• 

  Barrons.com

  Mag 7 Helps Lift Markets

  The big three indexes were climbing midday, pushed higher in part by the Magnificent Seven. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 78 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 was up 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.

• 

  Barrons.com

  Consumers Are a Bit Gloomy About Mortgage Rates. What’s Behind the Sour Mood.

  Consumers in March soured on the prospect of lower mortgage rates, according to one survey. Mortgage rates, one of the main inputs of housing costs, have hovered between roughly 6.6% and 7% since the start of the year, according to weekly Freddie Mac data. As of Monday morning, the 10-year Treasury yield, a benchmark for mortgage rates, was up 0.058 percentage point since last Wednesday’s close, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

• 

  Reuters

  Swiss National Bank's Jordan against issuing retail cenbank digital currency

  The Swiss National Bank sees no need for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) to be issued to the general public, Chairman Thomas Jordan said on Monday. "Consumers and businesses already have access to a wide range of efficient and innovative payment instruments offered by the private sector," Jordan told an event in Zurich, in remarks that addressed a product known as a retail CBDC. "Retail CBDC could fundamentally alter the current monetary system and the role of central banks and commercial banks, with far-reaching consequences for the financial system," he said, with the risks outweighing any potential benefits.

• 

• 

  Barrons.com

  Ulta Beauty Gets an Upgrade After Stock Drops. The Selloff Was ‘Overdone.’

  Ulta Beauty stock was climbing Monday after a Loop Capital analyst upgraded shares of the cosmetics retailer, citing confidence in a variety of factors that could lift the price. Anthony Chukumba lifted his call on Ulta to Buy from Hold, maintaining a target of $540 for the stock price, which implies a gain of 21% from Friday’s closing price of $444.75. Chukumba wrote in a research note Monday that he expects the company’s performance to improve over the final three quarters of the year thanks to new product launches and because its year-earlier numbers will provide an easier basis for comparison in coming quarters.

• 

  Barrons.com

  Berkshire’s Bet on Sure-Thing Liberty Sirius Trade Hasn’t Been a Sure Thing

  Beware sure things in investing—even when Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is placing the bet. The Liberty SiriusXM trade looked easy when Liberty Media unveiled a deal with Sirius XM the satellite-radio company, back in December. Investors could buy Liberty SiriusXM, a tracking stock for Sirius XM created by Liberty Media, at a nearly 40% discount to the value of the Sirius XM stock that the tracker investors were due to receive in the merger with Sirius XM.