The AI arms race has been rolling since ChatGPT landed in late 2022, and one quote from that era keeps coming back to me as I look at where Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) stand today. When author Sebastian Malaby visited DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis at the end of April 2023, Hassabis said: “This is ... DeepMind CEO Called It Wartime When ChatGPT Hit 100 Million Users and Google...
The AI arms race has been rolling since ChatGPT landed in late 2022, and one quote from that era keeps coming back to me as I look at where Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) stand today. When author Sebastian Malaby visited DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis at the end of April 2023, Hassabis said: “This is ... DeepMind CEO Called It Wartime When ChatGPT Hit 100 Million Users and Google Went All In
The European Union’s new digital border control system is set to be fully implemented from April 10, changing how the majority of member states handle the arrival of hundreds of millions of people every year. The long-delayed “Entry/Exit System,” which was originally scheduled to start in 2022, should ultimately replace the manual stamping of passports with automated registration and verification ...
The European Union’s new digital border control system is set to be fully implemented from April 10, changing how the majority of member states handle the arrival of hundreds of millions of people every year. The long-delayed “Entry/Exit System,” which was originally scheduled to start in 2022, should ultimately replace the manual stamping of passports with automated registration and verification of biometric data for most travelers from outside the EU. This is designed to improve security and eventually lead to shorter waiting times at passport control. However, many travelers have faced longer lines since the ESS started to be gradually rolled out from October. Airline, airport and port associations have warned that technical issues and staff shortages may lead to more passengers missing flights and more departures being delayed once the system goes fully live. The EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, has rejected calls to postpone the deadline until after the peak summer holiday season or even until 2027. Who’s required to use the new system? The EES applies to non-EU nationals who are admitted into the Schengen area for a maximum of 90 days in any 180-day period. The Schengen zone comprises 25 of the 27 EU countries — along with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland — where internal borders have been eliminated, enabling full freedom of movement. Cyprus and Ireland are the two EU members outside the Schengen area. The system covers both visa holders and travelers who don’t need a visa. Data including fingerprints, facial images and information from travel documents is collected on first entry to the bloc , either at self-service kiosks or by passport officers. Subsequent journeys within a three-year period only require verification of the biometric information stored in the system, which, in theory, will make for faster entry and exit checks. When the system is “operating well,” it only takes 70 seconds to register an entry or exit, according to...
A top Senate Republican is launching an inquiry into Meta Platforms Inc. , Amazon.com Inc., X.AI Corp., and five other major tech companies over concerns with their reporting on suspected cases of online child sexual exploitation. Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent letters Wednesday evening to the companies, which also included TikTok Inc. , Snap Inc. , Discord, Roblox Corp. , and...
A top Senate Republican is launching an inquiry into Meta Platforms Inc. , Amazon.com Inc., X.AI Corp., and five other major tech companies over concerns with their reporting on suspected cases of online child sexual exploitation. Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent letters Wednesday evening to the companies, which also included TikTok Inc. , Snap Inc. , Discord, Roblox Corp. , and Grindr, asking for more information about their efforts to improve reporting on child exploitation. “I am concerned that some companies have not provided NCMEC and law enforcement with sufficient data needed to protect kids and prosecute suspected predators,” Grassley said to the companies, referring to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. He asked the companies to respond by April 22. Rapid advancements in technology like artificial intelligence have contributed to an uptick in crimes on the internet affecting minors. Lawmakers are trying to address the issue by introducing proposals that seek to crack down on child sexual abuse material online, boost protections for victims, and hold offenders legally accountable. The Senate Judiciary Committee in February advanced three combined bills, led by Grassley and ranking member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), that aim to address growing threats of child sexual exploitation online. Grassley’s latest investigation follows new data from NCMEC that found companies failed to submit enough information on suspected child sexual exploitation cases. The data, shared with Grassley in response to his oversight requests, claimed issues with the companies’ reporting practices, such as failures to include information about the victim and suspect, and failures to disclose child sexual abuse material in AI training data. “Without this data, reports can be ‘unactionable by law enforcement, leaving children vulnerable to online sexual offenders and subjecting survivors of online exploitation to repeated revictimization,’” Grassley said ...
