228.29 0.82(0.36%)07/23/2025
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)
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| How to Build a Super Low Cost Passive Income Fund for Only $25,000
Key Points The RSPA ETF will immediately turn the bulk of your $25,000 account into a diversified income machine. Smaller allocations into SCHD, JEPQ, and FDVV will help you build a low-fee passive income foundation. Are you ahead, or behind on retirement? SmartAsset’s free tool can match you with a financial advisor in minutes to help you answer that today. Each advisor has been carefully vetted, and must act in your best interests. Don’t waste another minute; get started by clicking here.(Sponsor) How far can $25,000 get you? If you have a well-considered plan in place, you can actually turn your small account into a passive income factory. This can be done with a carefully selected group of high-yield, low-fee exchange traded funds (ETFs). With just $25,000, you can build a super-low-cost portfolio that consistently pays you cash dividends/distributions. Plus, you can de-risk your portfolio through multi-sector diversification and investment in famous large-cap companies. So, let’s start right now with a smart-money plan to extract sizable cash payouts from a small but growing account. Start With RSPA for Extra Diversification Out of a $25,000 account, you can confidently put $10,000 into just one ETF. That’s because the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Income Advantage ETF (NYSEARCA:RSPA) checks all of the right boxes for a small-sized high-growth portfolio. To populate a small-sized portfolio, I would want to use funds that invest in successful, blue-chip business. I would also insist that the ETFs should be diversified and need to have annual operating expenses below 0.5%. With a focus on companies in the prestigious S&P 500 index, the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Income Advantage ETF has 525 stocks in its holdings. Suffice it to say, then, that the RSPA ETF is widely diversified. When you examine the fund’s holdings list, you’ll find established large-cap leaders across multiple economic sectors. Some examples are Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), and Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED). An interesting feature of the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Income Advantage ETF is that each of the holdings has a small, roughly equal weighing to the other stocks in the fund. That way, you won’t over-invest in any single stock. In addition, the RSPA ETF is low-cost as it only deducts annualized operating fees of 0.29%. And for all of you yield hunters out there, the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Income Advantage ETF currently features a 12-month distribution rate of 9.42%. All in all, this ultra-diversified fund is ideal for a $25,000 account and I would feel comfortable dedicating $10,000 toward RSPA. Expand Your Portfolio With SCHD and JEPQ Even though the RSPA ETF would already expose you to 500+ stocks, you still probably wouldn’t want to toss your entire $25,000 into just one fund. Consequently, we will now explore three more ETFs and, after conducting your own due diligence, you could invest $5,000 in each one of them. The first of these three intriguing funds is the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:SCHD). This ETF tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index and has a portfolio comprising 103 stocks. Again, we’re looking for famous large-cap names and multi-sector diversification. The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF meets these expectations with recognizable stocks like Home Depot (NYSE:HD), Merck (NYSE:MRK), Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), and Chevron (NYSE:CVX). Moreover, the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF serves up a trailing 12-month distribution yield of 3.87% but only deducts 0.06% worth of annual operating expenses. Therefore, investors should have no objections to allocating $5,000 toward the SCHD ETF. Next up is the JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF (NASDAQ:JEPQ), which is centered around the technology-focused NASDAQ 100 index. This fund includes 107 stocks so you can participate in the growth of tech’s heavy hitters, such as NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN). Committing $5,000 of your $25,000 portfolio to the JEPQ ETF will unlock extra share-price appreciation potential from a variety of top tech firms. You’ll also get access to substantial cash distributions as the JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF features an impressive 11.52% annual yield. We’re still sticking to the low-cost theme here since JEPQ only deducts operating fees of 0.35% per year. So, why not add some technology-fueled firepower to your small portfolio with the JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF? Round It Out With FDVV To round out your $25,000 passive-income plan, you could assign $5,000 toward the Fidelity High Dividend ETF (NYSEARCA:FDVV). Instead of concentrating on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, or NASDAQ 100, the FVDD ETF corresponds