Keir Starmer conducts much of Britain’s diplomacy himself, but beneath him is a team of trusted advisers The first foreign official JD Vance met with after he returned from peace talks with Iran in Islamabad this week was not a diplomat or foreign policy official – it was David Lammy , the UK’s justice secretary and deputy prime minister. Lammy will follow his trip to Washington, where he saw the ...
Keir Starmer conducts much of Britain’s diplomacy himself, but beneath him is a team of trusted advisers The first foreign official JD Vance met with after he returned from peace talks with Iran in Islamabad this week was not a diplomat or foreign policy official – it was David Lammy , the UK’s justice secretary and deputy prime minister. Lammy will follow his trip to Washington, where he saw the vice-president and the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, with another to Barcelona, where he will represent the UK at a conference of global progressives, and then one to the Gulf. Continue reading...
Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Litigation Analyst Jennifer Rie discusses the jury verdict that found Live Nation illegally monopolized the live events industry and overcharged fans. The decision was reached in New York federal court on Wednesday after a six-week trial. Live Nation is likely to appeal. (Source: Bloomberg)
Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Litigation Analyst Jennifer Rie discusses the jury verdict that found Live Nation illegally monopolized the live events industry and overcharged fans. The decision was reached in New York federal court on Wednesday after a six-week trial. Live Nation is likely to appeal. (Source: Bloomberg)
Jae Young Ju/iStock via Getty Images A Yardeni Research chart tracking South Korea's MSCI forward earnings per share tells that from the early 1990s through the mid-2010s, South Korean forward EPS moved in a slow, decades-long upward arc. But starting in 2025, the line went nearly vertical. Against this backdrop of historic earnings momentum, the following list ranks the primary South Korean stock...
Jae Young Ju/iStock via Getty Images A Yardeni Research chart tracking South Korea's MSCI forward earnings per share tells that from the early 1990s through the mid-2010s, South Korean forward EPS moved in a slow, decades-long upward arc. But starting in 2025, the line went nearly vertical. Against this backdrop of historic earnings momentum, the following list ranks the primary South Korean stocks available to U.S. investors by Seeking Alpha Quant Rating, spanning financials, industrials, semiconductors, telecommunications, and utilities, with Shinhan Financial Group ( SHG ), POSCO Holdings ( PKX ), and KB Financial Group ( KB ) leading the pack with Strong Buy ratings above 4.78. Further down the list, Woori Financial Group Inc. ( WF ) and SK Telecom Co., Ltd. ( SKM ) both carry Hold ratings at 3.47. The remaining stocks on the list include a diverse mix of companies, from Magnachip Semiconductor Corporation ( MX ) in the chip sector to Korea Electric Power Corporation ( KEP ) in utilities, all maintaining Hold ratings with scores ranging from 3.38 down to 2.89. Seeking Alpha’s Quant Ratings system grades stocks based on their relative performance across critical quantitative measures, including valuation, growth, stock momentum, and profitability. Ratings are given on a scale from 1 to 5, with any rating of 3.5 or above considered bullish and any rating of 2.5 or below considered bearish. Here is the list: Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. ( SHG ), Quant Rating: 4.86 POSCO Holdings Inc. ( PKX ), Quant Rating: 4.83 KB Financial Group Inc. ( KB ), Quant Rating: 4.78 Woori Financial Group Inc. ( WF ), Quant Rating: 3.47 SK Telecom Co., Ltd. ( SKM ), Quant Rating: 3.47 Magnachip Semiconductor Corporation ( MX ), Quant Rating: 3.38 KT Corporation ( KT ), Quant Rating: 3.27 Korea Electric Power Corporation ( KEP ), Quant Rating: 3.09 DoubleDown Interactive Co., Ltd. ( DDI ), Quant Rating: 3.03 LG Display Co., Ltd. ( LPL ), Quant Rating: 2.96 OSR Holdings, Inc. ( OSRH )...
OpenAI‘s new revenue chief just fired shots at both its biggest partner and its biggest rival in the same memo. Denise Dresser told staff Sunday that the Microsoft Corp partnership has “limited our ability to meet enterprises where they are,” while calling demand through Amazon.com Inc‘s Bedrock platform “frankly staggering” since the two companies announced their deal in late February, according ...
OpenAI‘s new revenue chief just fired shots at both its biggest partner and its biggest rival in the same memo. Denise Dresser told staff Sunday that the Microsoft Corp partnership has “limited our ability to meet enterprises where they are,” while calling demand through Amazon.com Inc‘s Bedrock platform “frankly staggering” since the two companies announced their deal in late February, according to a memo viewed by CNBC. OpenAI Takes Aim At Anthropic’s Numbers Dresser claimed Anthropic’s report
Creating self-improving AI systems is an important step toward deploying agents in dynamic environments, especially in enterprise production environments, where tasks are not always predictable, nor consistent. Current self-improving AI systems face severe limitations because they rely on fixed, handcrafted improvement mechanisms that only work under strict conditions such as software engineering....
