RerF/iStock via Getty Images Investment Approach Fidelity® Select Technology Portfolio is a sector-based, equity-focused strategy that seeks to outperform its benchmark through active management. We believe the value of technology stocks is in large part determined by the companies' future potential to generate earnings and cash flow. Our investment framework also focuses on identifying themes tha...
RerF/iStock via Getty Images Investment Approach Fidelity® Select Technology Portfolio is a sector-based, equity-focused strategy that seeks to outperform its benchmark through active management. We believe the value of technology stocks is in large part determined by the companies' future potential to generate earnings and cash flow. Our investment framework also focuses on identifying themes that impact the largest end markets, determining potential winners/losers, and how certain companies that are technology disruptors can impact incumbents. The technology sector is a very specialized part of the market, and our experience allows for proficiency in specific domains, aiding in recognizing investment opportunities when they arise. Through bottom-up research and by leveraging Fidelity's vast expertise - in addition to insights from industry experts, technologists, suppliers and competitors - we develop a differentiated view on the fundamentals in seeking to identify companies with compelling risk/reward profiles. Sector strategies could be used by investors as alternatives to individual stocks for either tactical or strategic allocation purposes. Market Review For the first quarter of 2026, the information technology sector returned -7.28%, according to the MSCI U.S. IMI Information Technology 25/50 Index, versus -4.33% for the broad-based S&P 500 index. Growth areas of the market, including technology, lagged value as concern about the viability of artificial intelligence-related investments began to surface and conflict in the Middle East took center stage in late February, sapping a stock market that entered 2026 with positive momentum. The Iran war sent a shockwave through oil markets, with the potential to dampen growth and stoke inflation. As a result, information technology finished with the ninth-best performance among the 11 sectors in the bellwether S&P 500® index. Within the MSCI sector index, the semiconductor materials & equipment group (+31%) stood ou...
European stocks fell after erasing earlier gains late in the trading session, tracking losses in US peers, with noticeable sector rotation. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index retreated 0.5% by the close after gaining as much as 0.9%. There was profit taking on this year’s winning thematics such as energy, mining, telecoms and technology stocks. By contrast, chemicals, food and retail stocks outperformed. ...
European stocks fell after erasing earlier gains late in the trading session, tracking losses in US peers, with noticeable sector rotation. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index retreated 0.5% by the close after gaining as much as 0.9%. There was profit taking on this year’s winning thematics such as energy, mining, telecoms and technology stocks. By contrast, chemicals, food and retail stocks outperformed. In the telecom sector, Ericsson AB and Nokia Oyj tumbled 6.3% and 7%, respectively, on reports of possible competition from Nvidia Corp. on telecom chips. In other stock moves, Unipol Assicurazioni SpA shares advanced 4.7% on expectations the insurer would acquire the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA brand and certain assets if Intesa Sanpaolo SpA’s offer for the lender is successful. A day before Intesa’s offer, Banco BPM SpA already pitched a merger of equals with Paschi, without giving a price. Paschi gained 2.6% on Tuesday, with Intesa up 0.9% and Banco BPM rising 1.5%. Read more: Intesa’s Messina Braces for Bidding War Over Monte Paschi The healthcare sector was also in focus. GSK Plc retreated 0.5% after the pharmaceutical firm agreed to buy Nuvalent Inc. in a deal valued at $10.6 billion. AstraZeneca Plc fell 1.2% after its experimental obesity pill delivered 11.8% weight loss in a mid-stage trial. The Middle East conflict remains top of mind, with Brent crude falling to about $90 a barrel after US President Donald Trump renewed his claims of momentum toward ending the war with Iran. Any progress in negotiations will be a positive for Europe ahead of the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday, where policy makers are expected to hike interest rates. “European equity markets benefit from improving risk sentiment globally in addition to M&A talk in the Italian banking sector,” said Wolf Von Rotberg , equity strategist at Bank J Safra Sarasin. “This comes after a period of sustained underperformance in financials over recent months.” For more on equity markets: Sh...
US president says negotiations are in ‘final throes’ and there were no ‘sticking points’ to prevent an agreement being reached Israel and Iran step back from renewed conflict after Trump calls for halt Complex relationship between Trump and Netanyahu continues to undermine Middle East ceasefire The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, has issued the latest forced evacuation...
US president says negotiations are in ‘final throes’ and there were no ‘sticking points’ to prevent an agreement being reached Israel and Iran step back from renewed conflict after Trump calls for halt Complex relationship between Trump and Netanyahu continues to undermine Middle East ceasefire The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, has issued the latest forced evacuation order for residents of Tyre, Lebanon’s fifth biggest city, ahead of attacks. “Urgent warning to the residents of the city of Tyre, including the Christian quarter, and the camps and surrounding neighbourhoods,” he wrote, urging residents in the southern Lebanese city to “evacuate immediately” and “move north beyond the Zahrani river”. Continue reading...
damedeeso/iStock via Getty Images Overview When I previously covered Hercules Capital ( HTGC ) several quarters ago, I issued a buy rating because of its attractive valuation and portfolio resilience. Since then, we've seen the BDC market continue to deteriorate, and it is becoming more challenging to get a proper read on the sector. Despite the challenges, I believe that HTGC is still one of the ...
damedeeso/iStock via Getty Images Overview When I previously covered Hercules Capital ( HTGC ) several quarters ago, I issued a buy rating because of its attractive valuation and portfolio resilience. Since then, we've seen the BDC market continue to deteriorate, and it is becoming more challenging to get a proper read on the sector. Despite the challenges, I believe that HTGC is still one of the BDCs that are structured to navigate headwinds and provide investors with a secure source of dividend income. Historically, it has been difficult to accumulate shares of HTGC at an attractive valuation. I believe that this most recent pullback has finally given us an opportunity. For instance, HTGC now trades at a premium to NAV of 28.4%. While this seems like a large premium to pay, HTGC has historically traded at a much higher premium to NAV valuation. The large premium is generally a reflection of the market's confidence around HTGC's ability to provide strong earnings over time. For instance, HTGC has traded at an average premium to NAV of 49.36% over the last five years. So referring to the red line below, we can see that HTGC sits at one of the most attractive entry points over the last five years. CEFData.com HTGC now offers investors a starting dividend yield of about 12.3% while issuing those payouts on a quarterly basis. After reviewing the results of the last earnings report, I believe that HTGC's dividend remains well secured by net investment income. Furthermore, management has done a great job at prioritizing new investment activity and aligning the portfolio for future growth. The dividend is well supported by earnings, and non-accruals remain extremely low compared to peers. Q1 Results According to the latest portfolio overview , HTGC now has total investments at a fair value of $4.7B that are spread across a diverse range of debt securities. What I like most about HTGC's structure is that the portfolio leans most heavily on senior secured first lien debt po...
MattGush Waymo ( WAYMO ) has acquired a 5,500-acre autonomous vehicle testing facility in Wittmann, Arizona, from Route 14 Investment Partners, a Delaware entity linked to Apple ( AAPL ), according to property records filed in Maricopa County. The Alphabet-owned self-driving company paid $220M for the proving ground, with the transaction recorded on June 5. Waymo confirmed the acquisition to TechC...
MattGush Waymo ( WAYMO ) has acquired a 5,500-acre autonomous vehicle testing facility in Wittmann, Arizona, from Route 14 Investment Partners, a Delaware entity linked to Apple ( AAPL ), according to property records filed in Maricopa County. The Alphabet-owned self-driving company paid $220M for the proving ground, with the transaction recorded on June 5. Waymo confirmed the acquisition to TechCrunch . The site significantly expands Waymo's testing capabilities and includes a 115-acre urban driving course, a 35-acre vehicle dynamics area, a four-mile high-speed oval track, and a freeway course designed specifically for autonomous vehicle testing A Waymo spokesperson told TechCrunch the facility will be used to simulate driving scenarios in a controlled environment to continuously test and improve the performance of its self-driving system. The Arizona proving ground becomes the largest closed-course testing site in Waymo's network, complementing existing facilities such as Castle Proving Ground in California and the Transportation Research Center in Ohio. Apple acquired the property for $125M in 2021 after leasing the site for years as part of its now-defunct electric car project, known as Project Titan. The facility had previously been used as a test facility for Fiat Chrysler. The acquisition comes as Waymo continues to expand its commercial robotaxi operations in Phoenix and Maricopa County. The company began testing autonomous vehicles in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler in 2017 and has since expanded its services to more than ten U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Austin, and Atlanta. More on Waymo LLC, Apple Apple: The Wait Was Worth It Wall Street Brunch: SpaceX IPO, WWDC And CPI Apple Reaps AI Benefits Without Capex Burden (Rating Upgrade) Apple begins Siri AI monetization push with iCloud+ subscription Schwab Trading Activity Index rebounds in May
The $31 trillion Treasury market has an unequivocal message for Kevin Warsh ’s Federal Reserve: Interest rates aren’t high enough. Yields on policy-sensitive US two-year notes have surged to their highest level in more than a year after a trove of economic data led traders to price in at least one quarter-point rate hike as soon as October. At around 4.15%, the two-year yield trades well above the...
The $31 trillion Treasury market has an unequivocal message for Kevin Warsh ’s Federal Reserve: Interest rates aren’t high enough. Yields on policy-sensitive US two-year notes have surged to their highest level in more than a year after a trove of economic data led traders to price in at least one quarter-point rate hike as soon as October. At around 4.15%, the two-year yield trades well above the Fed’s current policy band of 3.5% to 3.75%, a divergence that began in March. The reset upwards only intensified last week after the latest read on job growth topped all forecasts, reinforcing a growing conviction that rates need to rise in order to rein in inflation pressures and temper the risk of an AI-induced boom overheating the economy. Reports due later this week on consumer and wholesale prices in May are expected to provide further validation of the narrative. “Show me where rates are being restrictive,” said Jack McIntyre , portfolio manager at Brandywine Global Investment Management. “Treasury yields are going to be biased higher until something breaks.” The rise in US yields has extended across the entire Treasury curve, creating a charged backdrop for Fed policymakers and their new chairman, Kevin Warsh , who helms his first meeting and press conference next week. Having advocated the case for easing rates based on the view that policy was restrictive, Warsh now faces a bond market increasingly concerned the Fed may be getting behind the curve, and a number of central bankers who are also worried about inflation and don’t rule out rate hikes in the future. Brandywine’s McIntyre said his firm remains underweight interest-rate exposure in the US and doesn’t see super-compelling value in bonds, given the economy’s resilience. Others see the economy at risk of going into over-drive. “For the first time in a while, we are considering a scenario where the US economy actually starts overheating,” said Andrzej Skiba , head of BlueBay US fixed income at RBC Global Asse...
Google Met Top German Govt Officials Many Times To Discuss Online "Hate Speech" And "Disinformation" Authored by John Rosenthal via DailySceptic.org, Data provided in a German Government response to a parliamentary question on online censorship show that Google met with top German government officials dozens of times between early 2022 and spring 2024 to discuss suppression of online “hate speech”...
Google Met Top German Govt Officials Many Times To Discuss Online "Hate Speech" And "Disinformation" Authored by John Rosenthal via DailySceptic.org, Data provided in a German Government response to a parliamentary question on online censorship show that Google met with top German government officials dozens of times between early 2022 and spring 2024 to discuss suppression of online “hate speech” and “disinformation”. Major online platforms and search engines (X, Facebook, TikTok, Google, etc.) are required to take measures to suppress “illegal hate speech” – i.e., illegal per the standard of European laws – and allegedly harmful “disinformation” under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). As shown in the US House Judiciary Committee’s recent report on European censorship of the internet , the tech companies are in constant contact with EU officials on DSA “enforcement”. But the German Government’s parliamentary response shows that there have been regular and extensive contacts with the German Government on these subjects as well – and that by far the most frequent such contacts have been with Google. The DSA creates censorship prerogatives not just for the EU as such, but also for EU member states, and Germany is known to make particularly ample use of these prerogatives. It is indeed national “speech laws”, of which Germany has the strictest in Europe, that platforms are required to enforce under the DSA. The revelations are relevant not just to Germans, but also to Americans, British and indeed the world, because DSA enforcement is neither territorially nor linguistically limited. It applies to all speech in any language from any source anywhere in the world: i.e., so long as it is visible via the internet in the European Union. Online platforms may choose to comply by geo-blocking certain content – in particular, alleged “hate speech” – just in the EU where it is illegal. But they also can and frequently do take the technologically simpler and less costly path o...
tadamichi/iStock via Getty Images Strategy overview The Voya Index Solution Portfolios Series is designed to specifically balance the evolving risk-return profiles of participants as they age to maximize the probability of a successful retirement. Key takeaways Global markets saw a resurgence of inflation and rate risk. A major Middle East conflict pushed oil and gas prices higher, heightening con...
tadamichi/iStock via Getty Images Strategy overview The Voya Index Solution Portfolios Series is designed to specifically balance the evolving risk-return profiles of participants as they age to maximize the probability of a successful retirement. Key takeaways Global markets saw a resurgence of inflation and rate risk. A major Middle East conflict pushed oil and gas prices higher, heightening concerns about supply-side pressures and reinforcing higher-for-longer rate expectations, with yields and spreads rising late in the quarter. In the U.S., equity markets struggled amid higher rates and geopolitical uncertainty, with pressure concentrated in mega cap stocks as moderating growth prompted a rotation towards more defensive areas of the market. Outside the U.S., equities generally faced headwinds from higher energy costs, geopolitical exposure, and region-specific growth challenges. The Portfolios posted negative absolute returns but positive relative returns for the period, outperforming their strategic allocation benchmarks on a gross- and net-of-fees basis. Market review Global markets became unsettled during the first quarter following the eruption of a major conflict in the Middle East. Disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz constrained energy supply and drove sharp increases in crude oil and broader commodity prices. These supply pressures lifted costs for gasoline, jet fuel, and fertilizers, prompting investors to reassess expectations for inflation, monetary policy, and overall market stability. Markets with greater reliance on energy imports experienced the most pronounced pressure, while defensive positioning provided only limited insulation. Late-March selling contributed to oversold conditions based on several short-term market sentiment indicators. You should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the variable product and its underlying fund options or mutual funds offered through a retirement plan carefully be...
British drugmaker’s new chief executive Luke Miels announces one of its biggest deals Business live – latest updates GSK’s new boss Luke Miels has struck one of the British drugmaker’s biggest deals, announcing the $10.6bn (£7.9bn) acquisition of a US cancer specialist with two-late stage medications. The FTSE 100 company is boosting its oncology portfolio by agreeing to buy Nuvalent, a Boston-bas...
British drugmaker’s new chief executive Luke Miels announces one of its biggest deals Business live – latest updates GSK’s new boss Luke Miels has struck one of the British drugmaker’s biggest deals, announcing the $10.6bn (£7.9bn) acquisition of a US cancer specialist with two-late stage medications. The FTSE 100 company is boosting its oncology portfolio by agreeing to buy Nuvalent, a Boston-based company that develops cancer drugs, including three for lung cancer. Continue reading...