Taliban forces fire on crowds in Herat, who were protesting at manhandling of women arrested over hijab dress code A Taliban crackdown on women’s dress code in Afghanistan has escalated into a rare mass street protest in the western province of Herat, with at least two people killed by security forces. Officials made a wave of arrests in recent days targeting women and young girls accused of “impr...
Taliban forces fire on crowds in Herat, who were protesting at manhandling of women arrested over hijab dress code A Taliban crackdown on women’s dress code in Afghanistan has escalated into a rare mass street protest in the western province of Herat, with at least two people killed by security forces. Officials made a wave of arrests in recent days targeting women and young girls accused of “improper hijab”. Residents say many families had received no information about the whereabouts or condition of those detained. Continue reading...
Ant Group Co.’s international business is said to be considering raising about $1B to accelerate growth. The global unit of the Jack Ma-backed fintech company has been sounding out interest from prospective investors, including existing shareholders General Atlantic and Silver Lake, according to Bloomberg News. A funding round might value Ant International at $10B or more, the report said. The sou...
Ant Group Co.’s international business is said to be considering raising about $1B to accelerate growth. The global unit of the Jack Ma-backed fintech company has been sounding out interest from prospective investors, including existing shareholders General Atlantic and Silver Lake, according to Bloomberg News. A funding round might value Ant International at $10B or more, the report said. The sources also said that a fundraising could help pave the way for Ant to start preparing for a potential listing of the business in Hong Kong as soon as this year. Alibaba Group owns a 33% equity stake in Ant Group. More on Alibaba Alibaba: Consolidated Revenue Growth Will Be Much Higher In FY2027 Alibaba Is Becoming An AI Giant Alibaba: Cloud's Promise Sustains, But The Stock Is Pricey Still Alibaba, Baidu designated as Chinese Military Companies by Defense Department Alibaba delivers on AI expansion, new revenue stream by creating new business unit
S_Chum/iStock via Getty Images Thesis Summary The AI trade finally cracked last week, and it looks like Broadcom 's ( AVGO ) earnings might have been the trigger. Although revenue grew 48%, and AI revenue surged 143%, investors were not pleased, and the stock dropped nearly 15%. While I do not believe Broadcom's results suggest AI demand is weakening yet, the earnings and market reaction exposed a...
S_Chum/iStock via Getty Images Thesis Summary The AI trade finally cracked last week, and it looks like Broadcom 's ( AVGO ) earnings might have been the trigger. Although revenue grew 48%, and AI revenue surged 143%, investors were not pleased, and the stock dropped nearly 15%. While I do not believe Broadcom's results suggest AI demand is weakening yet, the earnings and market reaction exposed a much larger issue. Expectations across the AI sector have become dangerously elevated. Investors are no longer rewarding strong growth, and even a small miss on guidance can tank a stock. At current valuations, investors are already pricing in years of flawless execution, continued hyperscaler spending growth, and a custom silicon opportunity that leaves little room for disappointment. I believe Broadcom is a Sell after the rally in the last year. A Quick Update on My Last Call Back in September 2025, I downgraded Broadcom because I thought the stock did not deserve a premium valuation to NVIDIA ( NVDA ). This was towards the early days of the custom silicon trend, and while AVGO has appreciated and growth now justifies the valuation better, I still see a lot of challenges moving forward. Since then, Broadcom has proven many of those concerns wrong. The problem today is no longer whether Broadcom can grow. The problem is that investors have already priced in extraordinary growth. Broadcom's Quarter Was Excellent We cannot deny that on the surface, AVGO had a great quarter. AVGO at a glance (Investor Slides) Revenue reached a record $22.2 billion, up over 48% YoY, and AI semiconductor revenue climbed to $10.8 billion. Meanwhile, Adjusted EBITDA reached a record 69% of revenue, and free cash flow surpassed $10.3 billion. Management also guided for AI semiconductor revenue to reach approximately $16 billion next quarter and expects roughly $56 billion of AI semiconductor revenue in fiscal 2026. And this should reach $100 billion by 2027. Demand remains undeniably robust, and ...
Business secretary exaggerates role of the British Business Bank and the National Wealth Fund in nurturing firms Is the business secretary, Peter Kyle, suffering from SpaceX fever? It must be something of that sort because his launch this week of a “concierge service” to allow fast-growing companies to navigate Whitehall bureaucracy came with an extraordinary pitch. The new service is “part of his...
