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Retail traders and investors often don’t get the credit they deserve. But in April, they showed they’ve got serious market smarts. 

While headlines screamed about a tanking stock market — remember, post-Liberation Day— retail investors waited patiently. And when the time felt right, they jumped in, adding $40 billion to the stock market during the month. Just this past Monday, retail investors poured another $5.4 billion in by day’s end. That was more than a third of the day’s trading volume!

If this keeps up, May could beat April in terms of total inflows. 

Lessons From the Past

Many of you probably remember the dot-com boom and the painful bust that followed. A lot of retail traders jumped in thinking they were buying the dip. Unfortunately, the market had other plans. Many retail traders got wiped out because they ended up buying at the peak rather than the dip. 

This is the risk “buy the dip” buyers face. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. So, how do you protect your portfolio value, especially now that you’re managing some of your investments?

Start With a Simple Daily Routine

Taking control of your finances doesn’t mean you need to stare at a screen all day. But checking in on the market regularly can go a long way. Even a quick peek at the Market Summary page at the end of each day (or once a week) can help you stay on track.

You’ll get a snapshot of how the major indexes are performing, what their daily or weekly streaks are, and if they are above specific moving averages. Here’s a little snippet of the page. There’s a lot more to discover on the page.

An Example: Keeping Tabs on NVIDIA (NVDA)

Let’s say you bought shares of NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA) after it dipped in early April. Despite how well the stock performed in 2024, you can’t just “set it and forget it.” 

You will want to monitor how the S&P 500 ($SPX), Nasdaq ($COMPQ), and Nasdaq 100 ($NDX) are performing since NVDA is a heavily weighted stock in these indexes. 

Here’s what you can do:

  • Check the trend. Are the indexes trending higher? Are they above key moving averages? 
  • Click on the index name. Start with the daily chart and look for any red flags like a break below the 200-day simple moving average (SMA).
  • Watch the up or down streaks. If a winning streak turns into a losing one, it’s worth noting. 

Digging Deeper With Internals and Sector Insights

The Market Summary page also gives you access to market internals that can help you determine the health of the indexes. These include the Advancing/Declining Issues, Bullish Percent Index (BPI), and New Highs/New Lows, among many others. 

Since your focus is semiconductor stocks, you would closely watch the related indexes. For BPI, you’d go one step further and monitor the Technology Sector BPI ($BPINFO).

The US Industries panel displays the performance of the Semiconductors. 

What’s Up With Semis? Let’s Look at XSD

At this point, it’s worth analyzing the chart of the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD), the ETF included in the Market Summary page. The six-month daily chart below shows that XSD is now trading below its 200-day SMA, which is a reason for concern. 

FIGURE 1. DAILY CHART OF XSD. The ETF fell below its 200-day SMA on Wednesday and is underperforming SPY. Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

Note that XSD is holding on to the support of the May 12 low, which is when the price gapped up. Gaps often get filled, so a fall below where XSD closed on Wednesday could take the ETF down to the $210 level. 

In addition, the ETF’s performance relative to the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) over the last six months is at -3.96%. This indicates that semiconductors are trying hard to re-establish their pre-2025 leadership position. If XSD continues to underperform SPY, it would be more reason to be concerned.

Check In on NVDA Again

Seeing this chart should prompt you to pull up the chart of NVDA. Is the stock following the same pattern as the ETF? 

Looking at the six-month daily chart of NVDA, it’s still above its 200-day SMA, unlike XSD. However, NVDA’s stock price is flirting with the support of its May 14 low. A breach of the low could take NVDA’s stock price to its 200-day SMA or lower. This wouldn’t be good for the overall equity market because NVDA is such a heavyweight in the U.S. large-cap indexes. 

FIGURE 2. DAILY CHART OF NVDA STOCK. Wednesday’s price action suggests the possibility of a pullback. If price falls below the May 14 low, the next stop could be the 200-day SMA. Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

Before entering your position, you should have identified your profit target and exit point based on your risk tolerance level. Remember, when managing your investments, discipline is key.  

