Top Story
Congress just bumped up QLAC contribution limits by more than a third. Now is a great time to examine the pros and cons of these investment vehicles to help determine if they’re right for you.
• In his speech following the latest interest rate decision, Chairman Powell underscored the Fed’s commitment to reaching its 2% target. He also reiterated the central bank’s data-driven approach going forward. While committee members still anticipate a final hike before the end of the year, incoming growth, labor, and inflation data will continue to primarily influence future decisions.
• Alphabet (GOOGL) reported better-than-expected revenue and profit for the second quarter. The tech giant’s beat was driven by growth in its cloud-computing unit. The company's revenue rose 7% year-over-year to $74.6 billion, while cloud revenue climbed 28% year-over-year. Overall, Alphabet's net income rose to $18.37 billion.
• Coca-Cola (KO) reported earnings and revenue exceeding Wall Street's estimates. Coca-Cola has been raising prices across its portfolio, which contributed to its strong performance. Despite price hikes, Coca-Cola's unit case volume remained flat worldwide. The company also raised its full-year outlook, following in the footsteps of rival PepsiCo (PEP).
• The Q2 quarterly growth rate will be released. In the first quarter, the US economy grew at an annualized rate of 2%, well above forecasts.
• Honeywell (HON), Ford (F), Comcast (CMCSA), McDonald's (MCD), Mastercard (MA), and Intel (INTC) will all report earnings. Notably, investors will be looking to Intel for updates on its CPU roadmap and how the chipmaker plans to close the gap between competitors like NVIDIA (NVDA).
As investors, we’ve wondered for a long time what the appropriate level of rates are to solve the inflation problem without inflicting too much pain on the economy. The Fed wonders the same thing.
Will the latest 25-bps rate hike help to solve the inflation problem? In her column titled “Back in the Hike Life” SoFi’s Head of Investment Strategy, Liz Young, weighs in.
Not-so-breaking news
DoorDash (DASH) is integrating Apple (AAPL) Carplay to streamline the delivery driving experience. Benefits include a larger navigation screen and less toggling between different apps.
Samsung (SSNLF) is launching two new folding smartphones that are thinner and lighter than previous models. The electronics giant also announced a tablet and two new smartwatches.
An Australian court fined Meta Platforms (META) $14 million for collecting user data without disclosing its actions. The social media app reportedly collected data on user location, time, and frequency for its own advertising purposes.
Nissan (NSANY) committed $663 million to Renault’s new EV division, Ampere. With this investment, Nissan will own about 6% of the French EV company.
Threads (META) will now allow you to limit your feed to only accounts you follow. The update to Meta’s new Twitter-style app also lets users easily translate posts.
Financial planner tip of the day
“Life insurance isn’t necessarily a must-have for everyone. But if you have dependents or debt — or think you might someday — you may want to take a closer look at whether life insurance could be a financial tool to help protect your loved ones and your legacy.”
Brian Walsh, CFP® at SoFi