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Tag: Political/General News

  • Qualcomm stock plunges to lowest price in more than two years as magnitude of smartphone shortfall shocks Wall Street

    Qualcomm stock plunges to lowest price in more than two years as magnitude of smartphone shortfall shocks Wall Street

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    Wall Street had braced for a bumpy ride as Qualcomm Inc. navigated an oversupplied market for smartphone chips, but the chip maker’s stock still got T-boned Thursday after a disappointing holiday forecast.

    Qualcomm
    QCOM,
    -6.01%
    shares fell as much as 9.4% Thursday morning to an intraday low of $101.93, the lowest price for the company’s shares since July 2020. Investors were reacting to executives saying the company had up to 10 weeks of inventory in the channel, and that its record handset sales would be followed up by, at best, a $2 billion shortfall in the current quarter, compared with the Wall Street consensus at the time.

    “A weak market, and even a potential inventory correction, was likely not entirely unexpected,” Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon wrote, while adding that “the magnitude is probably worse than what some might have had in mind (though it is certainly not confined to Qualcomm, with virtually all handset-exposed players showing similar dynamics).”

    Rasgon cut his price target on the stock to $140 from $165, while pointing out that executive color suggested that Qualcomm would keep Apple Inc.’s
    AAPL,
    -3.63%
    business through at least the next iPhone cycle, an important note as the iPhone maker seeks to start building its own wireless components.

    More than half of the analysts who cover Qualcomm cut their price targets in reaction to the report, according to FactSet tracking. Evercore ISI analyst C.J. Muse cut his target to $120 from $130 while maintaining an in-line rating; he wrote that while Qualcomm set up for a miss, as it did last quarter, the actual read was much worse than expected.

    “While the buyside was clearly set up for a miss, the magnitude for the December Q was clearly a lot worse than expected with revenues/EPS guided 20%/32% below consensus,” Muse said.

    Read: More about Qualcomm earnings

    “Here, management highlighted demand weakness (CY22 handsets now expected down low double-digits% vs. prior down mid-single digits%; largely Android market and includes premium tier) and elevated channel inventory (now 8-10 weeks oversupply) as the key drivers of weakness,” the Evercore analyst noted.

    Of the 32 analysts who cover Qualcomm, 20 have buy-grade ratings and 12 have hold ratings. Of those 32 analysts, 19 cut price targets resulting in an average target price of $153.75, down from a previous $172.71, according to FactSet data.

    Qualcomm stock has declined more than 42% so far this year, in line with a 41.2% decline for the PHLX Semiconductor Index
    SOX,
    -0.65%    ,
    but well past the 21.1% year-to-date decline for the S&P 500 index
    SPX,
    -0.50%    .

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  • Tim Cook has been an excellent leader for Apple — these numbers prove it

    Tim Cook has been an excellent leader for Apple — these numbers prove it

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    How good is a company’s chief executive officer at investing your money most efficiently? This is an important question for long-term investors. It may underline the difference between a steady long-term performer and a flash in the pan.

    And Apple Inc.
    AAPL,
    -4.24%
    now makes up 7% of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
    SPY,
    -1.03%    ,
    the first and largest exchange-traded fund (with $360 billion in assets), which tracks the benchmark S&P 500
    SPX,
    -1.06%    .
    That’s close to an all-time record, and the iPhone maker has a whopping 14.1% position in the Invesco QQQ Trust
    QQQ,
    -1.95%    ,
    which tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index
    NDX,
    -1.98%    .
    Looking at the full Nasdaq Index
    COMP,
    -1.73%    ,
    which has 3,747 stocks, Apple takes a 13.5% position.

    Apple now makes up 7.3% of the S&P 500 by market capitalization, close to the 8% record it set late in September.


    FactSet

    This is very much an Apple stock market, with the company topping the broad indexes that are weighted by market capitalization. You are likely to be invested in the company indirectly. You also might be feeling Apple’s impact in other ways. Apple’s App Store ecosystem drives more than $600 billion in annual revenue for developers.

    Tim Cook’s tenure as Apple’s CEO has been nothing short of breathtaking when measured by the company’s financial performance. Apple is not one of the fastest-growing companies when measured by sales or earnings — it is too big for that. But its excellent stock performance has reflected Cook’s ability to deploy invested capital with improving efficiency. Cook has also been a market trendsetter in other important ways. He has Apple repurchasing $90 billion of its shares annually, setting the pace for stock buybacks in the market. Cook’s steady hand has also helped Apple withstand the market’s tech wreck and remain a stable pillar for the teetering Nasdaq Composite index generally. For all these reasons, Cook has earned a spot on the MarketWatch 50 list of the most influential people in markets. 

    Apple keeps improving by this important measure

    Investors in the stock market are looking for growth over the long term. The best measure of that is whether or not a company’s share price goes up or down. But Cook isn’t just managing Apple’s stock. Digging a bit deeper into the company’s actual operating performance can provide some insight into what a good job Cook has done.

    What should a corporate manager focus on? The stock price? How about the most efficient and most profitable way to provide goods and services? There are different ways to do this, and Apple has focused on quality, reliability and excellent service to build customer loyalty.

    Apple’s commitment can be experienced by anyone who calls the company for customer service. It is easy to get through to a well-trained representative who will solve your problem. How many companies can say that at a time when it seems many companies cannot even handle answering the phone? 

    Getting back to actual performance, Cook took over as Apple’s CEO in August 2011 when Steve Jobs stepped down. The chart below shows the company’s quarterly returns on invested capital from the end of 2010 through September 2022.

    Apple’s returns on invested capital have increased markedly over the past six years.


    FactSet

    A company’s return on invested capital (ROIC) is its profit divided by the sum of the carrying value of its common stock, preferred stock, long-term debt and capitalized lease obligations. ROIC indicates how well a company has made use of the money it has raised to run its business. It is an annualized figure, but available quarterly, as used in the chart above.

    The carrying value of a company’s stock may be a lot lower than its current market capitalization. The company may have issued most of its shares long ago at a much lower share price than the current one. If a company has issued shares recently or at relatively high prices, its ROIC will be lower.

    A company with a high ROIC is likely either to have a relatively low level of long-term debt or to have made efficient use of the borrowed money.

    Among companies in the S&P 500 that have been around for at least 10 years, Apple placed within the top 20 for average ROIC for the previous 40 reported fiscal quarters as of  Sept. 1.

    As you can see on the chart, Apple’s ROIC has improved dramatically over the past five years, even as the wide adoption of the company’s products and services has led to an overall slowdown in sales growth.

    A quick comparison with other giants in the benchmark index

    It might be interesting to see how Apple stacks up among other large companies, in part because some businesses are more capital-intensive than others. For example, over the past four quarters, Apple’s ROIC has averaged 52.9%, while the average for the S&P 500 has been a weighted 12.1%, by FactSet’s estimate.

    Here are the 10 companies in the S&P 500 reporting the highest annual sales for their most recent full fiscal years, with a comparison of average ROIC over the past 40 reported quarters:

    Company

    		 Ticker

    		 Annual sales ($mil)

    		 Avg. ROIC – 40 quarters

    		 Total Return – 10 Years
    Walmart Inc.

    		 WMT,
    -0.02%         		$572,754

    		 11.0%

    		 142%
    Amazon.com Inc.

    		 AMZN,
    -3.06%         		$469,822

    		 6.8%

    		 693%
    Apple Inc.

    		 AAPL,
    -4.24%         		$394,328

    		 33.0%

    		 721%
    CVS Health Corp.

    		 CVS,
    +1.03%         		$291,935

    		 6.8%

    		 161%
    UnitedHealth Group Inc.

    		 UNH,
    +0.03%         		$287,597

    		 13.7%

    		 1,031%
    Exxon Mobil Corp.

    		 XOM,
    +1.36%         		$280,510

    		 9.9%

    		 85%
    Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Class B

    		 BRK.B,
    -1.94%         		$276,094

    		 8.2%

    		 233%
    McKesson Corp.

    		 MKC,
    -0.61%         		$263,966

    		 6.6%

    		 353%
    Alphabet Inc. Class A

    		 GOOGL,
    -4.07%         		$257,488

    		 16.6%

    		 405%
    Costco Wholesale Corp.

    		 COST,
    +0.57%         		$226,954

    		 16.2%

    		 558%
    Source: FactSet

    Among the largest 10 companies in the S&P 500 by annual sales, Apple takes the top ranking for average ROIC over the past 10 years, while ranking second for total return behind UnitedHealth Group Inc.
    UNH,
    +0.03%
    and ahead of Amazon.com Inc.
    AMZN,
    -3.06%    .
    UnitedHealth has been able to remain at the forefront of managed care during the period of transition for healthcare in the U.S., in the wake of President Barack Obama’s signing of the Affordable Care Act into law in 2010.

    Here’s a chart showing 10-year total returns for Apple, UnitedHealth Group, Amazon and the S&P 500:


    FactSet

    Apple is only slightly ahead of Amazon’s 10-year total return. But what is so striking about this chart is the volatility. Apple has had a smoother ride. During the bear market of 2022, Apple’s stock has declined 18%, while the S&P 500 has gone down 20%, the Nasdaq has fallen 32% (all with dividends reinvested) and Amazon has dropped 45%.

    The broad indexes would have fared even worse so far this year without Apple.

    TO SEE THE FULL MARKETWATCH 50 LIST CLICK HERE

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  • Weekly tally of COVID cases and deaths continues to fall; Moderna lowers vaccine-sales outlook by as much as $3 billion

    Weekly tally of COVID cases and deaths continues to fall; Moderna lowers vaccine-sales outlook by as much as $3 billion

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    The global tally of COVID-19 cases fell 17% in the week through Oct. 30 from the previous week, while the death toll fell 5%, the World Health Organization said in its weekly update on the virus.

    The omicron variant BA.5 remained dominant globally, accounting for 74.9% of cases sent to a central database. WHO reiterated that newer sublineages of omicron, including BQ.1 and XBB, still appear no more lethal than earlier ones and do not warrant the designation of “variant of concern.”

    But BQ.1 rose in prevalence to 9.0% globally from 5.7% a week ago, while XBB rose to 1.5% from 1.0%.

    “WHO will continue to closely monitor the XBB and BQ.1 lineages as part of omicron and requests countries to continue to be vigilant, to monitor and report sequences, as well as to conduct independent and comparative
    analyses of the different omicron sublineages,” the agency wrote.

    WHO has cautioned that changes in testing and reduced surveillance of the virus are making some of the numbers unreliable and has urged leaders to renew efforts to monitor and track developments.

    In the U.S., known cases of COVID remain at their lowest level since mid-April, although the true tally is likely higher given how many people overall are testing at home, where data are not being collected.

    The daily average for new cases stood at 39,090 on Wednesday, according to a New York Times tracker, up 3% versus two weeks ago. The daily average for hospitalizations was up 2% to 27,161, while the daily average for deaths was down 6% to 345. 

    But cases are climbing in some states, raising concerns among health experts. In Nevada, cases are up 92% from two weeks ago, followed by Missouri, where they are up 75%, Tennessee, where they are up 69%, Louisiana, where they are up 68%, and New Mexico, where they have climbed 54%.

