In this week’s newsletter: Years of dragon fatigue and lore overload had me running from the Game of Thrones franchise, but this modest new chapter offers a reminder of how good simple storytelling can be • Don’t get The Guide delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Just when I thought I was out … just when I thought I would no longer have that sweeping, ever so slightly irritating theme tune rin...
In this week’s newsletter: Years of dragon fatigue and lore overload had me running from the Game of Thrones franchise, but this modest new chapter offers a reminder of how good simple storytelling can be • Don’t get The Guide delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Just when I thought I was out … just when I thought I would no longer have that sweeping, ever so slightly irritating theme tune ringing around my head for hours on end, or feel the need to remember the difference between House Tyrell, Tully or Arryn, I suddenly find myself pulled back in to the Game of Thrones extended universe. The blame for this goes to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the likably low-key Game of Thrones spin-off series about a cloth-eared hedge knight and his shrewd child squire currently ambling through its first season on HBO/Sky Atlantic. Before its arrival, I had departed Westeros for good. My faith had first been shaken by that rushed, badly plotted final season of Game of Thrones proper, which bashed to bits six previous seasons’ worth of finely tuned political intrigue and fascinating character dynamics in a succession of endless (often badly lit) CGI-laden battles, before flambéing them in dragon fire. Worse came with House of the Dragon, a dreary, po-faced, endlessly withholding slog of a prequel series, the enjoyment of which seemed to rest entirely on whether the viewer was familiar with deep lore buried within a Westeros history book that George RR Martin wrote instead of cracking on with that sixth novel . If, like me, you were not, the show proved to be little more than a confusing conveyor belt of platinum-haired poshos glowering at each other. Oh and dragons. So many dragons. Continue reading...
Malaysia ’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told parliament on Wednesday that his government had not agreed to “hand over” any land to neighbouring Indonesia , calling claims of a large territorial concession “not true” and “a lie”. The row erupted after Indonesian officials were quoted in local media as saying that parts of three villages in Nunukan regency, North Kalimantan, had been designated Mal...
Malaysia ’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told parliament on Wednesday that his government had not agreed to “hand over” any land to neighbouring Indonesia , calling claims of a large territorial concession “not true” and “a lie”. The row erupted after Indonesian officials were quoted in local media as saying that parts of three villages in Nunukan regency, North Kalimantan, had been designated Malaysian territory and that Jakarta would receive 5,207 hectares (12,866 acres) “in compensation” to develop new border posts and a free-trade zone. In a special briefing, Anwar said border demarcation on the island of Borneo was determined by long-running technical work and historical agreements, not through any “compensation, reciprocity or profit-and-loss” logic. Advertisement “The determination of the Malaysia–Indonesia border is not based on compensation … as claimed by some parties,” he told parliament. “The border is set according to conventions and agreements that have been formally established.” Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim speaks during a question-and-answer session in parliament in 2023. Photo: Malaysia’s Department of Information/AFP Anwar outlined the legal framework defining Malaysia’s borders with Indonesia, citing colonial-era instruments such as the British-Dutch Convention of 1891, a 1915 boundary agreement covering Sabah, and a 1928 convention relating to a small area in Sarawak.
For this year’s Integrated Systems Europe trade show, AMD is unveiling an upgraded lineup of its Kintex mid-range FPGAs. Dubbed the Kintex UltraScale+ Gen 2 family, this latest iteration of the Kintex family is designed to modernize the FPGAs, bringing support for newer and faster memory, I/O, and cryptography technologies. As with the existing (Gen 1) Kintex UltraScale+ parts, AMD is planning on ...
For this year’s Integrated Systems Europe trade show, AMD is unveiling an upgraded lineup of its Kintex mid-range FPGAs. Dubbed the Kintex UltraScale+ Gen 2 family, this latest iteration of the Kintex family is designed to modernize the FPGAs, bringing support for newer and faster memory, I/O, and cryptography technologies. As with the existing (Gen 1) Kintex UltraScale+ parts, AMD is planning on offering the FPGAs over the long term, with availability through at least 2045. At a high level, the new Kintex UltraScale+ Gen 2 parts are intended to augment the lower-half of AMD’s existing Kintex UltraScale+ SoC family. Altogether there are 3 planned versions of the Gen 2 chips, with the largest topping out at 491,000 logic cells. With both the original and Gen 2 chips intended to be available out to the same 2045+ timeframe, the Gen 2 chips are not so much a replacement for the previous chips as they are another option for customers who need more (and more modern) I/O resources for a given FPGA compute performance level. Compared to the original parts, the biggest upgrade here are the memory controllers, which AMD is significantly bulking up. Whereas the comparable gen 1 parts all feature a single hard block 64-bit DDR4 memory controller, the Gen 2 chips increase this to either 128-bits (4×32-bit hard blocks) or 192-bits (6×32-bit hard blocks) of LPDDR4X/5/5X depending on the SKU. As a result, the Gen 2 chips offer multiple times the memory bandwidth of the original chips, boosting bandwidth both via the 2-3x larger memory bus, and being able to run at 4266Mbps/pin, versus DDR4’s more pokey 2677Mbps/pin. The memory technology update also serves to help future-proof the FPGAs over the long window that AMD wants to offer them. DDR4 production is already in decline, whereas LPDDR – and particularly LPDDR5X – is going to be readily available much farther in to the future. So although the Gen 2 chips are not especially taking advantage of the higher bandwidth potential of L...
