FlexShares Emerging Markets Quality Low Volatility Index Fund (ARCA: QLVE)

FlexShares Emerging Markets Quality Low Volatility Index Fund (ARCA:QLVE), Trade Ideas

FlexShares Emerging Markets Quality Low Volatility Index Fund

UBS analyst Damian Karas maintains Lennox Intl (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/LII#NYSE">LII</a>) with a Neutral and raises the price target from $450 to $485.

News

Price Target

Analyst Ratings

UBS Maintains Neutral on Lennox Intl, Raises Price Target to $485

WIIM

FCFS

FirstCash shares are trading lower following a Q1 revenue miss.

NDAQ

Nasdaq shares are trading lower after the company reported worse-than-expected Q1 adjusted EPS results.

Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer reiterates MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/MSTR#NASDAQ">MSTR</a>) with a Buy and maintains $1875 price target.

Reiteration

MSTR

Benchmark Reiterates Buy on MicroStrategy, Maintains $1875 Price Target

Penns Woods Bancorp (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/PWOD#NASDAQ">PWOD</a>) reported quarterly earnings of $0.51 per share. This is a 20.31 percent decrease over earnings of $0.64 per share from the same period last year.

Earnings

PWOD

Penns Woods Bancorp Q1 EPS $0.51 Down From $0.64 YoY

Harley-Davidson shares are trading lower following Q1 earnings.