    Physicians are reporting high numbers of respiratory illnesses like RSV and the flu earlier than the typical winter peak. WSJ’s Brianna Abbott explains what the early surge means for the coming winter months. Photo illustration: Kaitlyn Wang

    Coronavirus Update: MarketWatch’s daily roundup has been curating and reporting all the latest developments every weekday since the coronavirus pandemic began

    Other COVID-19 news you should know about:

    • COVID vaccine maker Moderna
    MRNA,
    -2.21%
    posted far weaker-than-expected third-quarter earnings on Thursday and lowered full-year sales guidance by up to $3 billion. The Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech firm said advance purchase agreements, or APAs, for delivery this year are now expected to total $18 billion to $19 billion of product sales, down from guidance of $21 billion that it provided when it reported second-quarter earnings. The FactSet consensus is for full-year sales of $21.3 billion. For fiscal 2023, Moderna has APAs of $4.5 billion to $5.5 billion. The FactSet consensus for 2023 sales is for $9.4 billion.

    • Virax Biolabs Group Ltd.
    VRAX,
    +36.26%
    stock jumped after the biotechnology company said its triple-virus antigen rapid test kit, which tests for RSV, influenza and COVID, has been launched in the European Union, Dow Jones Newswires reported. The test kit, which can be used in both at-home and point-of-care settings, has also been launched in other markets that accept the CE mark, Virax Biolabs said.

    Testing sewage to track viruses has drawn renewed interest after recent outbreaks of diseases like monkeypox and polio. WSJ visited a wastewater facility to find out how the testing works and what it can tell us about public health. Photo illustration: Ryan Trefes

    • Royal Caribbean Group
    RCL,
    +4.11%
    posted its first quarterly profit since the start of the pandemic, but the cruise-line company said it expected a loss for the current quarter, sending its stock lower on Thursday. Load factors were 96% overall and booking volumes were “significantly higher” than in the same period of prepandemic 2019, as the easing of testing and vaccination protocols provided a boost. For the fourth quarter, the company expects adjusted per-share losses of $1.30 to $1.50, compared with the FactSet loss consensus of 71 cents, and projects revenue of “approximately” $2.6 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $2.7 billion. 

    • The death of a 3-year-old boy in northwestern China following a suspected gas leak at a locked-down residential compound has triggered a fresh wave of outrage at the country’s stringent zero-COVID policy, CNN reported. The boy’s father said in a social media post on Wednesday that COVID workers tried to prevent him from leaving their compound in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, to seek treatment for his child, resulting in what he believes was a fatal delay. The post was met with an outpouring of public anger and grief, with several related hashtags racking up hundreds of millions of views over the following day on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform.

    Here’s what the numbers say:

    The global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 topped 631.4 million on Thursday, while the death toll rose above 6.59 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

    The U.S. leads the world with 97.6 million cases and 1,071,582 fatalities.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tracker shows that 226.9 million people living in the U.S., equal to 68.4% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots.

    So far, just 22.8 million Americans have had the updated COVID booster that targets the original virus and the omicron variants, equal to 7.3% of the overall population.

     

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  • How the Federal Reserve’s rate hike impacts your holiday spending plans: ‘It’s not the time to overspend’

    How the Federal Reserve’s rate hike impacts your holiday spending plans: ‘It’s not the time to overspend’

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    It is three weeks before Black Friday, but the Federal Reserve is about to make the post-holiday debt hangover a little more intense.

    By the time the latest rate hikes filter through the very rate-sensitive credit card industry and pump up customers’ annual percentage rates a little more, experts say it will be some point in December 2022 or January 2023. Right in time for many holiday gifts and expenses to post on credit cards bills — and there to make the costs of a carried balance a little extra expensive.

    Every year, many people accumulate credit card debt through the holiday season, pay it off in the early part of the following year and then repeat the process.

    What’s different now is the presence of four-decade high inflation, coupled with fast-rising interest rates that the Fed hopes will ultimately cool those rising prices, although without sending the economy to a recessionary thud.

    Wednesday’s rate move is the fourth straight 75-basis-point rate hike to the federal funds rate, taking it to the 3.75% -4% range, when it was near zero last year’s holiday season. By now, Americans are all too acquainted with 2022’s fast-rising interest rates. They just haven’t gone through a Christmas and Hanakkuh with it yet.

    “It’s not the time to overspend and have a problem with paying your bills later. We know the economy is sending mixed messages,” said Michele Raneri, vice president of financial services research and consulting at TransUnion
    TRU,
    -4.31%    ,
    one of the country’s three major credit reporting companies.

    It’s extra important to think through a holiday budget and how much relies on credit, she said. “People need to think about how much they can afford to repay and how long it will take to repay it.”

    Holiday spending could be the same as 2021 for many people — but not everyone

    Last month, third-quarter earnings from major banks like JPMorgan Chase & Co.
    JPM,
    -0.92%    ,
    Wells Fargo
    WFC,
    -0.15%    ,
    Citibank
    C,
    -1.45%
    and Bank of America
    BAC,
    -0.30%
    indicated consumer finances, on the whole, are not yet showing cracks under inflation’s strains. (Other numbers show the strain, like the personal savings rate that’s been dwindling.)

    Now, two forecasts suggest many people ready to spend the same amount for this year’s holiday cheer as they did last year.

    People are planning to spend an average $1,430 on gifts, travel and entertainment this year, which is around the $1,447 spent last year, according to PwC researchers. Three-quarters of people said they were planning to spend the same or more than last year and respondents said credit cards were one of their top ways to pay.

    “ Compared to last year, credit card balances are getting bigger, more people are sitting on balances and debt costs are getting pricier.”

    By another measure, Americans will pay an average $1,455 on holiday-related gifts and experiences, essentially flat from last year, say Deloitte researchers.

    More than one-third of surveyed consumers say their financial outlook is worse than the same point last year. Nearly one-quarter of people were concerned about credit card debt as of late September, Deloitte’s numbers show in an ongoing tracking of consumer mood.

    It’s understandable to see the concern with households amassing a collective $890 billion in credit card debt through the second quarter. Compared to last year, balances are getting bigger, more people are sitting on balances and debt costs are getting pricier because the interest rates applied to those balances are rising.

    When people were carrying a credit card balance month to month, the sum was $5,474 on average, according to Raneri. That’s through the end of September and it’s a nearly 13% rise year over year, she said. The 164 million people carrying a balance is a 5% increase from last year, she noted.

    Credit cards carrying a balance during the third quarter had an average 18.43% APR, Federal Reserve data shows. That’s up from 16.65% in the second quarter and up from 17.13% in 2021’s third quarter.

    How the Fed influences credit card rates

    Credit card issuers typically determine their rates by applying a “prime rate” — typically three percentage points on top of the federal funds rate — and the issuer’s profit margin, said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate.com.

    By late October, the rate on new card offers was 18.73%, according to Bankrate data. At this point last year, it was 16.31%, Rossman said. In a few weeks, the rates on new offers should beat the all-time record of an average 19% APR, exclusive to new offers, he added.

    While it can take a billing cycle or two for a higher APR to make its way to an existing credit card account, Rossman noted the APRs on new offers could rise in a matter of days.

    Here’s a hypothetical to show how much more expensive credit card debt becomes with every extra hike. Suppose the $5,474 balance is on a credit card with the current 18.73% average. If a person has to resort to minimum payments, Rossman said, they’d be paying $7,118 just in interest to pay off the debt.

    “ In a few weeks, the rates on new credit card offers should beat the all-time record of an average 19% APR.”

    What if the 18.73% APR gets kicked up 75 basis points to 19.48%? If that same borrower has to pay minimums, they are now paying $7,417 in interest to snuff the principal debt of $5,474, Rossman said.

    The example has its limits because people may pay more than the minimum and they may incur more credit card debt as they pay off the old one. But it shows a bigger point: “Unfortunately, anybody dealing with credit card debt is a loser from the series of rate hikes. It was already expensive. It’s getting more so,” Rossman said.

    When do rate hikes stop?

    While decisions during the Fed’s November meeting can have a ripple effect on holiday-time borrowing costs, observers say the real question about Wednesday is the clues Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell drops for what’s next. The central bank’s committee voting on interest rate increases reconvenes in mid-December.

    On Wednesday, the Fed said in a statement it expected further rate increases, but also said it would be watching to see if there were lag effects with its tightening policies, which could slow or limit the total amount of increases.

    “People, when they hear lags, they think about a pause. It’s very premature, in my view, to think about or be talking about pausing our rate hike. We have a ways to  go,” Powell told reporters at a Wednesday afternoon press conference.

    The economy is strong enough to handle higher rates, Powell said. For one thing, households have “strong balance sheets” and “strong spending power,” he noted.

    Stock markets first jumped higher after the latest interest rate announcement. But they gave up the gains — and then some — by the end of the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
    DJIA,
    -1.55%
    was down more than 500 points, or 1.6% while the S&P 500
    SPX,
    -2.50%
    was down 2.5% and the Nasdaq Composite
    COMP,
    -3.36%
    closed 3.4% lower.

    Top economists in major North American-based banks forecasted the Fed will keep raising interest rates “until the first quarter of next year before potentially lowering rates through the end of 2023,” Sayee Srinivasan, chief economist at the American Bankers Association, the banking sector’s trade association, said ahead of Wednesday’s latest rate hike.

    “Top economists polled as part of a banking industry panel expect Fed rate increases through at least the first quarter of 2023.”

    The forecast, coming through an ABA advisory committee, is no sure thing. “Everything depends on the ability of the Fed to bring inflation down, so that will remain their clear priority,” said Srinivasan.

    Meanwhile, rising costs may cause more people to put the holiday cheer on plastic, even their decorations. The majority of Christmas tree growers in one poll are expecting wholesale prices to climb 5% to 15% for this season.

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  • 20 dividend stocks that may be safest if the Federal Reserve causes a recession

    20 dividend stocks that may be safest if the Federal Reserve causes a recession

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    Investors cheered when a report last week showed the economy expanded in the third quarter after back-to-back contractions.

    But it’s too early to get excited, because the Federal Reserve hasn’t given any sign yet that it is about to stop raising interest rates at the fastest pace in decades.

    Below is a list of dividend stocks that have had low price volatility over the past 12 months, culled from three large exchange traded funds that screen for high yields and quality in different ways.

    In a year when the S&P 500
    SPX,
    -0.40%
    is down 18%, the three ETFs have widely outperformed, with the best of the group falling only 1%.

    Read: GDP looked great for the U.S. economy, but it really wasn’t

    That said, last week was a very good one for U.S. stocks, with the S&P 500 returning 4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average
    DJIA,
    -0.32%
    having its best October ever.

    This week, investors’ eyes turn back to the Federal Reserve. Following a two-day policy meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee is expected to make its fourth consecutive increase of 0.75% to the federal funds rate on Wednesday.

