In the first half of the year, Norway's largest sovereign wealth fund, known as the Oil Fund, recorded a profit of 1.478 billion kroner ($138 million). The fund recorded an 8.6% investment return, partially attributed to the devaluation of the country's currency and increasing stock prices, particularly in tech and finance sectors. Revenue from investing in stocks equaled 12.5%, while in real...

According to a report from the United States Department of Energy, wind farms produced a record 47.7 GWh of electricity in April, surpassing the 37.2 GWh generated by coal-fired plants. At that, coal plants produced 15% additional electricity compared to wind plants in January-April. To compare, wind plants in the United States only generated 1.3 GWh of electricity in March 2004, whereas coal...

According to the monthly survey by Bank of America, over half (60%) of stock managers anticipate a minimum of four interest rate reductions from the Federal Reserve in the next year. MarketWatch reports that 39% of respondents identified recession as the primary risk for their investment portfolios, with geopolitical conflicts coming in second place. Currently, 76% of respondents anticipate a...

A survey by the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) shows that U.S. retail investors are feeling more pessimistic about the stock market, reaching the highest level in nine months following the stock market crash on August 5, reports MarketWatch. 37.5% of respondents are now "bears," anticipating a decrease in stock prices in the next six months, compared to 25% the previous week....

Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., was defeated in court in a case filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, alleging that the company had impeded competition in the search services industry. The Wall Street Journal writes that this may have significant ramifications for not just Google, but also its biggest allies and rivals. Federal Judge Amit Mehta determined that by incentivizing other...

Stock market indexes in the biggest Western European countries closed Monday's trading session with a significant drop due to a worldwide selling off of high-risk assets. The global stock market crashed due to increasing concerns about economic downturn in the U.S. and other worldwide areas facing elevated interest rates. Poor statistical information about the U.S. job market, released on Friday,...

According to Matthew Bartolini of State Street Global Advisors, bond ETFs saw a record influx of $39 billion in July, reports MarketWatch. He stated that investors were particularly interested in government securities with medium and long-term maturity, as well as corporate loans. They were apparently trying to invest in bonds with decently high yields, according to Bartolini. With inflation...

According to Renaissance Capital, companies in the United States have raised $23.2 billion through initial public offerings (IPOs) since the beginning of the year, which is more than the $19.4 billion total for the entire previous year. 82 businesses have gone public on American exchanges this year, a 37% increase compared to the same period last year. Specifically, last week witnessed the...

Mortgage lending in the UK rose from 1.26 billion pounds ($3.4 billion) in May 2024 to 2.65 billion pounds ($3.4 billion) in June 2024, says the Bank of England. That's the biggest since November 2022 and much more than the 1.2 billion pounds that Trading Economics' survey of analysts consensus predicted. In June, the UK granted almost 60,000 new mortgages, while the number of mortgage...