Key Takeaways:
<ul>
<li>Baozun&rsquo;s revenues rose 5% last year following its acquisition of Gap China, which represented 14% of total annual sales</li>
<li>Product sales from the company&rsquo;s older e-commerce business fell by 21% last year, while e-commerce services revenue also slumped by 5%</li>
</ul>
By Edith Terry
Baozun Inc.&nbsp;(NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/bzun#NASDAQ">BZUN</a>) has been undergoing a major transformation this past year, buying brands and investing in a new offshore business as it diversifies beyond its status as one of China&rsquo;s largest e-commerce service providers. But what exactly is happening at this company, whose major stakeholders include e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/baba#NYSE">BABA</a>)?
A few new hints came last week, when Baozun released its&nbsp;<a href="https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2024/0419/2024041901276.pdf">annual report</a>&nbsp;for 2023 and announced&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/baozun-strengthens-leadership-team-302121995.html">two senior management moves</a>. Catherine Zhu was named as the company&rsquo;s new CFO, while Arthur Yu relinquished his former CFO position to focus on his other role as president of Baozun E-commerce. Both joined the company four years ago, with the latest shift apparently aimed at giving Yu more time to focus on reviving Baozun&rsquo;s core e-commerce services business.
Baozun&rsquo;s Hong Kong-listed shares fell 4% the day after the announcement, in the latest sign of lackluster investor interest in the company&rsquo;s ongoing transformation. The company previously announced its 2023 financial results in March, meaning the latest decline was likely in response to the executive moves and new details in the annual report. The company&rsquo;s Nasdaq-listed shares have lost more than 40% of their value over the last 52 weeks.
The annual report sheds some light on Baozun&rsquo;s latest thinking. It is taking its year-old brand management business in two new directions domestically, while outside China it&rsquo;s also heading south &ndash; to Southeast Asia, that is. Its purchase of&nbsp;Gap Inc.&rsquo;s&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/gps#NYSE">GPS</a>) China operations last year and its 51% joint venture formed with privately owned brand owner&nbsp;Authentic Brands Group&nbsp;just months later have become templates for the company&rsquo;s two new brand-related businesses, Baozun Brand Management (BBM) and Baozun International (BZI).
Baozun E-commerce remains at the core of the company&rsquo;s brand-management business in China, providing back-office e-commerce supply chain management services for brands. Baozun International is doing the same thing internationally, initially in Southeast Asia. CEO Vincent Qiu said on the company&rsquo;s latest earnings call in March that Gap China, which lies at the heart of Baozun Brand Management, has sharply narrowed its operating losses as the company works to recast the chain as a more upscale brand.
&ldquo;This breakthrough in our first year is the result of having established a solid foundation for growth and success in brand management,&rdquo; Qiu said. &ldquo;Baozun Brand Management is a key component of Baozun Group&rsquo;s second growth curve. Baozun International represents a longer-term opportunity for which we continue to lay the business foundation and infrastructure.&rdquo;
<h3>Unimpressive Numbers</h3>
While the vision sounds good in theory, the actual numbers aren&rsquo;t too impressive just yet. Baozun&rsquo;s annual revenues for 2023, which includes 1.3 billion yuan from Gap China, rose just 5% to 8.8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion). The company&rsquo;s core business providing e-commerce services to other brands slumped by 5% to 5.5 billion yuan, while revenue from product sales through e-commerce tumbled by an even larger 21% to 2 billion yuan.
Within the product sales category, revenue from appliance sales was down by 29%, and electronics was down by 56%, reflecting weak buying sentiment in China as consumers avoid big-ticket items.
The company lost 278.4 million yuan for the year, narrowing from a 653 million yuan loss in 2022. The company&rsquo;s Brand Management unit, which mostly includes the Gap China operation, posted a 188 million yuan adjusted operating loss for the year. The chain closed 86 stores before the acquisition, and Baozun inherited operating losses from the chain.&nbsp;
Baozun&rsquo;s transformation comes amid painful changes taking place in China&rsquo;s e-commerce realm, which is showing signs of maturing after years of strong growth. Major platforms, from Alibaba&rsquo;s Tmall to Tencent&rsquo;s WeChat Channels, are struggling with weak consumer sentiment domestically. Luxury foreign brands that were once one of Baozun&rsquo;s main client groups, have also been facing new competition from home-grown luxury brands.
Baozun began its business in 2007 with a smart idea &ndash; offering back-office functions to big-name foreign brands looking to tap China&rsquo;s rising e-commerce wave at that time. The company&rsquo;s main partner for its core e-commerce services business is Alibaba, which owns 14.4 % of Baozun. Its dependence on Alibaba eventually became a liability by limiting Baozun&rsquo;s growth opportunities, and the company later began to diversify by supplying e-commerce services to brand partners across a range of other platforms.
So where do things stand now? Baozun&rsquo;s e-commerce division has responded to the disruptive impact of Douyin, the domestic version of short video sensation TikTok, in the domestic e-commerce ecosystem by launching a &ldquo;Creative Content to Commerce&rdquo; studios and by acquiring Location, a top-tier Douyin partner, according to the annual report.
Baozun Brand Management has been revamped from 70 historical systems into a single integrated operating platform, which will be the foundation for that unit&rsquo;s future growth. Baozun has worked hard to shed the discount brand image associated with Gap stores, and implemented a new &ldquo;China for China&rdquo; brand philosophy.
The initial major piece of Baozun International is Authentic Brands&rsquo; Hunter brand, with Baozun holding intellectual property rights to the brand in Greater China and Southeast Asia. Baozun International has hired 150 employees across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It will introduce the Hunter brand, famous for its outdoor wear and rubber Wellington boots, into Singapore and Malaysia this year.
The international unit has formed a similar collaboration with Japan&rsquo;s Honda Motor Co., which will launch in Singapore and Malaysia later this year, according to Qiu, adding the pair will work together with both online and offline initiatives.
Baozun&rsquo;s current price to sales (P/S) ratio of 0.13 looks quite depressed compared to domestic competitor&nbsp;Weimob&nbsp;(2013.HK), which trades at 1.38. Global peers&nbsp;Salesforce&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/crm#NYSE">CRM</a>) and&nbsp;Shopify(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/shop#NYSE">SHOP</a>) both trade much higher with ratios of 7.81 and 13.58, respectively. Baozun&rsquo;s depressed valuation may explain why six of seven analysts canvassed by Yahoo Finance rate the company as a &ldquo;strong buy&rdquo; or &ldquo;buy.&rdquo; And at least one broker, Daiwa Capital, has recently upgraded the stock to a &ldquo;buy.&rdquo;
This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga&#39;s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.

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Is Baozun's Risky Leap Into Brand Management Starting To Pay Off?

