The management restructure will end the current business split of consumer and institutional divisions. Moving forward, Citigroup will have five main business divisions, with executives in charge of these divisions reporting directly to Fraser.

The job cuts are expected to impact back-office workers and regional leadership roles. However, the full scope of layoffs still remains unknown.

Speaking about the changes, Fraser explained that they were made with the goal of streamlining Citigroup’s operations and improving the company’s position on the market. She also said that she doesn’t expect them to be “universally popular within our bank.”

“It’s going to make some of our people very uncomfortable. I am absolutely fine with that,” Fraiser added. “I am confident that our strongest performers are going to be fully supportive of these moves, and it is absolutely the right thing to do for our shareholders.”

Citigroup’s shares have jumped 1.45% after Fraser’s announcement on Wednesday. The bank’s stock is currently trading at $42.28 per share, marking a 7.63% year-to-date decline. 

The post Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser Announces Management Restructure and Job Cuts appeared first on financialreader.com.

The investment bank sent out a note to clients this week, warning that Brent crude will go from its current price of $90 per barrel to $95 per barrel. On the other hand, WTI crude, which is sourced in the United States, will jump from $85 per barrel to $91 per barrel.

“We still see scope for global oil prices to rally,” UBS wrote in the note.

According to UBS, the global demand for oil in August will hit record levels.

The decision of OPEC+ to voluntary cut their production is among the biggest reasons for the surging oil prices. OPEC+ countries have been slashing their production since September and will continue to do so by 2024 at least.

The initial expectation was that OPEC+ would produce around 5 million barrels less per day. The production cuts haven’t reached this level yet, however, hovering around 3.3 million barrels per day. This still caused the oil supply deficit last month compared to a surplus of 600,000 barrels per day from the same period in 2022.

The post Oil Will Surpass $90 per Barrel by the End of 2023, Say UBS Analysts appeared first on financialreader.com.

Reportedly, ExxonMobil has already entered the talks with Denbury, but the negotiations remain in the preliminary stage. As a result, Denbury’s stock has jumped as much as 12% to start the week and even passed the price of $100 per share at one point. This marked an all-time high for the company since it emerged from bankruptcy in September 2020.

Denbury specializes in hydrocarbon exploration, meaning that they use carbon dioxide to extract petroleum from the oil fields that have already been exploited with traditional methods. The company filed for bankruptcy in the summer of 2020 but successfully managed to complete the financial restructuring by the end of the year.

Thanks to its strong performances on the stock market and various attractive assets, including a significant storage potential, Denbury has been a point of interest for several big-time oil and gas companies in recent months.

If the company ends up being sold, it will most likely fetch a high price, especially if a bidding war ensues. Besides ExxonMobil, some reports indicate that Chevron Corp. is also thinking about submitting a bid.

The post ExxonMobil Reportedly Exploring Acquisition of Oil Producer Denbury appeared first on financialreader.com.

In the past, Costco’s membership saw a price hike every five-and-a-half years on average. The next time the company is scheduled to reach that mark is late 2022. Bob Nelson, senior vice president of finance and investor relations, told investors on Thursday that he expects discussions about membership fees to intensify in the coming months but reiterated that there are no immediate plans to change them.

“We have nothing more specific to report in terms of timing,” Nelson said.

According to Nelson, the company feels the timing is not quite right for that kind of move.

“Given the current macro environment, the historically high inflation and the burden it’s having on our members and all consumers in general, we think increasing our membership fee today, ahead of our typical timing, is not the right time,” he added.

Costco’s most recent membership fee hike took place in 2017. At the time, Business and Gold Star memberships were upped from $55 to $60. In addition, executive membership saw an increase to $120 from the previous price of $110.

The post Costco Says “It’s Not the Right Time” to Increase Membership Fees appeared first on financialreader.com.

Walmart reported revenue of $141.57 billion for the first quarter of the year compared to an expected figure of $138.94 billion. However, earnings per share (EPS) was a big miss at $1.30 versus the $1.48 prediction.

