On December 29, 2023 local time, the US stock market closed with three major stock indices closing slightly lower, but all achieving their ninth consecutive week of gains. As of the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.05%, with a cumulative increase of 0.81% this week and a cumulative increase of 13.70% for the whole year; The S&P 500 index fell 0.28%, with a cumulative increase of 0.32% this week and a cumulative increase of 24.23% for the whole year; The Nasdaq fell 0.56%, with a cumulative increase of 0.12% this week and a cumulative increase of 43.42% for the whole year.
The "Magnificent Seven" of the US stock market saw a significant increase in 2023, with Nvidia rising nearly 240% for the year, marking the largest annual increase since 2001; The parent company of Facebook, Meta, rose over 194% throughout the year, marking the largest annual increase since its listing; Tesla's annual cumulative increase exceeded 101%.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, the head of L'Oreal and the world's richest woman, had a personal wealth of $100.2 billion (approximately RMB 712.2 billion) on Thursday (December 28), becoming the first woman in the world to exceed $100 billion.
US stock market closing Nasdaq rose over 43% in 2023
On December 29th local time, the US stock market closed, with the three major stock indexes closing slightly lower. As of the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 37689.54 points, a decrease of 0.05%; The S&P 500 index closed at 4769.83 points, a decrease of 0.28%; The Nasdaq closed at 15011.35 points, a decrease of 0.56%.
The three major US stock indexes have all achieved their ninth consecutive week of gains. Among them, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.81% this week and 13.70% for the whole year; The S&P 500 index has risen 0.32% this week and 24.23% for the whole year; The Nasdaq rose 0.12% this week and 43.42% for the whole year.
Analysis shows that for most of 2023, the market's excitement about artificial intelligence technology has driven the stocks of the "Big Seven" to rise significantly, with Nvidia and Microsoft performing particularly strongly. This enthusiasm has led the annual gains of the Nasdaq, the largest of the three major indexes.
Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist at Carson Group, pointed out that historically, a 10% or more increase in the stock market in the last two months of the year is a signal that there is still greater room for development in the stock market. He said, "A year-end rebound like this will never be the end of a bull market. It usually means an upward momentum, and the upward momentum will continue."
However, legendary investor Jim Rogers said in a recent interview: "Bonds are a foam, real estate in many countries is also a foam, and the stock market is preparing for a foam."
Rogers has already sold many of his stocks and bonds because he expects a painful drop, but he has not yet started short selling. He pointed out the "warning signs" of an impending crash, including a few stocks driving major stock indexes higher this year, and novice investors boasting to all their friends about how easy it is to make money by trading stocks.
Rogers said, "When the market is coming to an end, the last big rising stocks are the best shorting targets. Those stocks that perform very well and are very expensive are the wise choices for me to short next time." He also stated that he is eager to short the "Big Seven", namely Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Tesla, and Nvidia.
Rogers also predicted that the US economy would soon fall into trouble due to the constantly expanding debt. He said, "I suspect that the situation next year won't look so optimistic."
Rogers pointed out that he is not sure if there will be a recession in the future. He is concerned that since the 2008 financial crisis, the world has not experienced a long-term economic recession, and the global debt burden has been inflating since then.
He pointed out, "The next economic problem is probably the most serious one I've ever encountered in my life, because the scale of debt is simply unbelievable."
Rogers also suggests that people hold precious metals because during times of panic, precious metals are often more valuable than other assets. "Everyone should hold some gold and silver, that's what I did."
Nvidia has accumulated nearly 240% of annual growth throughout the year, with Meta achieving its largest annual increase since going public
In terms of sectors, the eleven major sectors of the S&P 500 index saw nine declines and two rises. The real estate sector and non essential consumer goods sector led the decline with declines of 1.18% and 0.63%, respectively, while the essential consumer goods sector and medical sector rose by 0.16% and 0.03%, respectively.
Most large technology stocks fell, while Nvidia closed flat and rose nearly 240% for the year, marking the largest annual increase since 2001; Facebook's parent company Meta fell more than 1%, with a cumulative increase of over 194% throughout the year, marking the largest annual increase since its listing; AMD fell nearly 1%, with a cumulative increase of over 127% throughout the year; Tesla fell nearly 2%, with a cumulative increase of over 101% throughout the year; Intel experienced a slight decline, with a cumulative increase of nearly 95% throughout the year; Amazon fell more than 1%, with a cumulative increase of over 80% throughout the year; Netflix experienced a slight decline, with a cumulative increase of over 65% throughout the year; Microsoft rose slightly, with a cumulative increase of over 58% throughout the year, marking the largest annual increase since 1999; Google A experienced a slight decline, with a cumulative increase of over 58% throughout the year; Apple experienced a slight decline, with a cumulative increase of over 49% throughout the year.
Popular Chinese concept stocks generally rose, with the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index rising 1.22% and a cumulative decline of 3.39% for the year, marking the third consecutive year of decline. Good Future rose by over 7%, NetEase rose by over 4%, Tencent Music rose by over 3%, Bilibili, Xiaopeng Automobile, and Ctrip rose by over 2%, iQiyi, Ideal Automobile, JD.com, Vipshop, and Baidu rose by over 1%, while Futu Holdings, Pinduoduo, Weibo, and Alibaba rose slightly; NIO fell nearly 4%.
Faraday will fall nearly 11% in the future and receive another Nasdaq delisting warning
Faraday fell nearly 11% in the future, with a stock price of $0.2309 per share and a total market value of $29.38 million, with a cumulative decline of nearly 95% throughout the year. On the news front, Faraday has once again received notification from NASDAQ regarding delisting or non-compliance with continuing listing rules or standards.
The notice states that due to Faraday's future stock price consistently falling below $1 between November 9th and December 27th, it violated the listing rules of NASDAQ.
According to the listing rules, Faraday needs to bring its stock price back to $1 and maintain it for at least 10 days before June 25, 2024, which is the next 180 days. If the company fails to comply with the listing rules and does not meet the requirements for extending the compliance period by June 25th, the Nasdaq Stock Exchange will notify the company that the stock is facing delisting.
In fact, Faraday's future stock price has been in a crisis of below $1 since last autumn. The company has used up two "180 day grace periods" and completed the "80 shares in one" operation at the end of August this year before receiving a notice from the exchange in mid September to meet the minimum stock price requirement.
The personal wealth of the leader of L'Oreal has exceeded 100 billion US dollars
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, the head of L'Oreal and the world's richest woman, had a personal wealth of $100.2 billion on Thursday (December 28), becoming the first woman in the world to have a net worth of over $100 billion (approximately RMB 712.2 billion).
On the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Tesla founder Elon Musk remains at the top with a net asset of approximately $230 billion (approximately RMB 1635 billion). Following closely behind is Bernard Arnault, the chairman of luxury goods manufacturer LVMH (the parent company of Louis Vuitton), with a net worth of approximately $180 billion (approximately RMB 1279.5 billion).
And Betancourt Meyers ranks 12th on the global billionaire list, behind Mexico's richest man Carlos Slim.
Betancourt Meyers' personal wealth breakthrough mainly benefited from the rise of L'Oreal's stock price. The stock price of L'Oreal (ADR) has risen by 41% this year. Analysts believe that although L'Oreal's performance has been hit by global public safety and health incidents, its stock price has rapidly rebounded as consumers spend more on luxury goods. Consumer Edge Research analyst Brett Cooper stated that due to its product and geographical diversity, L'Oreal's performance growth is quite resilient, and believes that the company's stock price may rise by another 12% next year.
According to L'Oreal's data, in 2022, Betancourt Meyers and her family owned over 34% of the company's shares, making them the single largest shareholder. Betancourt Meyers is currently the Vice Chairman of L'Oreal's Board of Directors.
Betancourt Meyers's wealth mainly comes from inheritance. In 1909, her maternal grandfather Eugene Schuler founded the well-known beauty brand L'Oreal, producing and selling the hair dye he developed. In 2017, after the death of Betancourt Meyers's mother, she inherited the shares of L'Oreal held by her mother as the only child, becoming the third generation inheritor of L'Oreal.
This world's largest cosmetics company has a range of well-known brands, from Lancome, Armani, Vichy, YSL to Maybelline, among others. According to the company's report, the company's sales in 2022 exceeded 38 billion euros (approximately 42 billion US dollars).
Earlier this year, L'Oreal acquired the Australian brand Aesop for approximately $2.5 billion, making it the largest brand acquisition in the history of the French cosmetics giant.
The US Census Bureau predicts that the total world population will approach 8.02 billion on New Year's Day 2024
According to CCTV News, the US Census Bureau released an estimate on December 28th local time that the total world population will approach 8.02 billion on January 1, 2024, an increase of over 75.16 million from New Year's Day in 2023.
The US Census Bureau issued a statement on its official website stating that this population growth rate is approximately 0.95%. In January next year, the world is expected to have an average of about 4.3 births and 2 deaths per second.
The total population of the United States is expected to approach 335.9 million on New Year's Day 2024, an increase of nearly 1.76 million from a year ago, with a population growth rate of 0.53%.
William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution in the United States, told the Associated Press that if the population growth trend continues until the end of 2020, it will become the slowest decade in US history, with a population growth rate of less than 4% over the past decade. The record for the slowest population growth in 10 years was set in the United States after the Great Depression of the 1930s, when the population growth rate was 7.3%.
On November 15, 2022, the United Nations announced that the world's population had crossed the threshold of 8 billion on that day. According to United Nations data at the time, it took about 12 years for the global population to grow from 7 billion to 8 billion, and it will take about 15 years to reach 9 billion by 2037, indicating that the overall growth rate of the global population is slowing down.
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