(RTTNews) - The market started off on a positive note on Friday but slipped into the red around mid morning and then struggled for direction till the end with stocks swinging between gains and losses amid cautious moves by investors. The benchmark SMI settled with a small gain of 10.91 points or 0.09% at 12,568.18 after moving in a tight range between 12,532.82 and 12,597.98. Amrize climbed 3.79% ...
(RTTNews) - The market started off on a positive note on Friday but slipped into the red around mid morning and then struggled for direction till the end with stocks swinging between gains and losses amid cautious moves by investors. The benchmark SMI settled with a small gain of 10.91 points or 0.09% at 12,568.18 after moving in a tight range between 12,532.82 and 12,597.98. Amrize climbed 3.79% after JP Morgan raised the stock's rating to "overweight." and raised its price target to CHF 48.2. Holcim and VAT Group gained about 2.7%. Lonza Group ended 2.2% up. Partners Group and Galderma Group ended higher by about 1.9% and 1.7%, respectively. Sandoz Group, Swiss Re, ABB, SGS, Julius Baer an Logitech International also ended notably higher. Schindler Ps tumbled more than 4%. The Swiss company now expects an operating profit margin of around 12.5% for the full year, after previously seeing it at around 12%. Schindler booked new orders worth 2.64 billion Swiss francs in the quarter, down from 2.71 billion francs a year earlier Swatch Group ended 1.27% down. Richemont lost nearly 1%, while Nestle, Geberit, Sika and Novartis closed lower by 0.4 to 0.7%. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
tomeng/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Air Canada ( ACDVF ) ( AC:CA ) suspended flights to Cuba after determining that aviation fuel supplies at the island’s airports can no longer be relied upon. The carrier said the suspension takes effect Monday. In the days that follow, Air Canada will operate flights to Cuba without passengers in order to return roughly 3,000 travelers who are currently on...
tomeng/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Air Canada ( ACDVF ) ( AC:CA ) suspended flights to Cuba after determining that aviation fuel supplies at the island’s airports can no longer be relied upon. The carrier said the suspension takes effect Monday. In the days that follow, Air Canada will operate flights to Cuba without passengers in order to return roughly 3,000 travelers who are currently on the island. The decision follows advisories from government authorities warning that jet fuel availability at Cuban airports is expected to deteriorate further. Air Canada ( ACDVF ) ( AC:CA ) said commercial aviation fuel is projected to become unavailable at those locations starting Tuesday. For a limited number of remaining services, the airline said it plans to carry additional fuel onboard and, if needed, make technical refueling stops during return flights. Air Canada ( ACDVF ) ( AC:CA ) said it will continue to assess conditions and determine when regular service to Cuba can resume. Customers traveling under Air Canada Vacations packages will receive assistance from local representatives, while passengers whose flights are canceled will be offered full refunds. More on Air Canada Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Air Canada Historical earnings data for Air Canada Financial information for Air Canada
The disruption and distress caused by record downpours must focus minds on the need for climate preparedness With flood warnings still in place across south-west England and Wales on Monday, followed by another fortnight of wet weather forecasts, the sodden ground across swathes of the UK is not likely to dry up any time soon. Reports that Aberdonians have not seen so much as a sliver of sun since...
The disruption and distress caused by record downpours must focus minds on the need for climate preparedness With flood warnings still in place across south-west England and Wales on Monday, followed by another fortnight of wet weather forecasts, the sodden ground across swathes of the UK is not likely to dry up any time soon. Reports that Aberdonians have not seen so much as a sliver of sun since 21 January prompted an outburst of stoicism on BBC radio, with one resident commenting: “You have to get on with it, brighter days are coming”. Before then, however, north-east Scotland is braced for more heavy rain. For farmers and businesses in the affected areas, the impact goes far beyond inconvenience. Marketing consultant Sam Kirby told the Guardian that she had to work from a car park in Cornwall following Storm Goretti, because her broadband wasn’t working. And Goretti was the first of three January storms. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here . Continue reading...
Key Points The maximum possible Social Security benefit is $5,108 per month for those starting in 2025. You'll need to earn more than the annual maximum taxable income in more than 35 years. To max out Social Security, you'll need to wait until age 70 to start collecting. The $23,760 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook › The maximum possible Social Security benefit for a retire...
