Coinbase Global ( COIN ) stock gained 4.1% in Tuesday premarket trading after the crypto exchange company announced a restructuring that will reduce its headcount by ~14%, another sign that AI is reshaping the corporate landscape. Co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong pointed to two reasons for taking the action now — market cyclicality and advances in artificial intelligence. "While we've managed th...
Coinbase Global ( COIN ) stock gained 4.1% in Tuesday premarket trading after the crypto exchange company announced a restructuring that will reduce its headcount by ~14%, another sign that AI is reshaping the corporate landscape. Co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong pointed to two reasons for taking the action now — market cyclicality and advances in artificial intelligence. "While we've managed through that cyclicality many times before and come out stronger on the other side, we’re currently in a down market and need to adjust our cost structure now so that we emerge from this period leaner, faster, and more efficient for our next phase of growth," Armstrong said. He also pointed to advances in AI as contributing to the downsizing. " The pace of what's possible with a small, focused team has changed dramatically, and it's accelerating every day," he wrote on the company's blog. The company will restructure into fewer layers to accelerate decision-making. Furthermore, Coinbase will no longer have "pure managers." Every leader at the company must also be a contributor, Armstrong said. "Managers should be like player-coaches, getting their hands dirty alongside their teams." The new structure will be concentrated around "AI-native talent who can manage fleets of agents to drive outsized impact," he said. The company will experiment with reduced pod sizes, including “one-person” teams with engineers, designers, and product managers in one role. "This is a new way of working, and we need to leverage AI across every facet of our jobs," Armstrong added. More on Coinbase Coinbase: Bitcoin's Rising Tide Masks A Retail Moat In Structural Decline Coinbase: The 16x EV/Adjusted Ebitda Valuation Remains Attractive Coinbase: Don't Enter Just Yet Crypto stocks inch up post news about compromise on key provision in crypto bill Bitcoin surge above $80K fuels rally in cryptocurrency-linked stocks
You can cook it in many ways without boiling water – grill, airfry, bake or even microwave I always blanch asparagus, but how else can I cook it? Joe, via email “Blanching captures that green, verdant nature of asparagus so well, and saves its minerality, too,” agrees Bart Stratfold of Timberyard in Edinburgh, but when the season is going full tilt, it’s just common sense to expand our horizons. F...
You can cook it in many ways without boiling water – grill, airfry, bake or even microwave I always blanch asparagus, but how else can I cook it? Joe, via email “Blanching captures that green, verdant nature of asparagus so well, and saves its minerality, too,” agrees Bart Stratfold of Timberyard in Edinburgh, but when the season is going full tilt, it’s just common sense to expand our horizons. For Billy Stock, chef/owner of the Wellington in Margate, that means salads, especially with spears that are really fresh: “Use a peeler to shave thin strips off the raw asparagus, and use them in a delicious variation on salade Niçoise.” Another approach would be the grill, Stratfold says: “Coat the spears in rapeseed oil, then grill on an excruciatingly high heat for just a few seconds, until they develop some char.” After that, he rolls them in a tray of vinegar or preserves: “At the restaurant, that’s usually sweet pickled elderflower and elderflower vinegar.” Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com Continue reading...
The US president’s retribution will be painful for Germany and Nato, but it makes crystal clear just why Europe’s reliance on the US is untenable What began as a spat between Friedrich Merz and Donald Trump over the Iran war is rapidly turning into a historic rupture between Germany and the US. Its significance is hard to overstate. In Germany, the transatlantic falling-out adds to the domestic wo...
The US president’s retribution will be painful for Germany and Nato, but it makes crystal clear just why Europe’s reliance on the US is untenable What began as a spat between Friedrich Merz and Donald Trump over the Iran war is rapidly turning into a historic rupture between Germany and the US. Its significance is hard to overstate. In Germany, the transatlantic falling-out adds to the domestic woes of a coalition government in crisis, overshadowing the first anniversary of Merz’s becoming chancellor tomorrow. More importantly, it proves the futility of Merz’s attempt to be Europe’s Trump-whisperer and puts Nato’s credibility into question. But the dispute also boosts the ambition that Germany’s conservative leader set out on the night of his party’s election victory: to make Europe more independent from the US security umbrella. Jörg Lau is an international correspondent for the German weekly Die Zeit Continue reading...
The supreme court has kicked the can down the road after a federal court sought to ban the mailing of mifepristone An event that ruined lives, degraded the citizenship of hundreds of millions, and permanently lowered the status of American women came and went four years ago, and American politics seems to have largely moved on. When the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022’s Dobbs decision,...
