General Electric Is Shockingly One of the Hottest Stocks of 2018

We're only finishing up the first trading week of 2018, and it's already proving eventful. For starters, stocks are following through on 2017's uber-bullish price action. The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed the 25,000 level for the first time in history this week, and investors are looking to even more upside in the year ahead. But the best-performing Dow component this year may surprise you. It's not last year's high-flyer Boeing Co. (BA) , or tech giant Apple Inc. (AAPL) . It's serial laggard General Electric (GE) . GE is up around 6.3% year-to-date, outperforming the rest of the market in a big way in the early days of 2018. And as GE's chart shows now, this could just be the beginning

This person asked the internet if it was necessary to save so much for retirement — the response was surprising

When VintageBurtMacklin, as the Reddit user goes by, asked why everyone is advised to “save so much for retirement” — and if it is really the right move — the commenters of the personal finance thread of the online discussion site responded in full force. Apparently, they have been paying attention to the news of the looming retirement crisis affecting the country. VintageBurtMacklin shared his scenario: he took a new job after welcoming a new baby, and analyzed his budget, keeping in mind the typical advice that retirement savings should be maxed out before moving on to other financial goals, such as paying off a house or saving for college and new cars. “While I understand the importance of

An Extreme Stock Market Means Gold Prices Will Keep Rallying

After a solid year, gold is looking very positive in 2018 and beyond, according to Tocqueville Asset Management. In a recently published year-end investor letter, Tocqueville's senior portfolio manager John Hathaway said that a new gold rally could be triggered by several factors, including extreme valuations of financial market assets, a worsening U.S. fiscal position, and rising inflation pressures. "Renewed interest in gold will be triggered by financial-market losses," he said in the letter. "Valuation excesses signify systemic risk." Hathaway reminded investors that risks and costs of holding physical gold are low, which makes it "a cheap insurance on a possible significant retreat from

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  The Fed is sending mixed messages about interest rates — and Wall Street is trying to figure out what it all means

  Business Insider
• The Cryptocurrency Market Isn't Fair, Which Is Exactly Why It's So Successful

  The Motley Fool

Stocks rally for the Dow’s best first week since 2006

FOX Business’ Charles Payne discusses the Dow Industrial Average’s more than 200 point rally, the third-straight record close for the index.

How to generate the income you need in retirement

You’ve spent your whole life saving for retirement . Now you’re finished working, and it’s time to start spending what you’ve saved. For many investors, the transition can be confusing or even traumatic. How will you tap your portfolio? As investors approach this transition from saving to spending they should take three steps: start with a retirement income plan, keep their portfolio invested and diversified, and then rebalance their portfolio periodically to generate the cash they require. Here we’ll discuss the last step — creating your paycheck when rebalancing. Why is this important? If you’re an investor, you’ve almost certainly heard of having an appropriate asset allocation to stocks and

How the New Tax Law Affects Your Real Estate, Vacation Home

Ask us anything: We're getting questions from readers about the new tax law. While there's a lot still to be learned about the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, people are asking about changes to the retirement savings credit and property taxes. No matter your question, we've got answers from some of the nation's top tax and financial planning experts. So, don't be shy. Send your questions about the new tax law to Robert.Powell@TheStreet.com. We'll try to answer and publish as many as we can about how it's going to affect your investments, retirement savings and taxes. Question: I am a real estate agent in Florida. My customers want to understand the tax impact on their second home purchases, specifically

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  What the cap on deductions might mean for Californians

  Orange County Register
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  The New GOP Tax Law Means This 35-Year-Old Social Security Rule Likely Won't Be Changed

  Motley Fool

U.S. Service Sector Growth Down in December: ETFs in Focus

The IHS Markit U.S. Services Business Activity Index reflected slower expansion in service activity in the United States, owing to slower increase in new business received by service providers. IHS Markit services PMI came up with a reading of 53.7 in December 2017 compared with 54.5 in November. Coming to factors driving the expansion, rise in new order volumes drove growth in the sector, as favorable market conditions led to an increase in new business activity, albeit at a slower pace.

