Bank exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offer investors exposure to the banking and financial sector of the economy. Banking services include taking deposits, making loans, and facilitating payments. Other financial services include investment management, retirement planning, insurance, and brokerage services. Aside from charging fees for these services, banks earn profits by charging higher interests rates on the
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California reported its smallest daily increase in coronavirus cases since late May. A further 1,616 people in the most populous US state tested positive for the disease over the past 24 hours, health authorities revealed, down from 2,676 on Tuesday and compared with 4,255 last Wednesday. New York City is set to allow limited indoor
Fast food group Yum China’s stock fell on its Hong Kong debut, as the latest so-called “homecoming” listing of a Chinese company struggled to get investors’ pulses racing. Shares in Yum China, which operates KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants in the world’s second-biggest economy, slipped as much as 4.1 per cent in early morning trading on Thursday after the
Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans require escrow accounts for the payment of property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, and mortgage insurance premiums (MIP). Rather than paying taxes directly to the government or insurance premiums to the insurer, an FHA borrower pays toward these expenses each month as part of his mortgage payment, with that money placed in
Investors who have cash might want to consider putting some to work after a recent pullback in the stock market, CNBC’s Jim Cramer advised Wednesday. “If you haven’t bought anything, maybe you dip your toe in,” Cramer said on “Squawk on the Street,” while noting he has for weeks been advising people to sell and lock-in
LVMH said it was no longer possible for it to complete the $16.6bn takeover of US jeweller Tiffany after the French government ordered the world’s largest luxury group to delay the closing past a key deadline because of transatlantic trade tensions. Tiffany hit back by suing the company controlled by French billionaire Bernard Arnault. It
AstraZeneca has paused all clinical trials of the Covid-19 vaccine it is developing with Oxford university after a participant in the UK section of the study suffered a suspected serious adverse reaction. The UK-based drugmaker voluntarily put the trial on hold after the discovery of the sick participant, who fell ill with a rare inflammatory
If you have more than 20% equity in your home, you may qualify for a home equity line of credit (HELOC). A HELOC is a convenient and often inexpensive way to borrow money using your home’s value as collateral. You don’t have to get a HELOC from the company that services your existing mortgage, so
Maxim Znak, one of Belarus’s leading opposition figures, was reportedly detained by masked men on Wednesday morning, in the latest step in a sweeping crackdown on opponents of autocratic president Alexander Lukashenko. Mr Lukashenko, who has ruled the eastern European nation since 1994, has been battling to retain his hold on power since huge protests
When the coronavirus pandemic swept through the world’s cities this spring, office workers had to hurry home. Taking their laptops with them, they entered a new world of meetings by Zoom call and remote working with their families, or flatmates, in the next room. A surprising number found they liked it. Not having to take
What We Know About Buffett’s Successor Investors around the world have wondered who would take the reins of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), once the 87-year-old CEO and the world’s third-richest man Warren Buffett passes away. The answer has yet to be revealed, but the Oracle of Omaha continues to provide hints in his annual reports. Not just that, Berkshire Hathaway
A decline in Italy’s retail sales ended two months of improvement to raise fears for the fragility of recovery in the eurozone’s third-biggest economy that risks widening the region’s north-south gap. Sales fell 2.2 per cent in July compared with the previous month, marking a setback from June’s 12 per cent expansion. Sales in July
Critics of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq have always believed the real motivation was taking control of the world’s second-largest proven oil reserves. Even the architects of Operation Iraqi Freedom were convinced Iraqi oil revenues would quickly fund reconstruction of a US client state that would help redraw the contours of the Middle East
Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at an opening ceremony for Tesla China-made Model Y program in Shanghai on Jan. 7. Aly Song | Reuters Most investors can relate to the dilemma faced by the S&P Dow Jones Indices committee as it bypassed Tesla for inclusion in the S&P 500 last week. Tesla had more than
Artificial intelligence (AI) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) seek to provide exposure to a fast-growing segment of the technology industry. AI aims to simulate human intelligence, leveraging powerful algorithms to make machines think and act like human beings. While the automation of repetitive tasks and substitution of human labor by machines is nothing new, AI is accelerating
