Good Evening. U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday which was followed by a rush of tech earnings and the Fed’s most recent policy speech on Wednesday.
The S&P 500 shed 1.15%, while the Dow dropped 0.71%. The Nasdaq dropped 1.87%, marking the index’s third consecutive session in the red and the third day in a row that Nasdaq losses have surpassed those of the S&P and Dow.
THE WEEK OF EARNINGS
Microsoft (MSFT) missed investors’ expectations on both the top and bottom line when it released its fiscal Q4 earnings. Additionally, the corporation fell short of projections for its crucial Intelligent Cloud business. Here are the key figures from the statement that Bloomberg compared to predictions made by Wall Street.
Revenue: $51.9 billion vs $52.4 billion expected
Earnings per share: $2.23 vs $2.29 expected
Intelligent Cloud: $20.9 billion vs $21.1 billion expected
However, Microsoft reported that revenue from Azure and other cloud services increased by 40% year over year despite the company’s Intelligent Cloud division reporting a loss.
Why did this happen? Some of the impacts were because of conflict in Ukraine, an unfavorable environment for foreign exchange rates, and protracted COVID shutdowns in China. Microsoft also stated that less money was being spent on advertising, which had an impact on its search engine and LinkedIn, the professional network it owns.
LOTTERY: WHAT IF YOU WON?
Last night, the Mega Millions drawing included an $810 million prize. It was the fourth-largest lottery reward in history if won at that sum. What would happen if you were the lucky winner and what options do you have?
Option One, Lump sum: After the 24% federal tax withholding subtracts 113 million dollars from the total earnings, you will receive a payout of $470.1 million. Furthermore, you will have to give Uncle Sam a larger portion of your winnings during tax season due to the top marginal tax rate of 37%.
Option Two, Annuity: You will receive an initial payment right away, followed by 29 yearly payments, with each payment growing by 5% to account for inflation.
So which one should you take? It all comes down to the time value of money and how you are with money. It’s understandable why the majority of lottery winners opt for the lump sum: You can increase your financial situation. Compound interest’s power allows you to invest your lottery wins right away and, even with a conservative rate of return, earn significantly more over 30 years than you might with the annuity’s smaller payments.
However… not everyone may prefer the lump sum. The annuity might help you practice some self-imposed financial restraint to avoid blowing all of your money, which definitely happens. There are numerous tales of lottery winners who wasted their winnings or otherwise watched their life unravel after believing they had it all. One tiny research in Florida indicated that lottery winners were more likely than the ordinary American to file for bankruptcy within three to five years.