The company’s stock (WMT) opened the week by trading for $148.21 on Monday before suffering an 11.4% drop the next day. This was the company’s one-day slide since 1987. The fall continued throughout the week, with WMT trading for $119.07 as of Thursday.

Target also beat the predicted $24.49 billion to record $25.17 billion in revenue but had an even bigger EPS miss. The $2.19 adjusted earnings per share were well below the $3.07 expected. As a result, TGT stock saw a one-day dive of 25 percent. It is currently at a 52-week low of $153.43 per share.

Walmart and Target, as well as most other retailers, have experienced increased costs due to rising prices in labor and fuel. Retail companies also face supply chain issues and sizeable inventories that might take time to clear out.

The post Walmart and Target Stocks Plunge as Retailers Report Earnings Misses appeared first on financialreader.com.

Some representatives of the Democratic Party have pushed for a $50,000 debt write-off per borrower in the past, but Biden said that he wouldn’t go that far.

“I am not considering $50,000 debt reduction,” Biden stated. “But I’m in the process of taking a hard look at whether or not there will be additional debt forgiveness.”

Bloomberg later reported that the figure Biden is considering is at “least $10,000” per borrower. The debt forgiveness would come through executive action. This is in line with what Biden promised during his presidential campaign, although the process of fulfilling this promise has taken a lot longer than expected.

Positive actions concerning student debt forgiveness would probably resonate with the voters ahead of November midterms and provide some badly-needed boost for Democrats. However, there are also concerns about the move with some believing it could worsen the already raging inflation.

The post U.S. President Joe Biden “Taking a Hard Look” Into Forgiving Some Federal Student Debt appeared first on financialreader.com.

“If you sold #DKNG today, just be aware that my team and I are on a mission to make you regret that decision more than any other decision you’ve ever made in your life,” Robins tweeted.

Robins feeling the need to address the issue speaks volumes about the state of DKNG stock, which saw a -74.34% drop this past year. It is currently trading at $17.78 and dangerously closing in on the previous 52-week low of $16.56.

Robins’ tweet has caused quite an attention on Twitter, drawing more than 500 retweets and 800 comments. This included quite a lot of criticism, with some users pointing out his own decision to sell in late 2021. A filing made by DraftKings showed that Robins had 3,707,860 shares in March 2021 while reporting 3,344,111 shares at the end of the year.

The main reason for the volatility of DKNG stock is doubt in the company’s profitability. In addition, the investors are still not convinced about the long-term outlook, with the caution amplified by the lack of insider buying.

The post DraftKings CEO Says Investors Who Are Selling Their DKNG Stock Will “Regret That Decision” appeared first on financialreader.com.

The data shows that the total spending across the nation was $649.8 billion in the first month of 2022. The number was significantly higher than expected, considering that predictions of most economic experts were in the range of 2.1 percent and 2.5 percent.

The sales of cars and demand for auto parts had the most significant contribution to the rise. But even excluding the car industry, the retail sales had a gain of 3.3 percent thanks to online shopping. Moreover, the tendency of Americans to make their purchases on the internet resulted in a healthy 14.5 percent gain for the online selling platforms.

Sectors that saw their sales drop included music shops, book stores, and places that sell sporting goods. Restaurants, bars, and other food and drink establishments also experienced a slower month, seeing 0.9 percent dive in sales.

The positive trend is expected to continue in the following months. The fact that inflation is closing on a 40-year record won’t discourage Americans from spending in the future, according to PNC chief economist Gus Faucher.

“Even taking into account the December decline, retail sales in recent months have been increasing much faster than prices, so households are purchasing larger volumes of goods and services, not just paying higher prices,” Faucher told CNBC.

The post Retail Sales in the U.S. Better Than Predicted, Go Up 3.8 Percent Amid Surging Inflation appeared first on financialreader.com.

