Author: The Street

Analyst reassesses Walmart stock price target after meeting with CFO

July 4, 2024 Published by The Street

Let’s face it: No matter what you do, some people just aren’t going to like you.

The same goes for companies. Take Walmart (WMT) , for example.

It’s the largest retailer in the world, serving nearly 37 million people every day. Yet there’s a man in Florida who police said got so annoyed with one of Walmart’s delivery drones that he allegedly took a shot at the thing.

“I fired one round at it,” Dennis Winn, 72, told police, according to USA Today. “They say I hit it so I must be a good shot, or else it’s not that far away. … I’m going to wind up having to find a real good defense lawyer.”

Winn was charged with shooting at an aircraft, criminal-mischief damage over $1,000, and discharging a firearm in public or residential property, the Sheriff’s Office in Lake County (north and west of Orlando) said.

Analyst: WMT tone from the top ‘clear confidence’

All right, so you probably won’t be running into that guy at a Walmart anytime soon, but the Bentonville, Ark., retail giant has been attracting customers from a higher income bracket.

Company executives told analysts during Walmart’s first-quarter-earnings call in May that higher-end customers, defined as households earning more than $100,000 a year, helped drive a 22% surge in online sales.

“We are not just a play for value anymore,” Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said. “And convenience matters to someone irrespective of what your paycheck is, irrespective of what your income level is. And we expect that to be durable. We don’t expect that to change.”

A survey by the market research firm YouGov also found “consideration for Walmart among households earning more than $100,000 a year has risen to 54% from 50.6% last year.”

And that increase in higher-income customers was one of the factors that Deutsche Bank analyst Krisztina Katai cited when she raised the investment firm’s price target on Walmart to $77 from $71 and affirmed a buy rating on the shares.

Katai said the price-target boost followed the firm’s meeting with Rainey, Steph Wissink, senior vice president of investor relations, and Kary Brunner, director of investor relations.

The analysts said the tone from the top was “clear confidence” in its multiyear top- and bottom-line algorithm led by gains in market share; unlocking profit from supply-chain automation and alternative value streams, such as advertising, data, fulfillment, membership and marketplace); e-commerce profitability within the next few years, and upside by further strengthening the assortment of general merchandise.

Katai said in a research note that Walmart could generate close to 30% of operating profit from its alternative value streams by 2026.

She also said that increased visibility into Walmart’s earnings power from its high-margin alternative businesses result in further multiple upside. Walmart’s forward price-to-earnings multiple right now is under 28, according to Finbox.

“Management continues to see a cautious but broadly consistent consumer, with the majority of share gains coming from the high end,” she said.

More young consumers going to Sam’s Clubs

Katai said Sam’s Club, Walmart’s membership-based warehouse stores, continues to see strong membership gains and same-store-sales momentum.

In fact, she added, “younger consumers (Gen Z and Millennials) represent its largest growth cohort, with both responding to overall value and digital enhancements such as curbside pickup and Scan & Go.” That technology enables consumers to scan their items as they shop and check out in the Sam Club’s app.

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In addition, Katai said that while Walmart’s international business is often overlooked, it is the fastest growing segment within the core. India is on its way to inflect to profitability for WMT, she said.

“Looking ahead, the team highlighted that it sees the largest opportunity with the higher-income cohort,” she said. “It believes that its perception of WMT is changing, and ultimately the market-share gains from this cohort is helping transform the business.”

Further, Walmart’s team highlighted the convenience factor from its delivery services, Katai said.

Until now, the majority of Walmart’s e-commerce business has been pickup, but this year marked a change where the company delivered 4.4 billion items on the same or next day compared with Amazon (AMZN) at 4.3 billion last year.

In the past two to three months, Katai said, the team noted that delivery surpassed pickup, which it expects will continue. And the quality of assortment is improving. Walmart is selling Apple (AAPL) computers, for example, which she says will begin to drive upside as the sales mix improves.

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Ford CEO sends a stern warning for American car buyers

July 4, 2024 Published by The Street

When you think about an “American car,” what do you picture?

