Financial professionals sit in the Goldman Sachs booth on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Tracking changes to expected sales numbers is one of the best ways to pick stocks, according to new research from Goldman Sachs. Analysts at the bank set out to see if changes to revenue projections by analysts were a leading indicator of stock performance. To test this, Goldman sorted stocks based on recent changes to consensus revenue projections in FactSet. The revisions portfolio beat similar

On Dec. 28, former President Barack Obama revealed his annual year-end list of favorite books. Over the next few days, he also shared his favorite movies, TV shows and songs of 2019. Obama’s movie list includes “American Factory,” a documentary from his and his wife Michelle’s new production company, Higher Ground Productions. SiR “Juice” by Lizzo “Redesigning Women” by The Highwomen “Anybody” by Burna Boy “Burning” by Maggie Rogers “Baila Baila Baila” (Remix) by Ozuna feat. Don’t miss: Barack O

Serena Williams has been a professional tennis player since she was 14. I am the most boring spender ever,” Williams told People. In addition to tennis, Williams has her own direct-to-consumer fashion line, called S by Serena, and runs a venture capital firm, Serena Ventures, which has invested in more than 30 startups since 2014. The firm focuses on new companies that are founded by women or minorities, and its mission is “to be more inclusive,” Williams told CNBC in September. Still, Williams

When setting New Year’s money resolutions, a majority of Americans (61%) say they plan to pay off debt in 2020. Consider refinancingIf you’re paying back loans, such as a mortgage or student debt, refinancing is an option. When you refinance your loan, you’re given a new loan with more favorable terms, often a lower interest rate. With student loans, refinancing can be helpful since doing so often means consolidating multiple loans into one at a lower interest rate with lower monthly payments. Y

The best market opportunities might be outside the US: Gilman Hill’s Jenny HarringtonJenny Harrington, CEO and portfolio manager at Gilman Hill Asset Management, joins “Fast Money Halftime Report” to discuss her outlook for the markets in 2020.

In other words, the corporate earnings outlook has not improved. However, this strong performance now puts more pressure on companies to deliver strong corporate earnings. Corporate earnings were lackluster in the first three quarters of 2019 as growth remained flat in the first half of the year. In the third quarter, S&P 500 earnings fell by 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. She expects the S&P 500 to return an average of 5% annually to investors throughout the 2020s and reach 5,050.

The brokerage’s new, $515 price target makes it the biggest Tesla bull of the major brokerages on Wall Street. Peloton Interactive — Peloton shares gained more than 1% after Baird named the company a “fresh pick.” United Airlines — United Airlines gained 1.7% on Thursday morning after Evercore ISI upgrade the company to outperform from in-line. The firm also raised its price target for United’s stock to $125 per share from $105. The analyst also slashed his price target on the stock to $12 per s

If the U.S. economy were to fall into a recession in 2020, it would likely be because of an unforeseen event, Wall Street pioneer Burton Malkiel told CNBC on Thursday. “My guess is, if we have a recession, what’s going to cause it is some shock that we don’t know of now,” Malkiel said on “Squawk on the Street.” A resumption of the trade war,” he suggested. Recession worries were elevated at times in 2019 as the U.S.-China trade war, uncertainty around Brexit and slowing global growth dominated h

Former General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz believes ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn’s ego contributed to the executive’s fall from grace and current status as an international fugitive. “He was a control freak; needed to amass enormous power,” Lutz said. Ghosn, according to Lutz, operated more as “a head of state than a CEO,” citing he was a person who “exhibited traits of someone who takes himself too seriously.” Lutz, who retired in 2010 after a 47-year career in the auto industry, also said

A group of Amazon employees say the company has threatened to fire them for speaking out against the company’s environmental policies. In a statement posted to Twitter on Thursday, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice said that several employees were contacted by legal and HR representatives, who said they were in violation of the company’s external communications policy. Maren Costa, a user experience experience designer, was one of the employees Amazon threatened to fire. Amazon employees have

