Readers respond to Zoe Williams’ article about the rise of US nationals renouncing their citizenship to distance themselves from Donald Trump’s America I read Zoe Williams’ piece on Americans renouncing their citizenship with particular and personal interest ( ‘I don’t want to be part of a dictatorship’: the Americans queueing up to renounce their citizenship, 28 April ) . The rot started well before Donald Trump was elected in 2016, though he and his hostile team and policies have exacerbated that. Look back to George W Bush’s fight against terrorism following 9/11, one aspect of which involved tracking down terrorism funding by setting onerous reporting regulations on US citizens abroad, and on international financial institutions in which US citizens had an interest. Eventually some of those financial institutions outside the US decided they simply would not permit US citizens to invest in, bank with, or take out their products. Continue reading...

Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, April 30, 2026 at 5 p.m. ET Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email pr@fool.com Continue reading

Francis Bown responds to Jonathan Freedland’s comparison of Pope Leo and Donald Trump Jonathan Freedland is right: in a contest between a former property developer turned politician and the Vicar of Christ, there is only ever going to be one winner ( It’s no surprise Trump has met his match in Pope Leo – the US president represents the polar opposite of Christianity, 24 April ). The present pope is an intelligent and sophisticated Augustinian, well versed in dealing with subtle and complex disputes within the Catholic church. Crude attacks from Donald Trump and JD Vance hold no terrors. The president’s greetings-card picture of himself as a Christ-like healer was childish and self-defeating, while the vice-president’s pointed gift of volumes of Saint Augustine’s writings, as if the pontiff were unfamiliar with their contents, was simply crass. Nevertheless, not all papal pronouncements are infallible. Pope Leo did open himself to legitimate criticism when he declared in his Palm Sunday address: “He [Jesus] does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.” In the context of the Iran conflict, we know what he meant, but the bald statement invites misunderstanding. It appears at odds with the concept of a just war – the conditions for which are laid out in the catechism of the Catholic church (paragraph 2309). The pope’s remark would hardly apply to the petitions of those who waged war against the Nazis and who liberated the death camps. Francis Bown London Continue reading...

X-Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:XE) was among Jim Cramer’s stock calls on Mad Money recently as he recapped mega-cap tech earnings. Cramer mentioned the stock during the episode and stated: X-Energy is still in its early stages, but they have three big initial customers already lined up: Amazon, Dow, and Centrica… But if we’re talking about backers, […]

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was among Jim Cramer’s stock calls on Mad Money recently as he recapped mega-cap tech earnings. While Cramer mentioned that the stock can be considered “cheap,” he said: And finally, there is Microsoft, and I don’t know what to say. I thought they would have something more to say than they did. […]

Jim Cramer on Microsoft: “Maybe You Can Consider It Cheap, But It’s Software” Yahoo Finance

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was among Jim Cramer’s stock calls on Mad Money recently as he recapped mega-cap tech earnings. Cramer highlighted the company’s increased capital expenditures outlook and said: Now, call me confused when it comes to Meta. I’ve been mulling it over before I came out here. I know they announced they upped […]

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was among Jim Cramer’s stock calls on Mad Money recently as he recapped mega-cap tech earnings. The company reported its first quarter yesterday, and Cramer remarked: Amazon, look, I liked the earnings so much, even as I know that there were sellers initially all over the place. I liked it because one […]

Earnings Call Insights: Matthews International Corporation (MATW) Q2 fiscal 2026 Management view "On our last earnings call, we said that we were focused on execution, and we did just that in the second quarter," said "The redemption of our high-cost notes is complete. Our balance sheet is significantly improved. Interest expense is down materially." (CEO, President & Director Joseph Bartolacci) "In January, we completed the early redemption of our $300 million of senior secured notes," and "Our total long-term debt is now $579 million, down from $822 million 1 year ago," while "Net debt stands at approximately $543 million today." (CEO, President & Director Bartolacci) "Propelis is continuing to perform well above the $100 million EBITDA run rate that was assumed when we structured the transaction," and "their EBITDA run rate is expected to be around $130 million going into 2027," with "an exit from this investment within the next 12 to 18 months." (CEO, President & Director Bartolacci) "We shipped our first production units to paying customers," and "the commercial response to Acxiom remains strong," while management "expanded our total addressable market estimate to about $3 billion" and said it "continue[s] to actively pursue and engage in strategic partnership discussions, including white label opportunities." (CEO, President & Director Bartolacci) "For the fiscal 2026 second quarter, the company reported a net loss of $21.8 million or $0.69 per share," and "On a non-GAAP adjusted basis, net income attributable to the company for the current quarter was $11.6 million or $0.37 per share." (CFO & Treasurer Daniel Stopar) Outlook "With regard to our full year outlook, we set guidance of at least $180 million in adjusted EBITDA for fiscal 2026, inclusive of our 40% interest in Propelis," and "we are reaffirming our full year adjusted EBITDA guidance of $180 million." (CEO, President & Director Bartolacci) "Achieving the full year target requires a stronger second h...