Shares of&nbsp;Hertz Global Holdings, Inc&nbsp;(NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/HTZ#NASDAQ">HTZ</a>) are trading lower after the company reported first-quarter FY24 sales growth of 1.6% year-on-year to $2.08 billion,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/24/04/n38427192/hertz-reports-first-quarter-2024-results" rel="noreferrer noopener">beating the analyst consensus estimate of $2.039 billion.</a>
Average rentable vehicles increased&nbsp;10% to 529,232, with 76% vehicle utilization.
Total revenue per day (RPD) declined 7% to $56.68. Americas RAC segment revenue increased slightly by 1%&nbsp;whereas&nbsp;the International RAC segment climbed 8%.
Selling, general&nbsp;and&nbsp;administrative expenses decreased 26.7% to $162 million.
Hertz held $945 million in cash and equivalents as of March-end. Operating cash flow for the quarter totaled $370 million.
Adjusted corporate EBITDA for the quarter was $(567) million, with an adjusted corporate EBITDA margin of (27)%.
Adjusted EPS of $(1.28)&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/calendars/earnings" rel="noreferrer noopener">missed the analyst consensus estimate of $(0.44).</a>
&#8220;Fleet and direct operating costs weighed on this quarter&#8217;s performance,&#8221; said CEO Gil West. &#8220;We&#8217;re tackling both issues &#8211; getting to the right supply of vehicles at an acceptable capital cost while at the same time driving productivity up and operating costs down.&#8221;
Price Action: HTZ shares are trading lower by 23% at $4.465 at the last check Thursday.
Photo by EQRoy on Shutterstock

Equities

Movers

Struggle For Hertz Continues As Stock Loses 23% - Here's Why

STRA

Strategic Education shares are trading higher after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 2024 adjusted EPS and sales.

Roth MKM analyst Scott Stember reiterates Brunswick (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/BC#NYSE">BC</a>) with a Buy and maintains $94 price target.

Roth MKM Reiterates Buy on Brunswick, Maintains $94 Price Target

Royal Caribbean Executive Says Expects To Further Reduce Leverage To Just Below Mid-3X By The End Of 2024

UBS analyst Joseph Spak maintains Ford Motor (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/F#NYSE">F</a>) with a Neutral and raises the price target from $13 to $14.

UBS Maintains Neutral on Ford Motor, Raises Price Target to $14

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/btc/usd">BTC</a>) currently trading at around $63,440 with a <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cryptocurrency/24/04/38431809/bitcoin-falls-below-64-000-following-gdp-jobless-claims-data-nervos-network-becomes-top-lo">drop of 4.1% in the past 24 hours</a>, prompting technical analyst Ali Martinez a steeper drop if it falls below $63,300.
What Happened: Martinez in his latest tweet, April 25, highlighted two sell signals on the Bitcoin 12-hour chart: a death cross between the 50 and 100 Simple Moving Average (SMA) and a red 9 candlestick from the TD Sequential.
He warned that if Bitcoin falls below $63,300, it could potentially plunge to $61,000 or even $59,000.
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"> 
<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">Two sell signals were presented on the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bitcoin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Bitcoin</a> 12-hour chart: A death cross between the 50 and 100 SMA and a red 9 candlestick from the TD Sequential. If <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24BTC&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">$BTC</a> falls below $63,300, brace for possible dives to $61,000 or even $59,000. <a href="https://t.co/24A3YtbgTb">pic.twitter.com/24A3YtbgTb</a>
&mdash; Ali (@ali_charts) <a href="https://twitter.com/ali_charts/status/1783418598062465362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
</figure>
In a previous tweet, Ali had <a href="https://twitter.com/ali_charts/status/1782106273560817917">pointed</a> out that Bitcoin would need a surge in liquidity to keep the bull run going.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="250" src="https://editorial-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/29155259/905735A6-57D3-4874-9AA1-75D037842DB3-2.gif" alt="Benzinga Future of Digital Assets conference" class="wp-image-270548" /></figure>
Also Read: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cryptocurrency/24/04/38421343/peter-schiff-warns-bitcoin-hodlers-its-a-long-way-down-if-king-crypto-cant-hold-60k">Peter Schiff Warns Bitcoin Hodlers: &#8216;It&#8217;s A Long Way Down&#8217; If King Crypto Can&#8217;t Hold $60K</a>
Why It Matters: This warning comes amid a turbulent period for Bitcoin. Martinez&#8217;s analysis and the recent market data suggest a potentially bearish trend for Bitcoin in the near term.
IntoTheBlock data highlights that total exchange inflows over the past seven days decreased from $2.58 billion as of April 19 to $699.8 million as of April 24. Over the same period, total exchange outflows also dropped from $1.45 billion to $804.3 million.
SoSoValue data highlights that BlackRock&#8217;s iShares Bitcoin Trust IBIT saw no net inflows on Wednesday, breaking a 71-day streak of continuous investment. Furthermore, spot Bitcoin ETF flows recorded net outflows totaling $121 million, indicating a challenging day for cryptocurrency investments.
What's Next: The influence of <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/is-bitcoin-a-good-investment" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bitcoin as an institutional asset class</a> is expected to be thoroughly explored at Benzinga's upcoming <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/events/digital-assets/agenda/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Future of Digital Assets</a> event on Nov. 19.
Read Next: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cryptocurrency/24/04/38431467/morgan-stanley-considers-broader-bitcoin-etf-sales-through-broker-network">Morgan Stanley Considers Broader Bitcoin ETF Sales Through Broker Network</a>
This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Image: Pixabay

