To get John Authers’ newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, sign up here . Today’s Points: Tech stocks are down 4.25% for June after another thumping and clamber back . Strategists at BofA are warning that there are “too many red flags” in US stocks. Before US strikes on Iran, crude prices dropped to their lowest since April 17. Bank Indonesia hiked by 25 basis points as confidence cratered....
To get John Authers’ newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, sign up here . Today’s Points: Tech stocks are down 4.25% for June after another thumping and clamber back . Strategists at BofA are warning that there are “too many red flags” in US stocks. Before US strikes on Iran, crude prices dropped to their lowest since April 17. Bank Indonesia hiked by 25 basis points as confidence cratered. AND: Songs not on the nine o’clock news . Boing! Just like Tiggers , or Rowan Atkinson , markets like bouncing. Since Friday’s dramatic selloff for chip stocks, the US market has staged two impressive rebounds, at the open Monday and then on Tuesday afternoon. The upshot is still that the Nasdaq 100 is down 4.25% for the month so far, and volatility is sharply higher. But the market isn’t giving up its massive recent gains calmly: We’ve established that the BTFD (“Buy The — Dip”) mentality remains strong, and this is averting a major selloff. We’ve also long established two broad parameters. First, the market by any trustworthy long-term metric looks historically expensive. But second, that’s largely because of phenomenally rising earning forecasts. This is most dramatic in semiconductors, buoyed both by massive AI-driven demand and tight supply: Decomposing equity returns, as done here by Oxford Economics, confirms that the rise is primarily spurred by earnings, rather than expanding valuations: Alternatively, Bank of America Corp.’s Savita Subramanian offers this analysis of the S&P 500, showing that performance is entirely driven by sectors where earnings forecasts have risen the most: But there’s a snag with the “earnings forecasts are higher so it’s OK” thesis: Rising earnings growth expectations tend to correlate with lower returns, as Subramanian shows here. The intuition is clear — if you’re braced for the best, you’ve set yourself up for disappointment: There’s also the problem that profits have to come from somewhere and may not be a sustainable basis for investi...
Conservationists say cherished creatures such as whales, dolphins and seabirds are being killed in large numbers by fishing tackle Thousands of Britain’s most charismatic and protected marine wildlife, including whales, porpoises, dolphins, seals and seabirds are being killed as “collateral damage” by fishing vessels every year, according to the first-ever analysis of bycatch data. The analysis, b...
Conservationists say cherished creatures such as whales, dolphins and seabirds are being killed in large numbers by fishing tackle Thousands of Britain’s most charismatic and protected marine wildlife, including whales, porpoises, dolphins, seals and seabirds are being killed as “collateral damage” by fishing vessels every year, according to the first-ever analysis of bycatch data. The analysis, by the Wildlife and Countryside Link, a coalition of voluntary conservation groups, reveals the devastating toll bycatch, the accidental capture and killing of non-target species by fishing vessels, is having on marine species. Continue reading...
Nuclear submarines, gods in women’s bedrooms, a threadbare office carpet inside the World Trade Center … Thuring talks about painting the world on the brink of chaos – and letting you join the dots ‘We are living through a moment of hellish, mindless destruction,” Caragh Thuring tells me, shortly after offering me a cup of tea and a chocolate chip biscuit. We are sitting in the artist’s east Londo...
Nuclear submarines, gods in women’s bedrooms, a threadbare office carpet inside the World Trade Center … Thuring talks about painting the world on the brink of chaos – and letting you join the dots ‘We are living through a moment of hellish, mindless destruction,” Caragh Thuring tells me, shortly after offering me a cup of tea and a chocolate chip biscuit. We are sitting in the artist’s east London studio, surrounded by paintings, magazine cuttings and cryptic handwritten notes (“AWARENESS, TESTING”). There are metal racks littered with crumpled tubes of paint and bookshelves lined with artists’ monographs. “Making paintings at this moment is, on the one hand, total folly,” she admits. “On the other hand, it is utterly rebellious.” Before us is a painting, around seven feet high and five wide, in which the shadowy silhouettes of US military airplanes are flanked by densely packed clusters of bombs. The tapering body of one plane transfigures into the effigy of a knight laid out on a table tomb, one hand clasped to the hilt of a sword, jointed greaves poking out from beneath the wing of a B-52. The confusion of medieval and contemporary imagery, religious art and martial technology, eternal peace and endless war, is bewildering. Continue reading...
