Clock is ticking for US recession, return of Fed’s QE, says black swan fund

By Davide Barbuscia and Carolina Mandl NEW YORK (Reuters) – The first interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve signals a U.S. recession is imminent and a dramatic drop in financial markets could once again force the U.S. central bank to come to the rescue by buying bonds, said tail-risk hedge fund Universa. The Fed said last week it started cutting rates to recalibrate monetary policy and to maintain strength in the labor market. With … Read more…

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Indexes Edge Higher – by Justin Vaughn

(Justin Vaughn, Editor, Options Trading Report) After all the hoopla, after Mr. Powell’s giant release of the half point rate cut, markets drifted with the indexes all closing a slight bit higher for the week, but very uneventful. Still the Dow Jones Industrial Average managed a new record high, over 42000 after a spirited move on Wednesday, supported by good data on Labor and lower interest rates. By Friday it was back to a ho-hum … Read more…

Wall St rises on upbeat US economic data

By Echo Wang (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Thursday, with the S&P 500 scoring a record high, as Micron Technology shares jumped, while a strong U.S. jobless claims report eased concerns over the labor market. Micron Technology rose 15.33% after the memory chip maker projected first-quarter revenue above expectations, highlighting strong demand for memory chips used in artificial intelligence computing. The broader Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index gained 3.53% as most chip stocks … Read more…

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OpenAI chair says board has discussed equity compensation for CEO Sam Altman

(Reuters) -OpenAI’s chairman Bret Taylor on Thursday said the board has discussed whether to compensate CEO Sam Altman with equity but no decision has been made. In a statement, he said no specific figures have been discussed for any equity compensation for Altman. Reuters reported on Wednesday that OpenAI is working on a plan to restructure its core business into a for-profit benefit corporation and that Altman would receive equity for the first time in … Read more…

Microsoft to make $2.7 billion cloud, AI investments in Brazil

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Microsoft on Thursday pledged to invest 14.7 billion reais ($2.70 billion) in Brazil over three years to enhance its cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence (AI) in Latin America’s largest economy. WHY IT’S IMPORTANT The amount is the largest-ever investment to be announced at once in Brazil by Microsoft, which said massive adoption of AI could add as much as 4.2 percentage points to Brazil’s economic growth by the end of the … Read more…

Alphabet to invest $3.3 billion for two data centers in South Carolina

(Reuters) – Alphabet plans to invest $3.3 billion in South Carolina to build two new data centers, CEO Sundar Pichai said, at a time when the Google parent and its rivals invest heavily in infrastructure supporting the development of AI applications. The search engine giant will establish the two new data center campuses in Dorchester County and expand its existing data center campus in Berkeley County, the South Carolina governor’s office said in a statement … Read more…

PayPal to allow cryptocurrency buying, holding and selling for US merchants

(Reuters) -PayPal Holdings announced on Wednesday it is enabling U.S. merchants to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency from their business accounts. Cryptocurrency has moved from being a nascent asset class towards greater market acceptance after bitcoin exchange traded funds were approved for listing by the U.S. SEC earlier in the year. “Business owners have increasingly expressed a desire for the same cryptocurrency capabilities available to consumers,” said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, Senior Vice President of … Read more…

Micron forecasts upbeat first-quarter revenue on strong demand for memory chips

(Reuters) -Micron Technology forecast first-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, betting on strong demand for its high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used by the AI industry, sending the company’s shares up 10% after the bell. The company is one of the only three providers of HBM chips along with South Korea’s SK Hynix and Samsung, which has allowed the U.S. firm to cash in on demand for semiconductors that help power generative AI … Read more…

Pfizer withdraws sickle cell disease treatment from all markets

(Reuters) -U.S. drugmaker Pfizer said on Wednesday it is withdrawing its sickle cell disease therapy Oxbryta in all markets where it is approved and discontinuing all studies and access programs related to the treatment. The decision is based on the totality of clinical data, which now indicates that the benefit of Oxbryta no longer outweighs the risks associated with its use, Pfizer said. The company added that the data for Oxbryta shows that there is … Read more…

Meta unveils AR glasses prototype, Zuckerberg’s ‘time machine’ to future

By Katie Paul MENLO PARK, California (Reuters) -Facebook owner Meta Platforms showed off its first working prototype of augmented-reality glasses, called Orion, during its annual Connect conference on Wednesday, as the California company sketched out its aspirations for products that would bring the virtual world into the real one. “This is the physical world with holograms overlaid on it,” Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said after pulling out the chunky black glasses from a metal case … Read more…

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