Whether the US-Israeli war on Iran wraps up quickly or drags on, the repercussions will be felt for years, reshaping warfare, geopolitics and energy security as well as how the world sees the United States and its tactical and strategic capabilities. In the final instalment of a three-part series, we look at the move away from precision strikes on limited military assets. When Iran’s South Pars ga...
Whether the US-Israeli war on Iran wraps up quickly or drags on, the repercussions will be felt for years, reshaping warfare, geopolitics and energy security as well as how the world sees the United States and its tactical and strategic capabilities. In the final instalment of a three-part series, we look at the move away from precision strikes on limited military assets. When Iran’s South Pars gas field was hit at the start of the US-Israeli war on the country, Tehran retaliated with attacks on...
The Trump administration wants to require health insurance companies to hand over troves of sensitive, detailed, and identifiable medical records from millions of federal workers and retirees, along with their families. The move is raising immediate concern from legal and health policy experts, according to a report by KFF Health News . The unprecedented proposal was quietly revealed in a short no...
The Trump administration wants to require health insurance companies to hand over troves of sensitive, detailed, and identifiable medical records from millions of federal workers and retirees, along with their families. The move is raising immediate concern from legal and health policy experts, according to a report by KFF Health News . The unprecedented proposal was quietly revealed in a short notice from the Office of Personnel Management in December, KFF notes. OPM said it is seeking "service use and cost data," which would be harvested from medical records such as "medical claims, pharmacy claims, encounter data, and provider data." That list could give the federal government access to prescriptions employees have filled and their diagnoses, as well as provider information, doctors' notes, treatments, and visit summaries, among other sensitive health information. The collection would affect more than 8 million Americans and harvest data from 65 insurance companies, according to KFF. Read full article Comments
Exxon Warns Of $6.5 Billion Hit From Iran War As Q1 Earnings Set To Print Slightly Below Consensus In an early clue how the Iran war will impact energy earnings, ExxonMobil warned of a $6.5bn hit to Q1 earnings from the Iran war but said the bulk of this was the result of unfavorable timing for its accounting of hedging contracts, which would be offset as underlying transactions were eventually co...
Exxon Warns Of $6.5 Billion Hit From Iran War As Q1 Earnings Set To Print Slightly Below Consensus In an early clue how the Iran war will impact energy earnings, ExxonMobil warned of a $6.5bn hit to Q1 earnings from the Iran war but said the bulk of this was the result of unfavorable timing for its accounting of hedging contracts, which would be offset as underlying transactions were eventually completed. The US supermajor also said that global oil and gas production would be 6% lower in the first three months of the year than in the fourth quarter of 2025 because of attacks on facilities in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in which it holds ownership stakes. According to Exxon's 8K filed this morning , Goldman calculated that the company's adjusted EPS at the mid-point came in at ~$1.80 vs. consensus closer to $1.90 and Q4 levels closer to $1.71. As shown in the chart below, there was sequential improvement in Upstream driven by higher liquids prices , sequential declines in Downstream due to higher maintenance and relatively flat performance in Chemicals . Volume disruptions at Exxon's production and refining businesses would deliver a $400mn to $800mn hit to earnings, while trading losses incurred because of a failure to deliver physical cargoes hedged with financial derivatives would cost another $600mn to $800mn, the company said in a statement. Separately, the company provided a number of strategic updates, including: (1) the Permian likely producing at 1.8 mn boe/d in 2026 , (2) first gas at Golden Pass having been achieved on March 30 , and (3) that the Middle East production negatively impacted Q1 Upstream volumes by 6% compared to Q4 levels, with the overall Middle East portfolio representing 20% of Upstream production (albeit a lower level of segment earnings). As an aside, the quarterly comparison was challenging given disruptions in the Middle East, and large timing effects, the latter of which are excluded for the purposes of comparison. Exxon has on...
Levi Strauss CEO Michelle Gass discusses the company's strong start to the year, reporting growth across multiple geographies, categories, genders and sales channels. She attributes this momentum to the strength of the Levi's brand, product innovation and effective execution by the team. She speaks on Bloomberg Television. (Source: Bloomberg)
Levi Strauss CEO Michelle Gass discusses the company's strong start to the year, reporting growth across multiple geographies, categories, genders and sales channels. She attributes this momentum to the strength of the Levi's brand, product innovation and effective execution by the team. She speaks on Bloomberg Television. (Source: Bloomberg)
Joa_Souza/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images It has already been more than a year since I covered Banco Bradesco S.A. ( BBD ). At the time, my rating for the stock was a structural Sell , signaling that even though there was potential in the short term, the long-term potential was not compelling. Here is an excerpt from the analysis: “If the investment horizon is short, like a few quarters or a fe...
Joa_Souza/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images It has already been more than a year since I covered Banco Bradesco S.A. ( BBD ). At the time, my rating for the stock was a structural Sell , signaling that even though there was potential in the short term, the long-term potential was not compelling. Here is an excerpt from the analysis: “If the investment horizon is short, like a few quarters or a few years, Bradesco stock could be a name to outperform the Brazilian banking sector. This is because its price-to-book is actually deviating from the average, so if the bank is effective in regaining its ROE, this should generate immediate value through multiple expansion (and increased net income).” I was already aware that this could happen, but to be honest, I did not think it would happen so fast and in such a drastic way, and of course, if it was that obvious and if this was my base scenario, my rating at that time would not be a Sell. In this period of a little more than one year, the stock has advanced 88%, and this, with dividends, gave a total return of something close to 100%. But even though I recognize that the Sell rating was not so accurate at that time, I still think Bradesco is hardly attractive for the long-term investor. Bradesco: It Managed To Improve The Bradesco of one year ago is very different from the Bradesco of today. Even though the stock went up so much, the turnaround is working. And this transformation you can see in several indicators, in the operational numbers of the loan portfolio, in the revenue, and in the margins. For instance, the revenue went from ~R$28 billion in Q1 of 2024 to R$36 billion in the last quarter (Q4 2025). YoY it was a growth of 10%. Several revenues/income managed to grow at a pace close to or above that: consortium, cards, capital markets, asset management, everything growing in a very healthy way. But what caught my attention the most was that while the top line was improving, the operating expenses grew ~3.3% YoY, or ...
monsitj/iStock via Getty Images Gold rose for the seventh time in the past eight sessions after President Trump agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, sending crude oil and the dollar down. Analysts said the ceasefire could help roll back some inflationary pressures and perhaps open the door for interest rate reductions by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which would be bullish for gold. The minutes ...
monsitj/iStock via Getty Images Gold rose for the seventh time in the past eight sessions after President Trump agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, sending crude oil and the dollar down. Analysts said the ceasefire could help roll back some inflationary pressures and perhaps open the door for interest rate reductions by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which would be bullish for gold. The minutes from the Fed's March 17-18 meeting indicated an increasing number of policymakers believed rate hikes might be needed to counter inflation that continued to exceed the central bank's 2% target, particularly given the impact of the Iran war. Bullion had climbed above $4,800/oz, then trimmed gains after Iran's parliament speaker said the ceasefire deal with the U.S. had been violated. "Gold's push above $4,800 reflects a recalibration of risk, rather than a full regime shift," Pepperstone strategist Ahmad Assiri said in a note. "The move higher suggests markets are now pricing in a lower probability of prolonged disruption while still retaining a meaningful discount versus the pre-Iran setup.” Gold remains highly sensitive to political developments in the near term, Assiri said. "The current ceasefire provides a window of relief, but it is conditional and fragile. Any sign of breakdown, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, would likely reintroduce volatility." Front-month Comex gold ( XAUUSD:CUR ) for April delivery closed up 2% to $4,749.50/oz, and front-month Comex April silver ( XAGUSD:CUR ) jumped 4.7% to $75.224/oz, snapping a three-day losing streak. ETFs: ( GLD ), ( GDX ), ( GDXJ ), ( IAU ), ( NUGT ), ( PHYS ), ( GLDM ), ( AAAU ), ( SGOL ), ( DUST ), ( RING ), ( BAR ), ( OUNZ ), ( SLV ), ( PSLV ), ( SIVR ), ( SIL ), ( SILJ ) More on gold and silver Gold: Wars And Jungle Economics Commodities: Oil Slumps Below $100 After U.S., Iran Agree To 2-Week Ceasefire Stocks From Liberation Day To Iran War
American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) , one of the biggest U.S. airlines, closed Wednesday at $11.41, up 5.55%. The stock advanced as easing U.S.-Iran tensions and lower oil prices improved sentiment toward airline profitability. Trading volume reached 100.3 million shares, coming in about 53% above its three-month average of 65.6 million shares. American Airlines Group IPO'd in 2005 and has fallen...
American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) , one of the biggest U.S. airlines, closed Wednesday at $11.41, up 5.55%. The stock advanced as easing U.S.-Iran tensions and lower oil prices improved sentiment toward airline profitability. Trading volume reached 100.3 million shares, coming in about 53% above its three-month average of 65.6 million shares. American Airlines Group IPO'd in 2005 and has fallen 46% since going public. The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) gained 2.51% to finish Wednesday at 6,783, while the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) advanced 2.80% to close at 22,635. Among airlines peers, Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) closed up 3.75% at $68.08, and United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) finished up 7.84% at $96.30 as investors reassessed fuel costs and geopolitical risks. Continue reading
Cinefootage Visuals/iStock via Getty Images I hope those who invested alongside me in the nuclear energy sector over the past few years heeded my warnings—that position sizing is more important than security selection and that the best course of action was to use the NUKZ ETF for most of one's exposure. Broad indexes are great for this kind of trade, where an individual firm's volatility can be ve...
Cinefootage Visuals/iStock via Getty Images I hope those who invested alongside me in the nuclear energy sector over the past few years heeded my warnings—that position sizing is more important than security selection and that the best course of action was to use the NUKZ ETF for most of one's exposure. Broad indexes are great for this kind of trade, where an individual firm's volatility can be very harmful to a portfolio. There were still some individual stocks I discussed here on Seeking Alpha, mostly advanced reactor firms like NANO Nuclear Energy ( NNE ), but they have fared far worse than the ETF since risk began fleeing the market back in October. This is one where my advice applies doubly so, and I think I made that fairly clear in my last coverage, also back in October . Not much has changed about my core long-term thesis since then—just the price of the stock, which I published at the top by happenstance—although things are changing within NNE itself that warrant renewed coverage. The market went from risk-on to risk-off quickly, and nuclear reactor firms have been in drawdown since. This has been a time when I've added, albeit slowly and lightly. Data by YCharts These kinds of stocks are the reason I make those mentions of position sizing; it might still be a winner in the long term, but if a decline in price like this shakes you out, you'll never hold it long enough for it to become a winner. You can avoid that by owning a small position so that large percentage drawdowns end up as small nominal drawdowns. NANO Nuclear Energy Overview Quickly, the bull case for advanced nuclear reactors is that they strip away many of the issues with large reactors while also providing a workable solution to the rapidly approaching gap between AI energy demand and energy grid capacity that doesn't involve burning endless amounts of coal (we will still need lots of natural gas power even with nuclear everywhere, I imagine). NNE produces an even smaller variant of the “smal...
gorodenkoff/iStock via Getty Images Shares of Legence Corp. ( LGN ) on Wednesday rose after a large secondary offering tied to a stake sale by Blackstone ( BX ) drew significantly more investor interest than available shares, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The $723 million transaction was multiple times oversubscribed, with demand reaching roughly five times the s...
gorodenkoff/iStock via Getty Images Shares of Legence Corp. ( LGN ) on Wednesday rose after a large secondary offering tied to a stake sale by Blackstone ( BX ) drew significantly more investor interest than available shares, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The $723 million transaction was multiple times oversubscribed, with demand reaching roughly five times the size of the offering after it was increased during the marketing process. Allocation favors long-term investors Most of the shares were distributed to long-only investors, along with some existing shareholders. The identities of the investors weren't disclosed. Shares rise following pricing The offering was priced at $54 per share, representing about an 8% discount to the company’s closing price on April 2, the last trading day before the deal was marketed earlier in the week. Following the sale, Legence ( LGN ) shares rose about 2.4% in morning trading in New York, reaching approximately $56.28. Transaction reflects continued investor interest The strong demand for the offering suggests continued investor appetite for shares in the building systems and HVAC services sector, even as large shareholders look to reduce positions through block trades. Blackstone’s ( BX ) sale comes as private equity firms continue to monetize holdings amid fluctuating market conditions, with pricing discounts commonly used to attract institutional buyers in large secondary offerings. More on Legence Legence Corp. (LGN) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Legence Corp.'s Surge Justifies A Respectful Downgrade Legence prices upsized $723M secondary offering at $54.00 a share Historical earnings data for Legence Financial information for Legence
Levi's CEO Michelle Gass said that both celebrity ad campaigns and organic pop culture moments have contributed to Levi's boosted outlook as the jeans brand collaborated with Beyonce and were featured on the fashion forward FX series 'Love Story.' Gass also discussed supply chain consideration as US-based companies face higher transportation costs and tariffs on manufacturing. (Source: Bloomberg)
Levi's CEO Michelle Gass said that both celebrity ad campaigns and organic pop culture moments have contributed to Levi's boosted outlook as the jeans brand collaborated with Beyonce and were featured on the fashion forward FX series 'Love Story.' Gass also discussed supply chain consideration as US-based companies face higher transportation costs and tariffs on manufacturing. (Source: Bloomberg)
FilippoBacci/iStock via Getty Images International financial stocks have been among the notable beneficiaries of the broader resurgence in non-U.S. equities in 2026. Strong investor demand for single-country and emerging market exposures, particularly in Brazil and Japan, has translated into meaningful year-to-date gains for select foreign financial names. The following list ranks the top 10 forei...
FilippoBacci/iStock via Getty Images International financial stocks have been among the notable beneficiaries of the broader resurgence in non-U.S. equities in 2026. Strong investor demand for single-country and emerging market exposures, particularly in Brazil and Japan, has translated into meaningful year-to-date gains for select foreign financial names. The following list ranks the top 10 foreign financial stocks by year-to-date performance, spanning financial exchanges, asset management, insurance, and banking across Israel, Canada, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Japan, Kazakhstan, and Singapore, with market capitalizations ranging from approximately $3 billion to $86 billion. Below is a list of the top 10 foreign financial stocks ranked by their year-to-date performance. The list includes companies across various financial subsectors, such as financial exchanges, asset management, insurance, and banking, and features market capitalizations ranging from approximately $3B to $86B. The list is topped by The Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange Ltd. ( TVAVF ), with a YTD performance of over 50%. Sprott Inc. ( SII:CA ) and Beazley plc ( BZLEY ) follow closely behind, both delivering gains above 40%. B3 S.A. - Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão ( BOLSY ) and Mebuki Financial Group, Inc. ( MEBUF ) round out the top five, representing geographic diversity with Brazil and Japan respectively. Japanese financial institutions feature prominently on the list, with Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. ( TKOMY ) and Resona Holdings, Inc. ( RSHGY ) both posting gains above 23%. Freedom Holding Corp. ( FRHC ) from Kazakhstan and UK-based Marex Group plc ( MRX ) also rank among the top performers, while Singapore Exchange Ltd. ADR ( SPXCY ) closes out the top 10. Here is the list: The Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange Ltd. ( TVAVF ), YTD perf: 50.40% Sprott Inc. ( SII:CA ), YTD perf: 44.20% Beazley plc ( BZLEY ), YTD perf: 42.16% B3 S.A. - Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão ( BOLSY ), YTD perf: 32.12% Mebuki Financial Group, Inc. ( MEBUF ...