Exclusive: poll across 15 countries finds ‘deep mistrust’, with majority doubting US would come to their aid in an attack European confidence in an American “security guarantee” has hit a historic low, a survey suggests, with only one in 10 people across 15 countries seeing the US as an ally and majorities in all doubting it would come to their aid if they were attacked. The survey, published on W...
Exclusive: poll across 15 countries finds ‘deep mistrust’, with majority doubting US would come to their aid in an attack European confidence in an American “security guarantee” has hit a historic low, a survey suggests, with only one in 10 people across 15 countries seeing the US as an ally and majorities in all doubting it would come to their aid if they were attacked. The survey, published on Wednesday by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) thinktank before critical G7 and Nato summits in France and Turkey over the coming weeks, revealed “deep European distrust in the US”, the authors said. Continue reading...
In Lithuania, and throughout the Baltic, we have lived for years with Russian hostility – but the tech now means that London, Berlin and Paris are just as vulnerable A couple of weeks ago, I was walking through the streets of Vilnius, on my way to give a talk on geopolitics to a group of visiting Austrian business and academic leaders. It was a pleasant spring day: people were out and about, cafe ...
In Lithuania, and throughout the Baltic, we have lived for years with Russian hostility – but the tech now means that London, Berlin and Paris are just as vulnerable A couple of weeks ago, I was walking through the streets of Vilnius, on my way to give a talk on geopolitics to a group of visiting Austrian business and academic leaders. It was a pleasant spring day: people were out and about, cafe tables were set outside – all the familiar tranquillity of a European capital that has grown used to talking about war in theory, but not to expecting it overhead. Then an alarm blasted from my phone. Not a polite notification. Lithuania’s emergency alert system is designed to be impossible to ignore. The first message warned of a possible drone threat. The next was sharper: air danger – seek shelter. Continue reading...
Cities see surge in attacks and extortion demands at clinics in townships, leaving patients and staff vulnerable The three gunmen showed up just 10 minutes after the security guards had arrived for the early morning shift. Tshiamo Nere* admits he was “frozen” with shock and could only stare as the men aimed their weapons at him and two colleagues at Khayelitsha’s Town Two clinic in Cape Town, as s...
Cities see surge in attacks and extortion demands at clinics in townships, leaving patients and staff vulnerable The three gunmen showed up just 10 minutes after the security guards had arrived for the early morning shift. Tshiamo Nere* admits he was “frozen” with shock and could only stare as the men aimed their weapons at him and two colleagues at Khayelitsha’s Town Two clinic in Cape Town, as screaming nurses and patients fled. They had a message, the men told the unarmed guards. “They demanded a protection fee from the security company that employs us to guard the clinic,” Nere says. “The patients, frightened, scattered; and nurses ran for their lives.” Continue reading...
First lady and affected families in audience for highly charged performance of excerpts of Mothers of Kherson It was hard to imagine an opera with a subject more potentially traumatic – or cathartic – for the assembled audience. The occasion, in the grand and gilded spaces of the National Opera of Ukraine, in Kyiv, was the premiere of excerpts of Mothers of Kherson, an opera about the abduction of...
First lady and affected families in audience for highly charged performance of excerpts of Mothers of Kherson It was hard to imagine an opera with a subject more potentially traumatic – or cathartic – for the assembled audience. The occasion, in the grand and gilded spaces of the National Opera of Ukraine, in Kyiv, was the premiere of excerpts of Mothers of Kherson, an opera about the abduction of Ukrainian children by Russian occupiers – a continuing, raw story of real-life loss and agony. The opera was originally intended to be about the Maidan protests of 2013-14. But the American librettist George Brant, the author of the hit play Grounded , switched course in 2023 when the stories of abducted children hit the news. Continue reading...
