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Samsung expected to post lowest quarterly profit in years due to memory chip ‘market carnage’

January 5, 2023 Published by

US Top News and Analysis 

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Samsung has faced pressure from plunging memory prices which has impacted its key profit driving DRAM and NAND business.
Josep Lago | AFP | Getty Images

Samsung’s profit could nosedive when it reports fourth-quarter earnings guidance this week as prices for key memory chips continue to plunge amid weak demand.

Analysts expect Samsung to report 7.18 trillion South Korean won ($5.64 billion) in operating profit in the December quarter, according to Refinitiv consensus estimates. That would be a near 50% fall versus the fourth quarter of 2021.

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However, some analysts are more bearish than the consensus.

Analysts at Macquarie Research forecast Samsung to report fourth-quarter operating profit of 5.5 trillion won, which would be the lowest since the third quarter of 2016. Daiwa Capital Markets analysts see operating profit at 4.9 trillion won, a 65% year-on-year plunge and would be the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2015.

The pessimism stems from a rapid fall in memory prices. Samsung is the world’s biggest player in so-called NAND and DRAM chips which are used in devices such as laptops and smartphones, through to data centers.

NAND and DRAM prices fell sharply in the fourth quarter due to a lack of demand for the products they eventually go into, such a PCs. This has led to electronics manufacturers and other companies that use such chips holding onto their inventory, further lowering demand for Samsung’s chips.

Samsung is not exempt from the “memory market carnage,” Macquarie analysts said in a note published Tuesday.

“The magnitude and speed of the memory price decline is parallel to the global financial crisis in 2008,” Macquarie said.

“A toxic combination of an end demand slump and excessive channel inventory led to a high inventory level not seen in a decade,” it added.

The analysts said they expect Samsung’s NAND business to be loss making in the fourth quarter while DRAM is “likely to have a razor thin profit margin” in the first half of 2023.

Samsung’s semiconductor business, which includes NAND and DRAM, accounts for nearly 50% of the company’s operating profit. Therefore, any hit to the memory division will have a big impact on the overall profit the company reports.

Analysts also expect weakness in other parts of Samsung’s business including smartphones, which could weigh on earnings.

Samsung will release fourth-quarter earnings and revenue guidance on Friday before its full financial report, likely later this month.

Recovery ahead?

Analysts at Macquarie and Daiwa think the first half of the year will be tough for Samsung due to continued pressure on memory prices.

But earnings could bottom in the second quarter of 2023, according to Refinitiv consensus estimates.

Daiwa analysts said there will be a rebound in earnings in the second half of 2023 “along with an improving memory cycle and recovery in mobile demand.”

Macquarie analysts said a downturn in memory prices “tends to provide an opportunity for the memory leader came back stronger in a new cycle.”

“History has also shown that investors should not wait until the cyclical turnaround has already begun. For these reasons, we recommend investors hold onto SEC (Samsung Electronics), despite the negative near-term news.”

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Apple Stock Active As Wedbush Sees Demand Headwinds, Lowers Price Target

January 5, 2023 Published by

Updated at 12:10 pm EST

Apple  (AAPL) – Get Free Report shares moved higher Wednesday, after closing below the $2 trillion market value threshold for the first time in nearly two years, as Wedbush analyst Dan Ives cautions that demand headwinds could challenge the stock’s near-term growth prospects.

Ives clipped $25 from his Apple price target, lowering it to $175 per share, but held his ‘overweight’ rating in place amid what he described as “mixed” supply chain checks and the possibility of reduced Mac and iPad orders and stable iPhone 14 demand.


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Why are pregnant women in Nepal gaining more weight?

January 5, 2023 Published by

A study on the factors driving a rise in weight gain among pregnant woman in Nepal rules out poor diet quality in the first trimester as one of the major causes, say the researchers.

Historically, one of the greatest challenges facing pregnant women in Nepal and other low-income countries was undernourishment, a result of poverty. While that continues to be a concern, doctors are seeing some of the same issues confronting women in western nations: excessive weight gain and the health risks that come with it, such as high blood pressure and gestational diabetes.

Obstacles to addressing the problem included a lack of data, prompting a pilot study on gestational weight gain among pregnant women in Nepal by Shristi Rawal, an assistant professor of nutritional sciences at the Rutgers School of Health Professions; Kelly Martin, a 2021 graduate of the doctor in clinical nutrition program and an assistant professor at the State University of New York College at Oneonta; and other faculty members.

Their findings appear in the journal BMC Nutrition.

Rawal, who is from Nepal, says the impact of diet quality has been studied in wealthier countries, but had not been investigated in the context of many low-income countries, including Nepal.

“Studies on perinatal complications have largely been based on Caucasian samples from high income countries, and there has been a lack of diversity in general in terms of women represented in these studies,” she says. “Pregnancy complications are increasing in Nepal, and no one was doing this work there. This is a first step.”

The study tracked 101 pregnant women receiving prenatal care at Dhulikhel Hospital at Kathmandu University. Rawal and her colleagues administered a 21-item questionnaire to assess intake of foods from groups categorized either as healthy (such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables) or unhealthy (such as desserts, refined grains, and red meats), to the participants.

The study looked at diet quality in the first trimester and the rate of gestational weight gain from second to the third trimester but found no link between diet quality in early pregnancy and rate of gestational weight gain. It did find that a high intake of red meat could be a potential factor in driving up weight.

“The most striking result is that so many had excessive rate of gestational weight gain,” says Rawal. “If diet quality is not it, it could be daily caloric intake, physical activity, or sleep that could be associated with gestational weight gain. It could be other diet, lifestyle, or clinical factors. The next step is collecting more data and in a larger sample. ”

The pilot study established the need to conduct a larger birth cohort study with hundreds to thousands of women seeking antenatal care at Dhulikhel Hospital.

A key part of the pilot study also was to evaluate the efficacy of a novel dietary screening tool in capturing valid dietary data in the target population of Nepalese pregnant women.

In a paper published in the Maternal and Child Health Journal, the researchers conclude that the 21-question dietary screen tool modified for use by pregnant Nepalese woman is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing the dietary intake of pregnant women in Nepal.

“This adds credence to the tool, and we now know that it has cultural applicability to the setting and that it measures what it is intended to measure,” says Martin, who was the first author of both papers. “This is important for conducting further studies on diet quality in this population.”

Rawal is in the midst of a study testing a mobile app that supports Nepalese women with gestational diabetes by providing them with information and tools to adopt diet and lifestyle modifications needed to self-manage their condition.

Source: Rutgers University

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GOP debates: Who could take McCarthy’s place?

January 5, 2023 Published by

Politics, Policy, Political News Top Stories 

If not Kevin McCarthy, then who?

It’s the all-consuming question that has started openly percolating among the House GOP, as McCarthy’s speaker bid stalls.

So far, though, Justin Amash — a former congressman who switched from Republican to Independent in 2019 and is considered a gadfly among his former colleagues — is all they’re getting, at least publicly. It’s a sign of the uncharted waters House Republicans are currently navigating as they continue to punt the speaker’s race.

“They are not able to choose a speaker right now and I think this can play out in a lot of ways. And it makes sense to be here to offer an option,” said Amash, who roamed the chamber and held court with reporters Wednesday after flying in from Michigan.

But the fact that McCarthy’s bid is in such peril that a former Freedom Caucus member-turned-independent felt emboldened to preen about the Capitol on Wednesday, points to the larger political, and mathematical, gymnastics the conference is facing: If not McCarthy, who else could win near-total support of the Republican conference — and actually wants the job?

As one GOP member summed up the party’s existential dilemma: “Kevin doesn’t have the votes, but no one has more votes than Kevin.”

It’s a question with no clear answer and plenty of opportunity for chaos. While Republicans acknowledge they are privately throwing around names among themselves, there’s a persistent elephant in the room — McCarthy himself — that means they will remain largely hypothetical until the California Republican drops out.

And the GOP leader isn’t looking to remove himself anytime soon.

“I haven’t heard any [names] and I hope there won’t be any, because he is it,”said McCarthy ally Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.). “We’re not backing off.”

