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

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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  We Hear You: Tax Cuts, the GOP Establishment, the Job Outlook, and the Trump Economy

  The Daily Signal
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  7 tax breaks you can still take on in 2017

  USA Today

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.

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.

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

Liquor brands CEO says company is positioning to capitali...

Jim Cramer spoke to Constellation President and CEO Rob Sands about his company's take on cannabis and the rise of high-end liquor.

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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  What does early 2018 have in store for Bitcoin?

  FX Empire
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  Cindicator Bot: December summary – Cindicator – Medium

  Medium

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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  Federal tax overhaul could lead to changes in some states

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

  The Des Moines Register

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

Q4 Bank Earnings Will be Messy & Noisy

Conventional wisdom tells us that the tax cuts will not only add to the economy’s growth trajectory but also be a boon for corporate earnings. Conventional wisdom would be correct in this respect, but we will have to jump through a few hurdles before

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

10 favorite stocks for 2018 from top-ranked stock newsletter writers

You don’t always get what you pay for. But you don’t often get much more. This twist on an old saw serves as a good reminder for self-directed investors hunting online for stock ideas. That’s because we’re deep into a “substance light” era of online content, dominated by vapid Twitter rants, pesky blogs offering puff posts and a hollowed-out financial press corps. Sure, sell-side analysts on Wall Street still write substantial research, which sometimes appears online. But you have to take it with a grain of salt. Under the same roof there’s typically a division looking to do investment banking for the same companies that the analysts cover. Are the analysts really impartial? All of this highlights

Kalanick To Part With Chunk of Uber Shares: Report

When he was Uber CEO, Travis Kalanick boasted he never sold one share of the ride-hailing company he helped start in 2009. Now, the ousted CEO plans to sell a sizable chunk – 29% – for an estimated $1.4 billion, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter. Kalanick’s abrupt about-face comes as Japanese investment bank SoftBank Group (Japan: 9984) and a consortium of investors plans this month to buy a reported 15% of Uber at a valuation of $48 billion. Uber was valued at $69 billion last year. For Kalanick, who owns 10% of Uber, now valued at $4.8 billion, the sale reflects troubling times at the Silicon Valley company. It is currently entangled in high-profile lawsuits

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  Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick Selling 29 Percent Stake In Ride-Sharing Service

  Deadline
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  Everyone that’s cashed out since Uber’s SoftBank deal (so far)

  Fast Company Magazine

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

Analysts expect their favorite Nasdaq stocks to rise as much as 43% in 2018

Big Nasdaq companies outperformed in last year’s broad stock market rally, and analysts are expecting more gains in 2018. We’ll show you analysts’ favorite Nasdaq 100 stocks, while also listing the companies that analysts expect to post the largest increases in sales in 2018. The Nasdaq 100 Index NDX, +1.04%  is made up of the largest 100 companies included in the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.83% which has more than 3,300 members. Here’s how the total returns of these tech-heavy indices have compared with the S&P 500 Index SPX, +0.70% over the past five years: The Nasdaq 100 was the strongest performer in 2017 and also been the best five-year performer. Here’s a breakdown of which Nasdaq 100

Wall Street's love of tax cuts drove Dow to 25,000 mark

The Dow Jones industrial average surged past 25,000 Thursday, a strong signal of investor enthusiasm for President Donald Trump's $1.5 trillion tax cut. The milestone comes less than a year after the Dow topped 20,000. "We broke a very, very big barrier," Trump said Thursday at the White House.

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  We Hear You: Tax Cuts, the GOP Establishment, the Job Outlook, and the Trump Economy

  The Daily Signal
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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