The White House insisted that peace talks with Iran are ongoing, even as Tehran publicly rejected US overtures and issued fresh conditions of its own to end the conflict that’s wreaked havoc across the Middle East and global markets. (Source: Bloomberg)
The White House insisted that peace talks with Iran are ongoing, even as Tehran publicly rejected US overtures and issued fresh conditions of its own to end the conflict that’s wreaked havoc across the Middle East and global markets. (Source: Bloomberg)
Companies are facing the risk of “materially more expensive” funding from stresses tied to private credit’s concentrated exposure to the software sector and renewed inflation pressure from the Iran war, according to ING Groep NV . “In any plausible scenario, even one less adverse than the central case, redemption pressure across private credit vehicles is likely to continue, slowing the pace of ne...
Companies are facing the risk of “materially more expensive” funding from stresses tied to private credit’s concentrated exposure to the software sector and renewed inflation pressure from the Iran war, according to ING Groep NV . “In any plausible scenario, even one less adverse than the central case, redemption pressure across private credit vehicles is likely to continue, slowing the pace of new financing,” ING credit strategists Timothy Rahill and Jeroen van den Broek wrote in a Wednesday report. Private credit stresses “could trigger a broader repricing across leveraged loans, high yield and ultimately investment grade credit as contagion spreads,” and funding costs for some “high-beta borrowers” have already gone up by as much as 400 basis points, they added. Concerns about lax underwriting standards in parts of the $1.8 trillion private credit industry and high exposure to the software sector have fueled a spate of redemptions at direct lending funds, forcing some of the world’s biggest alternative asset managers to cap withdrawals. Ex-Goldman CEO Blankfein Warns of ‘Fire’ Risk in Private Markets Ares, Apollo Cap Private Credit Withdrawals as Exodus Grows (1) Apollo, Blackstone Say Private Credit Fear Masks Reality (1) Both insurers and banks face risks from private credit. An expected 10-25% of assets are allocated to private credit by US insurers, 10-15% by European insurers, and 12-20% by UK insurers, according to the note. “Given questions about the ratings’ validity and possible rating inflation, these exposure levels raise concerns,” they wrote. US regional banks also carry “meaningful” exposure to private credit, with roughly 4–5% of their assets tied to direct private credit holdings, according to the strategists. The smaller US lenders are also “on the hook for liquidity mismatches, meaning many private credit firms” and funds will draw on liquidity lines, thereby weakening their capital, they added. Yields on junk-rated corporate bonds globally are ...
natatravel/iStock via Getty Images First Majestic Silver ( AG ) Update Data by YCharts When I last covered First Majestic in 2023 , I called it a SELL. My exact words: the company didn't have its cash costs under control at one of its major mines, its financial position was worsening, and a capital raise looked likely. Silver traded at depressed levels at the time, in the $20-$25 range, and First ...
natatravel/iStock via Getty Images First Majestic Silver ( AG ) Update Data by YCharts When I last covered First Majestic in 2023 , I called it a SELL. My exact words: the company didn't have its cash costs under control at one of its major mines, its financial position was worsening, and a capital raise looked likely. Silver traded at depressed levels at the time, in the $20-$25 range, and First Majestic was bleeding cash on high-cost operations that weren't delivering. I thought it was an easy call. That call was right for about a year. Then everything changed. The Los Gatos acquisition closed in January 2025. Looking back, the deal was timed perfectly and gave First Majestic exactly what it needed: a low-cost, high-grade silver mine. Then, silver ( SLV ) started moving. And First Majestic, which had spent years disappointing investors with cost overruns and operational stumbles, started executing. Q4 2025 was a record quarter on almost every metric that matters: $250 million in free cash flow off of 4.2 million ounces of silver produced. For the full year, the company generated $164.9 million in net income after posting losses in prior years. The stock ran from around $5 a year ago to $32 at its February peak. It's since pulled back to roughly $21, caught up in the silver correction that's taken the metal from $120 in January down to about $72 today. That correction is the reason I'm writing this article now. The company has fundamentally improved, the valuation has come in, and silver looks a bit oversold relative to gold. First Majestic Silver: What the Numbers Tell Us First Majestic Silver Full-year 2025 production came in at 15.4 million silver ounces and 31 million silver-equivalent ounces, beating revised guidance. The real inflection was in the back half of the year once Los Gatos was fully integrated. Q4 silver production of 4.2 million ounces was 77% higher than Q4 2024. Adjusted EPS was $0.30, crushing the $0.18 consensus estimate. The cash flow figures...
A Turkish tanker laden with crude oil was targeted by a drone attack in the Black Sea near Istanbul, NTV television reported. The attack on the M/T Altura took place 15 nautical miles away from the Bosporus Strait, NTV reported. The Suezmax-sized tanker was fully laden with about 1 million barrels of Urals crude from Novorossiysk, ship-tracking data showed. Altura is sanctioned by the UK and the E...
A Turkish tanker laden with crude oil was targeted by a drone attack in the Black Sea near Istanbul, NTV television reported. The attack on the M/T Altura took place 15 nautical miles away from the Bosporus Strait, NTV reported. The Suezmax-sized tanker was fully laden with about 1 million barrels of Urals crude from Novorossiysk, ship-tracking data showed. Altura is sanctioned by the UK and the EU but not the US. An explosion occurred on the bridge of the tanker and the engine room also took on water, according to Turkish maritime news portal HaberDenizde . There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The Marches, Shropshire: The call of the chiffchaff and the turning of the allotment soil – these are seasonal rituals honed over time A pair of ravens, barking mad, perform their shuttling flight in glorious sunshine above Old Racecourse Common. A charm of chaffinches flash white wing-bars through the shadows of mossy willows around the pond. A queen red-tailed bumblebee orbits a hedgebank bounda...
The Marches, Shropshire: The call of the chiffchaff and the turning of the allotment soil – these are seasonal rituals honed over time A pair of ravens, barking mad, perform their shuttling flight in glorious sunshine above Old Racecourse Common. A charm of chaffinches flash white wing-bars through the shadows of mossy willows around the pond. A queen red-tailed bumblebee orbits a hedgebank boundary stone, then buzzes off to feed on gorse flowers or prospect for possible colony chambers below. A lesser-spotted woodpecker hammers out rapid bursts of drumbeats from a stand of beech across the misty distances of the hills. Chiffchaffs find their rhythm in the oaks. These constantly repeated two-note phrases are not what they seem when you hear the writer and musician Mark E Smith say of his own work: “It’s not repetition, it’s discipline.” A chiffchaff flies out from tree cover, across the open common, an apparition so slight compared with the powerful, hidden voice, to resume their[pls don’t change to “its” – PF] discipline in further oaks. Continue reading...