Investing

The U.S.-China trade truce may have lifted stocks on Monday, but buyers should remain cautious while Wall Street awaits details on the final agreement, CNBC’s Jim Cramer and technician Tim Collins warned. “[Collins] thinks you need to be cautious when buying stocks here, because the trade truce failed to clean the murky waters,” Cramer said

Invesco’s Kristina Hooper is concerned Wall Street is ignoring a major risk: Wage growth. But it may reclaim the spotlight as soon as Friday when the government releases its November jobs report. Hooper believes if the number ticks up too high, it could hint at price pressures that may shift the Federal Reserve’s thinking on

DataTrek Research is out with a chart suggesting stocks will struggle this month — pouring cold water on the likelihood of a “Santa Claus” rally that traditionally boosts stocks in December. According to the firm’s co-founder Nicholas Colas, it comes down to a breakdown in earnings trends and investor sentiment. He said the earnings picture

Trade talks and the latest data on U.S. employment will color the week ahead for the stock market, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Friday as stocks rallied on high hopes for a U.S.-China trade deal at the weekend’s G-20 summit. President Donald Trump is planning to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Buenos Aires,

Now that the Federal Reserve has become slightly less hawkish on its interest rate plans, there’s one final issue that could hinder U.S. economic growth in 2019, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said: China. “Remember, if we’re going to avert a slowdown next year, we need the president to make some kind of deal with the Chinese,

Even though anti-competitive mergers tend to be bad for customers, they tend to stack the odds in Wall Street’s favor, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Wednesday. “I love the stocks of companies that have somehow found a way to legally give themselves a seemingly unfair advantage. That’s the best kind of advantage,” the “Mad Money” host

After years of breaking down market moves for investors — often times at the risk of being wrong — CNBC’s Jim Cramer is taking a stand against market commentators who play it safe, but never really help the average stock-picker. “If I came out here every day and said it was the seventh inning of

Most Wall Street professionals haven’t experienced a bear market of this particular nature, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Monday as stocks recovered from their Thanksgiving-week declines. “The simple fact is, these days, most money managers can only remember the systemic risk kind of bear market, like the one we had from 2007 to 2009,” the “Mad

General Motors raced higher on Monday as investors applauded major restructuring plans that could save the automaker billions a year. Its stock surged more than 5 percent, hitting levels not seen since the summer. Ari Wald, head of technical analysis at Oppenheimer, says it can rally further if it can break its key resistance level

Parents often open savings accounts for their children. Few think of starting a retirement account for a 10-year-old. The idea isn’t so farfetched. Any parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle or family friend can open a Roth individual retirement account to help a child invest for the future. Think money from tutoring, babysitting, mowing lawns or even

When you get married, the tax system can be either friend or foe. Many couples see their tax burden go down when they tie the knot. Yet some end up paying more than if they had remained unmarried and filed as single taxpayers. “It’s more typical for people to have a marriage bonus, but there

It’s an offer hard to refuse: a reprieve from your student loan bill. Yet when your payments resume, they’re often higher because your debt has swelled, thanks to interest. The Associated Press, citing a 2017 Department of Education audit, reported this week that Navient, one of the country’s largest student loan servicing companies, steered tens

Oil prices have “dropped like a rock” over the past seven weeks but are finally approaching a bottom, Wells Fargo strategist Scott Wren told CNBC on Friday. “It’s caught the falling knife,” the senior global equity strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute said in a “Squawk on the Street” interview. However, “from our perspective oil,

There is a good chance stocks stall out next year as credit conditions tighten and earnings growth slows, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “We believe the peak in equities is likely before the end of 2019,” wrote Savita Subramanian, equity and quantitative strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, in a note this

Whether you’d like to give away several thousand bushels of soybeans or a prehistoric fossil, there just might be a charity that’s willing to receive it. Year-end tends to be a busy time for individuals who are in a giving mood. Donors seeking a break on their 2018 taxes must make their charitable contributions before

Social Security is one of the most important factors in older people’s financial lives. Yet the available information on the system is often contradictory or incorrect. Even the Social Security Administration, the government agency that administers the benefit, can mislead people, experts say. “Half of the answers Social Security is giving people are wrong or

