Latest news with #Russell3000
Hindustan Times
3 hours ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
The Gen Xers Who Waited Their Turn to Be CEO Are Getting Passed Over
When it comes to the C-suite, Gen X might be doomed to live up to its 'forgotten generation' moniker. More baby boomers are working past traditional retirement ages . By the time they are ready to pass the torch, millennials will be reaching for it. This is already happening at more companies. In the Russell 3000, 41.5% of chief executives are at least 60 years old, up from 35.1% in 2017. Over the same period, the share of CEOs in their 30s and 40s has grown to 15.1% from 13.8%, according to research by the Conference Board and ESGAUGE. That leaves Gen Xers, typically defined as those born between 1965 and 1980, with fewer chances to lead. People in their 50s held 51.1% of CEO seats eight years ago. Now they occupy 43.4%. Many Gen Xers say they operated on the belief that if they paid their dues, their time would come. But as they enter what is usually the prime, C-suite career stage, more businesses are retaining their aging leaders or skipping a generation in search of the next ones. 'We're starting to see a barbell phenomenon in the CEO role where Gen X is being squeezed in the middle,' says Matteo Tonello, head of benchmarking and analytics at the Conference Board. Maybe it's fitting that workers dubbed 'slackers' in their youth would reach the top less often, though Tonello says companies don't necessarily lack faith in Gen Xers. Their predicament is largely a result of bad timing. Facing a pandemic, recession and supply-chain problems in recent years, companies prized boomers' experience. Now some are turning to millennials to navigate the advent of artificial intelligence. Gen Xers, especially those about to turn 60, might have missed their moment. Set up for disappointment The cruel thing is a lot of Xers don't realize they are headed for dead ends. 'A type of person I come across in my business all the time is the executive-in-waiting,' says Shawn Cole, president of Cowen Partners Executive Search. 'They assume when their boss retires, they're going to get the seat. A lot of folks are going to be disappointed.' The most vulnerable people are those sandwiched between leaders on the young side of the boomer cohort and hard-charging older millennials. Say you're a 55-year-old lieutenant with a protégé who is 44 and a CEO who is 63. If the boss hangs on for five more years, the board will be tempted to go with the younger option. One bright spot for Gen X executives whose windows are closing: Private-equity backed companies remain eager to hire them, says Bo Burch, CEO of Human Capital Solutions. A private-equity firm hoping to exit an investment in three to five years generally wants a veteran manager for a short stint. A 50-something often fits that bill. But in other settings, Gen Xers frequently get stuck in No. 2 roles. They have to fight to be seen as transformational figures by boards that want rising stars with big ideas for the next decade. 'There's a bias toward younger, future-fit leadership branding—even if Gen X has the real substance,' Burch says. The case for Xers Brian Buckalew has spent his entire, 34-year career at Majestic Steel USA, whose baby-boomer founder was succeeded as CEO by his millennial son. Buckalew, 56, has been a road warrior for decades, traveling from his home in Georgia to meet with customers. Though he has risen from sales assistant to vice president of strategic sales, he has sometimes felt overlooked. 'I struggled with it until recently,' he says. 'Why wasn't I chosen for this, or why wasn't I chosen for that?' He says Gen Xers are often viewed more as tacticians than visionaries. He notes Americans have never elected a Gen X president and doubts they ever will. Boomers have won eight of the past nine elections. (Joe Biden is part of the pre-baby boom silent generation.) And 2028 betting favorites mostly revolve around several millennials. Buckalew says he has come to appreciate having time for hobbies he might be forced to sacrifice if he climbed higher. It helps that he considers his millennial boss deserving of the post. Still, Buckalew, who grew up going home to an empty house after school, says Gen Xers' ability to figure things out on their own is underappreciated. The 'latchkey generation'—so nicknamed because its childhood coincided with a surge of women in the workforce—doesn't require hand-holding. This comfort working without guidance is arguably more valuable amid AI uncertainty than having been raised on the internet, says Megan Gerhardt, founder of Gentelligence, which advises companies on managing multigenerational teams. If AI is the biggest workplace disruption since the internet, then Gen Xers who survived the previous big shift can be a steadying presence now, she contends. 'It's this attitude of, 'Well, I figured that out, so I can figure this out too,' ' says Gerhardt, who is also a management professor at Miami University in Ohio and, yes, a Gen Xer. That sounds like a decent pitch for any would-be executive whose demographic reality bites. Write to Callum Borchers at
