarella. It creates semiconductors for use in anything from cellphones to in-car entertainment systems.
Also, it specializes in "system on a chip" semiconductors, which enable artificial intelligence computing by fusing several core processors onto a single logic board.
Ambarella chips are utilized in autonomous driving systems, and the company recently collaborated with Continental, a German auto supplier, on an autonomous driving project.
Mobileye
Intel created Mobileye as a spinoff company that specializes in semiconductors and cameras for driver assistance and self-driving vehicles. Among its clients are GM, Ford, and VW. The company's SuperVision system is designed to be nearly entirely autonomous, and its Chauffeur product is intended to turn a car into a Level 4 self-driven vehicle.
The corporation announced a positive sales outlook for 2023 after exceeding quarterly expectations. CEO Amnon Shashua bragged about bookings of almost $17 billion that go all the way until 2030.
On a conference call with analysts, he stated, "We expect SuperVision to be a very substantial growth driver in 2023 and beyond."
C3.ai
The popularity of ChatGPT has helped C3.ai, a provider of artificial intelligence software, see a recent increase in stock price. On recent announcement that it would incorporate ChatGPT into its product lineup, shares increased by about 61%.
The most cutting-edge models, like ChatGPT and GPT-3, as well as the most recent AI capabilities from organizations like Open AI, Google, and academia are all integrated into the C3 Generative AI Product Suite, according to a news statement from C3.ai.
Alteryx
The software from Alteryx is well recognized for data and analytics, and the company is also committed to advancing automation. The company specializes on integrating artificial intelligence, albeit on a smaller scale than competitors like Google and Meta.
"Continuing success with large businesses helped Alteryx post a strong fourth quarter with annual recurring revenue (ARR) growth of 31% over the prior year. We ended the year on a high note and saw an increase in operating profitability "said Mark Anderson, the company's CEO. With improved sales and customer success activities, a broader array of services, including our extremely distinctive end-to-end Alteryx Analytics Cloud platform, we have a wonderful opportunity as we head into 2023 to continue to generate significant outcomes for our clients.
Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $301.1 million, an increase of 73%, compared to revenue of $173.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Are you already riding the wave?
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Celsius Bankruptcy Judge Rules Your Investments Belong to Celsius!
Crypto can’t seem to catch a break with the latest offender Celsius Network literally raw dogging its customers sans lube. What happened this time? Stay tuned.
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Welcome to Money Talk Sundayz. I'm your host Stevie Bee. For those tuning in via your favorite streaming platform hit that like and share button. You can also subscribe to the Money Talk Sundayz podcast. The link will be in the description box. For those viewing on YouTube, like, share, and subscribe. You can even hit the notification bell to receive the alerts of new videos dropping.
The cryptocurrency that Celsius Network LLC account holders deposited into Earn program accounts prior to the cryptocurrency lending company filing for Chapter 11 belongs to Celsius, and it is permitted to sell $18 million worth of those assets to continue funding its bankruptcy, a New York bankruptcy judge ruled on Wednesday.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn stated in a 45-page written opinion that he based his judgment on Celsius' "unambiguous terms of use."
According to the Court, the terms of use of Celsius "unambiguously transfer title and ownership of Earn assets deposited into Earn accounts from accounts holders to the debtors," creating "a genuine, enforceable contract" between Celsius and its account holders.
Once Celsius filed its Chapter 11 petition, the opinion stated that the cryptocurrency deposits were property of the bankruptcy estates.
Judge Glenn continued, "The court does not take lightly the implications of this judgement on ordinary persons, many of whom invested large funds into the Celsius platform.
The decision has an impact on over 600,000 accounts that, as of July 10, 2022, a few days before Celsius and six affiliates sought bankruptcy protection, contained cryptocurrency assets worth almost $4.2 billion.
It was in response to a motion Celsius made in September asking for permission to sell some of the stablecoin cryptocurrency in order to continue its bankruptcy cases.
After multiple parties expressed concerns, Celsius in November requested a court order establishing ownership of the cryptocurrency assets used in the Earn program.
Celsius offered its members the possibility to earn rewards on deposits of different digital assets including bitcoin and ether before it filed for bankruptcy.
Customers could deposit cryptocurrency through Earn accounts, which Celsius would then sweep into its main accounts and use to generate revenue. Customers who had these Earn accounts received rewards in the form of extra cryptocurrency, a practice that attracted regulatory attention.
According to Celsius, the conditions of usage of the company's earnings program explicitly state that participants are giving up their ownership rights to their assets in return for the incentives.
Federal and state officials contested the legality of the user agreement at a six-hour hearing convened by Judge Glenn in December on the crypto ownership arguments. Some objectors said that the agreement's eight different versions and phrasing caused confusion.
The motion received answers from nearly 30 creditors, 14 states, the committee of unsecured creditors, and the U.S. Trustee's Office, according to the opinion.
As of September 2022, Earn program accounts have almost $23 million in stablecoin, according to the opinion. Judge Glenn authorized Celsius to sell a portion for about $18 million to cover ongoing administrative costs.
According to the court's ruling on Wednesday, other Celsius programs including the Custody program, Withhold accounts, and the Borrow program do not have their assets determined as belonging to them.
The rights of any state or state authorities on whether Celsius broke state securities laws by promoting unregistered securities are not decided by the court's findings, according to Judge Glenn.
An inquiry for comments was not immediately answered by Celsius's representatives.
Josh A. Sussberg, Patrick J. Nash Jr., Ross M. Kwasteniet, Christopher S. Koenig, and Dan Latona of Kirkland & Ellis LLP are Celsius' legal counsel.