Bank of Åland Plc Financial Statement Release February 4, 2026, 9.00 EET Year-end Report for the period January–December 2025 Record results and solid growth “The year 2025 was the most successful year financially in the history of the Bank of Åland. Income amounted to EUR 67.2 million (65.0), while we also maintained solid growth. “During the year, our deposits grew by 7 per cent to EUR 3,760 mil...
Bank of Åland Plc Financial Statement Release February 4, 2026, 9.00 EET Year-end Report for the period January–December 2025 Record results and solid growth “The year 2025 was the most successful year financially in the history of the Bank of Åland. Income amounted to EUR 67.2 million (65.0), while we also maintained solid growth. “During the year, our deposits grew by 7 per cent to EUR 3,760 million and our lending by 5 per cent to EUR 3,762 million. Our actively managed customer assets rose by 14 per cent, for the first time exceeding the EUR 12 billion mark and at the end of the year amounted to EUR 12,119 billion. During the year, we had a strong net flow of new customer assets, EUR 708 million. “In terms of income, our net interest income decreased to EUR 95.2 million (104.1) as was expected due to falling market interest rates. What was surprising on the positive side was that we succeeded in raising our net commission income by 12 percent to EUR 85.7 million (76.4), which compensated for the decreasing net interest income. The net commission income benefited from increased activity in the stock markets. Expenses developed in line with our planning. “The Bank of Åland has a strong liquidity and capital position, and we also continue to see very good numbers in our customer satisfaction surveys. Altogether, these create strong conditions for our motivated employees to create continued growth. “For 2025, we generated a return on equity of 17.8 per cent. Our ambition for 2026 as well is to create a return on equity that exceeds our long-term financial goals of 15 per cent.” Peter Wiklöf, Managing Director and Chief Executive January-December 2025 compared to January−December 2024 Net operating profit increased by 3 per cent and amounted to EUR 67.2 M (65.0). Core income consisting of net interest income, net commission income and IT income remained at an unchanged level EUR 214.7 M (215.6). Other income increased to EUR 5.6 M (0.7). Total expenses increased by 3...
As the popular fintech stock trades sideways, institutional investors are increasing their positions. During mid- to late 2025, shares in SoFi Technologies (SOFI 1.29%) were on a tear. Shares zoomed from under $10 to over $30 per share thanks to a series of promising quarterly results. In more recent months, however, bullishness has screeched to a halt. Worse yet, after staying range-bound from Se...
As the popular fintech stock trades sideways, institutional investors are increasing their positions. During mid- to late 2025, shares in SoFi Technologies (SOFI 1.29%) were on a tear. Shares zoomed from under $10 to over $30 per share thanks to a series of promising quarterly results. In more recent months, however, bullishness has screeched to a halt. Worse yet, after staying range-bound from September through January, this fintech stock has started to pull back, and now appears to be on a downward trajectory. SoFi has been a "meme stock" in the past, but institutional investors, many of whom bought into the stock last year, could be driving recent price action. Even so, that may not necessarily mean it's time to follow their lead. Numerous heavy hitters bought into SoFi last year Based on 13-F filings for the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2025, SoFi Technologies attracted a considerable amount of investor inflows from major asset managers. During the period, J.P. Morgan Chase increased its position by 18 million shares, to around 65 million shares, equating to 5.4% of shares outstanding. Funds managed by BlackRock also upped their stakes during the September quarter. In total, the funds increased their position by around 13.5 million shares, giving the asset manager control of around 5.2% of SoFi's outstanding stock. Alongside these asset managers, Wall Street trading firms like Susquehanna, Citadel, and Jane Street also increased net positions, to the tune of 10.6 million, 8.6 million, and 7.9 million shares, respectively. Irrespective of Wall Street's angle, stay focused on the long-term bull case In a few weeks, asset managers will release their next round of 13-F filings. It will be interesting to see if these asset managers have cut their positions, but based on recent quarterly results, SoFi's overall growth story appears intact. SoFi continues to gradually grow its loan, banking, and financial services user base. As anticipated in earnings forecasts, incrementa...
