In a rare condemnation of its strategic partner, China has come out in opposition to Iran’s attacks on Gulf nations, calling for a ceasefire and a guarantee of the safety of shipping lanes. Addressing a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday, Fu Cong, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said: “China does not support Iran’s attacks on Gulf Cooperation Council nations and condem...
In a rare condemnation of its strategic partner, China has come out in opposition to Iran’s attacks on Gulf nations, calling for a ceasefire and a guarantee of the safety of shipping lanes. Addressing a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday, Fu Cong, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said: “China does not support Iran’s attacks on Gulf Cooperation Council nations and condemns all indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians and non-military targets. The security of...
Erik Isakson/DigitalVision via Getty Images Bitfarms ( BITF ) reported earnings for Q4 and full year 2025 two days ago, and announced key strategic and corporate developments alongside earnings that stand to restructure the entire business model and identity of the company moving forward. This piece will focus on the implications of those developments beyond just a recap of the results. My January...
Erik Isakson/DigitalVision via Getty Images Bitfarms ( BITF ) reported earnings for Q4 and full year 2025 two days ago, and announced key strategic and corporate developments alongside earnings that stand to restructure the entire business model and identity of the company moving forward. This piece will focus on the implications of those developments beyond just a recap of the results. My January coverage of BITF was titled "Bitfarms: Holds Ground As HPC Permit Review Tests Its Pivot," and I called the January 28 Grant County hearing at Moses Lake the first real test of the entire HPC pivot thesis. BITF was trading around $2.60 during that January coverage, and is now around $1.98, a ~24% decline. I believe Bitfarms heavy convertible debt load and the heavy dilution risk (lots of dilution happened in FY25, ~165.1 million shares added from the 2024 ATM program alone) are the reason that approval didn’t move the needle on BITF price much. Bitcoin has also fallen since January and the sector-wide weaker sentiment played a role too. My Hold rating for BITF has been right twice in a row, and in this piece I am not yet ready to upgrade to a Buy, despite the most consequential transformation this company has just undergone. Bitfarms completed its U.S. redomiciliation from Canada and rebranded as Keel Infrastructure Corp. (KEEL) on April 1, and will be trading under the new ticker KEEL on both Nasdaq and the TSX from April 6. Every outstanding share of BITF common stock has been approved by shareholders (99.3% of shareholders backed it), to be exchanged one-for-one for KEEL common stock. Thus, the entire corporate entity (its assets, liabilities, its $588 million in convertible notes, and its 2.2 GW pipeline) now sits under U.S.-based Keel Infrastructure. Keel Infrastructure - The Energy Portfolio and Business Model Keel Infrastructure is currently a development-stage data center owner and operator targeting powered-shell and colocation leases to hyperscale customers acros...
Tencent Holdings has launched a new OpenClaw tool for enterprises that promises easy deployment of the artificial intelligence agent as part of the Chinese internet giant’s efforts to capitalise on the “lobster” frenzy in the country. ClawPro, launched in public beta by Tencent’s cloud unit on Thursday, works as an AI agent management platform for enterprises, allowing them to deploy OpenClaw temp...
Tencent Holdings has launched a new OpenClaw tool for enterprises that promises easy deployment of the artificial intelligence agent as part of the Chinese internet giant’s efforts to capitalise on the “lobster” frenzy in the country. ClawPro, launched in public beta by Tencent’s cloud unit on Thursday, works as an AI agent management platform for enterprises, allowing them to deploy OpenClaw templates, select models and agents, track token consumption and manage security settings. Tencent said...
SpaceX confidentially filed what could wind up being the biggest-ever IPO. If investors value the company the way Elon Musk hopes they will, it would make Musk the world’s first trillionaire. This week on Everybody’s Business, Dana Hull joins Stacey Vanek Smith and Max Chafkin to explain why there is more reason than ever to be skeptical of Musk’s promises. (Source: Bloomberg)
SpaceX confidentially filed what could wind up being the biggest-ever IPO. If investors value the company the way Elon Musk hopes they will, it would make Musk the world’s first trillionaire. This week on Everybody’s Business, Dana Hull joins Stacey Vanek Smith and Max Chafkin to explain why there is more reason than ever to be skeptical of Musk’s promises. (Source: Bloomberg)
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is pictured on Sept. 25, 2025, in Berlin. Florian Gaertner | Photothek | Getty Images Over 10 months after shelling out an eye-popping $6.4 billion for Jony Ive's nascent devices startup, OpenAI announced another surprising deal on Thursday, snapping up a media business that streams a three-hour daily tech talk show. For a company that's facing intensifying investor scru...