Keep It Simple

The Market Summary page is a tool that can help you stay ahead of the stock market without overwhelming you. 

Here is one way to use the Market Summary page: 

  • You don’t need to be glued to the screen. Just make checking in a part of your routine.
  • Know what matters. Focus on the key indexes, which direction they are trending, and the sectors you’re invested in. 
  • Engage with the market. The more you understand the price action of the market, the more empowered you become.

There are many more ways to use the Market Summary page, and we’ll be sharing more in upcoming articles. 

Bottom Line

Whether you’re hands-on with your investments, semi-retired, or retired, staying informed can help you feel confident and in control. 

So go on, check out the Market Summary page, explore the charts, and stick to your trading plan. 


Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The ideas and strategies should never be used without first assessing your own personal and financial situation, or without consulting a financial professional.


We now know who won the contest to attend an intimate dinner with President Donald Trump by buying his cryptocurrency — and he’s a familiar face to Securities and Exchange Commission regulators and law enforcement officials.

Justin Sun, a Chinese-born crypto entrepreneur, confirmed in an X post Tuesday that he was behind the account, labeled ‘SUN,’ that purchased the most $TRUMP meme coin to sit at the president’s table at a crypto-focused gala scheduled for Thursday.

‘Honored to support @POTUS and grateful for the invitation from @GetTrumpMemes to attend President Trump’s Gala Dinner as his TOP fan!’ Sun wrote. ‘As the top holder of $TRUMP, I’m excited to connect with everyone, talk crypto, and discuss the future of our industry.’

He capped the post with an American flag emoji.

Critics have blasted the dinner contest as potentially unconstitutional and a blatant opportunity for corruption. Trump has not publicly commented on the accusations, and the Office of Government Ethics has declined to comment. A White House official did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

The Trump administration is not directly involved in administering $TRUMP coin. As for the dinner, a White House official said in a statement that the president ‘is working to secure GOOD deals for the American people, not for himself.’

‘President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public — which is why they overwhelmingly re-elected him to this office, despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said.

While Trump has not been as aggressive in directly promoting cryptocurrencies as some campaign backers in the industry had hoped, his administration has abandoned or paused many pending cases that had been brought against crypto entrepreneurs and businesses.

That includes Sun, who was charged in 2023 with market manipulation and offering unregistered securities. Regulators sought various injunctions against him that would have largely prevented him from participating in crypto in the U.S. The Verge, a tech industry website, had also reported Sun was the target of an FBI investigation.

But in February, the SEC, now controlled by Trump appointees, agreed to a 60-day pause of the suit in order to seek a resolution.

Two months earlier, Sun purchased $30 million in crypto tokens from World Liberty Financial (WLF), the crypto venture backed by Trump and his family, the website Popular Information reported.

Eventually, Sun became the largest publicly known investor in World Liberty after he brought his funding total to $75 million.

According to Bloomberg News, per the terms of World Liberty’s financial structure, 75% of the proceeds of token sales like Sun’s get sent to the Trump family as a fee — meaning they may have directly earned as much as $56 million.

On Jan. 22two days after Trump was inaugurated Sun posted on X, “if I have made any money in cryptocurrency, all credit goes to President Trump.”

In April, The Wall Street Journal reported that Joe Biden’s Justice Department had been investigating Sun, noting that researchers had estimated that more than half of all illicit crypto activity took place on Sun’s Tron blockchain platform. The Journal said it wasn’t clear whether the investigation was ongoing. It said Sun’s representatives declined to comment about what they called “baseless allegations about legal matters” while denying Tron enables criminal activity.

Sun may now be a multibillionaire, with a net worth estimated at $8.5 billion, according to Forbes. He reportedly was forced to spend $2 billion to shore up one of his crypto firms that was facing collapse in 2022.

He did not immediately respond to a request for comment about what he hoped to get out of the dinner with the president.