The supreme court has kicked the can down the road after a federal court sought to ban the mailing of mifepristone An event that ruined lives, degraded the citizenship of hundreds of millions, and permanently lowered the status of American women came and went four years ago, and American politics seems to have largely moved on. When the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022’s Dobbs decision, it fulfilled a decades-long project of the American right and made real a nightmare for women’s health and equality that feminists had dreaded for a generation. In the months that followed, protests were sporadic and largely moot: popular will, it had long become clear, had little bearing on abortion policy. Women began giving birth to babies they did not want, and dropping out of school and work to care for them – wasting their talents and abandoning their dreams. A flurry of court cases negotiating the impact of the court’s ruling in states across the country made abortion legal, then illegal, then legal again, then illegal again, with women’s ability to control their own lives flickering on and off like a dying lightbulb. Clinics that had served communities for years shut their doors, the world they had helped to build now extinguished by the justices. The new abortion bans are written in such draconian and expansive language that there are often no exceptions for rape or incest and only narrow, inscrutable legal permission for the life of the mother. Because of these bans, women died . Their names blazed across the headlines for a few days, then faded. The fact is that just four years after Dobbs, abortion has receded from the headlines and from the attention of many American voters. Part of this is because of legal reality: voter referendums on abortion, in states where they were possible, were mostly successful in protecting the right to choose, and those campaigns raised money and awareness about the issue. But that strategy was quickly exhausted; just about every s...
Bose Corp. announced a trio of products under a new “Lifestyle Collection” that’s intended to meld the company’s audio technologies and innovative engineering with elegant hardware, pitting it against familiar rivals like Sonos Inc. and Apple Inc. The lineup, consisting of the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker ($299), Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar ($1,099) and Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer ($899) is available to pre...
Bose Corp. announced a trio of products under a new “Lifestyle Collection” that’s intended to meld the company’s audio technologies and innovative engineering with elegant hardware, pitting it against familiar rivals like Sonos Inc. and Apple Inc. The lineup, consisting of the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker ($299), Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar ($1,099) and Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer ($899) is available to preorder beginning Tuesday and will be in stores May 15. The Lifestyle Ultra Speaker is the first premium third-party speaker to include built-in support for Amazon.com Inc.’s more conversational Alexa+ artificial intelligence assistant , which rolled out to Echo devices in early access last year. Bose is open to the idea of adding other AI agents to the device over time based on customer feedback, the Framingham, Massachusetts-based private company said during a media briefing. The speaker can play music over Bluetooth, via a line-in connection or through popular protocols like Apple AirPlay, Google Cast and Spotify Connect. Bose supports multiroom audio with its latest devices, but it’s not trying to be an intermediary between consumers and their preferred music services. Instead of making you use its own platform to play audio throughout the home, the Lifestyle Collection can be grouped together over AirPlay or Google Cast. Bose’s latest smart speaker has a fabric faceplate and comes in neutral color options — including a limited edition beige with a wood base — with touch controls at the top of the product. It outputs mono audio, but Bose’s proprietary digital signal processing has long been one of the company’s standout strengths, often squeezing surprisingly expansive sound out of smaller-sized enclosures. The smart speaker market isn’t as competitive as it once was. Amazon introduced a pair of new Echo speakers in 2025, but Apple has not updated its full-size HomePod in over three years. Alphabet Inc.’s Google still plans to ship its $100 Google Home Speaker this spring...
Italian cable maker Prysmian is scouting the market for a potential acquisition, Chief Executive Officer Massimo Battaini told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday. Potential targets could be similar in size to Encore Wire — acquired in 2024 — with an enterprise value of around €4 billion ($4.68 billion). Battaini spoke on "The Pulse with Francine Lacqua" on Bloomberg TV. (Source: Bloomberg)
Italian cable maker Prysmian is scouting the market for a potential acquisition, Chief Executive Officer Massimo Battaini told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday. Potential targets could be similar in size to Encore Wire — acquired in 2024 — with an enterprise value of around €4 billion ($4.68 billion). Battaini spoke on "The Pulse with Francine Lacqua" on Bloomberg TV. (Source: Bloomberg)
The Trump administration is seeking to ban large institutional investors from buying single-family homes to improve housing affordability. Proposed Senate legislation, part of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, would allow limited exceptions for large investors planning major renovations and others who operate build-to-rent communities. In both cases, investors would have to sell the homes with...
