georgeclerk/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Introduction It’s been a while since I last looked at Morgan Stanley ( MS ), a nd when I did, I wasn’t too keen on the valuation of this investment bank . But things can change, and so can opinions. I’m very pleased with Morgan Stanley’s longer-term targets to generate a 20% return on tangible common equity through the cycle. That’s not only positive ...
georgeclerk/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Introduction It’s been a while since I last looked at Morgan Stanley ( MS ), a nd when I did, I wasn’t too keen on the valuation of this investment bank . But things can change, and so can opinions. I’m very pleased with Morgan Stanley’s longer-term targets to generate a 20% return on tangible common equity through the cycle. That’s not only positive for the common shares and the EPS, it also makes the preferred dividends safer. Data by YCharts Good results ensure the preferred dividends remain well covered Morgan Stanley performed well in the final quarter of 2025 . The bank reported a total net interest income of $2.86B, a rather impressive double-digit percentage increase compared to the preceding quarter, and this helped to absorb the impact of the lower non-interest revenue. That non-interest revenue was still up by approximately 10% compared to the same quarter in 2024, but showed a 4% decrease on a QoQ basis due to a substantially lower contribution from its trading activities. Morgan Stanley Investor Relations As you can see above, the total amount of loan loss provisions remains very low and didn’t have a noticeable impact on the bottom line result. The pre-tax income came in at $5.76B, resulting in an after-tax profit of $4.4B attributable to Morgan Stanley. And after deducting the $147M in preferred dividend payments, the net income attributable to the common shareholders was approximately $4.25B, representing an EPS of $2.72. Slightly lower than the $2.83 per share generated in Q3 2025, but about 21% higher compared to the same quarter a year ago. From the perspective of a preferred shareholder, it’s great to see the investment bank only needed just under 4% of its net income to cover the preferred dividends in the final quarter of the year. And even if you’d take a step back and look at the full-year performance, it required just $612M of the $16.9B net profit to cover the preferred dividends. Morgan Stanle...
What Have You Learned In The Last 6 Hard Years? Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times, The last six years have been a time of astonishing revelation about many features of public life that had been previously hidden. I’m not just speaking of the Epstein files though they are part of it. We’ve all seen and experienced things over these years that (at least to me) would have been nearly inc...
What Have You Learned In The Last 6 Hard Years? Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times, The last six years have been a time of astonishing revelation about many features of public life that had been previously hidden. I’m not just speaking of the Epstein files though they are part of it. We’ve all seen and experienced things over these years that (at least to me) would have been nearly inconceivable before. It’s shaken us and forced people to recalibrate their understanding of the world. If you have changed your mind on some important matters, congratulations? That’s a sign of humility, curiosity, adaptability, and adherence to facts over bias. This is a virtue. People who report no change are either omniscient, which is doubtful, not paying attention, or just too doggedly attached to prior views that nothing can unsettled them. I have a huge archive of my own writings over decades and I look through sometimes just to test how and to what extent my own outlook has shifted. Indeed it has. There is value in my old books and articles but reading them now, I detect a kind of naivete, a simplicity in theory and understanding. I don’t think it is just maturing here. There is more going on. Below I list some of the issues on which our times have introduced depth and complexity that defy conventional ideological categories. I suspect you might have undertaken a similar journey yourself but likely with different starting points and different conclusions. We all process this new transparency in different ways. I can only chronicle my own, which I’ve summarized in ten points. 1. We were introduced to a new conception of what government is in real life. Perhaps we once thought of government as the people we elect. That’s supposed to be how it works. As it turns out, gradually over a century and a bit more, an unelected bureaucracy has come to take power. It runs circles around the elected representatives of the people. It has deep links throughout society. The administr...
NASA is preparing to remove its massive moon rocket from its launchpad to fix a technical issue, delaying the agency’s much-anticipated mission to send a crew of four around the moon. On Saturday, NASA announced that it planned to roll back the rocket, the Boeing -built Space Launch System, to its hangar at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to fix a problem found in the upper portion of the vehicle....
NASA is preparing to remove its massive moon rocket from its launchpad to fix a technical issue, delaying the agency’s much-anticipated mission to send a crew of four around the moon. On Saturday, NASA announced that it planned to roll back the rocket, the Boeing -built Space Launch System, to its hangar at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to fix a problem found in the upper portion of the vehicle. NASA engineers found an interruption in the flow of helium — which is needed for launch — in the rocket. NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said the work needed to fix the problem could only be done at the giant Vehicle Assembly Building hangar at KSC. He also noted that a similar helium issue had cropped up on the SLS’s first flight back in 2022. “I understand people are disappointed by this development,” Isaacman wrote in a statement on X . “That disappointment is felt most by the team at NASA, who have been working tirelessly to prepare for this great endeavor.” The setback comes just a day after the agency announced it was targeting a March 6 launch for the lunar mission called Artemis II, which will send people around the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. Isaacman said the launch will not take place in March now, with April being the earliest next launch opportunity. On Thursday, NASA conducted an elaborate dress rehearsal with the rocket, where engineers filled the vehicle with propellant and simulated many of the steps that will take place on launch day. The agency had set the March launch date after that exercise seemed to go smoothly.
Dividend stocks can be an excellent source of passive income for investors. Chevron (NYSE: CVX) is one company that has rewarded dividend investors for years. Despite operating in the volatile oil and gas industry, Chevron and its business model have proven to be resilient; in fact, the company has provided investors with a growing dividend payout for 39 consecutive years. Here's why Chevron is a ...