Sun has also earned headlines for purchasing ‘Comedian,’ an art installation composed of a banana duct-taped to a wall, for $6.2 million, and for buying lunch with Warren Buffett for $4.57 million.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

Raising prices on consumers to cover the costs of President Donald Trump’s tariffs will be Target’s ‘very last resort,’ CEO Brian Cornell said Wednesday.

The remarks came as Target reported weaker-than-expected sales in its first quarter and cut its full-year forecast. The retailer, whose business hasn’t fared as well against rivals better known for bargain prices, has “many levers to use in mitigating the impact of tariffs,” Cornell said.

Major retailers appear to be treading cautiously around the question of price hikes after Trump slammed Walmart last weekend for warning that shoppers could pay more due to tariffs. In the days since, Target, Lowe’s and Home Depot have each made carefully worded remarks about the potential for higher prices or minimized discussion of tariffs altogether.

Walmart said last week that it customers would likely start seeing some prices climb as soon as this month because tariffs have created a more “challenging environment to operate in.” While presidents typically avoid appearing to dictate individual companies’ strategies, Trump castigated Walmart on his social media platform, demanding that it “EAT THE TARIFFS” and adding, “I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!”

“We’ll keep prices as low as we can for as long as we can given the reality of small retail margins,” Walmart told NBC News Saturday in response to Trump’s post. Days later, Home Depot all but ruled out near-term price hikes, citing its scale and supply-chain arrangements. Lowe’s barely mentioned tariffs when it reported earnings Wednesday but said just 20% of what its shoppers buy now comes from China, after years of diversifying its sourcing.

For Target, Cornell emphasized that tariffs were just one factor in a series of “massive potential costs” the company is grappling with. He pointed to consumer uncertainty over the direction of the economy and a high-profile backlash over Target’s watering down of its diversity, equity and inclusion policies. The retailer had expanded those initiatives after police murdered George Floyd in its hometown, Minneapolis, five years ago this weekend.

Target has rolled out discounts over the past year to lure inflation-weary shoppers and touted plans to expand its third-party marketplace to offer a broader range of items. To deal with new trade policy challenges, it’s negotiating with vendors, reassessing its product lineup and adjusting its foreign supply chain, Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez told investors Wednesday.

‘Half of what we sell comes from the U.S.,’ he said, adding that Target is expanding production in the United States and in other countries outside of China, whose exports currently face a 30% import tax.

Target’s stock fell more than 5% Wednesday during a broader market sell-off.

Some major companies that sell products at leading retailers have raised prices or said they’re considering doing so, including toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker, consumer products giant Procter & Gamble, sportswear brand Adidas and toy maker Mattel.

Mattel, the maker of Barbie dolls, has also come under fire from Trump, who threatened to hit it with 100% tariffs this month, after it signaled price hikes were on the table.

Big companies generally have more latitude to handle cost increases and other economic headwinds than their smaller counterparts. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and independent business owners have warned that tariffs threaten to snuff out many small operators, chipping away at the competition for already large corporate rivals.

The National Retail Federation, which represents some of the biggest retailers in the country, has emphasized that risk in lobbying against new levies. “Small and medium-sized businesses will be disproportionately affected by the tariffs, with many saying they will have to raise prices or shut down,” it says on its website.

So far, “consumers are still spending despite widespread pessimism fueled by rising tariffs,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said in a statement last week after retail sales eked out a modest 0.1% rise in April.

But even the largest multinational companies aren’t insulated from tariff-driven uncertainty, the NFR and industry analysts say. Like Target, several large firms have revised or scrapped their financial outlooks in recent weeks, unsure how the White House’s trade agenda will affect them. Nike plans to increase prices on several items between now and June 1, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News on Wednesday.

Not every retailer is voicing tariff jitters. The parent company of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls beat sales estimates Wednesday and maintained its full-year forecast. The discounter, which buys unsold merchandise from other brands that have already paid tariffs on much of it, said it expects to be able to handle the pressure from higher import taxes.