The Trump administration is seeking to ban large institutional investors from buying single-family homes to improve housing affordability. Proposed Senate legislation, part of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, would allow limited exceptions for large investors planning major renovations and others who operate build-to-rent communities. In both cases, investors would have to sell the homes within seven years. Will this bill become law? What could it mean for companies that own single-family r
Freight markets are tightening after a prolonged downturn, but the driver is shrinking capacity rather than rising demand. In this Talking Transports podcast, DAT Principal Analyst Dean Croke joins Bloomberg Intelligence senior transportation and logistics analyst Lee Klaskow to discuss how regulatory enforcement around driver qualifications, fraud and compliance is removing trucks from the market...
Freight markets are tightening after a prolonged downturn, but the driver is shrinking capacity rather than rising demand. In this Talking Transports podcast, DAT Principal Analyst Dean Croke joins Bloomberg Intelligence senior transportation and logistics analyst Lee Klaskow to discuss how regulatory enforcement around driver qualifications, fraud and compliance is removing trucks from the market. Spot rates in some lanes are up 20–25% year over year, with truck postings down about 30% and load
Markets have recently been driven by a narrow set of AI-linked winners, but as these trends become widely recognized, the challenge is identifying what opportunities remain and what is already priced in. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Dr. Ankur Crawford, executive vice president and portfolio mana...
Markets have recently been driven by a narrow set of AI-linked winners, but as these trends become widely recognized, the challenge is identifying what opportunities remain and what is already priced in. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, speaks with Dr. Ankur Crawford, executive vice president and portfolio manager at Alger, including the Alger Focus Equity Fund (ALGRX) and Alger Concentrated Equity ETF (CNEQ)
Enabling mid-market businesses to ramp up customer support and employee experience is Freshworks’ primary focus. The company is expanding its AI suite — AI Agents, AI Copilot and AI Insights — to handle a range of business tasks, from password resets to product returns, for its 75,000 customers. In this Tech Disruptors podcast episode, Freshworks CEO Dennis Woodside speaks with Bloomberg Intellige...
Enabling mid-market businesses to ramp up customer support and employee experience is Freshworks’ primary focus. The company is expanding its AI suite — AI Agents, AI Copilot and AI Insights — to handle a range of business tasks, from password resets to product returns, for its 75,000 customers. In this Tech Disruptors podcast episode, Freshworks CEO Dennis Woodside speaks with Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Niraj Patel about the company’s evolution from a small-business software provider to ser
Following the strong rebound in the S&P at the end of March, are there any compelling investment ideas out there that may have flown under your radar? Below is a list of April Buy recommendations made by analysts who had no other bullish recommendations over the past 3 months. For your directory assistance, we've classified the opportunities by sector. Healthcare Achieve Life Sciences ( ACHV ) - E...
Following the strong rebound in the S&P at the end of March, are there any compelling investment ideas out there that may have flown under your radar? Below is a list of April Buy recommendations made by analysts who had no other bullish recommendations over the past 3 months. For your directory assistance, we've classified the opportunities by sector. Healthcare Achieve Life Sciences ( ACHV ) - ELAM1 Consulting , which focuses on the healthcare sector, says the sell-off could be an opportunity to enter a high-risk, high-reward position, and a DCF analysis suggests a $10 target price upon approval; Cytisinicline demonstrates strong efficacy and a superior safety profile versus Chantix, supporting blockbuster potential in smoking cessation. - Achieve Life Sciences: The Recent Sell-Off Skews The Outcomes (Editor’s note: Shares have rallied since the article was published.). Universal Health Services ( UHS ) - Longtime analyst Thomas Lott says it trades at a decade-low valuation despite strong EPS growth and robust capital returns, while significant buybacks, cost controls, and AI-driven efficiencies provide technical and operational support. - Universal Health Services Is A Huge Bargain At 8x Earnings Vs. HCA At 16x . Regeneron Pharmaceuticals ( REGN ) - Value investors Derek Pitman & Betsy Yang say the market undervalues the future pipeline and innovation platform amidst competitive and regulatory headwinds while the valuation is revised to $1,230/sh, supported by a 15% FCF growth outlook and strong pipeline execution. - Regeneron: Catching Another Wind . Financials Eagle Point Credit ( ECC ) - Longtime analyst ACP Investor says the insider buying event serves as a notable catalyst for investor attention and possible revaluation and that it stands to benefit from the recent reversal in leveraged loan spreads. - Eagle Point Credit: Insiders Are Purchasing While NAV Is In Free Fall . Communications Anterix ( ATEX ) - Longtime analyst Fit Investment Ideas says the recen...