The matter is In re: Celsius Network LLC et al., case number 1:22-bk-10964 in the Southern District of New York's U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
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Coinbase $100M Settlement w/ NY DFS
Crypto is in the news again for all the wrong reasons but this time it is not for loss of crypto assets or fraud. Rather, it is the lack of fraud prevention and safeguards that has landed this well-known crypto firm in hot water. What company is it and what did they do? Let’s discuss.
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Following the discovery of "serious failings" in Coinbase Inc.'s anti-money laundering compliance regime, New York's financial services regulator struck a settlement with Coinbase Inc., one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, for $100 million, the agency announced on Wednesday.
According to the agreement with the New York State Department of Financial Services, Coinbase must pay the state a $50 million fine. As part of the settlement, Coinbase, a California-based company with licenses in New York, would also put $50 million into bolstering its compliance program over the following two years.
DFS Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris stated in a statement that "it is essential that all financial institutions protect their systems from bad actors, and the department's expectations with respect to consumer protection, cybersecurity, and anti-money laundering programs are just as stringent for cryptocurrency companies as they are for traditional financial services institutions."
According to Harris, "Coinbase failed to develop and sustain a practical compliance program that could keep up with its expansion." Because of this breakdown, the Coinbase platform was potentially exposed to illegal conduct, necessitating rapid departmental action, including the installation of an independent monitor.
Following the failure of FTX Trading Ltd., lawmakers, regulators, and law enforcement are putting pressure on the cryptocurrency business, which led to Wednesday's settlement. The settlement with DFS, according to Coinbase, is an important step in its commitment to "continuous improvement, our engagement with key regulators, and our push for greater compliance in the crypto space — for ourselves and others." Coinbase claims to have more than 108 million verified users and $101 billion in assets on its website.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said the company has made significant improvements in relation to its past failings and "remains committed to being a leader and role model in the crypto space, including partnering with regulators when it comes to compliance."
We think we've invested more in compliance than any other cryptocurrency exchange in the world, and we want our users to feel secure using our services, Grewal added.
The consent order issued on Wednesday states that DFS examined Coinbase in 2020 for the time frame of July 1, 2018, through December 31, 2019, and discovered serious flaws in a number of compliance areas, including its customer due diligence procedures and its screening program for the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department. The department also discovered that since 2017, Coinbase had been conducting insufficient yearly anti-money laundering risk assessments.
According to the settlement order, the department compelled Coinbase to employ a third-party consultant to evaluate its compliance program and provide areas for improvement. As a result, Coinbase adopted a remediation plan to strengthen its compliance program.
According to the ruling, the agency launched an enforcement inquiry into the compliance problems identified during the 2020 exam in 2021. The examination revealed weaknesses in Coinbase's compliance and sanctions management systems, as well as issues with the company's record-keeping procedures and ability to fulfill some reporting requirements to DFS.
The compliance order said that Coinbase did take specific actions to address the problems identified by the department and the independent consultant "in late 2020 and in 2021." "However, significant flaws persisted, and over the course of 2021, it became apparent that Coinbase's compliance system was unable to handle the expanding amount of Coinbase's activity, a scenario that was made worse by unprecedented expansion in its user base."
Coinbase's compliance situation "reached a catastrophic stage" during the DFS inquiry, according to DFS, including a backlog of more than 100,000 unreviewed transaction monitoring alerts by the end of 2021.
According to the consent order, one instance of illegal activity made possible by Coinbase occurred in the spring of 2021 when a person posing as an employee of an unnamed corporation was able to open an account on the company's behalf without authorization or the proper personal identification required by Coinbase policy.
The ruling stated that the requester filled out an online form to request a fifty-fold increase in the daily withdrawal cap, "which was granted despite a complete lack of account activity and, consequently, no evidence that the previous criteria were inadequate for the customer's activities."
The ruling stated that the individual transferred more than $150 million from the company's bank account, to which the individual had obtained unauthorized access, to the company's Coinbase account, converted the money into virtual currency, and then moved it to a wallet off of Coinbase's network.
Six days later, according to DFS, Coinbase discovered the activity and helped law enforcement with an investigation that ultimately resulted in the recovery of the cash.
In a memorandum of agreement agreed in February 2022 between DFS and Coinbase, Coinbase was required to hire an impartial monitor to look over any compliance issues. According to the consent order, the monitor concluded in August that Coinbase had strengthened its compliance procedures and made headway in addressing its flaws, "even if more improvement is required."
In an effort to address its problems and generally strengthen its compliance operation, Coinbase has recently devised a more focused remediation plan, according to DFS, and expended "quite substantial time and money."
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Market Declines, $TESLA Stock Fluctuates, SW Airlines, 2023 Wrap Up
The markets have had a difficult year, and the future seems even gloomier.
But there are a number of reasons to remain upbeat in the new year, according to investor Kari Firestone. When trading got underway on Wednesday morning, the main averages had barely altered. 3 points were added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Nasdaq Composite opened marginally down while the S&P 500 opened barely above the flat line. On Wednesday, stocks declined as investors made preparations for 2023 and the conclusion of a dismal year.
150 points, or 0.5%, were lost by the Dow Jones Industrial Average. S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both experienced declines of 0.6% and 0.8%, respectively.
Louis Navellier, the founder and chief investment officer of the growth investing firm Navellier & Associates, stated that stocks ultimately collectively clawed into the green but that it did not hold. After a lackluster start to the official Santa Claus rally, the market is doing its best to stay afloat on minimal volume. Since the hardest-hit industries are engaging in some bottom fishing, there has been some regression to the mean. #growth #investment #future #investing #trading #tesla #airlines #markets
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