Sportswear brand Canada Goose, which makes popular winter jackets, also exceeded Wall Street expectations. But it joined the slew of companies pulling their forecasts for the rest of the year, citing an “unpredictable global trade environment.”

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

Portnov, 51, was shot several times as he was getting into a car around 9:15 a.m. local time in Madrid (3:15 a.m. ET), the police source said. Various assailants shot him in the back and the head, and later fled into a wooded area, the source said.

The shooting took place outside The American School of Madrid, located in Pozuelo de Alaracon, an affluent suburb just west of Madrid. It has just over 1,000 students from the United States, Spain and several dozen other countries.

Portnov was sanctioned by the United States in 2021 for corruption and bribery under the Magnitsky Act. He was “credibly accused of using his influence to buy access and decisions in Ukraine’s courts and undermining reform effort,” according to the US Treasury Department.

The Magnitsky Act, signed into law in December 2012, blocks entry into the US and freezes the assets of certain Russian and pro-Russian government officials and businessmen accused of human rights violations.

The Security Service of Ukraine previously investigated Portnov’s possible involvement in Russia’s annexation of Crimea, but the case was later closed.

The former politician fled Ukraine months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, according to an investigation by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, when men of draft age were not permitted to leave.

Canada also froze his assets in 2014 as part of a crackdown on “corrupt foreign officials,” in relation to his work as a former adviser to ousted ex-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Portnov was appointed deputy head of Yanukovych’s administration in 2010, as well as the head of Ukraine’s Main Directorate for Judicial Reform and Judicial System. At the same time, Portnov became a member of the board of the National Bank of Ukraine.

Yanukovych was driven from office by mass demonstrations in Ukraine in 2014 after he turned his back on the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia. Yanukovych then fled Ukraine, and Portnov also left the country at the time.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

A group of 59 White South Africans arrived in the United States last week after being granted refugee status by the White House, which has fast-tracked the processing of Afrikaner refugees but paused refugee applications for other nationalities.

On Wednesday, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to meet his US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington, seeking a reset in relations with the United States. Ties between both nations have been fraught since Trump froze aid to South Africa in February over claims it was mistreating its minority White population.

The South African government said “reframing bilateral, economic and commercial relations” was the specific focus of Ramaphosa’s US visit. Ramaphosa said that the White South Africans arriving in the US “do not fit the bill” for having refugee status as someone who is leaving their country out of fear of persecution.

But as thousands more Afrikaners hope for admission to the US, others insist they have no need of refugee status but want America’s help instead to tackle a wave of violent crime in South Africa, or even to establish an autonomous state within a state.

Joost Strydom leads the group of White South Africans who have dismissed the US’ offer of asylum, and heads Orania, a separatist “Afrikaner-only” settlement in the country’s Northern Cape.

“Help us here,” he said his message was to Trump, whom he hopes will recognize Orania’s quest for self-determination.

Home to some 3,000 Afrikaners, the 8,000-hectare (19,800-acre) Orania town is partially self-governing. The exclusively White enclave produces half of its own electricity needs, takes local taxes, and prints its own currency that’s pegged to the South African rand. But the settlement’s residents want more: its recognition as an independent state.

Strydom was part of Orania’s delegation to the US in late March to push for this goal.

“We met with government officials,” he said. “The conversation is ongoing, and it is something that we’ve decided to keep a low profile on.”

Orania is backed by a 1994 post-apartheid accord that allowed for Afrikaner self-determination, including the concept of an Afrikaner state, referred to as Volkstaat.

Strydom anticipates that the settlement could develop into a “national home for the Afrikaner people.”

Why are some Afrikaners fleeing to the US?

Afrikaners are the descendants of predominantly Dutch settlers in South Africa, with White South Africans making up roughly 7% of the country’s population as of 2022 – a share that had declined from 11% in 1996, census data shows. A discriminatory apartheid government led by Afrikaners lost power in the mid-1990s, replaced by a multi-party democracy dominated by the African National Congress.

