Euro-area finance chiefs are pushing to expand the single currency’s global role, as US President Donald Trump roils markets and the US dollar weakens. “In light of recent geopolitical events in our current geopolitical context, there are risks that the international financial and monetary system is being used as a political tool,” said Greek Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis , who chairs the ...
Euro-area finance chiefs are pushing to expand the single currency’s global role, as US President Donald Trump roils markets and the US dollar weakens. “In light of recent geopolitical events in our current geopolitical context, there are risks that the international financial and monetary system is being used as a political tool,” said Greek Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis , who chairs the meetings of his euro-area peers. “It is thus existential for us to safeguard the international role of the euro as it is quite pertinent for the EU’s monetary sovereignty.” The comments come just after the European Central Bank introduced its strongest move yet to promote the euro. Over the weekend, the monetary-policy institution announced that it’s prepared to offer euro liquidity to central banks from around the world. That proposal is one of the ideas included in a European Commission paper prepared ahead of the ministers’ meeting in Brussels on Monday. The document — seen by Bloomberg — called for reinforcing euro diplomacy by reassuring partner countries about access to the common currency. “With the United States potentially less inclined to supply dollar liquidity during periods of stress, offering euro-denominated liquidity to partner countries could serve as a valuable complement to the EU trading strategy and boost the international role of the euro,” the document said. The document explored ways to promote the use of the euro in issuance and transactions, especially in key sectors such as the energy, critical raw materials, air transport and defense sectors. “International investors want to diversify, they are looking for contact with Europe, that’s why we want to be a safe haven for the capital investments from the entire world,” said German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil , who together with his French counterpart pushed for more rapid action. “Faced with massive challenges across the world, the EU has to be stronger, the EU has to be faster, the EU has to wor...
asbe/iStock via Getty Images S&P Global Inc. ( SPGI ) is a US-based leading provider of credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and workflow solutions to various markets worldwide. Founded in 1860, S&P Global is now a $133 billion (by market cap) financial markets behemoth that employs more than 40,000 people. Approximately 60% of the company’s revenue is derived from the US. The company reports re...
asbe/iStock via Getty Images S&P Global Inc. ( SPGI ) is a US-based leading provider of credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and workflow solutions to various markets worldwide. Founded in 1860, S&P Global is now a $133 billion (by market cap) financial markets behemoth that employs more than 40,000 people. Approximately 60% of the company’s revenue is derived from the US. The company reports results across five segments: Market Intelligence, 32% of FY 2024 revenue; Ratings, 30%; Commodity Insights, 15%; Mobility (which is being spun out), 11%; and Indices, 11%. I view S&P Global as three wonderful businesses all in one : S&P Global has a scaled-up intelligence business with high-value proprietary data; it controls the largest ratings agency in the world; and it owns an irreplaceable indices business with various lionized S&P products under its umbrella (such as the venerable S&P 500, the global gold standard). Each business on its own would be very powerful and highly appealing for almost any long-term investor, but all three being combined into one package is what makes S&P Global one of the most unique and compelling long-term investment opportunities out there. In data-driven markets where information is prized for insight, S&P Global has a treasure trove of proprietary data at unparalleled scale. Since companies issuing public debt are practically required to have a rating, and since there are only two global players providing these ratings at a trusted scale, S&P Global operates within a comfortable duopoly (with S&P Global estimated as commanding a market share of nearly 50%, and its only other major competitor commanding an estimated 30%). And its indices business has numerous recurring revenue drivers all on its own, including subscription fees, asset-linked fees, and transaction royalties – and all of these are firmly embedded within global capital markets in such a way that it is almost impossible to displace. These are three formidable businesses on a ...
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang has been quite vocal in the past few months, and it’s really helped clear some of the haze that’s surrounding the industry. Undoubtedly, the AI revolution seems to be taking another big step higher after spending much of last year in a calmer phase. With Claude Opus 4.6 turning many ... Jensen Huang Says Compute Power is the “New Natural Resource” of the Moder...
