Bruce Bentley

Semiconductor stocks brace for profits as global chip scarcity continues to grow, affecting automotive companies most of all. NXP Semiconductor saw sales jump 27% for the first quarter after last Monday, while earnings of $ 1.25 per share beat consensus. AMD and Texas Instruments will report back after the bell on Tuesday. With demand high but supply coming under pressure, CNBC's "Trading Nation" asked two traders which chipmaker stocks they saw as the top performers. "I especially like AMD for new money," said Mark Tepper, president of Strategic Wealth Partners, on Monday. AMD left the rest of the chipmakers behind this year, a pullback that Tepper sees as an opportunity. The stock is down 7% in 2021, compared to a 16% increase for the SMH semiconductor ETF. "We just added 75% to our position in AMD by March 30th, so we nearly doubled, and apparently we learned last week that Intel's server business sniffed again and AMD stock burst because we all did...

Sovereign governments could potentially be the next group to adopt digital assets, according to a report from the crypto-assets firm octopus . Kraken writes in an update that the central bank's digital currencies (CBDCs) could become "the newest and perhaps most comprehensive instrument for expanding their monetary policy." Kraken also mentions that many governments "have signaled their intention to research and use government-sponsored virtual currencies". Christine Lagarde , President of European Central Bank (ECB) has determined that an ECB digital currency could hit the market within the next 4 years, the Kraken team noted. You also mentioned: “After the COVID-19 shutdown, many governments have given their citizens financial relief. The funds have largely helped people who have lost their jobs, but in countries like the US it has been eight months and some people still haven't received a check. If successfully implemented, CBDCs would allow governm...