Standard

Brine is pumped into an evaporation pond at Albemarle Corp.’s Silver Peak lithium facility in … [+] Nevada. (AP Photo/John Locher)Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. I like the stocks of companies whose top executives are buying their own shares. Lately, that includes Albemarle ALB , East West Bancorp EWBC and Matador Resources MTDR . Albemarle Lithium is a hot commodity because it’s used in electric vehicle batteries. A leading miner, processor and seller of lithium is Albemarle

Getty Images Electric utilities are not especially popular with bond investors these days. Consider the spread-versus-Treasurys on the ICE BofA U.S. Electric Utility Index. The spread is the amount of additional yield the market demands for owning corporate bonds rather than supposedly default-risk-free U.S. Treasurys. On June 2, 2023, the utilities’ spread was 146 basis points. (One basis point equals 1/100 of a percentage point.) On the same date, the spread on ICE BofA’s U.S. Industrial Index was 130 basis

China Last NightKraneShares Week in Review Asian equities ended a relatively positive week on a high note as internet stocks rebounded following a slump earlier in the week on high short volumes and index rebalancing. Multiple China economic releases this week painted a mixed picture as the Caixin (private) manufacturing PMI outpaced the official measure as the latter indicated expansion while the former indicated contraction. EV sales data from multiple companies was released on Thursday with BYD seeing strong sales