Upstairs at the Gatehouse, London To help her digest the grief of her mother’s death, a woman conjures the celebrity cook in this show written by Emily Rose Simons A musical about Nigella Lawson makes sense – after all, the creamy-voiced, innuendo-spouting domestic goddess almost feels like a theatrical creation. Then again, inserting her indelible force into a production comes with challenges, es...
Upstairs at the Gatehouse, London To help her digest the grief of her mother’s death, a woman conjures the celebrity cook in this show written by Emily Rose Simons A musical about Nigella Lawson makes sense – after all, the creamy-voiced, innuendo-spouting domestic goddess almost feels like a theatrical creation. Then again, inserting her indelible force into a production comes with challenges, especially when she isn’t the only star of the show – as in this fun but flawed two-hander written by Emily Rose Simons. Anna’s estranged mother has just died and she is ignoring calls from her dad, who left when Anna was a child. As she opens his favourite cookbook, Nigella’s How to Eat, its exuberant author emerges from a spangly kitchen cupboard to help Anna process her grief, reconnect with her father and better care for herself – all by learning to cook. At Upstairs at the Gatehouse, London , until 28 June Continue reading...
2-8A Rutland Gate had jewel-encrusted bathroom suites and gold wastepaper bins in its 45 rooms, but has lain empty for years. With many people desperate for secure housing, what does the abandonment of this palace tell us about the UK? When it last changed hands, in 2020, 2-8A Rutland Gate was Britain’s most expensive house, selling for £210m . The word “house” hardly does it justice; palace is pr...
2-8A Rutland Gate had jewel-encrusted bathroom suites and gold wastepaper bins in its 45 rooms, but has lain empty for years. With many people desperate for secure housing, what does the abandonment of this palace tell us about the UK? When it last changed hands, in 2020, 2-8A Rutland Gate was Britain’s most expensive house, selling for £210m . The word “house” hardly does it justice; palace is probably more accurate. It is in Knightsbridge, one of the most glamorous parts of London, and has 45 rooms, four lifts, an indoor pool and 116 windows, 68 of which overlook Hyde Park. But no one is enjoying those views. This palace has been empty for years. Continue reading...
kyoshino/E+ via Getty Images 7:00 AM MBA Mortgage Applications The Mortgage Bankers' Association compiles various mortgage loan indexes. The purchase applications index measures applications at mortgage lenders. 8:30 AM CPI The CPI is a measure of the change in the average price level of a fixed basket of goods and services purchased by consumers. CPI is seen up 0.5 percent on the month and 4.2 pe...
kyoshino/E+ via Getty Images 7:00 AM MBA Mortgage Applications The Mortgage Bankers' Association compiles various mortgage loan indexes. The purchase applications index measures applications at mortgage lenders. 8:30 AM CPI The CPI is a measure of the change in the average price level of a fixed basket of goods and services purchased by consumers. CPI is seen up 0.5 percent on the month and 4.2 percent on the year as energy prices lift the total. Core CPI is expected at 0.3 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively. Many components are expected to show the impact of higher energy costs, including food, housing, fertilizer, chemicals, metals, and more. 10:30 AM EIA Petroleum Status Report The Energy Information Administration, or EIA, provides weekly information on petroleum inventories in the U.S., whether produced here or abroad. 1:00 PM 10-Yr Note Auction Treasury notes are sold at regularly scheduled public auctions. The competitive bids at these auctions determine the interest rate paid on each Treasury note issue. More on U.S. Markets Downside Risks Rise As Tech Volatility Spikes Markets Rebounding After Friday's Rout Monthly Macro Monitor: Nothing To See Here U.S. economy defies Middle East war as reacceleration takes hold - TS Lombard US2Y hits a fresh 52-week high, extending the sharp 2026 yield rally
Swedish driverless truck group Einride AB will make its trading debut in New York on Wednesday with hopes of benefiting from the investor buzz generated by SpaceX ’s initial public offering later in the week. The high-profile listing of Elon Musk’s company will “absolutely put a spotlight on deep tech” and “the major technological shifts that are taking place,” Einride Chief Executive Officer Rooz...
