Meeting could coincide with possible Commons debate on claims he lied to MPs about Mandelson’s vetting If there is a Commons debate tomorrow on allegations that Keir Starmer lied to MPs about Peter Mandelson’s vetting for his appointment as ambassador to the US, it may coincide with Keir Starmer chairing a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee to discuss the economic consequences o...
Meeting could coincide with possible Commons debate on claims he lied to MPs about Mandelson’s vetting If there is a Commons debate tomorrow on allegations that Keir Starmer lied to MPs about Peter Mandelson’s vetting for his appointment as ambassador to the US, it may coincide with Keir Starmer chairing a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee to discuss the economic consequences of the Iran war. A scheduling clash like that would allow No 10 to make the argument that Starmer is focusing on important issues that matter to voters while the opposition is obsessed with Westminster procedure (although Downing Street would prefer the privileges inquiry debate not to go ahead in the first place). Starmer announced the Cobra meeting in his speech to the Usdaw conference. Whatever happens in the Middle East, we’ve cut your energy bills, and we have capped them until July. Delegates, that’s another thing that I will always stand firm on. I will never let this country be dragged into a war that is not in our interests. Never. That is a lesson British politics should have learned a long time ago with Iraq. And yet, when the rush to war began on Iran, I was heavily criticised by others who had no thought for the consequences for our country, for your family. Continue reading...
Jonathan Kitchen/DigitalVision via Getty Images MaxLinear’s ( MXL ) latest earnings came out on April 23, and the stock saw a huge ~80% move right away. The reaction isn’t just due to the quarterly beat, even if that was part of the story. A second part is that the company is moving from being a traditional broadband and connectivity chip vendor to a participant in AI-driven data center infrastruc...
Jonathan Kitchen/DigitalVision via Getty Images MaxLinear’s ( MXL ) latest earnings came out on April 23, and the stock saw a huge ~80% move right away. The reaction isn’t just due to the quarterly beat, even if that was part of the story. A second part is that the company is moving from being a traditional broadband and connectivity chip vendor to a participant in AI-driven data center infrastructure. These two coincided with a strong move in the market surrounding AI names—and the stock was suddenly, heavily rerated. While the underlying narrative is real, the magnitude of the multiple expansion suggests much of the near-term upside should already be priced in. I will therefore argue for a Hold rating at current levels with a modest possibility of downside unless execution exceeds expectations. Moving on, MaxLinear is a fabless semiconductor company. It mainly designs communications SoCs in broadband, connectivity, and infrastructure markets. Earlier, its revenue mainly came from cable modems, Wi-Fi gateways, and networking equipment—cyclical, lower-multiple businesses. The recent change is MaxLinear’s shifting of focus into optical data center interconnect, particularly through its PAM4 digital signal processing (DSP) platforms used in 400G and 800G optical modules. These are increasingly critical components of hyperscale data centers. Those need higher bandwidth and interconnect density. MaxLinear is in just the right place at the right time. This is an important shift because MaxLinear has moved from a lower-multiple segment of the semiconductor industry to one that is higher-growth and comes with higher multiples. Management is pointing to accelerating demand and a “step-function” increase in data center-related revenue. Along with compute and memory, optical interconnect is a key enabler of AI infrastructure scaling, so companies that become a part of this buildout see significant valuation expansion. My concern, however, is whether the market has already pri...
Profit growth at China’s industrial firms accelerated to a six-month high in March, as long-suppressed factory-gate prices turned positive amid disruptions from the Iran war. Total profits for China’s major industrial enterprises – those with annual revenues greater than 20 million yuan (US$2.93 million) – grew by 15.8 per cent last month, the fastest rate since September, according to data releas...
Profit growth at China’s industrial firms accelerated to a six-month high in March, as long-suppressed factory-gate prices turned positive amid disruptions from the Iran war. Total profits for China’s major industrial enterprises – those with annual revenues greater than 20 million yuan (US$2.93 million) – grew by 15.8 per cent last month, the fastest rate since September, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday. Profits in the first quarter reached 1.696...