Disney has come under fire for filming parts of Mulan, its latest blockbuster movie, in a Chinese region where Muslims are held in internment camps. The entertainment group released Mulan for sale on its Disney+ streaming platform on Friday after the pandemic devastated cinemas across the world, with many cinemas remaining shut. Disney charges $30
India’s media has had plenty of substantive stories to dig into lately. Covid-19 infections are surging, with more than 90,000 new cases a day, as New Delhi struggles to resuscitate an economy that contracted 24 per cent year on year in the second quarter. Around 73,000 Indians have died and 270m children have been out of
Key Takeaways The ECB will announce monetary policy as Eurozone inflation sags. China announces trade balance data, how is the world’s commerce recovering? U.S. releases July JOLTs data. After the first weekly losses for U.S. markets in five, investors will get an extra day next week to gather themselves. U.S., Canadian, and Brazilian markets and
Valdis Dombrovskis has been named as the new EU trade policy chief following the shock departure of Ireland’s Phil Hogan last month. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said she had chosen Mr Dombrovskis, the EU’s executive vice-president for economic policy, to take on the key role as part of a switch that also
Shares in Chinese bottled water company Nongfu Spring surged on their debut in Hong Kong, propelling founder Zhong Shanshan into the position of China’s second-richest man with a fortune of over $50bn. Nongfu’s stock jumped 63 per cent to HK$35.10 in Tuesday morning trading after the company, whose red-capped plastic bottles are a fixture of
A flexible spending account (FSA) is a type of tax-advantaged financial account. Some employers offer FSA accounts to their employees to help offset their medical costs using pre-tax dollars. FSAs are similar to the Health Savings (HSA), but FSAs are only available to those employed by a company. Self-employed individuals have access to HSAs. Key
South Korea is struggling to lure companies with operations overseas back to the country despite expanded incentives aimed at helping local factories compete with China and south-east Asia. Park Young-sun, minister for small to medium-sized enterprises and start-ups, said the government was redoubling efforts to encourage companies to return home, as the country grapples with
India has overtaken Brazil for the grim status as the country with the world’s second-highest total number of confirmed coronavirus infections, after it detected a record 90,000-plus new cases on Saturday, and then again on Sunday. President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, have accused each other of politicising a Covid-19 vaccine, threatening
Wall Street was once a proverbial cul-de-sac—a small, yet powerful, contingent of investment bankers, money managers, and CEOs within a stone’s throw of each other. Globalization has forever disassembled this original construct as the trend towards outsourcing continues. The financial industry has followed other industries in its cost-cutting efforts to help improve the bottom line. Moving financial
Sterling shed nearly 1 per cent of its value against the US dollar on Monday and futures markets were braced for a rise in volatility, after Brexit risks returned to haunt the UK currency and put a stop to a strong summer run. The pound slumped to $1.3161 by early afternoon on Monday, losing 0.91
It is not only the current spat over “Rule, Britannia!” at the Last Night of the Proms. The Black Lives Matter protests have brought to the boil a more general concern over the lack of diversity in classical music that has been simmering for years. Over the past weekend two online events put the issue
Tesla remains one of the hottest companies on the market, with an incredible P/E ratio of 1,076.31. However, it is also one of the most volatile stocks, meaning investors who want a cost-effective way to gain exposure to Tesla should consider investing in one of these three exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that include the California-based electric
Shareholders in SoftBank wiped nearly $9bn off its market value on Monday after weekend revelations that the Japanese conglomerate was the mystery “whale” that had driven US technology stocks to record highs. The Financial Times reported on Sunday that the group’s trading strategy meant it was now sitting on gains of about $4bn after founder
Shares in China’s largest contract chipmaker tumbled on Monday after reports that the US was planning to blacklist the company in a move that could neuter the country’s semiconductor industry. Shares in Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation closed down 22.9 per cent in Hong Kong and 11.3 per cent in Shanghai, wiping more than $6.1bn off
With the cost of college rising each year and questionable career prospects awaiting college graduates, some people are wondering if a college education is still worth it. If you took all of the money you would spend on a college degree and invested it, would you come out ahead? Are college loans worth it? One