Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news While the latest figures show a fall in the UK’s unemployment rate, businesses are warning that it is likely to rise overall this year. Patrick Milnes , head of people and work at the British Chambers of Commerce , said: While unemployment has seen a surprise fall to 4.9%, the expectation is that it will rise this year as business uncertai...
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news While the latest figures show a fall in the UK’s unemployment rate, businesses are warning that it is likely to rise overall this year. Patrick Milnes , head of people and work at the British Chambers of Commerce , said: While unemployment has seen a surprise fall to 4.9%, the expectation is that it will rise this year as business uncertainty caused by the Iran War overshadows the UK economy. With the cost of employment also high, and expected to rise as the Employment Rights Act comes into effect, our latest forecast expects unemployment to hit 5.5% this year. The slow-down in wage growth indicates businesses are taking their foot off the gas and the labour market will continue to loosen. Continue reading...
davit85/iStock via Getty Images Shares of Steel Dynamics ( STLD ) have been a remarkable performer over the past year, gaining over 80%. While it has taken several quarters, the steel tariffs have helped to firm up pricing in the sector, supporting profitability. At the same time, its transformational aluminum plant continues to progress, enabling a coming inflection in cash flow. While the compan...
davit85/iStock via Getty Images Shares of Steel Dynamics ( STLD ) have been a remarkable performer over the past year, gaining over 80%. While it has taken several quarters, the steel tariffs have helped to firm up pricing in the sector, supporting profitability. At the same time, its transformational aluminum plant continues to progress, enabling a coming inflection in cash flow. While the company reported solid Q1 results, there were signs that broader U.S. manufacturing activity remains muted. I last covered shares in January , rating the stock a “ H old” and recommending buying on pullbacks to $170, which materialized in March. Considering shares are back over $200, this proved to be a good entry point, and with updated financials, now is a good time to revisit STLD. Seeking Alpha In the company’s first quarter , Steel Dynamics earned $2.78 per share, which was $0.02 below expectations even as revenue jumped 19% to $5.2 billion. Earnings nearly doubled from last year’s $1.44, reflecting higher pricing, thanks in large part to the protection afforded the industry by tariffs. During the quarter, STLD generated $700 million of EBITDA. Steel shipments were a record 3.6 million tons. As you can see below, its utilization is up to 89%, continuing to outpace the industry. The share of imports has fallen significantly to just 15%, reflecting tariffs. This is enabling the domestic industry to regain share and boost pricing, a tailwind to STLD’s bottom line. Steel Dynamics Now, during the first quarter, the Supreme Court overruled many of the Trump Administration’s “reciprocal” tariffs. It is important to emphasize that this does not impact steel tariffs. Steel and aluminum tariffs were installed under a different legal authority, Section 232 . This was the same section used in the first Trump Administration for tariffs and provides much stronger legal footing. I view these tariffs as highly likely to endure at least through the duration of the Trump Administration and li...
In this article TSLA BA T PLTR GEV VRT Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT The launch tower at SpaceX Launch Complex at launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., April 6, 2026. Brendan McDermid | Reuters SpaceX is moving ahead with plans for one of the most anticipated IPOs in history as it hosts analysts this week for three days of closed-door meeti...
In this article TSLA BA T PLTR GEV VRT Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT The launch tower at SpaceX Launch Complex at launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., April 6, 2026. Brendan McDermid | Reuters SpaceX is moving ahead with plans for one of the most anticipated IPOs in history as it hosts analysts this week for three days of closed-door meetings at its launch facility in Texas and mega-sized data center in Tennessee, according to three people familiar with the matter. Elon Musk's company is holding the briefings for Wall Street's top aerospace and technology analysts as it looks to raise $75 billion , in what would be the world's biggest-ever IPO, with executives targeting a late June trading debut . The presentations kick off with an all-day meeting and analyst tour on Tuesday at the satellite and rocket maker's Starbase launch facilities in Boca Chica, Texas, the people said. Another group of analysts representing institutional investors, including big mutual funds and pension plans, will be briefed in a separate session at Starbase on Wednesday, the people said. On Thursday, the analysts have been invited to review the company's "Macrohard" project at its Colossus data center in Memphis, Tennessee, they added. Attendees are expected to surrender electronic devices to participate in the meetings, one of the people said. All three spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not public. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. Reuters was the first to report on the plans to host analysts earlier this month. The inclusion of Starbase on the tour and the three days of briefings have not been reported previously. IPO process Analyst days are a standard part of the IPO process, in which companies brief analysts on their business, financial outlook and long-term strategy ahead of a public listing. Some of the analysts scheduled to attend have also received copies of SpaceX's confidential re...
