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M&M Breaking News

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M&M Breaking News

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  • What to expect from stocks in 2025 Stocks had a blockbuster 2023 and 2024. Will 2025 be a three-peat? After two years of substantial gains, Wall Street expects the good times for markets to keep going this year — just not on the massive scale investors have been spoiled with lately. Wall Street forecasts reviewed by CNN show that most strategists expect double-digit percentage growth for the S&P 500 in 2025, though more moderate than in 2024. Analysts expect the S&P 500 to rise 14.8% in 2025, according to FactSet. US stocks surged last year as strong economic growth, cooling inflation, a series of Federal Reserve rate cuts and enthusiasm for President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory boosted investor optimism. Tech and AI stocks were the stars of 2024, and they are largely expected to lead growth again in 2025. Yet Wall Street analysts warn of potential downsides in 2025. Uncertainty around tariff policy proposed by Trump, potentially resurgent inflation and looming geopolitical tensions are among the issues that could hurt the stock market’s growth, according to Bank of America. “I am bullish on stocks for 2025, though with valuations high and the bull market maturing, I don’t think investors should expect quite such spectacular returns next year as we have seen this past year,” Jurrien Timmer, director for global macro at Fidelity Investments said in a December 18 note. Of course, forecasting is a game only for the iron-stomached, and predictions can often miss the mark. In 2024, many analysts raised their price forecasts for the S&P 500 during the year, as the index surged higher than expected. The case for a happy new year The S&P 500 ended 2024 with an annual gain of about 23% after rising by 24% in 2023, marking the first time since 1997 and 1998 that the index has closed with back-to-back gains of above 20%, according to FactSet data. The thriving stock market has not just benefited traders: Gains in the S&P 500 boosts retirement savings and serves as a general signal of economic stability. But Wall Street doubts another year of gains north of 20% is achievable. Forecasts from major banks, including UBS, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America for the S&P 500 in 2025 range from growth of around 10% to 14% — certainly healthy gains by any standard. Among the more bullish analysts, Christopher Harvey, head of equity strategy at Wells Fargo, expects the S&P 500 to reach 7,007 by the end of 2025 — a gain of about 19%. Wall Street expects continued stock market gains because it forecasts strong economic growth, corporate earnings and an incoming business-friendly administration under Trump. Heading into 2025, some analysts see US stocks’ impressive growth as evidence of a new era in tech and AI, with sustainable valuations and strong future earnings growth to support a continued rally. Dan Ives, a tech bull and senior analyst at Wedbush Securities, said in a December 30 note that he expects tech stocks to rise 25% in 2025 due to less regulation under the Trump administration and a continued “Goldilocks foundation” for Big Tech and Tesla. Ives picked Nvidia, Microsoft and Palantir as his top three tech winners for AI in 2025. All were huge gainers last year, too. The bear case for 2025 But the ever-present potential for a volatile policymaking environment during the Trump presidency, the potential for a change in Fed policy and a market that has encountered precious little resistance could pose problems for stocks in 2025. This year, the Fed largely quashed inflation without throwing the economy into a recession. Yet inflation is not entirely tamed. In December, the Fed issued what some economists termed a “hawkish cut,” signaling that after the central bank cut rates it might not do so again for a while. After its final policy meeting of 2024, the Fed revised its outlook for its preferred inflation gauge for 2025, raising it from 2.1% to 2.5%. Concerns about inflation and the Fed sent stocks sinking in early December, and they’ve been struggling to regain their momentum ever since. The Dow on December 18 set its longest losing streak since 1974. Traders expect just an 11% chance of a rate cut in January, according to the CME FedWatch tool. “The Fed’s admitted uncertainty as to monetary policy actions in 2025, combined with the expectation of only two cuts (rather than four) in 2025 amplified investor uncertainty and concern, triggering profit taking this year versus delaying into the new year,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. As the new year begins, investors will be glued to news about key issues — like potential tariffs — that could make or break markets under the Trump administration. “The most significant wild card on the table for 2025 will be the potential implementation of tariffs,” David Sekera, chief US market strategist at Morningstar said in a December 3 note.
