A confrontation between a foreign tourist and residents on a popular Indonesian holiday island has reignited debate over the regulation of mosque loudspeakers in the Muslim-majority country. The dispute, involving a New Zealand national on Gili Trawangan, has drawn fresh attention to whether related government guidelines on the use of such speakers should instead become a binding law. On February ...
A confrontation between a foreign tourist and residents on a popular Indonesian holiday island has reignited debate over the regulation of mosque loudspeakers in the Muslim-majority country. The dispute, involving a New Zealand national on Gili Trawangan, has drawn fresh attention to whether related government guidelines on the use of such speakers should instead become a binding law. On February 18, the woman disrupted a Koran recitation night session at a musalla – a small prayer room – near...
While there are literally millions of different cryptocurrencies, only a tiny percentage of them have been around for more than a decade. And of those, only a handful have shown the type of consistent, year-over-year upside potential to consider making them part of a long-term buy-and-hold portfolio . Here's a closer look at two top cryptocurrencies worth holding onto for the long haul. While ther...
While there are literally millions of different cryptocurrencies, only a tiny percentage of them have been around for more than a decade. And of those, only a handful have shown the type of consistent, year-over-year upside potential to consider making them part of a long-term buy-and-hold portfolio . Here's a closer look at two top cryptocurrencies worth holding onto for the long haul. While there may be considerable volatility with them on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis, you can safely hold onto them for decades. The obvious pick, of course, is Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) . It's the oldest, largest, and best-known cryptocurrency. It is typically the first cryptocurrency in any portfolio, and it has become a favorite of both retail and institutional investors. Continue reading
In a nearly two-hour speech that was full of bombast, confrontation and ceremony, US President Donald Trump had serious words of warning about Iran. Iranian officials are “again pursuing their sinister ambitions” after US airstrikes devastated the country’s nuclear program last year, Trump said in his State of the Union address. “They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: ‘...
In a nearly two-hour speech that was full of bombast, confrontation and ceremony, US President Donald Trump had serious words of warning about Iran. Iranian officials are “again pursuing their sinister ambitions” after US airstrikes devastated the country’s nuclear program last year, Trump said in his State of the Union address. “They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon,’” he added. “We wiped it out, and they want to start all over again.” His comments add to speculation the US is preparing for a fresh round of military strikes in the coming days, backed by a massive military buildup in the Middle East over the last few weeks. Iran has long argued that its nuclear program is for purely peaceful purposes. In a social media post earlier Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country will “under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon.” For now the prospect of a deal remains on the table. Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are set for a new round of talks with Iranian officials in Geneva on Thursday. For much of the rest of his speech, Trump sought to sell Americans on his economic program ahead of crucial midterm elections later this year. He had no fresh policy ideas to address the cost of living, but instead touted a singular point: Everything is going great. The question is whether that message resonates with voters beyond his “Make America Great Again” base. What You Need to Know Today Panic over the AI scare trade may have ebbed for now, with global stocks rising, but plenty of tension remains. Nvidia is facing a high-stakes moment with its latest quarterly results due after the close. The AI bellwether has been underperforming semiconductor peers in recent months, a trend that has coincided with the Nasdaq 100 failing to hit new highs for nearly four months and a rotation away from technology stocks. Adding to the wariness over AI, Anthropic, known for ...
Emerging-market stocks and currencies climbed to fresh records on Wednesday, with the latest Asian tech gains lifting South Korea’s bourse to the world’s ninth largest, topping both France and Germany. Indian information technology shares also rebounded after hitting 30-week lows on back of a Citrini Research report that predicted widespread job losses linked to AI adoption. The relief came after ...
