Queen Elizabeth Hall, London With dizzying surround sound and thousands of LED baubles, this was a synaesthetic feast from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment There was birdsong in the Queen Elizabeth Hall foyer. In the hall itself, hanging from the ceiling, were ropes and ropes displaying many thousands of walnut-sized LEDs, lined in huge blocks above the heads of the players and front half...
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London With dizzying surround sound and thousands of LED baubles, this was a synaesthetic feast from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment There was birdsong in the Queen Elizabeth Hall foyer. In the hall itself, hanging from the ceiling, were ropes and ropes displaying many thousands of walnut-sized LEDs, lined in huge blocks above the heads of the players and front half of the audience, promising to light the place up as if it were Harrods in December. This was Echoes of Hill and Horizon, an unlikely and delightful coming together of technology and English pastoral music at this year’s Multitudes festival. Just over an hour of Vaughan Williams, Warlock and Elgar was played by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment – who don’t usually play this stuff, but who drew on their experience in the earlier music that inspired it. Their agile playing, at once lean and sonorous, was filtered through the dozens of speakers that make up the QEH’s hidden surround-sound system, which occasionally blunted the orchestral blend but allowed for intriguing spatial effects or cathedral-like reverb. Continue reading...
Crude prices have skyrocketed this year due to the war with Iran. WTI, the primary U.S. oil price benchmark, has soared more than 60% to around $93 a barrel. Higher crude prices are enabling oil producers to generate an unexpected profit gusher this year. Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET) doesn't produce a drop of oil. Despite that, the energy midstream company will benefit from this year's surge in crud...
Crude prices have skyrocketed this year due to the war with Iran. WTI, the primary U.S. oil price benchmark, has soared more than 60% to around $93 a barrel. Higher crude prices are enabling oil producers to generate an unexpected profit gusher this year. Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET) doesn't produce a drop of oil. Despite that, the energy midstream company will benefit from this year's surge in crude prices. Here's how. Image source: The Motley Fool. Continue reading
Nadya So/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Introduction In my previous article on Starbucks ( SBUX ), I discussed how Brian Niccol is planning to turn the company around. How Starbucks is making a deliberate bet that better service and faster order flow can drive comparable sales growth, improve store-level economics, and restore operating profit margins. Please refer to that article for a compreh...
Nadya So/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Introduction In my previous article on Starbucks ( SBUX ), I discussed how Brian Niccol is planning to turn the company around. How Starbucks is making a deliberate bet that better service and faster order flow can drive comparable sales growth, improve store-level economics, and restore operating profit margins. Please refer to that article for a comprehensive take on the turnaround plan and the medium-term targets. In this article, my focus is on what to expect from Starbucks on April 28, 2026, when it announces Q2 FY26 earnings results. Starbucks share price has had a strong start to 2026. The year-to-date share price performance has increased by 18.9%, on a total return basis, while the S&P 500 has gained just 4.3% over the same period. Though some of this outperformance may be attributed to the fact that the stock underperformed the market by a wide range in the prior year, it also shows that the market is starting to get excited about the progress of the Niccol-led turnaround of Starbucks. This strong start for SBUX may suggest that investors’ expectations are running high heading into Q2 FY26 earnings results. A beat on consensus estimates alone may not be enough to appease investors. The market will likely be looking for tangible operational progress on the turnaround and an increase in full-year guidance. Anything else could lead to some selling pressure on the stock price post-event. Figure 1: YTD Share Price Performance Source: Seeking Alpha Comparable Sales Outlook Starbucks has posted positive comparable-store sales growth for two consecutive quarters. These figures have provided an early indication that the company is turning over a new page, and the market will be looking for another quarter of noteworthy comparable-store sales growth. Though a consensus estimate for comparable-store sales is not available, I estimate the market is expecting around 3-3.5% growth by inferring from the consensus total revenue e...
Guido Mieth/DigitalVision via Getty Images The GAMCO Natural Resources, Gold & Income Trust ( GNT ) is a closed-end fund that aims to provide its investors with a high level of current income along with exposure to both natural resources and gold. This could be an appealing proposition right now, as the bullish case for many commodities, as well as gold, is very strong right now. Gold, in particul...