alexsl/iStock via Getty Images Introduction MFA Financial, Inc. ( MFA ), a leading specialty finance company, invests in residential mortgage loans, residential mortgage-backed securities, and other real estate assets. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Lima One Capital, originates and services business purpose loans for real estate investors. MFA is an internally managed, publicly traded real estate in...
alexsl/iStock via Getty Images Introduction MFA Financial, Inc. ( MFA ), a leading specialty finance company, invests in residential mortgage loans, residential mortgage-backed securities, and other real estate assets. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Lima One Capital, originates and services business purpose loans for real estate investors. MFA is an internally managed, publicly traded real estate investment trust. MFA offers both preferred stocks and Notes to investors. This article covers the two Notes from this mREIT: MFA Financial, Inc. 8.875% Senior Notes due 02/15/2029 ( MFAN ) MFA Financial, Inc. 9.00% Senior Notes due 08/15/2029 ( MFAO ). Considering the interest and Par coverage ratios, which are some of the best I have seen, especially for the yields available, both Notes get a Buy rating. MFA Financial Review Data by YCharts When the analysis focus is on preferred stocks or Notes, I always start with the issuer to gauge the level of non-payment risk investors might be accepting by owning those issues. Seeking Alpha describes this mREIT firm as (edited): MFA Financial, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate investment trust in the United States. It operates through two segments: Mortgage-Related Assets and Lima One. The Mortgage-Related Assets segment primarily invests in and manages a diversified portfolio of residential whole loans. This segment also invests in residential mortgage-backed securities, including agency MBS, non-agency MBS, and credit risk transfer securities. The Lima One segment includes a stand-alone mortgage origination and servicing business; and originates and services business purpose loans for real estate investors, and related mortgage banking activities. The company’s investment activities through a combination of securitization transactions, term loan warehouse financing and repurchase agreement financing. The company qualifies as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. MFA Financial,...
Getty Images Co-authored by Kody's Dividends Value investing is frequently misunderstood as the quest for the “cheapest” stock on the board. As Berkshire Hathaway’s legendary chairman, Warren Buffett, puts it, though, the true objective is identifying a wonderful business at a fair price. When a market leader with an A-rated credit profile and a trajectory of nearly double-digit earnings growth tr...
Getty Images Co-authored by Kody's Dividends Value investing is frequently misunderstood as the quest for the “cheapest” stock on the board. As Berkshire Hathaway’s legendary chairman, Warren Buffett, puts it, though, the true objective is identifying a wonderful business at a fair price. When a market leader with an A-rated credit profile and a trajectory of nearly double-digit earnings growth trades at a discount to its intrinsic value, the math for total returns becomes enough to grab our attention. By finding these opportunities before the broader market fully prices in their structural transformations, investors can position themselves for a unique trifecta: High starting income, vigorous dividend growth, and ample capital appreciation. That brings us to our focus for today, which is Philip Morris International ( PM ). When we last covered PM with a "Buy" rating in December , we were encouraged by the growing smoke-free product mix. The company’s A- S&P credit rating was another plus. At the time, shares were also marginally undervalued. Four months later, we’re reiterating our "Buy" rating. The company remains on pace to achieve its smoke-free ambitions. PM is also on track to reach its 2x leverage target by the end of 2026, which could prompt a rating upgrade from S&P. With fundamentals running ahead of sentiment, shares have also become a slightly better value in recent months. The Growth Engine Is Humming Along PM Q1 2026 Earnings Presentation On April 22, PM shared its earnings report for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026. The company’s net revenue surged 9.1% over the year-ago period to $10.15 billion during the quarter. For more color, that topped the analyst consensus in the quarter by $239 million . This was the 15th quarter out of the past 20 that PM surpassed analysts’ topline expectations. What contributed to the company’s topline beat? The catalyst for PM’s impressive topline growth was a combination of high-octane growth in its International ...
J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images The escalation It appears that the ceasefire in the Middle East is collapsing. The US is attempting to reopen the Strait of Hormuz via force under the pretense of the Project Freedom. Iran seems determined to keep the Hormuz closed. The negotiations have stalled. Iran has not hit the US Navy ships directly, but it has apparently fired towards the US ships, ...
