Big technology companies are betting that a new wave of smaller, more precise AI models will be more effective when it comes to the needs of businesses in sectors like law, finance, and health care. Jaap Arriens | NurPhoto via Getty Images LONDON — Increasingly many financial services firms are touting the benefits of artificial intelligence when it comes to boosting productivity and overall operational efficiency.Despite bold statements, a lot of companies are failing to produce tangible results, according to Edward J Achtner, the head of generative AI for U.K. banking giant HSBC.”Candidly, there’s a lot of success theater out there,” Achtner…
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Investors have questions about how a new Federal Reserve rate-cutting cycle will affect the biggest US banks, and they will be looking for some answers as third-quarter earnings season begins Friday.First up are results from JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC), followed by Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) next week.All four of those big banks are expected by analysts to report that their net profits fell when compared with the prior quarter and the year-ago period, as elevated rates in place for most of the third quarter chipped away at lending margins.But after the Fed cut its…
Image source: Getty Images The share price of the FTSE 100’s Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) has risen 44% since the 12-month traded low of £5.71. However, such a rise does not mean there is no value left in a stock. This is far from the case with this emerging market banking specialist, in my view. Are the shares cheap right now? To work my way towards answering this question, I start with some key stock valuation measures, including the price-to-book ratio (P/B). Standard Chartered currently trades at a P/B of just 0.5 – joint bottom (with Barclays) of its group…
Investing.com — The upbeat September jobs report and the significant upward revisions to GDP and GDI suggest the Federal Reserve’s 50 basis point (bp) rate cut in September was “not warranted,” according to Bank of America strategists. BofA said its discussions with clients have quickly shifted from debating whether the Fed would cut by 25bp or 50bp in November to questioning if a rate cut is needed at all. Some are even speculating whether the Fed might skip a November cut to offset the larger-than-expected September cut. However, the bank’s strategists believe that, even if the Fed later determines the…
A Manila coal plant could be a model for how developing countries can quit polluting fossil fuel. A few dozen kilometers from the Philippine capital Manila sits a coal plant that some hope could be a model for how developing countries can quit the polluting fossil fuel. An alliance led by The Rockefeller Foundation, a philanthropic group, plans to help close the plant 10 years early, avoiding millions of tons of emissions and monetising them as carbon credits. The idea is “pretty simple”, said Joseph Curtin, managing director of Rockefeller’s power and climate team. “What if the coal asset owner…
Image source: Getty Images Some claim that British American Tobacco (BAT) is one of the best passive income stocks around. Each year since 1998, the cigarette giant has increased its payout to shareholders. This means it belongs to an exclusive club of Dividend Aristocrats, stocks that have achieved at least 25 years of dividend growth. And during its four most recent financial years, it’s managed to boost its annual payout by an average of 3.3%. However, despite this impressive performance, it might come as a surprise to learn that there’s another FTSE 100 stock that’s done even better. Who’s that…
By Maria Martinez BERLIN (Reuters) -German exports rose in August due to strong demand particularly from the United States and the United Kingdom, official data showed on Wednesday, defying market expectations of a decline. Exports rose by 1.3% in August compared with the previous month, data from the federal statistics office showed. The result compared with a forecast 1.0% decrease in a Reuters poll. “The second slight increase in exports in a row is a small glimmer of hope, but no reason to sound the all-clear,” said Volker Treier, head of foreign trade at the German Chamber of Commerce DIHK.…
(Bloomberg) — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. posted a better-than-expected 39% rise in quarterly revenue, assuaging concerns that AI hardware spending is beginning to taper off.Most Read from BloombergThe main chipmaker to Nvidia Corp. and Apple Inc. reported September-quarter sales of NT$759.7 billion ($23.6 billion), versus the average analyst projection for NT$748 billion. Taiwan’s largest company will disclose its full results next Thursday.Hsinchu-based TSMC is one of the key companies at the heart of a global surge in spending on AI development, producing the cutting-edge chips needed to train artificial intelligence. Its sales have more than doubled since 2020, with the…
Image source: easyJet plc The easyJet (LSE: EZJ) share price has dropped back ever since tensions flared up in the Middle East. One question now is whether this is a good time for me to buy or not? The company stopped flying to and from Tel Aviv, Israel, in April. It plans to resume flights on 30 March 2025, a spokesperson for the company said. However, the share price has dropped since late September as the hostilities in the region intensified. That doesn’t mean the conflict has affected the firm’s business any further. However, it might show the market fears…
On Wednesday, CLSA raised its rating on Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (MM:IN) (OTC: MAHMF) stock to outperform from hold, alongside an increase in the price target to INR3,400 from INR2,654. The upgrade reflects the firm’s confidence in Mahindra’s growth prospects, particularly in the sports utility vehicle (SUV) segment. The firm’s analysis suggests that Mahindra’s improved scale and a superior mix of products, coupled with better pricing power in its SUV offerings, have bolstered the company’s automotive margins over the past few years. Notably, the performance of models such as the XUV 3X0 and Thar Roxx, as well as the anticipation…