Jeff Bezos' $80M Gulfstream G700: What Does This Purchase Say About Billionaire Spending?

Jeff Bezos' $80M Gulfstream G700: What Does This Purchase Say About Billionaire Spending?

Jeff Bezos’ $80M Gulfstream G700: What Does This Purchase Say About Billionaire Spending?

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos recently purchased a new $80 million ride: a Gulfstream G700. This advanced private jet – boasting cutting-edge tech, a spacious cabin, and exceptional range – adds yet another item to the billionaire’s list of millions-worth purchases.

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Among this collection are a megayacht worth around $500 million, a $42 million clock in the mountains of West Texas, a $65 million Gulfstream G-650ER (that’s another private jet), and a $23 million mansion – just some of the extravagant purchases Bezos can afford.

Billionaires like Bezos have long been associated with lavish lifestyles – with private jets, superyachts, and sprawling real estate portfolios. According to Business Insider, billionaires can typically afford to spend around $80 million per year.

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With a net worth of around $194 billion, the Gulfstream purchase is only 0.04% of Bezos’ wealth. For many, these purchases demonstrate how wide the economic divide is.

Billionaire spending habits frequently gain public attention because they show how significant the disparity between the top 1% and average citizens is. While many Americans struggle to afford basic amenities, don’t have enough saved for retirement, and face increasing financial uncertainty, billionaires like Bezos can afford to spend millions on luxury items.

Critics argue that billionaire spending highlights the wealth gap in the U.S., where the top 1% hold nearly as much wealth as the bottom 90%. Others defend billionaire spending, claiming it stimulates economic growth and job creation.

See Also: Amid the ongoing EV revolution, previously overlooked low-income communities now harbor a huge investment opportunity at just $500.

Bezos’s jet purchase may seem extreme, but it’s part of a larger pattern of wealth distribution. Billionaires invest heavily in purchases like yachts, islands, and art. In 2021, yacht sales increased as billionaires sought privacy and security during the pandemic. The art market also surged, with global sales reaching $64.1 billion in 2019.

Luxury goods industries thrive when high-net-worth individuals seek out these items and make continual purchases. The G700 purchase alone supports jobs, from engineers and manufacturers to pilots and crew.

That’s not to say that billionaires only spend their money on lavish lifestyles, though. Many billionaires are known for their philanthropic efforts. Warren Buffett, George Soros, and Lynn Schusterman give away 20% or more of their wealth, while others, like Bezos and Elon Musk, have given away less than 1% of their wealth.

Despite contributing less than others, Bezos has still made significant charitable contributions. He has pledged $10 billion to fight climate change. However, extravagant purchases like jets and yachts often overshadow these charitable efforts.

Trending: This billion-dollar fund has invested in the next big real estate boom, here’s how you can join for $10.

For those nearing retirement, the spectacle of billionaire spending can feel distant from your financial reality. However, it highlights important economic trends and questions about wealth distribution that may impact policies affecting retirement, taxation, and financial security.

That being said, talking with a financial advisor can help you navigate your important financial decisions, focusing on the purchases and choices within your grasp and helping you secure your financial future.

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This article Jeff Bezos’ $80M Gulfstream G700: What Does This Purchase Say About Billionaire Spending? originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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Dow Jones Futures Fall After Trump-Harris Debate; Inflation Data On Tap

Dow Jones futures fell modestly overnight, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures. The debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is over. The CPI inflation report is due early Wednesday.





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Stocks Mixed After Big Events; Exelixis, DaVita And JPMorgan Chase In Focus



The stock market rally had a mixed session Tuesday. The Nasdaq led while the S&P 500 moved back to the cusp of a key level.

Tesla (TSLA) jumped on continued strong China sales and other news. Nvidia (NVDA) rose slightly. Several software stocks, including Microsoft (MSFT), advanced as NYSE-listed Oracle (ORCL) gapped out of a base on earnings.

The Dow Jones fell modestly. Warnings from Dow components JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), as well as auto lending giant Ally Financial (ALLY), hit banks and lenders.

The video embedded in this articles discusses the current market action and analyzes Exelixis, DaVita and JPMorgan stock.

Dow Jones Futures Today

Dow Jones futures were 0.4% below fair value. S&P 500 futures declined 0.5% and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.6%.

Dow futures extended losses during and after the presidential debate, but it’s not clear if that was the driving force.

The Japanese yen hit its highest level vs. the dollar since Jan. 2, after a Bank of Japan policymaker signaled support for further rate hikes. The unwinding of the yen-carry trade has been a negative for markets.