Perhaps it’s a massive, full-size SUV like a Chevrolet Tahoe or Suburban, a Ford Expedition, or a Lincoln Navigator. These hefty vehicles are popular as family haulers and are prized for their outward size and perceived sense of safety.

But as automakers like Ford (F) move on towards an electric future and look to compete head-on with Chinese automotive rivals like BYD, CEO Jim Farley emphasizes that American buyers are going to have to make a sacrifice and break an automotive addiction that may seem un-American for the sake of the automobile industry’s future.

At a recent appearance at the Aspen Ideas Festival, the Ford figurehead teased that the automaker is dead-set on releasing a profitable, $30,000 all-electric vehicle developed by a secretive California-based “skunkworks” team.

However, Farley indicated that the next generation of electric Ford vehicles will not be the oversized SUVs and trucks that the Blue Oval is known for, as the team is focused on more compact, affordable vehicles that can turn a profit for the brand.

Despite American’s desire for larger-than-life vehicles that boast more than 300-400 miles of range, Farley argues that those kind of expectations on such a vehicle will be unprofitable and prohibitively expensive for not only the company, but the consumer.

“You have to make a radical change as an [automaker] to get to a profitable EV. The first thing we have to do is really put all of our capital toward smaller, more affordable EVs. That’s the duty cycle that we’ve now found that really matches. These big, huge, enormous EVs, they’re never going to make money. The battery is $50,000… The batteries will never be affordable,” Farley stated. In a statement to EV blog Teslarati, a Ford representative indicated that the CEO was toying with the idea of an electric version of the brand’s Super Duty heavy-duty pickup trucks, and not the F-150 Lightning.

“Monster Vehicles”

2025 Ford Explorer ST

Ford

Despite most of the automaker’s bottom line owing itself to the sale of pickup trucks and other gas-guzzling vehicles, the Ford CEO recognized that Americans need to adopt smaller vehicles if the company were to reach profitability and compete with China’s latest and greatest.

“We have to start to get back in love with smaller vehicles. It’s super important for our society and for EV adoption. We are just in love with these monster vehicles, and I love them too, but it’s a major issue with weight.

“If we cannot make money on EVs, we have competitors who have the largest market in the world, who already dominate globally, already setting up their supply chain around the world. And if we don’t make profitable EVs in the next five years, what is the future? We will just shrink into North America,” Farley said.

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Farley’s Advantage

Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner talks with Jim Farley, CEO of Ford on the grid during the F1 Grand Prix of Miami at Miami International Autodrome on May 07, 2023 in Miami, Florida.

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Farley is confident that Ford will be able to make a profitable EV in the United States, crediting effective government policy discouraging low-cost Chinese EVs from touching American soil as substantially benefitting the Blue Oval.

Currently, Ford is protected by an economic shield consisting of 27.5% tariffs that target Chinese-made vehicles before a single tire touches U.S. soil. Recently, President Biden unveiled a suite of tariffs intended to target China‘s “clean energy” initiatives, including a 100% tariff on EVs originating from the People’s Republic.

In a recent interview with Axios, Farley noted that government policies have helped “level the playing field with low-cost Chinese competitors” such as those made by auto giant BYD, adding that regulations also help address concerns about customer privacy and data handled by such firms.

“It seems like the government is very serious about passing policy around data privacy and autonomous technology coming from [Chinese automakers],” he told Axios. “With the recent changes, I am more confident than I was before that we would have a level playing field with the Chinese in the U.S.”

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Forget the Kia Boyz, a new exploit leaves Kias and Hyundais vulnerable

July 4, 2024 Published by The Street

South Korean automaker Hyundai and its sister company Kia have been through the ringer. when it came to a notorious security vulnerability that was exposed through the power of social media.

The infamous “Kia Boyz” sprang a wave of auto thefts from 2021 to 2023, where Hyundai and Kia vehicles were targeted due to the lack of a vital security feature called an immobilizer, rendering them easy to drive without a key.

In “instructional” videos that have gone viral on social media platforms like TikTok, thieves demonstrated how easy it was to steal such vehicles, as it only required 35 seconds and rudimentary tools like a flat-head screwdriver and a USB charging cable for a smartphone.