It is not an exaggeration to say that chilli peppers and spicy food are available on pretty much every street in China. The pungent, heat-infused foodstuff is so ubiquitous people joke that if a person does not indulge, they will starve, or at best lose friends, because eating spicy things fosters social bonding. However, the popular ingredient has only been around in China for a relatively short ...
It is not an exaggeration to say that chilli peppers and spicy food are available on pretty much every street in China. The pungent, heat-infused foodstuff is so ubiquitous people joke that if a person does not indulge, they will starve, or at best lose friends, because eating spicy things fosters social bonding. However, the popular ingredient has only been around in China for a relatively short time. It first entered the country 400 years ago and people have been eating it for about three...
The horror of sports lessons put three in 10 of British 50 to 65-year-olds off exercise for life. I wish I’d known sooner that movement can feel so good Surprising news: three in 10 50- to 65-year-olds in a recent Age UK survey said school sports memories had put them off exercise “for life”. Only three in 10? When it comes to exercise, there are surely two kinds of people – the handful who enjoye...
The horror of sports lessons put three in 10 of British 50 to 65-year-olds off exercise for life. I wish I’d known sooner that movement can feel so good Surprising news: three in 10 50- to 65-year-olds in a recent Age UK survey said school sports memories had put them off exercise “for life”. Only three in 10? When it comes to exercise, there are surely two kinds of people – the handful who enjoyed school PE lessons and everyone else. I’m guessing the first category are out smashing their marathon PBs, meaning we indoor sorts can safely share war stories. Mine: forced to walk half an hour to the sports field in the tiny synthetic pleated skirt that was mysteriously designated mandatory sportswear, heckled by local perverts and youths shouting “jolly hockey sticks”, then skulking, motionless, in the mud, avoiding various projectiles while being shouted at by the sporty girls and contemplated with bafflement by (mostly benign) PE teachers. Continue reading...
Viktor Nordenskiöld’s film follows Ukraine’s deputy minister Olha Stefanishyna as she negotiates her country’s path into the EU, but lacks some of the rigour needed After the Russian invasion in February 2022, Ukrainian deputy minister Olha Stefanishyna embarked on the herculean challenge of steering her country’s pathway into the European Union . Shot over the course of two years, Viktor Nordensk...
Viktor Nordenskiöld’s film follows Ukraine’s deputy minister Olha Stefanishyna as she negotiates her country’s path into the EU, but lacks some of the rigour needed After the Russian invasion in February 2022, Ukrainian deputy minister Olha Stefanishyna embarked on the herculean challenge of steering her country’s pathway into the European Union . Shot over the course of two years, Viktor Nordenskiöld’s documentary portrait closely chronicles her race against time, as the war escalates. Always on the move, Stefanishyna is often seen on trains or in the back of cars, as she and her staff attend seemingly endless meetings with EU officials and other world leaders. Working towards the deadline of 14 December, 2023, the date on which the European Council would decide on Ukraine’s accession, Stefanishyna is under immense pressure at home and abroad. Around the same time that a proposed bill concerning national minorities hits a snag in the Ukrainian parliament, politician Viktor Orbán, then the prime minister of Hungary, publicly voices his opposition to the enlargement of the EU. Continue reading...
I suspect the main reason they avoid criticizing Israel is that they believe that would be antisemitic. But this is both dangerous and wrong In an extraordinary article published on 7 April, the New York Times described how Donald Trump decided to go to war with Iran. It is highly unusual for the White House Situation Room to be used for in-person meetings with foreign leaders. But this time, the ...
I suspect the main reason they avoid criticizing Israel is that they believe that would be antisemitic. But this is both dangerous and wrong In an extraordinary article published on 7 April, the New York Times described how Donald Trump decided to go to war with Iran. It is highly unusual for the White House Situation Room to be used for in-person meetings with foreign leaders. But this time, the Situation Room was not just used for a meeting with a foreign leader. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin, Netanyahu took over the presentation space, backed on a screen by the leader of the Mossad as well as Israeli military officials. As the New York Times describes the scene, “Arrayed visually behind Mr. Netanyahu, they created the image of a wartime leader surrounded by his team.” The article makes it clear that Netanyahu’s “hard sell” of a quick war was pivotal to the US president’s decision to partner with Israel in attacking Iran. Continue reading...