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was among Jim Cramer’s stock calls on Mad Money recently as he recapped mega-cap tech earnings. Regarding the company’s recently reported quarter, Cramer said: But I don’t want to bury the agony and ecstasy of this very evening, where we didn’t have a lot of shortages and instead we just had four […]

Phil Coughlin recalls the Irish border than ran through a village pub in Spike Milligan’s novel Puckoon, while Ken Rutter reflects on the ethics of building tougher borders In his article ( Do stronger borders ever work?, 26 April ) Richard Collett refers to the Irish border cleaving communities and even farmhouses in two. Spike Milligan picked up on this in Puckoon, where the border went through the public house of the eponymous village, such that two feet of the bar was in Northern Ireland and the remainder was in the Irish Free State. The locals quickly realised that beer would be cheaper in the Northern Ireland portion, due to more lenient taxation, with the result that they all attempted to crowd into the two feet of bar “in the North”, much to the disgust of the publican. A rare instance of a border bringing people closer together. Phil Coughlin Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear Continue reading...

Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX) was among Jim Cramer’s stock calls on Mad Money recently as he recapped mega-cap tech earnings. Talking about the stocks that are “working” recently, Cramer mentioned the company and said: What’s working here? The shares of companies where they can’t make enough product in technology. No, not Amazon, not Alphabet, […]

Also: thoughts on the oil trade, advice from the Moneyist, and what to stream this month.

Elon Musk’s Tesla Pay Package Valued at $158 Billion for 2025 WSJ

Earnings Call Insights: Virtus Investment Partners (VRTS) Q1 2026 Management View “Although the first quarter was challenging from a net flow perspective, reflecting our meaningful exposure to quality-oriented equity strategies, which have remained out of favor, we had several areas of strength during the quarter that were overshadowed, and we also advanced key growth initiatives,” said President, CEO & Director George Aylward. Aylward highlighted product and distribution actions alongside capital return: “Key highlights of the quarter included an 8% increase in sales… expansion into private markets with our investment in Keystone National Group and continued return of capital, including $10 million of share repurchases.” On private credit positioning, Aylward said, “The investment in Keystone on March 1 added a differentiated asset-centric private credit capability,” adding, “Keystone focuses on senior secured amortizing fixed rate financings backed by tangible assets.” On ETF pipeline, Aylward said, “We continue to launch attractive actively managed ETFs… We expect to continue to be active in developing and introducing new products over the upcoming quarters.” Quote (Executive VP, CFO, Principal Accounting Officer & Treasurer Michael Angerthal): “For modeling purposes, an average fee rate in the range of 43 to 45 basis points is reasonable for the second quarter, reflecting a full quarter of Keystone.” Outlook Quote (Executive VP, CFO, Principal Accounting Officer & Treasurer Angerthal): “For modeling purposes, it's reasonable to assume employment expenses as adjusted will be in the 51% to 53% range as a percentage of revenues and at the high end of that range in the second quarter, primarily due to the decline in equity assets under management.” Quote (Executive VP, CFO, Principal Accounting Officer & Treasurer Angerthal): “For modeling purposes, a quarterly range of $31 million to $33 million is reasonable going forward to reflect the full quarter impact of Keys...

Nick Price points out the features on Apple and Android phones that can help parents keep their children safe A crucial facility seems to be missing from the coverage of smartphones in schools – and outside ( I was wrong about the danger of smartphones in schools. It’s far, far worse than I thought, 22 April ). Parental controls, which both Apple and Android have, enable downtimes to be set to ensure phones don’t work in school. They can also set downtimes for outside school and block inappropriate apps. We use these for our 14-year-old daughter to keep her safe and manage the addictive effects of phone use. Her phone automatically switches off in school time and closes down for the day at 6.30pm. Continue reading...

Wall Street is piling into Twilio (NYSE:TWLO) after the cloud communications company posted what multiple analysts are calling its strongest quarter in three years. At least six firms raised price targets on May 1 following Q1 2026 results released April 30, with bullish targets now ranging from $192 to $225. TWLO stock is responding emphatically, ... Wall Street Floods Twilio With Price Target Hikes: Is This Truly the AI Communications Layer?

