Latest news with #Blay
Arab News
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Orchestra celebrates soundtracks of popular video games at Saudi Arabia's Ithra
DHAHRAN: It is 'game on' at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture after it opened its doors to an event on Thursday. The orchestral performance, which is being held nightly at the Ithra Theater — with two shows scheduled for Friday — celebrates the soundtracks of popular video games and attempts to breathe new life into them. The concert features symphonic arrangements paired with in-game HD visuals and exclusive concept art from popular titles such as League of Legends, Overwatch, Assassin's Creed, and The Witcher 3. The event featured music from Guild Wars 2, World of Warcraft, The Witcher 3 and Assassin's Creed 2, among many others. (Supplied) Sergey Smbatyan, founder of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and the artistic director and principal conductor since 2005, was on hand to lend context and commentary between the scores on opening night. He told the crowd before the show: 'If you're not a gamer, what I want you to do is to imagine that you're in a museum — an art museum — but instead of a curator telling you about the images that you're going to see on this huge screen, let these musicians tell you that exact story. 'Tonight there is no right time to clap; there is no wrong time to clap. If you hear something you like from these guys (gesturing to the orchestra behind him on stage), let us know. 'We're going to start off tonight with role-play games, or what are known as RPGs, where players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. The game is focused on interactive storytelling, decision-making and strategy.' Dhahran resident Paul Blay took his two daughters Sylvia, 11, and Celeste, 10, to the show. Blay, who is a father of six, told Arab News: 'I get emails about Ithra events and saw this one and I thought it would be fun for me and the girls to go to. Like with anyone that you love, I shared the things I love with them.' The Blay family moved to the Kingdom last year and were keen to attend an event that merged gaming with music. Celeste told Arab News: 'I really like video game music; the music is really pretty and I like listening to that. It is kind of what motivated me to come here. And, also, my dad likes video games.' The older Blay sisters have both taken music lessons and play multiple instruments, including the piano, the harp and the clarinet. Their father said: 'Some of the best music that's being composed nowadays is for movies and video games. I expected it to be really high quality and good (at Ithra).' The event featured music from Guild Wars 2, World of Warcraft, The Witcher 3 and Assassin's Creed 2, among many others. The last show takes place on April 5, with tickets starting at SR200 ($53), available at the venue or via the Ithra website.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why this strategist says there's still one last hurrah for the stock market before it falters
The new year has not quite shaped up as some investors had hoped, though we are only one — albeit ugly — quarter into it. With the S&P 500 SPX closing out its worst three-month period since late 2022, some investors might be considering dip-buying opportunities, that is, if they can push through a murky tariff landscape. My tenant convinced me to take out a $175,000 home loan to buy stock — then he stole my home I invested $100,000 in the S&P 500 in February and lost $10,000. How long will it take to recover? 'I cannot afford to lose more': Will Trump's 'liberation day' tariffs hurt my retirement? 'She has been telling him lies': My sister convinced my father to sign everything over to her. What can I do? 'He gave me a week to get out': My son and I bought a house — now I'm homeless and living in a car. Can I sue him? There's encouragement for dip buyers in our call of the day from investment newsletter editor Manuel Blay, who sees one last whoop coming from stocks before the bears settle in. The market-timing newsletter says it has steered clients correctly in the past, such as when to buy stocks in 2002, when to exit in 2007, re-enter in early 2009 and stay invested up to 2018. Before we get to the whoop, Blay flags trouble down the road for stocks via the 3-month Treasury bill BX:TMUBMUSD03M/ 10-year Treasury note BX:TMUBMUSD10Y yield curve, which inverted in late February. A yield curve inversion occurs when short-term rates move above long-term rates. Since the Feb. 26 inversion, it has seen several un-inversions and reinversions, when the yield curve returns to its normal upward slope. Over history, those inversions 'have been among the most reliable warning signs for bear markets and recessions,' Blay explains in a new letter to clients. The exception to this was the October 2022 inversion, the first since 1990 that didn't lead immediately lead to either scenario, he adds. While that's proof no indicator is perfect and price action remains crucial, he says inversions are a still sign that 'something