  • ‘Major incident’: China-backed hackers breached US Treasury workstations The exterior of the U.S. Department of Treasury building is seen as they joined other government financial institutions to bail out Silicon Valley Bank's account holders after it collapsed on March 13, 2023 in Washington, DC. The US Treasury Department notified lawmakers on Monday that a China state-sponsored actor infiltrated Treasury workstations in what officials are describing as a “major incident.” In a letter reviewed by CNN, a Treasury official said it was informed by a third-party software service provider on December 8 that a threat actor used a stolen key to remotely access certain Treasury workstations and unclassified documents. “Based on available indicators, the incident has been attributed to a Chinese state-sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor,” Aditi Hardikar, assistant secretary for management at the US Treasury, wrote in the letter. A Treasury spokesperson said in a statement to CNN that the compromised service has been taken offline and officials are working with law enforcement and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). “There is no evidence indicating the threat actor has continued access to Treasury systems or information,” the Treasury spokesperson said. Treasury officials plan to hold a classified briefing about the breach next week with staffers from the House Financial Services Committee, a senior committee staffer told CNN. The exact timing of the briefing has not been scheduled yet. A spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry denied the accusation when asked about the hacking at a regular news briefing on Tuesday. “We have repeatedly stated our position on such groundless accusations lacking evidence. China has always opposed all forms of cyberattacks, and we are even more opposed to spreading false information about China for political purposes,” said Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry. According to the letter to Senate Banking Committee leadership, the third-party software service provider, BeyondTrust, said hackers gained access to a key used by the vendor to secure a cloud-based service that Treasury uses for technical support. “With access to the stolen key, the threat actor was able to override the service’s security, remotely access certain Treasury [Departmental Office] user workstations, and access certain unclassified documents maintained by those users,” the Treasury letter said. BeyondTrust said it identified a security incident that took place on December 2 involving its Remote Support product and notified the “limited number” of customers involved after the company confirmed on December 5 that it had confirmed “anomalous behavior” in the product. It posted information regarding the incident on its website on December 8, and it has been updating its progress in investigating the cause and mitigating future threats. The company said it suspended and quarantined the impacted instances of the product and hired an outside cybersecurity team to investigate. “No other BeyondTrust products were involved,” a Beyond Trust spokesperson said. “Law enforcement was notified and BeyondTrust has been supporting the investigative efforts.” It’s not clear exactly how many workstations were infiltrated. However, the Treasury spokesperson said in the statement that “several” Treasury user workstations were accessed. Hardikar said in the letter that based on Treasury policy, intrusions attributed to advanced persistent threat actors are considered a “major cybersecurity incident.” Treasury officials are required to provide an update in a 30-day supplemental report. It’s not clear if Treasury has fully determined the extent of the damage caused by the breach. Hardikar wrote in the letter that, in an effort to “fully characterize the incident and determine its overall impact,” Treasury has been working with CISA, the FBI, US intelligence agencies and third-party forensic investigators. “CISA was engaged immediately upon Treasury’s knowledge of the attack, and the remaining governing bodies were contacted as soon as the scope of the attack became evident,” the letter said
  • AI bigwigs want to go all-in on nuclear. They also happen to be behind nuclear companies OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Microsoft founder Bill Gates now chair nuclear energy startups. Many tech leaders say nuclear will be necessary to power their AI ambitions. Sam Altman is the chairman of a company that promises a brighter future for humankind. No, it’s not OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company he co-founded and now runs as CEO. It’s a company called Oklo, and it’s developing the kind of nuclear power technology that many tech leaders — including Altman himself — say they will need to fuel future artificial intelligence advancements. The proliferation of electricity-hungry data centers to power our digital lives – and increasingly, the AI technology that tech giants say is the future – now means that energy demand could soon outstrip supply. And that would be a problem for tech companies who are angling for their AI technology to revolutionize almost everything about the way we live and work. But while tech leaders have pointed to nuclear energy as essential to a climate friendly future, some industry experts wonder how much their investments will truly benefit the wider public, rather than just protecting their own businesses’ ability to operate. “I think the tech companies are looking out for their own interests, and whether those nuclear vendors are able to sell additional nuclear power plants for the public is another question,” said Sharon Squassoni, a research professor at George Washington University who’s studied nuclear energy and policy. Related article Silicon Valley has a plan to save humanity: Just flip on the nuclear reactors It’s clear that more energy will need to come from somewhere. Electricity demand from US data centers has grown 50% since 2020 and now accounts for 4% of the country’s energy consumption; that figure could grow to 9% by 2030, UBS analysts said in a research note earlier this month. And overall power demand in the United States is expected to grow 13% to 15% a year until 2030, potentially turning electricity “into a much scarcer resource,” according