IR_Stone/iStock via Getty Images I have written articles about a number of regional banks on Seeking Alpha over the last year that are a part of the State Street SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF ( KRE ). The differences between those with healthy operations and those that are struggling are significant. However, most all of them started this year with a few basic expectations. First, the impact of th...
IR_Stone/iStock via Getty Images I have written articles about a number of regional banks on Seeking Alpha over the last year that are a part of the State Street SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF ( KRE ). The differences between those with healthy operations and those that are struggling are significant. However, most all of them started this year with a few basic expectations. First, the impact of the dreaded “fiscal cliff” for commercial real estate may not be as bad a previously feared. Second, inflation would decline slightly, or at worst, remain relatively consistent just above the Fed’s target of 2%. Third, more interest rate cuts are in the pipeline, even if perhaps there would not be as many as previously hoped . The recent military actions in the Middle East have brought some new fears to the market, or perhaps they simply rushed them to the front of the line faster than they would have required on their own. An article that appeared on CNBC earlier today referenced the increasing odds that interest rates will be raised, rather than cut. This, along with rising energy costs, are all part of a broader macro picture that have brought the odds of a recession in the US in the next 12 months to almost 50%, according to Moody’s Analytics . From looking at the chart for the State Street SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF, one can see that January’s optimism was knocked back before the actions in Iran were even on the radar. By February 6, KRE had started the year with a gain of 13.6%. Unfortunately, what the market giveth, the market hath taken away. However, regional banks have still been able to stay ahead of the broader market by almost 4%. Seeking Alpha So where do we go from here? The next two quarters for regional banks will likely be a bumpy ride with continued pessimism in the short-term being tamped down by a continuation of merger activity that was a big part of 2025. Valuations for regional banks are declining, and in the long-term this will create more opportun...
British rider went off the road after misjudging a corner Bone and ligament damage to his right knee and wrist Tom Pidcock has been withdrawn from the Volta a Catalunya following injuries sustained in a crash during the fifth stage on Friday. The British rider went off the road after misjudging a corner, suffering what he described as a “horror” crash down a ravine. Although the Pinarello-Q36.5 ri...
British rider went off the road after misjudging a corner Bone and ligament damage to his right knee and wrist Tom Pidcock has been withdrawn from the Volta a Catalunya following injuries sustained in a crash during the fifth stage on Friday. The British rider went off the road after misjudging a corner, suffering what he described as a “horror” crash down a ravine. Although the Pinarello-Q36.5 rider was able to get back on his bike and complete the stage, after medical assessments with his team and also at hospital, it was determined Pidcock could not resume the race. Continue reading...
ultramarine5/iStock via Getty Images Wall Street ended lower on the week as elevated U.S.-Iran tensions remained in focus—with officials signaling the conflict could extend several more weeks—while President Donald Trump unveiled a high-profile tech advisory panel and Treasury yields surged to multi-month highs. State Street Financial Sel Sec SPDR ETF ( XLF ) was the second biggest loser among the...
ultramarine5/iStock via Getty Images Wall Street ended lower on the week as elevated U.S.-Iran tensions remained in focus—with officials signaling the conflict could extend several more weeks—while President Donald Trump unveiled a high-profile tech advisory panel and Treasury yields surged to multi-month highs. State Street Financial Sel Sec SPDR ETF ( XLF ) was the second biggest loser among the 11 S&P 500 sectors (preceded by Consumer Discretionary), with the ETF retreating 2.58% to close the week at $47.81. Among megacap stocks, HSBC Holdings ( HSBC ) was the only stock that ended the week in the green. The stock added 2.91% week-over-week to close at $79.19. Bank stocks reportedly gained ground after President Donald Trump's March 23 Truth Social post that said the U.S. and Iran have held "very good and productive" discussions aimed at resolving hostilities in the Middle East, signaling a potential de-escalation in tensions. Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK.B ) (-2.59% W/W to $468.49) was the top decliner in the category. The stock has lost 6.80% of its value after Warren Buffett's final day as CEO. This week, BRK.A fell 2.36% to $703,699.99. Mastercard ( MA ) was the second biggest loser, shedding 2.43% on a weekly basis to close at $484.24. The payments company was among the latest financial firms to be warned about debanking by the Trump administration regulators. For the largecap losers, crypto stocks stood out. Circle Internet Group ( CRCL ) (-25.68% W/W to $93.66), Coinbase Global ( COIN ) (-18.41% W/W to $161.14), and IREN ( IREN ) (-15.02% W/W to $35.09) were the biggest losers. From a technical perspective, Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) is in a downtrend after breaking below the ~$96K level, as per the TradingView chart. The RSI is around ~20, reflecting oversold conditions. In the near term, it may either crash toward the ~$64K level or attempt a short oversold bounce toward ~$67K. However, unless it reclaims the $68.5K zone, the structure will continue to favor weakne...