Dividend stocks can be an excellent source of passive income for investors. Chevron (NYSE: CVX) is one company that has rewarded dividend investors for years. Despite operating in the volatile oil and gas industry, Chevron and its business model have proven to be resilient; in fact, the company has provided investors with a growing dividend payout for 39 consecutive years. Here's why Chevron is a smart dividend stock for investors to buy today. Chevron operates as an integrated oil and gas company , with upstream and downstream operations that help diversify its earnings and provide it with resilience in an industry vulnerable to changes in spot gas and oil prices. Continue reading
Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI) is riding massive AI demand with triple-digit revenue growth, but margin compression is the key battleground. If profitability stabilizes and execution stays clean, the path to $64 becomes realistic. If not, expectations could reset fast. The next few quarters may define the entire story. Stock prices used were the market prices of Feb. 13, 2026. The video was p...
Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI) is riding massive AI demand with triple-digit revenue growth, but margin compression is the key battleground. If profitability stabilizes and execution stays clean, the path to $64 becomes realistic. If not, expectations could reset fast. The next few quarters may define the entire story. Stock prices used were the market prices of Feb. 13, 2026. The video was published on Feb. 20, 2026. Continue reading
Forty-year-old Jorrit Bergsma from the Netherlands, becomes the oldest ever speed skater to win Olympic gold in the men's Mass Start Speed Skating event.
Forty-year-old Jorrit Bergsma from the Netherlands, becomes the oldest ever speed skater to win Olympic gold in the men's Mass Start Speed Skating event.
England 21-42 Ireland Ireland run riot to condemn England to successive defeats So much for all those expectations of a tight two-horse race. For the second week running England were barely in the frame, comprehensively second best to opponents who started well and kept on galloping to a five-try rout. This was a record Irish win at Twickenham and it is Andy Farrell’s side who remain in the hunt f...
England 21-42 Ireland Ireland run riot to condemn England to successive defeats So much for all those expectations of a tight two-horse race. For the second week running England were barely in the frame, comprehensively second best to opponents who started well and kept on galloping to a five-try rout. This was a record Irish win at Twickenham and it is Andy Farrell’s side who remain in the hunt for this season’s Six Nations title while England stare down the barrel of a bottom-half finish. To say Ireland were miles the better side is simply to state the obvious. The seeds of England’s downfall were sown in a calamitous first half which saw the visitors pull away to a 22-0 lead inside 30 minutes. As in Edinburgh they were guilty of way too many errors, with their lineout all over the shop. They also conceded 15 turnovers in the opening 40 minutes alone in addition to another yellow card, this time for Freddie Steward. It was so bad that Steve Borthwick replaced Luke Cowan-Dickie and Steward for tactical reasons even before the half-time oranges had been sliced. Continue reading...
gonin Activist investor Boaz Weinstein’s Saba Capital and Cox Capital Partners offered to buy stakes in three private credit funds operated by Blue Owl Capital Corporation ( OWL ), sending shares of the private equity firm higher in the post-market trading on Friday. In a press release, Saba Capital and Cox Capital announced on Friday that they sent a notice to Blue Owl Capital Corporation II (OBD...
gonin Activist investor Boaz Weinstein’s Saba Capital and Cox Capital Partners offered to buy stakes in three private credit funds operated by Blue Owl Capital Corporation ( OWL ), sending shares of the private equity firm higher in the post-market trading on Friday. In a press release, Saba Capital and Cox Capital announced on Friday that they sent a notice to Blue Owl Capital Corporation II (OBDC II) on Feb. 17 about their intention to commence a tender offer to buy shares at 20% to 35% below their net asset value. The semi-liquid private credit fund, marketed to U.S. retail investors, permanently halted redemptions earlier this week, sparking concerns about systemic risks in the $1.8T private credit market. The companies also sent similar tender offers for Blue Owl Technology Income Corp. and Blue Owl Credit Income Corp., two other business development companies (BDC) run by Blue Owl Capital ( OWL ). The offering price and the number of shares to be bought will be finalized after a 10-business-day notice period. “The purchasers’ tender offers would provide a liquidity solution to retail investors in the wake of a significant industry-wide increase in BDC redemption requests, multiple quarters of net outflows, and a rise in redemption gate provisions,” the companies said. More on Blue Owl Capital, Blue Owl Capital Blue Owl Capital: I'm Finally Taking The Bull Camp Blue Owl Capital Is Getting Crushed - But The Discount Looks Way Mispriced Blue Owl Capital: Dividend Cut Already Priced In Big banks, Coinbase among gainers; Blue Owl in losers: week's financials wrap Blue Owl sold $1.4B loan portfolio to pension giants, own insurer
Refunds were not addressed by supreme court ruling, and they’ll likely play out in lower courts over extended period Top associations of American businesses are demanding to be repaid for Donald Trump’s tariffs following Friday’s supreme court ruling. The US National Retail Federation, which represents a number of US retailers, from Walmart to small brands and manufacturers, called for “a seamless...
Refunds were not addressed by supreme court ruling, and they’ll likely play out in lower courts over extended period Top associations of American businesses are demanding to be repaid for Donald Trump’s tariffs following Friday’s supreme court ruling. The US National Retail Federation, which represents a number of US retailers, from Walmart to small brands and manufacturers, called for “a seamless process to refund the tariffs to US importers”. Continue reading...
Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) offers a rare mix of scale, stability, and a 6% dividend yield that few large caps can match. With steady cash flow, modest valuation, and analyst upside, this defensive giant may be quietly positioning for a rebound. I explore whether this is a true income opp
Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) offers a rare mix of scale, stability, and a 6% dividend yield that few large caps can match. With steady cash flow, modest valuation, and analyst upside, this defensive giant may be quietly positioning for a rebound. I explore whether this is a true income opp