Key Points The maximum possible Social Security benefit is $5,108 per month for those starting in 2025. You'll need to earn more than the annual maximum taxable income in more than 35 years. To max out Social Security, you'll need to wait until age 70 to start collecting. The $23,760 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook › The maximum possible Social Security benefit for a retired worker who starts collecting benefits in 2025 is $5,108 per month. That's more than $61,000 in inflation-protected retirement income. However, the average Social Security benefit for a retired worker is just over $2,000 per month. What separates those with the highest benefits from the average retiree? In this article, we'll discuss the three main boxes you'd need to check to get the maximum monthly Social Security check in retirement. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » Step 1: Work in Social Security-covered employment for 35 years or more As you can probably guess, most American workers check this box. The average American worker spends more than 40 years working, and most jobs (including self-employment) are covered under Social Security. To be sure, you can qualify for a Social Security benefit with just 10 years of work. But your initial benefit is based on your 35 highest-earning years, and zeros will be used in the calculation for any missing years. Step 2: Max out the Social Security taxable earnings in all 35 years Here's where the streak ends for most people. Every year, only a certain amount of earned income is subject to Social Security taxes. Technically known as the "contribution and benefit base," this is also the maximum amount of income each year that can be considered for benefit calculation purposes. For context, the maximum amount of income subject to Social Security tax in 2025 is $176,100. This is adjusted to keep up with the national average wage grow...
Apple, Inc.'s (AAPL) revenue, free cash flow, and FCF margins surged in its latest quarter. This has pushed AAPL target prices higher. Two plays are attractive: short one-month out-of-the-money puts and buy longer-dated in-the-money calls. AAPL is down to $271.83 in midday trading on Monday, Feb. 9. However, that is up from a recent trough of $246.70 on Jan. 20. That was before its Jan. 29 release...
Apple, Inc.'s (AAPL) revenue, free cash flow, and FCF margins surged in its latest quarter. This has pushed AAPL target prices higher. Two plays are attractive: short one-month out-of-the-money puts and buy longer-dated in-the-money calls. AAPL is down to $271.83 in midday trading on Monday, Feb. 9. However, that is up from a recent trough of $246.70 on Jan. 20. That was before its Jan. 29 release of fiscal Q1 results ending Dec. 27, 2025. Since then, AAPL skyrocketed back to $278.12 on Friday, Feb. 6. However, it could be worth considerably more, based on its strong FCF results. Strong FCF and FCF Margins Apple's revenue surged 15.65% YoY to $143.8 billion, up 40% from the prior quarter. As a result, given that its capex was 19% lower YoY, its free cash flow (FCF) skyrocketed 91% to $51.55 billion in Q1. The main reason was a huge increase in iPhone sales based on “unprecedented demand” and the resulting cash flow. The WSJ reported that the “blowout” sales were due to customers excited about Apple's new iPhone 17 lineup, upgrading their devices earlier than usual. As a result, its free cash flow (FCF) margins also rose. For the quarter, FCF represented 35.86% of sales, up from 21.72% last year in Q1, according to Stock Analysis. Moreover, on a trailing 12-month (TTM) basis, its FCF margin rose from 24.8% last year to 28.3% of 2025 sales. For example, FCF hit $123.324 billion, which was 28.3% of $435.6 billion in revenue during 2025. As a result, target prices (TPs) for AAPL stock have been rising. Higher AAPL TPs In my Dec. 1, 2025, Barchart article, I used a 25% FCF margin against analysts' revenue estimates, along with a 2.393% FCF yield (i.e., a 41.8x FCF multiple), to value AAPL stock. That resulted in a target price of $325 per share. But, since then, analysts have raised their revenue forecasts, and Apple's FCF margin has risen to 28.3%. That means the market will likely raise the forward FCF multiple to at least 43x. Here is how that works out. First, revenu...
JackF/iStock via Getty Images The following segment was excerpted from the Third Point Q4 2025 Investor Letter. Somnigroup ( SGI ) is the dominant player in US mattresses and has grown its share of the domestic wholesale market from 27% in 2018 to over 40% in 2024. The company is led by Scott Thompson, who we see as a forward-thinking CEO who has leveraged the business' scale advantage to take sha...
JackF/iStock via Getty Images The following segment was excerpted from the Third Point Q4 2025 Investor Letter. Somnigroup ( SGI ) is the dominant player in US mattresses and has grown its share of the domestic wholesale market from 27% in 2018 to over 40% in 2024. The company is led by Scott Thompson, who we see as a forward-thinking CEO who has leveraged the business' scale advantage to take share from an overleveraged set of competitors in a slowing housing market. In Q1 2025, Somnigroup completed its merger with the largest mattress retailer, Mattress Firm (estimated retail market share of 40%), and is now leveraging this advantaged distribution to accelerate share gains. Its Tempur wholesale product has already ramped from an estimated ~48% of Mattress Firm sales at the time of deal close to over 60% of volumes today. The proforma entity's 2,200 locations and $1.8 billion of run-rate sales and marketing spend are each more than twice the size of the second and third largest mattress competitors combined. Looking forward, we believe Somnigroup has multiple ways to win. Either the housing cycle turns, which would provide a billion-dollar revenue tailwind at high margins, or the trough sustains and the last competitors standing, Sleep Number and Serta Simmons, face continued top-line pressure with 2027 and 2028 maturity walls looming. At Sleep Number, double-digit revenue declines have forced material cuts to marketing spend to comply with leverage covenants, further accelerating share losses. Despite its small and under-followed market cap, Sleep Number still generates ~$1.5 billion in revenues, representing a nearly ~20% retail market share. We anticipate similar headwinds at Serta Simmons, which is reported to have generated $1.8 billion in 2024 sales (financials are not publicly available). We believe it is very likely that the increase in Tempur products from 48% to over 60% of Mattress Firm sales came at the expense of their largest manufacturing competitor....
JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Netskope - A significant market share gainer at the frontier of cyber security The great sector rotation has unearthed some unlikely valuations. It is as though some reverse tsunami had left a seabed with artifacts of a past civilization. One of those artifacts appears to be the shares of Netskope ( NTSK ). The thing is though, Netskope is no artifact an...
JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Netskope - A significant market share gainer at the frontier of cyber security The great sector rotation has unearthed some unlikely valuations. It is as though some reverse tsunami had left a seabed with artifacts of a past civilization. One of those artifacts appears to be the shares of Netskope ( NTSK ). The thing is though, Netskope is no artifact and, in fact, is one of the leading vendors in significant areas of the cybersecurity space. It has a leading position in what is known as SASE-Secure Access Service Edge . This is a Gartner-defined framework architecture for secure networking, with high performance and universal user access. The company has been essentially the architect of what is called Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) -functionality that ensures cloud usage is safe, compliant, and totally visible to IT management. I initially wrote about Netskope and recommended the shares in an SA article published on October 15th, 2025 . The shares are down by 49% since that point. I think an update is due to determine what has happened to such a poorly performing recommendation, and to look at the changes in the outlook over the past 4 months. Since that time, there has been one earnings release - that of a beat and raise quarter, investor awareness of Cowork and other Anthropic products, and the recent panic in the software space that has taken Netskope and almost all other software stocks to compressed valuations. One reason to have written this article now is that Netskope, as a cybersecurity vendor, is really not a competitor at any level of Anthropic, but a beneficiary from the enlarged threat surface that the introduction of Cowork has caused. I am recommending Netskope shares at this time (2/4/26) and at this price, about $12.60 . The enterprise software space is littered with casualties, of which Netskope is but one. The issue is investor fears about the impact of Anthropic’s Cowork introduction on the enter...
Prediction market volume on Kalshi hit an all-time high on Sunday as NFL's Super Bowl drove a surge Upgrade to read this MT Newswires article and get so much more. A Silver or Gold subscription plan is required to access premium news articles.
Prediction market volume on Kalshi hit an all-time high on Sunday as NFL's Super Bowl drove a surge Upgrade to read this MT Newswires article and get so much more. A Silver or Gold subscription plan is required to access premium news articles.
Bolivia plans to use its growing stockpile of international reserves to meet upcoming dollar-bond payments due to private creditors, the nation’s finance chief said in an interview as he works to steady the economy. The country will meet its debt obligations in March after boosting cash reserves to around $460 million, up from $68 million when President Rodrigo Paz took office in November, Finance...
Bolivia plans to use its growing stockpile of international reserves to meet upcoming dollar-bond payments due to private creditors, the nation’s finance chief said in an interview as he works to steady the economy. The country will meet its debt obligations in March after boosting cash reserves to around $460 million, up from $68 million when President Rodrigo Paz took office in November, Finance Minister José Gabriel Espinoza said. “This gives us enough oxygen to meet March maturities without any issue,” Espinoza said, adding that around 65% of the bonds are held by Bolivia’s state-owned pension fund administrator Gestora and the central bank. The Paz government, which took office after two decades of socialist rule, quickly declared an economic emergency and slashed fuel subsidies in a bid to narrow the nation’s fiscal deficit. Bolivia has also recently secured billions of dollars in multilateral lending including $4.5 billion from the Inter-American Development Bank just last month, boosting the new administration’s chances of riding out its deepest economic and financial crises since the 1980s. Read More: Bolivia Gets $4.5 Billion IDB Loan to Aid Emergency Reforms Bolivia faces debt service of $388 million in March for two Eurobonds maturing in 2028 and 2030 , according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Roughly $130 million would be paid to private creditors using central bank reserves, Espinoza said. The finance minister’s remarks came after visiting Washington last week to meet US Treasury officials as well as representatives from World Bank and the International Monetary Fund . Espinoza said he expects to get $200 million of financing from the World Bank later this month for budget support, which will help further strengthen Bolivia’s reserves. “We are still in conversations with the IMF, and we are working on technical cooperation,” he added, declining to comment on any talks for a financing program with the Washington-based lender. The South American nation a...
Key Points TD Cowen predicts Micron stock will eventually hit $600. TD sees $50 a year in earnings power at Micron. But Barron's sees a rising threat from Samsung. 10 stocks we like better than Micron Technology › Micron (NASDAQ: MU) stock tumbled 6% Monday morning before clawing its way back to about a 1.8% loss as of 12:55 p.m. ET in the afternoon. But it's curious that Micron dropped at all tod...
Key Points TD Cowen predicts Micron stock will eventually hit $600. TD sees $50 a year in earnings power at Micron. But Barron's sees a rising threat from Samsung. 10 stocks we like better than Micron Technology › Micron (NASDAQ: MU) stock tumbled 6% Monday morning before clawing its way back to about a 1.8% loss as of 12:55 p.m. ET in the afternoon. But it's curious that Micron dropped at all today... Because today was the day that analysts at TD Cowen predicted Micron stock will surge 55%, and eventually hit $600 a share. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » Why TD Cowen loves Micron stock Micron will earn $60 per share this year, rather than the $50 it previously forecast, says TD Cowen. At 10 times forward earnings, this implies a $600 share price for the semiconductor stock. And that's just to start. DRAM supplies will remain tight for "multiple years," reports TheFly.com, boosting prices for the computer memory product. Micron might not earn $60 every year, but TD's analysts think "normalized" earnings for the stock could be $50. Positing a 12-times normal earnings valuation for the company, TD again comes up for a $600 valuation for Micron stock. Is Micron stock a buy? So why is all the above adding up to Micron stock falling in price today? Actually, as Barron's reports, the reason Micron is falling has little to do with what TD Cowen says, and more to do with the fact that Micron rival Samsung is preparing to begin "large-scale production of the next generation of high-bandwidth memory chips as soon as this month." If Samsung increases HBM DRAM production, the worry is, this will increase supply, and short-circuit the DRAM price increases that TD is counting on to boost Micron's profits and drive its stock price higher. That's the real reason Micron is going down today: the ris...
luza studios/E+ via Getty Images Investment Outlook Kaltura ( KLTR ) is seeking to navigate a transition to a more AI-centric offering set. I previously analyzed KLTR in May 2025 with a Hold outlook on slow growth, but nearly breakeven operating income, and earnings. Growth has turned negative, major performance metrics are poor, and the company's recent AI acquisition and initiatives may take a l...
luza studios/E+ via Getty Images Investment Outlook Kaltura ( KLTR ) is seeking to navigate a transition to a more AI-centric offering set. I previously analyzed KLTR in May 2025 with a Hold outlook on slow growth, but nearly breakeven operating income, and earnings. Growth has turned negative, major performance metrics are poor, and the company's recent AI acquisition and initiatives may take a long time to produce meaningful results. I believe investor funds can be better allocated elsewhere, so I’m downgrading KLTR to a sell. Kaltura’s Market and Approach Kaltura operates in the video platform software and services market. The firm’s main offerings are below: Meetings Webinars Video Portal Town Halls Video Messaging Lecture Capture Virtual Classroom Virtual Events TV Solution Learning Management System AI Avatars and Content Kaltura gives clients the choice of modular access to reduce ‘try and buy’ friction and enable clients to mix and match the services they need. According to a 2025 market research report by MarketsandMarkets, the worldwide enterprise video apps market was estimated at $24 billion in 2024 and was projected to reach $35 billion by 2029. If achieved, this growth would represent a CAGR of 8.6% from 2025 to 2029, a moderate rate of growth for a reasonably large industry. The main reasons for this expected growth rate are the ongoing demand by organizations for employee training communications, the continuing use of hybrid working arrangements for certain organizations and roles, customized client engagement, and further incorporation of GenAI technologies. The sector expected to generate the highest growth rate through 2029 is the Services sector. By region, North America is forecasted to have the largest market share. However, the Asia-Pacific region is projected to produce the fastest percentage growth through 2029. Important competitors or industry players include: Microsoft ( MSFT ) Cisco ( CSCO ) Twilio ( TWLO ) Amazon ( AMZN ) Zoom ( ZM ) Ho...
Key Points QLD charges a slightly higher expense ratio and yields less than SPXL SPXL delivered a stronger five-year growth of $1,000 and a higher beta, but both funds saw similarly steep drawdowns QLD leans more heavily into technology and Nasdaq-100 names, while SPXL offers broader S&P 500 exposure 10 stocks we like better than ProShares Trust - ProShares Ultra Qqq › Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bull ...
Key Points QLD charges a slightly higher expense ratio and yields less than SPXL SPXL delivered a stronger five-year growth of $1,000 and a higher beta, but both funds saw similarly steep drawdowns QLD leans more heavily into technology and Nasdaq-100 names, while SPXL offers broader S&P 500 exposure 10 stocks we like better than ProShares Trust - ProShares Ultra Qqq › Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bull 3X Shares (NYSEMKT:SPXL) and ProShares - Ultra QQQ (NYSEMKT:QLD) both offer daily leveraged exposure to large-cap U.S. stocks, but differ in cost, sector tilts, and long-term performance, QLD focusing on the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 and SPXL tracking the broader S&P 500. SPXL and QLD both use leverage to amplify daily returns, but their index focus creates distinct risk and return profiles. SPXL offers triple exposure to the S&P 500, while QLD provides double exposure to the Nasdaq-100. This comparison highlights their key differences in cost, holdings, risk, and performance. Snapshot (cost & size) Metric SPXL QLD Issuer Direxion ProShares Expense ratio 0.87% 0.98% 1-yr return (as of 2026-02-06) 24.02% 19.81% Dividend yield 0.67% 0.16% AUM $5.7 billion $10.75 billion Beta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year weekly returns. The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months. SPXL is marginally more affordable on fees, with a 0.87% expense ratio compared to QLD’s 0.98%. SPXL also offers a higher yield at 0.67%, whereas QLD yields just 0.16%—a meaningful gap for yield-focused investors. Performance & risk comparison Metric SPXL QLD Max drawdown (5 y) -63.84% -63.78% Growth of $1,000 over 5 years $2,785 $2,128 What's inside QLD delivers 2x daily leverage to the Nasdaq-100, resulting in a portfolio that is 53% technology, 17% communication services, and 13% consumer cyclical stocks, spread across 121 holdings. Top positions include Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) at 7.08%, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) at 6.83%, and Microsoft Co...
As the saying goes, there are many possible reasons for an insider to sell a stock, but only one reason to buy -- they expect to make money. So let's look at two noteworthy recent insider buys. On Thursday, Atlanta Braves Holdings', John C. Malone, made a $1.72M buy of BATRA, purchasing 38,669 shares at a cost of $44.60 a piece. Investors can pick up BATRA even cheaper than Malone did, with shares...
As the saying goes, there are many possible reasons for an insider to sell a stock, but only one reason to buy -- they expect to make money. So let's look at two noteworthy recent insider buys. On Thursday, Atlanta Braves Holdings', John C. Malone, made a $1.72M buy of BATRA, purchasing 38,669 shares at a cost of $44.60 a piece. Investors can pick up BATRA even cheaper than Malone did, with shares trading as low as $43.04 at last check today which is 3.5% below Malone's purchase price. Atlanta Braves Holdings Inc - Series A is trading up about 1% on the day Monday. Before this latest buy, Malone purchased BATRA on 11 other occasions during the past year, for a total investment of $11.25M at an average of $41.53 per share. And at Amphenol, there was insider buying on Thursday, by Director Robert Livingston who bought 10,000 shares for a cost of $128.51 each, for a trade totaling $1.29M. This purchase marks the first one filed by Livingston in the past twelve months. Amphenol Corp. is trading up about 5.6% on the day Monday. So far Livingston is in the green, up about 12.5% on their purchase based on today's trading high of $144.53. VIDEO: Monday 2/9 Insider Buying Report: BATRA, APH The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.