Bristol Old Vic The Reduced Shakespeare Company returns with a frantic mix of pratfalls, audience participation and lightning-flash characterisations A classical actor who appeared in a recent production of Othello told me that the cast was alarmed by the murders being met on many nights by blasts of laughter. This may be due to audiences having seen the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s 1987 show The...
Bristol Old Vic The Reduced Shakespeare Company returns with a frantic mix of pratfalls, audience participation and lightning-flash characterisations A classical actor who appeared in a recent production of Othello told me that the cast was alarmed by the murders being met on many nights by blasts of laughter. This may be due to audiences having seen the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s 1987 show The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) during its long West End runs or world tours. Or other examples of the trend for carved-up Bard that this “RSC” founder Adam Long started, including Spymonkey’s The Complete Deaths , making central an incidental aspect of Long’s shortening: the climactic body pile-ups. At Long’s revival, it is apparent, from interval conversations, that many who were taken to The Complete Works as teenagers are now bringing their own. Topical tweaks acknowledge this. Louis Theroux, a sixth-former when the original version premiered, has grown up to get a gag in this iteration, as have other contemporary phenomena, including Ozempic. At Bristol Old Vic until 28 March. Then touring until 11 July Continue reading...
Competition watchdog will launch cost comparison website and has ordered vets to cap written prescription prices The UK’s competition watchdog has ordered vets to cap written prescription fees at £21 , and practices will have to publish price lists in a crackdown on rising fees. The Competition and Markets Authority also said a costcomparison website would be introduced to increase competition and...
Competition watchdog will launch cost comparison website and has ordered vets to cap written prescription prices The UK’s competition watchdog has ordered vets to cap written prescription fees at £21 , and practices will have to publish price lists in a crackdown on rising fees. The Competition and Markets Authority also said a costcomparison website would be introduced to increase competition and drive down costs. Continue reading...
Kristi Noem was replaced by Markwayne Mullin as DHS secretary and Gregory Bovino was demoted, signally a change in tone even as arrests have continued Throughout last year, Donald Trump delivered on his signature campaign promise of mass deportation in draconian and theatrical style. Hardline figures such as Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, and Gregory Bovino, the border patrol comman...
Kristi Noem was replaced by Markwayne Mullin as DHS secretary and Gregory Bovino was demoted, signally a change in tone even as arrests have continued Throughout last year, Donald Trump delivered on his signature campaign promise of mass deportation in draconian and theatrical style. Hardline figures such as Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, and Gregory Bovino, the border patrol commander, became the face of Trump’s crackdown, defending a strategy of large-scale raids that sent immigration agents flooding into US cities, terrorizing communities and clashing with protesters. Then in January, immigration officers killed two US citizens, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, in a matter of three weeks. The killings spurred a sweeping backlash that has led Democratic members of Congress to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for more than a month in an attempt to rein in ICE. Even Trump said “maybe we could use a little bit of a softer touch”. Continue reading...
Samsung, like many companies using generative AI in their advertising, hasn’t placed an AI label on several videos shared through its TikTok accounts, and the fine print doesn’t always contain the answers. | Image by Samsung I've been struggling to tell whether the ads appearing in my TikTok feeds have been made with generative AI tools. As someone who spends a great deal of time scrutinizing imag...
Samsung, like many companies using generative AI in their advertising, hasn’t placed an AI label on several videos shared through its TikTok accounts, and the fine print doesn’t always contain the answers. | Image by Samsung I've been struggling to tell whether the ads appearing in my TikTok feeds have been made with generative AI tools. As someone who spends a great deal of time scrutinizing images and videos for the usual "tells" that something was synthetically generated, some of the promotions I've seen have definitely sparked suspicion. For several weeks, I didn't see any examples with the AI disclosure required by TikTok's advertising policies, however, so I had no way of knowing for sure. What irks me is that someone knows for sure if the content is AI-generated. They're just not telling the rest of us. And if companies that claim to support AI-labelling … Read the full story at The Verge.
Is social media not just bad, but illegally bad? Should tech companies pay for making it that way? According to two US juries - and no shortage of outside commentary - the answer to both questions is "yes." Earlier this week, two juries - one in New Mexico , one in Los Angeles - held Meta liable for a total of hundreds of millions of dollars for harming minors. YouTube was also found liable in Los...
