Latest news with #BankofAmericaGlobalResearch
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
BofA's Cabana Expects Some Tariff Inflation Signs in CPI
Mark Cabana, head of US rates strategy at Bank of America Global Research, says the firm's base case is for inflation to emerge from tariffs and sees June CPI data giving markets "a bit of pause" on justifying a Federal Reserve rate cut priced in for September.
Miami Herald
08-07-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Sanctions, currency collapse fan fear of hyperinflation surge in Venezuela
Venezuela is spiraling once more into an inflationary storm as new data warns that price increases could skyrocket to 530% in 2025, fueled by a collapsing currency, oil export disruptions and mounting political and economic isolation. After two years of relative calm and moderate economic stabilization, inflation has returned with a vengeance. According to Bank of America Global Research, monthly inflation hit 26% in May, up from 18% in April—marking the fastest pace in years and triggering fears of a return to full-blown hyperinflation. 'Fears of hyperinflation have returned,' said Sebastián Rondeau, an economist at Bank of America. 'The deterioration in price stability is severe and accelerating.' The sharp surge in inflation follows a perfect storm of structural vulnerabilities and renewed external pressures, most notably the reimposition of U.S. sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry earlier this year and a concurrent fall in oil production. Venezuela's annual inflation reached 229% in April, up dramatically from a year-over-year average of 94% in 2024. If current trends persist, Bank of America projects an inflation rate of 530% for 2025 — potentially Venezuela's worst economic year since the infamous hyperinflation cycle of 2017–2019. Much of the inflationary pressure stems from Venezuela's crippled oil sector, one of the country's key lifelines for foreign currency and government revenue. Bank of America and Bloomberg report that oil production fell to 870,000 barrels per day in April, down from 980,000 in March—a drop that analysts say is directly tied to the U.S. decision to let key operating licenses for American and international companies expire. In late May, the Trump administration declined to renew the license that had allowed Chevron and several European firms to operate in Venezuela under sanctions waivers. As a result, Chevron was forced to halt the export of nearly five million barrels of oil, a significant loss for the cash-strapped socialist regime. To make matters worse, other foreign oil operators such as ENI and Maurel & Prom also had their licenses suspended. These policy shifts have led to a sharp decline in oil shipments and a loss of crucial hard currency inflows. Adding fuel to the fire, President Donald Trump announced in March that his administration would impose a 25% tariff on countries importing Venezuelan oil and a 15% tariff on direct imports from Venezuela. The sanctions and oil export cuts have placed enormous pressure on the already weakened bolívar, which has been depreciating at an average of 13% per month this year. That rapid decline follows a brief period of currency stability in 2024, during which the Caracas regime tried to maintain a controlled exchange rate using Central Bank interventions and limited dollar reserves. But those reserves have all but dried up. With declining oil exports, the government is struggling to get foreign currency and is once again resorting to monetary financing—printing bolívars to cover spending gaps. As a result, prices for basic goods have soared. A kilogram of beef now sells for $7 to $8 on the black market, compared to $4 just a few months ago. Public workers are reporting real wage declines of over 70% since the start of the year, and strikes are spreading among healthcare workers, teachers and pensioners. Failing to stop the economic firestorm, the socialist regime has turned its sights on those who dare to publicize the collapse. In recent weeks, authorities have detained economists, analysts and digital platform operators who publish independent financial data, intensifying a campaign of repression aimed at concealing Venezuela's worsening economic crisis. The arrests followed the publication of alarming inflation data by the independent Venezuelan Finance Observatory, which reported an annualized inflation rate of 229% as of May. The Central Bank of Venezuela, controlled by Maduro loyalists, stopped releasing official inflation figures in October 2024, when prices began surging again. 'The government wants to eliminate the parallel market without supplying enough dollars — and that's impossible,' said exiled economist José Guerra, who heads the observatory. 'They're trying to control inflation while printing money without backing. Monetary liquidity increased 250% through May alone. That inevitably fuels more inflation.' The government's sweeping effort to silence dissent has also extended to popular platforms like Monitor Dólar, which published unofficial exchange rates crucial for businesses and consumers in a country plagued by currency instability. The site stopped updating on May 27. Soon after, authorities detained around 20 people linked to the platform. The cryptocurrency exchange El Dorado — often used as a benchmark for Monitor Dólar — also shut down operations in Venezuela following the arrests. Now, many informal currency exchanges are being routed through platforms like Binance in an effort to avoid digital surveillance and government crackdowns. With the cost in bolivars of buying a U.S. dollar more than doubling since January, the regime has responded not with economic reform, but with political persecution.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Stock-Split History Is Being Made Next Week by an Industry-Leading Company That's Gained 400% in Just Over 5 Years
Investors have rallied around influential companies conducting splits. To date, two industrial titans -- one of which has risen more than 210,000% since its initial public offering -- have completed forward stock splits. Next week, a high-flying financial stock, whose key performance indicators are rocketing higher across the board, will become Wall Street's newest stock-split stock. 10 stocks we like better than Interactive Brokers Group › For more than three decades, investors have almost always had a next-big-thing trend or innovation to hold their attention. It started with the advent and proliferation of the internet in the mid-1990s and was followed by genome decoding, business-to-business e-commerce, nanotechnology, 3D printing, blockchain technology, cannabis, and the metaverse. Today, artificial intelligence (AI) is captivating the attention and wallets of professional and everyday investors. But every so often, more than one big trend can exist at the same time. In addition to the evolution of AI, investors have been rallying around influential companies announcing stock splits. A stock split is a tool publicly traded companies can lean on to cosmetically alter their share price and outstanding share count by the same factor. These adjustments are considered cosmetic because they don't result in a change to a company's market cap or its underlying operating performance. Although stock splits can nominally adjust a company's share price in either direction, one is overwhelmingly preferred by the investing community. Reverse splits, which are designed to increase a company's share price while correspondingly reducing its outstanding share count, are often avoided by investors. The companies announcing and completing reverse splits are typically struggling and attempting to avoid delisting from a major U.S. stock exchange. On the other hand, investors are willingly lured by businesses conducting forward splits. This type of split lowers a company's share price to make it more nominally affordable for everyday investors and/or employees who aren't able to purchase fractional shares. Forward splits are typically completed by companies on the leading edge of the innovation curve within their respective industry. Furthermore, an analysis from Bank of America Global Research showed that, since 1980, companies enacting forward splits more than doubled the average return of the benchmark S&P 500 in the 12 months following their split announcement (25.4% vs. 11.9%). To date, two influential stock-split stocks have taken center stage. Next week, the Class of 2025 stock-split stocks will welcome a new member. Last year, more than a dozen high-profile businesses completed a split, with many of these companies being traced back to the tech sector. This included Nvidia's much-anticipated 10-for-1 split, as well as AI networking solutions specialist Broadcom's first-ever split (also 10-for-1). This year's stock-split theme is all about non-tech titans making their shares more accessible to everyday investors. Although it was the last of the three companies to announce its intent to split, wholesale industrial and construction supplies company Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST) became the first notable business to complete its forward split (2-for-1) after the close of trading on May 21. This marked its ninth split in the last 37 years. Shares of Fastenal have rocketed higher by well over 210,000% since its initial public offering in 1987 (including dividends) and are reflective of the company becoming increasingly tied to the supply chains of notable industrial and construction companies. Fastenal has been integrating its managed inventory solutions on-site to generate instant revenue, as well as gain a better understanding of the supply chain needs of its leading customers. Furthermore, Fastenal benefits from the nonlinearity of economic cycles. Though recessions are a normal and inevitable part of the economic cycle, they're historically short-lived. In comparison, the average economic expansion since the end of World War II has endured around five years. A cyclically tied company like Fastenal spends a disproportionate amount of time growing in lockstep with its biggest clients. The other big-time stock split that's been announced and completed is auto parts supplier O'Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ: ORLY). Following the approval of its forward split by shareholders in mid-May, O'Reilly completed its largest-ever split, 15-for-1, after the close of trading on June 9. One of the clear-cut catalysts for O'Reilly and its peers is the steady aging of cars and light trucks on American roadways. Whereas the average age of vehicles in the U.S. stood at 11.1 years in 2012, according to a report by S&P Global Mobility, it's increased to an all-time high of 12.8 years, as of 2025. With auto loan interest rates climbing and President Donald Trump's tariff and trade policy leading to confusion, O'Reilly Automotive should be relied on by drivers and mechanics to keep aging vehicles in tip-top