Finance Knuggets
Jan 15, 2025
I’m hearing a lot of discussion about the potential bubble in the market, particularly in large-cap U.S. stocks. There are concerns about the high valuations of many ordinary companies, such as Costco, Visa, Mastercard, and Walmart, which are trading at historically high price-earnings and price-to-sales ratios. Some investors are suggesting that it may be worth looking into assets that have gone out of favor in recent years, such as gold and silver mining shares, Brazilian stocks, and non-internet Chinese stocks.
There have also been significant moves in the financial industry, with several new appointments and corporate spinoffs on the rise. Additionally, there is a controversial ruling from the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, declaring that it is a violation of fiduciary duty for an investment manager to consider ESG factors in making investment decisions, sparking debate and potential implications for ESG investing in the future.
I’ve also heard about a theory that index fund managers have been pressuring coal companies to reduce their coal production, leading to significant profits for the index funds. The state of Texas has filed a lawsuit against these investment firms, accusing them of using ESG factors to increase shareholder returns. Furthermore, there have been enforcement actions by the SEC against various investment advisers and broker-dealers for violations, as well as insider trading charges against a former president and chief investment officer of a public company and his sister-in-law.
Lastly, there are some interesting developments happening around the world, including potential plans to sell the US operations of TikTok to Elon Musk, Charles Schwab’s fresh start, and the FTC preparing to sue the largest US apartment landlord over hidden fees. These are just a few of the key financial news updates happening, and it will be interesting to see how these developments continue to unfold.
Stay Well!