    The inverted yield curve, with yields on two-year U.S. Treasury notes
    TMUBMUSD02Y,
    4.540%
    exceeding yields on 10-year notes
    TMUBMUSD10Y,
    4.064%    ,
    indicates investors in the bond market expect a recession. Meanwhile, this has been a difficult earnings season for many companies and analysts have reacted by lowering their earnings estimates.

    The weighted rolling consensus 12-month earning estimate for the S&P 500, based on estimates of analysts polled by FactSet, has declined 2% over the past month to $230.60. In a healthy economy, investors expect this number to rise every quarter, at least slightly.

    Low-volatility stocks are working in 2022

    Take a look at this chart, showing year-to-date total returns for the three ETFs against the S&P 500 through October:


    FactSet

    The three dividend-stock ETFs take different approaches:

    • The $40.6 billion Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF
      SCHD,
      +0.15%
      tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Indexed quarterly. This approach incorporates 10-year screens for cash flow, debt, return on equity and dividend growth for quality and safety. It excludes real estate investment trusts (REITs). The ETF’s 30-day SEC yield was 3.79% as of Sept. 30.

    • The iShares Select Dividend ETF
      DVY,
      +0.45%
      has $21.7 billion in assets. It tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index, which is weighted by dividend yield and “skews toward smaller firms paying consistent dividends,” according to FactSet. It holds about 100 stocks, includes REITs and looks back five years for dividend growth and payout ratios. The ETF’s 30-day yield was 4.07% as of Sept. 30.

    • The SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 High Dividend ETF
      SPYD,
      +0.60%
      has $7.8 billion in assets and holds 80 stocks, taking an equal-weighted approach to investing in the top-yielding stocks among the S&P 500. It’s 30-day yield was 4.07% as of Sept. 30.

    All three ETFs have fared well this year relative to the S&P 500. The funds’ beta — a measure of price volatility against that of the S&P 500 (in this case) — have ranged this year from 0.75 to 0.76, according to FactSet. A beta of 1 would indicate volatility matching that of the index, while a beta above 1 would indicate higher volatility.

    Now look at this five-year total return chart showing the three ETFs against the S&P 500 over the past five years:


    FactSet

    The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF ranks highest for five-year total return with dividends reinvested — it is the only one of the three to beat the index for this period.

    Screening for the least volatile dividend stocks

    Together, the three ETFs hold 194 stocks. Here are the 20 with the lowest 12-month beta. The list is sorted by beta, ascending, and dividend yields range from 2.45% to 8.13%:

    Company

    		 Ticker

    		 12-month beta

    		 Dividend yield

    		 2022 total return
    Newmont Corp.

    		 NEM,
    -0.78%         		0.17

    		 5.20%

    		 -30%
    Verizon Communications Inc.

    		 VZ,
    -0.07%         		0.22

    		 6.98%

    		 -24%
    General Mills Inc.

    		 GIS,
    -1.47%         		0.27

    		 2.65%

    		 25%
    Kellogg Co.

    		 K,
    -0.93%         		0.27

    		 3.07%

    		 22%
    Merck & Co. Inc.

    		 MRK,
    -1.73%         		0.29

    		 2.73%

    		 35%
    Kraft Heinz Co.

    		 KHC,
    -0.56%         		0.35

    		 4.16%

    		 11%
    City Holding Co.

    		 CHCO,
    -1.45%         		0.38

    		 2.58%

    		 27%
    CVB Financial Corp.

    		 CVBF,
    -1.24%         		0.38

    		 2.79%

    		 37%
    First Horizon Corp.

    		 FHN,
    -0.18%         		0.39

    		 2.45%

    		 53%
    Avista Corp.

    		 AVA,
    -7.82%         		0.41

    		 4.29%

    		 0%
    NorthWestern Corp.

    		 NWE,
    -0.21%         		0.42

    		 4.77%

    		 -4%
    Altria Group Inc

    		 MO,
    -0.18%         		0.43

    		 8.13%

    		 4%
    Northwest Bancshares Inc.

    		 NWBI,
    +0.10%         		0.45

    		 5.31%

    		 11%
    AT&T Inc.

    		 T,
    +0.63%         		0.47

    		 6.09%

    		 5%
    Flowers Foods Inc.

    		 FLO,
    -0.44%         		0.48

    		 3.07%

    		 7%
    Mercury General Corp.

    		 MCY,
    +0.07%         		0.48

    		 4.38%

    		 -43%
    Conagra Brands Inc.

    		 CAG,
    -0.82%         		0.48

    		 3.60%

    		 10%
    Amgen Inc.

    		 AMGN,
    +0.41%         		0.49

    		 2.87%

    		 23%
    Safety Insurance Group Inc.

    		 SAFT,
    -1.70%         		0.49

    		 4.14%

    		 5%
    Tyson Foods Inc. Class A

    		 TSN,
    -0.40%         		0.50

    		 2.69%

    		 -20%
    Source: FactSet

    Any list of stocks will have its dogs, but 16 of these 20 have outperformed the S&P 500 so far in 2022, and 14 have had positive total returns.

    You can click on the tickers for more about each company. Click here for Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information available free on the MarketWatch quote page.

    Don’t miss: Municipal bond yields are attractive now — here’s how to figure out if they are right for you

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  • What NASA knows about soft landings that the Federal Reserve doesn’t

    What NASA knows about soft landings that the Federal Reserve doesn’t

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    The Federal Reserve still has a chance to meet both of its main goals — strong economic growth and stable prices — but time is running out to achieve a soft landing.

    The problem is that Fed officials are fixated on raising interest rates
    FF00,
    +0.00%
    several more times, including another supersize increase at their meeting Tuesday and Wednesday. They don’t seem to notice that inflation is already retreating significantly, while growth is dangerously close to stalling out.

    They have a blind spot because they are looking at the past.

    Greg Robb: Another jumbo Fed rate hike is expected this week — and then life gets difficult for Chairman Powell

    Fed officials ought to reach out to another government agency that has had remarkable success in achieving soft landings: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

    NASA’s scientists know something the Fed has forgotten: It takes a long time to send and receive messages from space, so they need to account for those delays when sending instructions to their spacecraft so they can land safely on Mars, or orbit Saturn or the moons of Jupiter.

    Compounding errors

    It’s the same way with the economy. The signals that the Fed receives from the economy are often delayed, sometimes by months. Unfortunately, one of the main signals the Fed is relying upon right now to decide how much to raise interest rates is delayed by a year or more.

    I’m talking about inflation in the price of putting a roof over our heads. Shelter prices are now the leading contributor to increases in the consumer price index (CPI) and the personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index. But because of the way the CPI for shelter is constructed — for very good reasons — the inflation reported today reflects conditions as they were 12 to 18 months ago.

    The error is compounded because shelter prices are by far the largest component of the CPI, at more than 30%.

    The Fed is disappointed that inflation hasn’t declined more since it began raising interest rates in March, but how could it when the signals about shelter prices were sent last summer and fall, long before the housing market began to cool in response to higher interest rates
    TMUBMUSD10Y,
    4.049%
    and the reductions in the Fed’s holdings of mortgage-backed securities?

    According to real-time data, shelter prices are no longer rising at a near-10% annual rate as the CPI and PCE price index claim. Growth in rents and house prices has slowed since the first rate hikes in March. House prices are actually falling in most regions of the country, and private-sector measures of rents show that landlords are now dropping rents in many cities.

    Just like a radio signal from Jupiter, it takes time for that message to be received by the CPI. It will be received and incorporated into the CPI eventually, but by then it may be too late for the Fed to react. The Fed might crash the spacecraft because it mistakenly believes the messages it gets are in real time.

    Growth is slowing

    The Fed’s blind spot puts the economy in peril. Recent data show that growth is naturally slowing from the breakneck pace following the pandemic shutdowns but also from the Fed’s relentless squeeze on financial conditions.

    It’s very hard to argue that the economy is still overheating. Domestic demand has stalled out since the spring. Final sales to domestic purchasers — which covers consumer spending and business investment — has grown at a 0.3% annual pace over the past two quarters.

    Real disposable incomes are growing at less than 1% annualized. Household wealth has fallen off a cliff, with the stock market
    SPX,
    -0.41%

    DJIA,
    -0.24%
    in a bear market and home equity beginning to fall. Wage growth is beginning to slow. Supply chains are improving.

    And the CPI excluding shelter has gone from rising at a 14% annual pace in the spring when the tightening began, to falling at a 1% annual pace over the past three months. Rate hikes are working!

    This benign picture on inflation may not persist. Inflation is still worrisome, particularly for essentials such as food, health care, new vehicles and utilities.

    But the Fed should adopt a more balanced view of the economy, no matter what the signals from the past say. No one wants a hard landing.

    Just ask NASA.

    More reported analysis from Rex Nutting

    Everybody is looking at the CPI through the wrong lens. Inflation fell to the Fed’s target in the past three months, according to the best measure.

    The Federal Reserve risks driving the economy into a ditch because it’s not looking at where inflation is heading

    Americans are feeling poorer for good reason: Household wealth was shredded by inflation and soaring interest rates

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  • Hospitalizations on the rise in New York City as new COVID strains spread rapidly

    Hospitalizations on the rise in New York City as new COVID strains spread rapidly

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    Hospitalizations are rising again in New York City with the spread of new COVID-19 subvariants that are better at evading immunity. Cases of flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, are also increasing.

    State data show about 1,100 patients hospitalized with COVID as of Oct. 24, up from 750 in mid-September, as the New York Times reported. Case numbers have held steady, although with many people testing at home where data are not being collected, those numbers are not reliable.

    Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the omicron sublineages named BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 accounted for 42.5% of all cases in the New York region in the week through Oct. 29, up from 37% the previous week.

    That was more than the BA.5 omicron subvariant, which accounted for 35.7% of new cases in the New York region in the latest week. The two sublineages were not even registering as recently as three weeks ago, demonstrating just how fast they are spreading.

    Experts are also concerned about a nationwide surge in RSV, which can cause breathing difficulties in small children and older adults and for which there is currently no vaccine.

    There was good news from Pfizer Inc., however, which said Tuesday that data from a late-stage trial of an RSV vaccine had proved effective in preventing severe illness in children up to 6 months old.

    The Phase 3 trial found that the vaccine, given to pregnant mothers, achieved vaccine efficacy of 81.8% in infants from birth through the first 90 days of life. The trial found efficacy of 69.4% through the first 6 months of life.

    Pfizer
    PFE,
    +3.14%
    said it expects to make its first U.S. regulatory application for the vaccine by the end of 2022 and to follow on with other regulatory bodies. It will also submit the results of the trial for peer review in a scientific journal.

    The daily U.S. average for new COVID cases stood at 37,665 on Monday, according to a New York Times tracker, which was flat as compared with two weeks ago. The daily average for hospitalizations was up 2% to 27,184, while the daily average for deaths was down 3% to 348. 