to the Fidelity High Dividend Index. Among the holdings list of the Fidelity High Dividend ETF, you’ll find large-cap superstars like Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Visa (NYSE:V), Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG), and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC). Overall, you’ll get exposure to plenty of consistent dividend deliverers with FDVV. The other need-to-know stats are that the Fidelity High Dividend ETF offers a trailing 12-month distribution yield of 3.07% but only deducts 0.16% in annualized operating expenses. With all of those benefits in mind, you can proudly add $5,000 worth of FDVV shares to your $25,000 account. Now, you’ve got a four-pack of funds with RSPA as your anchor as well as SCHD, JEPQ, and FDVV for extra diversification. That’s a savvy plan to keep the fees to a minimum while turning your $25,000 account into a low-risk regular income producer.The post How to Build a Super Low Cost Passive Income Fund for Only $25,000 appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. | 07/23 16:10 | https://247wallst.com |
| I Switched from Mutual Funds to These 3 ETFs—Here’s Why
Key Points ETFs have generated higher returns than mutual funds. GLD, VYM, and QQQ have the potential to outpace S&P 500. Are you ahead, or behind on retirement? SmartAsset’s free tool can match you with a financial advisor in minutes to help you answer that today. Each advisor has been carefully vetted, and must act in your best interests. Don’t waste another minute; get started by clicking here.(Sponsor) 2025 hasn’t been a smooth ride. The economy has seen volatility, the market has seen several ups and downs, and investors are scrambling to look for low-risk options to invest their money. There are concerns about the impact of tariffs, and consumer spending is low. Amidst the uncertainty, the only way to invest is to look for low-volatility investment options that can generate steady income. Exchange-traded funds have emerged as one of the top investment options this year. They allow investors to own a collection of stocks with just one investment and at a low cost. I was a die-hard fan of mutual funds, but the returns weren’t satisfactory, which is why I decided to make a switch to ETFs. With thousands of ETFs to choose from, it can become overwhelming, and the industry is getting more crowded. Here are the top 3 I invested in. SPDR Gold Shares Gold has always been considered a hedge against inflation, and the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) ETF is a top choice amid uncertain markets. Launched by State Street Global Advisors, the ETF is traded on exchanges in Hong Kong, Mexico, Japan, and Singapore. It is a trust that purchases, stores, and sells gold bullion, allowing investors to capitalize on rising gold prices. It has a low expense ratio of 0.40% and is the largest gold ETF in the market. Its NAV has soared over 40% in a year and about 12% in five years. The fund launched in 2004 and has kept pace with the S&P 500 over the years. Gold prices will fluctuate in the short term, but the past year has seen a steady upside. Geopolitical tensions and the expanding money supply have lifted the commodity’s value. GLD is a defensive investment, and it brings stability to my portfolio. It is easier for me to pay the annual management fee as compared to buying and storing gold bullion. This ETF has become a centrepiece of my portfolio. Vanguard High Dividend Yield Index ETF A reliable dividend ETF by Vanguard, the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (NYSE: VYM) has a strong history of delivering steady income and capital appreciation. It has an expense ratio of 0.06% and it tracks the performance of FTSE High Dividend Yield Index. VYM has a yield of 2.57% and holds 582 stocks. The sector distribution includes: Financials: 21.50% Industrials: 13.40% Technology: 12.30% Healthcare: 12.10% It holds some of the biggest dividend paying companies in the top 10, including Walmart, AbbVie, Johnson & Johnson, and Exxon Mobil. The ETF pays quarterly dividends, and the strong portfolio allows it to remain consistent at it. VYM has generated double-digit annualized market returns with a return of 10.4% in 5 years and 12.4% in the past year. The fund is filled with large-cap stocks that have a stable balance sheet and a record of strong financial performance. Despite market volatility, the fund has remained resilient and outperformed the S&P 500. It offers a safety net and steady dividend income. Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) I believe in the future of tech and wanted to make the most of the sector. Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) allows me to do that. It holds the Magnificent Seven and has a yield of 0.58%. The fund is known for its impressive capital appreciation. QQQ tracks the performance of the Nasdaq 100 index and has the 100 largest companies listed on the stock exchange. It aims for high growth while providing exposure to the best U.S. non-financial companies. It is a tech-focused ETF with over 50% allocation to tech stocks, followed by 19.66% in consumer staples and 5.80% in healthcare. It is top heavy with the 10 holdings making up 51% of the portfolio and these include the Magnificent Seven like Nvidia, Alphabet, Tesla, Meta Platforms, Amazon, and Apple. Slightly on the expensive side, QQQ has an NAV of 530.82 and is up 16% in 12 months. The NAV has soared over 100% in the past five years, generating impressive gains for investors. As long as the tech sector continues to expand, QQQ is set to benefit. The post I Switched from Mutual Funds to These 3 ETFs—Here’s Why appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. | 07/23 16:10 | https://247wallst.com |