After Donald Trump’s second election, I realised the insidious hold my phone had over my life. So I turned to something I’d loved in childhood to better occupy my attention After a long day of looking at screens for work, I used to go to bed and stare at my phone until I fell asleep. When not doomscrolling news headlines, I’d crash out to hateful comments on social media or revisit workplace drama...
After Donald Trump’s second election, I realised the insidious hold my phone had over my life. So I turned to something I’d loved in childhood to better occupy my attention After a long day of looking at screens for work, I used to go to bed and stare at my phone until I fell asleep. When not doomscrolling news headlines, I’d crash out to hateful comments on social media or revisit workplace dramas via mobile versions of Teams and Slack. I was always plugged in. It was a ritual that would start well before bedtime. As the evening wound down, I’d surf algorithms for hours on end, barely paying attention to whatever television programme was on in the background, only half-listening to conversations around me. Whether it was the incessantly dystopian news cycle, toxic opinions on pop culture, or posts railing against obtuse LinkedIn speak, there was always another online scab to pick. Continue reading...
Secret Service director says security succeeded in stopping shooter before he could do further harm but others disagree The shooting in the White House correspondents’ gala has prompted questions over security with some asking how a shooter was able to get close to where Donald Trump and many other senior administration officials were gathered and many others praising the actions of law enforcemen...
Secret Service director says security succeeded in stopping shooter before he could do further harm but others disagree The shooting in the White House correspondents’ gala has prompted questions over security with some asking how a shooter was able to get close to where Donald Trump and many other senior administration officials were gathered and many others praising the actions of law enforcement that swiftly stopped the attack. As details about the shooting at the Washington Hilton continued to surface, the alleged shooter Cole Tomas Allen, 31, mocked an “insane” lack of security at the Washington dinner in a manifesto reportedly send to his family 10 minutes before his assault started. Continue reading...
Alistair Berg Stock index futures were lower on Monday as investors looked forward to Big Tech earnings slated to come in this week and continued to monitor developments in the U.S.-Iran conflict. Now, here are 5 news stories that broke overnight to watch out for: Hormuz ceasefire proposal: Iran has presented a new proposal to the U.S. to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the conflict, according...
Alistair Berg Stock index futures were lower on Monday as investors looked forward to Big Tech earnings slated to come in this week and continued to monitor developments in the U.S.-Iran conflict. Now, here are 5 news stories that broke overnight to watch out for: Hormuz ceasefire proposal: Iran has presented a new proposal to the U.S. to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the conflict, according to Axios, citing U.S. and regional sources. The plan, relayed via mediators in Pakistan, calls for extending the ceasefire while negotiations continue, with nuclear talks deferred until after a U.S. blockade is lifted. The Strait handles a significant share of global oil flows, and any easing of tensions could stabilize energy markets after recent volatility. Box office surge for Michael: Lionsgate saw a strong debut for its Michael Jackson biopic Michael, with the film generating $97 million domestically and $120.4 million internationally for a global opening of $217.4 million, according to Comscore. The release across 3,955 theaters delivered a per-theater average of $24,526, marking one of the year’s largest openings and signaling resilient consumer demand for event-driven theatrical releases. Supreme Court to weigh data privacy: The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Monday on geofence warrants, which allow law enforcement to access location data from tech firms to identify suspects near crime scenes. A ruling expected by early July could reshape privacy frameworks, with implications for data collection, legal exposure, and advertising models across major technology companies. Musk pushes into payments: Elon Musk is preparing to launch X Money, a payments, and banking service within X, as part of efforts to transform the platform into an “everything app,” Bloomberg reported. Early-access users suggest a broader rollout could come soon, potentially opening new revenue streams in financial services while increasing competition for established fintech and payment...
