S&P 500 Index futures fall 0.3% as of 7:50 a.m. in New York after China started a pair of investigations into US trade practices and Israel said it would escalate and expand its attacks on Iran. Nasdaq 100 futures decline 0.5% Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fall 0.4% The MSCI World Index falls 0.2% Here are some of the biggest US movers before the bell: Magnificent Seven Apple (AAPL) -0.1%, ...
S&P 500 Index futures fall 0.3% as of 7:50 a.m. in New York after China started a pair of investigations into US trade practices and Israel said it would escalate and expand its attacks on Iran. Nasdaq 100 futures decline 0.5% Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fall 0.4% The MSCI World Index falls 0.2% Here are some of the biggest US movers before the bell: Magnificent Seven Apple (AAPL) -0.1%, Nvidia (NVDA) -0.1%, Amazon (AMZN) -0.5%, Meta Platforms (META) -0.8%, Tesla (TSLA) -0.5%, Microsoft (MSFT) -0.4%, Alphabet (GOOGL) -1% Argan Inc. (AGX) rises 10% after the power plant-builder reported earnings per share and revenue for the fourth quarter that beat the average analyst estimate. JPMorgan raises its rating on the stock to overweight, saying the results were strong with EPS “well ahead” of expectations. Rocket Pharmaceuticals (RCKT) rises 12% after the FDA approved the drug developer’s Kresladi for the treatment of severe Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency Type I — a rare white blood cell disorder — in pediatric patients. Two Harbors Investment (TWO) slips 2% after agreeing to be acquired by CrossCountry. Unity Software (U) jumps 11% after the company reported preliminary first-quarter earnings. The results showed significant strength in Vector, the company’s AI-driven advertising unit, according to analysts.
Welcome to our guide to the commodities driving the global economy. Today, reporter Jack Ryan looks at how the conflict in the Middle East has affected gold markets. The Iran war is threatening to put a key driver of gold’s record-breaking rally into reverse. Turkey has offloaded $8 billion of gold reserves this month in a bid to protect its currency from soaring energy costs and higher demand for...
Welcome to our guide to the commodities driving the global economy. Today, reporter Jack Ryan looks at how the conflict in the Middle East has affected gold markets. The Iran war is threatening to put a key driver of gold’s record-breaking rally into reverse. Turkey has offloaded $8 billion of gold reserves this month in a bid to protect its currency from soaring energy costs and higher demand for dollars. The country’s central bank sold and swapped about 60 tons of bullion over two weeks in March. That’s bigger than the outflow triggered by investors’ flight from gold-backed exchange traded funds over the same period,, which was fueled by a dash for cash amid a broader meltdown in financial markets, rising bond yields and a resurgent dollar. If more monetary institutions follow Turkey’s example, it would slow the overall pace of purchases and call into question long-term assumptions that central banks are loath to sell gold. “The narrative of central banks as perpetual one-directional buyers is being challenged,” said Nicky Shiels, head of metals strategy at MKS PAMP SA, a trader and refiner. Since the global financial crisis, central banks have been net buyers of gold. The pace of purchases picked up in late 2022 after the freezing of Russia’s foreign exchange reserves, which highlighted the benefits of diversifying from dollar assets. The gold price has more than doubled since then, surging above $5,000 an ounce earlier this year. The price is already down about 18% from that peak and the war in the Middle East could lead to more bullion sales elsewhere. Some countries that have been accumulating gold are energy importers, so a steeper oil and gas bill means fewer dollars retained to be recycled into reserves of the precious metal. Beyond that, Persian Gulf states have seen their much-needed flow of petrodollars crimped by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to most energy exports, although they do have sizable holdings of other assets in addition to bullion. Unl...
Letter from group published by MPs blames 12 March glitch on software update to its mobile banking apps Lloyds Banking Group exposed the personal data of nearly 500,000 customers in an IT glitch that left people’s payments, account details and national insurance numbers visible to other users, a committee of MPs has revealed. A letter from Lloyds, published by MPs on the Treasury select committee ...
Letter from group published by MPs blames 12 March glitch on software update to its mobile banking apps Lloyds Banking Group exposed the personal data of nearly 500,000 customers in an IT glitch that left people’s payments, account details and national insurance numbers visible to other users, a committee of MPs has revealed. A letter from Lloyds, published by MPs on the Treasury select committee on Friday , blamed the glitch on a software defect introduced during an IT update to its Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland mobile banking apps overnight into 12 March. Continue reading...
phototechno/iStock via Getty Images Two Harbors Investment ( TWO ) on Thursday announced a new definitive merger agreement with CrossCountry Mortgage, terminating its previously announced agreement with UWM Holdings ( UWMC ). TWO shares were 2.89% down to $11.07 Friday pre-market, while UWMC was trading 0.57% higher at $3.55. The mortgage servicing rights-focused REIT had already agreed to be acqu...
