EricVega/E+ via Getty Images This is precisely what this overpriced and frozen housing market needs. In 2025, construction was started on 1.36 million privately owned housing units, down just a hair from a year ago: 943,000 single-family housing units and 416,000 multifamily housing units (condos and rental apartments), according to Census Bureau data today. About 2.3 people occupy a housing unit ...
EricVega/E+ via Getty Images This is precisely what this overpriced and frozen housing market needs. In 2025, construction was started on 1.36 million privately owned housing units, down just a hair from a year ago: 943,000 single-family housing units and 416,000 multifamily housing units (condos and rental apartments), according to Census Bureau data today. About 2.3 people occupy a housing unit on average. So the 1.36 million housing units that were started in 2025 would provide a home, when completed, for 3.1 million additional people. But the US population increased by only 1.78 million people in the 12 months through mid-2025; and for the 12 month through mid-2026, it is projected to grow by only 756,000 people; and growth might further decline in the following years, according to the Census Bureau’s estimates . In the years before 2009, the US population grew by 2.5-2.8 million people per year. In the 12 months through mid-2025, population growth was half that. For the 12 months through mid-2026, population growth will be between one-third to one-quarter of that. This continued flood of new housing supply amid dramatically slowing population growth is precisely what this overpriced and frozen housing market needs. Single-family housing units Construction starts of privately owned single-family housing units, at 943,000 in 2025, were down by 6.9% from 2024 but roughly on the same pace as in 2023, as homebuilders pulled back amid very high inventories of new homes for sale and falling prices. Falling prices of new single-family homes: For example, Lennar ( LEN ), one of the largest homebuilders in the US, has been trying to maintain its sales volume by piling on incentives, cutting prices, giving up a substantial part of its big-fat pandemic-era profit margins, and building at lower costs. As a result, the average price of the homes that it sold has plunged; and for Q1 2026, it guided the average price down further, to a range of $365,000-375,000 net of incentiv...
Eoneren/E+ via Getty Images Manager perspective and outlook US equities saw renewed volatility in the fourth quarter due to seemingly mixed investor sentiment toward AI valuations, economic uncertainties and key economic data being delayed by the government shutdown. The initial third quarter GDP estimate showed robust growth of 4.3%, but labor market conditions softened with unemployment rising t...
Eoneren/E+ via Getty Images Manager perspective and outlook US equities saw renewed volatility in the fourth quarter due to seemingly mixed investor sentiment toward AI valuations, economic uncertainties and key economic data being delayed by the government shutdown. The initial third quarter GDP estimate showed robust growth of 4.3%, but labor market conditions softened with unemployment rising to 4.6%, a four-year high. Consumer spending remained resilient but showed early strain among lower income households. Inflation moderated but stayed above the Fed's 2% target, with the November CPI at 2.7%, which led the Fed to cut the federal funds rate twice in an effort to support growth amid easing inflation and labor market weakness. Despite mid-quarter volatility, strong corporate earnings and Fed rate cuts helped the S&P 500 Index return 2.66% for the quarter. Health care and communication services sectors outperformed; real estate and utilities lagged. Value stocks outperformed growth stocks. The Russell 1000 Value Index returned 3.81% compared to 1.12% for the Russell 1000 Growth Index. We believe that as an all-weather portfolio, the fund should be able to protect on the downside if volatility continues into 2026 while also being well-positioned to capture a portion of the upside if stocks move higher. Portfolio positioning Compared to the Russell 1000 Value Index, the fund is generally balanced across sectors and industries, with exposure to areas that have been benefiting from long-term secular growth tailwinds, including e-commerce, electric vehicles, cloud computing, industrial automation, medical technology and broadband. Our dual focus on companies generating sustainable free cash flow levels and having healthy balance sheets gives the fund a quality bias, with defensive characteristics that we believe should be valuable if volatility persists. Notable Additions Citigroup ( C ) was purchased because we believe its ongoing multi-year transformation – simplify...
(RTTNews) - Shares of RingCentral, Inc. (RNG) are climbing about 30 percent during Friday morning trading. The positive stock movement might be influenced by yesterday's fourth-quarter financial results announcement, which saw the company turning to profit of $22.97 million or $0
(RTTNews) - Shares of RingCentral, Inc. (RNG) are climbing about 30 percent during Friday morning trading. The positive stock movement might be influenced by yesterday's fourth-quarter financial results announcement, which saw the company turning to profit of $22.97 million or $0
OpenAI ( OPENAI ) said users aged between 18 years and 24 years accounted for about 50% of messages sent to ChatGPT in India, TechCrunch reported. Users under the age of 30 accounted for 80% of messages sent to the chatbot, the report added . The Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed company said Indians use ChatGPT mostly for work, with 35% of all messages related to professional tasks, compared to 30% globa...
OpenAI ( OPENAI ) said users aged between 18 years and 24 years accounted for about 50% of messages sent to ChatGPT in India, TechCrunch reported. Users under the age of 30 accounted for 80% of messages sent to the chatbot, the report added . The Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed company said Indians use ChatGPT mostly for work, with 35% of all messages related to professional tasks, compared to 30% globally, the report noted. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha. OpenAI noted that Indians use its coding assistant Codex three times more than the global median, and weekly usage has grown by four times since the tool got a Mac app two weeks ago. Users in the country are also requesting three times as many coding-related questions as the median, according to the report. Earlier this week, OpenAI's rival Anthropic ( ANTHRO ) said India ranked first globally in the share of AI use devoted to software-related tasks (45.2% of all O*NET-mapped tasks), ahead of Vietnam (42.1%) and Egypt (39.2%). OpenAI added that outside of work tasks, 35% of messages to ChatGPT from Indians asked for guidance, 20% were related to questions about general information, and 20% were requests for producing or helping with writing. On Thursday, OpenAI said India is home to more than 100M weekly ChatGPT users. The company also announced it has partnered with India’s Tata Group to build AI-ready data center capacity in the country as part of this global Stargate initiative. OpenAI will become the first customer of Tata Consultancy Services’ HyperVault data center business, starting with 100 megawatts of capacity and with the potential to scale to 1 gigawatt over time. In August 2025, OpenAI launched a cheaper ChatGPT subscription plan in India called ChatGPT GO, which costs less than $5. OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman was among the top tech tycoons who visited the country to attend the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi this week. More on OpenAI Wall Street Lunch: ChatGP...
Tom Werner/DigitalVision via Getty Images Thesis This would mark the third time I’m covering TrueBlue, Inc. ( TBI ), the microcap staffing and workforce solutions provider. At my first go, the red flags were pretty evident : “declining revenues and net income, decreased gross margins, and dismal growth forecasts.” So I gave it a Sell rating when it was around $15. Then, a couple of years later, th...
Tom Werner/DigitalVision via Getty Images Thesis This would mark the third time I’m covering TrueBlue, Inc. ( TBI ), the microcap staffing and workforce solutions provider. At my first go, the red flags were pretty evident : “declining revenues and net income, decreased gross margins, and dismal growth forecasts.” So I gave it a Sell rating when it was around $15. Then, a couple of years later, things looked like they were turning the corner, so I cautiously upgraded to a Hold when it dropped to around $5, indicating that I’d start dipping my toes in the water, which I haven’t. Seeking Alpha That being said, after reviewing the latest earnings report, I’m taking a high-risk call here by going bullish on the shares, believing that the early signs of stabilization and strategic repositioning outweigh the near-term risks. TrueBlue’s Q4 2025 Results: What Stood Out Seeking Alpha Organic revenue growth : 5% Total revenue: $418 million (8% Y/Y growth). TrueBlue’s team achieved organic revenue growth for the second quarter in a row, mainly driven by decent performance in its skilled labor businesses and early signs that overall customer demand might just be starting to level out and improve. There was more behind it. The company changed to a territory-based, on-demand model and increased its sales staff. Basically, the strategy around this is to help them focus more on specific local areas and build stronger relationships with clients. It seems to be paying off, as their performance improved from one quarter to the next, especially with local customers. Enterprise partnership new business wins: ~$15 million annualized Energy revenue growth (2025): 60% Energy revenue doubled: 2 consecutive quarters. And the impact extends beyond local execution. Different brands within the company are working together more, and a major group purchasing partnership is helping them win more contracts that involve multiple services. At the same time, their strong experience in the energy secto...
Feb 20 (Reuters) - A federal judge rejected Tesla's request to pay $243 million to victims of a 2019 fatal crash of an Autopilot-equipped Model S. In a decision made public on Friday, U.S.
Feb 20 (Reuters) - A federal judge rejected Tesla's request to pay $243 million to victims of a 2019 fatal crash of an Autopilot-equipped Model S. In a decision made public on Friday, U.S.