(RTTNews) - After coming under pressure early in the session, stocks have regained ground over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages have climbed well off their lows of the session, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 peeking above the unchanged line.
(RTTNews) - After coming under pressure early in the session, stocks have regained ground over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages have climbed well off their lows of the session, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 peeking above the unchanged line.
choochart choochaikupt/iStock via Getty Images Thesis Founded in 2017 with roots in Shanghai, China, ECARX Holdings Inc. ( ECX ) is a small-cap global tech company that primarily serves automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. ECARX specializes in creating "smart" vehicles, which include features such as large touchscreen displays, voice assistants, navigation systems, and additional applications tha...
choochart choochaikupt/iStock via Getty Images Thesis Founded in 2017 with roots in Shanghai, China, ECARX Holdings Inc. ( ECX ) is a small-cap global tech company that primarily serves automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. ECARX specializes in creating "smart" vehicles, which include features such as large touchscreen displays, voice assistants, navigation systems, and additional applications that allow vehicles to function like smartphones on wheels. ECARX has a significant international presence and is expanding its operations throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. Yesterday's gain basically put ECX in positive territory. (Seeking Alpha) Yesterday, ECX hit my radar after going up 14%. Let’s not get too excited, though, since this was just recently a penny stock, so that’s only $0.14. Nevertheless, being intrigued by the opportunity to get in “early” on a high-risk small-cap stock, which could generally mean amplified gains, and after going over a one-two punch of recent news via an acquisition plan and an audit of its 2025 full-year results, I’m inclined to buy the shares because the stock seems priced lower than what the company’s growth potential suggests. Its profit margins are getting better, spending is becoming more controlled, and its software plan could add significant upside if the company executes it well. ECARX Holdings: Improving, But Not Easy Seeking Alpha Revenue (2025): $847.9M (+10% YoY). Sales of Goods Revenue (Q4): $270M (+27% YoY). Services Revenue (Q4): $33M. Software License Revenue (Q4): $2M. Advanced platforms share of goods revenue: 74%. The earnings report tells us that revenue growth predominantly came from the product business, particularly computing platforms, while service and software licensing were weaker; therefore, it appears that we continue to see stronger product-market fit, but this isn't the only factor influencing ECX's results because hardware shipments are still largely dependent on their scheduled delivery and an imp...
It’s tough to find decent gaming laptops under $1,000. However, Best Buy has what I consider to be a good entry-level model for 1080p gaming in Lenovo’s 15.6-inch LOQ laptop , which is selling for $649.99 (usually $959.99) through today, April 9th. Even with its Nvidia’s RTX 4050 (its lowest-tier GPU of the series), the laptop is likely to be performant enough to play many titles at respectable fr...
It’s tough to find decent gaming laptops under $1,000. However, Best Buy has what I consider to be a good entry-level model for 1080p gaming in Lenovo’s 15.6-inch LOQ laptop , which is selling for $649.99 (usually $959.99) through today, April 9th. Even with its Nvidia’s RTX 4050 (its lowest-tier GPU of the series), the laptop is likely to be performant enough to play many titles at respectable frame rates if you adjust video settings per-game as needed. Lenovo LOQ 15.6-inch gaming laptop Where to Buy: $959.99 $649.99 at Best Buy A few things stand out to me about this laptop that make it worth considering. For one, I’ve always loved the typing experience of other Lenovo gaming laptops that I’ve used (impressively, this one stocks a full keyboard with a numpad). I also like that, despite being an entry-level machine, it has 16GB of speedy 4,800MHz DDR5 RAM, and you can go up to 32GB by opening up the chassis. Same goes for the SSD — it comes with a somewhat paltry 512GB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, but there are two slots, and each tops out at 1TB. A few other Verge -approved deals for you PC gamers into Destiny 2 can get every expansion for the free-to-play game in one of Humble’s bundles . The top-tier bundle is $28, and includes content dating back to the Forsaken and Shadowkeep expansions as well as newer expansions, like The Edge of Fate and The Final Shape . A fun perk in the $28 tier is a 25 percent off coupon for Marathon , Bungie’s latest game. It’s a punishing extraction first-person shooter for teams up to three players that Destiny fans might dig. If you have a Nintendo Switch 2 and are considering getting Resident Evil Requiem , Capcom’s latest entry in the franchise, here’s a deal to consider. The Resident Evil Generation Pack costs $89.99 at Amazon and Best Buy and includes Requiem , Resident Evil 7 , and Resident Evil Village . Nintendo stopped selling the bundle on its eShop in March, and now it sells those older games digitally for $29.99 and $39.99, res...
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said on Thursday that he represents a proud nation seeking to maintain global order, pushing back against the latest comments about the Arctic island by US President Donald Trump. Trump on Wednesday vented his frustration with Nato as relations reached a crisis point over the Iran war, stating that the military alliance was not around when needed, ...
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said on Thursday that he represents a proud nation seeking to maintain global order, pushing back against the latest comments about the Arctic island by US President Donald Trump. Trump on Wednesday vented his frustration with Nato as relations reached a crisis point over the Iran war, stating that the military alliance was not around when needed, and that he still remembered Greenland, a “BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE”. “What is important for...
TexBr Dhaval Joshi, chief strategist at BCA Research, has identified a specific market threshold that could determine the trajectory of the U.S.-Iran conflict: a 12%-15% combined drawdown in stocks and bonds. According to Joshi, this level represents U.S. President Donald Trump’s “breaking point” in both the current Iran conflict and last year’s tariff war. “The markets now stand 7% above this bre...
TexBr Dhaval Joshi, chief strategist at BCA Research, has identified a specific market threshold that could determine the trajectory of the U.S.-Iran conflict: a 12%-15% combined drawdown in stocks and bonds. According to Joshi, this level represents U.S. President Donald Trump’s “breaking point” in both the current Iran conflict and last year’s tariff war. “The markets now stand 7% above this breaking point,” the strategist noted, suggesting that a combined 7% selloff marks a good support level for the S&P 500 ( SP500 ) and the 20+ Year Treasury Bond fund ( TLT ). The strategist has framed Iran’s approach as deploying what he calls “General Stock Market” and “General Bond Market” as proxies for conventional warfare. “Iran doesn’t need to sink a single U.S. warship – it could inflict much more damage by sinking the U.S. stock and bond markets,” Joshi argued in his analysis. According to the strategist, this dynamic has created a pattern where every time an ultimatum for Iran nears, Trump has announced an “ultimatum extension” under market duress, only to later announce that insufficient progress has been made once markets recover. The BCA Research chief explained that there are diverging interests driving Trump’s sensitivity to both stock and bond markets. His supporters primarily cares about surging gasoline prices ( XB1:COM ), inflation, and mortgage rates—all reflected in bond market performance—while having limited stock exposure, he said. Meanwhile, Joshi noted that the U.S. economy has become “increasingly dependent on the spending of retired Baby Boomers,” whose wealth is tied to stock market performance. In addition, the volatile environment has left investors struggling to apply traditional frameworks. Joshi referenced research describing how markets have “fluctuate like meme-coins in a game of Trump Tweet-AP Headline pong.” Based on his analysis, if the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF ( TLT ) fell 2%, it would equate to S&P 500 ( SP500 ) support at 6,40...
The State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLI ) surged 4.3% in the first quarter of 2026, against the broader S&P 500 Index, which fell 4.6% over the same period. As companies prepare to report their results for the quarter gone by, Seeking Alpha provides a snapshot of how companies rank across key factors such as valuation, growth, profitability, momentum, and estimate revisions. Below...
The State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLI ) surged 4.3% in the first quarter of 2026, against the broader S&P 500 Index, which fell 4.6% over the same period. As companies prepare to report their results for the quarter gone by, Seeking Alpha provides a snapshot of how companies rank across key factors such as valuation, growth, profitability, momentum, and estimate revisions. Below is an overview of small-cap financial stocks with market capitalizations between $2B to $10B, highlighting those with the highest and lowest quant ratings ahead of Q1 2026 results. Top quant-rated companies, with a market capitalization between $2B to $10B: Vicor ( VICR ), Quant rating: Strong Buy 4.98 . Astronics ( ATRO ), Quant rating: Strong Buy 4.87 . Kennametal ( KMT ), Quant rating: Strong Buy 4.84 . AAR ( AIR ), Quant rating: Strong Buy 4.84 . Navios Maritime Partners L.P. Common Units ( NMM ), Quant rating: Strong Buy 4.82 . Bottom quant-rated companies, with a market capitalization between $2B to $10B Loar Holdings ( LOAR ) , Quant rating: Strong Sell 1.45 . Herc Holdings ( HRI ) , Quant rating: Strong Sell 1.45 . AeroVironment ( AVAV ) , Quant rating: Strong Sell 1.40 . NuScale Power ( SMR ) , Quant rating: Strong Sell 1.33 . Archer Aviation ( ACHR ) , Quant rating: Strong Sell 1.31 . More on State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF Finding The Opportunities After The Selloff And End Of The War Time Is Running Out The Middle East War: Let's Talk About U.S. Defense Stocks Industrial stocks hit fresh highs as ceasefire rally lifts infrastructure names Weekly ETF flows: Five of 11 sectors record outflows; energy sector leads inflows
ismagilov/iStock via Getty Images Introduction At the time of writing, stocks are up as investors assume the war with Iran is coming to an end. But in my opinion, I believe we will see more volatility as both sides will likely fail to come to an agreement. At least for the near term. Recent market volatility has been led by a higher sell-off in Technology ( XLK ) stocks. Year-to-date, Technology i...
ismagilov/iStock via Getty Images Introduction At the time of writing, stocks are up as investors assume the war with Iran is coming to an end. But in my opinion, I believe we will see more volatility as both sides will likely fail to come to an agreement. At least for the near term. Recent market volatility has been led by a higher sell-off in Technology ( XLK ) stocks. Year-to-date, Technology is down double digits, resulting in attractive entry points for related stocks. One ETF in particular I think is attractive after the brief correction is the Fidelity High Dividend ETF ( FDVV ). After the pullback, FDVV is now yielding over 3%. This improves the long-term setup, giving investors the potential to see higher returns, as AI spending will likely continue driving market returns for the foreseeable future. In this article, I discuss FDVV's strategy and why income investors should consider this ETF as a long-term core holding. Why Has FDVV Underperformed? As previously mentioned, Technology stocks have underperformed in recent months. After carrying the S&P ( SP500 ) to close to 17% returns last year, many well-known behemoths in the sector are down through the first 3 months. As a result, FDVV is down close to 4% at the time of writing. The tech-heavy Nasdaq ( NDAQ ) is down over 13%, while Vanguard's S&P 500 ETF ( VOO ) is down a little over 6%. Seeking Alpha The Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF ( SCHD ), an underperformer in 2025, has bounced back due to its concentration in the Energy ( XLE ) sector from the ongoing war. The fund is up close to 12% year-to-date. Portfolio Composition Technology makes up most of FDVV's portfolio at 24.05% and is a key reason for recent underperformance. But as shown, the fund has experienced less of a drawdown because of their portfolio balance. FDVV In my opinion, this is what makes FDVV a solid consideration for a long-term core holding. Besides the solid yield above 3%, FDVV has a well-balanced portfolio focused on growth and in...
Volatility has a way of making investors forget what they're actually trying to do. The goal isn't to predict what the market does next month. It's about owning pieces of good businesses that pay you to wait, and ideally pay you more over time. Consumer goods companies with good dividends have historically been the most reliable version of that idea. But within that category, there's a spectrum. S...
Volatility has a way of making investors forget what they're actually trying to do. The goal isn't to predict what the market does next month. It's about owning pieces of good businesses that pay you to wait, and ideally pay you more over time. Consumer goods companies with good dividends have historically been the most reliable version of that idea. But within that category, there's a spectrum. Some are obvious, over-owned, and priced accordingly. Others are sitting at compelling valuations with above-average yields, and nobody is writing about them. Here are three I'm looking at these days. Continue reading
Investing.com -- A Morgan Stanley survey of chief information officers points to a marginally better outlook for technology spending in 2026, though the overall picture remains cautious and increasingly uneven across categories.
Investing.com -- A Morgan Stanley survey of chief information officers points to a marginally better outlook for technology spending in 2026, though the overall picture remains cautious and increasingly uneven across categories.