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The US Congress is readying votes on a sprawling bill that would restrict US outbound investment to China in sensitive sectors as well as federal government contracting with Chinese biotechnology companies, two controversial measures that were left out of similar legislation last year.The provisions were included in a compromise defence bill released on Sunday after months of negotiation.Votes on the annual bill, known as the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA), could happen this week. Lawmakers in both the US House of Representatives and Senate have two weeks left before they go out of session until January.Enacted annually for over six…

The market expects the Federal Reserve this week to cut interest rates for the third time in 2025. That could be good news for dividend-paying stocks — and we have a lot of them in the portfolio. The reason for that dynamic? Fed rate cuts can weaken the appeal of assets that compete with dividend stocks for investment dollars, such as bank CDs, money market funds, and U.S. Treasurys. The interest rate offered by those assets typically follows policy rates lower. If those assets start to look less attractive than before, investors who are looking for income may look to…

The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Executive Board on Monday approved the disbursement of $1.2 billion for Pakistan under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). The clearance unlocks about $1.2 billion, roughly $1 billion under the EFF and $200 million through the RSF. “The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund completed the second review of Pakistan’s economic reform programme supported by the EFF and the first review of Pakistan’s programme supported by the RSF. This decision allows for an immediate disbursement of around US$1 billion (SDR 760 million) under the EFF and around US$200…

Broadcom shares hit an all-time high during Monday’s trading session after the emergence of another encouraging sign that the company’s custom chips are all the rage on the AI scene. The newest development comes from the tech website, The Information, which said Microsoft could be looking to move its custom chip business from Marvell Technology to Broadcom. The report is the latest in a string of recent good news for Broadcom, which delivers quarterly earnings after Thursday’s close. Shares of Marvell were understandably falling more than 7%. Also weighing on Marvell stock was a note from Benchmark, in which the…

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth met their Australian counterparts on Monday in Washington for annual talks focused on Indo-Pacific security and countering mainland China’s increasing assertiveness in the region, including in the South China Sea and directed at Taiwan.Rubio, Hegseth, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles gathered at the State Department, with many eyes also on the Russia-Ukraine war, a fragile ceasefire in Gaza and US military strikes against alleged drug traffickers in the Western Hemisphere that have raised questions about the use of force there.“This is a very strong…

The dollar slipped on Monday ahead of a packed week of central-bank meetings led by the US Federal Reserve, with a rate cut now fully priced in by markets, even as deep divisions inside the policy committee leave the final outcome uncertain.   Alongside Wednesday’s Fed decision, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Switzerland will also set policy this week, though none are expected to make changes to their current rate settings.   Analysts expect the Fed to deliver what is being called an “aggressive cut,” in which the statement tone, the Summary of Economic Projections, and Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference…

The dollar slipped on Monday ahead of a packed week of central-bank meetings led by the US Federal Reserve, with a rate cut now fully priced in by markets, even as deep divisions inside the policy committee leave the final outcome uncertain.   Alongside Wednesday’s Fed decision, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Switzerland will also set policy this week, though none are expected to make changes to their current rate settings.   Analysts expect the Fed to deliver what is being called an “aggressive cut,” in which the statement tone, the Summary of Economic Projections, and Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference…

Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Markets : Stocks were lower on Monday. The weakness was almost across the board, with only tech hanging onto gains. Some broader market softness should not be unexpected given how high the S & P Short Range Oscillator has climbed in recent sessions. After Friday’s slight gains for the S & P 500 , the technical indicator of market momentum rose to 5.84%, representing the most overbought levels since July. It also…

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said on Monday it may bar three major Chinese telecoms companies from connecting to US networks over efforts to prevent robocalls, the latest in a series of actions Washington has taken against Beijing.The FCC issued orders saying China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom must address issues with their certifications in the agency’s robocall mitigation database, and raised concerns about their presence in the database.If the FCC removes them, it would require all intermediate providers and voice service providers handling calls in the US to cease accepting all calls directly from the Chinese telecoms.The…

Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a “Morning Meeting” livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here’s a recap of Monday’s key moments. 1. The S & P 500 fell modestly Monday after another winning week . Investors are awaiting Wednesday’s expected Federal Reserve interest rate cut. The index has rallied in recent weeks, spurred by comments from New York Fed President John Williams that a December rate cut was on the table. The market’s move, as of Friday’s close, pushed the S & P Short Range Oscillator deeper into overbought territory. When the Oscillator is this overbought,…