Pet-friendly caterers in Hong Kong say a new licence allowing dogs in restaurants from July could lift business by up to 20 per cent, after 1,000 operators secured places in the scheme’s first ballot. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) on Friday held a ballot to select 1,000 restaurants, after receiving 1,615 eligible applications since submissions opened last month. Lawmaker Cha...
Pet-friendly caterers in Hong Kong say a new licence allowing dogs in restaurants from July could lift business by up to 20 per cent, after 1,000 operators secured places in the scheme’s first ballot. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) on Friday held a ballot to select 1,000 restaurants, after receiving 1,615 eligible applications since submissions opened last month. Lawmaker Chan Hoi-yan, chairman of the Panel on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene, officiated the draw in...
Lokibaho/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Thesis Versant Media Group, Inc. ( VSNT ) is a recent Comcast spin-off where the market may be focusing mostly on the problems like declining linear TV and not giving enough credit to the cash flow, live news and sports mix, digital platforms, and capital returns. On the surface it does not look like a clean growth story, as traditional pay TV is shrinki...
Lokibaho/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Thesis Versant Media Group, Inc. ( VSNT ) is a recent Comcast spin-off where the market may be focusing mostly on the problems like declining linear TV and not giving enough credit to the cash flow, live news and sports mix, digital platforms, and capital returns. On the surface it does not look like a clean growth story, as traditional pay TV is shrinking, and Versant still gets a large part of its revenue from linear distribution and advertising. That looks like the main risk, but it has some positives in disguise - the stock is trading at a low valuation, the company has already started buybacks and dividends , and Greenlight Capital has made a similar argument that the market may be too negative on the asset. My thesis is that Versant does not need to become a fast-growing streaming company; rather, it needs to put a halt to the linear decline, keep growing the platform and content licensing businesses, and continue returning capital in a disciplined way (which it is already doing to a certain extent). If we look from the lens of a deep value investor, then at the current valuations, even a flat (-to-declining) business can be attractive if the free cash flow holds up long enough. Enter Greenlight Capital Greenlight Capital initiated a medium-sized position in Versant in Q1 2026 at an average price of $33.69 per share . To me this is an important signal for the stock because Greenlight’s arguments are not that cable TV is suddenly a growth business, but more practical. Greenlight said the stock was cheap after the spin; the company has more live news and event exposure than a generic entertainment cable business, and the free cash flow yield looked very high. Greenlight highlighted that Versant owns assets like MS NOW, CNBC, and USA Network, along with non-pay-TV assets like GolfNow and Fandango. It also pointed out that over 60% of the company’s programming is tied to live news and events, which Greenlight believes sh...
US liquefied natural gas developers expected Europe to become the cornerstone market for the next generation of export projects. Instead, the region is increasingly shying away from the long-term contracts needed to get them built. US executives are coming back empty-handed this year from the industry meetings and conferences where deals are usually forged. In conversations with Bloomberg, several...
US liquefied natural gas developers expected Europe to become the cornerstone market for the next generation of export projects. Instead, the region is increasingly shying away from the long-term contracts needed to get them built. US executives are coming back empty-handed this year from the industry meetings and conferences where deals are usually forged. In conversations with Bloomberg, several gas exporters said that negotiations held with European counterparts over the past few months have produced plenty of interest but hardly any firm commitments for LNG as would-be buyers have grown wary of becoming too reliant on America. One exporter described the gap as a “cultural dissonance” in which Europeans are content to talk while Americans just want to close deals. Disruptions to Qatari LNG shipments caught up in the Iran conflict have pushed back expectations for a global supply glut by at least two years , the International Energy Agency said. But the delay does little to alter the longer-term picture of abundant new supply, much of it from the US, that still needs buyers. That has sharpened the focus on Europe, where companies have been slow to sign long-term contracts even as the region prepares to phase out Russian LNG imports by the end of the year. The shortage of long-term LNG deals risks constraining investment in US export infrastructure while increasing Europe’s exposure to price swings as buyers depend more on spot and short-term markets. “There is this obsession from the US that Europe should commit to more long-term contracts,” said Anne-Sophie Corbeau, a researcher at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. “There is also a concern that Europe is becoming too dependent on US LNG.” The slowdown in deals comes as relations between Washington and its European allies have become less predictable and at times strained as US President Donald Trump has imposed stiff tariffs and upended long-standing assumptions about America’s security commit...
