Hong Kong’s new ban on possessing e-cigarettes, commonly known as vapes, and related products in public places will take effect on April 30. Residents and visitors caught violating the rule could face a fine of up to HK$50,000 (US$6,380) and a maximum of six months in jail. The South China Morning Post looks into the details of the ban, its penalties and what both residents and visitors who use th...
Hong Kong’s new ban on possessing e-cigarettes, commonly known as vapes, and related products in public places will take effect on April 30. Residents and visitors caught violating the rule could face a fine of up to HK$50,000 (US$6,380) and a maximum of six months in jail. The South China Morning Post looks into the details of the ban, its penalties and what both residents and visitors who use the products should keep in mind to avoid trouble. 1. What is the new ban? From April 30, an...
Narong KHUEANKAEW/iStock via Getty Images Gold ( GLD ) is once again back in vogue. It is 46% over the past year alone: Data by YCharts And it is up 169% over the past 5 years: Data by YCharts As a result of its recent surge, Gold has even outperformed the broader stock market, as measured by the S&P 500 ( SPY ), over the past decades: Data by YCharts Investors are piling into gold as a safe haven...
Narong KHUEANKAEW/iStock via Getty Images Gold ( GLD ) is once again back in vogue. It is 46% over the past year alone: Data by YCharts And it is up 169% over the past 5 years: Data by YCharts As a result of its recent surge, Gold has even outperformed the broader stock market, as measured by the S&P 500 ( SPY ), over the past decades: Data by YCharts Investors are piling into gold as a safe haven because we live in an extremely uncertain world. Governments are running on extreme deficits, wars are breaking out, inflation could surge again, and the broader economy is itself on shaky legs. Therefore, investors see lots of value in the diversification that gold offers. What if I told you that there is a similar but potentially better asset to diversify your portfolio? Farmland is often referred to as "gold with dividends," and there are good reasons for it. Both share clear similarities in that they are real assets that are limited in supply, have great long-term track records, and can offer valuable diversification benefits to investors. I don't think that your gold allocation should be replaced by farmland, but if you worry about diversification enough to own some gold, then I think that you probably should also consider owning some farmland. I will first highlight 3 reasons why, and then discuss how you can invest in farmland today. Farmland Partners Reason #1: More Stable Than Gold Gold can offer diversification benefits to a stock portfolio as it will often move independently from it. However, that does not mean that its value is stable. On the contrary, gold can be extremely volatile, and its recent performance is a good illustration of that. There are also good reasons for this volatility. The precious metal is used by speculators globally as a trading vehicle. The gold market is now very liquid with countless ETFs, allowing investors to buy in or pull out at a moment's notice, including with leverage and options. This naturally leads to high volatility, especi...
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) will reveal critical information for investors to digest. *Stock prices used were the afternoon prices of April 22, 2026. The video was published on April 24, 2026. Continue reading
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) will reveal critical information for investors to digest. *Stock prices used were the afternoon prices of April 22, 2026. The video was published on April 24, 2026. Continue reading
For most aging workers, Social Security benefits aren't a luxury. It's income that retirees would struggle to make do without. For nearly a quarter century, Gallup has surveyed retirees to gauge their reliance on Social Security income and has found that 80% to 90% of retired workers rely on their monthly payouts, in some capacity, to make ends meet. Strengthening the financial foundation of Ameri...
For most aging workers, Social Security benefits aren't a luxury. It's income that retirees would struggle to make do without. For nearly a quarter century, Gallup has surveyed retirees to gauge their reliance on Social Security income and has found that 80% to 90% of retired workers rely on their monthly payouts, in some capacity, to make ends meet. Strengthening the financial foundation of America's leading retirement program should be of the utmost importance for lawmakers. However, decades of reports show the short- and long-term financial outlook for Social Security is worsening. Continue reading
It's been a topsy-turvy market this year, with the war with Iran injecting a lot of uncertainty. Meanwhile, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has brought higher oil prices and potential supply shortages of important resources like helium and sulfur. That said, you ultimately have to look past the short-term impacts of the war and find good stocks for the long term. With $10,000, you can take sol...
It's been a topsy-turvy market this year, with the war with Iran injecting a lot of uncertainty. Meanwhile, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has brought higher oil prices and potential supply shortages of important resources like helium and sulfur. That said, you ultimately have to look past the short-term impacts of the war and find good stocks for the long term. With $10,000, you can take solid positions in three stocks. Let's look at great growth stocks to buy right now with solid long-term catalysts. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
Tesla has started production of its Cybercab robotaxi and is preparing for mass-scale manufacturing of its Optimus humanoid robot. Elon Musk has signaled that meaningful revenue from robotaxis and autonomy may not arrive until 2027. Tesla now expects that millions of its vehicles will need hardware retrofits to enable unsupervised autonomy. Tesla, traded as NasdaqGS:TSLA, is leaning further into i...
Tesla has started production of its Cybercab robotaxi and is preparing for mass-scale manufacturing of its Optimus humanoid robot. Elon Musk has signaled that meaningful revenue from robotaxis and autonomy may not arrive until 2027. Tesla now expects that millions of its vehicles will need hardware retrofits to enable unsupervised autonomy. Tesla, traded as NasdaqGS:TSLA, is leaning further into its identity as an AI and robotics company with the operational launch of Cybercab production...
Industry figures say that going viral is no replacement for the classic route of apprenticeships and competitions Scroll through your timeline of choice and it won’t be long until you land on a video posted by a social media chef trying to send their recipes viral. Such is the popularity of cooking videos that everyone from Michelin star masters to self-taught beginners like Brooklyn Beckham are s...
Industry figures say that going viral is no replacement for the classic route of apprenticeships and competitions Scroll through your timeline of choice and it won’t be long until you land on a video posted by a social media chef trying to send their recipes viral. Such is the popularity of cooking videos that everyone from Michelin star masters to self-taught beginners like Brooklyn Beckham are setting up tripods on their kitchen counters to capture the perfect cut, cuission or crust on their culinary creations. Continue reading...
Unhindered by critics who called the $114m project ‘a bridge to nowhere’, a gigantic bridge allowing animals to cross a busy freeway is close to completion Atop a gigantic wildlife bridge in California this week, butterflies filled the air. A red-tailed hawk sailed above as a slight breeze ruffled the 6,000 native plants, including poppies and purple sage. You’d never guess that below the quiet ex...
Unhindered by critics who called the $114m project ‘a bridge to nowhere’, a gigantic bridge allowing animals to cross a busy freeway is close to completion Atop a gigantic wildlife bridge in California this week, butterflies filled the air. A red-tailed hawk sailed above as a slight breeze ruffled the 6,000 native plants, including poppies and purple sage. You’d never guess that below the quiet expanse of rocks and plants, a 10-lane freeway ferries 400,000 cars each day. When the project broke ground four years ago, enthusiasm was high. The wildlife crossing in northern Los Angeles county would be the largest of its kind in the world, providing safe passage for mountain lions, bobcats and lizards. Continue reading...
The economy and public finances were on the right path, bond yields were falling, interest rates likely to drop further … then came the US-Israeli attack Donald Trump’s war on Iran is “folly” ; shadow chancellor Mel Stride should be “lined up for the sack”; and the Liberal Democrat Daisy Cooper’s plan for managing fuel shortages is “fundamentally economically illiterate”. Rachel Reeves has always ...
The economy and public finances were on the right path, bond yields were falling, interest rates likely to drop further … then came the US-Israeli attack Donald Trump’s war on Iran is “folly” ; shadow chancellor Mel Stride should be “lined up for the sack”; and the Liberal Democrat Daisy Cooper’s plan for managing fuel shortages is “fundamentally economically illiterate”. Rachel Reeves has always relished a political fight, but in recent days she has been swinging at her opponents with what looks very much like enjoyment. Continue reading...