    Coronavirus Update: MarketWatch’s daily roundup has been curating and reporting all the latest developments every weekday since the coronavirus pandemic began

    Other COVID-19 news you should know about:

    • Apple 
    AAPL,
    -1.75%
    supplier Foxconn
    2317,

    said Tuesday it has quadrupled bonuses for workers at its Zhengzhou plant in central China as it seeks to quell discontent over COVID restrictions and retain staff at the giant iPhone manufacturing site, Reuters reported. Daily bonuses for employees, who are part of a Foxconn unit responsible for making electronics including smartphones, have been raised to 400 yuan ($55) a day for November from 100 yuan, according to the official WeChat account of Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant. The move comes after workers fled the site over the weekend to avoid COVID curbs after complaining about their treatment and provisions via social media.

    Workers at the world’s biggest assembly site for Apple’s iPhones walked out as Foxconn has struggled to contain a COVID-19 outbreak. The chaos highlights the tension between Beijing’s rigid pandemic controls and the urge to keep production on track. Photo: Hangpai Xinyang/Associated Press

    • The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Hong Kong stocks appeared to be rallying after an anonymous post on Chinese social media suggested that the government may intend to soften pandemic-related restrictions beginning in March. Other outlets also reported on the rumor. American depositary receipts for Chinese companies surged on the news.

    See: Alibaba and Nio among Chinese stocks surging as hopes build about potential reopening

    • Pfizer’s COVID antiviral Paxlovid brought in $7.5 billion in sales in the third quarter of the year, compared with a FactSet consensus of $7.6 billion. The drug company also reiterated guidance for Paxlovid revenues in 2022, saying it still expects $22 billion in sales for the year. The FactSet consensus is $22.5 billion. Pfizer raised its full-year revenue guidance for the company’s Comirnaty COVID vaccine by $2 billion to $34 billion. The guidance includes doses expected to be delivered in fiscal 2022, primarily under contracts signed as of mid-October.

    • AstraZeneca PLC’s
    AZN,
    +1.77%

    AZN,
    +0.90%
    COVID vaccine Vaxzevria has been granted full marketing authorization in the European Union, Dow Jones Newswires reported. The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant said Vaxzevria has been shown to be effective against all forms of the virus. Vaxzevria was originally granted conditional marketing authorization due to the urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.

    Here’s what the numbers say:

    The global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 topped 630.6 million on Monday, while the death toll rose above 6.59 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

    The U.S. leads the world with 97.5 million cases and 1,070,429 fatalities.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tracker shows that 226.9 million people living in the U.S., equal to 68.4% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots.

    So far, just 22.8 million Americans have had the updated COVID booster that targets the original virus and the omicron variants, equal to 7.3% of the overall population.

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  • Chief Justice Roberts delays release of Trump’s tax returns to House panel

    Chief Justice Roberts delays release of Trump’s tax returns to House panel

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    Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday temporarily halted the release of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns to a House panel. Trump asked the Supreme Court on Monday to block the House Ways and Means Committee from accessing his tax records. Roberts called for more briefing in the case, reported the Washington Post, and called for a response from the House committee by noon on Thursday.

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  • Biden to charge that oil companies ‘refuse to help lower prices at the pump’ in afternoon speech

    Biden to charge that oil companies ‘refuse to help lower prices at the pump’ in afternoon speech

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    President Joe Biden on Monday will speak about major oil
    XLE,
    +0.77%
    companies’ record-setting profits, “even as they refuse to help lower prices at the pump for the American people,” the White House announced. Biden’s remarks are scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Eastern in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, and come just over a week before key U.S. midterm elections, in which energy prices and inflation are playing a critical role.  

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  • New omicron subvariants accounted for more cases in New York region in latest week than BA.5, CDC data shows

    New omicron subvariants accounted for more cases in New York region in latest week than BA.5, CDC data shows

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    The omicron sublineages named BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 continued to spread in the U.S. in the week through Oct. 29, accounting for 27.1% of new cases nationwide, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

    The two accounted for 42.5% of all cases in the New York region, which includes New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, up from 37% the previous week. That was more than the BA.5 omicron subvariant, which accounted for 35.7% of new cases in the New York area in the latest week.

    The BA.5 omicron subvariant accounted for 49.6% of all U.S. cases, the data show.

    BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 were included in BA.5 variant data as recently as three weeks ago, because their numbers were too small to break out. BQ.1 was first identified by researchers in early September and has been found in the U.K. and Germany, among other places.

    Last week, the World Health Organization said that BQ.1 and another sublineage dubbed XBB do not appear to have immune-escape mutations that warrant being designated as variants of concern. However, BA.5 is still a variant of concern that is being closely monitored, said a statement from the WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution.

    Workers in a manufacturing facility that assemble Apple Inc.’s
    AAPL,
    -1.66%
    iPhone in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou appear to have left to avoid COVID-19 curbs, with many traveling on foot for days after an unknown number of employees were quarantined in the facility after a virus outbreak, the Associated Press reported. 

    Videos circulating on Chinese social media platforms showed people who are allegedly Foxconn workers climbing over fences and carrying their belongings down a road.

    Separately, visitors to Shanghai Disneyland were left stranded at the park on Monday after the resort halted operations to comply with COVID-19 restrictions amid a new outbreak of the virus.

    In the U.S., known cases of COVID are continuing to ease and now stand at their lowest level since mid-April, although the true tally is likely higher given how many people overall are testing at home, where data are not being collected.

    The daily average for new cases stood at 36,869 on Sunday, according to a New York Times tracker, down 2% from two weeks ago. The daily average for hospitalizations was up 3% to 27,415, while the daily average for deaths was down 6% to 352. 

    Coronavirus Update: MarketWatch’s daily roundup has been curating and reporting all the latest developments every weekday since the coronavirus pandemic began

    Other COVID-19 news you should know about:

    • With a downcast earnings season passing the halfway mark, results from financial-technology companies and vaccine makers will arrive this week amid questions about consumer spending as well as demand for COVID drugs, MarketWatch’s Bill Peters reported. Pfizer Inc.
    PFE,
    -1.82%
    will report earnings on Tuesday, followed by Moderna Inc.
    MRNA,
    -0.47%
    on Thursday. Analysts will have their eye on the state of COVID-19 vaccine and treatment sales and on what executives are anticipating for the full year, as they prepare for a private market for COVID medications and as more people shrug off the pandemic. Pfizer executives, during a call last week, said they intended to charge between $110 and $130 for a single-dose vial of the vaccine for U.S. adults when government purchases end. But they said they believe anyone who has health insurance shouldn’t have to pay anything out of pocket.

    The FDA authorized newly modified COVID-19 boosters to target the latest versions of the omicron variant. But as WSJ’s Daniela Hernandez explains, a key part of the decision-making process was changed with these new shots. Photo: Laura Kammermann

    • A number of young children are being hospitalized because of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and it’s happening at an unusual time of year and among older children than in years past, MarketWatch’s Jaimy Lee reported. COVID may be a contributing factor, in part because many children were not exposed to RSV last season and also because a prior COVID infection or exposure may change the way a baby’s immune system responds to RSV and may lead to more severe illness from an RSV infection, according to Asuncion Mejias, a principal investigator with the Center for Vaccines and Immunity at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

    • On Saturday, more than 3,000 people took part in the first Pride march in South Africa since the COVID pandemic , celebrating the LGBT community and defying a U.S. warning of a possible terror attack in the area, the AP reported. The U.S. government this week warned of a possible attack in the Sandton part of Johannesburg, where the march took place. The South African government expressed concern that the U.S. had not shared enough information to give credibility to the alleged threat. Police said all measures had been taken to ensure safety in the area.

    Here’s what the numbers say:

    The global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 topped 630.2 million on Monday, while the death toll rose above 6.58 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

    The U.S. leads the world with 97.5 million cases and 1,070,266 fatalities.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tracker shows that 226.9 million people living in the U.S., equal to 68.4% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots.

    So far, just 22.8 million Americans have had the updated COVID booster that targets the original virus and the omicron variants, equal to 7.3% of the overall population.

     

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  • As subscription prices rise, here’s what’s worth streaming in November 2022: ‘The Crown,’ ‘Willow,’ ‘Mythic Quest’ and more

    As subscription prices rise, here’s what’s worth streaming in November 2022: ‘The Crown,’ ‘Willow,’ ‘Mythic Quest’ and more

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    So here’s some bad news and some, well, slightly less bad news.

    First, the bad-bad: Streaming prices are increasing almost across the board (Hulu and Apple TV+ rose in October, Disney+ will rise in December, while Netflix and Prime Video rose earlier this year), putting even more of a crunch on budget-conscious consumers.

    But now the less bad: If you can put up with commercials, there are cheaper, ad-supported versions coming your way (Netflix on Nov. 3, Disney+ in December).

    Of course, the other money-saving solution is to double down on a churn-and-return strategy and cut down on recurring subscriptions even more.

    Each month, this column offers tips on how to maximize your streaming and your budget, rating the major services as a “play,” “pause” or “stop” — similar to investment analysts’ traditional ratings of buy, hold and sell. We also pick the best content to help you make your monthly decisions.

    Consumers can take full advantage of cord-cutting by churning and returning — adding and dropping streaming services each month. All it takes is good planning. Keep in mind that a billing cycle starts when you sign up, not necessarily at the beginning of the month, and keep an eye out for lower-priced tiers, limited-time discounts, free trials and cost-saving bundles. There are a lot of offers out there, but the deals don’t last forever.

    Here’s a look at what’s coming to the various streaming services in November 2022, and what’s really worth the monthly subscription fee.

    Netflix ($6.99 a month for basic with ads starting Nov. 3, $9.99 basic without ads, $15.49 standard without ads, $19.99 premium without ads)

    Netflix has another really good month coming up.

     “The Crown” (Nov. 9), returns for its fifth season, set this time in the 1990s as scandals involving Charles and Diana plaster London’s tabloids and the role of Britain’s monarchy in modern society is thrown into question. Imelda Staunton takes over the role of Queen Elizabeth, with Dominic West as Prince Charles, Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana and Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip. Controversy has already erupted over the new season, which will include Diana’s tragic death, as some have spoken out about the show’s increasingly blurry line between truth and fiction. Pryce recently told Vanity Fair, ““The vast majority of people know it’s a drama,” not a documentary. And it’s a pretty good drama.

    Netflix
    NFLX,
    -0.41%
    hasn’t had much success developing original sitcoms, but is hoping to finally break through with “Blockbuster” (Nov. 3), a workplace comedy set at the last Blockbuster video store in America, starring network sitcom veterans Randall Park (“Fresh Off the Boat”) and Melissa Fumero (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”). There’s also “Wednesday” (Nov. 23), a horror-comedy series from Tim Burton starring Jenna Ortega as the terrifyingly snarky teen Wednesday Addams, with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzman playing her creepy and kooky parents, Morticia and Gomez; and the third and final season of the dark comedy “Dead to Me” (Nov. 17), starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini, which returns after a two-and-a-half-year layoff.

    On the drama side, there’s “1899” (Nov. 17), a mystery-horror series set aboard a transatlantic steamer ship at the turn of the last century, from the makers of the mind-bending German sci-fi series “Dark” — and if it’s even half as trippy and addictive, it’ll be terrific; Part 1 of the fourth season of the supernatural drama “Manifest” (Nov. 4), which Netflix rescued from NBC’s cancellation; and Season 6 of the soapy Spanish high-school drama “Elite” (Nov 18).