Investors look to AI demand and guidance as stock gains momentum

Palantir Technologies Faces Q1 Test With AI Momentum in Focus TradingView

Earnings Call Insights: Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (AEM) Q1 2026 Management View “We’re pleased to announce a solid start to the year with production slightly above budget and with costs in line with our guidance,” said (CEO, President & Director Ammar Al-Joundi), adding that “exceptional gold prices has allowed Agnico Eagle to announce yet another quarter of record net income driven by record operating margins.” Al-Joundi highlighted operating records across assets, citing “record mill throughput at Macassa, record development rates at Meliadine, record pit tonnage at Detour,” and said the company is “doing an excellent job controlling costs,” including structural power advantages in Ontario and Quebec and diesel hedging in Nunavut. “We delivered another strong financial quarter,” said (Executive VP of Finance & CFO James Porter), reporting “adjusted net income of approximately $1.7 billion or $3.41 per share,” “adjusted EBITDA of just over $3 billion,” and “about $730 million of free cash flow in the first quarter,” while noting the quarter included “roughly 50% of our expected 2026 cash taxes totaling $1.8 billion.” Porter said capital returns and balance sheet actions continued: “we returned approximately $375 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases,” and “we intend to renew the normal course issuer bid in May on substantially the same terms with an increased limit of up to $2 billion,” while ending the quarter with “approximately $2.9 billion” net cash. (Executive VP and COO of Nunavut, Quebec & Europe Dominique Girard) said Canadian Malartic reached “the first stope at East Gouldie via the ramp approximately 1 kilometer underground,” and stated that while a 2023 study envisioned mining “up to 2042,” “based on what we know now, we’re going to be mining there up to 2060, most probably.” (Executive VP and COO of Ontario, Australia & Mexico Natasha Nella Vaz) said Detour posted “a quarterly record in tonnes mined” and “a record mill through...

FREDERICA ABAN/iStock via Getty Images Performance Annualized Annualized Annualized Annualized Annualized 1Q26 1YR 3YR 5YR 7YR Since Inception (1/1/2018) TimesSquare Global Small Cap Composite (Gross) -4.58% 17.93% 9.86% 3.55% 7.26% 5.91% TimesSquare Global Small Cap Composite (Net) -4.78% 17.01% 8.97% 2.67% 6.34% 5.00% MSCI World Small Cap (Net) Index 1.36% 26.22% 13.40% 5.51% 9.10% 7.41% Click to enlarge Please see the important performance and other related disclosures at the end of this Commentary, which are an integral part of this quarterly Commentary Newsletter. In the first quarter, markets navigated a complex backdrop of geopolitical tensions and economic resilience, alongside temporary global tariffs following a Supreme Court decision. Prior to the Iran conflict, markets had reached all-time highs with lower volatility, a dynamic that reversed following U.S. and Israeli engagement. Oil prices spiked, supply chains were disrupted, financial conditions tightened, and investors shifted toward safer assets. The conflict in Iran further underscored the growing importance of national resilience, prompting a re-evaluation of global supply chains and energy dependencies and accelerating the shift away from efficiency toward resilience and strategic autonomy. Central banks largely held policy steady in response to energy-driven inflation, with both the Federal Reserve and the ECB adopting a wait-and-see approach. Meanwhile, Japan’s snap election delivered political stability and a mandate for fiscal expansion, despite ongoing concerns around long-term debt sustainability. Amidst this volatility, international equities outperformed their US peers. For the quarter, the Russell 3000’s -5% return underperformed both the MSCI EAFE (-1%) and MSCI Emerging Markets (-0.2%). Value indexes outpaced growth in both developed and emerging markets. Among global risk factors, Momentum, Liquidity, and Dividend Yield enjoyed positive performance, while Beta, Profitability, and Grow...

Renée Slegers’ team take their first-leg lead to France knowing a repeat of last season’s display will see them into a second European final in a row Arsenal will attempt to become the first British women’s club to reach back-to-back European finals on Saturday as they take a 2-1 first-leg lead to France in their semi-final against OL Lyonnes. The holders arrived in the city known as the gastronomic capital of France on Friday to pleasant May sunshine glistening off the roof of the imposing Groupama Stadium, knowing that last season’s triumph will have whet their supporters’ appetite and that they have the chance to write more history. Arsenal, 2007 European champions , won the title for the second time last May with victory over Barcelona in the final . Continue reading...