Ambitious GOP lawmakers who harbor their own gavel dreams know making a move now would be viewed as knifing McCarthy and alienating his allies. And with no “consensus” pick waiting in the wings, any speaker hopeful would need to solve the same Rubik’s cube of vote-counting that’s proved elusive to McCarthy so far.

Members admit that with McCarthy still in the running, it is tough to get a clear idea of another possibility, one who could match his fundraising prowess among other skills.

“There’s a number of names that have been floating about but we can’t actually get to that as long as Kevin says he’s going to keep running indefinitely,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), one of the Freedom Caucus members opposing McCarthy thus far, told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham when asked if he’d prefer the House GOP’s No. 2, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.).

If McCarthy does drop out, Scalise is the most obvious fall-back option. He has been adamant that he’s backing the California Republican, but he’s also in a tricky position. While he is likely the second most popular member in the conference — one who has also had his eye on the gavel in the past — he can’t have any fingerprints on the effort to take down McCarthy, or he’ll earn fierce and swift backlash from the Californian’s allies. So, he’s been laying low.

Some argue he has more conservative bonafides than McCarthy, who is still viewed skeptically by the right as a legislative chameleon despite his efforts to tie himself closely to former President Donald Trump. But others question if Scalise would be all that different in the eyes of the conservative hardliners opposing McCarthy.

Asked if a potential speaker Scalise could resolve the standoff, Jordan told reporters: “No one is talking about that.”

As the GOP leader’s allies and his defectors sat down together on Wednesday evening, many of the conservatives were openly predicting that the California Republican would be forced out. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), for instance, cryptically told reporters, “I think there’s gonna be a resolution” by the time the House resumed at 8 p.m. He predicted they’d have an entirely different candidate.

Those comments helped accelerate an already-active rumor mill in GOP circles. In one call among Republican lobbyists on Wednesday, for instance, several people raised the idea that some GOP members who have publicly supported McCarthy are secretly waiting for him to drop out to rally behind Scalise — a concept that McCarthy supporters have scoffed at as ridiculous.

Another fast-moving rumor among members is that Scalise and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) could potentially reach a deal, in which one takes the speaker’s gavel and the other becomes majority leader. But, again, others denied any possibility it was true.

That increasingly active whisper network points to the current highly volatile nature of the GOP, which may end another day of speaker votes without a resolution.

Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), too, dismissed the idea that any other members had been floated for the House’s top post, declaring some members’ motto: “Only Kevin.” But as for the path forward, he said he had no idea: “I’m out of answers. Seriously. That’s the kind of situation we’re in right now.”

While some of the McCarthy opposition is personal, his detractors aren’t yet ready to bear hug Scalise as an alternative. Some are privately questioning how backing the Lousianian, particularly if he makes them the same offer on the rules that McCarthy has, wouldn’t just be rearranging deck chairs.

One McCarthy opponent told POLITICO, on condition of anonymity, that they would be willing to have conversations with Scalise but whoever came next would have to back “structural reforms” that conservatives are pushing for. If such demands include allowing one member to force a vote on deposing a speaker then that candidate, too, would be hobbling their speakership before it even began.

And some of McCarthy’s strongest backers are warning that they don’t view Scalise as the alternative if conservatives force the GOP leader out of the race.

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), who stressed that he was all for McCarthy as long as he’s in the race, said he viewed backing Scalise as a Plan B as letting “a small group hold us hostage.”

“I love Steve,” Bacon said. “[But] I just don’t want to cave to these guys who are holding us hostage. …They’re just looking for a scalp on Kevin.”

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) added that he believes no other Republicans besides McCarthy could get the votes needed to win the speaker’s gavel. That, in his mind, includes Scalise.

If McCarthy drops out, Fitzpatrick said the conference will have to look beyond its current roster.

“It would set a terrible precedent in our conference if you put all that work in, accomplish the mission [to gain the House majority] and then get jettisoned at the 11th hour,” Fitzpatrick said.

A bipartisan group of centrists members have had nascent conversations about trying to cut a deal that would elect a more moderate Republican, likely in exchange for cutting a power-sharing deal with Democrats.

In a boost to those long-shot hopes, retired Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) opened the door on Wednesday, telling Michigan reporters that it was an “intriguing proposal.”