More Europe? Draghi Pushes For Federalization As Answer To Europe's Decline Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News, Former Italian prime minister and former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi has urged European Union member states to move toward a more federal structure, warning that Europe risks economic and geopolitical decline unless national governments surrender more powers to Bru...
More Europe? Draghi Pushes For Federalization As Answer To Europe's Decline Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News, Former Italian prime minister and former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi has urged European Union member states to move toward a more federal structure, warning that Europe risks economic and geopolitical decline unless national governments surrender more powers to Brussels. Speaking while receiving an honorary doctorate at KU Leuven in Belgium on Monday, Draghi argued that Europe faces a future in which it risks becoming “subordinated, divided, and deindustrialised at once” as global power shifts further toward the United States and China. Draghi said the collapse of the current economic world order leaves Europe exposed unless it acts collectively, declaring that “the collapse of this order is not itself the threat… the threat is what may replace it.” He argued Europe must choose between remaining dependent on global powers or transforming into a political force capable of defending its own interests. “Of all those who today find themselves squeezed between the United States and China, only Europeans have the option of becoming a true power themselves,” Draghi said. The tone is reminiscent of previous Eurocrats who have used geopolitics and economic crises to call for “more Europe.” “We must decide: do we simply remain a large market, subject to the priorities of others? Or do we take the necessary steps to become a power?” Draghi asked. He argued that Europe commands influence only when powers are centralized at the EU level, pointing to areas such as trade policy, competition law, the single market, and monetary policy. “Where Europe has federated on trade, on competition, on the single market, on monetary policy, we are respected as a power and negotiate as one,” he said. It should be noted that many Europeans considered these areas to be highly bureaucratic, and vie to push through a “one-size-fits-all policy” on nations. He claime...
In this article SHEL-GB Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT This report is from this week's CNBC's UK Exchange newsletter. Like what you see? You can subscribe here. The dispatch It is just over three years since Wael Sawan succeeded Ben van Beurden as chief executive of Shell. While there has been much background noise, not least about a possible takeover bid for BP, a less remarked-u...
In this article SHEL-GB Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT This report is from this week's CNBC's UK Exchange newsletter. Like what you see? You can subscribe here. The dispatch It is just over three years since Wael Sawan succeeded Ben van Beurden as chief executive of Shell. While there has been much background noise, not least about a possible takeover bid for BP, a less remarked-upon aspect of Sawan's time at the helm to date is just how often the oil major has beaten expectations on results day. In five of the last eight quarters, Shell has reported better-than-expected earnings, most strikingly when, at the end of October last year, it reported third-quarter earnings of $5.4 billion — comfortably ahead of the $5.1 billion that even the most bullish analysts had forecast. That may reflect nothing more than skilled expectations management. However, for a business as widely-followed in the market as Shell, beating expectations — particularly to this extent — takes some doing. And, given the precipitous year-on-year drop in the oil price, it highlights that Sawan has sharpened Shell's operational performance to an extent perhaps underappreciated by the market. A Shell petrol station in London, U.K., on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty Images All of which should be borne in mind when, tomorrow, Shell reports results for the fourth quarter of 2025 and for the year as a whole. With Brent crude falling almost 19% over 2025 , and at one point last month, slipping below $60 a barrel for the first time in nearly five years , headline earnings for 2025 are likely to be down by around a fifth on the previous 12 months. For the fourth quarter, they are expected to be down by around 10% year-on-year; Shell indicated in last month's trading update that earnings in its downstream division will be lower, its chemicals arm will report "a significant loss" and that the outcome for its energy trading business "is expected to be significantl...
(RTTNews) - GS Retail (007070.KS) reported that its fourh quarter net loss attributable to shareholders of parent company was 98.7 billion Korean won compared to a loss of 31.9 billion won, prior year. Net loss from continuing operation before income tax was 87.5 billion won compared to a loss of 29.3 billion won. Operating income increased to 53.32 billion won from 31.65 billion won. Fourth quart...
(RTTNews) - GS Retail (007070.KS) reported that its fourh quarter net loss attributable to shareholders of parent company was 98.7 billion Korean won compared to a loss of 31.9 billion won, prior year. Net loss from continuing operation before income tax was 87.5 billion won compared to a loss of 29.3 billion won. Operating income increased to 53.32 billion won from 31.65 billion won. Fourth quarter sales were 3.02 trillion won compared to 2.92 trillion won, prior year, an increase of 3.5%. GS Retail is currently trading at 23,550 won, up 1.07%. For more earnings news, earnings calendar, and earnings for stocks, visit rttnews.com. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
(RTTNews) - Banco Santander SA (SAN) reported higher profit in its fourth quarter and fiscal 2025 with growth in total income. Further, the company projects higher results in 2026. The board has also approved a new 5 billion euros share buyback programme. Separately, Banco Santander said it agreed to acquire Webster Financial Corp. (WBS) in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at approximately $12....