Crude futures rose slightly.

Remember that overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn’t necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session.

Trump-Harris Presidential Debate

The Trump-Harris debate began at 9 p.m. ET. and ended more than 90 minutes later.

The presidential race is tight. So even a tiny post-debate shift could have outsized expectations.

It’s possible that whichever party wins the White House also will carry Congress, offering the opportunity for sweeping policy moves.

During the debate, Harris said she has “plan to lift up the middle class.” Trump said his tariffs got billions of dollars from China and didn’t cause inflation, while inflation spiked under Biden-Harris.

Harris said she supports “diverse sources” of energy while Trump said she’d never allow fracking in Pennsylvania.

The debate didn’t cover tax policy, perhaps the issue of most importance to financial markets.

Who won the debate? Well, prediction markets generally showed Harris gaining ground and Trump slipping in terms of who would win the election.

Trump Media and Technology Group (DJT), majority owned by Donald Trump, rose 3.3% to 18.63 in Tuesday’s trading. DJT stock often trades as a sentiment indicator toward Trump and his candidacy. Trump Media, which owns Truth Social, has scant revenue.


Join IBD experts as they analyze leading stocks and the market on IBD Live


CPI Inflation Report

The Labor Department will release the August consumer price index at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect a 0.2% monthly gain for the CPI and core CPI. CPI inflation should fall to 2.6% vs. a year earlier while core inflation holds at 2.9%.

On Thursday, Labor will release the producer price index.

The Fed has pivoted from inflation risks to economic growth worries, but a tame CPI and PPI could give policymakers more room the cut rates by 50 basis points on Sept. 18. Markets largely expect only a quarter-point Fed rate cut.

Stock Market Rally

The stock market rally had a mixed session Tuesday, though the indexes finished relatively well.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.2% in Tuesday’s stock market trading, but closing above the 21-day line. The S&P 500 index rose 0.45%, just below its 50-day line. The Nasdaq composite advanced 0.8%, still well below the 50-day line. The small-cap Russell 2000 lost a fraction, well off intraday lows.

The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) edged higher, just above the 21-day. Along with the Dow and a number of nontech sectors, RSP is holding up relatively well.

JPMorgan stock, Goldman and Ally helped lead sharp losses Tuesday in banks and lenders, though many other financials did just fine.

While the Nasdaq and S&P 500 rose for a second straight session, they are still trading within Friday’s bearish sell-off.

U.S. crude oil prices tumbled 4.3% to $65.75 a barrel, the lowest settlement since December 2021. OPEC, which delayed a planned production hike last week, cut global oil demand forecasts once again. Weak China imports also hurt.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell 5 basis points to 3.64%, a fresh 52-week low.

ETFs

Among growth ETFs, the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) rose 1.6%, buoyed by Oracle, Microsoft and a few other big names. The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) climbed 0.95%. Nvidia stock is the No. 1 member in SMH.

Reflecting more-speculative story stocks, ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) rallied 1.5% and ARK Genomics ETF (ARKG) gained 1.8%. Tesla stock is a major holding across Ark Invest’s ETFs. Cathie Wood also has taken a big position in NVDA stock in recent months.

SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) advanced 0.5%. The Energy Select SPDR ETF (XLE) slumped 1.7% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) rose 0.5%

The Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) edged up 0.2%.

The Financial Select SPDR ETF (XLF) fell 1%. JPM stock and Goldman Sachs are big XLF holdings.


Time The Market With IBD’s ETF Market Strategy


Stocks In Buy Zones

Exelixis (EXEL), DaVita (DVA) and On Holding (ONON) are in buy areas, all bouncing slightly off their 21-day lines. EXEL stock rose 3.1%, breaking a short downtrend in an emerging base after an early August earnings breakout. DaVita stock climbed 2.2%, continuing to trade within a flat-base buy zone. ONON stock advanced 2%, holding a 44.30 buy point.

Nvidia stock and DaVita are on IBD Leaderboard. DaVita was Tuesday’s IBD Stock Of The Day.

JPMorgan, Ally Hit Lenders

JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs sold off 5.2% and 4.4%, respectively. Both tumbled below buy points and their 50-day lines. JPMorgan warned of lower net interest income while Goldman sees weaker trading revenue.

Ally Financial warned of weaker credit and net interest income trends. Ally Financial dived 17.6%. That added to lenders’ misery, while also knocking auto dealers like Carvana (CVNA) as well as automakers such as General Motors (GM).

Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr said Tuesday that the biggest U.S. banks face a 9% hike in capital requirements as part of changes related to Basel III global standards. But that hike, well off initial plans, was largely expected.

Tesla Stock

Tesla stock rose 4.6% to 226.17, moving above the 50-day line.

The latest weekly Tesla sales in China were strong once again, turning positive year to date. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank initiated TSLA stock at a buy with a $295 price target.

Shares pared gains as the market wavered. Ally Financial’s warning also may have affected Tesla.

Tesla stock has a 271 official buy point. Investors could use the Sept. 5 high of 235 as a new early entry.

What To Do Now

With the stock market rally still struggling, it’s not a good time for new buys.

But a large number of stocks across a variety of sectors are setting up or close to being in position. So investors need to track those names and stay engaged with the market.

Read The Big Picture every day to stay in sync with the market direction and leading stocks and sectors.

Please follow Ed Carson on Threads at @edcarson1971 and X/Twitter at @IBD_ECarson for stock market updates and more.

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Maduro Blows Through Venezuela’s Dollar Stockpile in New Threat to Regime

(Bloomberg) — Since declaring himself the winner of July’s presidential vote, Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro has been condemned by governments across the world, targeted by massive street protests and spurned by some of his closest allies.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Now, a new problem is emerging for the authoritarian leader: The bolivar has tumbled in unofficial markets to trade as much as 20% weaker than the official rate, the biggest gap since 2022, as the supply of dollars that the government pumps into the financial system dries up. Maduro, it seems, blew through a big chunk of the money the country stockpiled in the run-up to the election, spending on campaign rallies in a futile attempt to court voters and win legitimately.

The growing crisis threatens to revive a cycle of rapid inflation and currency debasement that sent Venezuela into a tailspin when economic output collapsed an estimated 80% over the past decade. Maduro had managed to stabilize the bolivar and slow price increases in the past two years by imposing austerity and keeping a lid on money printing, providing a dose of relief for Venezuelans that’s now at risk.

The bolivar is overvalued at the official rate and the government needs to allow it to weaken, according to José Manuel Puente, an economist at the Institute of Higher Education in Administration, a private business school in Caracas.

“The government decided to keep the exchange rate anchored for political and electoral reasons,” he said in an interview. “The imbalance will end as it always does in Venezuela: with a large exchange rate adjustment, probably with an inflationary shock, and with an economic slowdown or recession.”

Now, as Maduro dismisses demands from foreign governments, protesters and the political opposition for an audit of the election results, his administration has seemed to recognize the precariousness of the economic situation. At the end of last month, officials announced plans to reduce reserve requirements for banks in a bid to spur lending in the moribund local credit market.

The biggest pain point, however, is in the currency market, where demand for greenbacks has overwhelmed the limited supply offered by the central bank, reviving a parallel market used to skirt supply shortages and controls. In unofficial markets it takes 43.5 bolivars to buy a dollar. That compares with 36.5 per dollar at the government rate.

But it’s very difficult to access that official rate: The local supply of hard currency was constrained as the central bank limited sales to just $300 million last month, a third of what it offered in July when the government increased spending around the presidential election, according to estimates by Caracas-based financial analysis firm Ecoanalítica.

In the run-up to the vote, Maduro covered the capital in ads, billboards and murals, and staged almost daily campaign events across the country that often included musical acts and elaborate production. All that spending compelled the central bank to step up dollar sales to mop up the excess supply of bolivars unleashed by government spending.

“That is not waste,” Maduro said on state television Tuesday, reacting to the article. “It’s the necessary investment for the country to continue its course, step by step, toward a full and complete recovery.”

The central bank is in a jam partly because the bolivar is overvalued given the rate of inflation. Maduro’s government allowed it to weaken just 0.1% last month, creating an imbalance in a country where monthly inflation is running at 1.4%.

“With no supply at the official market, that demand moves to the parallel market,” said Asdrúbal Oliveros, the head of Ecoanalítica. “This creates a lot of pressure for the private sector, which must compensate by increasing dollar prices to offset smaller margins.”

The high cost of living is already a burden on Venezuelans, 82% of whom live in poverty, and could set off a new wave of migration, adding to the almost 8 million people who have fled the country since 2015. At the peak of the crisis, prices were soaring 130,000% a year.

For now, Maduro continues to follow the playbook of autocratic leaders before him. Over the weekend, the opposition presidential candidate who ran against him, Edmundo González, fled the country under threat of arrest. While Maduro claims to have won with 52% support, the opposition says it has evidence showing a win for González.