But even centrists acknowledge their threats are unlikely to come to pass, and McCarthy’s opponents consider them a bluff. And Democrats insist their members are a long way from backing McCarthy or his allies — if they ever will.

Instead, conservatives are floating their own names as they cycle through their wish list. Their dream is Jordan, a McCarthy enemy-turned-ally and conservative hero, as speaker. But Jordan has been publicly adamant for months that he does not want to be speaker and he helped nominate McCarthy this week. Plus, the moderate wing and institutionalists are already shutting that idea down.

On Wednesday, they publicly shifted their public support behind Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), who previously made an unsuccessful bid for conference chair. But McCarthy’s detractors say Donalds isn’t likely to be their final pick. And they are already floating other potential names, most notably Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), as they look to offer other alternatives.

“I don’t think anything is final until we reach 218,” said Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), one of McCarthy’s original opponents. “Time is on our side.”

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Man whose foot was found in Yellowstone pool left poems, $447 in cash in car: investigators

January 5, 2023 Published by

Just In | The Hill 

(NEXSTAR) – After a human foot was found floating in a hot pool at Yellowstone National Park, investigators uncovered hundreds of dollars in cash and handwritten poems in the missing man’s car, according to new documents released Tuesday.

Mystery still surrounds the grisly discovery, however. Rangers found the foot, still inside a size 8.5 black shoe, in the Abyss Pool Aug. 16, 2022, after a park visitor reported it to a tour driver. Geologists didn’t find any other significant human remains, but “fatty deposits were found floating to the surface over time,” the documents said.

Using DNA analysis, investigators were able to identify the man to whom the foot belonged as 70-year-old Il Hun Ro, of Los Angeles. Investigators later determined that whatever happened to Ro took place on the morning of July 31, but nobody saw it. Foul play was not suspected, according to an earlier statement.


13 bison dead after truck hits herd near Yellowstone National Park

After bagging evidence and interviewing witnesses at the scene, investigators found that there were three unaccounted-for vehicles left in the parking lot. Two people claimed their vehicles in the next hour, and the third, a Kia Niro SUV, belonged to Ro.

Inside the vehicle was Ro’s laptop, personal photos, park maps, his wallet with $447 in it, and a small book of poems, according to the documents. Investigators used Google Translate to comb through the poems and Ro’s handwritten notes but found no evidence of a suicide note.

Using the driver’s license found in his wallet, investigators determined that Ro stayed for one night at the Canyon Lodge, about an hour away from the pool, located in the West Thumb Geyser Basin.

Upon a request from Nexstar, park officials provided background on the investigation, but did not disclose any additional new details not included in the document.

Yellowstone officials urge visitors to stay on boardwalks and trails in thermal areas and to exercise extreme caution as the ground surrounding the features can be very thin, with scalding water below.

Abyss Pool is over 50 feet deep with a temperature of roughly 140 degrees F.

​Nexstar Media Wire News Read More 

Carnival Raises 2 Key Prices, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian May Follow

January 5, 2023 Published by

The major cruise lines that operate out of the United States flag their ships in foreign countries. That allows them to avoid American labor laws, including paying a minimum wage.

Cruise ship workers are not protected by U.S. laws that govern how many hours they can work or what they should be paid, Instead, cruise ship workers are contracted. They get a certain amount of money per month in exchange for working nearly every day, and often putting in what Americans would consider a very long shift.


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Stellantis To Build Archer’s Midnight Electric Flying Taxi In Georgia

January 5, 2023 Published by

Carscoops 

Stellantis is “significantly” expanding their partnership with Archer Aviation as the two companies will work together to put the Midnight into production.

The Midnight is an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, which has been designed to carry four passengers and a pilot. While the model only has 100 miles (161 km) of range, the companies noted the aircraft has been “optimized for back-to-back short distance trips of around 20 miles (32 km), with a charging time of approximately 10 minutes in-between.”

Under the terms of the latest agreement, Stellantis will contribute “advanced manufacturing technology and expertise, experienced personnel, and capital to the partnership.”  The automaker will also work with Archer to “stand up” a manufacturing facility in Covington, Georgia where the Midnight is slated to go into production in 2024.