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is pictured on Sept. 25, 2025, in Berlin. Florian Gaertner | Photothek | Getty Images Over 10 months after shelling out an eye-popping $6.4 billion for Jony Ive's nascent devices startup, OpenAI announced another surprising deal on Thursday, snapping up a media business that streams a three-hour daily tech talk show. For a company that's facing intensifying investor scrutiny as it racks up billions of dollars in losses tied to its infrastructure buildout, OpenAI's M&A strategy is tough to pin down. After the startup, now valued at over $850 billion, announced it purchase of Technology Business Programming Network, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a Thursday post on X that, "TBPN is my favorite tech show." "I don't expect them to go any easier on us, am sure I'll do my part to help enable that with occasional stupid decisions," Altman wrote . Read more CNBC tech news SpaceX confidentially files for IPO, setting stage for record offering Five key questions Apple faces entering its second half-century Baidu robotaxis reportedly halted mid-traffic causing crashes in Wuhan, China Iran threatens Nvidia, Apple and other tech giants with attacks It's a pivotal moment for OpenAI, which is prepping for an IPO as soon as this year. The company's core products — its popular artificial intelligence models and ChatGPT chatbot — face intensifying competition from Google , Anthropic and Elon Musk's xAI, which is likely to hit the public market first through the anticipated offering of SpaceX . OpenAI has been reeling in its spending expectations and last month shuttered its Sora video app that quickly went viral after its launch six months earlier. It's not readily clear how TBPN fits into OpenAI's strategy, but the AI market is moving so quickly that the most logical moves today may make little sense tomorrow. "When you have more and more disruptive competitors showing up, they need to build things that give people a unique reason to pick ChatGPT over other...
Sakorn Sukkasemsakorn/iStock via Getty Images Co-authored by Kody's Dividends How's your New Year's resolution going? It's April, which means that we have now enjoyed over 90 days of the new year. Did you know that for the vast majority of New Year's resolution makers, about 80% of people, start losing their motivation or give up on their New Year's resolution altogether by January 9th? That's onl...
Sakorn Sukkasemsakorn/iStock via Getty Images Co-authored by Kody's Dividends How's your New Year's resolution going? It's April, which means that we have now enjoyed over 90 days of the new year. Did you know that for the vast majority of New Year's resolution makers, about 80% of people, start losing their motivation or give up on their New Year's resolution altogether by January 9th? That's only 9 days after committing themselves to something new and great. There is something to be said about an individual who commits themselves to a lifelong pursuit when compared to the vast majority of us who can't seem to get it together for more than nine days after a New Year's resolution. There's a subset of investors who love to focus on companies that have grown or raised their dividend for decades. The reason for this is that, to be honest with you, most companies never make it to this storied height. The ability to reach Dividend Aristocrat status is rare and lofty, specifically because companies often face struggles over the decades that it takes to reach it and fail to grow their dividend, or they even cut their dividend. Being a Dividend Aristocrat wouldn't be special if every company could make it. Investing in companies with long histories of dividend growth can provide you with outsized returns, but you can't specifically look at just the dividend growth history alone to determine if the company is healthy. Ailing companies will at times raise their dividends to try to keep investors around, even if the wheels are starting to fall off the car. This is why I strongly believe in a data-driven analytic approach to evaluating companies. Today, I want to take a look at a company that is fast approaching Dividend Aristocrat status, to enter it into the storied halls with other companies that many investors know and love. But first, I want to evaluate if the company is healthy, or whether it is a zombie that is slowly approaching the finish line, only to fall over when t...
Supatman/iStock via Getty Images Introduction If you are like me, F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. ( FG ) is not a company you have heard of. That is understandable, as it’s Total Investments ($68B) is a fraction of what the well known Prudential Financial ( PRU ) has at $469B. I suspect that is one of the reasons investors in the FG Notes earn a higher yield then PRU Note holders do. The FG Notes revie...
Supatman/iStock via Getty Images Introduction If you are like me, F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. ( FG ) is not a company you have heard of. That is understandable, as it’s Total Investments ($68B) is a fraction of what the well known Prudential Financial ( PRU ) has at $469B. I suspect that is one of the reasons investors in the FG Notes earn a higher yield then PRU Note holders do. The FG Notes reviewed are as follows: F&G Annuities & Life Inc. 7.950% Senior Notes due 12/15/2053 ( FGN ) F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. 7.30% Junior Subordinated Notes due 1/15/2065 ( FGSN ). In the comparison section, the Prudential Financial, Inc. 5.950% Junior Subordinated Notes due 9/1/2062 ( PRH ) will be included so readers can see the yield difference for themselves. I am giving the FGSN Note a Buy rating for its 9.1%, though I might hold off building a full position until the price decline appears to have climaxed. Holders of FGN might consider Selling and transferring their position to FGSN, especially if they can capture a tax loss. F&G Annuities & Life reviewed Data by YCharts While this article focuses on the two Notes, I always feel better about those if the common is performing well, which currently is not the case here. Seeking Alpha describes this company as (edited): F&G Annuities & Life, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides annuity and life insurance products in the United States. It offers fixed indexed annuities registered index-linked annuities, pension risk transfer and indexed universal life, and multi-year guarantee annuities; immediate annuities; indexed universal life insurance; pension risk transfer solutions; and institutional funding agreements. The company distributes its products through independent agents, banks, and broker-dealers to retail annuity and life customers, as well as institutional clients. The company was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. is a subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial, Inc...
MicroStockHub/iStock via Getty Images I assume this is the case for anyone in my field: I'm always trying to get better. Every single day. One thing I'm trying to do better is get to the point faster in my articles. Sure, you have the bullets, but a long time ago I was taught the good old "inverted pyramid" approach to journalism. Where you start with the big stuff, the broad conclusions, and then...
MicroStockHub/iStock via Getty Images I assume this is the case for anyone in my field: I'm always trying to get better. Every single day. One thing I'm trying to do better is get to the point faster in my articles. Sure, you have the bullets, but a long time ago I was taught the good old "inverted pyramid" approach to journalism. Where you start with the big stuff, the broad conclusions, and then get into more detail as you go down the pyramid that is the article. So here goes. 1. This stock market looks terrible to me. From any angle I look at. And oh, I have tried to find angles. Short-term for sure, but long-term as well. 2. But here's the thing. The long-term is very dependent on the short-term at times like this. Markets can set you back several years if you are not careful. 3. I scout ETFs and stocks , and my conclusion 40 years into this is as follows: the vast majority of them don't matter. That is, if long-term total return is your goal. They don't matter, not because of the businesses or products themselves. But because markets simply do not function as they did prior to 2020. 4. During this "post-pandemic era" (the start of 2020 through today), the markets have apparently been on a quest for unity. Blame the algorithmic traders, blame the mass flows into index ETFs, especially those tracking the S&P 500. You can blame me if you want (I'm used to it!), but I'm just reporting the most significant evolution I've observed over those 40 years. 5. That problem requires a solution . Sure, stock and ETF trading can still generate alpha in the short term. I'm talking about periods of 3-5 years and much longer. And over those time frames, if we find a "winner" in hindsight, that means nothing about the future. Case in point: long-term bonds were a great investment from the 1980s through 2022. Since then, they've been a disaster. And now, while they are getting very attractive to me again, you won't figure that out by looking at trailing returns. Here's what I mean...
akinbostanci/iStock via Getty Images High quality REITs are currently trading as if they have negative entity value. Asset value can be measured with reasonable accuracy by looking at present day transaction prices. Many large cap REITs are trading at enterprise values billions of dollars below the measurable value of their assets. This implies that they have substantially negative entity value (t...
akinbostanci/iStock via Getty Images High quality REITs are currently trading as if they have negative entity value. Asset value can be measured with reasonable accuracy by looking at present day transaction prices. Many large cap REITs are trading at enterprise values billions of dollars below the measurable value of their assets. This implies that they have substantially negative entity value (the value associated with the company itself). The market is pricing them as if the assets become less valuable by being attached to the specific company. It can happen, but as we dig deeper into this idea, I think it will become clear that it is more likely to be a pricing disconnect that represents opportunity. Negative entity value REITs can be thought of as consisting of 2 components: A portfolio of physical real estate The entity that manages the real estate From this lens, the value of a REIT would be the value of the real estate plus the value of the entity. A strong entity adds value in a variety of ways. Some of the most common sources of value add are: Skillful operations Efficiencies of scale Intelligent acquisition and disposition decisions Proper stewardship of shareholder capital In contrast, a really bad manager could have negative value in that their poor decisions would prevent the value inherent in the real estate assets from fully benefiting shareholders. In such an instance, the overall REIT would be worth less than the underlying value of the real estate as the assets would essentially be encumbered by being tied to a low skill or misaligned manager. We have seen many instances of this in REITs such as the companies managed by RMR or Ashford (in my opinion). The underlying assets might be very profitable, but bad managers detract from that value by issuing shares dilutively or taking far too large paychecks. Such companies should and do trade well below net asset value (NAV). In the current market, however, there is a phenomenon in which exceptionally we...
DragonImages/iStock via Getty Images Thesis Atlas Energy Solutions ( AESI ) has two business lines. The first is the company’s long term business in selling and delivering sand to the oil and gas industry for hydraulic fracturing of wells. The second is rather new following the acquisition of Moser Energy Solutions, giving the company access to modular power technologies. This acquisition serves a...
DragonImages/iStock via Getty Images Thesis Atlas Energy Solutions ( AESI ) has two business lines. The first is the company’s long term business in selling and delivering sand to the oil and gas industry for hydraulic fracturing of wells. The second is rather new following the acquisition of Moser Energy Solutions, giving the company access to modular power technologies. This acquisition serves as a springboard for the company as it has been able to leverage these new capabilities with Caterpillar ( CAT ). The company has structured a deal with the generator set provider to deliver 2 GWs worth of deployable power. The first wave of deployments are expected to enter service in mid-2026, giving the company a steady and long winded growth trajectory. This and the potential for a rebound in the company’s traditional sand business create a compelling growth investment opportunity for investors. I rate AESI as a STRONG BUY due to the potential for significant FCF generation by the end of the decade. Recap From Previous Analysis I last covered AESI in September of 2025. In that analysis, I covered many of the unique aspects of the company’s sand production business as well as its novel Dune Express conveyor system. This system, as well as superior sand mines, give the company a lower cost basis compared to its peers. Dune Express and Autonomous Trucking Competitive Advantages (AESI Investor Presentation) However, despite this the sand industry has struggled recently due to an over-supplied environment. AESI has been able to remain profitable due to its competitive advantages, allowing the company to outperform competitors in the challenging market. I originally expected a soft conclusion to 2025 as well activity normally experiences seasonal decline to conclude each calendar year. That prediction panned out to be largely correct as oil field activity slowed toward the end of the calendar year. Data by YCharts Unfortunately, the company reported that Q1 would also be weak....
Shares of Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) fell 11.7% in March, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence . Meta came under the same pressure as many technology stocks did last month, amid concerns about high spending on AI infrastructure, the outbreak of war with Iran, and a rise in oil prices. However, Meta faced an additional headwind toward the end of the ...
Shares of Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) fell 11.7% in March, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence . Meta came under the same pressure as many technology stocks did last month, amid concerns about high spending on AI infrastructure, the outbreak of war with Iran, and a rise in oil prices. However, Meta faced an additional headwind toward the end of the month, losing two high-profile court cases that may lead to further penalties or limitations on its core platforms. Continue reading
Iran Attacks Kuwaiti Desalination Plant, Bringing Gulf Water Supplies Into Focus Just three days into Operation Epic Fury, we pointed out what may be the more consequential second-order risk, arguably even more important than the risk of data centers getting bombed ( identified a month earlier ): Are desalination plants the next targets in the U.S.-Iran war? Not even a week after we raised that qu...
Iran Attacks Kuwaiti Desalination Plant, Bringing Gulf Water Supplies Into Focus Just three days into Operation Epic Fury, we pointed out what may be the more consequential second-order risk, arguably even more important than the risk of data centers getting bombed ( identified a month earlier ): Are desalination plants the next targets in the U.S.-Iran war? Not even a week after we raised that question, the first worst-case scenario emerged. On March 8, one week into the conflict, an Iranian attack drone struck a water desalination plant in Bahrain . Fast forward to Friday morning, on the conflict's 35th day: Kuwaiti authorities claimed Iranian forces targeted a power and desalination plant, sounding even more alarm bells that civilian infrastructure is increasingly moving into the crosshairs. Bloomberg quoted Kuwait's Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy as saying an Iranian strike damaged components of the water desalination plant. This suggests Tehran has exposed the vulnerability of critical water infrastructure across a region that relies heavily on these facilities, which remove salt and impurities from seawater or brackish water for drinking water and other agricultural or industrial uses. Al Jazeera's Mohamed A. Hussein recently explained why Gulf states heavily rely on water desalination plants: The Gulf states are deserts with no permanent rivers. While they lack rivers, they do have seasonal waterways called wadis, which carry water during rare rainfall. These nations rely primarily on groundwater and desalination to supply water to their rapidly growing cities, industrial zones and agricultural areas. The map below shows just that: Hussein noted: The Gulf countries produce roughly 40 percent of the world's desalinated water, operating more than 400 desalination plants along their coasts. The reliance on desalination plants is extremely high across the Gulf: Beyond the attack on Kuwait, Iranian forces also targeted Habshan , the UAE's mass...
TSMC reportedly plans to build 12 fabs, four packaging facilities in Arizona — plan purportedly part of Taiwan's agreed $500 million investment in the US Tom's Hardware
TSMC reportedly plans to build 12 fabs, four packaging facilities in Arizona — plan purportedly part of Taiwan's agreed $500 million investment in the US Tom's Hardware
In this article UAL Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT United Airlines new Polaris seat on one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners Leslie Josephs/CNBC Does it matter where you sit if you're sipping Champagne in first class? United Airlines is betting that for some travelers looking for luxury at a discount, it doesn't. The carrier is launching new, cheaper tiers for its top-end Polaris and ...
In this article UAL Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT United Airlines new Polaris seat on one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners Leslie Josephs/CNBC Does it matter where you sit if you're sipping Champagne in first class? United Airlines is betting that for some travelers looking for luxury at a discount, it doesn't. The carrier is launching new, cheaper tiers for its top-end Polaris and premium economy cabins that come with many of the same perks — but plenty of restrictions too. Starting this spring, United will offer "Base" Polaris fares which will include a spot in the airline's long-haul business class cabins featuring lie-flat seats, but will charge those customers extra for advanced seat selection. The new ticket class will also come with only one checked bag instead of two, and with access to the United Club airport lounge but not the higher-end Polaris lounge, which include showers and other plush features. Ticket changes aren't allowed. Read more about airlines' race to win over big spenders United ditches more economy seats to make room for bigger premium cabins with new layouts Why airline class wars will intensify in 2026 Caviar and privacy: Airlines' business-class wars are here Delta says premium travel is set to overtake coach cabin sales next year American Airlines is arriving late to the luxury travel boom. Can it catch up? First-class seats are getting so fancy they’re holding up new airplanes Airlines can’t add high-end seats fast enough as travelers treat themselves to first class The other categories for Polaris will be "Standard" and the more expensive "Flexible" option that allows for customers to pay up for the new, more spacious Polaris Studio suites. The new fares show that United — and perhaps soon, other airlines — are dividing up the front of the plane into smaller categories, just as they have with coach over the past decade, from restrictive basic economy tickets to extra legroom fares. United's new strategy comes as it overh...