Millennium Management portfolio manager Adam Grunfeld asked a New York judge to throw out a suit filed against him by Schonfeld Strategic Advisors , saying the rival hedge fund group was essentially trying to pressure him to join. Schonfeld sued Grunfeld in April for allegedly reneging on a March deal to move from Millennium, claiming he agreed to pay $11 million if he backed out. But in a Friday ...
Millennium Management portfolio manager Adam Grunfeld asked a New York judge to throw out a suit filed against him by Schonfeld Strategic Advisors , saying the rival hedge fund group was essentially trying to pressure him to join. Schonfeld sued Grunfeld in April for allegedly reneging on a March deal to move from Millennium, claiming he agreed to pay $11 million if he backed out. But in a Friday court filing, Grunfeld said that figure was a signing bonus he never received and Schonfeld was misusing a clawback provision in a “transparent and illegal attempt to coerce” him to move. Under Schonfeld’s theory, “Grunfeld would be penalized for the exact same amount if he started working at Schonfeld, received $11 million and then left, as if he decided not to join Schonfeld 15 days after signing the agreement, 15 months before his start date, and before receiving any compensation,” the portfolio manager’s lawyer wrote in the motion to dismiss the case. Read More: Schonfeld Sues Millennium’s Grunfeld Over Alleged ‘Gazumping’ A spokesperson for Schonfeld didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The court battle is one of the latest to erupt over an alleged “gazumping” — a term gaining currency amid the hedge fund talent wars for when a sought-after recruit is intercepted with a better offer, sometimes by their current employer, before starting at a new firm. In its suit, Schonfeld said the $11 million figure reflected front-loaded costs associated with its attempt to recruit Grunfeld as well as the “opportunity costs associated with forgoing recruiting and hiring other qualified portfolio managers pursuing similar strategies.” But Grunfeld said there was no reasonable tie between those costs and the “grossly disproportionate” damages Schonfeld is seeking. He said that such costs were not specifically addressed in the clawback provision “because Schonfeld valued them for what they actually are: zero dollars.” Schonfeld is also seeking unspecified damages for Gru...
The headline number is true and a little stale. The ALPS Clean Energy ETF (NYSEARCA:ACES) hit a 52-week high in late May and was tracking roughly a 32% gain on the year at that peak, with one outlet pegging the fund at a 19.4% gain in May alone. Then came last week. ACES closed Friday ... Clean Energy Is the S&P 500’s New Boss: ACES Up 29% YTD
The headline number is true and a little stale. The ALPS Clean Energy ETF (NYSEARCA:ACES) hit a 52-week high in late May and was tracking roughly a 32% gain on the year at that peak, with one outlet pegging the fund at a 19.4% gain in May alone. Then came last week. ACES closed Friday ... Clean Energy Is the S&P 500’s New Boss: ACES Up 29% YTD
Tempus AI (NASDAQ: TEM) is trying to build more than a diagnostics business. Its growing healthcare data platform, artificial intelligence tools, FDA progress, and pharma partnerships could create meaningful upside if the company can scale profitably. But the stock already reflects high expectations, making execution the key issue for investors. *Stock prices used were the market prices of June 1,...
Tempus AI (NASDAQ: TEM) is trying to build more than a diagnostics business. Its growing healthcare data platform, artificial intelligence tools, FDA progress, and pharma partnerships could create meaningful upside if the company can scale profitably. But the stock already reflects high expectations, making execution the key issue for investors. *Stock prices used were the market prices of June 1, 2026. The video was published on June 7, 2026. Continue reading
Emanuel M Schwermer/DigitalVision via Getty Images Thesis This marks my third time covering Motorcar Parts of America, Inc. ( MPAA ), and as the name implies, it’s an automotive aftermarket supplier specializing in replacement electrical components, brake products, diagnostic equipment, and heavy-duty applications. When I first took a look at it a couple of years ago, I wasn’t a fan of what was ha...
