Author: ricardofrancois

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Norwegian Cruise Line – The cruise ship operator rose 18% on strong forward guidance. Norwegian expects a profit of 12 cents per share in the current quarter, which beats analysts' consensus estimates calling for a loss of 20 cents per share, according to FactSet. Unity Software – The video game developer fell nearly 9% on disappointing EBITDA guidance. Unity expects adjusted EBITDA to be between $45 million and $50 million, versus the $113 million expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet. Viking Therapeutics – Clinical-stage biotech rose more than 90% after meeting…

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Biden: The US President will hold a summit at the White House to discuss aid to Ukraine and how to avoid a government shutdown. Joe Biden will also be on the ballot in Michigan's Democratic primary. While he is expected to win easily, the race may provide insight into how voters — especially Arab Americans — in the key swing state feel about the president's stance on the war in Gaza.Lowe's: The retailer is expected to report an 18 percent decline in revenue to $18.4 billion in the fourth quarter, as consumers curb spending on home improvement projects. Analysts polled…

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Apartments are seen under construction on February 28, 2023 in Austin, Texas Brandon Bell | Getty ImagesThe apartment market is finally starting to relax. At the same time, competition is intensifying in some key markets.There are a huge number of new apartments coming online this year. Rents have fallen for six straight months, and are now at their lowest levels since March 2022, according to Apartment List.For a one-bedroom apartment nationally, the recent median rent is $1,207; For two bedrooms it is $1,359. The nationwide average fell 0.3% in February compared to January, down 1% year over year and down…

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The home building industry is racing to make its homes environmentally cleaner and more energy efficient. Real estate as a whole is a huge carbon offender. Building construction and operation account for 40% of global carbon emissions.Solar panels and energy-efficient appliances help reduce emissions, but there is still much to be done to improve building construction. That's what some prefab homebuilders like Dvele, Clever, and a California-based startup called Aro Homes are doing. Aro's CEO claims its homes will eventually be carbon negative.“The excess renewable energy we generate after 16 years offsets all the carbon that was used to build…

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Although app downloads are not an accurate proxy for usage, they can indicate which direction the market is headed. And in the case of the Twitter vs. alt wars, the app winning the game right now is Instagram's Threads. Twitter's Meta app now sees three times the daily downloads of X (formerly Twitter) on iOS globally, and more than double — and sometimes more than triple — the number of installs on Google Play. This was not always the case. Threads, of course, saw a huge spike in new installs after its public launch in the summer of 2023, but…

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Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.The writer supervises the anti-corruption program of the Human Rights FoundationFor many years, the United States has served as one of the world's leading centers for money laundering and offshore financing. Now, this reality is rapidly changing.Without much fanfare, the United States in the past few weeks has announced or implemented new reforms across a range of sectors that have traditionally been ripe for money laundering. All of this is a product of the Biden administration's focus on fighting corruption.The most significant…

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Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, US, February 14, 2024. Brendan McDiarmid | ReutersStocks steadied on Tuesday as the market rally took another breather, with investors looking forward to key data scheduled for release later this week.the Standard & Poor's 500 It was marginally higher, instead Dow Jones Industrial Average It fell 117 points, or 0.3%. the Nasdaq Composite He added 0.1%.Retail giant Messi It advanced more than 4% after announcing it would close about 150 of its struggling stores after reporting a loss of revenue in the previous quarter.…

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Toyota hybrid cars for sale at a dealership in Chicago, February 6, 2024.Scott Olson | Getty ImagesHybrid cars topped the 2024 top vehicle rankings released Tuesday by influential product testing organization Consumer Reports.These “electric” vehicles, including hybrid models, account for six of the top 10 picks by the nonprofit consumer organization. Rounding out the list were the non-hybrid models that were all-electric Tesla The Model Y crossover and three gas-powered vehicles, no hybrids.This marks the second year in a row that seven electric or all-electric vehicles have been included in Consumer Reports' top picks, as automakers launch several vehicle models…

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People shop at the Macy's store in Herald Square on January 19, 2024 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty Imageslike Messi As it seeks to chase sales growth, the department store operator said Tuesday it will close about 150 of its namesake stores and open more better-located or luxury-focused stores.The changes reflect a focus on what works at Macy's — upscale department store Bloomingdale's and cosmetics chain Bluemercury — and what doesn't work — its namesake stores, particularly those in struggling malls. In holiday quarter results released Tuesday, the retailer said Macy's stores…

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Forget Tesla, the real competition in electric cars is low-cost Chinese automakers. That's what Ford CEO Jim Farley told the Wall Street Journal recently. He said he has a plan as an electric car maker looks to take America by storm. BYD — short for Build Your Dreams — could pose a threat to Ford and other U.S. automakers if speculation holds true and the Chinese automaker builds an electric vehicle factory in Mexico. According to a report published by the Nikkei in mid-February, the factory could be used as an export hub to penetrate the US market and help…

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