| Amazon's AI-Powered AWS, Efficiency Gains, And Consumer Demand Fuel Bullish Q2 Outlook
Amazon.com AMZN is poised to potentially outperform market expectations in its July 31 second-quarter earnings report, driven by a combination of robust U.S. retail sales, advantageous foreign exchange rates, and accelerating demand for its artificial intelligence-related services through Amazon Web Services (AWS). | 07/23 15:14 | benzinga.com |
| Amazon to Acquire AI-Powered Bracelet Maker Bee
Amazon is reportedly acquiring Bee, a company that makes an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered bracelet that transcribes the user's conversations, makes them searchable and uses that content to create resources such as a to-do list. | 07/23 14:54 | pymnts.com |
| Google’s Best Business Isn’t What You Think
Key Points YouTube, now considered one of only two dominant global VOD platforms alongside Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), could be worth $500–600 billion on a standalone basis—making it the crown jewel in any Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) breakup. Media companies like Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Warner Bros. Discovery appear structurally disadvantaged in streaming, while Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) use video content primarily to support unrelated core businesses like Prime and hardware. Investors who hold Alphabet could benefit significantly if YouTube is spun off, with a valuation comparable to Netflix’s $500+ billion market cap. Are you ahead, or behind on retirement? SmartAsset’s free tool can match you with a financial advisor in minutes to help you answer that today. Each advisor has been carefully vetted, and must act in your best interests. Don’t waste another minute; get started by clicking here.(Sponsor) Watch the Video https://videos.247wallst.com/247wallst.com/2025/07/5-Googles-Best-Business-Isnt-What-You-Think.mp4 Transcript: [00:00:04] Douglas: It may be right now that alphabet’s very best division is YouTube. [00:00:10] Lee Jackson: If that could be true. [00:00:12] Douglas: There was a story today in the New York Times that said there are only two VOD companies in the world, Netflix and YouTube. There’s, they said no one else matters. You know, so if you’re Amazon Prime video, if you’re Disney, they said, forget it. There’s a, this is a two horse race. Now at this point, if you take people looking at paid video online, [00:00:39] Lee Jackson: Right. [00:00:40] Douglas: has more people doing that Netflix, and to me it tells you three things. [00:00:48] Douglas: The first one is, is it sort of makes Netflix a buy. It sort of makes it a sell. It’s being mentioned as in the same breath as YouTube is the leader. if YouTube is gaining that much market share, then even Netflix has to, you know, management has to be worried about it. [00:01:08] Douglas: but the other thing is, is that if you look at all the other companies, like if it’s Disney, if it’s Warner, what the this story is saying is those people have now fallen so far behind that they can’t ever catch up. And as they will be permanently way, way behind. [00:01:32] Lee Jackson: Well, I think you’re right. And it, and it’s interesting because we’ve talked in previous videos about, you know, the breakup of Google may be coming. How valuable would YouTube be in that equation? I mean, the, the thing that’s so great about YouTube and, and I swear to God, everybody watching this will nod their head and go, yes, there’s nothing you can’t learn how to fix, take apart, do, or whatever, without saying. [00:02:01] Lee Jackson: I don’t know how to do this. I’m gonna get on YouTube and see how to do this and, and that Netflix doesn’t offer Amazon Prime and, and other video, they don’t offer that. So I think you’re right. They dominate an area that is such a wide moat that I don’t know if anybody can compete with that. [00:02:19] Douglas: here, here’s something interesting. So. I want you to think about this for a second. Netflix market cap is $537 billion. All right? If you look at Alphabet’s value, total valuation, I’m gonna guess that’s about half. Maybe, [00:02:41] Douglas: know, I mean, it’s, it’s meaningful. If I’m doing a sum of the parts valuation [00:02:53] Douglas: very valuable. But if you just give it the valuation that you’re giving Netflix, you’re giving it a 500 or $600 billion valuation, which means means in a alphabet breakup, you may do really well. Just holding onto that. [00:03:18] Lee Jackson: they all did great when they broke up big, big companies. So, I mean, the, the, the story of GE (NYSE: GE) is just phenomenal. All the breakups, and then they were