Nvidia previously agreed to purchase Arm for $40 billion in cash and stocks back in late 2020. The news caused Nvidia’s stocks to soar, bringing the cost up closer to $66 billion, according to multiple reports. However, the deal eventually couldn’t go through “because of significant regulatory challenges,” according to Softbank, who will get to keep the $1.25 billion deposit from the initial agreement. The objections of regulators due to concerns about the effect of the acquisitions on the competition reportedly also played a significant role.

Arm is best known for its ARM processors (CPUs) used in smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs. The company also works on software development tools, computing platforms, and SoC infrastructure.

Softbank’s next step will be the public offering of Arm. According to the company, the IPO will take place “within the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023.” In the meantime, the top of Arm will go through reshuffling with the company’s CEO Simon Segars leaving his post. Seagars will be replaced by Rene Haas, who previously served as Arm’s IP group president.

Haas is expected to continue the efforts of establishing Arm as a major player in the fields of CPU, GPU, and Artificial Intelligence. 

“Continuing what we’ve been doing and executing on that is going to be really important because we’ve demonstrated a recipe on how to grow the business and we definitely want to continue that,” Haas told Tech Crunch after the news was made public.

The post Nvidia’s $66 Billion Acquisition of Chip Designer Arm is Officially Off the Table appeared first on financialreader.com.

The “stock split” practice has been considered outdated in the past decade before making a big return in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. Several big tech companies, including Apple and Tesla, have already split their stocks in efforts to make their shares an affordable investment and more accessible for individual investors. Alphabet hopes to do the same once the action becomes official in July.

According to Alphabet’s statement, the company’s Board of Directors already approved the stock split for Class A, Class B, and Class C shares. However, the decision now is subject to stockholder approval. If stockholders give their consent, which is considered a pure formality, each one will receive a dividend of 19 additional shares of the same class of stock for every share they hold on July 1, 2022.

Even if the split will take several months to go into effect, Alphabet already experienced positives from the decision. Since the news was announced, the company’s stocks have already gone up 9 percent in extended trading.

The post Alphabet, Google’s Parent Company, Announces 20-for-1 Stock Split appeared first on financialreader.com.

The management restructure will end the current business split of consumer and institutional divisions. Moving forward, Citigroup will have five main business divisions, with executives in charge of these divisions reporting directly to Fraser.

The job cuts are expected to impact back-office workers and regional leadership roles. However, the full scope of layoffs still remains unknown.

Speaking about the changes, Fraser explained that they were made with the goal of streamlining Citigroup’s operations and improving the company’s position on the market. She also said that she doesn’t expect them to be “universally popular within our bank.”

“It’s going to make some of our people very uncomfortable. I am absolutely fine with that,” Fraiser added. “I am confident that our strongest performers are going to be fully supportive of these moves, and it is absolutely the right thing to do for our shareholders.”

Citigroup’s shares have jumped 1.45% after Fraser’s announcement on Wednesday. The bank’s stock is currently trading at $42.28 per share, marking a 7.63% year-to-date decline. 

The post Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser Announces Management Restructure and Job Cuts appeared first on financialreader.com.

The investment bank sent out a note to clients this week, warning that Brent crude will go from its current price of $90 per barrel to $95 per barrel. On the other hand, WTI crude, which is sourced in the United States, will jump from $85 per barrel to $91 per barrel.

“We still see scope for global oil prices to rally,” UBS wrote in the note.

According to UBS, the global demand for oil in August will hit record levels.

The decision of OPEC+ to voluntary cut their production is among the biggest reasons for the surging oil prices. OPEC+ countries have been slashing their production since September and will continue to do so by 2024 at least.

The initial expectation was that OPEC+ would produce around 5 million barrels less per day. The production cuts haven’t reached this level yet, however, hovering around 3.3 million barrels per day. This still caused the oil supply deficit last month compared to a surplus of 600,000 barrels per day from the same period in 2022.

The post Oil Will Surpass $90 per Barrel by the End of 2023, Say UBS Analysts appeared first on financialreader.com.

Reportedly, ExxonMobil has already entered the talks with Denbury, but the negotiations remain in the preliminary stage. As a result, Denbury’s stock has jumped as much as 12% to start the week and even passed the price of $100 per share at one point. This marked an all-time high for the company since it emerged from bankruptcy in September 2020.

Denbury specializes in hydrocarbon exploration, meaning that they use carbon dioxide to extract petroleum from the oil fields that have already been exploited with traditional methods. The company filed for bankruptcy in the summer of 2020 but successfully managed to complete the financial restructuring by the end of the year.

Thanks to its strong performances on the stock market and various attractive assets, including a significant storage potential, Denbury has been a point of interest for several big-time oil and gas companies in recent months.

If the company ends up being sold, it will most likely fetch a high price, especially if a bidding war ensues. Besides ExxonMobil, some reports indicate that Chevron Corp. is also thinking about submitting a bid.

The post ExxonMobil Reportedly Exploring Acquisition of Oil Producer Denbury appeared first on financialreader.com.

In the past, Costco’s membership saw a price hike every five-and-a-half years on average. The next time the company is scheduled to reach that mark is late 2022. Bob Nelson, senior vice president of finance and investor relations, told investors on Thursday that he expects discussions about membership fees to intensify in the coming months but reiterated that there are no immediate plans to change them.

“We have nothing more specific to report in terms of timing,” Nelson said.

According to Nelson, the company feels the timing is not quite right for that kind of move.

“Given the current macro environment, the historically high inflation and the burden it’s having on our members and all consumers in general, we think increasing our membership fee today, ahead of our typical timing, is not the right time,” he added.

Costco’s most recent membership fee hike took place in 2017. At the time, Business and Gold Star memberships were upped from $55 to $60. In addition, executive membership saw an increase to $120 from the previous price of $110.

The post Costco Says “It’s Not the Right Time” to Increase Membership Fees appeared first on financialreader.com.

Walmart reported revenue of $141.57 billion for the first quarter of the year compared to an expected figure of $138.94 billion. However, earnings per share (EPS) was a big miss at $1.30 versus the $1.48 prediction.

The company’s stock (WMT) opened the week by trading for $148.21 on Monday before suffering an 11.4% drop the next day. This was the company’s one-day slide since 1987. The fall continued throughout the week, with WMT trading for $119.07 as of Thursday.

Target also beat the predicted $24.49 billion to record $25.17 billion in revenue but had an even bigger EPS miss. The $2.19 adjusted earnings per share were well below the $3.07 expected. As a result, TGT stock saw a one-day dive of 25 percent. It is currently at a 52-week low of $153.43 per share.

Walmart and Target, as well as most other retailers, have experienced increased costs due to rising prices in labor and fuel. Retail companies also face supply chain issues and sizeable inventories that might take time to clear out.

The post Walmart and Target Stocks Plunge as Retailers Report Earnings Misses appeared first on financialreader.com.

Some representatives of the Democratic Party have pushed for a $50,000 debt write-off per borrower in the past, but Biden said that he wouldn’t go that far.

“I am not considering $50,000 debt reduction,” Biden stated. “But I’m in the process of taking a hard look at whether or not there will be additional debt forgiveness.”

Bloomberg later reported that the figure Biden is considering is at “least $10,000” per borrower. The debt forgiveness would come through executive action. This is in line with what Biden promised during his presidential campaign, although the process of fulfilling this promise has taken a lot longer than expected.

Positive actions concerning student debt forgiveness would probably resonate with the voters ahead of November midterms and provide some badly-needed boost for Democrats. However, there are also concerns about the move with some believing it could worsen the already raging inflation.

The post U.S. President Joe Biden “Taking a Hard Look” Into Forgiving Some Federal Student Debt appeared first on financialreader.com.

“If you sold #DKNG today, just be aware that my team and I are on a mission to make you regret that decision more than any other decision you’ve ever made in your life,” Robins tweeted.

Robins feeling the need to address the issue speaks volumes about the state of DKNG stock, which saw a -74.34% drop this past year. It is currently trading at $17.78 and dangerously closing in on the previous 52-week low of $16.56.