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang has been quite vocal in the past few months, and it’s really helped clear some of the haze that’s surrounding the industry. Undoubtedly, the AI revolution seems to be taking another big step higher after spending much of last year in a calmer phase. With Claude Opus 4.6 turning many ... Jensen Huang Says Compute Power is the “New Natural Resource” of the Modern Era
Thousands of users reported issues accessing Elon Musk ’s social media platform X on Monday, according to monitoring website Downdetector. The website and app failed to display new posts and sometimes struggled to load at all. More than 11,000 users globally reported trouble accessing the service as of about 1:50 p.m. in London. A representative for X did not immediately respond to a request for c...
Thousands of users reported issues accessing Elon Musk ’s social media platform X on Monday, according to monitoring website Downdetector. The website and app failed to display new posts and sometimes struggled to load at all. More than 11,000 users globally reported trouble accessing the service as of about 1:50 p.m. in London. A representative for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There have been several major service disruptions to X since Musk acquired the platform in 2022. The billionaire blamed a “massive cyberattack” for a series of outages last March. Dark Storm, a pro-Palestinian “hacktivist” group, took credit for the attack via the messaging app Telegram and to Bloomberg News. The service also went offline for several hours in May, linked to a fire at a data center in Oregon. X was also disrupted in November when cybersecurity firm Cloudflare Inc. experienced a major network outage that hit a range of services. There also are periodically reports of smaller service disruptions. Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI , bought X in March 2025. XAI merged with his space-exploration company SpaceX earlier this month. Read More: Musk’s SpaceX Combines With xAI at $1.25 Trillion Valuation
Welcome back to Bloomberg’s Auto Monitor , a weekly roundup of stories on the automotive industry from reporters around the world. Sign up now if you’re not already on the list. Will BYD and its peers finally set up shop in the US? Ford CEO Jim Farley discussed a potential framework with the White House where Chinese automakers could build cars in America through joint ventures with their local ri...
Welcome back to Bloomberg’s Auto Monitor , a weekly roundup of stories on the automotive industry from reporters around the world. Sign up now if you’re not already on the list. Will BYD and its peers finally set up shop in the US? Ford CEO Jim Farley discussed a potential framework with the White House where Chinese automakers could build cars in America through joint ventures with their local rivals. It’s a concept the Chinese know well from back home. We also got good news from Rivian, China cracking down on driver distraction and the cautionary tale of a German city tied to an ailing auto-parts maker. All this and more, below. — Stefan Nicola Market Snapshot Tesla Inc $417.44 +0.1% General Motors Co $81.08 +1.4% BYD Co Ltd $97.80 +0.1% Xiaomi Corp $36.66 -0.5% Market data as of 09:04 AM ET. Data is subject to provider delays. The big story The US has long been closed to China’s fast-moving automakers. But it seems America is now willing to entertain ideas about lowering the barriers to entry. On Friday, Bloomberg reported exclusively that Ford CEO Jim Farley spoke to senior Trump administration officials about a potential framework in which Chinese automakers could build cars in America. The idea discussed last month involved Chinese carmakers partnering with US companies through joint ventures in which the American company holds a controlling stake, according to people familiar with the matter. Both partners would share profits and technology in the JV, the people said. No decision has been made and the discussion was characterized as informal and preliminary. Still, the setup is intriguing — partly because it mirrors what China did three decades ago. Back then, Beijing required Western automakers to partner with the country’s still-fledgling local manufacturers if they wanted to open factories there. For a while, the concept benefited both sides. It handed companies like GM and Volkswagen access to a rapidly growing market, while providing Chinese companies wi...
Thomas Barwick/DigitalVision via Getty Images The last time I checked Cheesecake Factory ( CAKE ) was a year ago, and I told you that this full-service restaurant chain was fully priced after strong results in FY 2024. A whole year has passed, and this operator with over 250 menu items definitely didn't ride the 'full-service mania' from January to July of last year. The reason was simple—they jus...