Swedish driverless truck group Einride AB will make its trading debut in New York on Wednesday with hopes of benefiting from the investor buzz generated by SpaceX ’s initial public offering later in the week. The high-profile listing of Elon Musk’s company will “absolutely put a spotlight on deep tech” and “the major technological shifts that are taking place,” Einride Chief Executive Officer Roozbeh Charli said in an interview. The Stockholm-based startup, founded in 2016, will go public on the Nasdaq through a merger with blank-check firm Legato Merger Corp. III at a pre-money equity valuation of about $1.35 billion. That’s down from the $1.8 billion level announced when the deal was unveiled in November and considerably lower than the roughly $5 billion valuation when discussions took place with banks about a potential IPO, the Financial Times reported . The company agreed to a lower valuation to appeal to investors participating in the deal, according to Charli. Entities affiliated with Capital Group and EQT Ventures will remain Einride’s largest shareholders following the transaction, followed by Alyeska Investment Group . “We chose to prioritize bringing in good investors at a valuation that we felt was appropriate,” the CEO said. The debut will mark the latest test for a business built around electric trucking software and autonomous driving. The truck industry’s transition away from diesel has proved slower and more complicated than Einride initially anticipated, with high vehicle costs and charging infrastructure constraints among the headwinds. Added to that, autonomous-trucking rivals Aurora Innovation Inc. and Kodiak AI Inc. saw weak post-listing performances in the US, underscoring the challenges these companies face in sustaining market valuations. “We’re all going after roughly the same market to some extent,” Charli said. “But we’re approaching it from different angles.”
A cannabis-derived drug for lower back pain will soon go on sale in Germany and Austria in what its developer views as a dry run for launching in the world’s biggest pharma market: the US. Vertanical GmbH , the closely held German firm behind the medicine, won regulatory clearance in the two countries for Exilby. The cannabis extract is being fast-tracked in the US, meaning it could be approved th...
A cannabis-derived drug for lower back pain will soon go on sale in Germany and Austria in what its developer views as a dry run for launching in the world’s biggest pharma market: the US. Vertanical GmbH , the closely held German firm behind the medicine, won regulatory clearance in the two countries for Exilby. The cannabis extract is being fast-tracked in the US, meaning it could be approved there in 2028 or 2029, according to the company. Founder Clemens Fischer says Exilby is a safer alternative to addictive opioids that have been linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths, especially in the US. Besides outshining a placebo in trials, it showed less digestive disturbance than opioids like tramadol and fentanyl. “My number one goal is actually to replace opiates,” Fischer said in an interview. Vertanical isn’t the only company targeting that market. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. ’s Journavx last year became the first new type of painkiller to enter the US market in more than two decades. Exilby won clearance in the two European countries for chronic lower back pain with a neuropathic component. In tests, patients showed no signs of dependence or withdrawal. Vertanical says it screened about 500 cannabis plants to identify one with the genetic profile it wanted, then developed a standardized extract with fixed levels of THC, CBD and other active compounds, according to Fischer. Not every patient will benefit from Exilby, said Winfried Häuser, a pain specialist who was involved in one of the studies. Häuser might prescribe it over other cannabis-based medicines available in Germany depending on the final cost, he said. Vertanical is also preparing to submit the drug in the UK.
[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Hong Kong has one of the world’s longest life expectancies, a distinction it has maintained for much of the past decade according to data from the city’s Centre for Health Protection. But longevity alone does not guarantee a healthier, more fulfilling or financially secure life. That reality is becoming increasingly appare...
[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Hong Kong has one of the world’s longest life expectancies, a distinction it has maintained for much of the past decade according to data from the city’s Centre for Health Protection. But longevity alone does not guarantee a healthier, more fulfilling or financially secure life. That reality is becoming increasingly apparent across ageing societies, where longer lives are bringing fresh questions about healthcare,...