More importantly, the announcement revealed Stellantis’ goal is to “mass produce Archer’s eVTOL aircraft as its exclusive contract manufacturer.”  As a result, Stellantis is becoming an aircraft manufacturer.

Also: FCA Jumps Onto Electric Aircraft Bandwagon, Announces Partnership With Archer

If that wasn’t interesting enough, Stellantis will provide up to $150 (£124 / €141) million in equity capital to Archer.  The latter firm can draw on those funds, at its discretion, in 2023 and 2024, but the money is contingent on them hitting certain milestones.  Furthermore, Stellantis intends to purchase Archer stock in the future.

Stellantis said the moves will “enable the rapid scaling of aircraft production to meet Archer’s commercialization plans, while allowing Archer to strengthen its path to commercialization by helping it avoid hundreds of millions of dollars of spending during the manufacturing ramp up phase.” Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares added, “Deepening our partnership with Archer as a strategic investor with plans for growing our shareholding demonstrates how Stellantis is pushing the boundaries to provide sustainable freedom of mobility, from the road to the sky.”

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U.S. House adjourns until 8 p.m. without a speaker after GOP leader McCarthy loses sixth vote

January 5, 2023 Published by

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) sits in the House Chamber during the third round of votes for House Speaker on the opening day of the 118th Congress on Tuesday, January 3, 2023, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC.

Matt McClain | The Washington Post | Getty Images

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives adjourned for a second time in two days Wednesday without electing a speaker, after GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., failed in six consecutive votes to secure enough support to be elected to the post.

The adjournment, until 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, gave Republicans precious time to chart a path forward, whether that be through negotiations with the core 20 holdouts, or by coalescing around a new candidate for speaker.

Still, the lack of a speaker left the House in disarray, largely due to the fact that no rank and file members can be sworn into office until a speaker is elected. This left all 434 members of the House technically still members-elect, not official voting representatives. 

The ripple effects of this historic procedural limbo were felt across Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

Outgoing Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo., pointed out that a host of constituent services were essentially frozen until the new Congress is sworn in.

“Who can legally help any and all of our citizens with issues we normally handle everyday?” Long tweeted. “Passports, IRS, Veterans issues, SBA, Post Office, Immigration issues, Corps of Engineers, etc.” 

He also questioned how congressional salaries would be allocated. “Who’s getting paid? Outgoing or incoming?”

Staffers to some newly elected members also told Politico they were unable to access their official email accounts because their bosses had not been sworn in yet. 

The core group of 20 GOP holdouts voted for Florida Rep. Byron Donalds in several rounds of votes Wednesday, each time denying McCarthy the 218 votes he needed to take the gavel.

All 212 Democrats voted for that party’s incoming Minority Leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.

The mood on the House floor grew more contentious throughout the day, as Republicans loyal to McCarthy grew increasingly frustrated, and Democrats grew impatient over five hours of voting.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., renominated Donalds in the fifth round of voting before asking McCarthy to withdraw his name.

“You’ve been having my favorite president call us and tell us we need to knock this off,” Boebert said on the House floor, referring to former President Donald Trump. “I think it actually needs to be reversed. The president needs to tell Kevin McCarthy that ‘Sir, you do not have the votes and it’s time to withdraw.'”

U.S. Rep.-elect Lauren Boebert (R-CO) delivers remarks in the House Chamber during the second day of elections for Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 04, 2023 in Washington, DC.

Win Mcnamee | Getty Images

Together, Donalds and Jeffries marked the first time that two Black Americans have ever been nominated for House speaker.

Donalds, who was nominated by Texas Republican Chip Roy, told reporters outside the chamber that he would reinstate a House rule to “vacate the chair” if he were elected. That would make it easier to replace the future House speaker.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., made it more difficult to change leadership by requiring a party leader or a majority vote by one party to force the vote. Donalds said any member of the chamber should be allowed to call for a vote on the House leader.

“This was a mainstay rule in our chamber that empowered all the members of Congress,” said Donalds, who on Tuesday had publicly shifted his support away from McCarthy. “And Nancy Pelosi is the one who stripped it. And so we think it is important for our institution to function correctly on behalf of the American people to put it back in place.”