booted. You know, one of, one of the original members of the Dow Jones Industrial average was booted. [00:03:38] Douglas: kicked it out. Well, there’s another part to this, which is think important for investors. If this analysis is true, Disney is never going to make any real money on their streaming business. [00:04:05] Douglas: you’re never gonna be a really, really big player. I mean, you’re never, ever gonna be, look, I don’t care what people say, Amazon Prime video is there because they want to keep people glued to prime. [00:04:21] Douglas: Prime’s a huge money maker for Amazon. [00:04:50] Douglas: once you turn to all the other people. Who are media companies trying to, you know, stream media assets and that’s crummy. The only other guys I can think of who do it for an insane reason is Apple. Apple spends hundreds and hundreds. I mean, I don’t even wanna think what they spend, but it’s a way to make people glued to the device. [00:05:51] Douglas: so if you, if you believe, what I think is becoming the conventional wisdom, two things you wanna own, if you believe in streaming, are Netflix. [00:06:02] Douglas: own Alphabet because in the breakup you get, [00:06:06] Lee Jackson: You’ll get your share of the YouTube chunk. Yeah. Alright, so, we’re still, we’re pretty much a fan of Google at these, at these levels, aren’t we? [00:06:18] Douglas: I’m a fan of that. We are now listing many, many more reasons that we’re Alphabet fans, so The post Google’s Best Business Isn’t What You Think appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. | 07/23 12:01 | https://247wallst.com |
| Disney+ Ratings Take Unexpected Fall
In the new American Customer Satisfaction Index, the streaming service Disney+ received a low rating, which it cannot afford. The sector is too competitive for any company to have a reputation that is less than stellar. Among 13 streaming services, Disney+ ranked 11th, and ESPN+, which Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) also owns, finished last. 24/7 Wall St. Key Points: The Disney+ streaming service unexpectedly received a low rating in the new American Customer Satisfaction Index. ESPN+ tumbled even more. Take this quiz to see if you’re on track to retire. (sponsored) The industry overall had a rating of 78 on a system that is based on consumer ratings, where services are evaluated on a scale of 0 to 100. The industry’s overall rating dropped by 1% from 2024 to 2025. Disney+ received a rating of 75, a decline of 3%. ESPN+ had the largest fall among all services, down 8% to 69. Ratings were based on several factors from a survey that was in the field for 15 months, concluding in June 2025. The ACSI Entertainment Study 2025, which includes streaming services, is based on 24,879 completed surveys. Among the factors used in the streaming ratings were the quality of mobile apps, the reliability of the mobile app, ease of billing, website satisfaction, quality of original programming, number of movies available, number of TV shows available, availability of past TV shows, call center satisfaction, and range of sports programming, among others. Industry leader Netflix had a rating of 79, the same as last year. The other giant in the field, Amazon Prime Video, had a rating of 82, down 4%. YouTube Premium, which is emerging as a possible industry leader, had a rating of 80, unchanged from the previous year. Disney+ has had a mediocre performance since its introduction in November 2019. It lost billions of dollars over several years and began to make a profit in the most recent year. In its most recent earnings release, Disney reported that Disney+ had 126 million subscribers. Revenue for Disney+ and Hulu remained modest. In the most recent quarter, Disney+ reported revenue of $6.12 billion and an operating profit of only $336 million. By comparison, Netflix reported $11.1 billion in revenue and $3.8 billion in operating income for its most recent quarter. In a market where Disney is positioned in the second tier—below Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube—customer satisfaction is crucial. Disney Makes Big Changes to Streaming The post Disney+ Ratings Take Unexpected Fall appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. | 07/23 12:01 | https://247wallst.com |
| Amazon closes Shanghai AI research lab in latest cost-cutting move
Amazon is shutting down its research lab in Shanghai, which first opened in 2018 and focused on artificial intelligence development. The closure is part of Amazon's recently announced layoffs in its cloud computing unit. | 07/23 11:08 | cnbc.com |
| Amazon Buys a Wearables Company. Why It's Joining Apple and Meta in the AI Hardware Race.
The e-commerce giant is acquiring a start-up which makes a wearable bracelet. | 07/23 10:21 | barrons.com |
| Prime Day Is Boosting Amazon's Competition
Amazon reported that its annual Prime Day promotion (July 8 to 11) generated record U.S. sales this year, a reasonable brag in the context of a skittish consumer economy. But the real story about Prime Day—now ten years old—is how it has reshaped the retail landscape and how major competitors like Walmart have learned how to take advantage of the trail Amazon blazed. | 07/23 09:40 | forbes.com |