Emerging-market stocks and currencies climbed to fresh records on Wednesday, with the latest Asian tech gains lifting South Korea’s bourse to the world’s ninth largest, topping both France and Germany. Indian information technology shares also rebounded after hitting 30-week lows on back of a Citrini Research report that predicted widespread job losses linked to AI adoption. The relief came after Anthropic PBC, the startup whose tools partly drove recent market selloffs, signaled its Claude chatbot integrates rather than displaces existing systems. Tech shares in Taiwan and South Korea, on the other hand, are seen benefiting from ever-increasing tech spending. MSCI’s technology sub-index rose 2.6% on Wednesday, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. That took MSCI’s emerging stock index 1.3% higher to new record high, extending year-to-date gains to 15%. South Korea’s stock market now has a $3.76 trillion valuation, having added roughly $2.2 trillion this year, according to Bloomberg-compiled data as of Tuesday. The benchmark Kospi index has jumped about 44% and is the world’s best-performing stock market this year. Christy Tan and Marcus Weyerer at Franklin Templeton predicted the rally to extend even further if governance and shareholder focus improve. “Korea appears fully priced in a headline rally, yet it remains structurally undervalued beneath the surface,” they wrote, adding the market could re-rate further “if policy stability holds and corporates institutionalise shareholder returns.” Investors also snapped up Taiwanese stocks, in their biggest one-day buying spree in two decades. Emerging currencies also extended gains as the dollar remained under pressure. MSCI’s emerging currency index is now 1.6% higher year-to-date. The Korean won rallied 0.4%, bolstered by equity inflows, while China’s onshore yuan extended its longest winning streak in over 15 years. The Thai baht underperformed after a surprise rate cut by the Bank...
(RTTNews) - Positive sentiment returned to the German equity markets on Wednesday amidst an easing in global worries surrounding AI as well as trade tariffs. The DAX benchmark that tracks the performance of the 40 largest companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange rebounded
(RTTNews) - Positive sentiment returned to the German equity markets on Wednesday amidst an easing in global worries surrounding AI as well as trade tariffs. The DAX benchmark that tracks the performance of the 40 largest companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange rebounded
Richard Liu, founder of China’s retail giant JD.com, has launched a nautical brand to build out the country’s yacht industry, riding a wave of policy support to tap a fast-growing domestic market and make the vessels – traditionally associated with affluence and luxury – accessible to “everyday consumers”. Liu’s brand, Sea Expandary, signed a strategic framework agreement on Tuesday with the coast...
Richard Liu, founder of China’s retail giant JD.com, has launched a nautical brand to build out the country’s yacht industry, riding a wave of policy support to tap a fast-growing domestic market and make the vessels – traditionally associated with affluence and luxury – accessible to “everyday consumers”. Liu’s brand, Sea Expandary, signed a strategic framework agreement on Tuesday with the coastal city of Zhuhai in Guangdong, China’s southern powerhouse province, for a high-end yacht...
hepjam/iStock via Getty Images Right now, commodities are being driven by fast-moving catalysts that continue to create compelling opportunities across the sector. Supply chain realignments, shifting geopolitical dynamics, and technical market drivers are introducing pockets of near-term volatility, but they may also offer attractive entry points. Taken together, these factors reinforce the case f...
hepjam/iStock via Getty Images Right now, commodities are being driven by fast-moving catalysts that continue to create compelling opportunities across the sector. Supply chain realignments, shifting geopolitical dynamics, and technical market drivers are introducing pockets of near-term volatility, but they may also offer attractive entry points. Taken together, these factors reinforce the case for commodities as both a long-term strategic allocation and a source of tactical opportunity. Gold: Supportive long-term momentum In precious metals, gold has been consolidating around the $5,000-per-ounce level following a sharp pullback, 1 yet the broader trend remains constructive. China’s central bank logged its fifteenth consecutive month of gold purchases in January, and regulators continue encouraging institutions to limit or reduce exposure to US Treasuries. Importantly, markets largely view the recent correction as a healthy consolidation within an ongoing uptrend, with long-term drivers - like persistent central bank buying, gradual de-dollarization, and consistent safe haven demand - all still firmly in place. Energy: Volatility from US-Iran negotiations Energy markets remain headline-driven as investors follow developments in US-Iran negotiations. With diplomacy uncertain, markets have shifted into a wait-and-see mode, pricing in the risk that tensions could rise if talks stall. The US has increased its military presence in the region, contributing to the spike in crude volatility seen in early February. Meanwhile, India’s pivot away from Russian crude toward greater cooperation with the US could tighten Western oil markets. Still, Russian seaborne exports remain resilient, supported by strong Chinese demand. Base metals: Seasonal lag tempers long-term bulls Across base metals, volatility persists, but the medium-term outlook is still constructive. Temporary softness from Chinese buyers is cyclical, not structural, and key demand drivers like electrification, gr...
JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images A Collapse For The Ages After publishing my research on PayPal ( PYPL ) earlier this month, I now turn my attention to Fiserv ( FISV ), another key player in the global payment ecosystem. Similar to PayPal, Fiserv's shares have also been under significant selling pressure lately, including a massive 44% daily collapse triggered by the release of Q3-25 ea...
JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images A Collapse For The Ages After publishing my research on PayPal ( PYPL ) earlier this month, I now turn my attention to Fiserv ( FISV ), another key player in the global payment ecosystem. Similar to PayPal, Fiserv's shares have also been under significant selling pressure lately, including a massive 44% daily collapse triggered by the release of Q3-25 earnings at the end of October 2025. After reaching an all-time high of $238.59 almost exactly a year ago, Fiserv is now trading below $60.00 per share, or the equivalent of a ~75% year-over-year decline. There was a lot of enthusiasm around Fiserv when it was trading at all-time highs, and now, few investors are willing to touch it. It is impressive how things can change in a single year. It is fair to say that enthusiasm has now transformed into widespread pessimism, and it is precisely why I am writing about FISV today. Fiserv Historical Share Price (Questrade, David Desjardins) Organic Revenue Growth Revision Before talking about what is going on at Fiserv today, I think it is important to rewind a few months and understand what happened during last October's earnings release. First of all, Fiserv reported organic revenue growth of only +1.0% during the third quarter of 2025, which was well below the company's organic revenue growth guidance of ~10% reaffirmed in the prior quarter. Management ultimately revised the organic revenue growth guidance for 2025 to between +3.5% and +4.0%, and that did not send a positive signal about 2026 either. Looking at the Q4-25 results released in early February 2026, we can see that Fiserv now expects organic revenue growth between +1.0% and +3.0% in 2026, as illustrated below. That includes mid-single-digit growth in the ' Merchant Solutions ' segment in addition to flat to slightly down organic revenue growth in the ' Financial Solutions ' segment. Fiserv 2026 Guidance (Q4-25 Presentation) Clover's Heydays Are Behind Us The key differe...
Songkran Bunwareerakphrai /iStock via Getty Images By Lee Clements, Head of Applied Sustainable Investment Research | Stephanie Maier, Global Head of Sustainable Investment, FTSE Russell Each year for the last eight years, FTSE Russell has undertaken an in-depth survey of the attitudes of asset owners towards sustainable investment. This year, 415 investors from 24 countries around the world answe...
Songkran Bunwareerakphrai /iStock via Getty Images By Lee Clements, Head of Applied Sustainable Investment Research | Stephanie Maier, Global Head of Sustainable Investment, FTSE Russell Each year for the last eight years, FTSE Russell has undertaken an in-depth survey of the attitudes of asset owners towards sustainable investment. This year, 415 investors from 24 countries around the world answered almost 70 questions on their thinking about sustainable investment, how they are implementing it across different asset classes, and what barriers and obstacles they see to its greater uptake. In December, we released our report summarising some of the key findings from the survey and published a blog reflecting on them. But, understandably, that report could only scratch the surface of a trove of often very granular information about the philosophy and practice of sustainable investment according to these 415 asset owners. In particular, the data shows how sustainable investment is evolving differently around the world – and where the market for sustainable finance is becoming more harmonised. Below, we dig further into the survey’s regional data. APAC continues to rise Historically, the Asia-Pacific region lagged Europe and North America in its embrace of sustainable investment. A less well-developed regulatory environment and economic priorities oriented towards industrial development meant that investors tended to be less focused on sustainable investment practice. That has now squarely changed. In this year’s survey, 79% of respondents from the region said they are implementing sustainability considerations in some form compared with 74% in Europe and 71% in North America. Implementing Sustainable Investment (% of asset owners) Source: FTSE Russell Sustainable Investment Asset Owner Survey 2025. Past performance is not a guide to future returns. Please see the end for important legal disclosures. The drivers are numerous. Clearly, China’s massive investments in cle...
