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Big Tech, Magnificent 7 stock exposure: Time to reduce?

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Complimenting concentration risk

Big Tech’s historic gains could be affecting your portfolio’s makeup — especially if your goal is diversification.

Astoria Portfolio Advisors CEO John Davi warns the S&P 500 index tilts too far in favor of the so-called Magnificent Seven stocks: Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Tesla.

“Those Mag Seven stocks are very expensive right now,” Davi said told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” this week. “You should rotate your portfolio, and rotate into other things beside ‘Mag Seven’ stocks.”

Davi thinks he has a product to help long-term investors. His firm is behind the Astoria US Equity Weight Quality Kings ETF (ROE). According to the Astoria website, it invests in 100 of the highest quality U.S. large and mid-cap stocks and avoids “concentration risks associated with market-cap weighting.”

“Our marginal contribution to risk and return is a lot higher,” said Davi.

As of Jan. 31, the top 10 stocks in the S&P 500 are mostly big tech. They accounted for about 36% of the index, according to FactSet.

In the Astoria US Equal Weight Quality Kings ETF, each stock is weighted around 1%, according to FactSet. Since the ETF’s launch on July 31, 2023, the fund is up more than 26%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 is up 32% in the same period.

VettaFi’s Todd Rosenbluth highlighted ETF options beyond Astoria’s ETF for investors looking to diversify.

“If you wanted a more quality growth or quality filter on the S&P 500, Invesco has an S&P 500 quality ETF, SPHQ. If you wanted something that was more quality and growth and additional filters, American Century has an ETF. The ticker is QGRO. This is an ETF that’s going to filter based on quality and growth characteristics and a few other ones,” the firm’s head of research said. 

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Trump CFPB cuts reviewed by Fed inspector general

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Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Russell Vought attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 10, 2025.

Nathan Howard | Reuters

The Federal Reserve’s inspector general is reviewing the Trump administration’s attempts to lay off nearly all Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employees and cancel the agency’s contracts, CNBC has learned.

The inspector general’s office told Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., that it was taking up their request to investigate the moves of the consumer agency’s new leadership, according to a June 6 letter seen by CNBC.

“We had already initiated work to review workforce reductions at the CFPB” in response to an earlier request from lawmakers, acting Inspector General Fred Gibson said in the letter. “We are expanding that work to include the CFPB’s canceled contracts.”

The letter confirms that key oversight arms of the U.S. government are now examining the whirlwind of activity at the bureau after Trump’s acting CFPB head Russell Vought took over in February. Vought told employees to halt work, while he and operatives from Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency sought to lay off most of the agency’s staff and end contracts with external providers.

That prompted Warren and Kim to ask the Fed inspector general and the Government Accountability Office to review the legality of Vought’s actions and the extent to which they hindered the CFPB’s mission. The GAO told the lawmakers in April that it would examine the matter.

“As Trump dismantles vital public services, an independent OIG investigation is essential to understand the damage done by this administration at the CFPB and ensure it can still fulfill its mandate to work on the people’s behalf and hold companies who try to cheat and scam them accountable,” Kim told CNBC in a statement.

The Fed IG office serves as an independent watchdog over both the Fed and the CFPB, and has the power to examine agency records, issue subpoenas and interview personnel. It can also refer criminal matters to the Department of Justice.

Soon after his inauguration, Trump fired more than 17 inspectors general across federal agencies. Spared in that purge was Michael Horowitz, the IG for the Justice Department since 2012, who this month was named the incoming watchdog for the Fed and CFPB.

Horowitz, who begins in his new role at the end of this month, was reportedly praised by Trump supporters for uncovering problems with the FBI’s handling of its probe into Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Meanwhile, the fate of the CFPB hinges on a looming decision from a federal appeals court. Judges temporarily halted Vought’s efforts to lay off employees, but are now considering the Trump administration’s appeal over its plans for the agency.

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BA, ORCLE, GME, VOYG and more

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GameStop shares tank on convertible bond offering to potentially buy more bitcoin

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A Gamestop store is seen in Union Square on April 4, 2025 in New York City. 

Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

GameStop shares slid on Thursday after the video game retailer and meme stock announced plans for a $1.75 billion convertible notes offering to potentially fund its new bitcoin purchase strategy.

The company said it intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, “including making investments in a manner consistent with GameStop’s Investment Policy and potential acquisitions.”

Part of the investment policy is to add cryptocurrencies on its balance sheet. Last month, GameStop bought 4,710 bitcoins, worth more than half a billion dollars.

The stock tanked more than 15% in premarket trading following the announcement.

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GameStop

GameStop is following in the footsteps of software company MicroStrategy, now known as Strategy, which bought billions of dollars worth of bitcoin in recent years to become the largest corporate holder of the flagship cryptocurrency. That decision prompted a rapid, albeit volatile, rise for Strategy’s stock.

Strategy has issued various forms of securities including convertible debt to fund its bitcoin purchases.

CEO Ryan Cohen recently said GameStop’s decision to buy bitcoin is driven by macro concerns as the digital coin, with its fixed supply and decentralized nature, could serve as protection against certain risks.

The brick-and-mortar retailer reported a decline in fiscal first-quarter revenue on Tuesday as demand for online gaming rose. Its revenue dropped 17% year-over-year to $732.4 million. 

The shares fell 6% on Wednesday after those results. Wall Street appears uncertain it can mimic the success of MicroStrategy.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter reiterated his underperform rating on GameStop Wednesday, saying the meme stock has consistently capitalized on “greater fools” willing to pay more than twice its asset value for its shares. The Wedbush analyst believes the bitcoin buying strategy makes little sense as the company, already trading at 2.4 times cash, isn’t likely to drive an even greater premium by converting more cash to crypto.

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