is off beneath the surface. Normally, investors expect higher returns for long-term bonds. When short-term rates rise above long-term ones, it often reflects weak growth expectations.' Since 1990, it has taken an average 6.3 months for a bear market to arrive after an inversion and 13.6 months for a recession, says Blay. But this time around, he notes investors are not just facing the inversion that started Feb. 26, but fallout from a recent un-inversion. He said history shows those un-inversions 'have often led to substantial market declines,' and when those happen during bull markets, they often precede: So while the October 2022 yield curve inversion didn't lead to a stock drop 'maybe it's the second knock — the inversion that began on 2/26/25 — that breaks the bull's back,' says Blay. As for when that bearish action might begin following an un-inversion during a bull market, history shows the market has rallied an average 10.92% over 263 days before the start of a downturn, he says. 'This suggests there may still be one last 'hurrah' for the bulls — before the market eventually succumbs to stronger bearish forces.' Blay offers a few reasons why he's expecting stocks to rise into midyear. Those include: beaten-down sentiment in which even a modest shift could trigger a rally; improving liquidity; and no historical precedent for a recession happening when sentiment and consumer surveys are negative, but hard economic indicators are positive. Also , the financial sector exchange-traded fund XLF is still outperforming the S&P 500 ETF SPY, which is not what one would expect if a recession is looming. 'Healthy financials suggest that the dire implications of the inverted yield curve can be put aside, at least for the next few months,' he says. U.S. stocks DJIA SPX COMP have opened lower, with Treasury yields BX:TMUBMUSD10Y BX:TMUBMUSD02Y dropping, and gold GC00 tapping another record after its best quarter in decades. Key asset performance Last 5d 1m YTD 1y S&P 500 5611.85 -2.70% -4.07% -4.59% 7.02% Nasdaq Composite 17,299.29 -4.89% -5.73% -10.42% 5.50% 10-year Treasury 4.203 -11.80 -4.50 -37.30 -15.80 Gold 3171.8 5.11% 9.22% 20.18% 39.57% Oil 71.65 3.60% 4.64% -0.31% -14.69% Data: MarketWatch. Treasury yields change expressed in basis points Need to Know starts early and is updated until the opening bell, but to get it delivered once to your email box. The emailed version will be sent out at about 7:30 a.m. Eastern. White House aides have reportedly drafted plans for 20% tariffs on most U.S. imports, says a Washington Post report citing three sources. Read: What we do and don't know about Trump's April 2 tariffs Tesla TSLA sales dropped by nearly 40% in France during March, according to data released a day ahead of expected delivery numbers that have some analysts worried. Nvidia NVDA, CoreWeave CRWV and other AI stocks are rising after OpenAI just raised money at a $300 billion valuation, making it worth more than Chevron. Shares of conservative-leaning cable news network NewsMax NMAX, which soared 700% in a Wall Street debut on Monday, are up 62% in early trade. Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin will speak on the outlook for the economy and monetary policy at 9 a.m. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing survey, job openings and construction spending are all expected at 10 a.m. In a rare move, Wall Street analysts get pointed in their criticism of RFK Jr. Harvard threatened by Trump with $9 billion of funds at risk. Balenciaga coffee cup bag is luxury fashion's latest everyday flaunt. The setup for April favors the bulls, says this chart provided by Jonathan Krinsky, chief market technician at BTIG. He discusses how rare the big March drop was for the S&P 500, noting that on seven previous occasions when the index lost 3% or more in during that month, April closed out in the green with an average gain of 5.92%. 'The rest of the year (Apr-Dec) closed higher six or seven times with 2001 the lone loser (-1.05%),' says Krinsky. These were the most active stock-market tickers on MarketWatch as of 6 a.m. Eastern: Ticker Security name TSLA Tesla NVDA Nvidia GME GameStop PLTR Palantir Technologies HOLO MicroCloud Hologram AAPL Apple MLGO MicroAlgo TSM Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing NIO NIO AMZN Only bottled water for the world's oldest cat. Everything you ever wanted to know about torpedo bats. Robbers boast about a $2.6 million heist on Instagram and you'll never guess what happened next. For more market updates plus actionable trade ideas for stocks, options and crypto, . I met a friend for lunch. When the check arrived, she said, 'Thank you so much for paying!' Was I taken for a fool? These 16 dividend stocks have 'high quality yields' if you want to diversify away from the U.S. These 2 ETF strategies can lower your risk during this period of stock-market uncertainty 'I'm considering marriage in my mid-60s': Am I responsible for my spouse's medical debt? One of Wall Street's biggest optimists says investors should hang tight because Trump wants the stock market to rally