    More: Here’s everything new coming to Netflix in November 2022, and what’s leaving

    There’s also the timely documentary “FIFA Uncovered” (Nov. 9), digging into the scandal-plagued organization behind the World Cup; “Pepsi, Where’s My Jet” (Nov. 17), a documentary about a man who sued Pepsi in the 1980s to get a free Harrier fighter jet; the fifth installment of “The Great British Baking Show: Holidays” (Nov. 18); and the new standup comedy special from the outgoing “Daily Show” host, “Trevor Noah: I Wish You Would” (Nov. 22).

    On the movie front, there’s “Enola Holmes 2” (Nov. 4), a sequel to the hit 2020 movie about Sherlock Holmes’ younger sister, played by Millie Bobby Brown (“Stranger Things”), as young detective Enola sets out to investigate her first case; “Slumberland” (Nov. 18), a comedy adventure about a young girl exploring the dreamworld, starring Mallow Barkley and Jason Mamoa; and Lindsay Lohan is back with a Christmas rom-com, “Falling for Christmas” (Nov. 10).

    Who’s Netflix for? Fans of buzz-worthy original shows and movies.

    Play, pause or stop? Play. When it’s at the top of its game, as it is again this month, Netflix is a must-have, at whatever price tier.

    Disney+ ($7.99 a month)

    The TV world has been abuzz about prequels for the past few months, but it’s all about sequels in November for Disney+.

    The biggest of the bunch is “Willow” (Nov. 30), a follow-up series to the cult-favorite 1988 fantasy movie of the same name. The magical adventure is set 20 years after the events of the film, and Warwick Davis returns as farmer-turned-sorcerer Willow Ufgood, who leads an unlikely group of heroes on a quest to save their world. It should be fun for the whole family.

    Disney
    DIS,
    +1.45%
    also has “Disenchanted” (Nov. 18), a sequel to the 2007 hit movie “Enchanted.” The musical fantasy is set 10 years after the happily-ever-after ending, with Giselle (Amy Adams) questioning her happiness and inadvertently setting her two worlds askew. Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden and Maya Rudolph co-star. And then there’s “The Santa Clauses” (Nov. 16), as Tim Allen reprises his role of Santa Claus, who’s now facing retirement and looking for a replacement, in a new miniseries spinoff of the family-movie trilogy.

    Also of note: “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special” (Nov. 25), as Star-Lord and the gang kidnap Kevin Bacon; the live performance “Elton John: Live from Dodger Stadium” (Nov. 20), the pop icon’s final show in North America; and weekly episodes of “Dancing With the Stars” (season finale Nov. 21), the “Star Wars” prequel “Andor” (season finale Nov. 23) and “The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers” (season finale Nov. 30).

    And heads up: Prices for the ad-free tier will jump to $10.99 a month in December, after Disney+ launches its ad-supported tier for $7.99 a month.

    Who’s Disney+ for? Families with kids, hardcore “Star Wars” and Marvel fans. For people not in those groups, Disney’s library can be lacking.

    Play, pause or stop? Play. There’s something for everyone in the household — even grumps who aren’t “Star Wars” fans can get into “Andor,” which absolutely works as a dark, gripping, spy thriller. Meanwhile, fans are realizing it just might be the best “Star Wars” series or movie ever made.

    HBO Max ($9.99 a month with ads, or $14.99 without ads)

    HBO Max is bringing back  “The Sex Lives of College Girls” (Nov. 17) for its second season. Created by Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble (who also teamed on Netflix’s “Never Have I Ever”), the ensemble comedy about four college roommates picks up right after Thanksgiving break, with the girls organizing a “sex-positive” male strip show. It’s sharp, funny, and less cringey than its title suggests.

    Then there’s “A Christmas Story Christmas” (Nov. 17), a nostalgic sequel to the 1983 classic, starring Peter Billingsley as a grown-up Ralphie who returns to his hometown to try to give his kids a perfect Christmas. It’s risky reviving such a beloved movie, and this could either be wonderful or terrible, there’s really no middle ground.

    HBO Max also has a slew of documentaries, including “Love, Lizzo” (Nov. 24), about the pop superstar’s inspiring life story; “Shaq” (Nov. 23), a four-part docuseries chronicling the rise to superstardom of NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal; “Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty” (Nov. 3), a true-crime series about a South Carolina lawyer’s scandalous fall; and “Say Hey, Willie Mays!” (Nov. 8), a film exploring the life, career and social impact of the greatest baseball player who ever played the game.

    See more: Here’s everything new coming to HBO Max in November 2022, and what’s leaving

    And every week brings new episodes of Season 2 of the very dark vacation comedy “The White Lotus,” Season 3 of “Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman’s Butler” and Season 2 of the cult documentary “The Vow.”

    Who’s HBO Max for? HBO fans and movie lovers.

    Play, pause or stop? Pause and think it over. “The White Lotus” and “The Sex Lives of College Girls” are both worth watching, but beyond that it’s kinda “meh” this month. And Max is too pricey for “meh.”

    Amazon Prime Video ($14.99 a month)

    Amazon
    AMZN,
    -6.80%
    is bringing the star power in November, starting with the Western drama series “The English” (Nov. 11), starring Emily Blunt as an aristocratic Englishwoman who teams with a Pawnee scout (Chaske Spencer) on a mission to cross the violent 1890s American frontier. It looks stylish and bloody — and promising.

    Meanwhile, James Corden and Sally Hawkins star in “Mammals” (Nov. 11), a dark comedy series about modern marriage; pop star-turned-actor Harry Styles stars in “My Policeman” (Nov. 4), a drama about forbidden romance that’s getting very “meh” reviews in its theatrical release; and Kristen Bell, Ben Platt and Allison Janney star in “The People We Hate at the Wedding” (Nov. 18), a raunchy comedy set at a dysfunctional family wedding.

    More: Here’s what’s coming to Amazon’s Prime Video in November 2022

    There’s also NFL Thursday Night Football every week, and new episodes of the intriguing sci-fi drama “The Peripheral,” which is giving very “Westworld”-but-slightly-less-confusing vibes.

    Who’s Amazon Prime Video for? Movie lovers, TV-series fans who value quality over quantity.

    Play, pause or stop? Pause. There’s good stuff here, but nothing that feels must-see.

    Paramount+ ($4.99 a month with ads but not live CBS, $9.99 without ads)

    Taylor Sheridan (“Yellowstone,” “1883,” “Mayor of Kingstown”) has another new series: “Tulsa King” (Nov. 13), starring Sylvester Stallone as a former New York mafia capo who gets freed from prison after 25 years and settles in Tulsa, Okla., to build a criminal empire of his own. Showrunner Terence Winter (“The Sopranos,” “Boardwalk Empire”) knows a thing or two about mob shows, and this one could be good.

    Paramount+ also has the spinoff series “Criminal Minds: Evolution” (Nov. 24), about an elite team of FBI profilers unraveling a network of serial killers; the family movie “Fantasy Football” (Nov. 25), about a girl who can magically control how her NFL-player dad performs on the field; and the series finale of “The Good Fight” (Nov. 10), which its creators promise will be “cataclysmic.”

    There’s also the Thanksgiving Day Parade (Nov. 24) and a ton of live sports, including college football on Saturdays, NFL football on Sundays (and Thanksgiving Day), and group-stage matches for UEFA’s Champions and Europe leagues.

    Who’s Paramount+ for? Gen X cord-cutters who miss live sports and familiar Paramount Global 
    PARA,
    +3.37%
     broadcast and cable shows.

    Play, pause or stop? Pause. Besides its solid live-sports lineup, it’s a good time to catch up and binge “The Good Fight,” and “Tulsa King” could be worth a watch too.

    Hulu ($7.99 a month with ads, or $14.99 with no ads)

    Hulu has a couple of interesting offerings in November, but nothing that screams must-see. Yet, at least.

    FX’s “Fleishman Is in Trouble” (Nov. 17) stars Jesse Eisenberg as a newly divorced dad whose promiscuous dive into app-based dating is disrupted when his ex-wife disappears and leaves him with their kids. Claire Danes, Lizzy Caplan and Adam Brody co-star in the eight-episode drama, which is based on Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s best-selling novel.

    There’s also “Welcome to Chippendales” (Nov. 22), a true-crime series starring Kumail Nanjiani as the immigrant founder of the 1980s male-stripper franchise, which chronicles his business empire’s rise and fall amid a blizzard of sex, drugs and violence.

    Meanwhile, Adam McKay (“The Big Short”) and Billy Corben (“Cocaine Cowboys”) have the documentary  “God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down a Dynasty” (Nov. 1), about the private life of Christian televangelist and former Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. and his very public downfall.

    See: Here’s everything new on Hulu in November 2022 — and what’s leaving

    There are also the final two episodes of “Atlanta” (series finale Nov. 10), whose fourth season has returned to brilliance after an underwhelming Season 3 over the summer, and new episodes every week of ABC’s “Abbott Elementary.”

    Who’s Hulu for? TV lovers. There’s a deep library for those who want older TV series and next-day streaming of many current network and cable shows.

    Play, pause or stop? Stop. While you won’t regret paying for Hulu if you already do, there’s not a lot to lure new subscribers this month.

    Apple TV+ ($6.99 a month)

    Apple TV+ is too inconsistent to be worth the $2-a-month price hike that was just announced, so it’s best to strategically plan when to stream — wait until a good series or two are completed, for example, and binge them all in a month, then cancel. Repeat as needed.

    And it actually is a decent month for Apple. Its second-best comedy, “Mythic Quest” Nov. 11), returns for its third season, with Ian (Rob McElhenny) and Poppy (Charlotte Nicdao) gearing up for war against their old videogame company. With a perfect blend of humor and heart, it’s one of the best workplace comedies on TV.

    Meanwhile, Season 2 of “The Mosquito Coast” (Nov. 4) finds the fugitive Fox family finally hiding out in Central America, after a tedious premise-pilot of a first season that wasted good actors (Justin Theroux and Melissa George) and beautiful cinematography with nonsensical plot twists, while the action series “Echo 3” (Nov. 23) stars Luke Evans and Michiel Huisman as former soldiers trying to rescue a kidnapped scientist in the jungles of South America.

    Apple
    AAPL,
    +7.56%
    also has a pair of high-profile original movies: “Causeway” (Nov. 3), starring Jennifer Lawrence as a former soldier struggling to adjust to civilian life in New Orleans, co-starring Brian Tyree Henry, and “Spirited” (Nov. 18), a musical twist on “A Christmas Carol” told from the ghosts’ point of view, starring Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell.

    Who’s Apple TV+ for? It offers a little something for everyone, but not necessarily enough for anyone — although it’s getting there.

    Play, pause or stop? Stop. There’s just not enough to justify a month-to-month subscription. December is a better bet, with “Mythic Quest” and a new season of “Slow Horses” running concurrently.