Mint
14 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
The Gen Xers who waited their turn to be CEO are getting passed over
When it comes to the C-suite, Gen X might be doomed to live up to its 'forgotten generation" moniker. More baby boomers are working past traditional retirement ages. By the time they are ready to pass the torch, millennials will be reaching for it. This is already happening at more companies. In the Russell 3000, 41.5% of chief executives are at least 60 years old, up from 35.1% in 2017. Over the same period, the share of CEOs in their 30s and 40s has grown to 15.1% from 13.8%, according to research by the Conference Board and ESGAUGE. That leaves Gen Xers, typically defined as those born between 1965 and 1980, with fewer chances to lead. People in their 50s held 51.1% of CEO seats eight years ago. Now they occupy 43.4%. Many Gen Xers say they operated on the belief that if they paid their dues, their time would come. But as they enter what is usually the prime, C-suite career stage, more businesses are retaining their aging leaders or skipping a generation in search of the next ones. 'We're starting to see a barbell phenomenon in the CEO role where Gen X is being squeezed in the middle," says Matteo Tonello, head of benchmarking and analytics at the Conference Board. Maybe it's fitting that workers dubbed 'slackers" in their youth would reach the top less often, though Tonello says companies don't necessarily lack faith in Gen Xers. Their predicament is largely a result of bad timing. Facing a pandemic, recession and supply-chain problems in recent years, companies prized boomers' experience. Now some are turning to millennials to navigate the advent of artificial intelligence. Gen Xers, especially those about to turn 60, might have missed their moment. The cruel thing is a lot of Xers don't realize they are headed for dead ends. 'A type of person I come across in my business all the time is the executive-in-waiting," says Shawn Cole, president of Cowen Partners Executive Search. 'They assume when their boss retires, they're going to get the seat. A lot of folks are going to be disappointed." The most vulnerable people are those sandwiched between leaders on the young side of the boomer cohort and hard-charging older millennials. Say you're a 55-year-old lieutenant with a protégé who is 44 and a CEO who is 63. If the boss hangs on for five more years, the board will be tempted to go with the younger option. One bright spot for Gen X executives whose windows are closing: Private-equity backed companies remain eager to hire them, says Bo Burch, CEO of Human Capital Solutions. A private-equity firm hoping to exit an investment in three to five years generally wants a veteran manager for a short stint. A 50-something often fits that bill. But in other settings, Gen Xers frequently get stuck in No. 2 roles. They have to fight to be seen as transformational figures by boards that want rising stars with big ideas for the next decade. 'There's a bias toward younger, future-fit leadership branding—even if Gen X has the real substance," Burch says. Brian Buckalew has spent his entire, 34-year career at Majestic Steel USA, whose baby-boomer founder was succeeded as CEO by his millennial son. Buckalew, 56, has been a road warrior for decades, traveling from his home in Georgia to meet with customers. Though he has risen from sales assistant to vice president of strategic sales, he has sometimes felt overlooked. 'I struggled with it until recently," he says. 'Why wasn't I chosen for this, or why wasn't I chosen for that?" He says Gen Xers are often viewed more as tacticians than visionaries. He notes Americans have never elected a Gen X president and doubts they ever will. Boomers have won eight of the past nine elections. (Joe Biden is part of the pre-baby boom silent generation.) And 2028 betting favorites mostly revolve around several millennials. Buckalew says he has come to appreciate having time for hobbies he might be forced to sacrifice if he climbed higher. It helps that he considers his millennial boss deserving of the post. Still, Buckalew, who grew up going home to an empty house after school, says Gen Xers' ability to figure things out on their own is underappreciated. The 'latchkey generation"—so nicknamed because its childhood coincided with a surge of women in the workforce—doesn't require hand-holding. This comfort working without guidance is arguably more valuable amid AI uncertainty than having been raised on the internet, says Megan Gerhardt, founder of Gentelligence, which advises companies on managing multigenerational teams. If AI is the biggest workplace disruption since the internet, then Gen Xers who survived the previous big shift can be a steadying presence now, she contends. 'It's this attitude of, 'Well, I figured that out, so I can figure this out too,' " says Gerhardt, who is also a management professor at Miami University in Ohio and, yes, a Gen Xer. That sounds like a decent pitch for any would-be executive whose demographic reality bites. Write to Callum Borchers at