Business secretary exaggerates role of the British Business Bank and the National Wealth Fund in nurturing firms Is the business secretary, Peter Kyle, suffering from SpaceX fever? It must be something of that sort because his launch this week of a “concierge service” to allow fast-growing companies to navigate Whitehall bureaucracy came with an extraordinary pitch. The new service is “part of his [Kyle’s] quest to nurture the UK’s first trillion-dollar firm,” said the official announcement . One trillion dollars is about £750bn so Kyle’s quest is not a small undertaking when you see that the largest company on the London Stock Exchange, HSBC, is worth £235bn. Arm Holdings, the fast-growing UK chip designer that is listed in the US (sadly), is worth £280bn. So Kyle is saying he thinks he can “nurture” something much bigger. Continue reading...
Picture this: It’s the week of your wedding. You’re staring down a forecast of clouds and rain. What do you do? A lot of brides have taken to hiring a weather witch. Josyana Joshua explains. (Source: Bloomberg)
Picture this: It’s the week of your wedding. You’re staring down a forecast of clouds and rain. What do you do? A lot of brides have taken to hiring a weather witch. Josyana Joshua explains. (Source: Bloomberg)
China is launching a nationwide training programme to help humanoid robots move from dance performances and marathon races into factories, warehouses and hospitals, as Beijing steps up efforts to commercialise the technology. The goal is to accelerate the deployment of humanoid robots and embodied AI in real-world production and service environments, giving local governments and state-owned enterp...
China is launching a nationwide training programme to help humanoid robots move from dance performances and marathon races into factories, warehouses and hospitals, as Beijing steps up efforts to commercialise the technology. The goal is to accelerate the deployment of humanoid robots and embodied AI in real-world production and service environments, giving local governments and state-owned enterprises less than six months to prove the technology’s viability in such settings, according to an...
Anthropic has released its latest Mythos model, Fable 5, though with one major caveat. The AI will reportedly be blocked from responding to queries related to cybersecurity and biology. It comes as the company races to IPO, along with rivals SpaceX and OpenAI. The Opening Trade has everything you need to know as markets open across Europe. With analysis you won't find anywhere else, we break down ...
Anthropic has released its latest Mythos model, Fable 5, though with one major caveat. The AI will reportedly be blocked from responding to queries related to cybersecurity and biology. It comes as the company races to IPO, along with rivals SpaceX and OpenAI. The Opening Trade has everything you need to know as markets open across Europe. With analysis you won't find anywhere else, we break down the biggest stories of the day and speak to top guests who have skin in the game. Hosted by Anna Edwards and Tom Mackenzie. (Source: Bloomberg)
Maria Vonotna/iStock via Getty Images Market Review Sector Review “Broad Market” U.S. rates moved sharply higher and became more volatile in the first quarter as the escalation of the Iran conflict and resulting surge in energy prices drove markets to unwind easing expectations, with fed funds futures briefly shifting from pricing rate cuts to assigning some probability to hikes. The March Federal...
Maria Vonotna/iStock via Getty Images Market Review Sector Review “Broad Market” U.S. rates moved sharply higher and became more volatile in the first quarter as the escalation of the Iran conflict and resulting surge in energy prices drove markets to unwind easing expectations, with fed funds futures briefly shifting from pricing rate cuts to assigning some probability to hikes. The March Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting held policy steady and emphasized uncertainty over Iran, resilient growth, and still elevated inflation, while the dot plot continued to signal one 25 basis points (BPs) cut in 2026 despite limited conviction and higher neutral rate assumptions. Strong positive momentum in emerging market (EM) debt early in the quarter gave way to a more volatile backdrop as the period unfolded, with supportive macro conditions and tight spreads in January increasingly overshadowed by trade policy uncertainty, rising geopolitical tensions, and oil-driven macro risks later in the quarter. The outbreak of conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran in late February marked the quarter's most significant risk-off episode. EM market performance was initially supported by a favorable macro backdrop, robust investor demand, and exceptionally active primary markets. January saw historically strong issuance as sovereigns and corporates moved aggressively to front-load borrowing amid compressed spreads, a weakening U.S. dollar, and expectations for continued monetary easing across much of the EM universe. Disinflation trends coupled with still elevated real yields and carry opportunities underpinned strong appetite for both hard and local currency assets, with high yield credits benefiting disproportionately from investors' renewed willingness to assume risk early in the quarter. However, market conditions became more volatile as the quarter progressed, reflecting a sharp rise in geopolitical and policy uncertainty. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling against the Preside...