Robins’ tweet has caused quite an attention on Twitter, drawing more than 500 retweets and 800 comments. This included quite a lot of criticism, with some users pointing out his own decision to sell in late 2021. A filing made by DraftKings showed that Robins had 3,707,860 shares in March 2021 while reporting 3,344,111 shares at the end of the year.

The main reason for the volatility of DKNG stock is doubt in the company’s profitability. In addition, the investors are still not convinced about the long-term outlook, with the caution amplified by the lack of insider buying.

The post DraftKings CEO Says Investors Who Are Selling Their DKNG Stock Will “Regret That Decision” appeared first on financialreader.com.

The data shows that the total spending across the nation was $649.8 billion in the first month of 2022. The number was significantly higher than expected, considering that predictions of most economic experts were in the range of 2.1 percent and 2.5 percent.

The sales of cars and demand for auto parts had the most significant contribution to the rise. But even excluding the car industry, the retail sales had a gain of 3.3 percent thanks to online shopping. Moreover, the tendency of Americans to make their purchases on the internet resulted in a healthy 14.5 percent gain for the online selling platforms.

Sectors that saw their sales drop included music shops, book stores, and places that sell sporting goods. Restaurants, bars, and other food and drink establishments also experienced a slower month, seeing 0.9 percent dive in sales.

The positive trend is expected to continue in the following months. The fact that inflation is closing on a 40-year record won’t discourage Americans from spending in the future, according to PNC chief economist Gus Faucher.

“Even taking into account the December decline, retail sales in recent months have been increasing much faster than prices, so households are purchasing larger volumes of goods and services, not just paying higher prices,” Faucher told CNBC.

The post Retail Sales in the U.S. Better Than Predicted, Go Up 3.8 Percent Amid Surging Inflation appeared first on financialreader.com.

Nvidia previously agreed to purchase Arm for $40 billion in cash and stocks back in late 2020. The news caused Nvidia’s stocks to soar, bringing the cost up closer to $66 billion, according to multiple reports. However, the deal eventually couldn’t go through “because of significant regulatory challenges,” according to Softbank, who will get to keep the $1.25 billion deposit from the initial agreement. The objections of regulators due to concerns about the effect of the acquisitions on the competition reportedly also played a significant role.

Arm is best known for its ARM processors (CPUs) used in smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs. The company also works on software development tools, computing platforms, and SoC infrastructure.

Softbank’s next step will be the public offering of Arm. According to the company, the IPO will take place “within the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023.” In the meantime, the top of Arm will go through reshuffling with the company’s CEO Simon Segars leaving his post. Seagars will be replaced by Rene Haas, who previously served as Arm’s IP group president.

Haas is expected to continue the efforts of establishing Arm as a major player in the fields of CPU, GPU, and Artificial Intelligence. 

“Continuing what we’ve been doing and executing on that is going to be really important because we’ve demonstrated a recipe on how to grow the business and we definitely want to continue that,” Haas told Tech Crunch after the news was made public.

The post Nvidia’s $66 Billion Acquisition of Chip Designer Arm is Officially Off the Table appeared first on financialreader.com.

The “stock split” practice has been considered outdated in the past decade before making a big return in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. Several big tech companies, including Apple and Tesla, have already split their stocks in efforts to make their shares an affordable investment and more accessible for individual investors. Alphabet hopes to do the same once the action becomes official in July.

According to Alphabet’s statement, the company’s Board of Directors already approved the stock split for Class A, Class B, and Class C shares. However, the decision now is subject to stockholder approval. If stockholders give their consent, which is considered a pure formality, each one will receive a dividend of 19 additional shares of the same class of stock for every share they hold on July 1, 2022.

Even if the split will take several months to go into effect, Alphabet already experienced positives from the decision. Since the news was announced, the company’s stocks have already gone up 9 percent in extended trading.

The post Alphabet, Google’s Parent Company, Announces 20-for-1 Stock Split appeared first on financialreader.com.