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  African-American unemployment hit record low in December

  Associated Press
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  UPDATE 2-U.S. TIPS breakeven rates rise on hopes of faster wage growth

  Reuters

Morgan Stanley to take $1.25 billion hit in fourth-quarter from tax bill

The net blow of the bill to the bank will include about a $1.4 billion net discrete tax provision, mainly due to the remeasurement of certain net deferred tax assets using the lowered corporate tax rate, the company said in a filing. The sweeping tax code changes enacted in late December cuts the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent and were expected to mean short-term pain, but long-term gain for U.S.-based corporations. Morgan Stanley's arch rival Goldman Sachs Group Inc had said on Dec. 29 it expects its fourth-quarter earnings to decrease by about $5 billion due to repatriation tax, the cost of moving money from foreign countries to the U.S., Goldman said in a filing.

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  Bristol-Myers sees $3 billion tax hit in fourth quarter 2017

  Reuters
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  BRIEF-Bristol-Myers Estimates Tax Reform To Result In Additional Net T

  Reuters

The world is swimming in a record $233 trillion of debt

Global debt levels hit an unprecedented level in the third quarter of 2017, according to the Institute of International Finance. The IIF cautions that this record debt burden could keep global central banks from tightening monetary conditions in the coming months. One possible side effect of this massive debt burden could be a reluctance from central banks to tighten lending conditions, the IIF says.

U.S. vs. the world: 6 trades

The "Fast Money" traders give you 6 ways to trade the U.S. and emerging markets.

Why retiring in America has become less attractive

Getting old in America isn’t what it used to be. In a worldwide study, the U.S. fell to No. 17 (down three spots from last year) in the Natixis Global Asset Management Global Retirement Index. The index ranks 43 mainly developed countries on their ability to offer its citizens a secure retirement. Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Sweden top the list. Why did the U.S. have such a dismal showing? The U.S. took hits in income equality, health care spending and life expectancy. While America may have the fifth-highest income per capita, we have the sixth lowest score for income equality, suggesting that retirement saving is difficult for average workers. Our life expectancy fell, yet we spend the

The Hot Stock: Western Union Jumps 5.9%

Shares of Western Union (WU) shot to the top of the S&P 500 on Friday, on rumors of a adopt a new blockchain technology. The shares climbed $1.15, or 5.9% to $20.60, while the S&P 500 rose 19.16 points,  or 0.7%, to 2743.15. Western Union stock spiked on reports it may adopt a new payment processing blockchain technology from Ripple XRP to power its money transfers. Earlier this week, we got news that MoneyGram International (MGI) and Alibaba's (BABA) Ant Financial Services Group were ending their their merger talks.  Western Union is down 8.7% in the past year, but has gained 8.4% so far in 2018.

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  Ripple's XRP jumps on unconfirmed report Western Union plans to use its services for money transfers (WU)

  Business Insider
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  XRP’s value rises amid rumors that Western Union may adopt the blockchain

  Digital Trends

Micron: DRAM, NAND Trends ‘Neutral to Good,’ Says Keybanc

Trends in the DRAM and NAND flash market are “neutral to positive” for Micron Technology (MU), according to a note today from Weston Twigg of Keybanc, who takes the temperature of pricing and supply for the parts. Twigg, who has a Sector Weight rating on Micron stock, thinks the shares are about at ‘fair value, at 4.9 times what the earnings the company may make this year. The neutral to good news is DRAM supply is tight and staying that way, while NAND is headed for “oversupply,” but that will burn itself off and return to tight conditions later this year, he thinks: Overall DRAM supply should remain tight until new capacity comes online later this year, with very little new capacity anticipated

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  Why Micron Technology, Inc. Shares Rose 88% in 2017

  Motley Fool
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  Why Micron Technology Is a Top Stock Pick for 2018

  madison.com

Your paycheck may be going up soon because of tax cuts

The $1.5 trillion package provides generous tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, and more modest reductions for middle- and low-income individuals and families. Deflecting criticism of the deeply unpopular legislation, they insisted Americans will come to love the new tax law when they see their heftier paychecks this year — with less money withheld in anticipation of lower income taxes. "In February, look at your paychecks, because you'll see the tax relief we delivered," said Rep. Kevin Brady, head of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