Creating self-improving AI systems is an important step toward deploying agents in dynamic environments, especially in enterprise production environments, where tasks are not always predictable, nor consistent. Current self-improving AI systems face severe limitations because they rely on fixed, handcrafted improvement mechanisms that only work under strict conditions such as software engineering. To overcome this practical challenge, researchers at Meta and several universities introduced “ hyperagents ,” a self-improving AI system that continuously rewrites and optimizes its problem-solving logic and the underlying code. In practice, this allows the AI to self-improve across non-coding domains, such as robotics and document review. The agent independently invents general-purpose capabilities like persistent memory and automated performance tracking. More broadly, hyperagents don't just get better at solving tasks, they learn to improve the self-improving cycle to accelerate progress. This framework can help develop highly adaptable agents that autonomously build structured, reusable decision machinery. This approach compounds capabilities over time with less need for constant, manual prompt engineering and domain-specific human customization. Current self-improving AI and its architectural bottlenecks The core goal of self-improving AI systems is to continually enhance their own learning and problem-solving capabilities. However, most existing self-improvement models rely on a fixed “meta agent.” This static, high-level supervisory system is designed to modify a base system. “The core limitation of handcrafted meta-agents is that they can only improve as fast as humans can design and maintain them,” Jenny Zhang, co-author of the paper, told VentureBeat. “Every time something changes or breaks, a person has to step in and update the rules or logic.” Instead of an abstract theoretical limit, this creates a practical “maintenance wall.” The current paradigm ties syst...
Michael Vi/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Introduction Palantir Technologies ( PLTR ) has plunged in 2026, seeing a decline as sharp as about 30% year-to-date, recovering lately to the level of negative 23% since the beginning of the year. As a long-term shareholder myself, who trimmed this stock time and time again, getting out way more than I originally invested, I’m in for the ride, not worr...
Michael Vi/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Introduction Palantir Technologies ( PLTR ) has plunged in 2026, seeing a decline as sharp as about 30% year-to-date, recovering lately to the level of negative 23% since the beginning of the year. As a long-term shareholder myself, who trimmed this stock time and time again, getting out way more than I originally invested, I’m in for the ride, not worrying much. Simultaneously, I love to follow this company, for both the good and the bad, as it has become quite a controversial investment in the last five years. Data by YCharts Interestingly, what happens with Palantir right now fits the latest software focus of mine perfectly, as if we were to compare the stock to the overall market, we would see that neither the war, nor the oil prices, nor even the fear index is impacting it the most. The stock drop marvelously repeats the software industry move, and we can see it on the graph below, where I’ve added the recent performance of the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF ( IGV ). Data by YCharts Software Sector Drop I have discussed this anomaly, or the inconsistency of the market, in several previous articles of mine, for example, in my Microsoft ( MSFT ), or the overall software sector breakdown . There, I explained the main reason "SaaSpocalypse" is happening, and I think it's important to come back to this discussion again, as it seems the market has forgotten how this all started. The problem, or the main fear of the analyst firms, is that current AI developments (including both trained models and new AI agents) could lead to significant market disruption for the SaaS companies. There are a couple of arguments in favor of this fear. The first one is that AI will soon allow for the replacement of the human workforce on a massive scale, and as businesses will require fewer workers, the traditional revenue model of the SaaS companies will be under threat, as revenue depends on the number of seats bought by their cust...
A.J. Rohde, senior partner at Thoma Bravo, joins Dani Burger on "Bloomberg Deals." Nemetschek SE agreed to acquire construction management software provider Heavy Construction Systems Specialists from Thoma Bravo. (Source: Bloomberg)
A.J. Rohde, senior partner at Thoma Bravo, joins Dani Burger on "Bloomberg Deals." Nemetschek SE agreed to acquire construction management software provider Heavy Construction Systems Specialists from Thoma Bravo. (Source: Bloomberg)
bo feng/iStock via Getty Images I previously rated BYD Company Limited ( OTCPK:BYDDF )( OTCPK:BYDDY ) as a Buy in February 2026, thanks to the improved margin of safety/compelling valuations from the prior selloff. In this article, I shall discuss why I am reiterating my Buy rating for the BYD stock here, thanks to the robust profitable growth prospects from its vertically integrated automotive ca...