While Kia and Hyundai have introduced fixes for vehicles targeted by the Kia Boyz, thieves have evolved and a new vulnerability is affecting vehicles that are crucial to the Korean automaking duo’s future in the industry.

A new breed of “Kia Boyz”

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 28: A Hyundai Ioniq 5 fully electric EV Car is displayed during the Everything Electric London 2024 at ExCel on March 28, 2024 in London, England. The show, designed to inspire people, includes an array of visitor attractions, dozens of 'live sessions' and an exhibition of hundreds of companies, electric vehicles of all types, and a large selection of home energy options. (Photo by John Keeble/Getty Images) — A Hyundai Ioniq 5 at Everything Electric London 2024 on March 28, 2024

John Keeble/Getty Images

As per a report by Inside EVs, brazen auto thieves are targeting Hyundai and Kia EVs, but are cut from a different cloth from the “Kia Boyz” exposed on TikTok’s For You page.

Compared to the Kia Boyz, the thieves targeting these EVs act more like enterprising cybercriminals, as their methods exploit vulnerabilities in vehicle software.

Screwdrivers and USB smartphone charging cords are replaced by a sophisticated piece of technology known as an “emulation device,” an amalgamation of radio transmission gadgetry stuffed into a device with the form factor of an old-school Nintendo Game Boy or similar devices.

These “Game Boys” do not accept game cartridges of the video game Grand Theft Auto, rather it allows people to commit the crime of actual grand theft auto.

Kia EV6 fully electric EV car at Everything Electric London 2024 on March 28, 2024

John Keeble/Getty Images

Basically, these devices are designed to emulate, or replicate the characteristics of a key. In practice, a thief would walk up to a Ioniq 5 or Kia EV6 that they seek to steal and touch the door handle.

By touching the door handle, the car actively starts to look for the owner’s key to unlock the car. The thief would then activate a program that talks to the car, convincing it that the thief is holding the key to the car. By using the program, the device generates codes that would identify the device as the actual key.

When the program finds the code (which can take a matter of seconds), the device is as good as the actual key and can be used to lock, unlock and commandeer the car. Additionally, once thieves get a good distance away, they can easily pull out the car’s connectivity devices, which can render any type of tracking useless.

Gone in 25 Seconds

In one video taken from a home surveillance camera, it took a duo of thieves 25 seconds to take a Hyundai Ioniq 5 from a driveway.

These devices have been around for some time and carry some pretty hefty price tags. A 2020 report from The Drive showed that a Bulgarian entity producing such devices charged the equivalent of $25,000 for a unit.

According to one reseller of the device investigated by InsideEVs, the device is capable of stealing EVs like the Hyundai Ioniq 5, the Kia EV6, the GV60 from Hyundai’s luxury Genesis brand as well as gas-powered cars like the Kia Niro, Forte, and K5.

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But for such an expensive device, thieves are getting their money’s worth.

Robert Whiteside told British tabloid newspaper The Sun in October 2023 that thieves nicked his Hyundai Ioniq 5 from right in front of his South London home while he was away on vacation in Cyprus.

He found out that his car was being stolen from a notification from the Hyundai Bluelink app alerting him that his car was unlocked. Though he was able to remotley connect to his home surveilance system, the car had already vanished into thin air.

“Two people walk up, open the car and drive off in a matter of seconds,” he said.

“We were shocked and being away from the UK had challenges reaching the police via 999 so had to resort to other channels. I then realised the thief had removed me from the Bluelink App so I had no visibility of the car’s status or location.”

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What Is the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)? Definition & History

January 29, 2023 Published by The Street

What Is the Internal Revenue Service?

The Internal Revenue Service, better known as the IRS, is the U.S. government agency responsible for collecting taxes from individuals and businesses, enforcing tax laws, and processing tax filings each year. It is also one of the oldest bureaus in operation, tracing its origins to the formative years of the republic.