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  Trump passed up a huge opportunity to give Americans an economic boost when he chose to focus on tax cuts

  Business Insider
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  The New GOP Tax Law Means This 35-Year-Old Social Security Rule Likely Won't Be Changed

  Motley Fool

Ripple's XRP jumps on unconfirmed report Western Union plans to use its services for money transfers (WU)

Ripple's XRP has rallied 20% off its intraday lows following an unconfirmed report Western Union is going to use its technology. Ripple's official Twitter account said earlier Friday the company has already signed three of the five largest money transfer firms. Ripple's XRP cryptocurrency is surging off previous intraday low prices, down just 4% Friday afternoon, following an unconfirmed report that said Western Union planned to use its blockchain technology for money transfers.

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  XRP’s value rises amid rumors that Western Union may adopt the blockchain

  Digital Trends
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  The Hot Stock: Western Union Jumps 5.9%

  barrons.com

Second-largest cryptocurrency ripple may have run ahead of itself

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images Digital currency ripple has blown past its cryptocurrency rivals largely because it is working with large institutions, which give it an aura of legitimacy and practicality. However, cryptocurrency enthusiasts say that centralization is the exact opposite of what the technology of the digital currencies should be about. "The reason ripple is surging so much is it's a bubble," said Erik Voorhees, CEO of digital asset exchange ShapeShift and a vocal advocate for bitcoin as a way to separate money and the state. "Testing crypto with banks doesn't make sense. The whole idea of crypto is you don't need banks." It's "not interesting from a financial innovation

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  Expert reveals only ONE cryptocurrency will WIN – bitcoin, Ripple or ethereum?

  Express.co.uk
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  Bitcoin price WARNING: CEO reveals why Ripple will TAKE OVER from leading cryptocurrencies

  Express.co.uk

Here’s what all 30 companies that make up the Dow industrials think about the tax cuts

President Donald Trump can make corporate America great, or at least more competitive, after he signed the tax bill into law Friday, according to a MarketWatch survey of the large multinational members of Dow Jones Industrial Average. Almost all the companies that responded applauded the legislation, mostly in the broadest sense and largely in corporate-speak without specifics, saying the lowered corporate tax rate would “allow” or “enhance” the ability of U.S.-headquartered companies to compete more fairly with overseas-based companies. The new tax law lowers the maximum corporate tax rate to 21% from 35%. Don’t miss: Here are the winners and losers of the final version of the Republican tax

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  Tight budget will force lawmakers to get creative on policy in 2018 session

  The Des Moines Register
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  Top New Jersey Democrats propose major plan to save property tax deduction

  POLITICO

4 simple and effective ways to help a young person get a jump on retirement

There’s plenty of stressful news these days, and by and large I’m used to hearing or reading about unpleasant developments. But I was particularly alarmed by a report this fall that Congress was considering drastic cutbacks in the contribution limits to 401(k) and similar retirement plans. Currently, the maximum annual contribution to such plans is $18,500 ($24,500 for workers age 50 and older). These contributions are tax-deferred, meaning the money isn’t taxed until it is withdrawn, presumably after retirement when workers may be in lower tax brackets. Some House Republicans were thinking of reducing tax free or tax deductible contributions to as little as $2,400. The difference between death

It's Nvidia's World, Investors Just Get to Profit in It

You ain't seen nothin' yet. That's the message Goldman Sachs (GS) is putting out about Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) after a stellar performance in 2017. Nvidia was the best-performing chipmaker last year, and the best-performing component in the entire S&P 500 the year before. Now, as semiconductor peers get roiled by concerns over chip design flaws, Nvidia looks positioned to hand investors big returns for yet another calendar year. Goldman reiterated Nvidia as a buy, affirming a $228 12-month price target for shares. Without a doubt, Nvidia is enjoying some tailwinds across multiple product lines right now. The firm's GPUs, historically used for accelerating video game graphics, are being used in a