bo feng/iStock via Getty Images I previously rated BYD Company Limited ( OTCPK:BYDDF )( OTCPK:BYDDY ) as a Buy in February 2026, thanks to the improved margin of safety/compelling valuations from the prior selloff. In this article, I shall discuss why I am reiterating my Buy rating for the BYD stock here, thanks to the robust profitable growth prospects from its vertically integrated automotive capabilities. BYDDF Faces Numerous Tailwinds & Headwinds Entering FY2026 BYDDF 1Y Stock Price ( TradingView ) Since my timely Buy rating at the February 2026 bottom, BYDDF has outperformed with a +22.1% stock price rally against the wider market at +1.8%, with a similar performance also observed in its Chinese automaker peers in varying degrees. Much of their tailwinds are attributed to the sequentially higher March 2026 delivery numbers, with it naturally lifting market sentiments after the seasonally softer Spring Festival holidays in February 2026. A similar trend has been reported by BYDDF, with March 2026 bringing forth 300.39K unit deliveries (+57.9% QoQ). 1. Domestic Demand Headwind On the one hand, readers may want to note that BYDDF has reported a notably softer YTD new energy vehicle sales volume of 700.46K (-30% YoY) . This is partly attributed to: the transition from full purchase tax exemption in 2025 to a 50% exemption from January 01, 2026, onwards, and the transition from fixed-amount subsidies in 2025 to percentage-based subsidies relative to the vehicle price in 2026, with these developments already contributing to China's pulled-forward EV retail sales growth to 12.81M units in 2025 (+17.6% YoY). It is unsurprising, then, that China has reported weaker YTD EV sales on a YoY basis, with BYD's tougher YoY comparison also observed in numerous Chinese automakers and Tesla ( TSLA ) in varying degrees. BYD's prospects are worsened by the near-term noise from their declining profits in FY2025 , arising from the prior price war arising from the " competition inside...
tifonimages/iStock via Getty Images Energy Recovery ( ERII ) down 5.2% in Wednesday's trading as Northcoast Research downgraded the maker of energy efficiency devices in the water industry to Neutral from Buy, saying long-term fundamentals remain intact but anticipating elevated tactical risk on likely Middle East project delays. When Energy Recovery ( ERII ) posted Q4 earnings and guided FY 2026 ...
tifonimages/iStock via Getty Images Energy Recovery ( ERII ) down 5.2% in Wednesday's trading as Northcoast Research downgraded the maker of energy efficiency devices in the water industry to Neutral from Buy, saying long-term fundamentals remain intact but anticipating elevated tactical risk on likely Middle East project delays. When Energy Recovery ( ERII ) posted Q4 earnings and guided FY 2026 revenues below expectations due to project delays, the Iran war had not yet begun, and the macro outlook forthe critical Middle East region has since taken a decided turn for the worse, with sizeable declines in GDP likely ahead for many major desalinating nations and a growing risk that the war will prove a lasting setback for confidence in the Middle East economy, Northcoast's Ryan Connors wrote. Water may be non-discretionary, but the timing of projects—some of which are predicated on future demand growth put at risk by the Iran conflict—can be altered significantly, so the analyst lowered his 2026 and 2027 earnings estimates for Energy Recovery ( ERII ) to reflect the rising probability of additional project delays amid a major macroeconomic headwind that weighs on fiscal budgets and infrastructure spending. While still off from pre-Q4 print, Energy Recovery ( ERII ) shares have bounced nicely off recent lows, and the risk/reward looks balanced heading into the company's Q1 earnings and guidance update; with shares trading at ~20x Connors' 2027 EPS estimate, roughly in line with the waterinfrastructure peer group average, the analyst dropped his rating to Neutral. More on Energy Recovery Energy Recovery CO2 Refrigeration Melted, Desalination Evaporates Into 2027 Energy Recovery Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Energy Recovery
Commons rejects proposal by 256 to 150 to side with government on plan to tackle online harms affecting children MPs have voted against a proposal to ban under-16s from using social media for the second time, as the prime minister summoned tech bosses to demand tougher action on internet safety. The House of Commons rejected a Lords amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill that impos...
Commons rejects proposal by 256 to 150 to side with government on plan to tackle online harms affecting children MPs have voted against a proposal to ban under-16s from using social media for the second time, as the prime minister summoned tech bosses to demand tougher action on internet safety. The House of Commons rejected a Lords amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill that imposed a new age limit on using social media platforms, amid pressure from parents and campaign groups for greater urgency in tackling online harms. They voted by 256 to 150, a majority of 106, to side with the government on its plan to tackle social media-linked harms affecting children. Continue reading...
Hunting PLC press release ( HNTIF ): Q1 sales order book stood at c.$428.8 million (31 March 2026 – $365.3 million; 31 December 2025 – $358.0 million). “Hunting has delivered a solid Q1 performance, and we are maintaining our full-year EBITDA guidance of $145-$155 million given the strong outlook for our end markets. More on Hunting PLC Hunting PLC (HNTIY) Shareholder/Analyst Call Transcript Hunti...
Hunting PLC press release ( HNTIF ): Q1 sales order book stood at c.$428.8 million (31 March 2026 – $365.3 million; 31 December 2025 – $358.0 million). “Hunting has delivered a solid Q1 performance, and we are maintaining our full-year EBITDA guidance of $145-$155 million given the strong outlook for our end markets. More on Hunting PLC Hunting PLC (HNTIY) Shareholder/Analyst Call Transcript Hunting PLC 2025 Q4 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation Hunting PLC (HNTIY) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Hunting secures $63.5M Subsea order for Guyana offshore project Hunting PLC Non-GAAP EPS of $0.34, revenue of $1.02B misses by $70M