Biogen stock explodes higher after potential 'mega blockbuster' Alzheimer's drug study (2 min read)
Shares of Biogen soared over 39% after a promising study about the company’s new Alzheimer drug, lecanemab. The study shows it can reduce cognitive and functional decline by 27% relative to a placebo. The FDA is currently considering an early approval. Based on the size of this market, experts estimated the sales on this new drug to be $6 billion to $8 billion. Lecanemab was created in partnership with Eisai, a Japanese pharmaceutical company. Both companies will co-promote this new drug and share profits equally.
|
Apple stock dips on report the company is bailing on plans to boost new iPhone production (1 min read)
Apple said on Wednesday that it will not increase the production on iPhone 14 as originally planned. Instead of producing an additional 6 million units, Apple will produce at the same level as last year which is about 90 million units. The change of plan was because the demand for the new iPhones are not as high as anticipated. The news also affected Apple’s suppliers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Hon Hai, and Foxconn as they shifted production capacity from the older models to the new ones. Shares of Apple dropped 1.3% after the news.
|
Stocks rebound from 2022 low, Dow closes up more than 500 points and snaps six-day losing streak (1 min read)
The US markets bounced back sharply after the Bank of England announced it will intervene to stabilize the UK bonds and currency. The Bank of England will buy the long government bonds in an attempt to calm the financial markets. The S&P 500 and the Dow made a reversal after the news and snapped a six-day losing streak. All major indexes closed on Wednesday about 2% higher. US Treasury yields also retreated from their highest levels which eased the concerns that high rates were choking the economy.
|
Buffered ETFs Growing Quickly With Hedges on Losses (3 min read)
Defined outcome or buffered ETFs have grown rapidly in the recent year as more investors are looking to preserve capital while participating on the upside. Buffered ETFs are usually tied to the S&P 500 index and use options to provide downside protections up to a certain level while also limiting the upside gains. Investors must hold the ETF throughout the outcome period to achieve the stated goal. Buffered ETFs currently have a total of $17.5 billion in AUM with more than a third of it accumulated this year. Innovator Capital Management and First Trust Portfolios are the two largest providers in this space.
|
Currency-Hedged ETFs Shine on Strong Dollar (2 min read)
Currency hedged ETFs are gaining traction again as the dollar continues to strengthen. Hedging away the currency fluctuation can help boost the returns on non-US holdings. Currency hedged versions of ETFs with exposures outside of the US have shown to perform much better than the non-hedged versions. For example, the iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ) is down 24.54% year to date while the currency hedged counterpart is only down 4.64%. Leverage the strong dollar by hedging away currency risk can provide a bit of a boost amid equity markets in the red.
|
3 Top Recommendations for New Investors (6 min read)
This article shares three REITs that are suitable for new investors. They are MAA (MAA), Gladstone Land (LAND), and American Tower (AMT). MAA has demonstrated steady dividend growth since going public in 1994. Liability is less than half of its assets which made them well positioned for bigger investments. It also has a significant holding in Texas and Florida where it’s expected to be more in-demand. LAND is a farmland REIT which is great for diversification since it is not correlated to stocks. It also offers protection against inflation since food prices will keep up with raising costs. AMT specializes in communications infrastructure and has been in business for almost 30 years. It has outperformed the S&P 500 in the last 12 years with an annualized return of 12%. The adoption of cellphones and smartphones has helped the business to grow consistently. More analysis of each REIT is available in this article.
|
|
That's it for today! You can reply to this email if you have any comments or feedback.
Thanks,
Thomas
|
|
|
|
