Bahrain was already having a tough time before the Iran war broke out. The Persian Gulf nation was contending with a debt burden that equated to about 140% of gross domestic product and limited reserves. Then the kingdom, which hosts the headquarters of the US Naval Forces Central Command, was bombarded with missiles and drones, and the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz and flight disruptions m...
Bahrain was already having a tough time before the Iran war broke out. The Persian Gulf nation was contending with a debt burden that equated to about 140% of gross domestic product and limited reserves. Then the kingdom, which hosts the headquarters of the US Naval Forces Central Command, was bombarded with missiles and drones, and the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz and flight disruptions magnified the damage to its economy. But the two-week truce agreed by the US and Iran — and the likelihood of further negotiations on a more sustained ceasefire — have given Bahrain some relief. Its bonds, particularly intermediate and long-end securities, have rallied, while option-adjusted spreads in that market segment are now tighter than pre-war levels, according to Bloomberg Intelligence fixed-income strategist on Middle East and Africa Basel Al-Waqayan . The reason: investors remain confident the country will secure the support it needs from its larger and wealthier partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council, primarily Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Local funding channels have remained open for the duration of the war, which erupted Feb. 28. The Central Bank of Bahrain said Treasury-bill issuances were fully or over-subscribed last month. And a sukuk sale that took place on April 6 — the day before a deadline US President Donald Trump set to for Iran to open Hormuz or have its power plants and other infrastructure destroyed — was oversubscribed by 225%. While there was no indication whether the UAE and Saudi investors bought any of the debt, Bahrain’s rules allows for bids by non-residents. The first official confirmation of foreign support for Bahrain came on April 8, when the central bank and its UAE counterpart signed a five-year, 20 billion dirham ($5.4 billion) currency-swap agreement , giving Bahrain’s commercial lenders access to additional liquidity. “In the near-term, any liquidity issues that arise from a decline in revenues can be dealt with throu...
Sanya Kushak/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Constellation Energy ( CEG ) has been trading flat since I last covered shares in June of last year, thereby underperforming the wider market and many other AI players and derivatives of the boom a great deal. I called it an interesting and volatile utility play, driven by AI trends as well as many developments on the corporate front, including a $29 ...
Sanya Kushak/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Constellation Energy ( CEG ) has been trading flat since I last covered shares in June of last year, thereby underperforming the wider market and many other AI players and derivatives of the boom a great deal. I called it an interesting and volatile utility play, driven by AI trends as well as many developments on the corporate front, including a $29 billion deal for Calpine and PPAs being signed with high-profile technology names. After hitting a high around the $400 mark in the fall and a low around the $250 mark in February, shares are back to the $300 mark. Such moves, a recent divestment, and a much anticipated outlook warrant a small update here. Other interesting power and AI ideas can be found in the investment group Value In Corporate Events. Recent Trends Towards the end of the first quarter, Constellation reached an agreement with LS Power Equity Advisors LLC to sell part of its generation assets to LS Power. This deal needed to be done to satisfy regulators in connection with the purchase of Calpine. The transaction involves the sale of 4.4 gigawatts of mostly natural gas-fired generation capacity in Delaware and Pennsylvania, with the deal valued at $5.0 billion, equal to $1,142/kW. This follows the resolution with the DOJ achieved in December, with this marking the majority of the resolution needed to be delivered upon, but not all. The sale followed the release of the 2025 results, as announced in February. While reported sales rose by more than 8% to $25.5 billion, it was higher fuel bills that made operating profits of $4.4 billion decline to $3.1 billion, equal to $7.40 per share. If, however, fair value adjustments are stripped out, adjusted earnings came in at $2.9 billion, equal to $9.39 per share, with these earnings up seventy-two cents on the year before. Ahead of the Calpine deal closing , which took place in the first week of January, the company ended the year with some $2 billion in net cash....
manassanant pamai/iStock via Getty Images By James Smith, Developed Markets Economist, UK If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. That’s our initial reaction to the apparent surge in UK GDP in February, up 0.5% month-on-month. It’s consistent with a trend which dates back to 2022, where growth has tended to come in much stronger in the first quarter than over the rest of the year. W...
manassanant pamai/iStock via Getty Images By James Smith, Developed Markets Economist, UK If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. That’s our initial reaction to the apparent surge in UK GDP in February, up 0.5% month-on-month. It’s consistent with a trend which dates back to 2022, where growth has tended to come in much stronger in the first quarter than over the rest of the year. We suspect this can be traced back to the period of higher inflation and the tendency of price hikes to be geared towards the first few months of the year, something which doesn’t appear to be fully adjusted for in the seasonal adjustment and/or deflation process. We wrote in our reaction to the January data that February or March could see a strong bounce-back for exactly this reason. Admittedly, the latest improvement does partially marry up with the improvement in the purchasing managers indices (PMIs) seen in January/February. But most of the latest surge, we suspect, is noise. All of this is old news anyway, given the crisis we find ourselves in today. Growth is likely to slow regardless into the summer as inflation rises towards 4% beyond July. At a time when private sector wage growth is closer to 3% and, if anything, is biased even lower in the short term, real wages are set to fall. Higher energy prices are also likely to add to recent increases in unemployment, at a time when corporate pricing power is depressed. This is why we’re still not convinced the Bank of England will hike rates this year. It’s a close call, which becomes closer still if the disruption hasn’t materially improved by the time of the June meeting. But for now, we’re looking for rates to stay unchanged at 3.75% throughout 2026. Content Disclaimer This publication has been prepared by ING solely for information purposes irrespective of a particular user's means, financial situation or investment objectives. The information does not constitute investment recommendation, and nor is it investment, l...