    Peacock (free basic level, Premium for $4.99 a month with ads, or $9.99 a month with no ads)

    The World Cup from Qatar (Nov. 20-Dec. 18) will be broadcast on Fox and FS1, so cord-cutters are out of luck, unless you subscribe to a live-streaming service like Hulu Live or YouTube TV. However, Peacock will stream every match in Spanish, which could be a decent Plan B for soccer fans.

    And that “it’ll-do-but-it’s-not-exactly-what-I’m-looking-for” description is the running theme for Peacock. November will bring a handful of originals that are unlikely to move the needle, subscriber-wise: There’s the musical-comedy spinoff series “Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin” (Nov. 23), starring Adam Devine; “The Calling” (Nov. 10), a crime drama about a religious cop, from David E. Kelley and Barry Levinson; the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (Nov. 24); and the streaming debut of Jordan Poole’s sci-fi/horror hit “Nope” (Nov. 18).

    Sports-wise, Peacock has the National Dog Show (hey, it’s a competition!) on Nov. 24, NFL Sunday Night Football every weekend, a full slate of English Premier League matches through Nov. 13, and a ton of golf and winter sports.

    Who’s Peacock for? If you have a Comcast 
    CMCSA,
    -0.06%
     or Cox cable subscription, you likely have free access to the Premium tier (with ads) — though reportedly not for much longer. The free tier is almost worthless, but the recent addition of next-day streaming of NBC and Bravo shows (like “Saturday Night Live” and “Real Housewives”) bolsters the case for paying for a subscription. Still, Peacock is still not really necessary unless you need it for sports.

    Play, pause or stop? Stop. There’s not a lot that’s particularly enticing right now, even on the sports side.

    Discovery+ ($4.99 a month with ads, or $6.99 with no ads)

    More of the same in November for Discovery+, which is a feature, not a bug. Highlights include the vegan cook-and-chat show “Mary McCartney Serves It Up” (Nov. 1); “Tut’s Lost City Revealed” (Nov. 3), about a 3,000-year-old Egyptian city recently discovered by archaeologists; “Vardy vs Rooney: The Wagatha Trial” (Nov. 19), the inside story of the tabloid-fodder “Wagatha” scandal between the wives of English soccer stars; and Season 2 of the excellent CNN food series “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” (Nov. 30). Full disclosure: There are also a handful of sappy holiday movies guest-starring some HGTV and Food Network stars, but they look terrible and I expect better from you, a discerning reader/viewer.

    Who’s Discovery+ for? Cord-cutters who miss their unscripted TV or who are really, really into “90 Day Fiancé.”

    Play, pause or stop?  Stop. Discovery+ is still fantastic for background TV, but it’s not worth the cost. Still, it should add value when the reconfigured Warner Bros. Discovery 
    WBD,
    +3.68%
      combines it with HBO Max next summer.

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  • Lula wins Brazil’s presidential runoff in rebuke of far-right Bolsonaro

    Lula wins Brazil’s presidential runoff in rebuke of far-right Bolsonaro

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    SAO PAULO — Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has done it again: Twenty years after first winning the Brazilian presidency, the leftist defeated incumbent Jair Bolsonaro Sunday in an extremely tight election that marks an about-face for the country after four years of far-right politics.

    With 99.9% of the votes tallied in the runoff vote, da Silva had 50.9% and Bolsonaro 49.1%, and the election authority said da Silva’s victory was a mathematical certainty. At about 10 p.m. local time, three hours after the results were in, the lights went out in the presidential palace and Bolsonaro had not conceded nor reacted in any way.

    Before the vote, Bolsonaro’s campaign had made repeated — unproven — claims of possible electoral manipulation, raising fears that he would not accept defeat and would challenge the results if he lost.

    The high-stakes election was a stunning reversal for da Silva, 77, whose imprisonment for corruption sidelined him from the 2018 election that brought Bolsonaro, a defender of conservative social values, to power.

    “Today the only winner is the Brazilian people,” da Silva said in a speech at a hotel in downtown Sao Paulo. “This isn’t a victory of mine or the Workers’ Party, nor the parties that supported me in campaign. It’s the victory of a democratic movement that formed above political parties, personal interests and ideologies so that democracy came out victorious.”

    Da Silva is promising to govern beyond his party. He wants to bring in centrists and even some leaning to the right who voted for him for the first time, and to restore the country’s more prosperous past. Yet he faces headwinds in a politically polarized society where economic growth is slowing and inflation is soaring.

    This was the country’s tightest election since its return to democracy in 1985, and the first time since then that the sitting president failed to win reelection. Just over 2 million votes separated the two candidates; the previous closest race, in 2014, was decided by a margin of roughly 3.5 million votes.

    The highly polarized election in Latin America’s biggest economy extended a wave of recent leftist victories in the region, including Chile, Colombia and Argentina.

    As Lula spoke to his supporters — promising to “govern a country in a very difficult situation” — Bolsonaro had yet to concede.

    Da Silva’s inauguration is scheduled to take place on Jan. 1. He last served as president from 2003-2010.

    Thomas Traumann, an independent political analyst, compared the results to Biden’s 2020 victory, saying da Silva is inheriting an extremely divided nation.

    “The huge challenge that Lula has will be to pacify the country,” he said. “People are not only polarized on political matters, but also have different values, identity and opinions. What’s more, they don’t care what the other side’s values, identities and opinions are.”

    Congratulations for da Silva — and Brazil — began to pour in from around Latin America and across the world Sunday evening, including from U.S. President Joe Biden, who highlighted the country’s “free, fair, and credible elections.” The European Union also congratulated da Silva in a statement, commending the electoral authority for its effectiveness and transparency throughout the campaign.

    Bolsonaro had been leading throughout the first half of the count and, as soon as da Silva overtook him, cars in the streets of downtown Sao Paulo began honking their horns. People in the streets of Rio de Janeiro’s Ipanema neighborhood could be heard shouting, “It turned!”

    Da Silva’s headquarters in downtown Sao Paulo hotel only erupted once the final result was announced, underscoring the tension that was a hallmark of this race.

    “Four years waiting for this,” said Gabriela Souto, one of the few supporters allowed in due to heavy security.

    Outside Bolsonaro’s home in Rio, ground-zero for his support base, a woman atop a truck delivered a prayer over a speaker, then sang excitedly, trying to generate some energy as the tally grew for da Silva. But supporters decked out in the green and yellow of the flag barely responded. Many perked up when the national anthem played, singing along loudly with hands over their hearts.

    For months, it appeared that da Silva was headed for easy victory as he kindled nostalgia for his presidency, when Brazil’s economy was booming and welfare helped tens of millions join the middle class.

    But while da Silva topped the Oct. 2 first-round elections with 48% of the vote, Bolsonaro was a strong second at 43%, showing opinion polls significantly had underestimated his popularity.

    Bolsonaro’s administration has been marked by incendiary speech, his testing of democratic institutions, his widely criticized handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the worst deforestation in the Amazon rainforest in 15 years. But he has built a devoted base by defending conservative values and presenting himself as protection from leftist policies that he says infringe on personal liberties and produce economic turmoil. And he shored up support in an election year with vast government spending.

    “We did not face an opponent, a candidate. We faced the machine of the Brazilian state put at his service so we could not win the election,” da Silva told the crowd in Sao Paulo.

    Da Silva built an extensive social welfare program during his tenure that helped lift tens of millions into the middle class. The man universally known as Lula also presided over an economic boom, leaving office with an approval rating above 80%, prompting then U.S. President Barack Obama to call him “the most popular politician on Earth.”

    But he is also remembered for his administration’s involvement in vast corruption revealed by sprawling investigations. Da Silva’s arrest in 2018 kept him out of that year’s race against Bolsonaro, a fringe lawmaker at the time who was an outspoken fan of former U.S. President Donald Trump.

    Da Silva was jailed for for 580 days for corruption and money laundering. His convictions were later annulled by Brazil’s top court, which ruled the presiding judge had been biased and colluded with prosecutors. That enabled da Silva to run for the nation’s highest office for the sixth time.

    Da Silva has pledged to boost spending on the poor, reestablish relationships with foreign governments and take bold action to eliminate illegal clear-cutting in the Amazon rainforest.

    “We will once again monitor and do surveillance in the Amazon. We will fight every illegal activity,” da Silva said in his acceptance speech. “At the same time we will promote sustainable development of the communities of the Amazon.”

    The president-elect has pledged to install a ministry for Brazil’s original peoples, which will be run by an Indigenous person.

    But as da Silva tries to achieve these and other goals, he will be confronted by strong opposition from conservative lawmakers likely to take their cues from Bolsonaro.

    Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo, compared the likely political climate to that experienced by former President Dilma Rousseff, da Silva’s hand-picked successor after his second term.

    “Lula’s victory means Brazil is trying to overcome years of turbulence since the reelection of President Dilma Rousseff in 2014. That election never ended; the opposition asked for a recount, she governed under pressure and was impeached two years later,” said Melo. “The divide became huge and then made Bolsonaro.”

    Unemployment this year has fallen to its lowest level since 2015 and, although overall inflation has slowed during the campaign, food prices are increasing at a double-digit rate. Bolsonaro’s welfare payments helped many Brazilians get by, but da Silva has been presenting himself as the candidate more willing to sustain aid going forward and raise the minimum wage.

    In April, he tapped center-right Geraldo Alckmin, a former rival, to be his running mate. It was another key part of an effort to create a broad, pro-democracy front to not just unseat Bolsonaro, but to make it easier to govern.

    “If Lula manages to talk to voters who didn’t vote for him, which Bolsonaro never tried, and seeks negotiated solutions to the economic, social and political crisis we have, and links with other nations that were lost, then he could reconnect Brazil to a time in which people could disagree and still get some things done,” Melo said.

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  • Where Are Markets Headed? Six Pros Take Their Best Guess

    Where Are Markets Headed? Six Pros Take Their Best Guess

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    A massive selloff in bonds. A plunge in tech stocks. The implosion of cryptocurrencies. The highest inflation in four decades.

    Amid a brutal and uncertain climate, we asked six heavyweights in the world of finance to share their thoughts on the state of the markets, how they have handled this year’s carnage and what they anticipate in the future.

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  • COVID-19 may be to blame for the surge in RSV illness among children. Here’s why.

    COVID-19 may be to blame for the surge in RSV illness among children. Here’s why.

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    A number of young children are being hospitalized because of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and it’s happening at an unusual time of year and among older children than in years past.

    RSV infections and related emergency-room visits and hospitalizations are nearing seasonal peaks in some U.S. regions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    But the current RSV outbreak is different from previous outbreaks in several ways: It’s happening in the fall rather than the winter (RSV commonly peaks after the holidays, starting in late December); older children and not just infants are being hospitalized; and cases are occurring that are more severe than in previous years. And this year, RSV is circulating at the same time as COVID, influenza, and other viruses like the biennial enterovirus, which was behind a rise in pediatric hospitalizations earlier this fall. 

    “The theory is that everyone’s now back together, and this is a rebound phenomenon,” said Jeffrey Kline, a physician and associate chair of research for emergency medicine at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit.