The Food and Drug Administration is banning most fruit and mint-flavored nicotine vaping products in an effort to curb a surge in teen use, the agency said Thursday. The FDA is specifically banning cartridge-based nicotine pods like Juul, allowing vape shops to continue selling tank-based flavored nicotine liquids, which require users to manually fill e-cigarettes. The Trump administration was expected this week to issue a ban on flavored e-cigarette pods and flavored liquid nicotine products. ”

United Parcel Service on Thursday expects to ship 1.9 million gifts and other items back to U.S. retailers as e-commerce fuels an anticipated 26% year-over-year volume surge on “National Returns Day.” U.S. shoppers return more packages than their peers around the globe, spurred by free shipping on orders and returns – costly perks that squeeze retailer profits. “That causes great expense for retailers,” said Buzek, who estimated that annual global losses from retail returns are nearly $1 trillio

The surge in spending last month may have contributed to the best holiday shopping season in years. Through Dec. 24, holiday retail sales rose 3.4%, while online sales jumped a record 18%, according to data from Mastercard. However, Americans racked up about $1,325 in holiday debt, on average, over that time, according to MagnifyMoney’s annual post-holiday debt survey. More than half of shoppers, or 58%, said they’ll pay off the debt in three months or more, MagnifyMoney found. As credit card ba

When the couple started getting serious about financial goals in June 2015, they were making far less than $100,000 combined. “The numbers don’t work out when you don’t make very much and aren’t saving very much,” Banks said. “Finances are hard and personal,” Banks said. Instead, choose a far, far smaller number, like saving $5 a week. Byrne starting sharing restaurant entrees with her boyfriend (savings: $15 to $20), making homemade lattes (savings: about $2.50 a day) and bringing lunch to work

In other words, we prefer to spend the least amount of physical and mental effort needed to get the job done. We are wired to conserve energy and to avoid exerting ourselves unnecessarily. One simple thing can brighten your financial pictureOur tendency to conserve energy manifests itself in many ways in modern society. We are also wired to conserve mental energy. One of the ways we conserve our mental energy is a preference for the status quo.

To begin the new year, strategist Matt Maley says one chart reveals the top pick to begin 2020. “It’s the KRE regional banking ETF,” Miller Tabak’s chief market strategist said on CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Tuesday. “If you look at the chart, it’s broken out of the sideways range that it was in for 11 months. “The bet on the KRE is that the Main Street economy begins to accelerate in 2020. That would then make for trouble in the banking sector, he says.

When Seattle began raising its minimum wage five years ago, local burger joint Dick’s Drive-In experienced an unintended effect. The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 an hour and has not been increased in over a decade. The conflicting studies highlight a broader debate about what a $15 federal minimum wage might do for businesses and workers nationwide. That prompts a question: Are higher wages necessary due to the hot economy, or has the economy continued to grow due to higher pay? “When

The number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits edged lower last week, a positive signal for the U.S. labor market amid recent signs that new claims may be trending slightly higher. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits decreased 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 222,000 for the week ended Dec. 28, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected 225,000 new claims last week. By the end of the latest week, the number of new claims was at its lowes

Google’s former top diplomat now blames the company’s “disengaged” founders and earnings-driven leadership for Google’s departure from its core value, “Don’t be evil.” LaJeunesse, who is now running as a Democrat for Susan Collins’ senate seat in Maine, said his attempts to adopt a company-wide human rights program were blocked. In an interviews with The Washington Post, LaJeunesse said Google’s public policy chief Kent Walker had worried the formal commitment could expose Google to further liab

Abagnale, 71, is the author of “Scam Me If You Can” and was famously portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2002 movie “Catch Me If You Can.” He now works as a private consultant, author and public speaker with the goal of preventing fraud. He has worked with the FBI for four decades and teaches that every scam, old or new, revolves around getting money or information. “There are a lot of criminals that really can’t deal with digital crimes,” says Abagnale. Check out this video to learn what forg