to JPMorgan analysts. The electricity needs of data centers have also threatened to upend tech giants’ sustainability promises. Tech giants have pointed to the benefit of nuclear energy’s reliability versus other renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind. Microsoft in September secured a deal to reopen a reactor on Three Mile Island, the site of a 1979 partial meltdown in Pennsylvania, aiming to revive a different reactor by 2028 to power its AI ambitions. Amazon and Meta have also begun working to lock in deals to secure future nuclear power for their data centers. “Data centers operate 24/7 and they need a stable supply of electricity. They can’t shut down because the wind is not blowing or the sun is down,” said Anna Erickson, a professor at Georgia Tech who studies nuclear engineering. Oklo isn’t Altman’s only nuclear energy investment. The OpenAI CEO has also invested in Helion Energy, a nuclear startup that’s using a different kind of technology from Oklo. Facebook co-founder and now Asana CEO Dustin Moskovitz, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel’s venture capital firm, Mithril, have also invested in Helion Energy. And Altman isn’t the only tech leader trying to cash in on the push toward nuclear. Separately, TerraPower, which is backed and chaired by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, is in the early phases of building a new nuclear reactor in Wyoming. Google joined a $250 million funding round for nuclear startup TAE Technologies in 2022, and Amazon anchored a $500 million financing round for nuclear startup X-energy in October. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has also invested in Canadian nuclear startup General Fusion. As of August, Peter Thiel’s venture capital firm, Mithril, owned 5.3% of Oklo’s shares, and the billionaire tech investor has reportedly backed other nuclear startups. Tech investor Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest also invested in Oklo earlier this year. (President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for energy secretary, Chris Wright, chief executive of the fracking company Liberty Energy, also serves on Oklo’s board.) The push for nuclear Already, lawmakers are lining up to support expanding nuclear power. President Joe Biden in July signed into law the Advance Act, a bill designed to make it easier, cheaper and faster to permit and build new nuclear reactors that received bipartisan support. And during this year’s COP28 climate talks, the United States joined more than 20 other countries in pledging to triple global nuclear energy capacity by 2050. Related article The US is on the cusp of a nuclear renaissance. One problem: Americans are terrified of the waste
  • FTX executives shave serious time off their sentences Ryan Salame and Caroline Ellison, FTX executives convicted for their roles in the notorious crypto fraud led by their former boss Sam Bankman-Fried, have both shaved time off their lengthy prison sentences. Salame, a former top executive of FTX, the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency trading platform, pleaded guilty to criminal fraud charges in September 2023, and was sentenced in May to 7 1/2 years in federal prison. He began his sentence in October. But the Federal Bureau of Prisons currently lists his release date as March 1, 2031, more than a year earlier than his initial release date in April 2032. Business Insider first reported Salame’s new release date. Ellison, Bankman-Fried’s former girlfriend and the former CEO of FTX’s hedge fund arm, Alameda Research, was sentenced to 2 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to seven federal counts of fraud and conspiracy and was a key witness against Bankman-Fried. Her current release date is listed as July 20, 2026, three months earlier than her initial release date. Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison, does not have a release date listed on the prisons website. The Bureau of Prisons didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. However, in several past statements about early release dates, the bureau has told CNN that it does not comment on the conditions of any individual inmate, but inmates can earn good conduct time that is calculated into their projected release date. Qualified inmates are currently eligible for up to 54 days of GCT time for each year of the sentence imposed by the court. Inmates have other ways of earning time credits while incarcerated, including participation in various prison programs. FTX was a high-profile crypto startup that allowed people to buy and sell digital assets. It had its name emblazoned on an arena in Miami and on every Major League Baseball umpire’s jersey. The exchange had several celebrity endorsers and was widely believed to be a gold-standard for safety and security. But FTX collapsed in November 2022 when customers pulled their funds as rumors spread about FTX’s unusually close ties to its founder’s crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research.
  • Iran lifts ban on WhatsApp and Google Play, state media says Iranian authorities have lifted a ban on the popular messaging platform WhatsApp, according to Iranian state media. Iranian authorities have lifted a ban on Meta’s (META.O) instant messaging platform WhatsApp and Google Play (GOOGL.O) as a first step to scale back internet restrictions, Iranian state media reported on Tuesday. The Islamic Republic has some of the strictest controls on Internet access in the world, but its blocks on US-based social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are routinely bypassed by tech-savvy Iranians using virtual private networks. “A positive majority vote has been reached to lift limitations on access to some popular foreign platforms such as WhatsApp and Google Play”, Iran’s official IRNA news agency said on Tuesday, referring to a meeting on the matter headed by President Masoud Pezeshkian. “Today the first step in removing internet limitations… has been taken,” IRNA cited Iran’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology Sattar Hashemi as saying. Social media platforms were widely used in anti-government protests in Iran. In September the United States called on Big Tech to help evade online censorship in countries that heavily sensor the internet, including Iran.