    Kline runs a national surveillance network that gathers data about viral infections from about 70 hospitals, including four pediatric hospitals. He says those data show that 318 children were hospitalized with acute respiratory illness brought on by RSV in the week starting Oct. 9, compared with 45 hospitalizations in the week starting July 25.  

    “If we think about the relative increase — ninefold increase — that’s not nothing, especially in the pediatric [emergency departments],” Kline said. “Holy mackerel.”


    Source: CDC

    The U.S. saw a massive spike in RSV cases in the summer of 2021, after masking and social distancing resulted in a lull in infections the previous year. Even with that spike, fewer young children — 2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds — have been exposed to RSV than in a normal year. Most children have usually had at least one RSV infection by the time they are 2 years old, and as children get older, RSV becomes less worrisome, according to the CDC. Infants are at higher risk for severe disease brought on by RSV because babies have more immature immune responses than older children and because infants younger than 6 months of age breathe exclusively through their noses and cannot breathe through their mouths if they are congested.

    “Age by itself is a risk factor for more severe disease, meaning that the younger babies are usually the ones that are sick-sick,” said Asuncion Mejias, a principal investigator with the Center for Vaccines and Immunity at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Now, she added, “we are seeing also older kids, probably because they were not exposed to RSV the previous season.”

    But there’s another reason that COVID may be worsening some RSV infections in the youngest children. Mejias is studying whether a prior COVID infection or exposure somehow changes the way a baby’s immune system responds to RSV and whether it may lead to more severe illness from an RSV infection. 

    “That is something to work on and understand,” she said. 

    For now, however, worries are tied to the possibility of a “tripledemic” of COVID, influenza, and RSV as the U.S. heads into what is expected to be a complicated season for respiratory infections. Stat News reported in mid-October that flu season is already underway, and the CDC said this week that this year’s flu activity may have “atypical timing and intensity.” 

    COVID itself remains a threat, as well. There are still more children being hospitalized with COVID than with RSV, Kline said, and some kids are getting sick from both viruses at the same time. About 5% of children are thought to test positive for both RSV and COVID, and 60% of the children in that group were hospitalized, according to Kline’s surveillance network. 

    “All these things are going on all at once right now,” said Alex Frost, managing director for StudyMaker, which is providing software infrastructure to the network. “But the shape of pediatric cases that are showing up in the emergency room is different than it used to be.”

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  • WHO panel says no evidence yet that new omicron subvariants are more dangerous than others that are circulating

    WHO panel says no evidence yet that new omicron subvariants are more dangerous than others that are circulating

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    The omicron sublineages named BQ.1 and XBB do not appear to have immune escape mutations that warrant being designated as variants of concern, a World Health Organization advisory panel said Friday.

    The decision will be reassessed regularly to ensure there is no change that might warrant a new designation, said the statement.

    As of Oct. 25, the XBB and XBB.1 lineages had been detected in 35 countries, according to a WHO weekly update from Thursday. The two are BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75 recombinants, which were found in 26 countries in the previous week.

    “There has been a broad increase in prevalence of XBB in regional genomic surveillance, but it has not yet been consistently associated with an increase in new infections,” the panel wrote. However, early evidence does suggest a higher reinfection risk compared with other circulating omicron variants.

    BQ.1 is a sublineage of BA.5, which remains dominant globally, accounting for 77.1% of sequences forwarded to a centralized database in the week through Oct. 23. BQ.1 has been found in 65 countries.

    “While there are no data on severity or immune escape from studies in humans, BQ.1* is showing a significant growth advantage over other circulating Omicron sublineages in many settings, including Europe and the US, and therefore warrants close monitoring,” said the panel.

    The real risk of the variants depends on the level of immunity in a given region, it added. And with waning immune response from initial waves of omicron infection, and further evolution of omicron variants, “it is likely that reinfections may rise further,” said the statement.

    Read now: COVID-19 may be to blame for the surge in RSV illness among children. Here’s why.

    In the U.S., known cases of COVID are continuing to ease and now stand at their lowest level since mid-April, although the true tally is likely higher given how many people overall are testing at home, where the data are not being collected.

    The daily average for new cases stood at 37,412 on Thursday, according to a New York Times tracker, down 3% from two weeks ago. The daily average for hospitalizations was up 1% at 27,002, while the daily average for deaths is down 5% to 358. 

    Coronavirus Update: MarketWatch’s daily roundup has been curating and reporting all the latest developments every weekday since the coronavirus pandemic began

    Other COVID-19 news you should know about:

    • Gilead Sciences Inc.
    GILD,
    +12.92%
    said sales of its COVID treatment Veklury, formerly known as remdesivir, fell 52% to $925 million in the third quarter, driven by lower rates of COVID-19-related hospitalizations compared to the third quarter of 2021.” Last month, Gilead said the World Health Organization expanded its guidance to recommend remdesivir for treatment of patients with severe symptoms.

    • The pandemic devastated poor children’s well-being, not just by closing their schools, but also by taking away their parents’ jobs, sickening their families and teachers, and adding chaos and fear to their daily lives, the Associated Press reported, citing an analysis of test scores that was shared on an exclusive basis. The analysis found the average student lost more than half a school year of learning in math and nearly a quarter of a school year in reading—with some district averages slipping by more than double those amounts, or worse. Online learning played a major role, but students lost significant ground even where they returned quickly to schoolhouses, especially in math scores in low-income communities.

    • Optimism among U.S. companies in China has hit record low levels, an annual survey showed on Friday, as competitive, economic, and regulatory challenges compound the stresses already imposed by Beijing’s ongoing zero-COVID policies, Reuters reported. Just 55% of 307 companies surveyed by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and consulting firm PwC China described themselves as optimistic about the five-year business outlook. The reading is the lowest in the survey’s 23-year history and worse than in 2020, when COVID first surfaced, and during the trade standoff between Beijing and Washington in 2019.

    • The Chinese city of Shanghai has ordered mass testing on all 1.3 million residents of its downtown Yangpu district and is confining them to their homes at least until results are known, the AP reported. The demand is an echo of measures ordered over the summer that led to a two-month lockdown of the entire city of 25 million that devastated the local economy, prompting food shortages and rare confrontations between residents and the authorities.

    Here’s what the numbers say:

    The global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 topped 629.6 million on Friday, while the death toll rose above 6.58 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

    The U.S. leads the world with 97.4 million cases and 1,070,064fatalities.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tracker shows that 226.9 million people living in the U.S., equal to 68.4% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots.

    So far, just 22.8 million Americans have had the updated COVID booster that targets the original virus and the omicron variants, equal to 7.3% of the overall population.

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  • Apple earnings show iPhone sales miss amid questions about smartphone demand; stock dips

    Apple earnings show iPhone sales miss amid questions about smartphone demand; stock dips

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    Apple Inc. joined the chorus of Big Tech woes Thursday, falling short of expectations on quarterly iPhone sales and sending its stock lower in late trading.

    The smartphone giant delivered $90.1 billion in fiscal fourth-quarter revenue, up from $83.4 billion a year earlier and ahead of the FactSet consensus, which was for $88.7 billion. A big driver of the upside came from Apple’s
    AAPL,
    -3.05%
    Mac business, which posted a massive beat even as iPhone sales came up light.

    Apple generated $42.6 billion in iPhone sales during its latest quarter, up from $38.9 billion a year before, while analysts were projecting $43.0 billion.

    The stock was down 1% to 4% in after-hours trading immediately following the release of the report Thursday.

    As has been the case throughout the pandemic, Apple declined to offer a financial forecast in its release, so investors will need wait for the company’s earnings call to get a sense for how things have fared since the September quarter ended and what expectations are like going into the holiday period.

    A key question coming into Apple’s report was how demand for the company’s new iPhone 14 line has held up, especially given reports that the company has scaled back earlier production goals. While the company isn’t likely to offer a traditional quantitative outlook on the call, executives could give some indication of how consumer behavior has played out recently amid the backdrop of economic pressure and more incremental upgrades within the newest family of iPhones.

    For the latest quarter, Apple recorded net income of $20.7 billion, or $1.29 a share, compared with $20.6 billion, or $1.24 a share, in the year-earlier period. Analysts tracked by FactSet were expecting $1.27 a share in earnings.

    Revenue performance across Apple’s product lines was mixed. The company saw $11.5 billion in Mac revenue, up from $9.2 billion a year prior, along with $7.2 billion in iPad revenue, down from $8.3 billion. Analysts tracked by FactSet were modeling $9.3 billion for the Mac line and $7.8 billion in iPad revenue.

    The company raked in $9.7 billion in revenue across its wearables, home and accessories category, up from $8.8 billion in the same period a year ago. Analysts had expected revenue of $9.2 billion.

    Services revenue climbed to $19.2 billion from $18.3 billion but fell short of the FactSet consensus, which was for $20.0 billion.

    Shares of Apple have lost 18% so far this year, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average
    DJIA,
    +0.61%
    — which counts Apple as one of its 30 components — has declined 12%.

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  • ‘We have a deal’: EU bans new gas-fueled cars starting in 2035

    ‘We have a deal’: EU bans new gas-fueled cars starting in 2035

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    The European Union reached a deal Thursday to effectively ban new gas-powered cars beginning in 2035.

    It’s a move seen as a key part of a broader plan to reduce carbon emissions across economic sectors — and a major policy achievement to carry into high-profile United Nations climate-change talks in Egypt early next month.

    Speculation about a deal, which had been heavily debated, was reported earlier this week and confirmed Thursday via a tweet from the spokesperson for the rotating presidency of the bloc, currently held by the Czech Republic.

    Broadly, the agreement is part of a plan that requires a 55% cut in emissions across transportation, buildings, power generation and other sources this decade. That halfway mark is seen as a major milestone as the EU aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

    The announcement comes as the U.N. climate arm has released a series of updated reports this week. One chastised the “highly inadequate” steps to date by rich nations to cut emissions of Earth-warming greenhouse gases, such as those from burning fossil fuels. The window to act is closing but is not quite shut yet, according to the Emissions Gap report from the U.N. Environment Programme. “Global and national climate commitments are falling pitifully short,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday. “We are headed for a global catastrophe.”

    The EU is the world’s largest trade bloc, and its moves could push other major economies to also set firm cutoff dates for gasoline
    RB00,
    -0.52%
    and diesel engines. Volkswagen AG
    VOW,
    +0.88%
    and Daimler Truck Holding AG
    DTG,
    +2.67%
    are already moving deeper into electric vehicles. Volkswagen this week said it would stop selling internal-combustion-engine cars in Europe between 2033 and 2035.

    Other major economies, including the U.S., have set similar goals, but the U.S. has not set any federal-level restrictions on vehicle manufacturing. Some individual automakers, including General Motors
    GM,
    +0.79%    ,
    have set their own timelines. And California approved plans in August to mandate a gradual phasing out of vehicles powered by internal-combustion engines, with only zero-emission cars and a small portion of plug-in gas/electric hybrids to be allowed by 2035.

