Whitestone REIT (NYSE:NYSE:WSR) is a promising passive income investment as the real estate investment trust is growing its FFO related to its concentrated real estate footprint. The portfolio is also seeing occupancy growth and the trust guided for a double digit growth rate in its FFO in 2024. Whitestone REIT…

Alibaba shares got a boost last week from news founder Jack Ma is pleased with the company’s turnaround so far. That’s after co-founder and current Chair Joe Tsai told CNBC in late February he felt a lot more “confident” about Alibaba’s ability to still be a top e-commerce player. Ma…

Iran rained a deluge of drones and missiles on Israel on Saturday night in response to a suspected Israeli strike that killed top Iranian officials in Syria, in a deep escalation of Middle East tensions.Israel said it identified 300 “threats of various types” and eliminated “99%” of those bound for…

The Virtus Convertible & Income Fund II (NYSE:NCZ) is a closed-end fund that invests in a combination of convertible bonds, common stock, and fixed-income securities. This is a good concept, although it is perhaps not quite as attractive as it was a few years ago. For most of the past…

The early data is in for the path of inflation during the first three months of 2024, and the news so far is, well, not good.Pick your poison. Whether it’s prices at the register or wholesale input costs, while inflation is off the blistering pace of 2022, it doesn’t appear…

There are only 14 U.S. states where residents who earn less than $75,000 can afford a median-priced home, a new Bankrate analysis reveals.That number has dropped from 36 in just four years, illustrating how rising home prices have tilted the balance of homeownership toward the wealthiest Americans.Considering that half of…

Introduction I expected Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) to deliver a flat to negative return in 2024. After its staggering performance during Covid, the pool equipment distributor struggled to deliver for two consecutive years. It plummeted about 44% in 2022 and rebounded 24% in 2023. The broader market (SPX) performed much better…

Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest has taken a stake in OpenAI, the popular artificial intelligence player that’s behind the viral messagebot ChatGPT. In a Thursday email to clients, the St. Petersburg, Florida-based asset manager said her ARK Venture Fund had invested in OpenAI as of Wednesday. “OpenAI is at the forefront of…

U.S. crude oil broke $87 a barrel on Friday as futures rallied on reports that Israel is preparing for a direct attack by Iran this weekend, in what would be the biggest escalation of Middle East tensions since the start of the Israel-Hamas war last October.The West Texas Intermediate contract…

We have recently read some interesting research on the record concentration in the “Magnificent 7” stocks of the S&P 500 index (SP500, SPX) and the implications for the stock market and active management. We offer special thanks to GMO’s Ben Inker and John Pease for their recent piece on this…