The Constitution grants Congress the power to tax, and that authority is enacted under the Internal Revenue Code, which is part of federal law. The code breaks down how much tax can be levied on individuals and businesses, and how tax can be collected. It details taxes on income, employment, estates, as well as excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco.

Still, states can implement their own tax codes and can levy separate taxes on income, property, and sales to generate revenue for their own budgets. Some states, such as Connecticut and Texas, have no income tax but rely on other types of taxes for revenue.

A Brief History of the IRS

In 1787, Congress outlined its power to levy and collect taxes that would help pay off debt and “provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.” In 1789, the Department of Treasury was founded, but a predecessor to the IRS wouldn’t be established until 1862, when the Office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue under the Treasury Department was created. In its first year of operation in 1863, $39.1 million in taxes were collected, which covered about half of the federal budget.

The first federal income tax on corporations and individuals was established in 1913 under the 16th Amendment, and a year later, Form 1040 was introduced to help simplify the process of filing income taxes by the June 30 (and in later years, March and April 15) deadline each year.

In 1935, the foundation for the modern payroll withholding system was introduced. In 1953, the Bureau of Internal Revenue was reorganized and formally renamed the Internal Revenue Service. In 1955, April 15 was set as the annual deadline date for tax filing. In 1962, the IRS became more efficient with automated data processing, and five years later, an automated federal tax system was introduced. Paper-based filing gave way to electronic filing with the Tax Reform Act of 1986. By 2019, more than 90% of 150 million individual returns would be filed electronically.

Starting in 2001, the IRS began to go digital, and by 2016, taxpayers would be able to check the amount they owed online. The IRS says that it leverages new technology and data analytics “to detect and combat sophisticated evasion techniques and facilitate timely audits and collection investigations.”

What Does the IRS Do?

The core of the IRS’s responsibility is to collect taxes. Taxes are an important part of generating revenue for the government, which sets the federal budget that pays for programs that build roads, maintains the military, and provides services, such as healthcare, for its citizens. Without tax collection, the government wouldn’t be able to perform many of its functions, such as paying salaries to government employees, funding the enforcement agencies that protect U.S. borders, or paying for assistance to Americans in need.

Collect Revenue

The IRS is tasked with collecting revenue from taxes on individuals and businesses. At the company level, taxes are withheld from workers by their employers to ensure that taxes are collected properly throughout the calendar year.

Enforce the Tax Code

The IRS has its own officers who enforce the tax code to ensure that taxpayers are in compliance. History is rife with instances in which officers of the bureau rein in violators of the tax code who tend to underreport or fail to file returns. For example, in 1919, the Bureau of Internal Revenue hired hundreds of prohibition agents to uncover violations of the sale of alcoholic beverages. In 1931, in one of the most celebrated cases of tax evasion, mobster Al Capone was arrested.

Perform Audits

The IRS can perform audits on individuals or companies to ensure that all information reported on an income tax filing is accurate. Incorrect data or incomplete tax returns can trigger an audit.

What Challenges Does the IRS Face?

Since the early days of the founding of the U.S., payings taxes has been contentious. Some politicians in recent years have sought to abolish the IRS by shifting tax collection responsibilities entirely to state governments.

The IRS also faces its own internal challenges. As the number of filers continues to increase, the size of its budget has decreased, so the bureau is worried that it may not have enough workers available to handle the processing as well as enforcement of the tax code.

The IRS also needs to continually improve its digital platform to ease the facilitation of collecting taxes.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The following are answers to some of the most common questions investors ask about the Internal Revenue Service.

Why Does the IRS Set April 15 as the Tax Deadline?

The IRS set April 15 as the deadline for tax filing in 1955. For a couple of decades prior to that, the deadline had been set at earlier dates, March 15 and March 1. By extending the deadline by another month, the government reportedly was able to hold onto the withholding for a little longer.

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How Economic Data Is Impacting the Stock Market

January 29, 2023 Published by The Street

Between earnings season and the ongoing discussion of recession probabilities, there’s a lot of factors contributing to the current market environment.

And, let’s face it, that can cause a fair amount of anxiety.