In this article AAPL Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT John Ternus, senior vice president of hardware engineering at Apple Inc., speaks about iMac computers during the Peek Performance virtual event in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, March 8, 2022. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Apple has maintained its dominance in consumer devi...
In this article AAPL Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT John Ternus, senior vice president of hardware engineering at Apple Inc., speaks about iMac computers during the Peek Performance virtual event in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, March 8, 2022. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Apple has maintained its dominance in consumer devices and built up a $4 trillion market cap despite largely sitting on the sidelines of the artificial intelligence boom. But investors won't remain patient forever, and they'll be looking to new CEO John Ternus for a clearer strategy when it comes to playing in the hottest market on the planet. Tim Cook's 15-year tenure as Apple CEO comes to an end on Sept. 1, the company announced on Monday. Ternus, Apple's longtime hardware boss, is taking over, becoming just the second leader since Steve Jobs departed in 2011, less than two months before he died from cancer. As Cook exits, Apple faces numerous challenges, including an intricate supply chain that's complicated by geopolitical tensions and soaring prices for memory due to unprecedented demand from the AI buildout. But for Ternus, perhaps the most critical aspect of his new job will be pushing the company deeper into AI, where it's lagged many of its megacap peers. So far, Apple's AI strategy has involved avoiding hefty capital expenditures while Microsoft , Google , Amazon and Meta commit to hundreds of billions of dollars a year in combined capex to fund new data centers and fill them with pricey AI chips. When it comes to developing a foundational AI model, Apple has punted there as well, and is instead counting on Google's Gemini to power its AI features, including a major Siri upgrade expected later this year following a delay. In 2024, Apple launched Apple Intelligence, which includes image generators, text rewriters, the ability to summarize push notifications and an integration with OpenAI's ChatGPT. Consumer respons...
Anthropic’s Mythos model should be shared with affected organizations to ensure a level playing field in assessing its uses and dangers, according to Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel . The artificial intelligence platform, whose advances pose cyber threats to the global economy, shouldn’t be held only for a select club of big US corporations, suggested Nagel, who’s also a member of the European ...
Anthropic’s Mythos model should be shared with affected organizations to ensure a level playing field in assessing its uses and dangers, according to Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel . The artificial intelligence platform, whose advances pose cyber threats to the global economy, shouldn’t be held only for a select club of big US corporations, suggested Nagel, who’s also a member of the European Central Bank ’s Governing Council. “We must prevent the misuse of this technology,” he told a conference in Rome on Tuesday. “At the same time, all relevant institutions should have access to such technology to avoid competitive distortions.” Anthropic’s Mythos model has sparked global fears of a new era of cyber attacks, also threatening the stability of the financial system worldwide. Such worries featured prominently at last week’s IMF spring meetings in Washington. Regulators, central bankers and corporate executives are seeking to gain more insight on Mythos, which hasn’t been widely released. There are concerns that financial systems outside the US – including Europe – are at a disadvantage because they have limited access. “This AI model seems to be a double-edged sword,” Nagel said. “It could be used not only to improve digital security systems, but also to leverage their vulnerabilities for malicious purposes.” His speech focused on the overall implications of AI on economic growth and price stability. Nagel suggested that it is hard to draw firm conclusions at present. “The potential effects of AI on inflation are still uncertain,” he said. While the technology may raise productivity, it could also increase wage pressures and add to electricity prices, he said. “Even in the shorter run, a disinflationary effect may not materialize if demand rises in anticipation of future productivity increases,” Nagel said, adding that AI algorithms could consistently charge excessive prices. His comments are more cautious than those of the nominee for the Federal Reserve chair, ...