Business Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
Short sellers rack up US$25 billion loss on riskiest US stocks
IT HAS been a brutal month for traders shorting the riskiest US stocks, and as animal spirits imbue retail investors with boundless confidence, strategists expect the misery to continue for bears. As of Thursday (Jul 24), investors had lost US$2.5 billion in the month, betting against the 50 US-listed stocks with the highest short interest, according to data from S3 Partners. Doubting the hype in those firms, which include meme-stock darling Kohl's Corp, produced four times greater losses than the average short in the US market, as individual traders have pushed into speculative names. This week poses a big test for the risk-on mood, with the Aug 1 deadline for US trade deals looming, one of a slew of key events. However, strategists say the meme-stock frenzy likely has room to run. Data from Vanda Research Corp shows that net retail buying of companies such as Opendoor Technologies Inc and Krispy Kreme Inc has continued to trend higher. Trading frequency has risen as well, said Marco Iachini, senior vice-president of research at Vanda Research. 'I'm not seeing any signs' that the craze is fading, he said. Driving home how profitable a stretch it has been for investors betting on speculative corners of the market, a Goldman Sachs Group Inc basket of 50 stocks with the highest short interest in the Russell 3000 Index just posted a record ninth straight week of gains. It has climbed 33 per cent in that time, and clobbered both the Russell 3000 and the S&P 500 Index's returns of 10 per cent each. That Goldman basket of stocks is up 15 per cent this month. Justin Walters, co-founder at Bespoke Investment Group, wrote in a Thursday note: 'July has been a banner month for investors long on the most heavily shorted stocks (and brutal for those short them).' BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at Jonestrading Institutional Services, said the run of outperformance by the most-shorted stocks in the market could signal that the current risk-on sentiment in the market is short-lived. 'I actually don't think this will be anywhere near as long as in 2021,' he said. The breadth of this meme-stock rally stands in sharp contrast to the case in 2021, when traders mainly piled into GameStop Corp and AMC Entertainment Holdings, he said. Other potential hurdles for equities bulls are on the calendar this week: A Federal Reserve monetary-policy decision, earnings results from a quartet of 'Magnificent Seven' companies and Friday's monthly jobs report. Plus, trading desks at firms, including Goldman, last week urged clients to buy cheap hedges against potential losses. However, amateur traders may drag institutional money into the speculative rally and keep it going, said Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of predictive analytics at S3 Partners. Once there are 'hedge fund holdings on both the long and short sides of these names, coupled with retail buying pressure, they tend to be more volatile and produce higher returns', he said. That produces more pain for short sellers, he added. Retail investors are 'squeezing hedge funds and then forcing this upward move', Vanda's Iachini said. BLOOMBERG
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Five Signs of a Market Bubble Investors Are Tracking
The share price of online house flipper Opendoor Technologies has catapulted some 377% in the past month, despite a stagnant U.S. housing market. One of the biggest stock gainers Tuesday was Kohl's, a department store that has been losing ground to competitors for some time and has replaced its chief executive more than once in recent years. On Wednesday, the crowd favorites were unusual names such as GoPro and Krispy Kreme, with both the camera company and doughnut maker notching eye-popping gains over the week. What's going on? Some investors say the action is the latest phase in what has turned into a near-euphoric rebound from April's tariff turmoil. Since the market tumbled and then turned higher, there has been a stampede into risky assets such as meme stocks, cryptocurrencies and shares of smaller companies that have yet to turn a profit. To some, this resembles a bubble—a period of frenzied market activity and speculation that artificially inflates asset values, driving prices to an eventual breaking point. 'A lot of us thought that the [spring] correction had to do with the fact that valuations were rather stretched back in January and February, yet here we are,' said Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research. 'It's almost like a slow-motion melt-up.' Here's what investors are tracking for signs of froth: Speculative stocks are having a moment The return of YOLO bets recalls the heady days of 2021, when online traders briefly drove the fading mall retailer GameStop to a $24 billion valuation, before rising interest rates brought the bull market to an end. The housing market is stalled, and Opendoor shares traded under $1 earlier this month. They closed Friday at $2.54. The bets on Kohl's center on the potential sale of the company's real-estate holdings, which Wall Street has eyed for years. The stock has still slid more than 70% since the start of 2022. Unprofitability isn't much of an obstacle. Avis and Aeva Technologies, both of which reported net losses in the first quarter, are flying high. Of the 33 stocks in the Russell 3000 that have tripled in price since the market bottom in April, only six have generated profits over the past year, according to a Bespoke Investment Group analysis. Shares of the ARK Innovation ETF, a fund that includes a number of speculative companies operating at a net loss, have climbed more than 36% year to date. 'That in itself is not unhealthy,' Callie Cox, chief market strategist at Ritholtz Wealth Management, said of the rise in speculative trades. 'When you get worried is when cracks start forming in the economy, yet you still have a huge appetite for speculation.' Crypto prices are surging Prices of Ethereum and bitcoin have soared in recent weeks, lifted by the Trump administration's pro-cryptocurrency policies and growing acceptance by mainstream financial institutions. But a new group of buyers has also pushed up prices: publicly traded companies that stockpile bitcoin, effectively transforming their own shares into a leveraged bet on the cryptocurrency. Those include Trump Media & Technology Group, which announced on Monday it had accumulated about $2 billion in bitcoin and bitcoin-related securities as part of a previously announced 'bitcoin treasury strategy.' Critics caution that practice could amplify risks in the crypto market, deepening selloffs. Those warnings haven't deterred an estimated five dozen companies from pursuing similar strategies. Breadth has improved Since stocks returned to their pre-April levels, the daily moves have been small. And the rally has expanded beyond the Magnificent Seven and other tech giants to include financial companies, industrial firms and communication services. The KBW Nasdaq Bank Index has climbed more than 7% over the past month, while shares of GE energy spinoff GE Vernova and advertising tech firm Trade Desk rose more than 20% in the same period. The number of stocks in the benchmark S&P 500 closing above their 50-day moving average is hovering at levels last seen in the fall, before the postelection 'Trump bump' in share prices. Analysts typically consider that kind of improving breadth a sign of a sustainable bull market. Yet stock valuations are stretched. The equity risk premium, defined as the gap between the S&P 500's projected earnings yield and the yield on 10-year Treasurys, is close to zero. That means that the extra return for owning stocks over lower-risk bonds has nearly vanished, which investors consider an unhealthy sign. The economy is holding firm Despite initial concerns that tariffs could kick-start inflation and drag on growth, the U.S. economy has kept chugging along. There are some signs of weakness: The annual inflation rate ticked up in June, as tariffs started to affect consumer prices. One basket of leading economic indicators recently pointed to slower growth in the second half of the year. But the increase in consumer prices has so far been modest, and economists' biggest worry—a sharp slowdown in the labor market—has yet to materialize. Such a shift could turn off the tap on U.S. consumer spending, effectively halting economic growth. Private-sector job growth has fallen to the lowest level in eight months. Hiring has slowed to a trickle, and college graduates are struggling to land roles. 'At a point where the job market is clearly weakening, it's interesting that we're seeing such optimism in markets,' Cox said. 'When the job market starts slowing, it doesn't turn around easily.' Write to Hannah Erin Lang at
Mint
3 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Five signs of a market bubble investors are tracking