Emanuel M Schwermer/DigitalVision via Getty Images Thesis This marks my third time covering Motorcar Parts of America, Inc. ( MPAA ), and as the name implies, it’s an automotive aftermarket supplier specializing in replacement electrical components, brake products, diagnostic equipment, and heavy-duty applications. When I first took a look at it a couple of years ago, I wasn’t a fan of what was happening and gave the company, at least for me, a rare Sell rating, explaining : While there are some positive developments in the company's operations, such as rising sales and cost-saving initiatives, the consistent earnings decline, negative market sentiment, and broader industry challenges just make this stock too risky and too much of a distraction without clear signs of sustained recovery. So, with an open mind, I eventually upgraded it to a Hold rating when I saw that management had indeed made meaningful progress in operational efficiency, margin expansion, and product diversification. Ongoing concerns surrounding cash flow consistency, foreign exchange volatility, and recurring non-cash charges, however, prevented me from taking a more bullish stance. Seeking Alpha But like my ratings here, the story has continued to evolve, with the stock now up roughly 40% following earnings. That said, after getting up to speed, I'm now bullish, albeit with an appreciation for the execution risks that remain. MPAA’s Strong Quarter With Some Important Asterisks Q4 net sales : $212.3M; +9.9% Q4 core inventory realignment revenue: $19.9M FY2026 net sales: $789.8M; +4.3% FY2026 core inventory realignment revenue: $35.0M. Revenue growth this quarter came from genuine volume improvement. But it also included a significant one-time boost from changes to core inventory levels at certain customer distribution centers. If you're not familiar, the latter occurs when a large customer restructures how it holds inventory. This creates a temporary boost in revenue, but it doesn't reflect long-t...
Richard Drury/DigitalVision via Getty Images Large-cap growth markets moved lower in the first quarter. The year began with increased volatility in many AI-related stocks, as investors weighed concerns about elevated valuations and the pace and durability of AI spending, prompting a general rotation toward more attractively valued market segments. The outbreak of the Iran conflict at the end of Fe...
Richard Drury/DigitalVision via Getty Images Large-cap growth markets moved lower in the first quarter. The year began with increased volatility in many AI-related stocks, as investors weighed concerns about elevated valuations and the pace and durability of AI spending, prompting a general rotation toward more attractively valued market segments. The outbreak of the Iran conflict at the end of February triggered a broad market selloff, driven by rising geopolitical uncertainty and higher oil prices. Despite these headwinds, the U.S. economy remained relatively healthy. Labor markets continued to show resilience, consumer spending remained solid, supported in part by higher tax refunds, and inflation data had yet to fully reflect rising energy prices. PERFORMANCE The Virtus Silvant Focused Growth Fund returned -10.27% (Class INST) for the quarter, compared to the Russell 1000® Growth Index's return of -9.78%. Information technology and healthcare stock selection and a lack of exposure to consumer staples stocks weighed the most on returns. Consumer discretionary and communication services stock selection added the most to returns. GE Vernova ( GEV ) and ASML Holdings ( ASML ) were among the top stock contributors to relative performance. Energy equipment manufacturing and services company GE Vernova reported a strong quarter, with earnings beating expectations by 10% and revenue exceeding estimates by 7%. Orders, a key metric for the stock, saw significant upside, reaching $22 billion versus an expected $18 billion. This strength came after the company's recent December 9th Investor Day, where it had already raised projections based on backlog and order velocity that continued to outpace market expectations. We added to the position as demand for the company's gas turbines remains very strong amid continued AI-driven power buildout, with an approximately 2x book-to-bill ratio. Semiconductor capital equipment manufacturer ASML Holdings reported a mixed quarter, with ...
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives says Apple is finally entering the AI game in a meaningful way, creating a new path for services growth that could drive further upside for the stock.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives says Apple is finally entering the AI game in a meaningful way, creating a new path for services growth that could drive further upside for the stock.
German police and state prosecutors are investigating a suspected arson attack on a substation in southern Germany that affected a hospital and tens of thousands of homes and businesses on Monday. Authorities said the fire in the city of Reutlingen in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg was most likely started deliberately. In January, an arson attack in Berlin cut power to about 50,000 households and...
German police and state prosecutors are investigating a suspected arson attack on a substation in southern Germany that affected a hospital and tens of thousands of homes and businesses on Monday. Authorities said the fire in the city of Reutlingen in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg was most likely started deliberately. In January, an arson attack in Berlin cut power to about 50,000 households and 2,000 businesses in the city in freezing weather. An activist network known as Volcano Group claimed responsibility. Read more: Sabotage Threats Have Put Europe’s Power Networks on Alert The investigation in Reutlingen is currently being conducted on suspicion of intentional arson as well as disruption of public services, police and state prosecutors said in a joint statement. There are currently no leads regarding possible suspects or motives. The forensic investigation isn’t yet complete. “We assume that this was most likely an arson attack,” Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told broadcaster ZDF. “The priority now is to continue investigating in all directions in order to determine the motive behind this arson attack and identify the perpetrators.”
Attractive yields and strong credit fundamentals are setting the municipal bond market up for a solid second half of the year, said Paul Malloy , the head of municipals at The Vanguard Group Inc. Investors in the highest tax bracket can collect a broad muni-market yield of 3.62% , equivalent to 6.1% on a taxable security. The latter surpasses US corporate bonds, yielding 5.26% and having a higher ...
Attractive yields and strong credit fundamentals are setting the municipal bond market up for a solid second half of the year, said Paul Malloy , the head of municipals at The Vanguard Group Inc. Investors in the highest tax bracket can collect a broad muni-market yield of 3.62% , equivalent to 6.1% on a taxable security. The latter surpasses US corporate bonds, yielding 5.26% and having a higher default rate. “You’ve got some really good yield back into the muni market and you’ve got a pretty steep curve,” Malloy, who oversees $300 billion in muni assets, said in an interview. “You’re paid to wait in the tax-exempt space and for whatever reason you get any sort of major economic volatility, it still serves as ballast in a broader fixed-income portfolio.” Investors have poured $46 billion into the muni market this year, running at the second-highest rate on record, JPMorgan Chase & Co. wrote in a June 5 report. The market’s 1.74% total return year to date bests a 0.08% return for US corporate bonds and close to 0.5% loss for US Treasuries, according to Bloomberg Indexes. The nearly 1.9 percentage point difference between 2-year and 30-year muni yields has attracted cash to long-end of the market, Malloy said. The run-up in stocks has also led some investors to reallocate to munis to keep their portfolios in balance. The municipal debt market could end the year with a 3.5% return, he said. Malloy also touched on the following: Prepaid Gas Bonds Google parent Alphabet Inc. ’s involvement in a prepaid energy has drawn greater attention to deals that allow utilities to lock in prices. More pre-paid energy deals are in the offing, he said. Data Centers Data centers have turned to every corner of the US debt market, apart from the municipal market, to finance facilities that house thousands of servers. US Internal Revenue Service rules on the use of proceeds from tax-exempt debt preclude data centers from tapping the muni market, Malloy said. Federal tax laws restrict pri...
Just_Super/iStock via Getty Images On seeing hardware companies Dell Technologies ( DELL ) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise ( HPE ) rally by more than 100% in one year, driven by strong demand for AI compute, one wonders which stock could be next. This thesis aims to show that cloud computing provider Rackspace Technology, Inc. ( RXT ), which I had covered in May last year but with a Hold position, ...
Just_Super/iStock via Getty Images On seeing hardware companies Dell Technologies ( DELL ) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise ( HPE ) rally by more than 100% in one year, driven by strong demand for AI compute, one wonders which stock could be next. This thesis aims to show that cloud computing provider Rackspace Technology, Inc. ( RXT ), which I had covered in May last year but with a Hold position, is well positioned for upside following the enhancement of its infrastructure through deals with Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) and Palantir ( PLTR ). These partnerships are a more margin-friendly, asset-light way to build AI infrastructure for a company that's progressing toward profitability but has not yet recovered to its post-COVID high, as charted below. Data by YCharts First, it's important to emphasize the progress made in s hifting away from low-margin infrastructure services since my last coverage, as competition from hyperscalers (giant cloud service providers) remains fierce. Advancing Toward Profitability By Focusing On High Margin Products, As Growth Is Back Looking at the rearview mirror, double-digit revenue growth in FY-20 and FY-21 highlights how Rackspace benefited from the COVID-led digital transformation trend as its cloud infrastructure was in high demand, and it reached an all-time high of $26 in April 2021. However, as I had explained before, it could not keep pace with Amazon's ( AMZN ) AWS, Microsoft's ( MSFT ) Azure, and Google's ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) GCP, and sales suffered. Subsequently, the emergence of Generative AI with ChatGPT since November 2022 exacerbated the stock's downside as per the above chart because a loss-making company with a high debt load could not invest in expensive Nvidia ( NVDA ) GPUs, which cost as much as $40K per unit for the H100. Thus, with relatively limited capital to compete across the broader enterprise cloud market and fewer R&D dollars than hyperscalers, Rackspace instead focused on " higher -value enterprise engage...
Spending can be exciting – but how do you function outside of it? Experts share their tips for paring down buying For years, I have been caught in a tiresome, expensive cycle: when I’m bored (or sad, or insecure) I scroll through my phone, looking for stuff to buy. In those moments, it feels like the right purchase will relieve me of ennui or unpleasantness. These shoes will make my life more glam...
Spending can be exciting – but how do you function outside of it? Experts share their tips for paring down buying For years, I have been caught in a tiresome, expensive cycle: when I’m bored (or sad, or insecure) I scroll through my phone, looking for stuff to buy. In those moments, it feels like the right purchase will relieve me of ennui or unpleasantness. These shoes will make my life more glamorous! This face wash will make me feel forever beautiful! Sometimes this rush lasts up to two days after I receive my item. But the excitement fades – sometimes as soon as I click “confirm purchase” – and I inevitably think: “Why did I do that?” Continue reading...
Apple's WWDC keynote ended with a farewell message from Tim Cook as he gets ready to step down from his role as CEO. "On a personal note, some of the greatest highlights of my time as CEO have been events like this," Cook said.
Apple's WWDC keynote ended with a farewell message from Tim Cook as he gets ready to step down from his role as CEO. "On a personal note, some of the greatest highlights of my time as CEO have been events like this," Cook said.
Recent exchange of missiles between Iran and Israel highlights diverging views between US president and Israeli PM The latest eruption of hostilities between Iran and Israel appears to have been contained for now after Donald Trump insisted he called “all the shots” in the Middle East, but in a dangerously fragile region Benjamin Netanyahu has again shown he is ready to take shots of his own. The ...
Recent exchange of missiles between Iran and Israel highlights diverging views between US president and Israeli PM The latest eruption of hostilities between Iran and Israel appears to have been contained for now after Donald Trump insisted he called “all the shots” in the Middle East, but in a dangerously fragile region Benjamin Netanyahu has again shown he is ready to take shots of his own. The exchange of missiles on Sunday and Monday was ample demonstration of the inherent instability of the current limbo between war and peace, but it also shone a bright light on the complex and conflicted relationship between the US president and the Israeli prime minister, frenemies who could determine the fate of the current ceasefire. Continue reading...
sharply_done/E+ via Getty Images ,Devon Energy ( DVN ) up 1.8% in Monday's trading, rising with most oil and gas producers alongside crude oil prices, as J.P. Morgan adds coverage with an Overweight rating and $62 year-end price target following a period of restriction associated with the Coterra merger . Since the Conterra deal was announced earlier this year, Devon ( DVN ) shares have lagged lar...
sharply_done/E+ via Getty Images ,Devon Energy ( DVN ) up 1.8% in Monday's trading, rising with most oil and gas producers alongside crude oil prices, as J.P. Morgan adds coverage with an Overweight rating and $62 year-end price target following a period of restriction associated with the Coterra merger . Since the Conterra deal was announced earlier this year, Devon ( DVN ) shares have lagged large-cap E&P peers by ~9%, which JPM analyst Arun Jayaram says likely reflected some risk arbitrage pressure before the transaction's close, the lack of pro forma guidance, and some uncertainty associated with the go-forward portfolio, as well as some sticker shock associated with the recent U.S. federal lease sale. Jayaram thinks Devon ( DVN ) trades at an attractive entry point given the compelling absolute and relative valuation proposition, upside synergy capture opportunities, and potential for a looming portfolio high-grading process to unlock value, as well as provide currency for an aggressive buyback program given the dislocated valuation of the stock. Devon ( DVN ) has an outstanding acreage position in the “core of the core” of the Delaware Basin, Bakken, and Eagle Ford shale plays, with optionality to the STACK and Powder River Basin plays, the analyst says, believing the company's core franchise assets have the potential to provide a large inventory of lower-risk, high rate-of-return development drilling opportunities. More on Devon Energy Devon Energy: Stone Ridge Expresses Interest In The Marcellus Business (Rating Upgrade) Devon Energy: A New Era Begins, And The Market Still Undervalues It Devon Energy: Still Cheap With FQ2'26 & H2'26 Commodity Tailwinds - Reiterate Buy