At least 67,000 South Africans have shown interest in seeking refugee status in the US, according to the South African Chamber of Commerce in the USA (SACCUSA).

In comments justifying his decision to resettle Afrikaners in the US, Trump cited claims that “a genocide is taking place” in South Africa, adding that “White farmers are being brutally killed and their land confiscated.”

South African authorities have strongly denied such claims. In a statement in February, the South African Police Service said “only one farmer, who happens to be white,” had been killed between October 1 and December 31, and urged the public “to desist from assumptions that belong to the past, where farm murders are the same as murders of white farmers.”

Police minister Senzo Mchunu stressed in a recent statement that there was no evidence of a “White genocide” in the country.

The police crime figure for the last quarter of 2024 had been disputed by an Afrikaner advocacy group, AfriForum, which argued that five farm owners were murdered during those months and that police had underreported the actual figures.

Most of the attacks happened in Gauteng province, the group stated. Gauteng is home to the largest concentration of South Africa’s White population, according to the country’s last census in 2022, with about 1.5 million Whites living there.

Afrikaner farmer Adriaan Vos is a recent victim of Gauteng’s farm attacks. The 55-year-old said he was left fighting for his life just two months ago after being shot on his farm in Glenharvie, a township in Westonaria, West of Gauteng.

“I was shot twice in the knee and once at my back,” Vos said about the attack on his farm in the early hours of March 16.

“Luckily, that bullet stuck next to my lung,” he said, adding that his farmhouse was pillaged and set on fire the same night.

Vos could not identify his attackers and is unsure whether the attack was racially motivated. But the raid appears to be part of a pattern of farm attacks that has persisted for years in South Africa, a country grappling with one of the world’s highest murder rates. South African authorities rarely publish crime figures by race but local media report that most murder victims are Black.

South African leader Ramaphosa does not believe that Afrikaners are being persecuted – as claimed by Trump and his ally Elon Musk, who was born and raised in the country – and has described those fleeing to the US as “cowards” who are opposed to his government’s efforts to undo the legacy of apartheid, especially inequality.

One of those efforts was the controversial enactment in January of an Expropriation Act, which empowers South Africa’s government to take land and redistribute it – with no obligation to pay compensation in some instances – if the seizure is found to be “just and equitable and in the public interest.”

Under apartheid, Black South Africans were forcibly dispossessed of their lands for the benefit of Whites. Today, some three decades after racial segregation officially ended in the country, Blacks, who comprise over 80% of the country’s population of 63 million, own around 4% of private land while 72% is held by Whites.

Who are the Afrikaners staying back, and what do they want?

For some Afrikaners in Orania, there is more to lose than gain if they choose to be refugees in the US.

Built from scratch on arid land described by Strydom as “an abandoned ghost town” with extreme weather, Orania has witnessed infrastructural growth and is the most realistic place to preserve Afrikaner culture and heritage, according to Cara Tomlinson who coordinates an Afrikaner cultural association.

“When we travel outside Orania in South Africa, it is very common to be looked at with hate,” he added.

Both Roets and Tomlinson desire Trump’s recognition for Orania, but the legitimacy of the separatist town has been questioned by other South Africans, including members of the radical left-wing party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) who say that its “Afrikaner-only” policy “institutionalizes exclusion.”

South Africa’s foreign ministry said Orania had no status as a nation within a nation and remained bound by South African laws.

Beyond Orania, other Afrikaners, such as Vos, who’s still nursing his injuries, do not plan to leave despite the pressures felt by farmers.

“I’m lucky to be alive,” he said, adding: “I must look after this place (his farmland), whatever is left. We were born and bred here. South Africa is all we know.”

But help must come fast, Vos warned, as he outlined what he hoped Ramaphosa will tell his US opposite number during his visit to the White House.

“We need help in South Africa because you don’t know if you’re going to wake up tomorrow. It’s a mess here,” he said.

