Latest news with #MichaelMcCarthy
Scoop
22 minutes ago
- Business
- Scoop
Kiwi Investment Volumes On Wall Street At Near Record Levels
The value of Kiwi's investments in Wall Street has reached a near record high, according to new data from the US Treasury. The latest figures show New Zealanders' ownership of US securities, including shares and bonds, hit US$67.1 billion in March 2025, more than double the value of five years ago.[1] Shares in listed companies are the largest investment, with US$51.3 billion in US stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) – a 152% increase over the same month in 2020. US government and corporate bonds account for another US$14.8 billion. Michael McCarthy, Australia and New Zealand CEO of share-trading platform moomoo, says the data highlights the growing scale of international reach and diversification by Kiwi investors. He says New Zealand's low interest-rate environment in recent years has pushed investors to seek higher yields abroad, especially in US equities and tech-heavy indices, which have delivered strong returns post-COVID. McCarthy says fintech platforms are now democratising entry into international markets for younger investors, who have a particular interest in US tech stocks and ETFs. 'We have seen that the relatively strong Kiwi dollar in the earlier post-pandemic period made US investments more attractive and affordable for Kiwi investors. 'There was an awareness that exposure to US assets could provide a hedge against domestic inflation and NZD depreciation, especially relevant given recent macroeconomic volatility. 'We have also seen large institutional investors, such as the NZ Super Fund and KiwiSaver providers, steadily increase their exposure to global equities to diversify risk and chase international growth,' he says. McCarthy says growing local demand from retail investors has seen them launch its trading platform in NZ this week, to lower barriers to entry by offering the lowest fees in the local market for unlimited US trades as well as the widest range of US stocks and ETFs. Founded in Silicon Valley in 2018, moomoo has grown to over 25 million users in the US, Singapore, Australia, Japan, Canada, Hong Kong and Malaysia. The platform's New Zealand launch follows its entry into the trans-Tasman market, where it recorded the most downloads of any online broker app within its first two years. Kiwi traders will now be able to trade more than 22,000 stocks and ETFs across the US, Australia and Hong Kong, including more than 15,000 US stocks and ETFs for only US$99c per trade (NZ$1.66). McCarthy says the platform has been designed to accommodate both novice and experienced investors. 'One of the unique features of moomoo is its ability to enable 'social investing', whereby the online community of global users are able to support and learn from one another, including sharing investing ideas and insights on stocks. 'This allows everyone from beginners to seasoned investors to learn investment strategies and share this experience with other users around the world. We also offer structured learning experiences and additional educational resources to assist users on their investment journey.' McCarthy says these resources help investors explore market trends, identify opportunities and make informed decisions that align with their risk levels and goals. He says the platform also allows 24-hour US trading, every trading day, eliminating significant time zone barriers to enable local investors to capitalise on opportunities at any time. 'The US Treasury data shows New Zealand has a strong investing culture, and we see growing demand for more sophisticated tools that empower retail investors to navigate global markets with confidence. 'We are able to provide real-time market data, AI-powered analytics, advanced charting tools and curated news from financial media outlets. These features help reduce the complexity of financial markets into intuitive, actionable insights that are integrated into the platform's interface. McCarthy says as part of its New Zealand launch, moomoo is offering new users $0 commission trading on Australian and US stocks for the first 30 days, with free reward stocks for users upon eligible deposits. He says with the moomoo app now available in New Zealand, local investors can also access options trading and dividend reinvestment plans for US stocks, catering to the diverse investment needs of New Zealanders. [1] U.S. Department of the Treasury. Treasury International Capital (TIC) Data: Table 1. Treasury International Capital (TIC) System website. [Publication Date, if available on the page]. Available from: Accessed June 1, 2025.