phototechno/iStock via Getty Images Two Harbors Investment ( TWO ) on Thursday announced a new definitive merger agreement with CrossCountry Mortgage, terminating its previously announced agreement with UWM Holdings ( UWMC ). TWO shares were 2.89% down to $11.07 Friday pre-market, while UWMC was trading 0.57% higher at $3.55. The mortgage servicing rights-focused REIT had already agreed to be acquired by UWM in an all-stock deal that valued each share of TWO at $11.94 in December 2025. Last week, Two said it received an unsolicited proposal for $10.70 per share in cash. The new proposal provides for the payment of the $25.4M termination fee that would be required under the UWMC agreement. Earlier this week, Two board's ad hoc committee said that CrossCountry Mortgage's unsolicited bid constitutes a "superior" proposal to the merger agreement it had previously reached with UWM Holdings. According to the new merger agreement, the retail mortgage lender will acquire all the outstanding shares of TWO common stock for $10.80 per share in cash. The Saint Louis Park-based company's series A, series B, and series C preferred stockholders will have their shares redeemed at $25.00 per share following the close of the transaction. TWO said it intends to pay regular quarterly dividends in the ordinary course consistent with past practice for all completed quarterly periods, but does not intend to pay a partial dividend for the quarter in which the closing occurs in the event the closing does not occur as of quarter-end. The transaction is expected to close in the second half. More on Two Harbors Investment, UWM Holdings Two Harbors: New Takeover Offer Provides A Lifeline UWM Holdings Corporation 2025 Q4 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation UWM Holdings Corporation (UWMC) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Prepared Remarks Transcript Two Harbors deems CrossCountry's $10.70/share proposal 'superior' to UWM Holdings' Two Harbors gets all-cash proposal, competing with UWM Holdings deal
nopparit/E+ via Getty Images The “maximalist” system of Bitcoin USD ( BTC-USD ) seems to be collapsing. The mathematical models that perfectly described Bitcoin’s value based on its scarcity are failing to describe the price trend. But in the end, isn’t scarcity exactly what gives value to this asset? And if scarcity no longer matters, will it be the end of Bitcoin? The way I see it, it could pote...
nopparit/E+ via Getty Images The “maximalist” system of Bitcoin USD ( BTC-USD ) seems to be collapsing. The mathematical models that perfectly described Bitcoin’s value based on its scarcity are failing to describe the price trend. But in the end, isn’t scarcity exactly what gives value to this asset? And if scarcity no longer matters, will it be the end of Bitcoin? The way I see it, it could potentially be a new beginning. In my opinion, there is a very specific reason why models based on scarcity are failing in their purpose. A reason to be found elsewhere. But the value of “scarcity” has not disappeared; it is only unexpressed. And it may be accumulating to explode when we least expect it. Here is my thesis. The collapse of canonical models For years, the price of Bitcoin has been driven by a maximalist narrative supported by some mathematical models, now considered canonical. Models that have been able to describe the price trend of Bitcoin since the first halving are models that over time have adapted and evolved. Models on which the “maximalist” thesis has built a religion but that today seem to begin to give way. Stock-to-flow The first and most renowned is stock-to-flow , which measures the value of Bitcoin in relation to scarcity. The same logic that drives gold: today, gold’s S/F is 60, while that of BTC-USD is 113, so Bitcoin even has a more pronounced controlled scarcity mechanism than gold. A model that until 2022 described Bitcoin’s trend well but that today is instead making a huge miss, and it does not surprise me that this model is talked about less and less. Stock to flow (Author) And this has happened in parallel with the progressive abandonment of the parallelism between Bitcoin and the concept of a “store of value” of the future. Not surprisingly, a divergent trend has been generated compared to gold, even though the underlying narrative that made it “viral” was precisely that of “digital gold.” (We will see why later). BTC- USD - Gold (Seeking ...
Much of the crypto market is deep in the red through the first three months of 2026. Even top names have not fared well. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is down 20%, while Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) is down 27%. However, fresh new names are starting to soar in value, and all of them have plenty of potential upside ahead. Here are three cryptocurrencies that are up 25% or more in 2026 and are worth a closer look...
Much of the crypto market is deep in the red through the first three months of 2026. Even top names have not fared well. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is down 20%, while Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) is down 27%. However, fresh new names are starting to soar in value, and all of them have plenty of potential upside ahead. Here are three cryptocurrencies that are up 25% or more in 2026 and are worth a closer look by investors. Hyperliquid (CRYPTO: HYPE) is a decentralized finance (DeFi) token that continues to soar in value. It's now the 10th-largest cryptocurrency in the world, with a massive $10 billion market cap. For the year, it's up a remarkable 50%. Continue reading
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday sharply criticized the Financial Times , accusing the publication of fabricating a report about his views on central bank oversight. In a post on X, Bessent said he had “never… advocated, explored, or espoused” adopting a governance model similar to the Bank of England for the Federal Reserve, contrary to a Financial Times article suggesting he suppo...
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday sharply criticized the Financial Times , accusing the publication of fabricating a report about his views on central bank oversight. In a post on X, Bessent said he had “never… advocated, explored, or espoused” adopting a governance model similar to the Bank of England for the Federal Reserve, contrary to a Financial Times article suggesting he supported a tighter oversight of the Federal Reserve. “FT journalists manufactured a story,” Bessent wrote, adding that the report falsely implied he and the administration of President Donald Trump were seeking to restructure the relationship with the Fed. He described the claims as “mendacious” and based on “vague statements from unnamed "financial industry executives." Bessent added that FT had completely manufactured an "entirely fake policy position." "Over the past 10 years, I have written more than 20,000 words opining on the Federal Reserve's decisions, personnel, structure, and modifications. Nowhere have I ever mentioned this ridiculous notion," he said in the post. He also rejected comparisons with the Bank of England, saying, “There is much to be said about the storied Bank of England, but any recreation of its operating framework on this side of the Atlantic has never been contemplated.” The dispute comes amid heightened scrutiny of the Fed's independence, as policymakers and political figures debate its role and governance structure. Dear readers , we recognize that politics often intersect with the financial news of the day, so we invite you to click here to join the separate political discussion. More on markets What AI's Threat Might Do To The March 2026 Job Report Pay To Play In The Strait Of Hormuz The U.S. Labor Market Confounds With Its Countercurrents; It May Be The New Normal Labor Market AM Markets Need to Know: Additional troops in Middle East, oil could go to $200, and more Pentagon weighs sending up to 10,000 more troops to the Middle East: report