It’s been a record year for US ETFs with more than $1 trillion in fresh inflows in 2024, easily surpassing 2021’s prior peak of $920 billion.
Exchange-traded funds hold $10.6 trillion in assets as of the end of November, according to ETFGI. That’s a 30% jump from the start of the year, driven by these inflows along with the rise in risk assets like stocks and cryptocurrencies. Leading the pack are S&P 500 funds, but a bitcoin fund also cracked the top five after launching in January.
One down, a minimum of 19,999 to go.
In a Wednesday morning post on X featuring some of the most royalty-free music you’ve ever heard, Lucid announced it’s delivered its first Gravity SUV earmarked for service as an Uber robotaxi next year. Shares of the company climbed 3%.
The vehicle is now with autonomous driving company Nuro, which will add software and test the SUV for road readiness.
The 20,000-vehicle agreement over six years is a hefty order for Lucid, which expects to build between 18,000 and 20,000 vehicles this year.
Lucid stock could also be seeing a boost from a price target hike by Cantor Fitzgerald on Wednesday, to $26 from $20. (Remember, though, that before a 1-for-10 reverse stock split at the beginning of this month, Cantor’s target had been the equivalent of $30.)
Lucid shares have now risen more than 40% from their all-time closing low of a split-adjusted $16.16 on September 4.
Disney’s streaming prices are going to infinity and beyond.
Starting October 21, Disney+ with ads will climb to $11.99 a month (from $9.99), while the ad-free Disney+ Premium plan will rise to $18.99 (from $15.99). Annual Premium subscriptions will now cost $189.99, up from $159.99. Disney shares were flat on the news.
Bundles are getting pricier too: the Disney+/Hulu (with ads) package will jump from $10.99 to $12.99, while the Disney+/Hulu/ESPN Select bundle will rise from $16.99 to $19.99. The ad-free version of that bundle will go from $26.99 to $29.99. Even legacy bundles that subscribers were allowed to keep will see hikes. For example: the Disney+ Premium/Hulu (with ads)/ESPN Select plan will now run $24.99 instead of $21.99.
After increasing prices four times in the past four years, Disney’s streaming unit finally became profitable last year. It’s yet another example of streaming services slowly raising prices and hoping consumers don’t notice or care enough to cancel.
Disney shares are up over 20% over the past 12 months.
Shares of Better Home & Finance soared over 160% Monday after EMJ Capital founder Eric Jackson posted on X, dubbing the online mortgage lender the “Shopify of mortgages.” The post drew attention to BETR’s rapid growth.
He went further, calling BETR a “potential 350-bagger in 2 years.” In a subsequent post, Jackson argued that Better ought to be worth $626 per share today, and claimed that it should be worth $12,000 per share in two years.
Now, these are bold claims, but Jackson is coming off a rather successful called shot as the primary architect of the rally in Opendoor Technologies. After a similar series of posts where Jackson argued that Opendoor would be the next Carvana, retail interest in the real estate stock soared, mobilizing an “$OPEN Army” that has managed to gain the ear of management as they propel the stock upward.
Needless to say, when Jackson talks up a stock, retail at least will hear him out.
Better Home & Finance stock is now up a massive 682% year to date.