Thomas Barwick/DigitalVision via Getty Images The last time I checked Cheesecake Factory ( CAKE ) was a year ago, and I told you that this full-service restaurant chain was fully priced after strong results in FY 2024. A whole year has passed, and this operator with over 250 menu items definitely didn't ride the 'full-service mania' from January to July of last year. The reason was simple—they just jumped in too late. While other peers like BJ's Restaurants ( BJRI ), Applebee's ( DIN ), and especially Chili's ( EAT ) had already launched value menus at the beginning of the year, Cheesecake Factory launched it in July. This likely caused the stock to remain flat since the start of FY 2025, with the gains from Flower Child/North Italia already priced into the stock after the 2024 bull run. Seeking Alpha I think the performance of my last 'Hold' rating explains this. Since that last piece, the stock has returned a little over 9%, trailing the S&P's 13% over the same period. The stock is hovering a bit above the $53 to $56 price range I penciled in at the time. The market is divided between considering Cheesecake Factory a top-tier operator with value levers (one of the investment cases I flagged in my Ultimate Guide for Restaurants in 2026) or a growth story driven by the incubation brands like FRC and Flower Child, with the core Cheesecake Factory and now North Italia anchoring the valuation and keeping it from a full re-rating. That’s why an activist floated the idea of a spin-off some time ago. My Take on the New Strategy Just take a look at same-store sales for The Cheesecake Factory, and you can see that same-store sales have slowed down quite a bit recently—especially in the second half of last year. Same-store sales for Cheesecake Factory and peers (Author) They had been using the same playbook as chains that seek to maintain traffic based on perceived value, such as Texas Roadhouse ( TXRH ). In the case of Texas Roadhouse, they do the basics well: value meals...
Rebecca Passler may feature in women’s relay 24-year-old tested positive for letrozole in January The Italian biathlete Rebecca Passler rejoined her team at the Winter Olympics on Monday after a successful appeal against a suspension handed out before the Milano Cortina Games for an alleged doping violation. Passler began training in the bright sunshine at the Antholz-Anterselva Biathlon Arena on ...
Rebecca Passler may feature in women’s relay 24-year-old tested positive for letrozole in January The Italian biathlete Rebecca Passler rejoined her team at the Winter Olympics on Monday after a successful appeal against a suspension handed out before the Milano Cortina Games for an alleged doping violation. Passler began training in the bright sunshine at the Antholz-Anterselva Biathlon Arena on Monday afternoon, firing off shots in bunches of five on the range as her coaches watched intently. Continue reading...
zhongguo/iStock via Getty Images Tesla's ( TSLA ) full self-driving feature is entering a new chapter as it shifts to a subscription-only service across major markets, reshaping how drivers access one of the most closely watched technologies in the auto industry. The electric vehicle maker has begun phasing out the option to buy FSD as a one-time software add-on, replacing it with a monthly subscr...
zhongguo/iStock via Getty Images Tesla's ( TSLA ) full self-driving feature is entering a new chapter as it shifts to a subscription-only service across major markets, reshaping how drivers access one of the most closely watched technologies in the auto industry. The electric vehicle maker has begun phasing out the option to buy FSD as a one-time software add-on, replacing it with a monthly subscription model in core markets such as the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand, with more regions expected to follow. Existing owners who already paid thousands of dollars up front keep their lifetime access, but new customers will now pay around $99 per month instead of an upfront fee that recently stood near $8,000. CEO Elon Musk has described the strategy as a way to lower the barrier to entry, align FSD with the company's broader software-as-a-service strategy, and build a recurring revenue base that can grow with fleet size and software capability. In the U.S., Tesla's ( TSLA ) full self-driving became subscription-only starting February 15, while some regions like Australia still allow one-time purchases for a limited grace period into 2026. What is FSD? Tesla ( TSLA ) first introduced Autopilot as an advanced driver-assistance suite in 2014–2015, adding features like traffic-aware cruise control, autosteer, and a summon command to ease driving. Over the following years, the company repeatedly promised full autonomy on timelines that slipped. Today, FSD is considered Tesla's ( TSLA ) top-tier driver-assistance package, built on the company’s Autopilot foundation and marketed as a step toward eventual autonomous driving. The software combines adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping, automated lane changes, and navigation-based highway driving with newer features that attempt to handle traffic lights, stop signs, turns, and complex city streets under driver supervision. Technically, FSD relies on onboard cameras, a dedicated FSD computer, and neural-network mod...
zhongguo/iStock via Getty Images Tesla's ( TSLA ) full self-driving feature is entering a new chapter as it shifts to a subscription-only service across major markets, reshaping how drivers access one of the most closely watched technologies in the auto industry. The electric vehicle maker has begun phasing out the option to buy FSD as a one-time software add-on, replacing it with a monthly subscr...