running condition. A more company-specific reason O'Reilly Automotive stock has steadily climbed is its sensational share-repurchase program. Since initiating a buyback program in 2011, more than $25.9 billion has been spent to repurchase close to 60% of its outstanding shares. A company that regularly grows its net income and reduces its outstanding share count should enjoy a boost to its earnings per share. Wall Street's third high-profile, non-tech, industry-leading stock split of 2025 is right around the corner. Automated electronic brokerage firm Interactive Brokers Group (NASDAQ: IBKR) announced on April 24 that it would complete a 4-for-1 forward split following the close of trading on June 17. This split, which is historic in the sense that it's the first in the company's history, will reduce its share price from north of $205, as of this writing on June 10, to around $50 per share. Since the start of May 2020, which represents a period of just over five years, shares of Interactive Brokers have soared by 400%. This advance is a function of macro and company-specific factors working in its favor. The broad-based theme that helps Interactive Brokers succeed is long-lasting bull markets. Even though stock market corrections and periods of outsized volatility offer some of the best investment opportunities, customers at Interactive Brokers tend to be more willing to trade and hold additional equity on the platform when stocks are climbing. With the exception of the 2022 bear market, which endured less than a year, and the short-lived tariff-induced swoon in April 2025, the bulls have been running wild on Wall Street for the last five years. Interactive Brokers' site features have also hit home with its clients. The company's heavy reliance on technology and automation allows it to pay higher interest on cash balances, as well as charge lower margin fees, depending on the amount being borrowed. This combination of enduring bull markets and unique features has led to sweeping growth in virtually all of Interactive Brokers Group's key performance indicators (KPIs). Over the trailing-two-year period, ended March 31, 2025, the number of customer accounts has soared by 65% to 3.62 million, customer equity on the platform has risen by 67% to almost $574 billion, and daily average revenue trades -- total customer orders divided by the number of trading days in a period -- has jumped 72% to 3.52 million. In other words, when investors feel confident about the state of the stock market, they open accounts, trade more frequently, use margin more often, and keep more of their capital tied up with Interactive Brokers' platform. The only knock you'll find against owning Interactive Brokers' stock is that its forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 26 represents a 29% premium to its average forward P/E over the trailing-five-year period. Though this likely isn't a big deal for long-term investors, considering the company's KPIs keep heading in the right direction, it might limit upside for its shares in the coming quarters. Before you buy stock in Interactive Brokers Group, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Interactive Brokers Group wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $657,871!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $875,479!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 998% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 174% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025 Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Sean Williams has positions in Bank of America. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bank of America, Interactive Brokers Group, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom and recommends the following options: long January 2027 $175 calls on Interactive Brokers Group and short January 2027 $185 calls on Interactive Brokers Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Stock-Split History Is Being Made Next Week by an Industry-Leading Company That's Gained 400% in Just Over 5 Years was originally published by The Motley Fool
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Stock-Split History Is Being Made Next Week by an Industry-Leading Company That's Gained 400% in Just Over 5 Years
Investors have rallied around influential companies conducting splits. To date, two industrial titans -- one of which has risen more than 210,000% since its initial public offering -- have completed forward stock splits. Next week, a high-flying financial stock, whose key performance indicators are rocketing higher across the board, will become Wall Street's newest stock-split stock. 10 stocks we like better than Interactive Brokers Group › For more than three decades, investors have almost always had a next-big-thing trend or innovation to hold their attention. It started with the advent and proliferation of the internet in the mid-1990s and was followed by genome decoding, business-to-business e-commerce, nanotechnology, 3D printing, blockchain technology, cannabis, and the metaverse. Today, artificial intelligence (AI) is captivating the attention and wallets of professional and everyday investors. But every so often, more than one big trend can exist at the same time. In addition to the evolution of AI, investors have been rallying around influential companies announcing stock splits. A stock split is a tool publicly traded companies can lean on to cosmetically alter their share price and outstanding share count by