J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images Originally published on February 20, 2026 By Nick Niziolek, CFA & Dennis Cogan, CFA Executive Summary Artificial intelligence is not a technology trend—we believe it is a structural force reshaping capital flows, business models, and the very frameworks investors use to categorize the opportunity set. The unprecedented scale of AI-related capital expenditur...
J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images Originally published on February 20, 2026 By Nick Niziolek, CFA & Dennis Cogan, CFA Executive Summary Artificial intelligence is not a technology trend—we believe it is a structural force reshaping capital flows, business models, and the very frameworks investors use to categorize the opportunity set. The unprecedented scale of AI-related capital expenditure, now projected to exceed $750 billion among the top five hyperscalers alone in 2026, is creating winners and losers across every sector of the global economy. Traditional approaches to equity investing are anchored in backward-looking sector classifications and static factor tilts and are increasingly inadequate for navigating this environment. This paper argues that a thematic, actively managed approach is not only better suited to capture the AI-driven opportunity set but also essential for managing the risks that accompany this transformation. I. The Scale of the AI Investment Cycle The magnitude of capital being deployed into AI infrastructure is without historical parallel in the technology sector. According to CreditSights, the top five hyperscalers—Amazon ( AMZN ), Microsoft ( MSFT ), Alphabet ( GOOGL ), Meta ( META ), and Oracle ( ORCL )—are projected to spend approximately $750 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, a roughly 67% year-over-year increase and the third consecutive year of growth exceeding 60%. Approximately 75% of that spending is directed toward AI-specific infrastructure: GPUs, servers, data centers, and related equipment. Compared to previous technology cycles, AI is an even more far-reaching theme with investment implications for companies across all global industries. To put this in context, current AI-related capital spending amounts to roughly 0.8% of US GDP. Goldman Sachs Research points out that prior technology investment booms over the past 150 years have peaked at 1.5% of GDP or higher, suggesting meaningful room for further growth in...
Corporate America just delivered one of the strongest earnings seasons in recent memory, but you wouldn’t know it looking at the stock market. Companies in the S&P 500 grew earnings by 13% in the fourth quarter, almost six percentage points better than expected. They also served up optimism about the coming year. The number of firms in the Russell 3000 Index that raised guidance outstripped those ...
Corporate America just delivered one of the strongest earnings seasons in recent memory, but you wouldn’t know it looking at the stock market. Companies in the S&P 500 grew earnings by 13% in the fourth quarter, almost six percentage points better than expected. They also served up optimism about the coming year. The number of firms in the Russell 3000 Index that raised guidance outstripped those cutting it by four to one — a level last seen in the aftermath of recessions or after the 2018 tax reform, according to Jefferies Financial Group Inc. data. And yet, in the six weeks bookended by reports from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Walmart Inc. , the S&P 500 fell 1.7% — tied for the worst performance during earnings in the past 10 quarters. Part of the problem arises from where stocks were when earnings started — essentially at a record thanks to bets on artificial intelligence and signs of solid consumer spending. More alarming, though, has been the swirl of uncertainty that has disoriented investors in recent weeks. The monolithic AI trade, where everything went straight up, morphed into a hunt for winners and losers before shifting again into what’s being called the “scare trade” — a rapid repricing of industries thought to be vulnerable to the technology’s applications. At the same time, the likelihood of a US invasion of Iran and the implications for the global energy market have forced some investors into safer bets. Trouble at Blue Owl Capital Inc. has also sparked worries over private credit firms . “Perhaps we are in a buy the rumor, sell the news era for markets, where the big AI/Magnificent Seven bull run over the past three years has driven up expectations to a fever pitch,” Michael Bailey , director of research at Fulton Breakefield Broenniman, said about the disconnect between earnings success and market moves. “In other words, a ‘beat and raise’ quarter is now table stakes, rather than a reason to celebrate.” Results have been solid but uncertainty around e...
Gong , the revenue intelligence company that has spent a decade turning recorded sales calls into data, today launched what it calls Mission Andromeda — its most ambitious platform release to date, bundling a new AI-powered coaching product, a sales-focused chatbot, unified account management tools, and open interoperability with rival AI systems through the Model Context Protocol . The release ar...
Gong , the revenue intelligence company that has spent a decade turning recorded sales calls into data, today launched what it calls Mission Andromeda — its most ambitious platform release to date, bundling a new AI-powered coaching product, a sales-focused chatbot, unified account management tools, and open interoperability with rival AI systems through the Model Context Protocol . The release arrives at a pivotal moment. The revenue technology market is consolidating at a pace that would have been unthinkable two years ago, and Gong — still a private company with roughly $300 million in annual recurring revenue — finds itself at the center of a category that Gartner only formally defined three months ago. Mission Andromeda is Gong's answer to a basic question facing every enterprise AI vendor in 2026: Can you move beyond surfacing insights and actually change how people work? "The whole show, Andromeda, is basically a collection of very significant capabilities that take us a huge step forward," Eilon Reshef, Gong's co-founder and chief product officer, told VentureBeat in an interview ahead of the launch. He described it as an effort to make revenue teams "more productive as individuals" and to give leaders "better decisions" — positioning the release not as a feature dump, but as an operating system upgrade. The new products target every layer of the sales workflow, from coaching to account management Mission Andromeda contains four main components, each targeting a different layer of the sales workflow. The headliner is Gong Enable , a brand-new product with its own pricing tier — Reshef described it as "in the tens of dollars per seat per month" — that attacks what the company sees as a gaping hole in most sales organizations: the disconnect between training and performance. Highspot and Seismic announced their intent to merge in February 2026, creating a combined enablement giant, and Gong is now moving directly onto their turf. Gong Enable has three pieces. ...
Donald Trump ’s State of the Union speech was the first time in two decades a US president didn’t directly mention China in the annual speech to Congress, despite Tuesday’s address being the longest in modern history. Trump used the nearly two-hour speech at the US Capitol to focus on domestic issues and paint a rosy picture of the economy under his leadership. He skipped references to the US’s ec...
Donald Trump ’s State of the Union speech was the first time in two decades a US president didn’t directly mention China in the annual speech to Congress, despite Tuesday’s address being the longest in modern history. Trump used the nearly two-hour speech at the US Capitol to focus on domestic issues and paint a rosy picture of the economy under his leadership. He skipped references to the US’s economic competition with China, which have been included in many of the annual presidential speeches to Congress given by former Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama , George W. Bush — and Trump last year and during his first White House term. The last time China didn’t get an explicit shout out was 2005 when Bush was president. Tuesday’s address, however, did include a passing reference to the world’s second largest economy. Trump, while honoring Army helicopter pilot Eric Slover, mentioned that Chinese military technology was used to fortify Venezuelan strongman’s Nicolas Maduro ’s compound. “Eric steered the Chinook under the cover of night and descended swiftly upon Maduros’ heavily protected military fortress,” Trump said. “This was a major military installation protected by thousands of soldiers and guarded by Russian and Chinese military technology.” It’s not clear why Trump didn’t address the US’s economic ties with China, but the timing of the omission is notable. He is planning to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in late March, the first trip by an American president since Trump’s last visit in 2017. Trump has repeatedly touted his excellent relationship with Xi, and has said he is eager to discuss trade and business investment between the two countries with the the Chinese leader. But Trump’s leverage heading in the meeting is widely seen as being undercut by a recent Supreme Court ruling that limits his ability to impose and withdraw tariffs at-will. That legal loss has destabilized Trump’s economic agenda and restricts him from quickly and unilaterally...