(RTTNews) - Banco Santander SA (SAN) reported higher profit in its fourth quarter and fiscal 2025 with growth in total income. Further, the company projects higher results in 2026. The board has also approved a new 5 billion euros share buyback programme. Separately, Banco Santander said it agreed to acquire Webster Financial Corp. (WBS) in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at approximately $12.3 billion. In the fourth quarter, attributable profit was 3.76 billion euros, up 15 percent from the last year. Total income grew 1 percent year-over-year to 16.113 billion euros. In fiscal 2025, Banco Santander reported an attributable profit of 14.101 billion euros, up 12 percent from last year's 12.574 billion euros. Earnings per share were 0.91 euro, up 17.3 percent from 0.77 euro a year ago. Net operating income grew 2.2 percent year-over-year to 33.959 billion euros. Total income was 58.67 billion euros, up 0.5 percent from 58.380 billion euros a year ago. Net interest income, meanwhile, dropped 3.3 percent to 42.348 billion euros. Total underlying income stood at 62.390 billion euros, flat in euros but up 4 percent in constant euros. Looking ahead for fiscal 2026, the company is targeting mid-single-digit revenue growth and higher profits, excluding Poland, TSB and Webster. Following the acquisition of Webster, in 2027 the bank expects double-digit revenue growth, positive operational leverage, and mid teens profit growth in constant euros. Santander also reiterated its commitment to distribute at least 10 billion euros through share buybacks against 2025 and 2026 earnings and excess capital. The company plans to share further details on next strategic cycle at Investor Day on February 25. For more earnings news, earnings calendar, and earnings for stocks, visit rttnews.com. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
Strangers used to open doors, help lift my pram and greet me with approval when I looked ‘like a mum’. After one simple haircut, I was treated very differently In November 2000, two weeks after giving birth to my first and only child, I found myself collapsed in bed, breastfeeding in front of Top of the Pops, hair matted, sheets dirty, surrounded by sick-soaked muslin rags. I liked it. Or at least...
Strangers used to open doors, help lift my pram and greet me with approval when I looked ‘like a mum’. After one simple haircut, I was treated very differently In November 2000, two weeks after giving birth to my first and only child, I found myself collapsed in bed, breastfeeding in front of Top of the Pops, hair matted, sheets dirty, surrounded by sick-soaked muslin rags. I liked it. Or at least, it felt like a perfectly reasonable thing to be doing, until Madonna – who had given birth to Rocco Ritchie only three months earlier – appeared on the screen in a cropped leather jacket, belly bared, sexy-dancing to Don’t Tell Me. Did I feel inspired? Resentful? Brimming with pity for this attention-seeker? For sure, it was all three. As the weeks wore on, I began to see how it might be possible to shower, put on actual clothes and maybe even pop to the corner shop. Occasional visits to cafes, museums and other warm, baby-friendly spaces soon followed and stopped me from feeling as if I had fallen into a well of loneliness. Continue reading...
Morris State Bancshares press release ( MBLU ): Q4 GAAP EPS of $0.60. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $6.4 million, compared to $9.2 million for the third quarter of 2025 and $6.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2024. More on Morris State Bancshares Morris State Bancshares raises dividend by 8.3% to $0.13 Vallant Financial to become holding company for Morris State Bancshares, Pinn...
Morris State Bancshares press release ( MBLU ): Q4 GAAP EPS of $0.60. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $6.4 million, compared to $9.2 million for the third quarter of 2025 and $6.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2024. More on Morris State Bancshares Morris State Bancshares raises dividend by 8.3% to $0.13 Vallant Financial to become holding company for Morris State Bancshares, Pinnacle Financial Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Morris State Bancshares Dividend scorecard for Morris State Bancshares Financial information for Morris State Bancshares
(RTTNews) - Svenska Handelsbanken AB (SHB-A.ST, SHB-B.ST, SVNLY), a banking products and services company, on Wednesday reported its income decreased in the fourth quarter compared with the previous year. For the fourth quarter, profit decreased 9 percent to SEK 5.97 billion from SEK 6.85 billion in the previous year. Earnings per share were SEK 3.01 versus SEK 3.46 last year. Operating profit dec...
(RTTNews) - Svenska Handelsbanken AB (SHB-A.ST, SHB-B.ST, SVNLY), a banking products and services company, on Wednesday reported its income decreased in the fourth quarter compared with the previous year. For the fourth quarter, profit decreased 9 percent to SEK 5.97 billion from SEK 6.85 billion in the previous year. Earnings per share were SEK 3.01 versus SEK 3.46 last year. Operating profit declined to SEK 7.68 billion from SEK 9.18 billion in the prior year. Total income declined to SEK 14.26 billion from SEK 16.02 billion in the previous year. On Tuesday, Svenska Handelsbanken closed trading 0.24% higher at SEK 143.35 on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.