Amid the upheaval, Venezuelan businesses need a weaker bolivar to better compete with imports, according to Adán Celis, president of the country’s largest business association, Fedecámaras.

Business representatives have asked the government to let the bolivar slide so that the industry can “take a breath,” he said.

(Updates with comments from Maduro in the 10th paragraph.)

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Market Digest: REG

Biden Faces Pressure To Release Thousands Imprisoned For Federal Cannabis Convictions

A coalition of cannabis advocates is ramping up pressure on President Joe Biden to act on his promise of cannabis justice.

On Tuesday, the Last Prisoner Project (LPP) and several partner organizations announced the Countdown for Clemency campaign, urging Biden to grant clemency to nearly 3,000 individuals still incarcerated for federal marijuana offenses, Marijuana Moment reported.

See Also: President Biden Pardons, Commutes 16 Non-Violent Drug Offenders: Cannabis Prisoners Excluded

Activists Call For Broader Action

Despite Biden’s past efforts, which included pardoning thousands of people with federal cannabis possession convictions, no one has been released from prison as a result.

The new campaign is pushing the president to use his clemency powers to right this wrong. “Time is running out on President Biden’s term, but it is not too late for him to undo the harms inflicted on families impacted by cannabis criminalization,” said Sarah Gersten, executive director of LPP.

The campaign’s website features a large countdown clock, symbolizing the dwindling time before Biden’s term ends. While Biden’s pardons have helped people clear their records, the administration has not commuted the sentences of those still behind bars for cannabis-related offenses.

Recent polls show that Americans overwhelmingly support clemency for those incarcerated for marijuana offenses, now legal in many states. 84% of voters support releasing people serving time for cannabis crimes, while 72% approve of Biden’s previous pardons for non-violent possession convictions.

Congressional Push Adds Weight

The campaign for clemency has gained momentum in Congress, where 36 lawmakers wrote to Biden in March, urging him to commute the sentences of non-violent cannabis offenders.

Biden, however, has maintained a cautious stance. At a Wisconsin campaign stop earlier this year, he expressed his support for rescheduling marijuana but drew a distinction between users and dealers. “If you’re out selling it, if you’re out growing, it’s a different deal,” Biden said.

The Clock Is Ticking As November Elections Loom

With the 2024 election approaching, the administration appears aware of the growing public demand for cannabis reform.

Both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have emphasized their efforts to address the issue, including a carefully timed announcement on April 20, a significant date in cannabis culture.

Harris has also publicly called on the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to speed up its review of marijuana’s classification under federal law.

With only months left in Biden’s presidency, the clock is ticking for thousands of individuals still serving time for cannabis offenses.

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MAA to Participate in the BofA Securities 2024 Global Real Estate Conference

GERMANTOWN, Tenn., Sept. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc., or MAA MAA, today announced that members of MAA senior management will participate in a round table presentation at the BofA Securities 2024 Global Real Estate Conference.  The presentation will take place on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, at approximately 2:15 p.m. Eastern Time.

A live webcast of the company’s presentation will be accessible through the “Corporate Profile” section of the “For Investors” page of MAA’s website at www.maac.com on the day of the event.

About MAA
MAA is a self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT) and member of the S&P 500. MAA owns or has ownership interest in apartment communities primarily throughout the Southeast, Southwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. focused on delivering strong, full-cycle investment performance. For further details, please refer to the “For Investors” page at www.maac.com or contact Investor Relations at investor.relations@maac.com.

Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/maa-to-participate-in-the-bofa-securities-2024-global-real-estate-conference-302242466.html

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The Fed backpedals and unveils a scaled-back proposal for bank capital requirements

The Federal Reserve unveiled plans that would massively scale back a proposal to raise capital requirements for banks after politicians and the banking industry pushed back on the initial plan, warning it could restrict lending and hurt the economy.

The new proposal would increase capital levels for big banks like JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC) by 9% in aggregate, down by half from the original plan from more than a year ago, which set the capital increase to around 19% for those institutions.

Banks with assets between $100 billion and $250 billion, which were initially subject to the stricter standards of the largest banks, would also no longer be subject to the increases — other than the requirement to recognize unrealized gains and losses of their securities portfolios in regulatory capital. This a major reversal following the string of regional bank failures last year that was touched off by Silicon Valley Bank.

“Capital has costs too,” Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr said Tuesday at an event in Washington hosted by the Brookings Institution. “As compared to debt, capital is a more expensive source of funding to the bank. Thus, higher capital requirements can raise the cost of funding to a bank, and the bank can pass higher costs on to households, businesses, and clients engaged in a range of financial activities.”