As Real Money’s Stephen Guilfoyle has pointed out, the macroeconomic data that the market has received in the past month hasn’t helped to ease that anxiety.

But perhaps the weekly initial jobless claims paired with the fourth quarter gross domestic product print will be enough to help ease at least some anxiety.

Guilfoyle took a look at the print in a column for Real Money:

“At the surface, this was just what the doctor, or rather the FOMC ordered. A quarterly GDP print, or really two consecutive GDP prints, that put 2022 on the whole well into positive growth territory and appear to set the stage for this great white whale that the Fed has been hunting — the “soft landing” of the US economy. The Federal Reserve has been aggressive all year on increasing short-term interest rates while methodically drawing down on excess liquidity through the monthly reduction of the monetary base. Though the headline estimate for Q4 GDP printed at 2.9%, personal consumption expenditures, which are a significant driver, if not the significant driver, for the US economy, printed at growth of 2.1%. Economists had been looking/hoping for something in the mid 2%s.

Chris Versace, portfolio manager of Action Alerts PLUS, has been digging into earnings reports to understand how companies are faring in a challenging environment.

Versace explained his thoughts in his morning note to AAP subscribers:

As we digest this [Friday’s] crop of earnings reports from American Express (AXP), Chevron (CVX), and others, 8:30 AM ET brings the last piece of inflation data before the Fed’s monetary policy meeting next week. That will come to us in the form of the December Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) price index, a favorite inflation gauge for the Fed, that is bundled along with the December data for Personal Income and Spending. In particular, we will be examining the December core PCE data, which is expected to tick lower to +4.4% YoY from November’s 4.7% reading. Should that data point to greater-than-expected progress on inflation, the market is likely to interpret that as favorable for what the Fed will share next week.

On Monday, January 30 TheStreet will be going live with Chris Versace and Stephen Guilfoyle, who contribute and work on Action Alerts PLUS and RealMoney.

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GE Has Been One of the Best Stocks of 2023. Can It Continue?

January 18, 2023 Published by The Street

It’s been a tough start to the year, although the bulls are starting to gain some momentum.

For General Electric (GE) – Get Free Report though, it hasn’t been a contest: The bulls are dominating.

A year that started off with Apple (AAPL) – Get Free Report making new 52-week lows and concern that still surround inflation, the Fed and a recession have not made things easier.

For GE stock, though, it’s been the complete opposite. The shares have rallied in every session so far in 2023 and have climbed in 12 straight sessions. The stock is up more than 24% so far this year and 27% in the current win streak.

While the stock was already enjoying a three-day win streak, General Electric’s spinoff of its health-care unit sparked a strong rally.

The shares rallied almost 6% that day and inspired investors to become dip buyers as the stock cleared major resistance. The only problem? There hasn’t been a dip!

Trading GE Stock

Daily chart of General Electric stock.

Chart courtesy of TrendSpider.com

Noteworthy is that GE stock previously enjoyed a 12-day win streak in July. It was followed by a 4% peak-to-trough decline, then another 11% rally.

The breakout over $68.50 has been impressive and I suspect that even the bulls are shocked by the run in GE stock since.

All that said, we must be on watch for a potential pullback.

That’s particularly true as the shares run into the 78.6% retracement. While it may not be the most widely followed retracement level, it’s still one of the major ones to keep an eye on.

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Peloton Has a New Hope In Its Turnaround Battle

January 18, 2023 Published by The Street

Tech layoffs were big news in the fourth quarter, with more than 97,000 jobs being axed in 2022, according to a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

That is a 649% increase from the 13,000 tech jobs that were cut in 2021.

But the flip side of the equation is that 72% of laid off tech employees found new jobs within three months, according to an analysis by Revelio Labs, Business Insider reported.

Count Leslie Berland, Peloton’s (PTON) – Get Free Report new chief marketing officer, as one of the bounce back stories.

Berland will officially start her new C-suite gig on January 18, reporting directly to CEO Barry McCarthy, about two months after she left Twitter on November 2 amid new owner Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media company.