“Hopefully, he (Ramaphosa) can be open about everything (with Trump) … and say, ‘I’m going to fix it, and I’m going to look after the farmers and the people that are putting food in my mouth.’ He must come and do it, implement it, and let’s start over again.”

This post appeared first on cnn.com

In this video, Frank dives into some of his favorite features on StockCharts.com. He then dissects the S&P 500 and Bitcoin price action, before exploring the the XLK Technology ETF’s explosive move off the lows. He also highlights a few recent trade ideas and setups worth watching. Get trade ideas and chart setups worth watching in today’s technical review.

This video originally premiered on May 20, 2025.

You can view previously recorded videos from Frank and other industry experts at this link.


BEIJING — One Chinese baby products company announced Tuesday it is officially entering the United States, the world’s largest consumer market — regardless of the trade war.

Shanghai-based Bc Babycare expects its supply chain diversification and the U.S. market potential to more than offset the impact of ongoing U.S.-China trade tensions, according to Chi Yang, the company’s vice president of Europe and the Americas.

“Even [if] the political things are not steady … I’m very confident about our product for the moment,” he told CNBC, adding he anticipates “very fast” growth in the U.S. in coming years. That includes his bold predictions that Bc Babycare’s flagship baby carrier can become the best-seller on Amazon.com in half a year, and that U.S. sales can grow by 10-fold in a year.

The $159.99 carrier, eligible for a $40 discount, already has 4.7 stars on Amazon.com across more than 30 reviews. The device claims to reduce pressure on the parent’s body by up to 33%. A far cheaper version of the baby carrier is a top seller among travel products for pregnancy and childbirth on JD.com in China.

Bc Babycare already has the carrier stocked in its U.S. warehouses, and has a network of factories and raw materials suppliers in the Americas, Europe and Asia, Yang said. “The global supply chain is one of the things we keep on building in the past couple years.”

The Trump administration has sought to reduce U.S. reliance on China-made goods and to encourage the return of manufacturing jobs to the U.S. In a rapid escalation of tensions last month, the U.S. and China had added tariffs of more than 100% on each other’s goods. Last week, the two sides agreed to a 90-day pause for most of the new duties in order to discuss a trade deal.

Baby gear is particularly sensitive to tariffs since the majority of those sold in the U.S. are made in China, said U.S.-based Newell Brands, which owns stroller company Graco, on an April 30 earnings call. That’s according to a FactSet transcript.

The company said it raised baby gear prices by about 20% in the last few weeks, but had not incorporated the additional 125% tariffs announced in mid-April. Newell said on the call it had about three to four months of inventory in the U.S., and had paused additional orders from China.

The company did not respond to a request for comment about whether it had resumed orders from China and whether it planned more price increases.

Bc Babycare declined to share how much it planned to invest in the U.S. But Yang said the company plans to open an office in the country and hire about five to 10 locals.

The company initially plans to sell online, spend on marketing and eventually work with major retailers for offline store sales. Its partners for raw materials and research include three U.S. companies: Lyra, Dow and Eastman.

The Chinese company, which entered the baby products segment in 2014, in 2021 claimed a 700 million yuan ($97.09 million) funding round from investors including Sequoia Capital China.

Yang said the company scrutinizes the comments section on Chinese and U.S. e-commerce websites to improve its products. As a result, the U.S. version of the baby carrier is softer and larger than the Chinese version, he said.

Bc Babycare’s U.S. market ambitions reflect how large U.S. and European multinationals not only face growing competition in China, but also in their home markets.

“After experiencing substantial growth due to the premiumization of consumption in the Chinese market, multinational brands are now entering a challenging second phase where they compete fiercely for market share,” Dave Xie, retail and consumer goods partner in Shanghai at consultancy Oliver Wyman, said in a statement last week.

Oliver Wyman said in a report last month that the Chinese market has become the incubator for premium product innovations that are being exported. The authors noted, for example, that Tineco floor scrubbers have become Amazon best-sellers.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS