MrJub/iStock via Getty Images 2026 Review SCHD has already earned double-digit gains so far in 2026, rising a little more than 11% year-to-date, well-above the broad market as measured by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust ( SPY ) which has been essentially flat. The ETF started off the year strong with an 8.7% gain in January, and another 6.5% added in February, before giving some of the gains back in Ma...
MrJub/iStock via Getty Images 2026 Review SCHD has already earned double-digit gains so far in 2026, rising a little more than 11% year-to-date, well-above the broad market as measured by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust ( SPY ) which has been essentially flat. The ETF started off the year strong with an 8.7% gain in January, and another 6.5% added in February, before giving some of the gains back in March where it retreated slightly more than 2.5%. Although the overall market this year has struggled, mainly due to the uncertainty surrounding the conflict between the United States and Iran, 58 stocks within SCHD have a better return than SPY. Additionally, of those 58, 31 of them have a return of 10% or higher, below are the top 20. Best Year-To-Date Holdings in SCHD 1. APA Corporation ( APA ) +52.33% 2. SLB N.V. ( SLB ) +29.15% 3. EOG Resources ( EOG ) +26.96% 4. ConocoPhillips ( COP ) +26.73% 5. Devon Energy ( DVN ) +26.19% 6. Coterra Energy ( CTRA ) +25.60% 7. Ennis, Inc ( EBF ) +25.30% 8. Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) +23.47% 9. HF Sinclair Corp. ( DINO ) +22.75% 10. Fastenal ( FAST ) +21.59% 11. Target ( TGT ) +21.27% 12. Texas Instruments ( TXN ) +20.96% 13. Chevron ( CVX ) +20.94% 14. Murphy Oil Corp. ( MUR ) +19.39% 15. Oxford Industries ( OXM ) +19.25% 16. 1st Source Corp. ( SRCE ) +18.28% 17. Archer Daniels Midland ( ADM ) +18.09% 18. Watsco, Inc. ( WSO ) +17.78% 19. Altria ( MO ) +17.57% 20. ONEOK, Inc ( OKE ) +15.97% It's worth noting that the underlying index, and as a result SCHD, went through a reconstitution at the end of March. 25 new companies were included in the index, therefore the individual year-to-date performance analysis is not indicative of SCHD's actual year-to-date return. From the list above DVN is the only stock that was newly added to SCHD. Additionally the constituent stocks are not equally weighed in the ETF, meaning their impact on the overall return will vary. Dividend Growth Since beginning in late 2011 SCHD has always paid a dividend, and o...
alexsl/iStock via Getty Images Perella Weinberg ( PWP ) hasn't had such a great quarter or year, with some deals falling through relative to 2024, though there have been some bright spots in Europe and in restructuring in general. They are rather indexed to large ticket deals, with 70 transactions over $10 billion in 2024, for example, and therefore should have been a bigger beneficiary in 2025, w...
alexsl/iStock via Getty Images Perella Weinberg ( PWP ) hasn't had such a great quarter or year, with some deals falling through relative to 2024, though there have been some bright spots in Europe and in restructuring in general. They are rather indexed to large ticket deals, with 70 transactions over $10 billion in 2024, for example, and therefore should have been a bigger beneficiary in 2025, which was the year of rate cuts and the return of megadeals. Unfortunately, with a poor opening to 2026 with the " SaaS-pocalypse" considerations for private credit, SaaS clients, and BDCs, and even more so with the return of inflation on account of the Iran War, they may not get an easy year to recover their steps - though some of these issues have fed into the restructuring franchise, which has been growing. Having made headcount investments recently, it's unfortunate that those returns might get red-shifted, with rust on all cylinders of sponsors, megadeals, and IPOs - restructuring may continue to grow at least. Our point is that the time is not right for PWP in our view, and we aren't expecting much from Q1 with the mess of the Iran War squarely in it. There's already been a definite impact on deal volumes from the war, and the cost of capital risks could give a long tail to the pressure on deal-making as a primary risk. Latest Results and Possible Evolutions IS snapshot (Q4/FY) (Q4 PR) Results were lackluster. Virtually every peer of PWP, such as Evercore ( EVR ) and Moelis ( MC ), managed considerable growth in the year and at least decent growth in Q4. PWP saw declines due to some deals not going through. Consequently, the loss of scale grew comp ratios (up to 74% from 69%) as they had been making investments in personnel, with 23 senior banker additions in 2025. If it weren't for non-comp cost savings, the operating income would have declined much more, particularly in professional fees associated with a legal dispute with a former employee and other transaction cos...
President Christine Lagarde said an early exit from the European Central Bank isn’t currently an option for her as the euro-zone economy navigates challenging times. “When there is big clouds on the horizon, the captain does not leave the ship — and this captain is not going to leave the ship, because I see clouds,” Lagarde said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Washington. “When you see major ...
President Christine Lagarde said an early exit from the European Central Bank isn’t currently an option for her as the euro-zone economy navigates challenging times. “When there is big clouds on the horizon, the captain does not leave the ship — and this captain is not going to leave the ship, because I see clouds,” Lagarde said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Washington. “When you see major disruption, the energy supply being reduced, when you see threats to growth, upside risk to inflation these are serious matters that we have to be attentive to.” Lagarde’s comments on Tuesday come after the Iran war and a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz threw the global economy into yet another crisis. The International Monetary Fund sharply lowered its outlook for the 21-nation euro zone and warned of a global downturn if the conflict drags on. Speculation about Lagarde leaving the ECB before her term expires in October next year ramped up in February after French central bank chief Francois Villeroy de Galhau announced his resignation — a move that will allow President Emmanuel Macron to replace him before elections next spring. She previously said her “baseline” was to stay on. Inside the ECB, Irritation Grows Over Lagarde’s Handling of Exit Early Lagarde Exit Set to Narrow Field in Race to Lead ECB Lagarde Determined to Finish ECB Term After WEF Speculation
Ken Griffin, CEO of Citadel LLC speaks on Squawk on the Street at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 21, 2026. Oscar Molina | CNBC Citadel CEO Ken Griffin said Tuesday that the global economy is headed toward a recession if the Strait of Hormuz stays shut for much longer. "Let's assume [the Strait is] shut down for the next six to 12 months — the world's going to end up in a re...
Ken Griffin, CEO of Citadel LLC speaks on Squawk on the Street at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 21, 2026. Oscar Molina | CNBC Citadel CEO Ken Griffin said Tuesday that the global economy is headed toward a recession if the Strait of Hormuz stays shut for much longer. "Let's assume [the Strait is] shut down for the next six to 12 months — the world's going to end up in a recession," Griffin said on stage at the Semafor World Economy conference in Washington, DC. "There's no way to avoid that." As a result, the world is going to see a massive shift toward alternative fuel sources, including wind, solar and nuclear, he added. To be sure, the hedge fund leader thinks the consequences of the war would have been worse if the U.S. delayed any strikes until Iran's military capabilities had grown. Stocks have managed to rebound back to where they were before the U.S. first attacked Iran in February, but the optimistic sentiment among investors is contingent on the duration of the war in the Middle East. Many expect risks of an escalation in tensions between the two countries are not at all priced into the market. Global economies especially in Asia remain vulnerable to spikes in oil prices, which remain elevated at around $100 a barrel. That's off their highs during the conflict, but remain far above where they were before the war, at just below $70 a barrel. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.
Hong Kong landlords who fail to fix water seepage affecting flats below face a minimum inspection bill of HK$17,000 (US$2,170) if they take no action within 28 days of notification under a pilot scheme designed to fast-track such cases. The plan, launched by a joint office under the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and Buildings Department, shifts the responsibility of shouldering ...
Hong Kong landlords who fail to fix water seepage affecting flats below face a minimum inspection bill of HK$17,000 (US$2,170) if they take no action within 28 days of notification under a pilot scheme designed to fast-track such cases. The plan, launched by a joint office under the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and Buildings Department, shifts the responsibility of shouldering inspection costs from the government to flat owners who fail to address water seepage...
Treasury Rushes To Access Anthropic 'Mythos' AI After Warning It Can Hack "Every Major Operating System" The US Treasury Department’s technology team is actively seeking access to Anthropic PBC’s highly restricted Mythos AI mode l so it can begin hunting for software vulnerabilities, according to a person familiar with the situation cited by Bloomberg . Illustration via WIRED Treasury Chief Inform...
Treasury Rushes To Access Anthropic 'Mythos' AI After Warning It Can Hack "Every Major Operating System" The US Treasury Department’s technology team is actively seeking access to Anthropic PBC’s highly restricted Mythos AI mode l so it can begin hunting for software vulnerabilities, according to a person familiar with the situation cited by Bloomberg . Illustration via WIRED Treasury Chief Information Officer Sam Corcos briefed the department’s cybersecurity team on the technology last week and has directed efforts to gain access to the model "as soon as this week." The request comes days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell summoned top Wall Street CEOs to an urgent meeting at Treasury headquarters. Executives were warned that Mythos and similar frontier AI models could usher in a new era of heightened cyber risk. Anthropic itself has cautioned that the model may be capable of powering sophisticated cyberattacks unless companies proactively test it against their own systems and build defenses ahead of any wider release. At the meeting, bank leaders were strongly urged to take the model seriously and use it internally to detect vulnerabilities. What Is Mythos and Why the Restrictions? Anthropic introduced Mythos (also referred to as Claude Mythos Preview) as part of its new Project Glasswing initiative . In internal testing, the model demonstrated extraordinary offensive cybersecurity capabilities: it was able to identify and exploit vulnerabilities “in every major operating system and every major web browser when directed by a user to do so.” In one documented case, it wrote a web browser exploit that successfully chained together four separate vulnerabilities. Project Glasswing brings together Amazon Web Services (AWS), Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, CrowdStrike, Google, JPMorganChase, the Linux Foundation, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Palo Alto Networks to address growing concerns within the cybersecurity community that AI models are...
U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks to the media before boarding Air Force Two to return to Washington, D.C., after the White House announced he would be leading the U.S. delegation in upcoming peace talks with Iran, from Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport in Budapest, Hungary, April 8, 2026. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters The U.S. and Iran could start a second round of in-person peace negotiat...
U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks to the media before boarding Air Force Two to return to Washington, D.C., after the White House announced he would be leading the U.S. delegation in upcoming peace talks with Iran, from Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport in Budapest, Hungary, April 8, 2026. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters The U.S. and Iran could start a second round of in-person peace negotiations this week, days before a fragile two-week ceasefire is set to expire, news outlets reported Tuesday morning. Officials from both countries could return to Pakistan to resume those talks, Reuters reported , citing Pakistani and Iranian officials. "The coming rounds of talks can come sometime later this week or earlier next week. But nothing is finalised as of now," an official at the Iranian embassy in Islamabad told Reuters. CNN and NBC News also reported that in-person negotiations could resume soon. The White House and the Iranian embassy in Islamabad did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on the reporting. Jared Kushner, left, and Steve Witkoff, Special Envoy for Peace Missions listen as Vice President JD Vance speaks during a news conference after meeting with representatives from Pakistan and Iran, April 12, 2026 in Islamabad, Pakistan. Jacquelyn Martin | Getty Images Talks between U.S. and Iranian negotiators in Islamabad last weekend ended without a deal in hand, as key sticking points on Tehran's nuclear ambitions remained unresolved and each side accused the other of shifting the goalposts. Vice President JD Vance , who led the U.S. delegation alongside Special Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, said Monday that the next diplomatic move is Iran's to make . "Whether we have further conversations, whether we ultimately get to a deal, I really think the ball is in the Iranian court, because we put a lot on the table," Vance told Fox News. Top Iranian officials suggested after the failed talks in Islamabad that the U.S. acted in bad faith. ...
Matthew Malczewski/iStock via Getty Images Oracle Corporation ( ORCL ) stock, which is up by just over 9% since my last analysis of the company, is still positioned for a remarkable entry point. Indeed, this is the rarest opportunity to own Oracle in a long while before its next wave of large fundamental growth and multiple re-rating. I would not want to miss out on this opportunity. Of course the...
Matthew Malczewski/iStock via Getty Images Oracle Corporation ( ORCL ) stock, which is up by just over 9% since my last analysis of the company, is still positioned for a remarkable entry point. Indeed, this is the rarest opportunity to own Oracle in a long while before its next wave of large fundamental growth and multiple re-rating. I would not want to miss out on this opportunity. Of course there are risks with transitioning to AI with a heavy debt-based model, but winners take risks, and CEO Larry Ellison and team know what they're doing in my opinion. This article outlines not only why I hold the stock at 5% of NAV, but also why I'm considering increasing to 7.5%, while being fully aware of multiple compression, new cyclicality, and balance sheet risks. Oracle Is Flipping from Software to AI Even though the reported mix still looks like software, this is changing quickly . Applications were 44% of cloud services and license support in FY25, and infrastructure drove 74% of that segment's growth. Also, in Q3 of FY26, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure ("OCI") grew Infrastructure as a Service by 84% versus Software as a Service at 13%. Oracle is being priced like software as indices like iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF ( IGV ) selloff, but in reality its fundamentals are behaving more like AI infra. This is classic market mispricing that tech-oriented value investors will understand. The forward PEG non-GAAP ratio is -33% below the sector median. OCI isn't fundamentally going to be traditionally SaaS-heavy anymore; it's becoming more of a compute supply asset. Oracle says AI training and inference demand is growing faster than supply, outlining the core of the opportunity and the growth horizon it's positioning itself well for. That said, it's important to note that Oracle, Microsoft ( MSFT ), and Amazon's AWS ( AMZN ) all say demand exceeds available supply or that there's unserved demand, and Oracle's role is really a relief-valve provider in the near term, a...
Matthew Malczewski/iStock via Getty Images Oracle Corporation ( ORCL ) stock, which is up by just over 9% since my last analysis of the company, is still positioned for a remarkable entry point. Indeed, this is the rarest opportunity to own Oracle in a long while before its next wave of large fundamental growth and multiple re-rating. I would not want to miss out on this opportunity. Of course the...
Matthew Malczewski/iStock via Getty Images Oracle Corporation ( ORCL ) stock, which is up by just over 9% since my last analysis of the company, is still positioned for a remarkable entry point. Indeed, this is the rarest opportunity to own Oracle in a long while before its next wave of large fundamental growth and multiple re-rating. I would not want to miss out on this opportunity. Of course there are risks with transitioning to AI with a heavy debt-based model, but winners take risks, and CEO Larry Ellison and team know what they're doing in my opinion. This article outlines not only why I hold the stock at 5% of NAV, but also why I'm considering increasing to 7.5%, while being fully aware of multiple compression, new cyclicality, and balance sheet risks. Oracle Is Flipping from Software to AI Even though the reported mix still looks like software, this is changing quickly . Applications were 44% of cloud services and license support in FY25, and infrastructure drove 74% of that segment's growth. Also, in Q3 of FY26, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure ("OCI") grew Infrastructure as a Service by 84% versus Software as a Service at 13%. Oracle is being priced like software as indices like iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF ( IGV ) selloff, but in reality its fundamentals are behaving more like AI infra. This is classic market mispricing that tech-oriented value investors will understand. The forward PEG non-GAAP ratio is -33% below the sector median. OCI isn't fundamentally going to be traditionally SaaS-heavy anymore; it's becoming more of a compute supply asset. Oracle says AI training and inference demand is growing faster than supply, outlining the core of the opportunity and the growth horizon it's positioning itself well for. That said, it's important to note that Oracle, Microsoft ( MSFT ), and Amazon's AWS ( AMZN ) all say demand exceeds available supply or that there's unserved demand, and Oracle's role is really a relief-valve provider in the near term, a...
Nvidia’s (NVDA) influence across the AI industry is spreading fast. Now, its backed tech players, CoreWeave and Nebius, are getting Wall Street's attention. CoreWeave (CRWV) and Nebius (NBIS) are AI cloud infrastructure providers that supply GPU-powered computing capacity for AI workloads. They sit ...
Nvidia’s (NVDA) influence across the AI industry is spreading fast. Now, its backed tech players, CoreWeave and Nebius, are getting Wall Street's attention. CoreWeave (CRWV) and Nebius (NBIS) are AI cloud infrastructure providers that supply GPU-powered computing capacity for AI workloads. They sit ...