Berland was part of a voluntary exodus of talent from Twitter — along with the company’s VP of global client solutions, chief consumer officer, and chief diversity officer — after Musk pledged to cut Twitter’s staff in half.

Now she lands at a company that is experiencing its own upheaval as Peloton looks to regain the pandemic luster it lost in 2022.

Peloton Looks For A Turnaround

“Peloton is at a unique moment in its transformation journey, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it,” Berland said in the press release introducing her role at the company.

“I’m a huge believer in the product, the company, and its potential. I’m inspired by Peloton’s continued innovation and commitment to its current and future Members and see amazing opportunities ahead.”

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Iconic American Brand Goes Green in a Surprising Way

January 18, 2023 Published by The Street

The fashion industry is a well-known culprit when it comes to industry effects on Mother Nature. An incredible amount of our clothing — 85% to be exact — eventually makes its way to landfills in our own backyards and across the world only to be dumped in foreign landfills. Our old outfits are most often left to be buried in piles of trash. And all that trash contributes to the emissions of harmful methane gas. Add to that the environmental effects of sewing, dying, packaging, and shipping, and you’ve got a lot of varied factors that have real-world consequences for our planet and its inhabitants.

Several companies have instituted new policies to help offset some of these harmful effects on the environment. VF Corporation (VFC) – Get Free Report, sportswear brand The North Face, Designer Brands (DBI) – Get Free Report shoe store DSW, fast-fashion brand H&M (HNNMY) , REI, and Patagonia all have various programs to reward customers for reselling or recycling clothing to keep it out of landfills.

Among the companies encouraging customers to recycle products is the denim company Levi Strauss & Co. (LEVI) – Get Free Report. Customers can send in old pairs of jeans, which will be recycled into more denim. So a good pair of jeans really can be a timeless fashion piece.

Shutterstock

Levi Strauss & Co. Explores Compostable Packaging

Levi Strauss & Co. has teamed up with the global initiative Fashion for Good to introduce home-compostable polybags in an effort to reduce single-use plastic. The trial will affect the packaging that protects the product (in this case jeans) from the machinery used to sort and ship orders. The new polybags are compostable and made with bio-based materials.

Levi Strauss & Co.’s Cheif Sustainability Officer Jeffrey Hogue is hoping that the denim company will set an example for the fashion industry.

In a press lease, Hogue said, “This project not only moves us toward achieving our goal of eliminating single-use plastic, [but] it also puts into practice the industry collaboration required to solve these ubiquitous industry challenges. Through Fashion for Good’s platform, we’re able to test innovations like at-home compostable polybags that help our consumers take action and reduce the amount of plastic contributed to landfills.”

The test period for the bag’s viability will run for six months. Two distribution centers will test the program, one in the U.S. and one in Sri Lanka.

Levi Strauss Gets New President, CEO Set to Step Down

In December, now-former Kohl’s (KSS) – Get Free Report CEO Michelle Gass left the struggling retailer and started her new position as President of Levi Strauss & Co. earlier this month. Levi Strauss’ current CEO Chip Bergh will be stepping down from his role over the course of the next 18 months, a role that will likely be filled by Gass at that time.

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Why Property & Casualty Insurance Should Not Be Optional

January 18, 2023 Published by The Street

The U.S. property & casualty insurance industry pays out more than $790 billion in policy benefits, according to the Treasury Department.

The industry also employs more than half a million people, making property & casualty (or “P&C,” as insurance insiders call it) one of the more important spokes in the insurance industry wheel.

The Reason Why No One Knows About Property & Casualty Insurance

P&C insurance is one of the most “overlooked” forms of personal and business insurance. How come?

A white paper entitled “The Overlooked Gap in Financial Advice,” by Chubb, a commercial insurance company, and Oliver Wyman, a management consulting firm, states that millions of Americans go to great lengths to protect traditional financial assets, yet the vast majority overlook costly property and casualty insurance risks. That, the report states, is an error of omission that could lead to big financial trouble if a consumer or small business is targeted for a lawsuit or financial damages, but doesn’t have P&C insurance.

Why Do You Need a Property & Casualty Insurance Policy?

Property and casualty insurance aids consumers in protecting their possessions (that’s the property side) while providing liability coverage (that’s the casualty side) if you’re deemed legally responsible for an accident that results in bodily harm to another individual, or to any possessions that person owns. Homeowner’s insurance, renter’s insurance and auto insurance are both examples of P&C insurance.

“A smart way to think of property and casualty insurance is to frame it within the idea of risk and consequence,” says Kent Thune, insurance analyst at FitSmall Business in New York City. “Like many other forms of insurance, the risk of incurring a P&C claim is relatively low, but the consequence of not having this coverage can be extremely high.”

As an example, Thune says, the odds of someone getting injured on your property and successfully winning a million-dollar lawsuit against you are low. “That said, you don’t want to be faced with this scenario without the proper liability coverage,” he states.

In addition, people struggle to make smart decisions about risk trade-offs and insurance or other risk financing options.

“A good example of that is people who live in Florida who have high hurricane deductibles or who are out of the flood zone but don’t understand that flood maps are old and there is always a possibility that a hurricane can flood many areas,” says Layne Kertamus, a P&C insurance specialist with 20-years in the business. “Likewise, a doctor may not quite understand how the insurance company’s defense cost provision works in a policy that could have the effect of reducing available coverage.”

“Even large companies don’t necessarily understand where their P&C risk exposure is and how that could result in financial impairment,” Kertamus adds.

Even consumers who do want P&C insurance often have trouble getting a good policy and finding solid financial advice in choosing a policy. According to Chubb, 75% of high-income level consumers want their financial advisor to help, yet only 28% of advisors offer P&C insurance support. But financial experts say U.S. adults who ignore property & casualty insurance are taking a big risk.

Where Can You Find Property & Casualty Insurance?

Once you realize your assets are at risk for a property and casualty claim, the job at hand is to get good P&C insurance that fits your needs.

“Turning to an independent broker is the best way to get personal property & casualty insurance,” says Matthew Struck, a partner at Treadstone Risk Management, LLC in Morristown, N.J. “They can market your coverages to many different companies and recommend the options that represent the best coverage for the best price, which gives you the best insurance value.”

Property & casualty insurance should be part of the overall household insurance package, which should include homeowners, auto, health insurance and disability, and term life insurance, Struck says. $300,000 in liability coverage should do the trick on the property & casualty insurance front, he says, but talking to an insurance professional should be mandatory to properly assess your own unique overall insurance requirements.

Insurance brokers also represent multiple insurance carriers and can save time, money, and energy to find affordable and comprehensive coverage, says John Espenschied, owner of Insurance Brokers Group, in St. Louis, Mo.

“We recommend checking insurance rates for auto and home insurance (both of which offer P&C component coverage, up to certain coverage limits) every two years to ensure you are receiving competitive rates and up-to-date coverage limits,” he says.

Generally speaking, bundling insurance can be your best bet for receiving the lowest P&C premium rates, but that’s not always the case, Espenschied states.

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This Tweet Led to a Lawsuit Against Elon Musk

January 18, 2023 Published by The Street

Tesla (TSLA) – Get Free Report CEO Elon Musk, who purchased Twitter on Oct. 27 for $44 billion, has a history of tweeting on the social media site long before he owned the company.

Musk, who refers to Twitter as the town square of our time, has been controversial in many of his tweets, and one particular message back on Aug. 7, 2018, already cost him millions in Securities and Exchange Commission fines and forced him to step down as Tesla chairman.

Musk reached a settlement with the SEC on Sept. 29, 2018, which required the CEO and Tesla to each pay a $20 million fine and for Musk to step down as chairman for tweeting that he could take Tesla private at $420 per share and buy out the company for $72 billion.

Elon Musk Writes a Costly Tweet

“Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.” Musk tweeted on Aug. 7, 2018.

Just days later on Aug. 10, 2018, investors sued Musk and Tesla alleging the statement that the company had the necessary funding to take the company private was fraudulent and that Musk and Tesla were artificially manipulating the price of Tesla stock “to completely decimate the company’s short-sellers,” according to Courthouse News Service.

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