Read more: How do banks make money?

UNITED STATES - JULY 10: Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies during the House Financial Services Committee hearing titled

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies during the House Financial Services Committee hearing on July 10, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) (Tom Williams via Getty Images)

Barr defended the change to largely exclude banks with assets between $100 billion and $250 billion from the capital requirements of the largest banks — but for the unrealized losses on securities in capital requirements. He said he felt that addressed the heart of the issue seen with Silicon Valley Bank, a bank that failed because of poor interest rate risk management.

He also emphasized that the backpedaling for the capital requirements for the smaller subset of banks stemmed from their feeling that extra capital wouldn’t impact their safety.

“Do we really need them to go through all of the process of creating new systems to comply with this new capital rule when there’s no capital impact on how safe they are,” Barr said. “That didn’t seem like a trade-off worth making.”

The new version of this plan, known as Basel III endgame, comes after months of anticipation after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said as far back as March that the central bank sought “broad material changes” to the initial proposal and was looking to secure a consensus from the Federal Reserve board.

When it was first released more than a year ago, the capital plan was met with immediate disagreement and division among Fed officials, who questioned whether the plan could actually do more harm than good in its initial form.

Fed governor Michelle Bowman argued that the plan needed “substantive changes” and that an increase in capital requirements at the scale proposed by regulators could significantly harm the economy. Fed governor Chris Waller also argued the plan needed a major overhaul.

Barr said the changes reflect the feedback the Fed received from the public, improve the tiering of the proposal, and better reflect risks. Barr said the Fed worked “hand in glove” with the FDIC and the Office of the Comptroller for the Currency for “many, many months” on the new proposed rules. He also said he spent a lot of time working with his Fed colleagues on the board in developing this proposal.

“I do expect it will have broad support,” when asked whether the Fed board supports the re-proposal.

In his speech, he stressed that the new plans are far from final and that the Fed, along with the Office of the Comptroller for the Currency and FDIC, “have not made final decisions on any aspect of the re-proposals, including those that are not explicitly addressed in the re-proposal.”

“This is an interim step,” he said.

The Fed is putting the new proposal out for comment. The comment period will last 60 days. After that, whenever the Fed finalizes the rule, banks will have a year before implementation begins, and then there will be a phase-in period for all the provisions.

The comment period, which was initially set for Nov. 30 of last year after being proposed in July 2023, was extended to January 2024 following letters submitted by banks to the Fed listing the many problems they had with the rules along with an aggressive lobbying effort.

Among the top concerns was that the Fed’s proposed capital requirements would make costs of several banking activities, from residential mortgage and small business lending to trading, more expensive with such a dynamic potentially embedding higher costs into economic activity.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon even argued the capital plan could cause inflation to rise by way of increasing capital requirements for hedging, which will trickle down to consumers in the form of higher prices for everything from a can of soda to meat products.

Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, attends a hearing on Annual Oversight of Wall Street Firms before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in Washington, D.C., the United States, on Dec. 6, 2023. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, attends a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 6, 2023. (Aaron Schwartz/Xinhua via Getty Images) (Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images)

Read more: What is inflation, and how does it affect you?

The proposed changes unveiled Thursday are part of an effort by bank regulators to follow through on the US version of an international accord known as Basel III, which was developed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.

The goal of the Basel committee, which was convened by the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, was to set global regulatory capital standards so that banks would have enough in reserves to cover unforeseen losses and survive crises.

Bank regulators across the US, UK, and Europe began rolling out the last version of this accord following the 2007 to 2009 global financial crisis. It was agreed to in 2017, but in the US, the proposal was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Europe and the UK have each moved forward with adopting capital cushion increases in the single digits and are now in the implementation phases.

Bar also said that the Fed is looking at the agency’s large bank stress tests, another measuring stick for how regulators set bank capital cushions in the event of severe market shocks.

“We are attentive to the interactions across all components of our capital framework as well as the combined burden and benefits, and we take these issues seriously,” Barr added.

Though the revised plans may not be final yet, they will play a significant role in overall bank earnings and how much lenders can give back capital to shareholders.

“That’s going to be an important factor as we think about how much more we want to do and when in the way of [stock] buybacks,” Citigroup CFO Mark Mason said Monday at a conference in New York.

If the full proposal comes out in September, “expect banks to comment on how much their excess capital will increase vs. current rule during October earnings calls,” Morgan Stanley analyst Betsy Graseck said in a Tuesday note.

This post was updated to reflect breaking news developments.

David Hollerith is a senior reporter for Yahoo Finance covering banking, crypto, and other areas in finance.

