The meltdown in Maine’s Senate race risks the Democrats’ opportunity to turn Trump into a lame duck president. Two years ago Democrats had one job: stop Donald Trump from returning to the White House. It was the only thing that mattered, but with breathtaking political malpractice, they imploded. This November Democrats have two jobs: win the House of Representatives and win the Senate to turn Tru...
The meltdown in Maine’s Senate race risks the Democrats’ opportunity to turn Trump into a lame duck president. Two years ago Democrats had one job: stop Donald Trump from returning to the White House. It was the only thing that mattered, but with breathtaking political malpractice, they imploded. This November Democrats have two jobs: win the House of Representatives and win the Senate to turn Trump into a lame duck president for his final two years. But once again the party, fond of warning that the stakes are existential, is in grave danger of blowing it. Continue reading...
How The Global Economy Became The World's Most Dangerous Battlefield Authored by Madge Waggy , The twenty-first century has introduced a form of confrontation that rarely appears on television screens, is seldom announced through diplomatic declarations, and almost never begins with the spectacle traditionally associated with war. Its progression is quieter, considerably more sophisticated, and ar...
How The Global Economy Became The World's Most Dangerous Battlefield Authored by Madge Waggy , The twenty-first century has introduced a form of confrontation that rarely appears on television screens, is seldom announced through diplomatic declarations, and almost never begins with the spectacle traditionally associated with war. Its progression is quieter, considerably more sophisticated, and arguably more consequential than many conventional conflicts because its primary objective is not the occupation of territory but the gradual acquisition of economic leverage capable of influencing political decisions, technological innovation, industrial production, and ultimately the everyday lives of billions of people. What follows is neither a dystopian prediction nor an exercise in geopolitical pessimism. It is an examination of structural transformations that are already unfolding across global markets and whose cumulative implications deserve substantially greater attention than they currently receive. THE DAY THE WORLD FAILED TO NOTICE Nobody remembers the exact day it began because, unlike conventional wars, there was no universally recognized starting point. No emergency broadcasts interrupted television programming, no fighter aircraft appeared over national capitals, and no governments announced the commencement of hostilities before the international community. Financial markets opened precisely on schedule, cargo vessels continued crossing strategic maritime corridors, supermarkets replenished their shelves overnight, and millions of people began another ordinary working day convinced that the machinery of globalization remained fundamentally unchanged. The remarkable normality of daily life concealed a far less reassuring reality: the international economy had quietly entered a period in which commercial interdependence was no longer regarded as an unquestionable guarantee of stability but increasingly as a potential source of strategic vulnerability. This tra...
Albert Park, Chief Economist at the Asian Development Bank, discusses the bank’s latest APAC growth outlook. The forecast sees growth staying subdued despite a modest improvement, as disruptions from the Middle East conflict continue to weigh on supply chains and production costs. He speaks with Shery Ahn on "Bloomberg: The Asia Trade". (Source: Bloomberg)
Albert Park, Chief Economist at the Asian Development Bank, discusses the bank’s latest APAC growth outlook. The forecast sees growth staying subdued despite a modest improvement, as disruptions from the Middle East conflict continue to weigh on supply chains and production costs. He speaks with Shery Ahn on "Bloomberg: The Asia Trade". (Source: Bloomberg)
spline_x/iStock via Getty Images Valhi, Inc. ( VHI ) appears to still be trading at a NAV discount above 30%. The coming Q2 should contain some pressures from this period featuring higher energy prices, which should impact the economics of the chloride process, which is their chemicals segment. The quite thin margins and likely large absolute costs of energy we believe will make them vulnerable in...
spline_x/iStock via Getty Images Valhi, Inc. ( VHI ) appears to still be trading at a NAV discount above 30%. The coming Q2 should contain some pressures from this period featuring higher energy prices, which should impact the economics of the chloride process, which is their chemicals segment. The quite thin margins and likely large absolute costs of energy we believe will make them vulnerable in this regard. On the other hand, TiO₂ prices were on their way up already in Q1, and Q2 data appears to show that continuing. The components business should remain relatively unperturbed by commodity effects. We do harbor current concerns around property markets and how that might affect the end markets in property, an important area for end TiO₂ demand, as it ends up in paints and other homebuilding products. In all, we don't see an unambiguous directional bet on the stock. While there is a NAV discount, we aren't sure that it's greater than NAV discounts tend to be or that there is a particular reason for it to close. Results and Outlook Valhi Results (Q1 PR) The Valhi situation is that the component products segment is growing with a mix shift away from security products and towards marine products; therefore, net sales development was flat. But the mix shift was positive and contributed to EBIT growth for the segment. In the meantime, the chemicals segment, which is dictated by TiO₂ prices, saw pressure. While volumes were up in some markets, the net effect was negative, and this was also accompanied by limited demand reflected in the lower TiO₂ prices YoY. However, there has been some sequential improvement that appears to have continued with the onset of the Hormuz conflict, where the chloride process is quite energy intensive, although price action had already started before then to recover lost ground in 2025. Intensity in the production process of energy prices likely coordinated and permitted price action of the chemical. As land sales scaled down as they sold dev...
Meta (NASDAQ: META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg held a town-hall meeting with his staff. And if the leaks from that meeting are true, he basically said that his company needs more time to make its artificial intelligence (AI) investments work. Investors were not pleased, sending the stock sharply lower on the news. This could be a big deal. In a similar fashion to the internet-driven dot-com bubble, inves...
Meta (NASDAQ: META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg held a town-hall meeting with his staff. And if the leaks from that meeting are true, he basically said that his company needs more time to make its artificial intelligence (AI) investments work. Investors were not pleased, sending the stock sharply lower on the news. This could be a big deal. In a similar fashion to the internet-driven dot-com bubble, investors have been rewarding just about any mention of artificial intelligence . Just like during the dot-com bubble, when companies happily appended ".com" to their names, you have companies leaning into the AI theme. OpenAI, though not public (yet), is perhaps the prime example. But every company that invests in AI won't end up a winner. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading