A key congressional advisory panel issued a warning on Monday about China’s rapidly advancing maritime capabilities and urged the Pentagon to maintain its undersea “superiority”, underscoring growing friction in US-China relations weeks ahead of a high-stakes summit next month. China has invested heavily in submarines, undersea cables and sea-floor mining, potentially undercutting the US lead in u...
A key congressional advisory panel issued a warning on Monday about China’s rapidly advancing maritime capabilities and urged the Pentagon to maintain its undersea “superiority”, underscoring growing friction in US-China relations weeks ahead of a high-stakes summit next month. China has invested heavily in submarines, undersea cables and sea-floor mining, potentially undercutting the US lead in undersea warfare, commissioners and witnesses said at a hearing of the US-China Economic and Security...
Castle City Creative/iStock via Getty Images If you think your last year was a bit hectic, you can't imagine how it was for ICF International ( ICFI ). After President Donald Trump's election, the stock, which was hovering around $170, its all-time high, plummeted when what I calle d " One Big Beautiful Headwind " happened. Before that, ICF was completely federal-heavy. More than half of all its r...
Castle City Creative/iStock via Getty Images If you think your last year was a bit hectic, you can't imagine how it was for ICF International ( ICFI ). After President Donald Trump's election, the stock, which was hovering around $170, its all-time high, plummeted when what I calle d " One Big Beautiful Headwind " happened. Before that, ICF was completely federal-heavy. More than half of all its revenue came from contracts with the federal government, especially Energy, Environment, Infrastructure and Disaster Recovery (impacted by the end of renewable incentives and the revocation of IRA subsidies) and Health and Social Programs (changes to Obamacare and cuts to Medicaid). To give you an idea, around $90 million in contracts were lost in H1, with the largest chunk coming from canceled USAID programs abroad. All this pessimism drove the stock back to around $80, where it hasn't left since. Seeking Alpha But I didn't just cover the collapse. FY 2025 was also a year in which they began building what I called the "new ICF." The focus will now be less on the federal government and more on commercial customers (primarily commercial power services and electrification) and local, state, and international governments. And you can see the difference in practice when you compare the customer mix by revenue for FY 2023, FY 2024, and FY 2025: Look how much the revenue mix has changed in the last three years (Author) It turns out that new clients haven't yet filled the void left by the federal government. Not much surprise there. Proof of this is that revenues fell almost 7.3% to $1.87 billion and EPS also fell nearly 10% (this with the largest amount of capital injected into buybacks in the last 10 years). Seeking Alpha And even with some contracts signed with the federal government (especially in IT for the DoD) coupled with a possible re-rating to SaaS provider fro m " Fathom ," I remained skeptical with the "Hold" rating and a price target in the low $80s. It seems this has ...
Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), a global streaming TV, film, and games provider, closed Monday at $97.09, up 0.88%. The stock moved as investors weighed fresh analyst coverage and ongoing relief-rally commentary tied to Netflix’s decision to walk away from a Warner Bros. Discovery acquisi
Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), a global streaming TV, film, and games provider, closed Monday at $97.09, up 0.88%. The stock moved as investors weighed fresh analyst coverage and ongoing relief-rally commentary tied to Netflix’s decision to walk away from a Warner Bros. Discovery acquisi
PM Images/DigitalVision via Getty Images The U.S. dollar edged up on Monday, as investors tracked geopolitical developments and steady Treasury yields while assessing expectations that the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates on hold. The dollar index ( DXY ), which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was last up 0.97% to $98.55 and remains up about 0.32% for the year t...
