Unionaire launches largest home appliances factory with EGP 6bn investmentUncertainty about earnings and geopolitics weighed on the major equity indexes Monday, as the math of downward earnings revisions and a muddle of news from abroad made for red numbers across the board at the close. There's little incoming economic data and no central banker speak this week, but markets will keep moving. According to FactSet, Wall Street analysts have revised downward their 2025 earnings per share (EPS) forecasts for S&P 500 companies by 0.5% over the past six months. Subscribe to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Be a smarter, better informed investor. Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail. Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail. Sales estimates are down 0.3%, and margins are under pressure because of fixed costs. The S&P 500 is currently trading at approximately 22.5 times forward EPS estimates, a three-year high. Meanwhile, China's anti-monopoly authority is investigating the biggest publicly traded company in the world, but its politburo also indicated it will support a major economic stimulus effort, including the first adjustment to monetary policy in 14 years and "more proactive" fiscal policy. In the Middle East, rebels seized Damascus and President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia, apparently ending a 13-year civil war and his family's six-decade dictatorship. And yet the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note ticked up four basis points from 4.15% on Friday to 4.19% on Monday, a move that really doesn't reflect a flight to safety and might be more about shifting inflation expectations. The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.6% to 19,736. The S&P 500 was off 0.6% to 6,052. And the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave back 0.5% to 44,401. Mondelez is still sweet on Hershey The Hershey Company ( HSY ) stock climbed as much as 19.1% and closed up 10.9% at $193.68 on a Bloomberg report that Mondelez International ( MDLZ ) is once again exploring a potential acquisition of the Pennsylvania-based chocolate maker. Hershey rejected a $23 billion takeover offer from Mondelez in 2016. According to Bloomberg, "Deliberations are in the early stages and there's no certainty that discussions will lead to a deal." With Monday's surge HSY is now up 3.9% year to date, as management has contended with record-high cocoa prices and elevated sugar prices. Of the 26 Wall Street analysts who cover the stock, 18 rate HSY a Hold. The average 12-month price target for HSY, as calculated by S&P Global Market Intelligence , is $183.65. China investigates Nvidia Nvidia ( NVDA ) stock declined 2.6% after the Chinese government announced an investigation of the AI chipmaker for "suspected violation of the country's anti-monopoly law and a decision by the market regulator on Nvidia 's acquisition of Mellanox Technologies," according to Xinhua News Agency . The State Administration for Market Regulation is reviewing Nvidia's recent behavior and its 2020 acquisition of Mellanox Technologies. China's approval of the Mellanox deal included a condition that Nvidia not discriminate against Chinese companies. Nvidia said in response that it's "happy to answer any questions regulators may have about our business." According to its fiscal 2025 third-quarter earnings report, Nvidia generates approximately 15% of its revenue in China. China's move to probe Nvidia is widely perceived as a response to the Biden administration and its imposition of restrictions on sales of high-tech memory chips and access to high-bandwidth memory technology. It's CPI Week We've entered the official blackout period ahead of the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting on December 17-18, and there isn't much on the economic calendar this week. Blackout periods begin the second Saturday preceding an FOMC meeting and end the Thursday following a meeting. So we won't be hearing from Fed Chair Jerome Powell or any of his colleagues until they make their next announcement on interest rates next Wednesday. What incoming data we will see between now and Thursday does bear on that decision, though, particularly Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers for November. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will report November CPI on Wednesday at 8:30 am Eastern time. The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland's Inflation Nowcasting model shows headline CPI at 2.70% and core CPI at 3.30% year over year. The model shows month-over-month headline CPI of 0.26% and core CPI of 0.27%. Headline annual CPI at 2.70% would mark an acceleration from 2.60% in October and potentially complicate the Fed's decision-making process. "Heading into the communications blackout period before the December FOMC meeting," writes Deutsche Bank Economist Amy Yang in a December 9 Fed Watcher update, "officials generally left the door open for a 25-basis-point rate cut." Yang notes that "other than Governor Waller, officials were not explicit about supporting such a move, and looked to maintain optionality around that decision pending the release of key data prior to the meeting." The economist expects the FOMC to cut by 25 basis points next week "before entering an extended pause through next year," highlighting this week's inflation data as "the ultimate arbiter of whether or not the Fed stays or goes at its final meeting of the year." Related content Rebound in Jobs Growth Keeps Fed on Track: What the Experts Are Saying What's Better Than Investing in Crypto? These 'Boring' Picks Best Dividend Stocks to Buy for Dependable Dividend Growthhaha 777 games download 。