zhongguo/iStock via Getty Images Tesla's ( TSLA ) full self-driving feature is entering a new chapter as it shifts to a subscription-only service across major markets, reshaping how drivers access one of the most closely watched technologies in the auto industry. The electric vehicle maker has begun phasing out the option to buy FSD as a one-time software add-on, replacing it with a monthly subscription model in core markets such as the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand, with more regions expected to follow. Existing owners who already paid thousands of dollars up front keep their lifetime access, but new customers will now pay around $99 per month instead of an upfront fee that recently stood near $8,000. CEO Elon Musk has described the strategy as a way to lower the barrier to entry, align FSD with the company's broader software-as-a-service strategy, and build a recurring revenue base that can grow with fleet size and software capability. In the U.S., Tesla's ( TSLA ) full self-driving became subscription-only starting February 15, while some regions like Australia still allow one-time purchases for a limited grace period into 2026. What is FSD? Tesla ( TSLA ) first introduced Autopilot as an advanced driver-assistance suite in 2014–2015, adding features like traffic-aware cruise control, autosteer, and a summon command to ease driving. Over the following years, the company repeatedly promised full autonomy on timelines that slipped. Today, FSD is considered Tesla's ( TSLA ) top-tier driver-assistance package, built on the company’s Autopilot foundation and marketed as a step toward eventual autonomous driving. The software combines adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping, automated lane changes, and navigation-based highway driving with newer features that attempt to handle traffic lights, stop signs, turns, and complex city streets under driver supervision. Technically, FSD relies on onboard cameras, a dedicated FSD computer, and neural-network mod...
Italian authorities have opened a new tax investigation into Amazon.com, focusing on its operations in Italy. Searches have reportedly taken place at Amazon’s Milan headquarters and at the homes of certain senior managers. The probe adds to ongoing regulatory scrutiny of Amazon’s European business and raises fresh questions about its tax practices in a key market. For investors watching Amazon.com...
Italian authorities have opened a new tax investigation into Amazon.com, focusing on its operations in Italy. Searches have reportedly taken place at Amazon’s Milan headquarters and at the homes of certain senior managers. The probe adds to ongoing regulatory scrutiny of Amazon’s European business and raises fresh questions about its tax practices in a key market. For investors watching Amazon.com (NasdaqGS:AMZN), this tax investigation comes at a time when the stock is trading at $198.79,...
Multiple class action lawsuits have been filed against Oracle, alleging misrepresentations around AI infrastructure spending and related revenue growth expectations. Plaintiffs claim Oracle misled investors in the context of large capital raises and delays in delivering on high profile contracts. At the same time, Oracle recently secured an $88m cloud contract with the U.S. Air Force for its gover...
Multiple class action lawsuits have been filed against Oracle, alleging misrepresentations around AI infrastructure spending and related revenue growth expectations. Plaintiffs claim Oracle misled investors in the context of large capital raises and delays in delivering on high profile contracts. At the same time, Oracle recently secured an $88m cloud contract with the U.S. Air Force for its government cloud services. For investors tracking NYSE:ORCL, these developments come at a time when...
Sebastian Hoeness’ side are back in the top four but face test to keep hold of top talent again this summer Köln had been here before. “It’s not the second time, but the fifth or sixth time,” said forward Marius Bülter, “that we’ve sat in the locker room after a game, not able to blame ourselves much, but still left with zero points.” His coach, Lukas Kwasniok, described it as “Groundhog Day,” aft...
Sebastian Hoeness’ side are back in the top four but face test to keep hold of top talent again this summer Köln had been here before. “It’s not the second time, but the fifth or sixth time,” said forward Marius Bülter, “that we’ve sat in the locker room after a game, not able to blame ourselves much, but still left with zero points.” His coach, Lukas Kwasniok, described it as “Groundhog Day,” after “a more than decent performance against top opponents”. Their words are the signal, if it were needed, that Stuttgart really have arrived at the top of German football. Effzeh ’s players and coaching staff alike felt that this fitted snugly into a growing list of hard-luck stories; last week’s home loss to RB Leipzig, last month’s game with Bayern Munich when the champions didn’t take the lead until late on, or even the autumn defeat at Dortmund where they were beaten by Maxi Beier’s goal deep into stoppage time. Continue reading...