Author: Money Mechanics

Mandy Xu ▬ July 28, 2025 Link to Report: Macro Volatility DigestWHAT STANDS OUT:Meme stocks took center stage last week as retail investors piled into these speculative names, often using options for leverage. OPEN is one notable example. Over 3.4M contracts traded in OPEN last Monday, more than GOOGL, AMZN, AAPL, MSFT, and META combined. In fact, OPEN was the most active name in terms of options activity last Monday, accounting for 10% of all single stock option volume that day.Is this a sign of frothiness in the market? Not quite. While the options activity in these meme stocks is…

Key Takeaways Big tech stocks slumped throughout most of the week as valuation concerns and macroeconomic jitters weighed on risk assets.Mega-cap tech stocks are more under-owned by large institutional money managers than at any point in the last 16 years, according to Morgan Stanley.UBS analysts note Big Tech is expected to continue to post strong revenue and earnings growth in the coming quarters, and should soon see margins benefit from AI efficiencies. Big tech stocks slid throughout most of the week amid a risk-off pivot, but some analysts say there are several structural reasons to remain bullish on tech giants.…

Six Months of Earnings at Various APYs APY Earnings on $10K for 6 months Earnings on $25K for 6 months Earnings on $50K for 6 months 4.00% $198 $495 $990 4.25% $210 $526 $1,051 4.50% $223 $556 $1,113 4.75% $235 $587 $1,174 5.00% $247 $617 $1,235 These examples assume you can earn the stated annual percentage yield (APY) for the full six months, which may not be possible with variable-rate options. Important Don’t forget that the rate you earn from a savings account, money market account, cash account, or money market fund can fluctuate—and will almost certainly drop once the…

By Karen Brettell NEW YORK (Reuters) -The dollar dropped broadly on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pointed to a possible rate cut at the central bank’s September meeting but stopped short of committing to such a move. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, was last down 0.96% on the day at 97.66, after trading around 98.7 before Powell’s comments. The euro gained 1.06% to $1.1728 and reached $1.1742, the highest since July 28. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 1.08% to 146.77. “While the labor…

Executive SummaryThe S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 ended Q2at new all-time highsIndustrials and Financials at new highs signals economic strengthU.S. Dollar Index (DXY) with the biggest 6M decline in 16 years (2009)S&P 500 corporate EPS is forecasted to grow 5% in Q2 2025 Nine of 11 large-cap sectors are positive YTDHigh beta vs. low beta near new highs This year has been nothing short of a wild ride for U.S. equities, starting with the S&P 500 declining more than 21% from its February high into the low reached during the second week of April. Tariff uncertainty drove the early stages…

Worldwide employment by U.S. multinational enterprises decreased 0.4 percent to 43.9 million workers in 2023 (preliminary) from 44.1 million workers in 2022 (revised), according to statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis on the operations and finances of U.S. parent companies and their foreign affiliates.Employment in the United States by U.S. parents decreased 0.8 percent to 29.9 million workers in 2023. U.S. parents accounted for 68.1 percent of worldwide employment by U.S. multinational enterprises (MNEs), down from 68.3 percent in 2022. Employment abroad by foreign affiliates of U.S. MNEs increased 0.2 percent to 14.0 million workers and…

In-brief analysis July 11, 2025 In our Annual Energy Outlook 2025 (AEO2025), we project U.S. production growth of crude oil and natural gas remains relatively high through 2030 due to increasing U.S. exports of petroleum products and liquefied natural gas (LNG), as U.S. energy exports continue to be economical for international consumers. AEO2025, which we released in April, only considers market and policy inputs as of December 2024 in most cases. Legislation, regulations, executive actions, and court rulings after that date are not considered in this analysis. Crude oil Crude oil production increases to about…

At the conclusion of the Jackson Hole, Wyoming, FED meeting, Chairman Powell indicated that FED policy was changing. Recent FED History The Federal Reserve Act of 1977 modified the original act that established the Federal Reserve in 1913. The new policy gave the FED a “Dual Mandate” so they would no longer be tasked with just keeping inflation low but would simultaneously try to maintain “maximum employment”. Of course, these are sort of mutually exclusive. If the FED pumps a lot of liquidity into the market, unemployment goes down, but simultaneously inflation goes up, and vice versa if the FED…

Passive investing has often been a proven winner in the long term, but investors still need to choose which index to invest in. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 are two of the most popular options. Both offer a way to buy shares in a portfolio of the largest and most successful U.S. companies. However, they take different approaches: the Nasdaq 100 concentrates on 100 top tech-heavy growth stocks, while the S&P 500 spreads risk across 500 diverse companies. Your choice ultimately depends on how much risk you wish to take on. Key Takeaways The Nasdaq 100 consists of…

Mr. Cooper Gr COOP has outperformed the market over the past 5 years by 47.36% on an annualized basis producing an average annual return of 60.76%. Currently, Mr. Cooper Gr has a market capitalization of $12.73 billion. Buying $1000 In COOP: If an investor had bought $1000 of COOP stock 5 years ago, it would be worth $10,758.58 today based on a price of $198.98 for COOP at the time of writing.Mr. Cooper Gr’s Performance Over Last 5 YearsFinally — what’s the point of all this? The key insight to take from this article is to note how much of…