PM Images/DigitalVision via Getty Images The U.S. dollar edged up on Monday, as investors tracked geopolitical developments and steady Treasury yields while assessing expectations that the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates on hold. The dollar index ( DXY ), which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was last up 0.97% to $98.55 and remains up about 0.32% for the year to date. Dollar weekly moves and key drivers: Over the past week, the index slipped 0.02%, with the U.S. dollar moving higher during the week as markets reacted to escalating geopolitical tensions following military strikes involving the United States and Israel against Iran, which drove demand for safe-haven assets and coincided with a surge in oil prices. Graphical Representation (SeekingAlpha) The currency also drew support from stronger U.S. producer price data and expectations that the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates on hold. During the period, global markets were influenced by developments in U.S.-Iran tensions, fluctuations in energy prices, and broader risk sentiment, while Treasury yields remained largely steady. U.S. Treasury yields were little changed overall, with the 10-year Treasury yield ( US10Y ) slipping one basis point at 4.04% over the week, while the 2-year yield ( US2Y ) rose two basis points to 3.48%. Currency Highlights: Major currency movements (February 23 to March 1) Euro ( EUR:USD ) +0.14% Pound Sterling ( GBP:USD ) -0.33% Japanese Yen ( JPY:USD ) -0.78% Chinese Yuan ( CNY:USD ) +0.38% Swiss Franc ( CHF:USD ) +0.93% Australian Dollar ( AUD:USD ) +0.50% Canadian Dollar ( CAD:USD ) +0.39% Click to enlarge The Swiss franc ( CHF:USD ) was last down 1.19%, with the currency seeing safe-haven demand during the week as markets reacted to escalating geopolitical tensions following military strikes involving the United States and Israel against Iran. The Japanese yen ( JPY:USD ) was last down 0.90%, but also saw periods of safe-haven demand amid hei...
When Block laid off nearly half its staff last week, co-founder Jack Dorsey offered a seemingly simple explanation: artificial intelligence was allowing the company to do more with fewer employees. The announcement, though, landed at the center of a complex debate over AI and the future of work: on one side, genuine fear that the technology will displace jobs at an unprecedented pace; on the other...
When Block laid off nearly half its staff last week, co-founder Jack Dorsey offered a seemingly simple explanation: artificial intelligence was allowing the company to do more with fewer employees. The announcement, though, landed at the center of a complex debate over AI and the future of work: on one side, genuine fear that the technology will displace jobs at an unprecedented pace; on the other, deep cynicism that companies are exploiting that fear to dress up old-fashioned cost-cutting as technological futurism. Marcelo P. Lima, Founder and Managing Partner at Heller House, joins Bloomberg Businessweek Daily to discuss. Lima has been a vocal critic of Dorsey's management style at Block, and posted soon after the layoff announcement that the reduction in force "is the new Citrini fake narrative." Lima speaks with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec. (Source: Bloomberg)
Earnings Call Insights: Mobile Infrastructure Corporation (BEEP) Q4 2025 Management View CEO Stephanie Hogue stated that 2025 was a foundational year for the company, emphasizing progress on strategic priorities despite not achieving expected growth. She asserted, "We continue to show positive momentum in Contract Parking, improved utilization at several of our assets, completed Phase 1 of our ass...
Earnings Call Insights: Mobile Infrastructure Corporation (BEEP) Q4 2025 Management View CEO Stephanie Hogue stated that 2025 was a foundational year for the company, emphasizing progress on strategic priorities despite not achieving expected growth. She asserted, "We continue to show positive momentum in Contract Parking, improved utilization at several of our assets, completed Phase 1 of our asset rotation strategy, strengthened our balance sheet and our confidence is growing with identifiable catalysts that position us for progress in 2026." Hogue highlighted that over 6,700 contract parking agreements were in place at year-end, with same-store sales growth of 10% year-over-year, and 12% growth excluding Detroit's temporary disruption. She reported, "Contract Parking represents approximately 35% of our management agreement revenue. This recurring revenue creates stability, reduces volatility and builds a platform for pricing leverage as utilization improves." The CEO outlined completed construction projects, a renewed focus on technology, and the execution of Phase 1 of the asset rotation strategy with over $30 million in noncore asset sales or contracts to sell. She also mentioned, "In the third quarter, we completed a $100 million asset-backed securitization with 3 new institutional investors." CFO Paul Gohr reported, "Total revenue was $8.8 million compared to $9.2 million in the same period of the prior year." He pointed out that RevPAS for the fourth quarter was $190, a 5% decrease year-over-year, and noted operational discipline in expenses: "Property taxes were $1.6 million compared to $1.7 million in the prior year quarter. Property operating expenses were flat at $1.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2025 and 2024." Outlook Guidance for 2026 expects revenue between $35 million and $38 million, with the midpoint reflecting 4% growth over 2025 revenue. CFO Gohr stated, "On an apples-to-apples basis, adjusted for the assets we sold in 2025, the midpoint re...