Juliana Sahran/iStock via Getty Images Introduction Automakers belong to an industry that has, as a whole, meaningfully underperformed the market. Yet, every now and then, we find a real outperformer. After the pandemic, it was Stellantis ( STLA ), but in 2024, the baton was taken by General Motors ( GM ). Since my last article on GM (written in October 2025), the stock is up by over 34%, beating ...
Juliana Sahran/iStock via Getty Images Introduction Automakers belong to an industry that has, as a whole, meaningfully underperformed the market. Yet, every now and then, we find a real outperformer. After the pandemic, it was Stellantis ( STLA ), but in 2024, the baton was taken by General Motors ( GM ). Since my last article on GM (written in October 2025), the stock is up by over 34%, beating the market's 7.5% return over the same period of time. Many things have been said about the company. In particular, its CEO, Mary Barra's efforts to reduce production complexity, thus reducing manufacturing costs while keeping production quality at good levels, have been repeatedly highlighted. In this article, however, I would like to point out that, as GM's earnings approach, we should start changing the way we view the overall business. In fact, we usually look at auto demand, which is currently solid, or we look at wholesale used car prices as another important metric about the car industry's health. While auto manufacturing is surely a business that requires volumes, there are two particular developments that we should be aware of. The first one is that, in a world where geo-capex matters, automakers can play a role in military production. It is not surprising to read that the Pentagon held talks with GM and Ford on this matter. As a result, these companies could see some favorable multiple expansion in case they develop a meaningful defense business. Secondly, and this will be more important for this earnings preview, GM is developing a profitable recurring revenue business. GM's Q1 2026 Earnings Preview Let's start with some numbers, so that we can better understand what the new transformation of GM could look like. Investors believe that GM will report $43.68B in revenues (-0.8% YoY) and EPS of $2.62 (-5.8% YoY). These declines won't appear as surprises, since the guidance GM issued in January when it released its Q4 2025 earnings was clear. For the fiscal year, GM ...
Spruce Point Capital Management chief investment officer and founder Ben Axler chats with Yahoo Finance's Julie Hyman about why Spruce Point is long on Zoom (ZM).
Spruce Point Capital Management chief investment officer and founder Ben Axler chats with Yahoo Finance's Julie Hyman about why Spruce Point is long on Zoom (ZM).
Apollo Global Management Inc. has invested in Swiss dental firm vVardis Holding AG in a deal that values the company founded by two sisters at about about $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Co-chief executive officers Haley and Goly Abivardi, both of whom are dentists, will retain an approximately 70% stake in vVardis, said the people, who asked not to be identified because ...
Apollo Global Management Inc. has invested in Swiss dental firm vVardis Holding AG in a deal that values the company founded by two sisters at about about $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Co-chief executive officers Haley and Goly Abivardi, both of whom are dentists, will retain an approximately 70% stake in vVardis, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the financial details of the transaction are private. Representatives for Apollo and vVardis declined to comment on the financial details. vVardis has carved out a niche in the dental industry with a treatment that addresses early stage cavities without the need for drilling. The transaction positions the company as one of a small group of closely held, billion-dollar health-care firms in Europe. The investment supports vVardis’ continued expansion in key markets across the US and Europe, Apollo Partner Jeremy Honeth and Managing Director Andrea Vanni said in a statement. The deal will help bring the restorative therapy to more practices and patients worldwide, they said. vVardis develops non-invasive, peptide-containing treatments for early tooth decay. Its flagship Curodont technology — the first commercially available therapy of its kind — is a liquid that penetrates the tooth’s enamel, enabling minerals in the patient’s saliva to repair the tooth from within. Haley Abivardi said dentists now have a quick, easy-to-use non-invasive treatment free of drilling and needles. “We moved from cutting off limbs to treating infections in medicine yet in dentistry we’re still drilling,” she said in an interview. “There is a huge gap in dental.” Untreated dental cavities are the most common health condition globally, according to to the World health Organization. While fluoride can help prevent tooth decay, it’s no longer effective by itself once decay has set in, Goly said. “What we’re trying to do is shift dentistry from a surgical approach to a medically restorative one,” Goly Ab...