Stocks are doing crazy things again. The share price of online house flipper Opendoor Technologies has catapulted some 377% in the past month, despite a stagnant U.S. housing market. One of the biggest stock gainers Tuesday was Kohl's, a department store that has been losing ground to competitors for some time and has replaced its chief executive more than once in recent years. On Wednesday, the crowd favorites were unusual names such as GoPro and Krispy Kreme, with both the camera company and doughnut maker notching eye-popping gains over the week. Some investors say the action is the latest phase in what has turned into a near-euphoric rebound from April's tariff turmoil. Since the market tumbled and then turned higher, there has been a stampede into risky assets such as meme stocks, cryptocurrencies and shares of smaller companies that have yet to turn a profit. To some, this resembles a bubble—a period of frenzied market activity and speculation that artificially inflates asset values, driving prices to an eventual breaking point. 'A lot of us thought that the [spring] correction had to do with the fact that valuations were rather stretched back in January and February, yet here we are," said Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research. 'It's almost like a slow-motion melt-up." Here's what investors are tracking for signs of froth: The return of YOLO bets recalls the heady days of 2021, when online traders briefly drove the fading mall retailer GameStop to a $24 billion valuation, before rising interest rates brought the bull market to an end. The housing market is stalled, and Opendoor shares traded under $1 earlier this month. They closed Friday at $2.54. The bets on Kohl's center on the potential sale of the company's real-estate holdings, which Wall Street has eyed for years. The stock has still slid more than 70% since the start of 2022. Unprofitability isn't much of an obstacle. Avis and Aeva Technologies, both of which reported net losses in the first quarter, are flying high. Of the 33 stocks in the Russell 3000 that have tripled in price since the market bottom in April, only six have generated profits over the past year, according to a Bespoke Investment Group analysis. Shares of the ARK Innovation ETF, a fund that includes a number of speculative companies operating at a net loss, have climbed more than 36% year to date. 'That in itself is not unhealthy," Callie Cox, chief market strategist at Ritholtz Wealth Management, said of the rise in speculative trades. 'When you get worried is when cracks start forming in the economy, yet you still have a huge appetite for speculation." Prices of Ethereum and bitcoin have soared in recent weeks, lifted by the Trump administration's pro-cryptocurrency policies and growing acceptance by mainstream financial institutions. But a new group of buyers has also pushed up prices: publicly traded companies that stockpile bitcoin, effectively transforming their own shares into a leveraged bet on the cryptocurrency. Those include Trump Media & Technology Group, which announced on Monday it had accumulated about $2 billion in bitcoin and bitcoin-related securities as part of a previously announced 'bitcoin treasury strategy." Critics caution that practice could amplify risks in the crypto market, deepening selloffs. Those warnings haven't deterred an estimated five dozen companies from pursuing similar strategies. Since stocks returned to their pre-April levels, the daily moves have been small. And the rally has expanded beyond the Magnificent Seven and other tech giants to include financial companies, industrial firms and communication services. The KBW Nasdaq Bank Index has climbed more than 7% over the past month, while shares of GE energy spinoff GE Vernova and advertising tech firm Trade Desk rose more than 20% in the same period. The number of stocks in the benchmark S&P 500 closing above their 50-day moving average is hovering at levels last seen in the fall, before the postelection 'Trump bump" in share prices. Analysts typically consider that kind of improving breadth a sign of a sustainable bull market. Yet stock valuations are stretched. The equity risk premium, defined as the gap between the S&P 500's projected earnings yield and the yield on 10-year Treasurys, is close to zero. That means that the extra return for owning stocks over lower-risk bonds has nearly vanished, which investors consider an unhealthy sign. Despite initial concerns that tariffs could kick-start inflation and drag on growth, the U.S. economy has kept chugging along. There are some signs of weakness: The annual inflation rate ticked up in June, as tariffs started to affect consumer prices. One basket of leading economic indicators recently pointed to slower growth in the second half of the year. But the increase in consumer prices has so far been modest, and economists' biggest worry—a sharp slowdown in the labor market—has yet to materialize. Such a shift could turn off the tap on U.S. consumer spending, effectively halting economic growth. Private-sector job growth has fallen to the lowest level in eight months. Hiring has slowed to a trickle, and college graduates are struggling to land roles. 'At a point where the job market is clearly weakening, it's interesting that we're seeing such optimism in markets," Cox said. 'When the job market starts slowing, it doesn't turn around easily." Write to Hannah Erin Lang at