  • Mega Millions jackpot soars to an estimated $944 million for Christmas Eve drawing This Christmas Eve, one lucky lottery ticket could celebrate with a Mega Millions jackpot nearing $1 billion – the largest prize ever offered in the month of December. With no one winning the jackpot Friday, the grand prize for Tuesday’s drawing ballooned from $862 million to $944 million, according to the lottery. A jackpot winner in Tuesday’s drawing could choose to receive the money in annuitized payments or take a lump sum estimated at $429.4 million. Friday’s winning numbers were: 2, 20, 51, 56, 67 and Mega Ball 19. Although no tickets matched all six numbers in Friday night’s drawing, five tickets still won $1 million each by matching the first five numbers. Those tickets were sold in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania, according to the Mega Millions website. The holiday drawing is part of what the Mega Millions organization is calling the “most unusual jackpot year.” Since Mega Millions began in 2002, there has never been a single year where all jackpots won ranked among the top 10 largest prizes awarded at the time. In March, a New Jersey Mega Millions ticket holder won a whopping $1.13 billion prize. In June, an anonymous player in Illinois took home $552 million after punching in the winning numbers in an online lottery purchase. And in September, a Houston-area resident claimed an $800 million Mega Millions jackpot prize a month after purchasing the winning ticket at a gas station convenience store in Sugar Land. Historically, December has been a pretty lucky month for Mega Millions players, with 13 jackpots won during the holiday season. But the jackpot has only been won once on Christmas Eve, according to Mega Millions. Overall, the chances of winning a Mega Millions jackpot are approximately 1 in 302.5 million. “We tend to see sales go up during the holidays,” Joshua Johnston, the lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium, told CNN, adding that the bump in ticket sales happens as people are out and about shopping. “There’s just really not a product on the market for two bucks that will give you an opportunity throughout the course of a few days to just kind of imagine and dream what it would be like to win that sum of money,” he said. “And that’s just so much fun to think about, especially around the holidays, when there’s already a sense of magic in the air.”
  • Key takeaways from the Fed’s third rate cut Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at a news conference on November 7 in Washington, DC. The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut interest rates by a quarter point, the third rate cut since it began to lower borrowing costs in September. The central bank’s latest move leaves its benchmark lending rate at a range of 4.25%-4.5%, a two-year low. The decision to cut was not unanimous, is an attempt to ease pressure on America’s economy from elevated interest rates to preserve the labor market’s health. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the latest rate cut was “a closer call,” adding that recent inflation readings were “the single biggest factor” on officials’ minds during the meeting. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack was the lone dissenter on Wednesday’s decision, preferring to keep rates at their current levels. The Fed signaled in its policy statement that it is leaning toward holding rates steady in the future, since inflation remains stubbornly above the central bank’s 2% target. The US economy has also proved remarkably resilient in the face of elevated borrowing costs, giving the Fed some reassurance that it can stand pat without risking any undue economic damage. Fed officials penciled in just two rate cuts for next year, according to their latest forecasts, down from the four they projected in September. Officials also project slightly stronger economic growth, slightly lower unemployment, and for inflation in 2025 to be higher than they previously thought. The projections overall suggest Fed officials expect the US economy next year to be buoyant, with no recession in sight. They expect inflation to reach their target over a longer period than they previously estimated, not touching 2% until 2027. Related article Dow plunges more than 1,100 points and marked its longest losing streak since 1974 Powell sang the US economy’s praises in his post-meeting news conference, saying its strength has been “the story” of the year. Powell affirmed the likelihood of fewer rate cuts next year that the projections showed. That sent markets into a tailspin, with the Dow dropping by more than 1,000 points. Some investors are bullish on the prospects of strong growth next year, which could come about from the policies of President-elect Donald Trump. The incoming administration promises extending the 2017 tax cuts and cutting down on regulations — policies poised to boost growth if they’re enacted. However, Trump’s threat of massive tariffs on goods coming from Mexico, Canada and China could derail the Goldilocks economy the Fed has seen so far, since the stiff tariffs Trump has floated are widely expected to stoke inflation.
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