    As the world’s fifth-largest economy, California can create ripple effects with its moves. At least 15 other states have signed on to California’s existing zero-emission vehicle program or have shown interest in and are working toward codifying the change. Among them, Washington, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon and Vermont are expected to adopt California’s ban on new gasoline-fueled vehicles.

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  • Almost three years into the pandemic, Chinese city of Wuhan is again in partial lockdown to stem latest outbreak of cases

    Almost three years into the pandemic, Chinese city of Wuhan is again in partial lockdown to stem latest outbreak of cases

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    Almost three years since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and the Chinese city of Wuhan is again in partial lockdown, as it sticks with a strict zero-COVID policy to stem the current outbreak.

    Roughly 800,000 people in one district of the city in central China have been ordered to stay at home until Sunday, Reuters reported. Wuhan counted about 20 to 25 new COVID cases a day this week, while China overall reported more than 1,000 new cases on Thursday. That was enough to trigger lockdowns or restrictions in other cities, including Xining in the northwest and Guangzhou in the south.

    As of Oct. 24, 28 cities were implementing varying degrees of lockdown measures, with around 207.7 million people affected in regions responsible for around 25.6 trillion yuan ($3.55 trillion) of China’s gross domestic product, according to Nomura. That’s nearly a quarter of China’s 2021 economic output.

    The World Health Organization’s weekly epidemiological update, meanwhile, shows cases and fatalities are still falling across the world. The global case tally was down 15% in the week through Oct. 23 from the previous week. The number of deaths fell 13% to just over 8,500.

    The highest number of new weekly cases came from Germany at 498,787, followed by France, at 307,610; China at 285,348; and the U.S. at 255,116. Experts are expecting the winter months to bring a fresh wave of cases as people gather indoors in the colder weather.

    As it has for some months, the WHO cautioned that the numbers may be undercounted, as many countries have pulled back on testing, resulting in fewer tests and fewer positive readings.

    The BA.5 omicron subvariant remains dominant around the world, accounting for 77.1% of sequences forwarded to a centralized database, the agency said.

    “BA.2, BA.4 and BA.5 and their various subvariants have in many cases acquired the same mutations at the same position, indicating convergent evolution,” said the WHO.

    It explained that convergent evolution means the independent genetic adaptation of two or more different variants at the same genomic position, i.e., the same nucleotide or amino acid change is observed in multiple variants, with these variants not being direct descendants of each other.

    “Areas of convergent evolution point to a potential role in the adaptation and further evolution of the virus,” said the update.

    As of Oct. 25, the XBB and XBB.1 lineages have been detected in 35 countries. The two are BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75 recombinants, which were found in 26 countries in last week’s report.

    The BQ.1 and its lineages have been found in 65 countries. BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are BA.5 lineages and accounted for about 16.6% of new U.S. cases in the week through Oct. 22, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The two were barely registering just a few weeks ago and were included in BA.5 variant data. BQ.1 was first identified by researchers in early September and has been found in the U.K. and Germany, among other places. The CDC is updating the numbers every Friday.

    The two are spreading fast in the New York region, which includes New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and accounted for almost 30% of new cases in the same week, CDC data shows.

    In the U.S., known cases of COVID are continuing to ease and now stand at their lowest level since mid-April, although the true tally is likely higher given how many people overall are testing at home, where the data are not being collected.

    See also: A common virus is putting more children in the hospital than in recent years

    The daily average for new cases stood at 37,615 on Wednesday, according to a New York Times tracker, down 4% from two weeks ago. The daily average for hospitalizations was flat at 26,792, while the daily average for deaths is down 5% to 361.

    Coronavirus Update: MarketWatch’s daily roundup has been curating and reporting all the latest developments every weekday since the coronavirus pandemic began

    Other COVID-19 news you should know about:

    • Qatar will drop most of its coronavirus restrictions beginning Nov. 1, just before it hosts the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the Associated Press reported. Qatar’s Health Ministry made the announcement Wednesday. In a statement, it said that PCR or rapid-antigen test results would not be required for those flying into the country. It also dropped a requirement to register for the country’s Ehteraz contract-tracing app. However, it’s mandatory to use the app to enter healthcare facilities in Qatar.

    • Fourteen Mississippi residents have been arrested on criminal charges related to a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain government funds through a federal program for small businesses, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday, the AP reported separately. All are charged with conspiracy, illegal financial transactions and wire fraud by applying for loans through the Payroll Protection Program. The loans were dispersed by the U.S. Small Business Administration early on during the COVID pandemic to prevent businesses from failing.

    China’s leader Xi Jinping opened the Communist Party congress in Beijing with a defense of his 10 years in power and a bid for a third five-year term. By staying in power, he would break succession norms established to prevent a return to a Mao-style dictatorship. Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/AP

    • LabCorp
    LH,
    -6.21%
    shares tumbled 6% Thursday after the diagnostics company said revenue in the third quarter of 2022 came in lower than expected as fewer people got PCR or antigen tests for COVID. Labcorp had earnings of $352.8 million, or $3.90 per share, in the third quarter of 2022, down from $587.3 million, or $6.05 per share, in the same quarter a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share were $4.68, against a FactSet consensus of $4.09. The company’s revenue was $3.6 billion for the quarter. That’s down from $4.0 billion in revenue in the third quarter of 2021. The FactSet consensus was $3.9 billion.

    Here’s what the numbers say:

    The global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 topped 629.1 million on Thursday, while the death toll rose above 6.58 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

    The U.S. leads the world with 97.3 million cases and 1,069,449 fatalities.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tracker shows that 226.6 million people living in the U.S., equal to 68.2% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots. Just 111.4 million have had a booster, equal to 49.1% of the vaccinated population, and 26.8 million of those who are eligible for a second booster have had one, equal to 40.6% of those who received a first booster.

    So far, just 19.4 million Americans have had the updated COVID booster that targets the original virus and the omicron variants that have been dominant in the U.S. and around the world for months.

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  • ‘He’s not willing to live in my house because it has fewer amenities’: My boyfriend wants me to move in and pay half his monthly costs. Is that fair?

    ‘He’s not willing to live in my house because it has fewer amenities’: My boyfriend wants me to move in and pay half his monthly costs. Is that fair?

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    Dear Quentin,

    My boyfriend owns a house with a 30-year mortgage balance of $150,000 on a 4% interest rate. He has $275,000 in cash and retirement accounts. He is retired.

    My house is paid off. I have $50,000 in cash and retirement accounts. I would like to retire within one to two years.

    We wish to cohabitate but have not been able to agree on a fair “rent” to pay. He is not willing to live in my house because it has fewer amenities. 

    “‘He believes I should pay half of his monthly cost at his nicer, more expensive house. He could pay off his mortgage and save $600 a month, but he likes to have cash. ‘”

    He believes I should pay half of his monthly cost at his nicer, more expensive house. He could pay off his mortgage and save $600 a month, but he likes to have cash. 

    I have forgone that luxury and paid off my mortgage. I am now working on building my savings. I don’t feel it is fair for me to pay half of the mortgage interest expense. 

    I don’t know what repair and maintenance costs should be expected from me, if I have no equity in his house. There are many points of view, none of which feels fair.

    These are the options he set forth:

    · I live in his house and thus get to rent mine out. Pay him half of what I net from that rental.

    · Pay half of the actual costs of living expenses and upkeep on his house while I live there.

    · Pay him what I pay to live in my current home for taxes, insurance, and utilities: $800/month.

    What say you, Moneyist?

    House Owner & Girlfriend 

    Dear House Owner,

    I’m sure your house is just as nice. And just because he believes you should pay half his costs, does not make it so. If you are paying no mortgage on your own home, I don’t believe you should pay one red cent more to live in his home. 

    That is to say, you should not come out of this arrangement paying more, just because (a) he would like you to live in his home and (b) he would like you to help him pay off his mortgage, or his tax and maintenance.

    You both made different choices: Yours was to have a home that’s free-and-clear of a mortgage, so you can spend this time building up your savings for retirement and/or a rainy day. 

    You have worked hard to pay off your mortgage, and you have $50,000 in savings, less than 20% of your boyfriend’s savings. He has $150,000 left on his mortgage, and that’s his choice.

    “If his aim is to find help to pay off half of his mortgage, he can find a tenant to do that for him. ”

    You are not the answer to his long-term financial plans, you are his partner in life. If his aim is to find help to pay off half of his mortgage, he can find a tenant to do that for him. What do you expect of you? Forget what he expects.

    By the way he is approaching this arrangement, it seems like he wants the equivalent of a detergent and a fabric softener — a girlfriend and a tenant in one handy bottle to keep his financial plans smooth and clean.

    Bottom line: You should not compromise any plans to build your nest egg. The lady’s not for turning. Only acquiesce to his plan if — with the help of an actual tenant in your home — it helps you too. 

    In other words, the desired outcome for you is more important than the suggestions he has put forward. He could save $600 a month! That’s his business. Not yours. What do you want to have in your pocket every month?

    Figure out what you want, and then work your way backwards based on that goal. For instance, if you can pay him $800 a month, charge $1,600 rent for your home, and put $800 towards your savings, do that.

    You’ve come a long way. Don’t let these negotiations scupper that.

    Check out the Moneyist private Facebook group, where we look for answers to life’s thorniest money issues. Readers write in to me with all sorts of dilemmas. Post your questions, tell me what you want to know more about, or weigh in on the latest Moneyist columns.

    The Moneyist regrets he cannot reply to questions individually.

    By emailing your questions, you agree to having them published anonymously on MarketWatch. By submitting your story to Dow Jones & Co., the publisher of MarketWatch, you understand and agree that we may use your story, or versions of it, in all media and platforms, including via third parties.

    Also read:

    I built a property portfolio with 23 units while we were dating. How much should I give to my fiancé in our prenup?

    ‘We will not outlive our money’: How can we give $10,000 to our nieces and nephews without offending the rest of the family?

    ‘S‘I hate to be cheap’: Is it still acceptable to arrive at a friend’s house for dinner with just one bottle of wine?

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  • U.K. fracking stocks slump after Sunak reinstates ban

    U.K. fracking stocks slump after Sunak reinstates ban

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    Shares in London-listed fracking companies slumped on Wednesday after new U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he would stick by his party’s manifesto pledge to ban the shale gas extraction process in Britain.

    IGas Energy stock
    IGAS,
    -27.66%
    dropped 28% and the equity of Egdon Resources
    EDR,
    -18.21%
    slumped 11%. The shares of AJ Lucas
    AJL,
    +2.99%    ,
    which owns nearly 50% of U.K. fracker Cuadrilla, are quoted on the Australian stock exchange, which was closed.

    The fracking sector is tiny in the U.K. — the two U.K.-quoted companies have a combined valuation of less than £60 million — with few suitable sites for the process to be viable.

    But the industry’s practices are highly controversial, with campaigners arguing it causes small earth tremors, pollutes water tables and is not compatible with lower carbon production targets.

    The shares of IGas Energy had jumped around ninefold since the start of the year, getting an extra recent boost from previous Prime Minister Liz Truss’s decision to go against the Conservative Party’s wishes and allow fracking.

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