Microsoft said Friday it will invest $10 billion in Japan over the next four years to build artificial intelligence data centres and related infrastructure.On Tuesday, the company announced plans to invest more than $1 billion in cloud and AI data centre infrastructure and operations in Thailand over the next two years. nf/kaf/abs
Microsoft said Friday it will invest $10 billion in Japan over the next four years to build artificial intelligence data centres and related infrastructure.On Tuesday, the company announced plans to invest more than $1 billion in cloud and AI data centre infrastructure and operations in Thailand over the next two years. nf/kaf/abs
liorpt/iStock via Getty Images Knot Offshore Partners LP Common Units ( KNOP ) have really not participated in the recent rally caused by higher oil and gas prices. The stock price is up from the last article as this industry has its own recovery underway that is different from upstream. This article will attempt to further delineate what is going on with the cyclical recovery. The strong buy is l...
liorpt/iStock via Getty Images Knot Offshore Partners LP Common Units ( KNOP ) have really not participated in the recent rally caused by higher oil and gas prices. The stock price is up from the last article as this industry has its own recovery underway that is different from upstream. This article will attempt to further delineate what is going on with the cyclical recovery. The strong buy is likely still merited until the recovery is well underway. Knot is in the business of essentially providing some needed services or assets to the offshore industry. That industry is currently experiencing the beginning of a recovery that r esulted in an offer to essentially take the company private by its parent company. Anyone following Ken Fischer's books on " Super Stocks " or David Dreman's " Contrarian Investment " series of books can easily summarize that insiders often make an acquisition offer either before a downturn bottom or right after the downturn. It is a very common event. In this case, the offer came from the controlling company which knows the business extremely well (cyclical nature and all). The thing to realize about any offer is that the party making the offer expects to make a profit. In this case, the party making the offer is very knowledgeable about a business that it essentially manages for the shareholders. This implies that the common units got so cheap that the company could make an offer to buy the stock and still make a profit in the future. In simple terms, the stock got too cheap due to some sort of market miscalculation about the value of the shares. That miscalculation (or valuation disagreement) resulted in an offer to take the company private. Obviously, the offer did not go through. Someone else (hopefully a lot of someone "elses") realized that there was a market valuation issue compared to the outlook of the company and a potential valuation of the stock going forward. Oftentimes the market tries to value a stock on the average profitab...
claffra/iStock via Getty Images By Zain Vawda As the market gears up for the April 3rd Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) release, the narrative has shifted significantly. We are no longer just looking at "hot" or "cold" labor data; we are looking at a Federal Reserve caught between a rock and a hard place, balancing a cooling labor market against a geopolitical oil shock that is threatening to reignite infl...
claffra/iStock via Getty Images By Zain Vawda As the market gears up for the April 3rd Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) release, the narrative has shifted significantly. We are no longer just looking at "hot" or "cold" labor data; we are looking at a Federal Reserve caught between a rock and a hard place, balancing a cooling labor market against a geopolitical oil shock that is threatening to reignite inflation. Looking at the labor market picture, the chart below shows that firms were not even willing to to hire before the crisis began. Source: ING, Macrobond Following a jarring February print that saw a decline of 92,000 jobs, the consensus for March is looking for a modest recovery. However, with "Operation Epic Fury" in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz pushing Brent crude back above $100, the Fed’s focus has pivotally shifted from "supporting growth" back to "fighting energy-driven inflation." The numbers to watch Headline NFP: Consensus sits around +50,000 to +65,000. While a rebound from February’s contraction, this remains a historically sluggish figure. Unemployment Rate: Expected to hold steady or edge up slightly to 4.4% or 4.5%. Average Hourly Earnings (m/m): Forecasted at +0.3% to +0.4%. This is the "danger zone" - if wages remain sticky while jobs growth slows, the "stagflation" narrative will gain serious legs. US Economic Data Releases - Friday, April 3, 2026 (MarketPulse Economic Calendar) Market Implications: The "Three-Way" Split 1. The US Dollar Index ( DXY ): Testing the Ceiling The DXY has been oscillating within a 95.50-100.50 range, largely buoyed by safe haven flows. Bullish Scenario (NFP > 100k): A surprise beat would confirm the "war economy's" resilience. Traders would likely price out any remaining 2026 rate cuts, propelling the DXY toward the 100.40–100.50 resistance barrier. Bearish Scenario (NFP < 30k): A significant miss would validate "hard landing" fears. We could see the DXY retreat toward the 98.00 support level as m...
The Cuban government said the pardons were a "humanitarian gesture" in connection with Holy Week and didn't mention mounting pressures with the U.S. (Image credit: Ramon Espinosa)
The Cuban government said the pardons were a "humanitarian gesture" in connection with Holy Week and didn't mention mounting pressures with the U.S. (Image credit: Ramon Espinosa)
Nike (NYSE: NKE) published results for its fiscal third quarter, which ended Feb. 28, after the market closed on March 31. For its Q3, the company posted earnings that were significantly better than the average Wall Street analyst estimate, on currency-adjusted sales that were roughly in line with the forecast. The footwear-and-apparel giant posted earnings per share of $0.35 on approximately $11....
Nike (NYSE: NKE) published results for its fiscal third quarter, which ended Feb. 28, after the market closed on March 31. For its Q3, the company posted earnings that were significantly better than the average Wall Street analyst estimate, on currency-adjusted sales that were roughly in line with the forecast. The footwear-and-apparel giant posted earnings per share of $0.35 on approximately $11.3 billion in sales, beating Wall Street's forecast for per-share earnings of $0.28 on roughly the same amount of revenue. While Nike's overall revenue was down approximately 3% on a currency-adjusted basis in fiscal Q3, it's the performance of and forward guidance for the company's Greater China segment that really stood out. Segment revenue was down 10% year over year on a currency-adjusted basis in fiscal Q3, but management actually guided for sales to fall roughly 20% on an annual basis in the current quarter. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
Hi, this is Allen Wan in Shanghai. China has so far proved surprisingly resilient throughout the Middle East crisis. Its export-oriented economy expanded in March for the first time this year, and Chinese stocks have outperformed their global peers since the US and Israel launched their assault on Iran in late February. Some Chinese companies are boosting prices, while others are turning profitabl...
Hi, this is Allen Wan in Shanghai. China has so far proved surprisingly resilient throughout the Middle East crisis. Its export-oriented economy expanded in March for the first time this year, and Chinese stocks have outperformed their global peers since the US and Israel launched their assault on Iran in late February. Some Chinese companies are boosting prices, while others are turning profitable for the first time. Even the country’s record-long streak of deflation is on the verge of ending , helped by surging energy costs. The Iran war has highlighted China’s efforts to bulletproof its economy by building up its oil reserves, rapidly adopting renewable energy and diversifying its export economy. Besides exporting more AI, the nation has been selling more goods to places like India, Southeast Asia and the European Union to achieve a record trade surplus last year. In the UK, sales of cheaper China-made goods grew more than three times as fast as in 2025 during the first two months of this year, helping to keep that country’s inflation in check. In the world of stocks, equity benchmarks in South Korea, Japan and India are down about 10% since the advent of the conflict, while China’s gauge has fallen around 5.5% over the same period. That suggests equities may be becoming a safe haven. A growing number of global banks have turned more upbeat, with Goldman Sachs saying the market is better placed than most to withstand oil shocks. “The Chinese market has been weathering the war better than its neighbors, and the economic performance has been better than expected,” said Hao Hong, chief investment officer of Lotus Asset Management in Hong Kong. “That said, war is weighing down the world and there would be no escape for China if the conflict drags on. ” It’s the country’s investment in clean energy such as batteries, solar panels and electric vehicles that is paying dividends during the oil crisis. In Europe, Chinese automakers are regaining their mojo, with their sha...