the same factor. These adjustments are considered cosmetic because they don't result in a change to a company's market cap or its underlying operating performance. Although stock splits can nominally adjust a company's share price in either direction, one is overwhelmingly preferred by the investing community. Reverse splits, which are designed to increase a company's share price while correspondingly reducing its outstanding share count, are often avoided by investors. The companies announcing and completing reverse splits are typically struggling and attempting to avoid delisting from a major U.S. stock exchange. On the other hand, investors are willingly lured by businesses conducting forward splits. This type of split lowers a company's share price to make it more nominally affordable for everyday investors and/or employees who aren't able to purchase fractional shares. Forward splits are typically completed by companies on the leading edge of the innovation curve within their respective industry. Furthermore, an analysis from Bank of America Global Research showed that, since 1980, companies enacting forward splits more than doubled the average return of the benchmark S&P 500 in the 12 months following their split announcement (25.4% vs. 11.9%). To date, two influential stock-split stocks have taken center stage. Next week, the Class of 2025 stock-split stocks will welcome a new member. Last year, more than a dozen high-profile businesses completed a split, with many of these companies being traced back to the tech sector. This included Nvidia's much-anticipated 10-for-1 split, as well as AI networking solutions specialist Broadcom's first-ever split (also 10-for-1). This year's stock-split theme is all about non-tech titans making their shares more accessible to everyday investors. Although it was the last of the three companies to announce its intent to split, wholesale industrial and construction supplies company Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST) became the first notable business to complete its forward split (2-for-1) after the close of trading on May 21. This marked its ninth split in the last 37 years. Shares of Fastenal have rocketed higher by well over 210,000% since its initial public offering in 1987 (including dividends) and are reflective of the company becoming increasingly tied to the supply chains of notable industrial and construction companies. Fastenal has been integrating its managed inventory solutions on-site to generate instant revenue, as well as gain a better understanding of the supply chain needs of its leading customers. Furthermore, Fastenal benefits from the nonlinearity of economic cycles. Though recessions are a normal and inevitable part of the economic cycle, they're historically short-lived. In comparison, the average economic expansion since the end of World War II has endured around five years. A cyclically tied company like Fastenal spends a disproportionate amount of time growing in lockstep with its biggest clients. The other big-time stock split that's been announced and completed is auto parts supplier O'Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ: ORLY). Following the approval of its forward split by shareholders in mid-May, O'Reilly completed its largest-ever split, 15-for-1, after the close of trading on June 9. One of the clear-cut catalysts for O'Reilly and its peers is the steady aging of cars and light trucks on American roadways. Whereas the average age of vehicles in the U.S. stood at 11.1 years in 2012, according to a report by S&P Global Mobility, it's increased to an all-time high of 12.8 years, as of 2025. With auto loan interest rates climbing and President Donald Trump's tariff and trade policy leading to confusion, O'Reilly Automotive should be relied on by drivers and mechanics to keep aging vehicles in tip-top running condition. A more company-specific reason O'Reilly Automotive stock has steadily climbed is its sensational share-repurchase program. Since initiating a buyback program in 2011, more than $25.9 billion has been spent to repurchase close to 60% of its outstanding shares. A company that regularly grows its net income and reduces its outstanding share count should enjoy a boost to its earnings per share. Wall Street's third high-profile, non-tech, industry-leading stock split of 2025 is right around the corner. Automated electronic brokerage firm Interactive Brokers Group (NASDAQ: IBKR) announced on April 24 that it would complete a 4-for-1 forward split following the close of trading on June 17. This split, which is historic in the sense that it's the first in the company's history, will reduce its share price from north of $205, as of this writing on June 10, to around $50 per share. Since the start of May 2020, which represents a period of just over five years, shares of Interactive Brokers have soared by 400%. This advance is a function of macro and company-specific factors working in its favor. The broad-based theme that helps Interactive Brokers succeed is long-lasting bull markets. Even though stock market corrections and periods of outsized volatility offer some of the best investment opportunities, customers at Interactive Brokers tend to be more willing to trade and hold additional equity on the platform when stocks are climbing. With the exception of the 2022 bear market, which endured less than a year, and the short-lived tariff-induced swoon in April 2025, the bulls have been running wild on Wall Street for the last