Jennifer Schonberger is a veteran financial journalist covering markets, the economy, and investing. At Yahoo Finance she covers the Federal Reserve, cryptocurrencies, and the intersection of business and politics. Follow her on X @Jenniferisms.

Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices

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Barnes & Noble Education Stock Slips Following Q1 Results

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. BNED reported its first-quarter financial results after Tuesday’s closing bell. Here’s a look at the details from the report. 

The Details: Barnes & Noble Education reported quarterly sales of $263.4 million, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $268.321 million by 1.83% and is a 0.29% from the same period last year. The company said it is a highly seasonal business, and the first quarter is historically a period of low sales activity for the company.

The decrease in quarterly revenue was primarily driven by a net decrease in physical locations, many of which were closures of underperforming stores, the company said. Revenues from BNC First Day programs increased approximately $19.6 million, or 32%, helping to offset much of the decline.

Read Next: What’s Going On With Apple Stock Following iPhone 16 Release?

“It was a very busy quarter as we completed our milestone equity and refinancing transactions and worked hard to prepare for the upcoming Fall Rush with our store teams, vendors and other business partners. We are excited by the momentum and fresh energy as we enter the new academic year,” said Jonathan Shar, CEO of Barnes & Noble Education.

Outlook: The company anticipates spending approximately $20 million on capital expenditures in fiscal year 2025, with the bulk of those investments focused on store improvements and technology. Barnes & Noble Education did not provide formal guidance, but said “management’s budget goals target a material improvement in fiscal year 2025 GAAP operating results and Adjusted EBITDA versus last year.”

BNED Price Action: According to Benzinga Pro, Barnes & Noble Education shares are down 5.13% after-hours at $10.27 after dropping 5% in regular trading Tuesday.

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Photo: Mediamodifier from Pixabay

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‘Choose Wisely’: Morgan Stanley Says Buy These Defensive, Quality Stocks

The big news recently concerned the August jobs report, which came in below expectations. The softness in the jobs market spooked investors, and market watchers are now looking to the Fed’s next meeting, and an anticipated cut in the key funds rate.

So, where does the stock market go from here? The overall trend of the past year remains bullish, and investors aren’t fleeing the market – yet. But the question remains, where should investors start putting their money? A recent report from Morgan Stanley’s chief US equity strategist, Mike Wilson, suggests buying stocks that show a combination of defensive positions and overall quality.

“Until the bond market starts to believe the Fed is no longer behind the curve (spread between 2-year yield and Fed Funds narrows), growth data reverses course and improves materially or additional policy stimulus is introduced, it will be difficult for equity markets to trade with a more risk on tone, in our view,” Wilson said. “This means valuations are likely to remain challenged for the overall index… In such an environment, quality + defensive equities should continue to show outperformance.”

The stock analysts at Morgan Stanley are following this lead, and pointing out solid defensive plays that should command investor attention going forward. We’ve used the database at TipRanks to look at the broader picture on two of these quality defensive stocks, so let’s take a dive into the details.

Johnson Controls (JCI)

We’ll start with Johnson Controls, maybe not a household name but a well-known player in the world of HVAC. Johnson Controls is a Fortune 500 name, boasts a market cap of almost $46 billion, and generated $26.8 billion in its fiscal year 2023, its most recent full fiscal year. The company has built its success on the basic necessity of the core service it provides: HVAC, fire control, and safety/security systems for commercial and office spaces.

Johnson Controls has been in business since 1885, when it was founded as an electric service provider. The company’s longevity is a distinct asset – this is a firm that knows how to adapt to changing times, and can show investors a long record of success. The company operates at a global scale, in more than 150 countries, and employs approximately 100,000 people. Johnson is known for integrating the latest technologies into its ‘smart building systems,’ including AI and machine learning, without forgetting the basics of the hands-on mechanical technology.

Earlier this summer, Johnson Controls made an important change, when it announced an agreement to sell off its Residential and Light Commercial HVAC business division. The buyer, Bosch, will acquire this segment of Johnson in a transaction valued at $8.1 billion; JCI’s consideration of the total comes to $6.7 billion. The move will turn Johnson Controls into a pure-play provider of ‘comprehensive solutions for commercial buildings.’

Also in July of this year, Johnson Controls announced the pending retirement of CEO George Oliver after 7 years in the position. Oliver will remain at the helm until a replacement chief executive is appointed, and will continue as chairman of the Board of Directors.