After a rough patch in which Tesla 's (NASDAQ: TSLA) European sales cratered, there are signs the tide may now be turning. With Tesla's earnings report expected next week, investors interested in the stock should keep an eye on whether the report and the accompanying earnings conference call discuss a European-led rebound and the potential for a new, lower-cost mass-market SUV. In Germany and Fran...
After a rough patch in which Tesla 's (NASDAQ: TSLA) European sales cratered, there are signs the tide may now be turning. With Tesla's earnings report expected next week, investors interested in the stock should keep an eye on whether the report and the accompanying earnings conference call discuss a European-led rebound and the potential for a new, lower-cost mass-market SUV. In Germany and France in particular, registration data suggests a bullish recovery for the electric vehicle (EV) maker . In March, German registrations of Teslas were the highest since late 2022. German registrations were up 160% year over year. In the U.K., Tesla registrations rose by 20% at the same time. Meanwhile, in France, March registrations grew an astounding 203% year over year. Granted, these figures are in comparison to a time period last year when CEO Elon Musk was facing a lot of backlash for his comments and actions both in the U.S. and abroad. The Tesla brand's rebound is driven by EV adoption in European markets and by the reputational rebuilding of Musk. Continue reading
Investor attention is shifting away from the Mideast conflict to corporate earnings and AI as a ceasefire holds and expectations build for further negotiations between the US and Iran. TSMC’s earnings added weight to the rebound in stocks to record highs, with the main chipmaker to Nvidia and Apple saying it expects revenue growth of more than 30% this year, more than its previous guidance. Taiwan...
Investor attention is shifting away from the Mideast conflict to corporate earnings and AI as a ceasefire holds and expectations build for further negotiations between the US and Iran. TSMC’s earnings added weight to the rebound in stocks to record highs, with the main chipmaker to Nvidia and Apple saying it expects revenue growth of more than 30% this year, more than its previous guidance. Taiwan’s largest company delivered its projection after reporting a 58% surge in profit in the three months through March, signaling that the war hasn’t depressed AI investment. TSMC’s boom has helped Taiwan’s stock market overtake the UK in value to become the world’s seventh largest. The benchmark Taiex has jumped 17% this month, the second best after South Korea’s Kospi — another beneficiary of demand for AI — which is up a massive 23%. That’s a sharp reversal from when the Korean gauge plunged 18% in just two days after the war started. “History shows that geopolitical crises turn out to be great buying opportunities,” Wall Street veteran Ed Yarden said in a Bloomberg TV interview. “That’s the situation we’re in right now where investors are looking past the war.” In another sign that the speculative fever that defined equities before the war is returning, Allbirds — the once-buzzy maker of wool sneakers valued at more than $4 billion in its heyday — surged 582% overnight after announcing it was pivoting to AI computing infrastructure. All this points to further possibly frothy upside, provided the ceasefire continues, despite risks to the global economy posed by the ongoing disruption to energy supplies and the unknown outcome of US-Iran talks. Keep track of the twists and turns — and the global fallout — of the war with Iran here . What You Need to Know Today China’s economic growth rebounded more than expected in the first quarter, suggesting limited spillover from the war in Iran but revealing little sign of a turnaround in consumer spending. Gross domestic product expand...
Non-invasive brain-computer interfaces (BCI) that read neural signals through the skin could help patients manage symptoms for some brain conditions, according to BrainCo, a Harvard-incubated start-up. BrainCo’s BCI technology could “read brain neural signals and translate them into commands to control machines to modulate brain function and help cure some brain diseases”, said Nyx He, a partner a...
Non-invasive brain-computer interfaces (BCI) that read neural signals through the skin could help patients manage symptoms for some brain conditions, according to BrainCo, a Harvard-incubated start-up. BrainCo’s BCI technology could “read brain neural signals and translate them into commands to control machines to modulate brain function and help cure some brain diseases”, said Nyx He, a partner and senior vice-president of BrainCo, at the HSBC Global Investment Summit on Thursday. The...
Schroptschop The inflation rate in the Euro Area increased to 2.60% in March from 1.9% in February, above estimates of 2.5%. The Consumer Price Index increased 1.3% in March of 2026 over the previous month, above estimates of 1.2%. In March 2026 , services, energy, food, alcohol & tobacco and non-energy industrial goods contributed positively to the annual euro area inflation rate. More on Euro Ar...
Schroptschop The inflation rate in the Euro Area increased to 2.60% in March from 1.9% in February, above estimates of 2.5%. The Consumer Price Index increased 1.3% in March of 2026 over the previous month, above estimates of 1.2%. In March 2026 , services, energy, food, alcohol & tobacco and non-energy industrial goods contributed positively to the annual euro area inflation rate. More on Euro Area EUR/USD: A Look At The 1.1800 Battle And Key Support Levels FX Levels For EUR/USD, USD/CAD And GBP/USD: USD Dumps Amid Peace Repricing The Petrodollar Trade Is Over, Dollar Tumbles - EUR/USD, AUD/USD And Dollar Index Overview European markets climb cautiously on hopes of ceasefire extensions Europe markets muted over Iran de-escalation hopes; luxury stocks slump