2d illustrations and photos/iStock via Getty Images Transcript We think emerging markets can deliver again after a stellar 2025. They’re supported by an upbeat macro outlook, with stable inflation and disciplined policy. But we stay selective, focusing on mega forces driving returns. 1) Emerging markets off to the races The MSCI emerging markets index notched a 9% gain last month - well above the ...
2d illustrations and photos/iStock via Getty Images Transcript We think emerging markets can deliver again after a stellar 2025. They’re supported by an upbeat macro outlook, with stable inflation and disciplined policy. But we stay selective, focusing on mega forces driving returns. 1) Emerging markets off to the races The MSCI emerging markets index notched a 9% gain last month - well above the 2.2% gain in its developed markets counterpart. Performance has broadened out beyond the AI theme, but we still see significant dispersion. South Korea, for example, has surged 21%, while India is still lagging. That means an active approach is key, in our view. 2) Mega forces driving EM returns We see several broad factors driving emerging market returns. Solid global growth gives emerging market economies a stable backdrop even with sections of episodic, policy-driven volatility. Potential rate cuts as the inflation outlook improves are also supportive. And easing trade uncertainty could encourage further capital inflows and firmer currencies. In addition to these macro factors, mega forces like AI are also helping drive returns. Emerging markets are key to the AI buildout. South Korea and Taiwan - leaders in manufacturing AI hardware - stand to benefit as the U.S. hyperscalers spend even more on AI than expected. And the industrial metals needed to power the technology are largely located in emerging market regions. Supply chain constraints could push up commodity prices - another potential boost. 3) Leaning into emerging markets We are overweight hard currency emerging market debt. Elections this year could lead to currency volatility - a reason we prefer hard currency debt to local currency. We also like high-yield emerging market issuers, and think increased dispersion could create opportunities for active returns. On the equities side, we favor markets benefiting from even more AI capex. We favor leaders in China’s new economy: AI, automation and low-carbon energy. A...
About 1.1 million homeowners were underwater on their mortgages at the end of last year as home prices stalled, signaling a deepening crisis within the housing market.
About 1.1 million homeowners were underwater on their mortgages at the end of last year as home prices stalled, signaling a deepening crisis within the housing market.
Who's Next... What's Next...? Authored by James Howard Kunstler, It’s all backstage now. This fraught moment, the power-centers locked in the coldest cold of the year, the Spanish language lessons of Bad Bunny behind us, all the real action in the battle to save the country is out of sight, moiling and churning in the deep background. Everybody’s on edge waiting for shoes to drop, praying they don...
Who's Next... What's Next...? Authored by James Howard Kunstler, It’s all backstage now. This fraught moment, the power-centers locked in the coldest cold of the year, the Spanish language lessons of Bad Bunny behind us, all the real action in the battle to save the country is out of sight, moiling and churning in the deep background. Everybody’s on edge waiting for shoes to drop, praying they don’t drop on their heads. Bad Bunny’s Superbowl House Party. . . So Long, Been Good to Know Ya! You should have seen Senator Mark Warner (D-VA; Vice-chair of the Senate Intel Committee) on Face the Nation Sunday, frothing at the mouth over Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence (DNI). He cannot believe she turned up at the Fulton County, GA, election warehouse last month, where the FBI extracted 700 boxes of ballots and other evidence for what happened there in the 2020 election. Senator Warner doesn’t want you to find out. Senator Warner, you understand, is one of the darkest creatures slithering through the cypress knobs of the DC swamp, and his lair, the Senate Intel Committee, is a fetid backwater of seditious intrigue. Senator Warner is setting the stage for yet another hoax against the country. He’s got a “whistleblower,” ID unknown, who supposedly imputes that last spring “an individual associated with foreign intelligence” made a phone call to “a person close to President Trump” and DNI Gabbard failed to report it to his committee . DNI Gabbard simply called Sen. Warner a liar, which is exactly and succinctly correct. Senator Warner is wetting his pants because the Georgia 2020 election tally looks sketchy to an extreme and he knows the case is beyond his control now. Pulling on that thread will unravel the whole fake tapestry of “Joe Biden’s” election and will reveal the Democratic Party to be a criminal enterprise. The nation itself has to face some unappetizing reality. Four years were stolen from the people and political devices were aligned to destroy t...
Seeking Alpha More on Prospect Capital Prospect Capital Is The Last Remaining BDC Bond Opportunity With A +8% Yield Prospect Capital: Still At Risk Of NAV Deterioration Despite Portfolio Shifts Prospect Capital: A 'Red Flag' Investment What's in store for BDCs in 2026? Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Prospect Capital
Seeking Alpha More on Prospect Capital Prospect Capital Is The Last Remaining BDC Bond Opportunity With A +8% Yield Prospect Capital: Still At Risk Of NAV Deterioration Despite Portfolio Shifts Prospect Capital: A 'Red Flag' Investment What's in store for BDCs in 2026? Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Prospect Capital
Medpace press release ( MEDP ): Q4 GAAP EPS of $4.67 beats by $0.48 . Revenue of $708.5M (+32.0% Y/Y) beats by $17.57M . Full Year 2025 Financial Results Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2025 increased 20.0% to $2,530.2 million, compared to $2,109.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. On a constant currency basis, revenue increased 19.7% for the year ended December 31, 2025 compar...
Medpace press release ( MEDP ): Q4 GAAP EPS of $4.67 beats by $0.48 . Revenue of $708.5M (+32.0% Y/Y) beats by $17.57M . Full Year 2025 Financial Results Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2025 increased 20.0% to $2,530.2 million, compared to $2,109.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. On a constant currency basis, revenue increased 19.7% for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the year ended December 31, 2024. For the year ended December 31, 2025, net new business awards were $2,646.8 million, representing a net book-to-bill ratio of 1.05x, compared to $2,230.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. For the full year 2025, total direct costs were $1,769.6 million, compared to $1,452.7 million in the full year 2024. For the full year 2025, SG&A expenses were $197.6 million, compared to $180.2 million for the full year 2024. GAAP net income for the full year 2025 was $451.1 million, or $15.28 per diluted share, versus GAAP net income of $404.4 million, or $12.63 per diluted share, for the full year 2024. This resulted in a net income margin of 17.8% and 19.2% for the full year 2025 and 2024, respectively. EBITDA for the full year 2025 increased 16.1% to $557.7 million, or 22.0% of revenue, compared to $480.2 million, or 22.8% of revenue, for the prior year. On a constant currency basis, EBITDA increased 17.6% for the full year 2025 compared to the full year 2024. A reconciliation of the Company’s non-GAAP financial measures, including EBITDA and EBITDA margin to the corresponding GAAP measures is provided below. More on Medpace Medpace Stock Has Doubled: How Is The Valuation Now? Medpace Q4 2025 Earnings Preview CROs fall as FDA head Makary says drug approvals will require fewer trials Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Medpace Historical earnings data for Medpace
He added that "politically, a Commons vote will be engineered in September on recognition, and we will lose it if we're not ahead of it. There are no circumstances in which people like me or Shabana [Mahmood] could abstain or vote against".
He added that "politically, a Commons vote will be engineered in September on recognition, and we will lose it if we're not ahead of it. There are no circumstances in which people like me or Shabana [Mahmood] could abstain or vote against".
AWS office in Houston, Texas JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images I've owned Amazon.com, Inc. ( AMZN ) stock for many years within the “Growth” category of my well-diversified portfolio. The original thesis supporting my initial purchase was two-fold: to make me feel better for all the orders I continually place on the website and to have exposure to the world's #1 hyperscaler: Amazon Web S...
AWS office in Houston, Texas JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images I've owned Amazon.com, Inc. ( AMZN ) stock for many years within the “Growth” category of my well-diversified portfolio. The original thesis supporting my initial purchase was two-fold: to make me feel better for all the orders I continually place on the website and to have exposure to the world's #1 hyperscaler: Amazon Web Services, better known as “AWS.” The thesis worked very well... at least for a while. But it's broken down over the past few years (see chart below). Indeed, the stock has been the worst-performing company in my “Growth” category, and I've thought of selling it every year for the past 3 years. Then I review the company's earnings report and see the excellent opportunities going forward, and I hold it for another year—only to be disappointed again. I'm a patient, long-term-oriented investor, but my patience has run out, and I have come to the conclusion that the only way Amazon can get its stock moving again is to spin off AWS from the retail e-commerce segment, let both stand on their own two feet, and unleash tremendous shareholder value in the process. Data by YCharts As you can see from the graphic above, Amazon stock has not only drastically trailed the returns of its hyperscaler peers Google ( GOOG ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ) over the past 5 years, but it has also massively trailed leading retailer Walmart ( WMT ). My followers know I advise them to build a well-diversified portfolio built on the foundation of a high-quality, cost-efficient S&P 500 ETF (like ( VOO ), for instance) and to overweight the tech sector. I advise them to use a top-down allocation strategy into various investment categories in which they want to participate. These categories might include “Growth,” “Dividend Growth,” “Sector ETFs,” “Speculative Growth,” “Gold,” and “Cash,” for example. The most important investment category in my portfolio is the “Growth” category because it is the primary way to...
With high-grade net issuance expected to reach an unprecedented $1 trillion, more investors will need to step in to absorb an added $300 billion of new debt this year or risk a US corporate bond market selloff, according to RBC Global Asset Management . Some $200 billion could come from investors moving cash out of money-market funds and into corporate bonds as the yield curve steepens, widening t...
With high-grade net issuance expected to reach an unprecedented $1 trillion, more investors will need to step in to absorb an added $300 billion of new debt this year or risk a US corporate bond market selloff, according to RBC Global Asset Management . Some $200 billion could come from investors moving cash out of money-market funds and into corporate bonds as the yield curve steepens, widening the premium of longer-dated bonds over shorter one, said Andrzej Skiba , head of BlueBay US fixed income at RBC. The rest could come out of mortgage-backed securities. Failure to attract new capital to buy up the added debt needed to build out data centers for AI and a wave of M&A related financing could push average high-grade spreads wider by 20 basis points to 30 basis points as tech and other sectors reprice, he added. While risk premiums are hovering near the tightest in decades there are signs demand is already stalling — at least in the secondary market. When Oracle Corp. sold $25 billion in bonds in an eight-part offering last week, investors placed orders for more than $129 billion, the most ever for such offering. The debt quickly tightened from prices in the secondary market but as more hypercalers reported — four of the biggest US technology companies are now expected to spend about $650 billion on building out data-center infrastructure this year — fears of dramatic increases in tech spending soon pushed the spreads on newly minted Oracle bonds wider . Alphabet Inc. raised $20 billion from a a US dollar bond offering on Monday — more than the $15 billion initially expected. The Google parent’s bond sale drew more than $100 billion of orders . Read more: Alphabet Embarks on Global Bond Spree to Fund Record Spending “The size of your new issue books don’t matter one bit because all that demand can evaporate in a second,” Skiba said in an interview. “Do not get swayed by demand for any specific deal, focus on how the market is responding to the broader narrative.” ...
Principal Financial Group press release ( PFG ): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of $2.24 beats by $0.02 . 2026 Outlook Guidance 9-12% annual non-GAAP operating earnings per diluted share growth 3 75-85% free capital flow conversion 4 15-17% non-GAAP ROE 5 $1.5-$1.8 billion capital deployment, which includes $0.8B - $1.1B of share repurchases and a 40% dividend ratio More on Principal Financial Group Principal Fi...
Principal Financial Group press release ( PFG ): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of $2.24 beats by $0.02 . 2026 Outlook Guidance 9-12% annual non-GAAP operating earnings per diluted share growth 3 75-85% free capital flow conversion 4 15-17% non-GAAP ROE 5 $1.5-$1.8 billion capital deployment, which includes $0.8B - $1.1B of share repurchases and a 40% dividend ratio More on Principal Financial Group Principal Financial Group: Share Buybacks Drive Share Value Growth Principal Financial Group Q4 2025 Earnings Preview Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Principal Financial Group Historical earnings data for Principal Financial Group Dividend scorecard for Principal Financial Group
(RTTNews) - Cincinnati Financial Corp. (CINF) released earnings for its fourth quarter that Increased, from the same period last year The company's bottom line totaled $676 million, or $4.29 per share. This compares with $405 million, or $2.56 per share, last year. The company's revenue for the period rose 21.8% to $3.091 billion from $2.538 billion last year. Cincinnati Financial Corp. earnings a...
(RTTNews) - Cincinnati Financial Corp. (CINF) released earnings for its fourth quarter that Increased, from the same period last year The company's bottom line totaled $676 million, or $4.29 per share. This compares with $405 million, or $2.56 per share, last year. The company's revenue for the period rose 21.8% to $3.091 billion from $2.538 billion last year. Cincinnati Financial Corp. earnings at a glance (GAAP) : -Earnings: $676 Mln. vs. $405 Mln. last year. -EPS: $4.29 vs. $2.56 last year. -Revenue: $3.091 Bln vs. $2.538 Bln last year. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
Ichor Holdings press release ( ICHR ): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.01 beats by $0.07 . Revenue of $223.6M (-4.0% Y/Y) beats by $2.76M . Fiscal year 2025 highlights: Revenue of $947.7 million, up 11.6% year-over-year; Gross margin of 9.3% on a GAAP basis and 12.2% on a non-GAAP basis; and Earnings (loss) per share of $(1.54) on a GAAP basis and $0.23 on a non-GAAP basis. More on Ichor Holdings Ichor Hold...
Ichor Holdings press release ( ICHR ): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.01 beats by $0.07 . Revenue of $223.6M (-4.0% Y/Y) beats by $2.76M . Fiscal year 2025 highlights: Revenue of $947.7 million, up 11.6% year-over-year; Gross margin of 9.3% on a GAAP basis and 12.2% on a non-GAAP basis; and Earnings (loss) per share of $(1.54) on a GAAP basis and $0.23 on a non-GAAP basis. More on Ichor Holdings Ichor Holdings, Ltd. (ICHR) Presents at 28th Annual Needham Growth Conference Transcript Why Ichor's 2026 Recovery Is Underestimated Ichor Holdings Needs A Turn In The Semiconductor Cycle To Be Delayed Ichor Holdings Q4 2025 Earnings Preview Ichor announces preliminary Q4 2025 financial results
NextSource Materials ( NEXT:CA ) announced a best-efforts private placement of 58.82M units at C$0.425 per unit for gross proceeds of ~C$25M. Each unit consists of one common share and one-half of one common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant will be exercisable at C$0.55 per share, beginning 61 days after closing and expiring three years from the closing date. Net proceeds are expected to...
NextSource Materials ( NEXT:CA ) announced a best-efforts private placement of 58.82M units at C$0.425 per unit for gross proceeds of ~C$25M. Each unit consists of one common share and one-half of one common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant will be exercisable at C$0.55 per share, beginning 61 days after closing and expiring three years from the closing date. Net proceeds are expected to fund advancement of the UAE Battery Anode Facility, updates to the Molo technical report, and general corporate purposes. More on NextSource Materials Inc. Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on NextSource Materials Inc. Financial information for NextSource Materials Inc.
jetcityimage CSX Corporation ( CSX ) announced on Monday that it has signed a $670M deal with Wabtec Corporation ( WAB ) to upgrade its fleet with 100 new Evolution Series locomotives, 50 modernized locomotives, and a suite of digital solutions and services. The rail company said the new Evolution Series locomotives will support its fleet by improving fuel efficiency, tractive effort, and overall ...
jetcityimage CSX Corporation ( CSX ) announced on Monday that it has signed a $670M deal with Wabtec Corporation ( WAB ) to upgrade its fleet with 100 new Evolution Series locomotives, 50 modernized locomotives, and a suite of digital solutions and services. The rail company said the new Evolution Series locomotives will support its fleet by improving fuel efficiency, tractive effort, and overall reliability. The locomotives are designed to reduce fuel consumption while maintaining performance for long-haul and heavy-duty operations. In addition, CSX ( CSX ) said it will modernize aging D9 locomotives by converting them from DC to AC traction. The upgrades are expected to extend service life, improve fleet standardization, and enable the use of advanced control and diagnostic technologies, with expected improvements in fuel efficiency, tractive effort, and reliability. "Modernizing these critical assets strengthens network performance and supports the level of service our customers depend on," stated CSX ( CSX ) Chief Operating Officer Mike Cory. More on CSX CSX Corporation Q4: Lackluster End To The Year, But 2026 Looks To Be Better CSX Corporation (CSX) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript CSX Corporation 2025 Q4 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation CSX signs $670M locomotive upgrade deal with Wabtec CSX outlines 200–300 basis points margin expansion for 2026 while resetting long-term targets
(RTTNews) - Following the rally seen during last Friday's session, Canadian stocks showed another significant move to the upside during trading on Monday. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index moved steadily higher throughout the session before eventually closing up 552.34 points or 1.7 percent at 33,023.32. Gold stocks helped lead the way higher once again amid a continued surge by the price of t...
(RTTNews) - Following the rally seen during last Friday's session, Canadian stocks showed another significant move to the upside during trading on Monday. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index moved steadily higher throughout the session before eventually closing up 552.34 points or 1.7 percent at 33,023.32. Gold stocks helped lead the way higher once again amid a continued surge by the price of the precious metal, with the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index spiking by 4.9 percent. The extended rally by gold stocks came as the price of gold moved sharply higher amid a decrease in the value of the U.S. dollar. Significant strength was also visible among technology stocks, as reflected by the 2.0 percent surge by the S&P/TSX Capped Information Technology Index. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
(RTTNews) - AECOM (ACM) reported a profit for first quarter that Drops, from last year The company's bottom line totaled $140.42 million, or $1.06 per share. This compares with $177.35 million, or $1.33 per share, last year. Excluding items, AECOM reported adjusted earnings of $170.5 million or $1.29 per share for the period. The company's revenue for the period fell 4.5% to $3.83 billion from $4....
(RTTNews) - AECOM (ACM) reported a profit for first quarter that Drops, from last year The company's bottom line totaled $140.42 million, or $1.06 per share. This compares with $177.35 million, or $1.33 per share, last year. Excluding items, AECOM reported adjusted earnings of $170.5 million or $1.29 per share for the period. The company's revenue for the period fell 4.5% to $3.83 billion from $4.01 billion last year. AECOM earnings at a glance (GAAP) : -Earnings: $140.42 Mln. vs. $177.35 Mln. last year. -EPS: $1.06 vs. $1.33 last year. -Revenue: $3.83 Bln vs. $4.01 Bln last year. -Guidance: Full year EPS guidance: $ 5.85 To $ 6.05 The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
Warby Parker ( WRBY ) on Monday said that it has appointed Adrian Mitchell as its chief financial officer, effective February 10. Mitchell joins the eyewear retailer from Macy’s Inc, where he previously served as COO and CFO. He has also held senior leadership roles at Crate & Barrel Holdings, including CFO, COO, and interim Chief Executive. Warby Parker said Mitchell will succeed the company’s cu...
Warby Parker ( WRBY ) on Monday said that it has appointed Adrian Mitchell as its chief financial officer, effective February 10. Mitchell joins the eyewear retailer from Macy’s Inc, where he previously served as COO and CFO. He has also held senior leadership roles at Crate & Barrel Holdings, including CFO, COO, and interim Chief Executive. Warby Parker said Mitchell will succeed the company’s current finance leadership as it continues executing its growth strategy. WRBY +0.16% after hours to $24.24. Source: Press Release More on Warby Parker Warby Parker: Lock In Gains On The Google Spike (Downgrade) Warby Parker: I See Big Risks On Valuation Even As AI Glasses Near Warby Parker Inc. (WRBY) Presents at Morgan Stanley Global Consumer & Retail Conference 2025 Transcript Warby Parker climbs after Google confirms AI glasses are set to arrive in 2026 Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Warby Parker
The Global X SuperIncome Preferred ETF ( SPFF ) has lost 12% in price since my first "Sell" rating in 2022 and almost 5% since my latest one in November 2024. Distributions have kept total return in positive territory in both time frames, but they don’t offset inflation. This article renews my negative opinion with updated data. SPFF Strategy The ETF was launched on 07/16/2012 and tracks the Globa...
The Global X SuperIncome Preferred ETF ( SPFF ) has lost 12% in price since my first "Sell" rating in 2022 and almost 5% since my latest one in November 2024. Distributions have kept total return in positive territory in both time frames, but they don’t offset inflation. This article renews my negative opinion with updated data. SPFF Strategy The ETF was launched on 07/16/2012 and tracks the Global X U.S. High Yield Preferred Index. It has 49 holdings, a 30-day SEC yield of 6.42%, and an expense ratio of 0.48%. Distributions are paid monthly. SPFF invests in preferred stocks, which have priority over common stocks in the payment of dividends and proceeds of liquidation, but are generally junior to debt and do not carry voting rights. They are considered hybrid assets, and their price behavior is between stocks and bonds (often showing "bond-like returns with stock-like risk"). As described by Global X ETFs , The Underlying Index tracks the performance of the highest-yielding preferred securities listed in the United States (…). The Underlying Index is comprised of preferred stocks that meet certain criteria relating to size, liquidity, issuer concentration and rating, maturity and other requirements . The portfolio turnover rate was 63% in the most recent fiscal year and 110% in the previous year. Portfolio The fund is very concentrated, with notable company-specific risk. Indeed, the top 10 issuers, listed in the next table, represent 64.1% of asset value, and the six largest ones weigh between 6% and 10%. Issuer Common stock %Weight* Bank of America Corp. BAC 9.77 Athene Holding Ltd. 7.71 Morgan Stanley MS 7.24 Strategy, Inc. MSTR 6.95 Apollo Global Management, Inc. APO 6.22 KeyCorp KEY 6.03 Regions Financial Corp. RF 5.30 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. HPE 5.13 Edison International EIX 5.07 PG&E Corp. PCG 4.71 Click to enlarge *Issuer weights calculated by author from the holding list. The fund is heavy in financials and has about 27% of assets in the banking ind...