Is social media not just bad, but illegally bad? Should tech companies pay for making it that way? According to two US juries - and no shortage of outside commentary - the answer to both questions is "yes." Earlier this week, two juries - one in New Mexico , one in Los Angeles - held Meta liable for a total of hundreds of millions of dollars for harming minors. YouTube was also found liable in Los Angeles, and both companies are appealing their losses. In one sense, the decisions were surprising. Meta and Google operate platforms for transmitting speech and are typically protected in a variety of ways by Section 230 and the First Amendment; … Read the full story at The Verge.
As adoption of artificial intelligence in the US outpaces efforts to regulate it, organized labor is providing an important check on how the technology gets used, according to the head of the Hollywood actors’ union.
As adoption of artificial intelligence in the US outpaces efforts to regulate it, organized labor is providing an important check on how the technology gets used, according to the head of the Hollywood actors’ union.
Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR) just got meaningful government support at a time when many investors seem to be losing faith. That disconnect could matter a lot, because if Archer starts proving it can move from concept to real operations, the market may be badly underpricing what comes next. Stock prices used were the market prices of March 20, 2026. The video was published on March 27, 2026. Contin...
Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR) just got meaningful government support at a time when many investors seem to be losing faith. That disconnect could matter a lot, because if Archer starts proving it can move from concept to real operations, the market may be badly underpricing what comes next. Stock prices used were the market prices of March 20, 2026. The video was published on March 27, 2026. Continue reading
mbbirdy/E+ via Getty Images Wall Street ended the week lower as U.S.-Iran tensions stayed elevated, with officials warning the conflict could drag on, while Treasury yields climbed to multi-month highs. For the week, the S&P ( SP500 ) lost -2.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ( COMP:IND ) slid -3.2%, and the blue-chip Dow ( DJI ) fell -0.9%. Here’s what caught investor attention this week:...
mbbirdy/E+ via Getty Images Wall Street ended the week lower as U.S.-Iran tensions stayed elevated, with officials warning the conflict could drag on, while Treasury yields climbed to multi-month highs. For the week, the S&P ( SP500 ) lost -2.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ( COMP:IND ) slid -3.2%, and the blue-chip Dow ( DJI ) fell -0.9%. Here’s what caught investor attention this week: Meta Platforms ( META ) awarded new stock options to its seven main executives, excluding CEO Mark Zuckerberg, which are exercisable only if the company reaches a $9T market cap threshold by 2031. This would represent roughly a fivefold increase from its current valuation. Micron Technology ( MU ) shares remained under pressure this week, falling nearly 16%, as investors reassessed the outlook for memory pricing and AI-driven demand. In particular, shares dropped nearly 7% on Thursday after Alphabet unveiled its TurboQuant compression technology, which it said reduces memory usage and improves AI model efficiency. The development raised concerns about potential demand erosion for memory chips, weighing on the broader sector. Shares of other memory and storage suppliers, including Sandisk ( SNDK ), Western Digital ( WDC ), and Seagate Technology ( STX ), also fell. Tesla ( TSLA ) announced plans to build a massive semiconductor manufacturing complex called "Terafab" in Austin, Texas. The facility is intended to produce advanced chips in-house to support AI, robotics, and autonomous driving needs. Estée Lauder ( EL ) shares slumped after the company confirmed it is in discussions over a potential business combination with Puig ( PUIGF ) ( PUGBY ). The company noted that no agreement has been reached and no final decision has been reached regarding the possible merger. A Los Angeles jury found Meta Platforms ( META ) and Alphabet ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) liable for inducing harmful addictive behavior in a young woman who had used the companies' platforms, including Instagram and Yo...
Deagreez/iStock via Getty Images Right now, as the stock market sells off on the latest news surrounding oil prices and the conflict in Iran, few investors are willing to touch small-cap stocks even with a ten-foot pole. While I agree that amid a tough macro, the turnaround may take much longer than expected, I also think that emphasizing single stock selections, particularly in battered stocks th...