When asked about national security concerns with Congress in limbo, Donalds said a hypothetical threat shouldn’t affect the voting process.

“I would anticipate (President Joe Biden) would act to secure the homeland to take care of the American people,” he said. “When it comes to leveraging money to be spent in response, that’s something the members would have to put into their calculus as well. But that doesn’t mean that we should speed up our business here for some (hypothetical) that may exist at some point.”

Democrats could help McCarthy by withholding their votes, which would reduce the number of votes he needed to win House speaker, according to the Intercept. But Pelosi and others have reportedly dismissed that out of hand.

Pelosi told reporters outside the House floor earlier Wednesday that the Republican chaos revealed “a lack of respect for the sworn duty we all have to defend the Constitution and get the job done for the American people.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is seen at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on December 21, 2022.

Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images

Little appeared to have changed, publicly or privately, between Tuesday and Wednesday. Both McCarthy’s allies and his opponents delivered effectively the same message in interviews Wednesday that they have been for weeks: We’re not going to budge.

One exception to the stalemate was a fresh endorsement for McCarthy from Trump, who on Tuesday afternoon had initially sounded an uncertain note about the political future of one of his most loyal allies in Congress.

“REPUBLICANS, DO NOT TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT,” Trump posted on his Truth Social website Wednesday morning. “IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE, YOU DESERVE IT. Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, and maybe even a GREAT JOB – JUST WATCH!”

Despite Trump’s broad support among conservative Republican voters, it was not clear his new endorsement would move the needle for any of the holdouts in Congress. While the group of 20 far-right Republicans are all close Trump allies, the former president’s name and his “America First” message have been notably absent from the intraparty GOP debate raging behind closed doors.

McCarthy himself was tight lipped Tuesday and into Wednesday, and he declined to give interviews or take his message to the airwaves or social media.

When asked Wednesday morning what his plan would be, NBC News reported that McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol, “Same game plan as yesterday.”

When a journalist asked how he would get more votes, McCarthy replied: “We’re sitting, we’re talking … I think we can get to an agreement.”

Instead, he authorized a handful of allies to negotiate with the holdouts, many of whom identify with the Freedom Caucus, a loosely organized 40+ member caucus led by Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Scott Perry, who is among the most outspoken opponents of McCarthy’s speaker bid.

This is a developing story, please check back for updates.

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Tech’s had a brutal year. But four stocks have a bright future, investor says

January 5, 2023 Published by

US Top News and Analysis 

The technology sector took a bashing in 2022. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite tumbled more than 30% last year. That’s significantly worse than the S & P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average , which lost about 20% and 9% of their market values last year. But investment pro Jason Ware remains bullish on the sector over the longer term. “If you look at the companies that make up the Nasdaq … let’s just look at the QQQ ETF, the largest companies on the Nasdaq, the mega large-cap tech giants, these businesses are still doing very well,” Ware, who is partner and chief investment officer at Albion Financial Group, told CNBC’s ” Street Signs Asia ” on Wednesday. Ware was referring to the Invesco QQQ Trust — an exchange-traded fund that tracks the Nasdaq 100 . The latter is an index that comprises 100 of the largest non-financial companies that trade on the Nasdaq. The Invesco QQQ Trust is often seen as a barometer of the tech sector’s performance, given its heavy tech weighting. While Ware acknowledged that valuations of these large-cap tech companies have gone off a cliff, he remains confident in their longer-term growth. “They are generating lots of cash. Most of them are growing within secular growth niches that aren’t necessarily tied to cyclical economics, but rather, are a part of changes in technology in the way that we consume and just all the things that really can lead to lasting structural growth,” he added. Stock picks The current sell-off thus presents a “great opportunity” for long-term investors to buy the dip, including in tech giants such as Apple and Alphabet , according to Ware. Those stocks weren’t spared in last year’s tech rout and have sold off significantly despite their strong underlying fundamentals. He continues to like Apple over a “multi-year time frame,” saying it’s a business with “a lot of optionality for growth.” “They have a ton of cash on the balance sheet, they generate over $100 billion in free cash flow per year. So, we think that Apple has a great story ahead of it both in services and other things like [augmented reality],” he said. Ware also likes Google parent Alphabet, calling it a “wonderful play” on digital advertising. He added that Google has “a number of levers” for growth over the next five years. He is also a fan of software giant Microsoft . He said the company is “still absolutely a secular growth story” with 10% to 15% earnings growth “as far as the eye can see.” Read more These low-volatility stocks beat the market last year — and analysts see further upside in 2023 Wall Street is bullish on this chip giant, with Morgan Stanley giving it 55% upside Buy these global clean energy stocks, UBS says, forecasting one to rise 50% Also making his list is Oracle , a relatively under-the-radar name that used to be one of the world’s largest software companies. “We like Oracle. It’s one that doesn’t get a lot of conversation because it’s seen as old tech, but they’re taking a fair amount of market share within the cloud space,” he said. “And the stock is trading at around 13 times earnings. So, this is a cheap tech company you can own that is under-owned by the Street and has a tailwind of accelerating revenue and profit growth because of their focus on the cloud. They’re doing a great job of bringing in new business there,” he added.

