US companies plan share buybacks on a historic scalewhich is a sign of the American economy's confidence in the economy. Nvidia Corp is the latest company to join the long list of buyback plans.

The announced buybacks exceeded the 1 trillion US dollars reaching this level in a very short time, according to data from Birinyi Associates. The previous record was set in October last year.

In recent months, corporate giants - particularly in the areas of finance and technology - have given the green light for extensive share buyback programs.

$AAPL (+0.5%)

$GOOGL (+4.14%)

$NVDA (-0.75%)

$JPM (+0.44%)

$GS (+0.56%)

$WFC (-0.72%)

$BAC (-0.46%)

$V (-0.49%)

$C (+0.19%)

$BKNG (+1.41%)

Source: https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/markets/us-firms-racing-through-1trn-buyback-spree-in-record-time/

$MS (-0.42%)

As the earnings season starts again, here is a summary of the most important figures next week.

$JPM (+0.44%)
$C (+0.19%)
$WFC (+0%)
$BLK (-1.41%)
$JNJ (-0.17%)
$GS (+0.56%)
$BAC (-0.46%)
$AA (+0.56%)
$ASML (+5.79%)
$PLD (-1.23%)
$UAL (-2.22%)
$KMI (-0.41%)
$PEP (-2.07%)
$ABT (-2.47%)
$Netflix
$TSM (+0%)
$USB (-0.36%)
$IBKR (-2.36%)
$AXP (+0.09%)
$MMM (-1.35%)

The $C (+0.19%) currently recommends the FTSE 100, as it is well suited as a hedge against the risk in the Middle East. This is illustrated by 3 factors.

• The FTSE 100 is driven by energy companies such as $SHEL (-0.31%) and $BP. (-0.01%) dominated. These benefit from geopolitical tensions and thus provide a natural hedge.
• The FTSE has a high weighting in defensive sectors such as pharmaceuticals, such as $AZN (-2.38%) and consumer goods, such as $ULVR (-1.16%) as. These sectors are historically resilient to geopolitical problems.
• Many companies in the FTSE 100 generate the majority of their sales outside the UK. This makes them less vulnerable to domestic risks and more resilient to global uncertainties.

𝖢𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗀𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗉 𝗌𝗂𝖾𝗁𝗍 𝖻𝗋𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗌𝖼𝗁𝖾 & 𝖲𝖼𝗁𝗐𝖾𝗂𝗓𝖾𝗋 𝖠𝗄𝗍𝗂𝖾𝗇 𝗌𝗈𝗐𝗂𝖾 𝖤𝗇𝖾𝗋𝗀𝗒 𝗎𝗇𝖽 𝖽𝖾𝖿𝖾𝗇𝗌𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝖲𝖾𝗄𝗍𝗈𝗋𝖾𝗇 𝖺𝗅𝗌 𝗉𝗈𝗍𝖾𝗇𝗓𝗂𝖾𝗅𝗅𝖾 𝖮𝗎𝗍𝗉𝖾𝗋𝖿𝗈𝗋𝗆𝖾𝗋, 𝖿𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗌 𝖽𝗂𝖾 𝗀𝗅𝗈𝖻𝖺𝗅𝖾𝗇 𝖱𝗂𝗌𝗂𝗄𝖾𝗇 𝗐𝖾𝗂𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗌𝗍𝖾𝗂𝗀𝖾𝗇.

The year 2025 is off to a very good start for many financial stocks ($JPM (+0.44%)
$SOFI (+3.95%)
$NU (+0.86%)
$V (-0.49%)
$MA (-0.05%)
$C (+0.19%)
$GS (+0.56%) )

but not much is happening at Blackrock so far

since I find the sector very exciting and the stock did well last year, I will take the opportunity and further expand my position

(buy and hold forever if possible)

$BTC (-1.06%)
$SOFI (+3.95%)
#bitcoin

Banks can now offer secure storage solutions for cryptocurrencies, serving institutional clients, private investors and businesses who want to store their digital assets in a trusted location.

Banks are now able to offer crypto solutions 🚀

Reminder: $SOFI (+3.95%) was essentially forced to divest its crypto business in order to obtain its banking license.

$SOFI (+3.95%)
$JPM (+0.44%)
$MS (-0.42%)
$WFC (-0.72%)
$HOOD (-1.05%)
$COIN (+1.05%)
$ETH (-3.2%)
$C (+0.19%)
$DBK (+0.64%)
$BAC (-0.46%)

January 20-24, 2025, Davos, Switzerland

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international organization founded by Klaus Schwab in Switzerland in 1971. It promotes cooperation between business, politics, science & civil society. The Annual Meeting takes place in Davos. The motto for this year:

"Cooperation in the age of intelligence"

The World Economic Forum 2025 is dedicated to a wide range of topics, including geopolitical tensions, economic growth and the transition to clean energy. At the same time, tech, AI, quantum computing & biotech also play an important role.

As always, there will be posts on all relevant topics from @HennRes & @Michael-official will be published. Under the #wef2025 you will be able to view all posts in chronological order.

Main topics:

• Rethinking growth: How can we tap into new sources of economic growth?

• How can companies respond to tech and geopolitical upheaval?

• What measures promote education, health & human capital?

• How can innovative partnerships & techs drive climate protection?

• How can cooperation be strengthened to overcome social divisions?

Participants from politics & business.

Over 350 government representatives, including 60 heads of state & government, 1600 people from the private sector, including 900 CEOs and over 170 people from NGOs, trade unions, academia and indigenous peoples are also present.

The key figures from politics are:

• 🇺🇸 Donald J. Trump(soon to be) President of the USA (via video link)
• 🇪🇺 Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
• 🇨🇳 Ding XuexiangVice Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China
• 🇦🇷 Javier MileiPresident of Argentina
• 🇩🇪 Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany
• 🇿🇦 Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa
• 🇪🇸 Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain
• 🇨🇭 Karin Keller-Sutter, President of the Swiss Confederation 2025
• 🇺🇦 Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine

Executives from the private sector (who are expected/ not offical)

Technology sector

• 🇺🇸 $MSFT (+0.47%) (Microsoft) - Satya Nadella, CEO
• 🇺🇸 $AMZN (+1%) (Amazon) - Andy Jassy, CEO
• 🇺🇸 $IBM (+1.09%) (IBM) - Arvind Krishna, CEO
• 🇺🇸 $MSFT (+0.47%) (Microsoft) - Bill Gates, co-founder and head of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• 🌎 Cohere - Aidan Gomez, CEO
• 🌎 $META (+1.06%) (Meta) - Yann LeCun, AI scientist
• 🌎 OpenAI - Sam Altman, CEO
• 🇺🇸 $TSLA (+2.6%) (Tesla) - Elon Musk, CEO

Financial sector

• 🇪🇺 ECB - Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank
• 🇫🇷 ECB - Francois Villeroy de Galhau, President of the French Central Bank
• 🇩🇪 German Bundesbank- Joachim Nagel, President
• 🇺🇸 $BLK (BlackRock) - Martin Lück, Chief Investment Strategist
• 🇳🇱 $ING (+0.92%) (ING) - Carsten Brzeski, Chief Economist at ING Germany

Banking sector

• 🇺🇸 $JPM (+0.44%) (JPMorgan Chase) - Jamie Dimon, CEO
• 🇨🇭 $UBSG (+1.86%) (UBS) - Sergio Ermotti, Group CEO
• 🇨🇭 $UBSG (+1.86%) (UBS) - Colm Kelleher, President
• 🇩🇪 $DBK (+0.64%) (Deutsche Bank) - Christian Sewing, CEO
• 🇺🇸 $GS (+0.56%) (Goldman Sachs) - David Solomon, Chairman and CEO
• 🇺🇸 $BAC (-0.46%) (Bank of America) - Brian Moynihan, CEO
• 🇺🇸 $C (+0.19%) (Citigroup) - Jane Fraser, CEO
• 🇬🇧 $HSBA (+0.86%) (HSBC) - Mark Tucker, Group Chairman
• 🇬🇧 $HSBA (+0.86%) (HSBC) - Michael Roberts, CEO of HSBC Bank
• 🇺🇸 $MS (-0.42%) (Morgan Stanley) - Ted Pick, CEO
• 🇬🇧 $BARC (+1.07%) (Barclays) - C.S. Venkatakrishnan, CEO
• 🇫🇷 $GLE (+2.79%) (Société Générale) - Slawomir Krupa, CEO
• 🇮🇹 $UCG (+1.36%) (UniCredit) - Andrea Orcel, CEO
• 🇦🇹 $BG (+0.45%) (BAWAG Group) - Anja E. M. W. Schreiber, CEO
• 🇦🇹 $EBS (-0.63%) (Erste Group) - Andreas Treichl, CEO

Industry sector

• 🇩🇪 $BAYN (-2.01%) (Bayer) - Bill Anderson, CEO
• 🇨🇭 $NESNE (Nestlé) - Mark Schneider, CEO
• 🇬🇧 $ULVR (-1.16%) (Unilever) - Hein Schumacher, CEO
• 🇨🇳 SHEIN - Donald Tang, Vice Chairman
• 🇮🇳 ADANIENT (Adani Enterprises) - Gautam Adani, Chairman

... and many more from the Tech, Banking, AI, Biotech, Pharma, Industrial, etc. sectors.

$JPM (+0.44%)

"The US economy has proven to be robust. Unemployment remains relatively low and consumer spending remained strong through the vacation season. Businesses are more optimistic about the economy and are encouraged by expectations of a more growth-oriented agenda and improved cooperation between government and business."

"However, two significant risks remain. Current and future spending needs are likely to be inflationary and therefore inflation could persist for some time. In addition, geopolitical conditions remain the most dangerous and complicated since the Second World War. As always, we hope for the best, but are preparing the company for a variety of scenarios."

$C (+0.19%) , $WFC (-0.72%) , $BAC (-0.46%) , $DBK (+0.64%) , $SOFI (+3.95%) , $BLK (-1.41%) , $MS (-0.42%) , $HSBA (+0.86%) ,

$JPM (+0.44%)

Very strong result

• Revenue: $43.74B (Est. $41.71B) ; UP +10% YoY
• EPS: $4.81 (Est. $4.11) ; UP +58% YoY
• Net Interest Income: $23.5B (Est. $23.07B) ; DOWN -3% YoY
• Investment Banking Rev $2.60B (Est $2.56B)
• FICC Sales & Trading Rev $5.01B (Est $4.37B)
• Net Income: $14.0B (Est. $11.47B) ; UP +50% YoY

Q4 Segment Performance:

Consumer & Community Banking (CCB):

• Revenue: $18.4B (Est. $17.65B) ; UP +1% YoY
• Debit & Credit Card Sales Volume: UP +8% YoY
• Active Mobile Customers: UP +7% YoY

Commercial & Investment Bank (CIB):

• Revenue: $17.6B (Est. $15.86B) ; UP +18% YoY
• Investment Banking Fees: UP +49% YoY
• Markets Revenue: $7.0B; UP +21% YoY
• Fixed Income: UP +20% YoY
• Equity Markets: UP +22% YoY

Asset & Wealth Management (AWM):

• Revenue: $5.78B (Est. $5.54B) ; UP +13% YoY
• AUM: $4.0T; UP +18% YoY

Operational Metrics:

• ROE: 17%; ROTCE: 21%
• Average Loans: $1.3T; UP +2% YoY (Est $1.35T)
• Average Deposits: UP +2% YoY

Capital Distribution:

• Common Dividend: $1.25/share, totaling $3.5B
• Share Repurchases: $4.0B

Financial Overview:

• Record full-year net income: $58.5B ($19.75/share)
• FY24 ROTCE: 21%
• CET1 Capital Ratio: 15.7%

Comment from CEO Jamie Dimon:

• "We ended the year with record net income, driven by solid performance across our businesses, including record payments revenue and robust client asset inflows in AWM."
• "The US economy remains robust. Consumer spending is high and unemployment is low. However, we remain cautious given geopolitical risks and inflationary pressures."

Strategic focus and outlook:

• Continued investment in technology, customer growth and balance sheet management.
• Focus on regulatory compliance while maintaining a "fortress balance sheet".

$SOFI (+3.95%) 🚀, $WFC (-0.72%) , $JPM (+0.44%) , $MS (-0.42%) , $C (+0.19%) , $BLK (-1.41%)