Why SIGA Technologies (SIGA) Is One of the Most Profitable Pharmaceutical Stocks Right Now?Germany to tighten criminal law as people-smuggling ‘action plan’ agreed with UKSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s opposition-controlled National Assembly voted Friday to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo despite vehement protests by governing party lawmakers, further deepening the country’s political crisis set off by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s stunning imposition of martial law and ensuing impeachment. Han’s impeachment means he will be stripped of the powers and duties of the president until the Constitutional Court decides whether to dismiss or reinstate him. The court is already reviewing whether to uphold Yoon’s earlier impeachment. The impeachments of the country’s top two officials worsened its political turmoil, deepened economic uncertainties and hurt its international image. The single-chamber National Assembly passed Han’s impeachment motion with a 192-0 vote. Lawmakers with the governing People Power Party boycotted the vote and surrounded the podium where assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik was seated, shouting that the vote was invalid and demanding Woo’s resignation. No violence or injuries were reported. The PPP lawmakers protested after Woo called for a vote on Han’s impeachment motion after announcing its passage required a simple majority in the 300-member assembly, not a two-thirds majority as claimed by the PPP. In a statement, Han said his impeachment was regrettable but added that he respects the assembly’s decision and will suspend his duties to “not add to additional confusion and uncertainty.” He said he will wait for “a swift, wise decision” by the Constitutional Court. The deputy prime minister and finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, took over. Later Friday, Choi’s office said he instructed the military to boost its readiness to help prevent North Korea from miscalculating the situation and launching provocations. He also told the foreign ministry to inform the United States, Japan and other major partners that South Korea’s foreign policies remain unchanged. Han, who was appointed prime minister by Yoon, became acting president after the National Assembly impeached Yoon, a conservative, about two weeks ago over his short-lived Dec. 3 imposition of martial law. Get local news delivered to your inbox!

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli troops stormed one of the last hospitals operating in northern Gaza on Friday, forcing many staff and patients outside to strip in winter weather , the territory’s health ministry said. The army denied claims it had entered or set fire to the complex and accused Hamas of using the facility for cover. Kamal Adwan Hospital has been hit multiple times over the past three months by Israeli troops waging an offensive against Hamas fighters in surrounding neighborhoods, according to staff. The ministry said a strike on the hospital a day earlier killed five medical staff. Israel's military said it was conducting operations against Hamas infrastructure and militants in the area and had ordered people out of the hospital, but said it had not entered the complex as of Friday night. It repeated claims that Hamas militants operate inside Kamal Adwan but provided no evidence. Hospital officials have denied that. The Health Ministry said troops forced medical personnel and patients to assemble in the yard and remove their clothes. Some were led to an unknown location, while some patients were sent to the nearby Indonesian Hospital, which was knocked out of operation after an Israel raid this week. Israeli troops during raids frequently carry out mass detentions, stripping men to their underwear for questioning in what the military says is a security measure as they search for Hamas fighters. The Associated Press doesn’t have access to Kamal Adwan, but armed plainclothes members of the Hamas-led police forces have been seen in other hospitals, maintaining security but also controlling access to parts of the facilities. The Health Ministry said Israeli troops also set fires in several parts of Kamal Adwan, including the lab and surgery department. It said 25 patients and 60 health workers remained in the hospital. The account could not be independently confirmed, and attempts to reach hospital staff were unsuccessful. “Fire is ablaze everywhere in the hospital,” an unidentified staff member said in an audio message posted on social media accounts of hospital director Hossam Abu Safiya. The staffer said some evacuated patients had been unhooked from oxygen. “There are currently patients who could die at any moment,” she said. Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, denied the accusations. “While IDF troops were not in the hospital, a small fire broke out in an empty building inside the hospital that is under control,” he said Friday night. He said a preliminary investigation found “no connection” between military activity and the fire. The Israeli military heavily restricts the movements of Palestinians in Gaza and has barred foreign journalists from entering the territory throughout the war, making it difficult to verify information. “These actions put the lives of all of these people in even more danger than what they faced before,” U.N. spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay told journalists, and noted colleagues' reports of “significant damage” to the hospital. It should be protected as international law requires, she added. Since October, Israel’s offensive has virtually sealed off the northern Gaza areas of Jabaliya, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya and leveled large parts of them. Tens of thousands of Palestinians were forced out but thousands are believed to remain in the area, where Kamal Adwan and two other hospitals are located. Troops raided Kamal Adwan in October, and on Tuesday troops stormed and evacuated the Indonesian Hospital. The area has been cut off from food and other aid for months , raising fears of famine . The United Nations says Israeli troops allowed just four humanitarian deliveries to the area from Dec. 1 to Dec. 23. The Israeli rights group Physicians for Human Rights-Israel this week petitioned Israel’s High Court of Justice, seeking a halt to military attacks on Kamal Adwan. It warned that forcibly evacuating the hospital would “abandon thousands of residents in northern Gaza.” Before the latest deaths Thursday, the group documented five other staffers killed by Israeli fire since October. Israel launched its campaign in Gaza vowing to destroy Hamas after the group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people and abducted some 250 others. Around 100 Israelis remain captive in Gaza, around a third believed to be dead. Israel’s nearly 15-month-old campaign of bombardment and offensives has devastated the territory’s health sector. A year ago, it carried out raids on hospitals in northern Gaza, including Kamal Adwan, Indonesian and al-Awda Hospital, saying they served as bases for Hamas, though it presented little evidence. Israel’s campaign has killed more than 45,400 Palestinians, more than half women and children, and wounded more than 108,000 others, according to the Health Ministry. Its count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. More than 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians have been driven from their homes, most now sheltering in sprawling tent camps in south and central Gaza. Children and adults, many barefoot, huddled Friday on the cold sand in tents whose plastic and cloth sheets whipped in the wind. Overnight temperatures can dip into the 40s Fahrenheit (below 10 Celsius), and sea spray from the Mediterranean can dampen tents just steps away. "I swear to God, their mother and I cover ourselves with one blanket and we cover (their five children) with three blankets that we got from neighbors. Sea waters drowned everything that was ours,” said Muhammad al-Sous, displaced from Beit Lahiya in the north. The children collect plastic bottles to make fires, and pile under the blankets when their only set of clothes is washed and dried in the wind. At least three babies in Gaza have died from exposure to cold in recent days , doctors there have said, and the Health Ministry said an adult — a nurse who worked at the European Hospital — also died this week. Khaled and Keath reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Narions contributed to this report.NoneWatch out for fake Ryzen 9800X3D listings and don't get scammed

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Consumers are more optimistic about their household financial situation than they’ve been since February 2020. While consumers’ perceptions about their current financial situation compared to a year ago were mostly unchanged in November, their year-ahead expectations for their situation “improved considerably,” the Federal Reserve Bank of New York ’s Center for Microeconomic Data said in a Monday (Dec. 9) press release outlining findings from its November 2024 Survey of Consumer Expectations . “The share of households expecting a better financial situation in one year from now rose to its highest levels since February 2020, while the share expecting a worse financial situation fell to its lowest level since May 2021,” the survey said. In some of the November findings related to household finance, the median expected growth in household income increased by 0.1 percentage point to 3.1%, median household spending growth expectations declined by 0.2 percentage point to 4.7%, and the average perceived probability of missing a minimum debt payment over the next three months decreased by 0.7 percentage point to 13.2%, according to the release. The reading of median household spending growth expectations was the lowest since April 2021, and that of the average perceived probability of missing a minimum debt payment over the next three months was the lowest since June, the release said. The survey found that median year-ahead expected growth in government debt “decreased sharply” by 2.3 percentage points to 6.2% — the lowest reading since February 2020, per the release. It also found that consumers expect both the average interest rate on saving accounts and the prices of U.S. stocks to be higher in 12 months. This news came on the same day that The Conference Board reported the biggest improvement in employment trends since 2022. The organization’s Employment Trends Index (ETI) saw its largest two-month increase in two years in October and November, indicating likely growth in employment. A Friday (Dec. 6) jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics may prove to be a tailwind for job searching, PYMNTS reported. The report found that employers added 227,000 jobs in November, more than the consensus forecast of 220,000.

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