Deagreez/iStock via Getty Images Right now, as the stock market sells off on the latest news surrounding oil prices and the conflict in Iran, few investors are willing to touch small-cap stocks even with a ten-foot pole. While I agree that amid a tough macro, the turnaround may take much longer than expected, I also think that emphasizing single stock selections, particularly in battered stocks that have the potential for upward re-rating, is the best way to beat the market going forward. Thryv ( THRY ), a small business marketing engine, has been hit from multiple fronts. Already shaky heading into this year, Thryv’s software angle was crushed by the “SaaSpocalypse”, and year-to-date the stock has lost 60% of its value alone. The critical question for investors now is: is the drop appropriate, or is Thryv set to continue shedding value? Data by YCharts I last wrote a buy article on Thryv in January, when the stock was trading near $5.50. Needless to say, I was unable to predict the SaaSpocalypse that tore half of Thryv’s value out since then. But drops of this magnitude require a fresh look: and when I consider Thryv’s actual fundamentals against its valuation, I see a lot of potential upside here. That said, given a weaker growth outlook and potential churn risks, I’m dropping my rating on Thryv to neutral. The first thing we need to address: how vulnerable is Thryv really to an incursion by generalist AI products? The market’s fear is that because Thryv is pure application software, at the top of a company’s tech stack and not deeply integrated into core operations, that it is a product that can be easily ripped out and replaced by vibe coded solutions. Consider, however, all the functions that Thryv offers. The company helps with marketing; its products help to build websites and improve discoverability. It helps to generate and respond to content and reviews, and it helps to run marketing campaigns. To be sure, there are many other marketing software products t...
In this article @CL.1 Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Jeff Greenberg | Universal Images Group | Getty Images The price of naphtha may not keep you up at night when you think about the inflation yet to hit the economy from the U.S.-Iran war and Strait of Hormuz closure, but perhaps it should. As gas prices continue to rise alongside crude oil , costs of petroleum derivatives — petro...
In this article @CL.1 Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Jeff Greenberg | Universal Images Group | Getty Images The price of naphtha may not keep you up at night when you think about the inflation yet to hit the economy from the U.S.-Iran war and Strait of Hormuz closure, but perhaps it should. As gas prices continue to rise alongside crude oil , costs of petroleum derivatives — petrochemicals — are also rising, and that eventually may have a far wider impact on consumers than gas prices. The cauldron of petrochemicals sounds like a high school chemistry class study guide: benzene, butadiene, ammonia, styrene, naphtha and many other oil-based byproducts. Known as feedstocks in industry parlance, they go into everything in your life, from hospital gloves to pasta packaging. And the costs of these chemicals are rising even if consumers won't notice for a while. But Stanislav Krykun, CEO of DST-Pack, a Poland-based packaging company, is already seeing it on the factory floor. "Our plastic suppliers in China have raised prices by roughly 15% recently, and they've pointed to higher raw material costs and general market uncertainty as the reason," Krykun said. Krykun's factory produces packaging for companies all over the world, including the U.S., and he can see now what consumers will see later: increased prices. Most people aren't focused on Advent calendars right now — those chocolates hidden under perforated punch-outs to celebrate each day of the season. But Krykun is thinking about it. Orders are already ramping up for the 2026 Christmas holiday season, and these calendars often include molded plastic trays inside, and these are going to get more expensive. "We're currently working with dozens of clients on Advent calendar production, many of whom are at the sampling or early production stage. Due to recent developments, we've had to recalculate costs for many of these projects specifically because of the increase in plastic prices, which directly impa...
JPMorgan Dividend Leaders ETF (NYSEARCA:JDIV) launched in September 2024 with a straightforward pitch: a global portfolio of stocks growing their dividends faster than the broader market. Dividend growth investing has a strong long-term track record, and global diversification sounds like a sensible way to capture income from multiple economies at once. Two structural features make ... Why JDIV is...
JPMorgan Dividend Leaders ETF (NYSEARCA:JDIV) launched in September 2024 with a straightforward pitch: a global portfolio of stocks growing their dividends faster than the broader market. Dividend growth investing has a strong long-term track record, and global diversification sounds like a sensible way to capture income from multiple economies at once. Two structural features make ... Why JDIV is a riskier than normal dividend growth ETF
Christopher Hogbin, CEO Asset Management at Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) , reported the exercise of 48,332 options with an immediate sale of 11,829 shares of Common Stock across March 18 and March 19, 2026, according to a SEC Form 4 filing . Transaction value based on SEC Form 4 weighted average purchase price ($40.04); post-transaction value based on March 19, 2026, market close ($39.25). * 1-year price per...
Christopher Hogbin, CEO Asset Management at Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) , reported the exercise of 48,332 options with an immediate sale of 11,829 shares of Common Stock across March 18 and March 19, 2026, according to a SEC Form 4 filing . Transaction value based on SEC Form 4 weighted average purchase price ($40.04); post-transaction value based on March 19, 2026, market close ($39.25). * 1-year price performance calculated using March 27, 2026 as the reference date. Continue reading
Apple Forces British iPhone Users To Prove Age With ID Or Lose Unrestricted Internet Access Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, UK iPhone and iPad owners updating to the latest iOS 26.4 are now confronted with a stark choice: verify you are an adult by providing a credit card or scanning your ID, or accept automatic web content filters that restrict access. The message users see states cl...
