American Ocean Minerals (“AOMC”) and Odyssey Marine Exploration ( OMEX ) on Wednesday said they have agreed to merge in an all-stock transaction valuing the combined company at about $1 billion. The merged entity, to be named American Ocean Minerals Corporation and expected to list on Nasdaq under the ticker “AOMC”, will focus on deep-sea critical minerals exploration, harvesting, and processing. ...
American Ocean Minerals (“AOMC”) and Odyssey Marine Exploration ( OMEX ) on Wednesday said they have agreed to merge in an all-stock transaction valuing the combined company at about $1 billion. The merged entity, to be named American Ocean Minerals Corporation and expected to list on Nasdaq under the ticker “AOMC”, will focus on deep-sea critical minerals exploration, harvesting, and processing. The companies said the deal includes more than $230 million in equity capital, comprising over $150 million from a private placement and $75 million in pre-public financing. The combined company is expected to have about $175 million in cash at closing. Odyssey plans to carry out a 25-for-1 reverse stock split prior to the merger. Shareholders representing roughly 30% of its outstanding shares have agreed to vote in favor of the transaction. The combined company will hold exploration rights across more than 500,000 square kilometers in international and allied waters, including licensed areas in the Cook Islands, targeting polymetallic nodules containing nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese. The deal has been approved by both companies’ boards and is expected to close in late second quarter or early third quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals. OMEX +71.97% premarket to $1.43. Source: Press Release More on Odyssey Marine Exploration Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (OMEX) Presents at IAccess Alpha Virtual Best Ideas Spring Investment Conference 2026 Transcript Odyssey Marine Exploration Breathes Hype, But Its Raft Has Holes Financial information for Odyssey Marine Exploration
Thailand’s foreign minister confirmed on Wednesday the deaths of three Thai crew members of a cargo ship struck by Iran while transiting the Strait of Hormuz a month ago. US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February prompted Tehran to respond by effectively closing the strait, a crucial artery for global oil supplies, and launching attacks on vessels. The Thai-flagged Mayuree Naree was struck on Ma...
Thailand’s foreign minister confirmed on Wednesday the deaths of three Thai crew members of a cargo ship struck by Iran while transiting the Strait of Hormuz a month ago. US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February prompted Tehran to respond by effectively closing the strait, a crucial artery for global oil supplies, and launching attacks on vessels. The Thai-flagged Mayuree Naree was struck on March 11 while travelling through the Gulf waterway, after departing a port in the United Arab...
As real astronauts vanish behind the moon, games have long tried to evoke the fragile quiet of drifting through space • Don’t get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Last week’s launch of the Artemis II space mission was a stunning spectacle, the 17-storey-high rockets erupting into cacophonous life before wrenching the craft through the Earth’s atmosphere. But the images that ha...
As real astronauts vanish behind the moon, games have long tried to evoke the fragile quiet of drifting through space • Don’t get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Last week’s launch of the Artemis II space mission was a stunning spectacle, the 17-storey-high rockets erupting into cacophonous life before wrenching the craft through the Earth’s atmosphere. But the images that have come since hold just as much impact: the tiny Orion craft and its four-person crew drifting silently through space, further and further from home. In his autobiography, the Apollo astronaut Michael Collins described this feeling perfectly . Left in the command module as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin touched down on the lunar surface, he wrote: “I am alone now, truly alone, and absolutely isolated from any known life. I am it. If a count were taken, the score would be three billion plus two over on the other side of the moon, and one plus God knows what on this side.” Continue reading...
Russia is earning more from its oil exports than at any time since the early weeks of the Ukraine war, as soaring prices and an uptick in flows raise the value of shipments to the most since June 2022. War in the Middle East has driven global oil prices to multiyear highs and bolstered demand for Moscow’s barrels after Tehran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz to shipping. That has trapped mo...
Russia is earning more from its oil exports than at any time since the early weeks of the Ukraine war, as soaring prices and an uptick in flows raise the value of shipments to the most since June 2022. War in the Middle East has driven global oil prices to multiyear highs and bolstered demand for Moscow’s barrels after Tehran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz to shipping. That has trapped more than 12 million barrels a day of Middle Eastern crude exports in the Persian Gulf, and helped to drain Russian volumes stored at sea as refiners scramble for alternative supplies. Still, the Kremlin’s own war chest is being denied the full benefit of elevated prices by the lingering impact of Ukrainian drone strikes on export ports on its Baltic and Black Sea coasts. And a two-week ceasefire in the Iran conflict, announced on Tuesday night, has sent oil prices tumbling. That may cut Moscow’s income if the truce holds and oil is able to flow through Hormuz again. Crude shipments from Ust-Luga on the Baltic remain halted more than a week after drones hit storage tanks at the port, even as activity at nearby Primorsk has picked up. Another attack on Ust-Luga on Monday night came just as crude loading operations were restarting and could prolong the outage. Weekly crude flows from Russia recovered only about one-third of the previous period’s loss and remained below 3 million barrels a day for a second week in the seven days to April 5. Four-week average shipments were little changed, with flows edging up by just 20,000 barrels a day to average 3.35 million. The recent slump in crude flows coincided with a surge in deliveries from tankers previously stranded at sea with Russian cargoes. As a result, the stockpile of Russian crude at sea is draining rapidly, with the amount of oil on tankers falling by about 26 million barrels in the two weeks to April 5. By Sunday, the amount on the water had fallen to 105 million barrels, down from a peak of about 140 million in mid-January...
Delta (DAL) delivered earnings and revenue surprises of +4.92% and +0.86%, respectively, for the quarter ended March 2026. Do the numbers hold clues to what lies ahead for the stock?
Delta (DAL) delivered earnings and revenue surprises of +4.92% and +0.86%, respectively, for the quarter ended March 2026. Do the numbers hold clues to what lies ahead for the stock?
A trade that went from niche to one of the biggest options strategies on Wall Street in recent years posted its worst monthly performance in more than a decade in March, underscoring how the shock of the war in Iran unraveled popular investment approaches. The dispersion trade, which buys options on individual US stocks while selling those on the broader index, suffered a 4.9% loss last month, the...
A trade that went from niche to one of the biggest options strategies on Wall Street in recent years posted its worst monthly performance in more than a decade in March, underscoring how the shock of the war in Iran unraveled popular investment approaches. The dispersion trade, which buys options on individual US stocks while selling those on the broader index, suffered a 4.9% loss last month, the steepest since 2011 in backtested data, an index from JPMorgan Chase & Co. shows. Bank swaps tied to the approach fell 2.6%, according to Premialab, which aggregates industry data. The losses lay bare the strategy’s vulnerability to such a major geopolitical event. As the conflict in Iran escalated, investors rushed to hedge at the index level, driving implied volatility on the S&P 500 sharply higher. At the same time, individual stocks began moving in lockstep — collapsing precisely the divergence between single-name and benchmark volatility that the dispersion trade is designed to harvest. “The recent events had macro consequences on oil, commodities, inflation, rates, rather than micro impacts at the single-stock level,” Luca Valitutti , managing director for exotics and hybrids trading at Citigroup Inc., wrote in an email. “Correlation between single stocks has spiked.” Adding to the discomfort was a sense of whiplash: February had been the best month for dispersion in about four years, according to Premialab. Implied correlation had been near historic lows, making the entry point for the strategy expensive and stirring fears the trade was overcrowded. And more turbulence may yet be in store. Correlations dropped rapidly in recent sessions on hopes for an end to the conflict, before rising again Tuesday. The announcement of a two-week ceasefire triggered a big drop in expected index volatility on Wednesday. Read more: ‘Crowded’ Dispersion Trade Rattled by Spiraling Iran Worries Dispersion was long the sole preserve of specialized hedge funds, but has spread much furthe...
CatEyePerspective/iStock Editorial via Getty Images France is preparing to channel a significant portion of its planned defense buildup into drones and ammunition, reflecting growing concern over global instability and the possibility that the United States could scale back its military role in Europe. A new multi-year budget proposal unveiled to the cabinet on Wednesday outlines an additional €36...
CatEyePerspective/iStock Editorial via Getty Images France is preparing to channel a significant portion of its planned defense buildup into drones and ammunition, reflecting growing concern over global instability and the possibility that the United States could scale back its military role in Europe. A new multi-year budget proposal unveiled to the cabinet on Wednesday outlines an additional €36 billion ($42 billion) in defense spending over five years beginning in 2026. Within that increase, roughly €8.5 billion is allocated to sharply expand ammunition supplies, while €2 billion is set aside for drone capabilities. France increased planned defense spending (Government of France) Defense Minister Catherine Vautrin indicated the proposal reflects a more volatile geopolitical environment. She said the current moment demands a stronger and more resilient defense posture, emphasizing that rapid shifts in global power dynamics require faster and more decisive action. Recent conflicts, including the war in Ukraine and fighting across the Middle East, have highlighted how quickly stockpiles of munitions can be depleted during sustained combat operations. These lessons have prompted European governments to accelerate investments in defense readiness. The urgency has intensified following the return of Donald Trump to the political forefront, as his long-standing “America First” stance has raised concerns among European allies about the durability of US commitments to NATO. In response, nearly all NATO members, with the exception of Spain, have agreed to increase defense expenditures to at least 3.5% of gross domestic product, alongside an additional 1.5% for related areas such as infrastructure and cybersecurity by 2035. Under France’s updated framework, defense spending is projected to reach 2.5% of GDP by 2030. The government also noted that total military outlays will have doubled in nominal terms over the course of President Emmanuel Macron ’s tenure from 2017 throug...