Antonio Bordunovi Nvidia ( NVDA ) told clients in China that they can start placing orders for its new Vera central processors, which may be available as soon as August, Reuters reported, citing sources. One major Chinese cloud company plans to place an order for more than 300 servers, the report said. Chinese clients plan to initially deploy Vera chips only in their overseas data centers for tes...
Antonio Bordunovi Nvidia ( NVDA ) told clients in China that they can start placing orders for its new Vera central processors, which may be available as soon as August, Reuters reported, citing sources. One major Chinese cloud company plans to place an order for more than 300 servers, the report said. Chinese clients plan to initially deploy Vera chips only in their overseas data centers for testing. The company plans to deploy the systems for testing first and decide whether to place official orders based on the results, the report added. Whether that initial interest translates into large-scale adoption remains to be seen, partly due to issues involving software ecosystems and compatibility as well as the constraints of migrating workloads built around domestic AI chips, another source said. Selling CPUs in China could prove less fraught than selling graphics processing units, which face tighter U.S. export controls. Washington has licensed about 10 Chinese firms to buy the H200, a GPU, but not a single delivery has been made. Nvidia ( NVDA ) expects $20B in revenue from Vera chip sales by the end of this fiscal year to end-January. More on Nvidia NVIDIA: The AI Story Just Got Even Bigger Nvidia: The Pullback Is A Gift As AI Demand Goes Parabolic (Rating Upgrade) 35 Reasons I'm Still Short Nvidia Nvidia partners with startup Abridge to develop AI model for healthcare: report KKR, Nvidia, Vistra, Kuwait Investment Authority launch infrastructure company for hyperscalers
Antonio Bordunovi Nvidia ( NVDA ) told clients in China that they can start placing orders for its new Vera central processors, which may be available as soon as August, Reuters reported, citing sources. One major Chinese cloud company plans to place an order for more than 300 servers, the report said. Chinese clients plan to initially deploy Vera chips only in their overseas data centers for tes...
Antonio Bordunovi Nvidia ( NVDA ) told clients in China that they can start placing orders for its new Vera central processors, which may be available as soon as August, Reuters reported, citing sources. One major Chinese cloud company plans to place an order for more than 300 servers, the report said. Chinese clients plan to initially deploy Vera chips only in their overseas data centers for testing. The company plans to deploy the systems for testing first and decide whether to place official orders based on the results, the report added. Whether that initial interest translates into large-scale adoption remains to be seen, partly due to issues involving software ecosystems and compatibility as well as the constraints of migrating workloads built around domestic AI chips, another source said. Selling CPUs in China could prove less fraught than selling graphics processing units, which face tighter U.S. export controls. Washington has licensed about 10 Chinese firms to buy the H200, a GPU, but not a single delivery has been made. Nvidia ( NVDA ) expects $20B in revenue from Vera chip sales by the end of this fiscal year to end-January. More on Nvidia NVIDIA: The AI Story Just Got Even Bigger Nvidia: The Pullback Is A Gift As AI Demand Goes Parabolic (Rating Upgrade) 35 Reasons I'm Still Short Nvidia Nvidia partners with startup Abridge to develop AI model for healthcare: report KKR, Nvidia, Vistra, Kuwait Investment Authority launch infrastructure company for hyperscalers
Astera Labs (NasdaqGS: ALAB) is set to join the Nasdaq-100 Index, marking a key milestone in its public market journey. The company is expanding its AI infrastructure portfolio with new network switches and PCIe fabric solutions designed for large AI clusters. Astera Labs is also growing its Taiwan operations, deepening its role in the local semiconductor ecosystem. Astera Labs focuses on connecti...
Astera Labs (NasdaqGS: ALAB) is set to join the Nasdaq-100 Index, marking a key milestone in its public market journey. The company is expanding its AI infrastructure portfolio with new network switches and PCIe fabric solutions designed for large AI clusters. Astera Labs is also growing its Taiwan operations, deepening its role in the local semiconductor ecosystem. Astera Labs focuses on connectivity hardware that links high performance computing and AI systems, a segment that sits at the...