Big-box retailers such as Target and Walmart are capitalizing on the demise of Toys R Us this holiday season, and it’s paying off, according to industry leaders. The well-known toy retailer, which shuttered its U.S. stores in June, accounted for 15 to 20 percent of the country’s total toy sales in 2017, based on estimates

As “Small Business Saturday” becomes a worldwide phenomenon, lenders are becoming aware of the investment opportunities on Main Street, former Small Business Administration chief Karen Mills told CNBC on Friday. Online technology companies including Amazon, PayPal and Square are now issuing near-instant loans to small businesses so they can bulk up their inventory ahead of

As volatility rocks the market, one group of stocks is sizzling — fast food. Stocks like Starbucks, Jack in the Box, Chipotle and McDonald’s are outperforming in the past month. Of that selection, Chipotle shares look best positioned, according to Craig Johnson, chief market technician at Piper Jaffray. The firm’s analyst covering Chipotle, Nicole Miller

Things look pretty good. The economy is strong, and unemployment is low. Yet in some locales, people are finding it tougher to afford the basics, according to GOBankingRates. The personal finance site surveyed 5,000 people online in August and found that the cost of living in the U.S. has shot up by 14 percent in

“It’s hard to find fault with the climate in the Algarve,” said Tricia Pimental, Portugal correspondent for International Living. “You can count on sun most of the time.” During the “rainy season” of October through April, it’s still sunny around two-thirds of the time. “December is the wettest month, during which you can expect about

Shoppers, beware: Scammers want in on your holiday spending budget. Consumers are expected to spend about 4.3 percent to 4.8 percent more this holiday season than last year, up to $720.89 billion total, according to the National Retail Federation. That’s an attractive target for thieves. “People need to be more aware this time of year,”

Amid volatility in the stock market, the default advice is often to do nothing. However, as the longest bull market in history possibly wanes — with this week erasing 2018’s gains — it can be helpful to turn your attention to your own timeline. “If you have 40 years left to invest, a bear market

Investing in bitcoin is not for the faint of heart, but over any given two-year period holders of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency have been rewarded, CryptoOracle partner Lou Kerner told CNBC on Wednesday. Kerner, whose venture capital firm supports what it calls the “decentralized digital economy,” has a much longer investment horizon. For example, he

Increased market volatility this year has mostly prompted financial experts to repeat one piece of advice: Stay the course. But as markets are poised for a continued bumpy ride, investors would be wise to keep another tip in mind: Diversify. “Diversification works when you need it the most,” said Chris Hyzy, chief investment officer for

Gold, the classic bear-market investment, has been ignored by investors this year, and for good reason: Gold prices have gone in the wrong direction, losing about $100 in the price per ounce since January, leading gold exchange-traded funds to year-to-date losses near-5 percent. But as more investors fear that the end of the bull market

Scandal-plagued Goldman Sachs has sunk deep into a bear market. Losses accelerated this month following allegations of financial misdeeds regarding the Malaysian government investment fund 1MDB. Regulatory uncertainty surrounding the scandal prompted Morgan Stanley to downgrade its rating to equal weight. Its stock has dropped 14 percent in November, putting it on track for its

Apple is snapping. The stock, once a safe haven from market turmoil, is more than 20 percent below all-time highs and clinging to modest year-to-date gains. The stock has shed more than a $100 billion of its historic $1 trillion market valuation. It’s on pace for its eighth straight week of declines and its worst

A collection of hedge funds’ favorite stock picks — including Facebook, Alibaba and Amazon — are underperforming the broader equity market badly in the second half of 2018. After beating the market in the first half of the year, a basket of the most popular long positions at 823 hedge funds has lagged the S&P

October saw hedge funds notch their worst collective monthly performance since January 2016, according to Preqin a research firm on the industry. Hedge funds lost 2.35 percent on average in October, according to Preqin’s index, while investors withdrew $4.6 billion of hedge fund capital in the third quarter of this year. The hedge fund industry’s