Being financially equipped to retire feels like a fantasy. And yet plenty of people who could do so are avoiding it “Retirement.” A word I can hardly spell anymore, it seems so abstract and impossible – like a science-fiction concept from a tattered old novel. In the classic film Blade Runner, “retirement” is the term used to describe the brutal ritual of future cops executing rogue androids calle...
Being financially equipped to retire feels like a fantasy. And yet plenty of people who could do so are avoiding it “Retirement.” A word I can hardly spell anymore, it seems so abstract and impossible – like a science-fiction concept from a tattered old novel. In the classic film Blade Runner, “retirement” is the term used to describe the brutal ritual of future cops executing rogue androids called replicants (which auto-correct just tried to turn into “Republicans” against my will, though maybe Google Docs has a Freudian slip function now). The Blade Runner version of retirement strikes me as more feasible for modern humans – getting blasted by a jackbooted assassin with a phallic-looking blaster – than the traditional process. Actual retirement – cocktails on the beach in between golf games – is as distant as the farthest known star. As glamorous as my life must seem to you, dear reader, it is not that at all. Like most creative types who never bothered to learn to code, I scrape by every month, white-knuckling until the next heaven-sent direct deposit. Continue reading...
Apple and Samsung dominate the US phone market, and they've done so for years. Together with Google, they've shaped our sense of what a smartphone is and what it can do, pushing the boundaries of mobile photography, software, and processing power. But over the last few years, they've sat back, content to iterate rather than innovate - and in the interim, China's tech giants have plowed ahead. Now ...
Apple and Samsung dominate the US phone market, and they've done so for years. Together with Google, they've shaped our sense of what a smartphone is and what it can do, pushing the boundaries of mobile photography, software, and processing power. But over the last few years, they've sat back, content to iterate rather than innovate - and in the interim, China's tech giants have plowed ahead. Now a gulf is growing between the phones on sale in the US and those available in the rest of the world. US phone buyers are missing out. Some of the blame for that gap lies with Apple. Where it goes, the market follows, and in recent years it's gone s … Read the full story at The Verge.
f11photo/iStock via Getty Images Resorts World plans to open a full casino in New York City next week pending final approval from the New York Gaming Commission. The opening will mark the first time that New York City has live casino table games. After landing its license, Resorts World New York City spent $5.5B to expand a large video lottery terminal casino at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park in...
f11photo/iStock via Getty Images Resorts World plans to open a full casino in New York City next week pending final approval from the New York Gaming Commission. The opening will mark the first time that New York City has live casino table games. After landing its license, Resorts World New York City spent $5.5B to expand a large video lottery terminal casino at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park into a full-scale casino. Resorts World New York City is operated by Malaysia-based Genting Group, a global company founded in 1965, with destination resort operations in the Catskills, Hudson Valley, Las Vegas, Bimini, Malaysia, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. Resorts World's Queens casino is not the only full-scale casino coming to New York City soon. In December, the New York State Gaming Commission approved three locations, including a Bally's ( BALY ) location on land next to the former Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point in the Bronx and a casino and entertainment center near Citi Field, backed by Mets owner Steve Cohen. For the broader New York gambling market, the opening means that there is one fewer reason to trek to Atlantic City casinos operated by MGM Resorts ( MGM ) or Caesars Entertainment or the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods in Connecticut. The new casino is positioned to capture not just casual local gamblers but also the high-rollers and international visitors who pass through New York City in enormous numbers and have previously had nowhere to play within city limits..Looking ahead, two other operators were awarded downstate casino licenses by the New York State Gaming Commission. Hard Rock International, backed by New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, plans to build the Metropolitan Park casino resort adjacent to Citi Field in Queens, while Bally's Corporation ( BALY ) won the license for a site at Ferry Point near the Whitestone Bridge in the Bronx, on land previously occupied by a Trump Organization golf course. Both are ground-up construction projects, with antici...