Guido Mieth/DigitalVision via Getty Images The GAMCO Natural Resources, Gold & Income Trust ( GNT ) is a closed-end fund that aims to provide its investors with a high level of current income along with exposure to both natural resources and gold. This could be an appealing proposition right now, as the bullish case for many commodities, as well as gold, is very strong right now. Gold, in particular, is facing strong tailwinds from several central banks around the world actively attempting to increase their own exposure to the precious metal while reducing their exposure to the U.S. dollar. Indeed, as we will see in this article, central banks appear to be accelerating their diversification away from the U.S. dollar. Unfortunately, though, GNT sacrifices some of the upside potential from precious metals in exchange for income, so the fund could underperform gold during a strong bull market. The fund does have an 8.18% yield at the current level, however, which might be high enough for some income-focused investors to be willing to sacrifice a proportion of the potential capital appreciation. About The GAMCO Natural Resources, Gold & Income Trust The website for the GAMCO Natural Resources, Gold & Income Trust states that the fund’s primary objective is to provide its investors with a very high level of current income. From the website: The Fund intends to generate income from short-term gains primarily through its strategy of writing covered call options on the equity securities in its portfolio. Because of its primary strategy, the Fund forgoes the opportunity to participate fully in the appreciation of the underlying equity security above the exercise price of the option. Under normal market conditions, the Fund will attempt to achieve its objectives by investing 80% of its assets in equity securities of companies principally engaged in natural resource and gold industries. This description states that the GAMCO Natural Resources, Gold & Income Trust primarily inv...
Montaka Global Investments, an investment management company, released its first-quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter is available to download here. The March quarter was dominated by Iran’s geopolitical conflict, which sharply revised stocks’ valuation multiples. In Q1, the portfolio holdings declined due to valuation changes, but the firm trusts in the stocks’ […]
Montaka Global Investments, an investment management company, released its first-quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter is available to download here. The March quarter was dominated by Iran’s geopolitical conflict, which sharply revised stocks’ valuation multiples. In Q1, the portfolio holdings declined due to valuation changes, but the firm trusts in the stocks’ […]
Lululemon (LULU) announced on Wednesday that former Nike (NKE) executive Heidi O’Neill will become the brand's next CEO starting in September. The stock has fallen slightly since reporting this news. Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Brooke DiPalma outlines the investor reaction and what this all means for Lululemon's turnaround plan.
Lululemon (LULU) announced on Wednesday that former Nike (NKE) executive Heidi O’Neill will become the brand's next CEO starting in September. The stock has fallen slightly since reporting this news. Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Brooke DiPalma outlines the investor reaction and what this all means for Lululemon's turnaround plan.
Artificial intelligence is set to upend the gaming industry. Advances in generative AI could cut the cost of developing new games in half, according to a research report out Tuesday from Morgan Stanley. That would create a $22 billion profit opportunity for companies. But it's not all good news for video game makers. While lower costs could boost margins for existing developers, the technology wil...
Artificial intelligence is set to upend the gaming industry. Advances in generative AI could cut the cost of developing new games in half, according to a research report out Tuesday from Morgan Stanley. That would create a $22 billion profit opportunity for companies. But it's not all good news for video game makers. While lower costs could boost margins for existing developers, the technology will also lower barriers to entry, potentially heightening competition. Within the group, Morgan Stanley identified four U.S.-traded companies as potential AI winners. Sony was one. The Wall Street bank said the PlayStation owner's size positions it to manage both the risks and rewards of AI advances. "Sony's diversified portfolio, strong [intellectual property] base and recurring revenue from live services … position the company not only to withstand disruption but also to benefit from AI-driven tailwinds," the Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in the 63-page study. SONY 1Y mountain Sony ADRs are down 12% over the past year Chinese tech giant NetEase will also be a winner, the bank said. Analysts called it the "leading game AI expert in the industry," and said a strong talent pool will help it further leverage the technology. Lower barriers to entry may also boost Roblox , where users can create their own games. AI might enhance the appeal of the platform's game creation tools, the analysts said, and solidify Roblox's existing content. AppLovin — while not a gaming company — is set to benefit too. Analysts believe if barriers to entry come down and competition increases among videogame makers, so will the battle for eyeballs in a more crowded field. That will make advertising even more critical if companies want to succeed. "Platforms that can efficiently match demand with the right users should become more valuable, not less," the Morgan Stanley analysts wrote about AppLovin. The investment bank also named China's Tencent Holdings and Korea's NCSoft, renamed NC Corp. in March, a...
Lawsuit follows exchange on X in which airline suggested customer should clear cache or book with incognito window Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox JetBlue has been sued in a proposed class action claiming it uses customers’ personal data to set ticket prices, after its response to a social media post raised concern that the carrier employed “surveillan...
Lawsuit follows exchange on X in which airline suggested customer should clear cache or book with incognito window Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox JetBlue has been sued in a proposed class action claiming it uses customers’ personal data to set ticket prices, after its response to a social media post raised concern that the carrier employed “surveillance pricing” to make flying more expensive. According to a complaint filed late on Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court, JetBlue conceals its use of “trackers” to set prices dynamically, and shares data with third parties whose programs help it decide when to raise fares. Continue reading...