Apple Forces British iPhone Users To Prove Age With ID Or Lose Unrestricted Internet Access Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, UK iPhone and iPad owners updating to the latest iOS 26.4 are now confronted with a stark choice: verify you are an adult by providing a credit card or scanning your ID, or accept automatic web content filters that restrict access. The message users see states clearly: “UK law requires you to confirm you are an adult to change content restrictions.” Those who do not confirm their age – or are found to be underage – have web content filters turned on automatically. 🚨NEWS: UK iPhone users must now prove their age or lose full internet access "It is absolutely outrageous that, overnight, Apple has put a chokehold on Britons' freedom to search the internet, access information and use apps unless they provide sensitive ID documents. This… pic.twitter.com/GNuCsihcDD — Big Brother Watch (@BigBrotherWatch) March 25, 2026 The government appointed communications watchdog Ofcom welcomed the development, calling it “a real win for children and families” and noting the UK would be “one of the first countries in the world to receive such restrictions on their devices.” Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, hit back hard. In the organisation’s statement she said Apple had put a “chokehold on Britons’ freedom to search the internet, access information and use apps unless they provide sensitive ID documents.” She continued: “This means 35 million Brits who have paid hundreds or even thousands of pounds for Apple tech suddenly now have a child’s device unless they comply with invasive demands for personal information that go far beyond what UK law requires.” “Apple has crossed the Rubicon with this software update which is more like ransomware, holding customers hostage to ID demands that are invasive, exclusionary and unnecessary,” Carlo added. She further urged, “Children’s online safety is vital but requires better parental controls and th...
narvo vexar Weight loss drug developer Kailera Therapeutics ( KLRA ) and Alamar Biosciences ( ALMR ), a commercial-stage proteomics company, filed for their respective U.S. initial public offerings with the SEC on Friday. Waltham, Massachusetts-based Kailera ( KLRA ), which has four GLP-1 candidates in the pipeline, says in the S-1 filing that it intends to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market ...
narvo vexar Weight loss drug developer Kailera Therapeutics ( KLRA ) and Alamar Biosciences ( ALMR ), a commercial-stage proteomics company, filed for their respective U.S. initial public offerings with the SEC on Friday. Waltham, Massachusetts-based Kailera ( KLRA ), which has four GLP-1 candidates in the pipeline, says in the S-1 filing that it intends to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "KLRA." Kailera’s ( KLRA ) lead candidate, ribupatide, developed with Chinese pharma Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals ( JHPCY ) ( JNGHF ), is currently undergoing three Phase 3 trials for obese or overweight adults, with topline data expected in 2028. The GLP-1/GIP receptor dual agonist, as a once-weekly injectable, has caused up to 19.2% of average weight loss across three dose levels in a 48-week Phase 3 trial conducted by Hengrui in China. The company incurred a $149.0M net loss in 2025, driven by $109.1M in R&D expenses, following a $219.7M net loss recorded in the prior year from its inception on May 8, 2024. Meanwhile, Fremont, California-headquartered Alamar ( ALMR ), which specializes in protein detection and analysis, filed with the SEC for its proposed U.S. IPO on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol “ALMR.” According to its S-1 filing, the company has generated $74.2M in revenue in 2025 with over 195% YoY growth thanks to its ARGO HT System, a research-use-only product designed to automate proteomics analysis . Since its inception in 2018, Alamar ( ALMR ) has incurred net losses, and in 2025, its net loss narrowed ~37% YoY to $29.8M. More on Kailera Therapeutics, Inc., Alamar Biosciences, Inc. Financial information for Kailera Therapeutics, Inc. Financial information for Alamar Biosciences, Inc.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is one of the Jim Cramer’s Hottest Robotics and Physical AI Stock Picks. AI GPU giant NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)’s shares are up by 56% over the past year and by 45.5% since Cramer discussed the firm in March 2025. Throughout 2025, the CNBC TV host remained one of the firm’s most ardent […]
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is one of the Jim Cramer’s Hottest Robotics and Physical AI Stock Picks. AI GPU giant NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)’s shares are up by 56% over the past year and by 45.5% since Cramer discussed the firm in March 2025. Throughout 2025, the CNBC TV host remained one of the firm’s most ardent […]