Jakub Bakala/iStock via Getty Images By my count, I've spent more than 130,000 hours as a professional investor. Advisor (retired), fund manager (same), researcher, CIO, and all of that. So my articles here probably tilt toward the wonky and lengthy side. This one is different. Because its message is so simple. This is not to say it is easy. Investing isn't, no matter what they tell you. Any time ...
Jakub Bakala/iStock via Getty Images By my count, I've spent more than 130,000 hours as a professional investor. Advisor (retired), fund manager (same), researcher, CIO, and all of that. So my articles here probably tilt toward the wonky and lengthy side. This one is different. Because its message is so simple. This is not to say it is easy. Investing isn't, no matter what they tell you. Any time you lay hard-earned money on the line, it is a head game. I've been playing that game in my own head since the early 1990s. Ironically, that was just before US Treasury rates from 7 to 30 years (3/4 of the yield curve) last hung out around the 5% nominal rate level. In other words, a 5% annualized return was ours for the taking. But just buying a bond and holding it to maturity. I know, I know. Inflation. Taxes. But like I said, this is a simple exercise. And the goal is NOT to tell someone, "Go out and buy 5% bonds and do nothing else." I actively hedge my ladder. That's not a requirement, but I did that for a living for a long time. So adding TLT puts, inverse bond ETFs, and raising a bit of cash to capture short-term rates (3-year bonds are back up to around 3.8% as I write this) are all potential ways to offset the "risk" of rising rates when you own long-term bonds. But even without that, a 5% return is a 5% return. As we'll see below, that's a lot better pound-for-pound than a lot of alternative propositions. My point is that, unlike any time since near the start of this century, building what I have written about here and elsewhere for more than a year: a zero-coupon US Treasury bond ladder—is as attractive a ROLE PLAYER within a broader retirement portfolio as ever. 4% is the golden rule of retirement investing, right? Withdraw up to 4% a year, and you will never run out of money. That's oversimplified, and this article is not a retirement income seminar. It is a wake-up call for investors who might be so inundated with FOMO-inducing "investment ideas," they will sp...
gopixa/iStock via Getty Images Patchwork growth, pockets of resilience This week’s macro data pointed to a mixed but still expanding global economy. S&P Global flash PMI surveys showed the U.S. index rising from 50.3 in March to 52.0 in April, consistent with modest growth. However, the composition of that growth warrants attention. Manufacturing activity has been relatively stronger, supported in...
gopixa/iStock via Getty Images Patchwork growth, pockets of resilience This week’s macro data pointed to a mixed but still expanding global economy. S&P Global flash PMI surveys showed the U.S. index rising from 50.3 in March to 52.0 in April, consistent with modest growth. However, the composition of that growth warrants attention. Manufacturing activity has been relatively stronger, supported in part by preemptive purchasing and inventory rebuilding. Whether that momentum is sustained will depend on follow-through in services activity and new orders. In Europe, the picture is less resilient. Services activity has softened to multi-year lows, reflecting the impact of geopolitical disruption, policy uncertainty and affordability pressures. In several regions, goods-producing sectors are holding up better than services, which is a less balanced mix for a durable expansion. Overall, the data suggests pockets of resilience, but not a broad-based acceleration. Consumer spending holds, but signals are noisy In the U.S., retail sales data pointed to continued consumer strength , though underlying trends appear more moderate. March retail sales rose 1.7% month-over-month and 4% year-over-year, marking the strongest monthly increase in more than three years. However, much of that gain was driven by higher gasoline prices. Excluding gas stations, sales rose a more modest 0.6%. This suggests that while consumer spending remains intact, the signal is somewhat distorted by energy-related price effects. Corporate earnings provide an additional lens. Results from American Express indicate that higher-income consumers remain in solid shape, with spending and credit trends holding up. United Airlines results also suggest that demand remains stable, even as companies adjust pricing to offset higher fuel costs. Taken together, the consumer continues to support the economy, but with growing sensitivity to prices and costs. Markets optimistic as policy comes into focus Despite mixed ma...