Coverage of Bitcoin, Etherum, Ripple and all the latest digital currencies.

Cryptocurrency

$BTC

Bitcoin Could Drop To These Two Levels If It Falls Below $63,300, Warns Technical Analyst

- Reuters Citing ByteDance Official Account On Toutiao

Asset Sales

Legal

AMZN

GOOG

GOOGL

PINS

SNAP

ByteDance Official Account On Toutiao Says "Has No Plan To Sell TikTok; Media Reports Untrue"

Roth MKM analyst Scott Searle maintains Impinj (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/PI#NASDAQ">PI</a>) with a Buy and raises the price target from $125 to $145.

Roth MKM Maintains Buy on Impinj, Raises Price Target to $145

To gain an edge, this is what you need to know today.
<img alt="" src="https://thearorareport.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-25_08h09_40.png" style="height:349px; width:624px" />
<h3>The Power Of Market Mechanics</h3>
Please <a href="https://thearorareport.com/stock-market-chart-analysis-meta-tesla-earnings-meta-mc-04252024">click here </a>for an enlarged&nbsp;chart of Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/meta#NASDAQ">META</a>).
Note the following:
<ul>
<li>This article is about the big picture, not an individual stock.&nbsp;The chart of META stock is being used to illustrate the point.</li>
<li>The chart shows a gap down in META on earnings.</li>
<li>The chart shows an island reversal.&nbsp;An island reversal is a negative pattern.</li>
<li>RSI on the chart shows that META is now oversold.</li>
<li>As full disclosure, META is part of The Arora Report&#39;s ZYX Buy Model Portfolio, and long-time&nbsp;members&nbsp;are long META from $49.92. Reference the chart for when the Arora signal was given to hedge or take partial profits right close to the top before the big drop in the stock.</li>
<li>Meta reported excellent earnings, better than the consensus and whisper numbers.&nbsp;Why is META stock down?&nbsp;The popular narrative is that the stock is down due to AI spending and Mark Zuckerberg&rsquo;s comment that AI spending will not produce immediate profits.&nbsp; With the exception of momo gurus who do not do objective analysis, non-momo analysts know that AI spending is not going to produce immediate profits.</li>
<li>Yesterday, <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/24/04/38408710/musk-lifts-sentiment-in-entire-stock-market-by-saying-a-regular-car-is-like-riding-a-horse">we highlighted</a> that Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/tsla#NASDAQ">TSLA</a>) reported terrible numbers, but the stock jumped up on heavy AI spending on the prospect of future returns from AI spending.&nbsp;Please see <a href="https://blog.thearorareport.com/musk-042424/">yesterday&rsquo;s Morning Capsule</a> for details.&nbsp;For your convenience, <a href="https://thearorareport.com/stock-market-chart-analysis-musk-lifts-sentiment-tsla-mc-04242024">click here </a>for an enlarged&nbsp;chart of Tesla that was included in yesterday&rsquo;s Morning Capsule.&nbsp;For the sake of full transparency, this chart has not been changed.</li>
<li>Here is an important learning moment for investors.&nbsp;Why did TSLA stock jump 12% on bad numbers and heavy AI spending?&nbsp; Why did META stock fall 15% on excellent numbers and heavy AI spending? The real answer is Wall Street&rsquo;s positioning.
<ul>
<li>Going into TSLA earnings, Wall Street&rsquo;s positioning was very negative.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Going into META earnings, Wall Street&rsquo;s positioning was extremely positive.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
<li>Positioning often causes contrary moves.&nbsp;If you can fully grasp this one point of Wall Street mechanics, it will make a huge difference in the amount of money you extract out of the markets.&nbsp;Due to their high value, Wall Street professionals keep the secrets of Wall Street mechanics close to their chest. &nbsp;</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Here are three notable earnings impacting the sentiment in the stock market:
<ul>
<li>IBM Common Stock (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ibm#NYSE">IBM</a>) stock had been running up on AI excitement.&nbsp;IBM reported earnings less than the whisper numbers.&nbsp;IBM stock has fallen about 10%. As a full disclosure, The Arora Report&#39;s ZYX Short took a short position in IBM and had a nice profit in a matter of minutes.&nbsp; Partial profits have already been taken.</li>
<li>Construction machinery maker Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/cat#NYSE">CAT</a>) reported earnings worse than whisper numbers.</li>
<li>Pharmaceutical company Merck &amp; Co Inc (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/mrk#NYSE">MRK</a>) reported earnings better than whisper numbers.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Today, there will be an auction of $44B of seven year Treasuries.&nbsp;We will be carefully watching the results.</li>