Many investors want in on SpaceX’s blockbuster $75 billion IPO. Investors across Asia have been largely shut out of the world’s largest-ever IPO — but they’re getting creative. (Source: Bloomberg)
Many investors want in on SpaceX’s blockbuster $75 billion IPO. Investors across Asia have been largely shut out of the world’s largest-ever IPO — but they’re getting creative. (Source: Bloomberg)
As Edin Dzeko enters the final stage of his career, BBC Sport tells the story of an underappreciated player who survived war to make history for Bosnia-Herzegovina.
As Edin Dzeko enters the final stage of his career, BBC Sport tells the story of an underappreciated player who survived war to make history for Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Ramberg/E+ via Getty Images France's annual inflation rate accelerated to 2.4% in May, the highest since February 2024, driven by rising energy and services costs. On a monthly basis, the CPI increased by 0.1% in May, slowing sharply from 1.0% in April, as energy prices rose at a slower pace. Energy inflation accelerated to 16.6% from 14.3%, led by a rebound in gas prices to 11.3% from a 3.1% decl...
Ramberg/E+ via Getty Images France's annual inflation rate accelerated to 2.4% in May, the highest since February 2024, driven by rising energy and services costs. On a monthly basis, the CPI increased by 0.1% in May, slowing sharply from 1.0% in April, as energy prices rose at a slower pace. Energy inflation accelerated to 16.6% from 14.3%, led by a rebound in gas prices to 11.3% from a 3.1% decline in April. Services inflation rose to 2.1% from 1.8%.Food inflation eased slightly to 1.1% from 1.2%. More on France EWQ: France An Excellent Diversifier, Here's Why ECB raises rates by 25 bps for first time in three years to fight war-driven inflation Europe indexes mixed ahead of ECB policy verdict Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on iShares MSCI France ETF Dividend scorecard for iShares MSCI France ETF
Italian banks and insurers sprang into life this week as a potential bidding battle for Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA triggered broad gains across the country’s financial stocks. Paschi shares were up 15% as of Thursday’s close, headed for their best week in six years, while Mediobanca SpA and Unipol Assicurazioni SpA were both showing double-digit gains. BPER Banca SpA , Banco BPM Spa and A...
Italian banks and insurers sprang into life this week as a potential bidding battle for Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA triggered broad gains across the country’s financial stocks. Paschi shares were up 15% as of Thursday’s close, headed for their best week in six years, while Mediobanca SpA and Unipol Assicurazioni SpA were both showing double-digit gains. BPER Banca SpA , Banco BPM Spa and Assicurazioni Generali SpA have also seen sizeable increases. The moves were sparked by Intesa Sanpaolo SpA ’s €30.6 billion ($35 billion) offer for Monte Paschi, pitting it against Banco BPM, which had already made a pitch for what is considered to be the world’s oldest bank. Intesa’s plan involves keeping Mediobanca, which Monte Paschi took control of last year, as well as the bank’s stake in Generali. Read more: Intesa’s Messina Finally Enters Italy Deal Fray Ready to Fight Any potential deal for Monte Paschi would reignite a flurry of M&A across Italian finance that began in late 2024 when Banco BPM offered to acquire asset manager Anima Holding SpA , and Monte Paschi later took control of Mediobanca. A takeover bid by UniCredit for Banco BPM was unsuccessful, though UniCredit continues to monitor deal opportunities in its home market. “The newsflow on Italian banking consolidation has grown significantly,” Oddo BHF analysts wrote in a note after the offers for Monte Paschi were announced this week. “This should logically have an impact on UniCredit, particularly in terms of renewed strategic pressure.” According to KBW analyst Hugo Cruz , both Intesa Sanpaolo and Banco BPM have scope to raise their offers for Monte Paschi to about €11 ($13) a share, versus the current share price of a little over €10. “Long Monte Paschi/short Banco BPM continues to be our preferred way to play the potential M&A scenarios,” Cruz wrote in a note this week. Bank of America Corp. analyst Antonio Reale views Monte Paschi as undervalued and has the stock as a top pick in Italy, he wrote in a ...