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US Warns of Costs if Taliban Do Not Reverse Bans on Women

January 5, 2023 Published by

USA – Voice of America 

The United States has been assessing the impact of the Afghan Taliban’s ban on the employment of women by nongovernmental organizations while pondering policy options that may be unveiled soon.

“We’re committed to standing up for women wherever their rights are threatened, including in Afghanistan, as unfortunately we continue to see deepen and get worse,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday at the launch of the first U.S. Strategy on Global Women’s Economic Security.

Senior U.S. officials have repeatedly urged the Taliban to reverse bans preventing women from working for NGOs and attending public and private universities, warning of costs.

On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said Washington was examining “specific consequences that can be levied against the Taliban,” but it did not give details.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at the briefing that the U.S. was working with like-minded partners around the world to “devise an appropriate set of consequences that register our condemnation” of the Taliban while supporting the Afghan people.

Price added that the U.S. policy response would be careful not to further imperil the humanitarian well-being of the Afghan people.

The Taliban want better relations with the rest of the world and have publicly asked countries to invest in Afghanistan. But, the U.S. said, the Taliban are under a “faulty illusion” that they can have it both ways — that they can deprive Afghan women of rights while hoping to strengthen ties with other countries.

Education bans

Throughout 2022, the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan introduced and enforced some of the worst gender-based discriminatory policies seen anywhere.

In late December, the Taliban banned women from universities, further restricting women’s education. Shortly after the returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban excluded girls from secondary schools.

Taliban-ruled Afghanistan is the only country where girls are banned from schools because of their gender.

On December 24, the Taliban issued an order barring foreign and domestic humanitarian organizations in Afghanistan from employing women. Any group that fails to comply will have its license revoked. A coalition of 11 NGOs has had to suspend operations in Afghan as a result, according to the State Department.

“This is political. This is not religious,” Rina Amiri, U.S. special envoy for Afghan women, girls and human rights, told VOA’s Deewa Service in a recent Skype interview.

“Every Muslim majority representative that I spoke to in the world — whether it’s Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Malaysia — every country that I’ve spoken to has said what the Taliban is doing is hurting the image of Islam everywhere,” Amiri said.

Some see the Taliban’s decision to ban women’s education as a sign of an internal rift.

“It’s a hard-line element within the Taliban that is seeking to consolidate its power and to project that power,” Amiri said.

On Wednesday, the State Department unveiled its interagency strategy to advance women’s economic security globally. The goal is to promote equal access to education, innovation and quality jobs for women and girls worldwide.

“Closing the gender gap in the global workforce could unleash an additional contribution of $5.3 trillion to global GDP [gross domestic product], increasing economic security and prosperity for all,” the State Department said.

U.S. government agencies will formulate individual action plans within six months of Wednesday’s release of the strategy that will inform U.S. foreign policy, international programming and development assistance.

American officials said the U.S. would continue to support Afghan women through the Gender Equity and Equality Action Fund, which invests in local and civil society partners around the world.  

VOA’s Deewa Service contributed to this report.

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