Associated Press
3 days ago
- General
- Associated Press
Journalism opens as the Belmont favorite. Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty is the 2nd choice
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) — Kentucky Derby runner-up and Preakness winner Journalism opened as the 8-5 favorite in the Belmont Stakes when post positions were drawn Monday for the final leg of the Triple Crown. Derby winner Sovereignty was set as the second choice on the morning line at odds of 2-1 and drew the No. 2 post. Journalism, near the outside with the No. 7 post, is the only horse running in all three Triple Crown races. 'He's been kind of the same horse since July of last summer,' trainer Michael McCarthy said. 'He does everything you'd ask a good horse to do: He eats well, trains well, acts well. I thought through the last six, seven weeks here, his energy's been the same throughout.' Sovereignty is back after owners and trainer Bill Mott opted to skip the Preakness and run the Belmont on five weeks of rest, and things have gone swimmingly since he arrived at historic Saratoga Race Couse. 'We've been very lucky with everything that's gone on sine he's been here,' Mott said. 'He's been moving well over the track.' Sovereignty and Journalism in the field set up this Belmont, the second at Saratoga while renovations are made to its usual home on Long Island, to be a rematch between the first two Triple Crown winners who were also first and second the Derby. 'He's improved, as I think as many of these horses have,' Mott said of Sovereignty. 'I think this entire group, if you look at their form and the way they've developed over the course of this year, I think they've made steady progress and it should be an interesting race.' No. 6 Baeza, who finished third in Kentucky on the first Saturday in May, opened at 4-1. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert's Rodriguez, who was scratched from the Derby because of a minor foot bruise and held out of the Preakness, was next at 6-1 and will leave the starting gate from the No. 3 post. The field of eight horses also includes No. 8 Heart of Honor, tied for the longest shot on the board at 30-1 after finishing fifth in the Preakness. New to the Triple Crown trail are No. 1 Hill Road (10-1), No. 5 Crudo (15-1) and No. 4 Uncaged (30-1). Journalism, who was favorited in the Derby and the Preakness and at the moment is the top 3-year-old in the country, looks like the horse to beat. 'Saratoga is very good for horses,' McCarthy said. 'He seems a little bit re-energized up here. We're looking for a wonderful renewal of the Belmont here on Saturday.' ___ AP horse racing:
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First Post
5 days ago
- First Post
PSG Champions League victory celebrations turn deadly, lead to two deaths and 559 arrests with police officer in coma
Paris Saint-Germain's stunning 5-0 victory over Inter Milan in the final of the UEFA Champions League on Saturday led to euphoric celebrations across France that spiralled out of control in several places, including and especially in capital Paris. read more Riot police had to be deployed in Paris as well as in other parts of France after fan celebrations over Paris Saint-Germain's victory in the UEFA Champions League final turned violent. Reuters Paris Saint-Germain's of the UEFA Champions League on Saturday led to euphoric celebrations in France that quickly turned violent, resulting in two deaths and leading to more than 500 arrests, the interior ministry said on Sunday. The epicentre of the euphoria was in Paris, which was a theatre of car horns, cheers, singing in the street and fireworks throughout the night following . STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The ministry said 491 people were arrested in the capital when crowds converged on the Champs-Elysees avenue and clashes broke out with officers. Across France as a whole, including Paris, a total of 559 people were arrested, it added. More from Football The two deaths occurred as the celebrations took place. A man riding a motor scooter in Paris died after being hit by a car in the city's southern 15th arrondissement located just a couple of kilometres (miles) away from the Champs-Elysees. In the southwestern town of Dax, a 17-year-old boy was fatally stabbed at a gathering feting the PSG victory, prosecutors said. His death occurred 'during the celebrations', but the prosecutor's office said it did not know whether it was directly related to the Champions League final. It added that the perpetrator was 'on the run'. The interior ministry said that 18 police officers in Paris were injured, along with three elsewhere in France, as were 192 people celebrating in the streets. Seven fire-service personnel were also hurt. It said that 692 fires were reported through the night, including 264 cars that were set ablaze. Victory parade The PSG team were to hold a victory parade on the Champs-Elysees on Sunday, with tens of thousands of supporters expected to gather to catch a glimpse of their returning heroes. Overnight, AFP journalists saw police on the famed thoroughfare using a water cannon to stop a crowd reaching the Arc de Triomphe, which sits at the top of the Champs-Elysees. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Scenes coming out of Paris, France. — Michael McCarthy (@punishablepress) June 1, 2025 Police, in a statement, said 'troublemakers' clashed with officers 'by throwing large fireworks and other objects'. One policeman was in an induced coma after being hit in the eye by a firework in the Normandy region, prosecutors said. Elsewhere, police said a car careered into fans celebrating PSG's win in Grenoble in southeastern France, leaving four people injured, two of them seriously. All of those hurt were from the same family, police said. The driver handed himself in to the police and was placed under arrest. A source close to the investigation said it was believed the driver had not acted intentionally. The public prosecutor's office said the driver had tested negative for alcohol and drugs. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The majority of fans celebrated peacefully, but police in Paris said scuffles broke out near the Champs-Elysees avenue, and around PSG's Parc des Princes stadium, where 48,000 had watched the match on giant screens. Most of those arrested in the capital were suspected of illegally possessing fireworks and causing disorder, police said. The PSG victory meant the club won the biggest prize in European club football for the first time in their history. One 20-year-old PSG supporter, Clement, said: 'It's so good and so deserved! We have a song that talks about our struggles and it hasn't always been easy. 'But we got our faith back this year with a team without stars. They're 11 guys who play for each other.' Also Read | Djokovic enters French Open last-16 while crowd celebrates PSG's goals in UCL final French President Emmanuel Macron's office said he would host the victorious players on Sunday to congratulate them. In a message on X, Macron hailed a 'day of glory for PSG'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo hailed it as a 'historic' win. A total of 11.5 million people tuned in across France to watch the match, according to figures given by the Mediametrie audience-measurement company and one of the broadcasters, Canal+. With AFP inputs
Forbes
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Preakness 2025 Results: Journalism Wins, Gosger Places, Sandman Shows
Journalism, with Umberto Rispoli up, wins the 150th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday, May 17, 2025, in Baltimore. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) TNS Running back from the Kentucky Derby after a swift two weeks off, Journalism brightly and with dispatch showed his steel by running down the presumed winner, 15/1 longshot Gosger, in the last sixteenth of a mile of the $2-million 150th Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico. Going off at even money, Journalism overtook Gosger to win by a half-length, clocking in at 1:55.47 on a dry track. He paid an expectedly low $4.00. Arguably proving that he's the toughest colt in the Triple Crown Class of 2025, Journalism did not come by the win lightly. Pimlico's surface was a vast improvement on that of waterlogged Churchill two weeks ago, and the traffic was, on paper anyway, lighter by more than half, but the problems Journalism had to untangle at race speed were greater than those he managed to solve in his place showing at Churchill. Journalism broke well enough from his inside post, and jockey Umberto Rispoli settled him inside and back in the peloton, floating in and out of sixth in the nine-horse field, at times as much as five lengths off the lead. That settling sort-of seesaw did manage to save ground out of the first turn, up the backside and into the far turn, a fact later cited and praised by trainer Michael McCarthy as contributing directly to the win. It didn't initially look like the winning strategy in the doing. Because: It was axiomatic that, coming up inside out of the grandstand turn and onto the stretch, Journalism would get boxed in. It was Bob Baffert's horse Goal Oriented, with Flavien Prat up, and the early speed Clever Again, with precious little daylight between them, whom Journalism found he must get past at the top of the stretch. Ruspoli thought he spied a shard of an opening and tried to thread the needle, brushing Goal Oriented to the outside, causing him to have to turn his neck back in to save his balance. It was a dangerous moment, but all recovered their strides and it was over in a flash, which left Journalism down a few lengths but facing his real challenge, namely, running down the seemingly untouchable Gosger, blithely cruising to his win, five huge lengths ahead. In the final eighth of a mile, it was Gosger's Preakness, until it suddenly wasn't. It's hard to say how Journalism found his spectacularly explosive run within hims:s unleashing it, it was clear that he was bent on snatching the race from Gosger, or coming darn close. The simplicity of the run was grand and deep. Despite all he had faced in the previous minute-and-forty-five, he kept pouring it out, and when the wire arrived he had taken his prize. For his part, the well-spoken trainer McCarthy was well aware that the mile-and-three-sixteenths Preakness, technically the little brother of the Triple Crown, had nevertheless been an odyssey for his athlete. 'This kind of horse is a gift from above,' the trainer said.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Journalism claims dramatic win in 150th Preakness
Journalism recovered from a bump and came with a late surge to win the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. The evens favourite, ridden by Umberto Rispoli, made up five lengths in the final furlong to land the middle leg of the US Triple Crown on the final race day before the 155-year-old venue is demolished and rebuilt. Journalism, a runner-up in the Kentucky Derby two weeks earlier for trainer Michael McCarthy, denied Gosger on the line, with Sandman in third. The victor's path had earlier been blocked as Goal Oriented edged towards the rails and he was sandwiched between that horse and Clever Again on the inside. "I don't know if people realise what this horse did today, I got in trouble at the quarter pole and he made himself go again. I was in a tough spot but it's unbelievable," said Rispoli. McCarthy said: "There was a lot of bouncing around there. "I guess when I saw that I kind of resigned myself to the fact it was another fantastic effort and we'd maybe come up a little bit short, but it's testament to this horse. I couldn't be prouder of him." Journalism had finished second in the Kentucky Derby to Sovereignty, who missed the Preakness as it was felt the race came too soon for him. Heart Of Honor, ridden by British jockey Saffie Osborne for her trainer father Jamie, finished fifth. It's one of the most rowdy US sporting events. Here's what Preakness says about the economy Lead Artist wins Newbury thriller for Murphy Rebel's Romance wins Yorkshire Cup by a head Latest horse racing results