BlackSalmon/iStock via Getty Images AVUV Performance I'm quite pleased with our history of Avantis US Small Cap Value ETF ( AVUV ), with the most recent performance of +10% over the market since last authored. It seems the quality small-cap premium is finally starting to gain some momentum. AVUV Performance Since Published (Seeking Alpha) Even the Seeking Alpha quant rating, which showed unfavorab...
BlackSalmon/iStock via Getty Images AVUV Performance I'm quite pleased with our history of Avantis US Small Cap Value ETF ( AVUV ), with the most recent performance of +10% over the market since last authored. It seems the quality small-cap premium is finally starting to gain some momentum. AVUV Performance Since Published (Seeking Alpha) Even the Seeking Alpha quant rating, which showed unfavorable metrics when I issued strong buy ratings, is now moving into my favor. The flows continue in this ETF, making it more and more attractive. AVUV Quant Rating (Seeking Alpha) With almost a +45% gain since the Strong Buy issue in April of 2025, one may ask if there is still room to grow - and my answer is yes, and it's a very long runway. I've explained the role of US Small Cap Value, an asset class AVUV tries to capitalize on, in several of my articles. I've also explained why it's a strong buy recently due to its value spread relative to large-cap growth. And while this is all very interesting, it doesn't exactly explain AVUV's relative valuation to itself. In this article, I will cover Price-To-Book ("P/B") relative valuations of US Small Cap value (SCV) relative to itself and the opportunity cost to the market, indicating now is a good time to invest in the asset class. I will explain why I think AVUV is the best ETF to target this asset class due to its superior factor loadings, expense ratio, and alpha generation. Asset Class Valuations As typical, an updated chart on the Shiller P/E ratio is an excellent gauge to determine the relative value of the market. Sitting at 40 means investors are paying 40x earnings for a share of the US market. This is the second most expensive time in over 100 years, coming just under the dot-com bubble era in the early 2000s — a time when US SCV vastly outperformed when the bubble popped. Shiller PE Ratio (Multpl) In fact, if you backtest a large-cap growth ("LCG") asset class to an SCV from the years 2000-2007, SCV delivered an 11.38% C...
The US Supreme Court halted the redrawing of a Republican-held congressional district in New York City in a decision likely to keep the seat safely in GOP hands in the November election. Over three dissents, the justices put on hold a state court decision that said a new map is needed because the current 11th District dilutes Black and Hispanic votes in violation of the New York constitution. The ...
The US Supreme Court halted the redrawing of a Republican-held congressional district in New York City in a decision likely to keep the seat safely in GOP hands in the November election. Over three dissents, the justices put on hold a state court decision that said a new map is needed because the current 11th District dilutes Black and Hispanic votes in violation of the New York constitution. The high court decision grants a request from Republican Representative Nicole Malliotakis . The move preserves a Staten Island-anchored district that has been New York City’s most durable Republican perch since the early 1980s. Malliotakis has held the seat since 2021, and a redrawing might have put the district in play. Although the Supreme Court order doesn’t definitively resolve the legal issues, it ensures that the existing district will remain in place for this year’s election. The clash is among a flurry of legal fights around the country over the voting lines that will govern the midterm elections as Democrats try to seize control of the House of Representatives. The 11th District fight is unique because it centers on state law and had been playing out in New York court – factors that Democrats said made US Supreme Court intervention inappropriate. New York Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey H. Pearlman ruled Jan. 24 that the number of racial minorities in the district had grown so large over the years that the state constitution required them to have a better chance at electing their preferred candidate. His order directed New York’s Independent Redistricting Commission to propose a new map for the state legislature’s consideration. New York’s Supreme Court is its trial-level court. Malliotakis contended that Pearlman’s order would require a racial gerrymander in violation of the US Constitution’s equal protection clause. The Trump administration backed Malliotakis in the case. Both sides told the Supreme Court that the calendar was on their side. Malliotakis and the Republ...