<li>In contrast to the <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/24/04/38408710/musk-lifts-sentiment-in-entire-stock-market-by-saying-a-regular-car-is-like-riding-a-horse">prior two year auction</a>,&nbsp;yesterday&rsquo;s record auction of $70B of five year Treasuries was poor but not a canary in the coal mine.&nbsp;Here are the details:
<ul>
<li>High yield: 4.659% (When-Issued: 4.655%)</li>
<li>Bid-to-cover: 2.39</li>
<li>Indirect bid: 65.7%</li>
<li>Direct bid: 19.2%</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Initial jobless claims came at 207K vs. 217K consensus.</li>
<li>In The Arora Report analysis, the just released Q1 GDP indicates stagflation may be coming.&nbsp;Here are the details:
<ul>
<li>GDP-Adv came at 1.6% vs. 2.4% consensus.</li>
<li>Price index came at 3.1% vs. 3.0% consensus.</li>
<li>Core price index came at 3.7% vs. 3.4% consensus.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Magnificent Seven Money Flows</h3>
In the early trade, money flows are negative in Apple Inc (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/aapl#NASDAQ">AAPL</a>), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/amzn#NASDAQ">AMZN</a>), Alphabet Inc Class C (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/goog#NASDAQ">GOOG</a>), META, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/msft#NASDAQ">MSFT</a>), NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/nvda#NASDAQ">NVDA</a>), and TSLA.
In the early trade, money flows are negative in SPDR S&amp;P 500 ETF Trust (ARCA:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/qqq#NASDAQ">QQQ</a>).
<h3>Momo Crowd And Smart Money In Stocks</h3>
The momo crowd is buying stocks in the early trade.&nbsp;Smart money is selling stocks in the early trade.
<h3>Gold</h3>
The momo crowd is like a yoyo in gold in the early trade.&nbsp;Smart money is inactive in the early trade.
For longer-term, please see gold and silver ratings.
The most popular ETF for gold is SPDR Gold Trust (ARCA:GLD). The most popular ETF for silver is iShares Silver Trust (ARCA:SLV).&nbsp;
<h3>Oil</h3>
The momo crowd is like a yoyo in oil in the early trade.&nbsp;Smart money is inactive in the early trade.
For longer-term, please see oil ratings.
The most popular ETF for oil is United States Oil ETF (ARCA:USO).
<h3>Bitcoin</h3>
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/btc/usd">BTC</a>) is seeing selling.
<h3>Protection Band And What To Do Now</h3>
It is important for investors to look ahead and not in the rearview mirror.
Consider continuing to hold good, very long term, existing positions. Based on individual risk preference, consider a protection band consisting of cash or Treasury bills or short-term tactical trades as well as short to medium term hedges and short term hedges. This is a good way to protect yourself and participate in the upside at the same time.
You can determine your protection bands by adding cash to hedges.&nbsp;The high band of the protection is appropriate for those who are older or conservative. The low band of the protection is appropriate for those who are younger or aggressive.&nbsp;If you do not hedge, the total cash level should be more than stated above but significantly less than cash plus hedges.
It is worth reminding that you cannot take advantage of new upcoming opportunities if you are not holding enough cash.&nbsp;When adjusting hedge levels, consider adjusting partial stop quantities for stock positions (non ETF); consider using wider stops on remaining quantities and also allowing more room for high beta stocks.&nbsp;High beta stocks are the ones that move more than the market.
<h3>Traditional 60/40 Portfolio</h3>
Probability based risk reward adjusted for inflation does not favor long duration strategic bond allocation at this time.
Those who want to stick to traditional 60% allocation to stocks and 40% to bonds may consider focusing on only high quality bonds and bonds of seven year duration or less.&nbsp;Those willing to bring sophistication to their investing may consider using bond ETFs as tactical positions and not strategic positions at this time.
The Arora Report is known for its accurate calls. The Arora Report correctly called the big artificial intelligence rally before anyone else, the new bull market of 2023, the bear market of 2022, new stock market highs right after the virus low in 2020, the virus drop in 2020, the DJIA rally to 30,000 when it was trading at 16,000, the start of a mega bull market in 2009, and the financial crash of 2008. Please click here to sign up for a free forever <a href="https://thearorareport.com/generate-wealth-newsletter">Generate Wealth Newsletter</a>.
This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga&#39;s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.