J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images The escalation It appears that the ceasefire in the Middle East is collapsing. The US is attempting to reopen the Strait of Hormuz via force under the pretense of the Project Freedom. Iran seems determined to keep the Hormuz closed. The negotiations have stalled. Iran has not hit the US Navy ships directly, but it has apparently fired towards the US ships, and it has attacked several commercial ships. The US has destroyed seven Iranian "fast boats". Most importantly, Iran has attacked UAE, and the energy infrastructure. Although, the ceasefire technically still holds, practically the ceasefire has collapsed. As the Project Freedom continues, it's likely that the situation will further escalate. What does this mean for the markets? It means that the Hormuz double blockade is likely to extend, and that means the energy supply shock is likely to intensify over the summer, as global energy reserves dwindle. That means that we are likely to have a major inflationary shock first, which will be followed by a demand-destruction recession. This will have to result in earnings downgrade and a bear market for the S&P 500 ( SP500 ). So, that's the outlook. Let's see what the cross-asset macro picture is pricing. The oil market The oil market reacted very differently to the Project Freedom escalation on May 4th. The previous episodes of escalation have resulted in the spike in front month oil futures, without any major reaction in the distant oil futures months. That reaction is consistent with the expectations of short-term oil supply disruption, which markets can ignore. However, on May 4th, all oil futures contracts increased by around $3-4/barrel, and that's very unusual. Look at the table below, the June 2025 contract increased by $2.97, while December 2025 contract increased by more $3.69, and look at the January 2028 contract, it went up by $2.48/barrel. What does this mean? The oil market is pricing a long-term disruption oil supp...
07LEO/iStock via Getty Images High yield and investment grade munis behave differently in ways that matter. Understanding the credit profiles, yield trade-offs, and tax advantages of each is key to building a smarter muni allocation. What Is the Difference Between High Yield and Investment Grade Munis? The muni market divides into two broad credit tiers. Investment grade bonds carry ratings of BBB...
07LEO/iStock via Getty Images High yield and investment grade munis behave differently in ways that matter. Understanding the credit profiles, yield trade-offs, and tax advantages of each is key to building a smarter muni allocation. What Is the Difference Between High Yield and Investment Grade Munis? The muni market divides into two broad credit tiers. Investment grade bonds carry ratings of BBB- or higher, signaling strong capacity to service debt. These come from the issuers like established state and local governments, essential-service utilities, and agencies with long, stable revenue histories. High yield munis sit below that line, rated below BBB- or unrated entirely. The issues here look different. Charter schools, senior living facilities, land development projects, and special-purpose entities. Creditworthiness depends less on taxing authority and more on project-level cash flows. The trade-off is straightforward: more credit risk, more yield. Source: SIFMA. As of April 2026. How Does Credit Quality Affect Yield and After-Tax Income? The basic mechanics are that lower credit quality means higher yield. But in the muni market, the tax exemption amplifies the math in a way that makes high yield munis stand out relative to taxable alternatives. A high yield muni fund yielding 5% tax-free may translate to a taxable-equivalent yield north of 8% for an investor in the top federal bracket, and potentially higher once state tax savings are factored in. Investment grade munis offer lower nominal yield, but they still look competitive on a tax-equivalent basis against taxable bonds of similar credit quality. The question for most investors is how much incremental yield they need and how much credit risk they’re willing to take to get it. Tax-Equivalent Yields by Federal Tax Bracket Source: Charles Schwab, December 4, 2025. Lord Abbett, April 14, 2026. For illustrative purposes only. Tax-equivalent yield = nominal yield / (1 - marginal tax rate). Nominal yields are ...
The new Bose Ultra Speaker can be used individually, as a stereo pair, or as the rear speakers in an Atmos setup. Last Thursday, in a staged home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, I sat on a couch that was a bit too low and a tad too deep in front of a small, beige-colored smart speaker sitting on the middle of a trio of arched midcentury storage cabinets. On either side of the smart speaker sa...
The new Bose Ultra Speaker can be used individually, as a stereo pair, or as the rear speakers in an Atmos setup. Last Thursday, in a staged home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, I sat on a couch that was a bit too low and a tad too deep in front of a small, beige-colored smart speaker sitting on the middle of a trio of arched midcentury storage cabinets. On either side of the smart speaker sat two tall curved white screens. The speaker was the new $299 Lifestyle Ultra, Bose's answer to the Sonos Era 100. Alongside a $1,099 Ultra soundbar and $899 subwoofer, it's one of three new home audio products the company announced today, all of which seem to be gunning directly for Sonos - hopefully minus that company's recent missteps. I heard all three at … Read the full story at The Verge.