five years. Interactive Brokers' site features have also hit home with its clients. The company's heavy reliance on technology and automation allows it to pay higher interest on cash balances, as well as charge lower margin fees, depending on the amount being borrowed. This combination of enduring bull markets and unique features has led to sweeping growth in virtually all of Interactive Brokers Group's key performance indicators (KPIs). Over the trailing-two-year period, ended March 31, 2025, the number of customer accounts has soared by 65% to 3.62 million, customer equity on the platform has risen by 67% to almost $574 billion, and daily average revenue trades -- total customer orders divided by the number of trading days in a period -- has jumped 72% to 3.52 million. In other words, when investors feel confident about the state of the stock market, they open accounts, trade more frequently, use margin more often, and keep more of their capital tied up with Interactive Brokers' platform. The only knock you'll find against owning Interactive Brokers' stock is that its forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 26 represents a 29% premium to its average forward P/E over the trailing-five-year period. Though this likely isn't a big deal for long-term investors, considering the company's KPIs keep heading in the right direction, it might limit upside for its shares in the coming quarters. Before you buy stock in Interactive Brokers Group, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Interactive Brokers Group wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $657,871!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $875,479!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 998% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 174% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025 Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Sean Williams has positions in Bank of America. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bank of America, Interactive Brokers Group, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom and recommends the following options: long January 2027 $175 calls on Interactive Brokers Group and short January 2027 $185 calls on Interactive Brokers Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Stock-Split History Is Being Made Next Week by an Industry-Leading Company That's Gained 400% in Just Over 5 Years was originally published by The Motley Fool
The Star
11-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
U.S. inflation rises modestly in May, fueling political pressures on Fed
NEW YORK, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Inflation in the United States edged slightly higher in May, with the consumer price index (CPI) rising 2.4 percent on an annual basis, up from 2.3 percent in April, according to the data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday. The increase was just below economists' expectations of a 2.5 percent rise, based on a FactSet survey. Core inflation, which strips out the often volatile categories of food and energy, climbed 2.8 percent over the past year -- also below the 2.9 percent projected. Despite these softer-than-expected readings, inflation remains above the Federal Reserve's 2 percent target, underscoring ongoing challenges in fully stabilizing prices. The inflation rate likely rose less than expected due to a sharp dip in gasoline prices. Lower energy prices were a "major source of disinflationary/deflationary pressure," noted Adam Crisafulli, an analyst with Vital Knowledge. Gasoline prices fell 12 percent from a year earlier, while clothing prices declined 0.9 percent, and airline fares dropped 7.3 percent. On the other hand, prices for beef, coffee, and housing continued to rise, offsetting the broader easing in other sectors. In financial markets, the report prompted a modest lift in U.S. stock indexes during midday trading, while the U.S. Treasury yields and the U.S. dollar slipped, reflecting expectations that the Federal Reserve may be inching closer to cutting interest rates later this year. Political pressure quickly mounted in response to the CPI data. U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his call for the Fed to slash interest rates by a full percentage point, while U.S. Vice President JD Vance accused the central bank of engaging in "monetary malpractice" by maintaining current borrowing costs. Although the inflation numbers do not yet reflect significant upward pressure from tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, economists warn the full effects could materialize in the second half of 2025. "The impact of tariffs was smaller than expected in May. We expect to see it more clearly starting next month," said economists with Bank of America Global Research. Combined with the solid May jobs report, the latest CPI data reduce the chances of a nasty bout of stagflation in the United States, according to Bank of America Global Research. "Tariff impacts may begin appearing in the CPI data later this summer," said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, noting the potential for inflation to creep above 3 percent by year-end if trade-related costs feed through the broader economy. "Today's below forecast inflation print is reassuring -- but only to an extent," Shah added. "Tariff-driven price increases may not feed through to the CPI data for a few more months yet, so it is far too premature to assume that the price shock will not materialise."