Commodities

Tech

Trading Ideas

AAPL

MSFT

NVDA

TSLA

Meta Falls 15% On Great Earnings, Tesla Rises 12% On Ugly Earnings – Here Is The Real Reason

Willis Towers Watson shares are trading lower after the company reported worse-than-expected Q1 sales results.

UBS analyst Danielle Antalffy maintains Boston Scientific (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/BSX#NYSE">BSX</a>) with a Buy and raises the price target from $74 to $90.

UBS Maintains Buy on Boston Scientific, Raises Price Target to $90

Laboratory Corporation Of America Holdings

Laboratory Corp shares are trading lower. The company reported Q1 financial results.

Tractor Supply Company&nbsp;(NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/TSCO#NASDAQ">TSCO</a>) shares are trading lower after the company reported first-quarter earnings per share of $1.83,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/movers" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">beating the analyst consensus of $1.71.&nbsp;</a>
Quarterly revenues of $3.395 billion were in line with the estimates,<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/24/04/b38427979/tractor-supply-company-reports-first-quarter-2024-financial-results-reiterates-fiscal-2024-financi" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;rising 2.9%&nbsp;year over year.</a>&nbsp;
Comparable store sales, which increased 1.1%, slowed compared to the prior year &nbsp;(2.1% growth for the previous year&#8217;s first quarter).
New store openings and comparable sales growth drove&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/calendars/earnings" rel="noreferrer noopener">the net sales increase</a>.&nbsp;
Gross profit increased 4.4% to $1.22 billion from $1.17 billion in the year-ago quarter.&nbsp;
The gross margin increased 50 basis points to 36.0% from 35.5% in the&nbsp;first quarter of the prior year.&nbsp;The gross margin rate increase was primarily attributable to ongoing lower transportation costs, disciplined product cost management, and&nbsp;the execution of&nbsp;an everyday&nbsp;low price&nbsp;strategy.
Operating income increased 7.6% to $263.1 million from $244.4 million in the first quarter of 2023.
The company opened 17 new Tractor Supply stores and four new Petsense by Tractor Supply stores in the first quarter of 2024.
Outlook:&nbsp;Tractor Supply reiterated its FY24 outlook with GAAP EPS of $9.85-10.50<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/calendars/guidance" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;versus the $10.22 estimate</a>. The company sees sales of $14.700 billion-15.100 billion versus the $14.98 billion estimate.
Price Action: TSCO shares are trading lower by 2.11% to $254.16 at last check Thursday.
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