Earnings Call Insights: OFS Capital (OFS) Q1 2026 Management view “Net investment income totaled $0.18 per share, covering our distribution of $0.17 per share despite being down $0.02 per share from the prior quarter,” driven “primarily” by “a lower net interest margin,” according to (Chairman & CEO Bilal Rashid). (Chairman & CEO Rashid) said net interest margin pressure reflected “higher interest costs on our unsecured notes issued last year” and that “benchmark rate reductions by the Fed last year have lowered yields across our loan portfolio.” (Chairman & CEO Rashid) reported “our net asset value at quarter end was $8.16 per share compared to $9.19 per share in the prior quarter,” attributing the decline “primarily” to “unrealized depreciation on our CLO equity holdings driven by spread tightening in the underlying loan collateral” and “a decrease in loan prices due to overall market sentiment.” (Chairman & CEO Rashid) highlighted credit metrics and actions: “our nonaccrual investments as a percentage of our total portfolio at fair value decreased slightly quarter-over-quarter by 0.7%,” the company “exited one of our long-time nonaccrual loans,” and it “placed one small loan representing just 0.3% of the total portfolio, at fair value, on nonaccrual status.” (Chairman & CEO Rashid) reiterated a key strategic focus: “our ongoing efforts to monetize our minority equity position in Pfanstiehl,” adding it “had a fair value of approximately $80.4 million at quarter end,” and that “a successful exit could increase the likelihood of improved net investment income and reduced portfolio concentration.” (CFO & Treasurer Kyle Spina) said, “we announced that we are maintaining our quarterly distribution at $0.17 per share for the second quarter of 2026,” and added, “at March 31, our quarterly distribution rate represented a 19.2% annualized yield based on the market price of our common stock.” Outlook (CFO & Treasurer Spina) cautioned that “we continue to observe net interes...

Earnings Call Insights: Terex (TEX) Q1 2026 Management View Simon Meester (President, CEO & Director) said Terex started 2026 with “a good start for the year,” highlighting that the new Specialty Vehicle segment “was in the portfolio for 2 months of the period and already making a meaningful contribution,” while the company “grew sales by 11% on a pro forma basis” and “EPS increased 18% year-over-year to $0.98.” Meester emphasized backlog and bookings visibility, stating, “Quarter ending backlog increased to $7.1 billion,” and said Terex is “reiterating our full year outlook,” while remaining “laser-focused on execution and integration.” Meester detailed the REV integration plan and synergy targets, stating, “The REV integration is progressing as planned,” and “we are on track to realize approximately $28 million in 2026… and have line of sight to achieving a $75 million run rate within our 24-month target.” Jennifer Kong-Picarello (Senior VP & CFO) described Q1 as “in line with our expectations” and reported, “We grew sales to $1.7 billion,” with “Q1 EBITA margin… 9.9%,” while noting tariffs as a headwind: margin was “down 50 basis points… primarily driven by tariffs.” Outlook Kong-Picarello said management “reconfirm[ed] the full year 2026 outlook,” expecting “2026 sales… $7.5 billion to $8.1 billion,” “pro forma EBITDA… between $930 million and $1 billion,” and “2026 EPS between $4.50 and $5,” while adding, “we believe it is prudent to hold our 2026 outlook at this point in time.” Kong-Picarello provided modeling items, stating, “the share count for quarters 2 through 4 will be approximately 115 million,” and “approximately 25% of our full year EPS is anticipated in the second quarter.” On tariffs and price/cost, Kong-Picarello said, “From a sequential standpoint, I don't see additional headwind on our tariff,” adding the recent “change in the 232 calculation is largely offset by the IEEPA going away,” and she reiterated for Aerials, “For the rest of the year is ...

Barclays Global Chairman of Research Ajay Rajadhyaksha joins "Bloomberg Surveillance" with his outlook for markets as they trade at all time highs. He said his team was overweight risk assets last week on the belief that momentum would carry markets further but they have since turned neutral. (Source: Bloomberg)

Seven tech companies will deploy AI tools on defense networks

peterschreiber.media/iStock via Getty Images Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) rose 3.03% on Friday, as the world's largest digital currency inched closer to the $80K mark. Crypto markets remained constrained as the Federal Reserve held rates steady, with Bitfinex analysts warning that macro conditions capped upside. They said the pause would persist “absent a clear disinflation signal,” keeping digital assets tied to broader financial conditions rather than independent momentum. Bitcoin’s struggle near $84K reflected this dynamic, with “demand…present but not persistent” and driven largely by short-term ETF and derivatives flows rather than sustained participation. Elevated oil prices and geopolitical risks compounded the issue by reinforcing inflation pressures. As analysts noted, “higher oil feeds into higher inflation expectations, which lifts yields and constrains risk assets.” Until inflation eased or the Fed signaled tolerance for rate cuts, crypto was likely to remain a macro-sensitive trade, with rallies dependent on conditional, not structural, demand. Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) was trading at $78.6K at the time of writing. The cryptocurrency rose 12.1% in the month of April. The cryptocurrency has had a volatile start to the year, witnessing several swings over the last few months. More on Bitcoin Whale's Insight: Every New Fed Chair, Every Bitcoin Crash Bitcoin: Struggling Against Resistance In A High-Stakes Consolidation Phase Bitcoin's Options Tape Supports Recovery, But ETH Gives A Less Clean Read Cathie Wood’s BTC-to-HOOD flip: Ark buys $39M Robinhood post Q1 miss Tether plans XXI-Strike-Elektron merger; eyes full-scale BTC platform

Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, April 30, 2026 at 5 p.m. ET Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email pr@fool.com Continue reading