Turning to the financial side, we find that Johnson Controls reported a top line of $7.2 billion in its last quarter, fiscal 3Q24. This figure was up a modest 1% year-over-year, but missed the forecast by $140 million. At the bottom line, the company reported an EPS of $1.14 in non-GAAP measures, beating the estimates by 6 cents per share.

For Morgan Stanley analyst Chris Snyder, the key here is this company’s solid position in its niche, and a sound outlook going forward. As he writes, “JCI portfolio transformation brings attractive risk-reward as the company is now a pureplay provider of commercial building solutions (HVAC, Controls, Fire & Safety) – resulting in a more durable business and providing a re-rating opportunity. We see ~30% pro-forma service mix and increased exposure to industrial mega-trends (Data Center, US Reshoring) pushing the equity into a more premium comp group. While our math pegs pro-forma F’26 EPS L-MSD below existing operations, this can be offset with relatively minor cost take (~4% of divested sales). What’s left is largely unchanged EPS for a high-quality business while JCI equity continues to trade at 2-3 turn discount vs the peer group.”

These comments support Snyder’s Overweight (Buy) rating on the stock, and his price target, of $85, indicates an upside of 24% for the year ahead. (To watch Snyder’s track record, click here)

This stock sports a Moderate Buy rating from the Street’s analysts, based on 13 reviews that include 7 Buys and 6 Holds. The shares are priced at $68.60 and the $75.92 average price target implies a one-year upside potential of almost 11%. (See JCI stock forecast)

General Dynamics (GD)

The second stock we’ll look at here is General Dynamics, an aerospace and technology manufacturing company – and one of the major defense contractors working in the US economy. General Dynamics was founded in 1893 and focused on the development of submarines as the Holland Torpedo Boat Company; it provided the Navy’s first modern subs as early as 1900. Since then, it has only grown. It provided 80 submarines for the US Navy during the Second World War, and expanded into the aerospace industry after the war. It changed its name to General Dynamics in 1952, and since then, it has built a reputation as an innovator, with a hand in the development of the F-111 strike aircraft and, later, developing and building the wildly successful F-16 fighter.

Today, General Dynamics operates through four business divisions: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The company’s highest profile products today come from the Marine Systems division, where the Bath Iron Works and the Electric Boat segments produce, respectively, the Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and its nuclear-powered submarines. In addition, the Aerospace division includes the famous Gulfstream jets.

In recent months, General Dynamics has secured several important contracts, showing how the company remains relevant to the defense industry. It started the month of August by announcing a $174 million contract for retrofit, repair, and support of the US Army’s Stryker vehicles, and followed this later in the month with a $1.32 billion contract modification that allows it to purchase ‘long lead time’ materials for the Virginia-class nuclear submarine program. And, in early September, GD secured a $491 million modification to an Air Force contract, for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture Ground Management and Integration program, ongoing in Huntsville, Alabama and Grand Forks, North Dakota.

General Dynamics last reported earnings results for 2Q24, and in that quarter, top line revenues came to $12 billion – up 18% from the prior-year period and beating expectations by $500 million. The bottom line EPS figure of $3.26, while up more than 20% year-over-year, missed the forecast by 7 cents per share.

On the balance sheet, General Dynamics finished the quarter with $1.4 billion in cash on hand – after paying out $389 million in total dividends, repurchasing $34 million worth of stock, and investing $201 million in capital expenditures. Looking forward, the company can lean on a $91.3 billion work backlog.

Kristine Liwag, one of Morgan Stanley’s 5-star analysts, covers this defense giant, and in her coverage she notes that the company has plenty of strengths: “We see GD with a premier balance sheet and strong prospects for capital return upside. A refreshed line-up of new Gulfstream aircraft coupled with strong demand for GD’s defense products (e.g., ammo, ground vehicles) together present strong earnings growth potential… We see GD entering a unique period of margin acceleration.”

To quantify her stance, Liwag rates GD shares as Overweight (Buy), and her $345 price target indicates room for a 14.5% gain in the next 12 months. (To watch Liwag’s track record, click here)

This stock has earned a Strong Buy consensus rating from the analysts, with the 16 recent recommendations breaking down to 13 Buys and 3 Holds. The stock’s $301.56 trading price and $329.13 average target price together suggest an upside of 9% by this time next year. (See GD stock forecast)

To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

S&P 500 Rally Hits a Wall as Big Banks Sound Alarm: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — A rally in the world’s biggest technology companies lifted stocks, countering a slew of cautious comments from American bank executives that sent financial shares tumbling.

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Tesla Inc. led gains in megacaps. Oracle Corp. hit an all-time high. JPMorgan Chase & Co. sank more than 5% after tempering its earnings optimism. Bank of America Corp. said investment-banking results will come in lower than some on Wall Street expected. Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. signaled its trading unit is on course to drop 10% from the prior year. Ally Financial Inc. flagged intensifying credit deterioration among its borrowers.

Traders also weighed election risks ahead of the first debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. The match-up promises more clarity for investors who’ve already spent months parsing campaign-trail language around tax proposals, tariff projections, government spending plans and policies on energy, electric vehicles, health care and more.

In the run-up to the consumer price index, a 22V Research survey showed that 56% of respondents believe that core inflation is on a “Fed-friendly glide path”. Meantime, the share of investors expecting a recession has stayed elevated. Roughly 48% of investors surveyed expect the reaction to CPI to be “mixed/negligible,” 32% said “risk-on” and only 20% “risk-off.”

“Given the market’s aggressive expectations for Fed rate cuts, a hotter reading should lead to downside volatility,” said Sameer Samana at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “A cooler print has more two-way risk as it creates more room for the Fed to cut, but may also indicate the economy is slowing faster than anticipated.”

The S&P 500 rose 0.45%. The Nasdaq 100 added 0.9%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%. A Bloomberg gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” megacaps jumped 1.5%. The Russell 2000 of small firms was little changed. The KBW Bank Index sank 1.8%.

Treasury 10-year yields dropped six basis points to 3.64%. Brent futures slid below $70 as oversupply fears deepened.

US equities are unlikely to slump 20% or more as the risk of a recession remains low against expected interest-rate cuts from the Fed, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists.

The team led by Christian Mueller-Glissmann said while stocks could decline into the year end — hurt by higher valuations, a mixed growth outlook and policy uncertainty — the odds of an outright bear market are slim as the economy is also in part being supported by a “healthy private sector.”

Moreover, a historical analysis by the strategists shows that declines of over 20% in the S&P 500 have become less frequent since the 1990s, driven by longer business cycles, lower macroeconomic volatility and “buffering” from central banks.

BofA’s clients were net buyers of $2.4 billion of US equities as the S&P 500 logged its worst week since March 2023, quantitative strategists led by Jill Carey Hall said Tuesday.

Eight of 11 sectors saw inflows last week — led by technology. Communication services received the second-biggest inflow, extending 23 weeks of gains. Clients ditched real estate, industrials and materials stocks.

“Expectations of easier monetary policy has created a positive backdrop for markets, but because tech stocks have become so overvalued, any market positivity is now seen more in the undervalued areas of the market, rather than the overvalued parts of the market,” said David Bahnsen at The Bahnsen Group. “ Many investors who have been focused on big tech are ignoring valuations, which is one of the most important metrics.”

Corporate Highlights:

  • Tesla Inc. rallied on a bullish call from Deutsche Bank AG analysts.

  • Apple Inc. lost its court fight over a €13 billion ($14.4 billion) Irish tax bill and Google lost its challenge over a €2.4 billion fine for abusing its market power, in a double boost to the European Union’s crackdown on Big Tech.

  • Southwest Airlines Co. is requiring all of its pilots to undergo additional training at its Dallas base after a series of flight incidents this year triggered an enhanced safety review by US regulators.

  • German carmakers are sinking deeper into a crisis undermining the future of the country’s most important industry, with BMW AG warning that profits will get hit by a costly brake problem and Volkswagen AG scrapping job protections that workers have enjoyed for three decades.

Key events this week:

  • US CPI, Wednesday

  • Japan PPI, Thursday

  • ECB rate decision, Thursday

  • US initial jobless claims, PPI, Thursday

  • Eurozone industrial production, Friday

  • Japan industrial production, Friday

  • U. Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

  • The S&P 500 rose 0.45% as of 4 p.m. New York time

  • The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.9%

  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%

  • The MSCI World Index rose 0.2%

  • Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 1.5%

  • The Russell 2000 Index was little changed

  • KBW Bank Index fell 1.8%

Currencies

  • The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed

  • The euro was little changed at $1.1027

  • The British pound was little changed at $1.3086

  • The Japanese yen rose 0.6% to 142.31 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

  • Bitcoin rose 1.7% to $57,974.81

  • Ether rose 1.7% to $2,381.06

Bonds

  • The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined six basis points to 3.64%

  • Germany’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 2.13%

  • Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 3.82%

Commodities

  • West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.7% to $66.19 a barrel

  • Spot gold rose 0.4% to $2,517.30 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

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©2024 Bloomberg L.P.

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