A herd of PayPal (PYPL) investors is sprinting for the exit, but the math suggests they might be running away from a fortune. "People will be puking in the hole this morning, and guess who will be buying it in the next few days?" Great Hill Capital chair Thomas Hayes said on Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid. "After the blackout period ends, the weak sisters will be selling, PayPal will be buying, and t...
A herd of PayPal (PYPL) investors is sprinting for the exit, but the math suggests they might be running away from a fortune. "People will be puking in the hole this morning, and guess who will be buying it in the next few days?" Great Hill Capital chair Thomas Hayes said on Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid. "After the blackout period ends, the weak sisters will be selling, PayPal will be buying, and the story will go on." While the market blinked twice at PayPal's latest guidance, Hayes argued that the visceral reaction from spooked retail investors is actually a massive buy signal. For those willing to ignore the noise, the numbers show a cash-generating machine that is effectively buying itself back at a discount. The biggest catalyst for this shift is a change in the corner office. PayPal announced Tuesday the appointment of Enrique Lores, the veteran chief executive from HP (HPQ), to lead the turnaround. In an interview, Lores noted his immediate focus would be to "improve momentum" while making "progress on initiatives" already in place. Hayes noted that the firm was a "little surprised" at the appointment of Lores, but the long-term prospects are promising. While skepticism looms around PayPal's perceived lack of cool new products, Hayes points to a boring but highly profitable playbook that Lores mastered at HP. Under Lores, HP used aggressive stock buybacks to make remaining shares more valuable rather than inventing a new flashy gadget. By cutting the share count in half, HP made every remaining share twice as valuable. Hayes believes PayPal's new leadership is about to run that same play. While panicked investors sell, the company can use its extra cash to swallow its stock while it's cheap. "Enrique Lores is going to spike the football," Hayes said. PayPal is churning out $6 billion of free cash flow annually and plans to spend nearly all of it buying back shares. At today's prices, PayPal could retire 15% of the entire company in just the next 12 months. Pay...
Sean Gallup/Getty Images News Alphabet’s ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) 2026 outlook and capital spending plans will be in sharp focus as the tech giant reports Q4 earnings on Wednesday, February 4, after the market close. Wall Street is forecasting EPS of $2.64 on revenue of $111.48B, representing 15.5% Y/Y growth. Estimate trends have turned increasingly positive heading into the release. Over the past thre...
Sean Gallup/Getty Images News Alphabet’s ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) 2026 outlook and capital spending plans will be in sharp focus as the tech giant reports Q4 earnings on Wednesday, February 4, after the market close. Wall Street is forecasting EPS of $2.64 on revenue of $111.48B, representing 15.5% Y/Y growth. Estimate trends have turned increasingly positive heading into the release. Over the past three months, EPS forecasts have seen 16 upward revisions against just three downward, while revenue expectations have strengthened further, with 22 upward revisions and only two cuts—signaling improving sentiment around Alphabet’s quarterly performance. The company’s Q3 results set a strong backdrop, delivering a solid beat on both earnings and revenue, with sales topping $100B for the first time, led by double-digit sales gains almost across the board. Cost discipline also stood out, driving a 33% jump in net income to just under $35B. As with all big-tech and AI-adjacent names in 2025, investor eyes will be on the company's updates of capital expenditures, now largely a proxy for spending on artificial intelligence. "With the growth across our business and demand from Cloud customers, we now expect 2025 capital expenditures to be in a range of $91 billion to $93 billion," the company said in October. The Google parent has jumped 68.8% over the past year, largely outperforming the broader market. “In the face of AI uncertainty, Alphabet ( GOOG ) may be in the most prominent position in terms of growth catalysts given advancements made in Gemini AI and accretive growth for Google Cloud. With the expectation of momentum to continue for Google Cloud margin expansion in eQ4 2025, I believe Alphabet may exceed market expectations and realize continued share growth despite the relatively high trading premium when compared to peer hyperscalers,” SA analyst Michael Del Monte said . Wall Street remains firmly bullish, maintaining Strong Buy ratings with an average PT of $336.57. Seeki...
Explore how portfolio diversification and sector focus set these leveraged tech ETFs apart for risk-conscious investors. The Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares (SOXL 10.84%) and ProShares - Ultra QQQ (QLD 4.18%) both offer leveraged exposure to U.S. technology themes, but SOXL delivers triple daily leverage to semiconductors while QLD targets double daily leverage to a broader NASDAQ-100 ...
Explore how portfolio diversification and sector focus set these leveraged tech ETFs apart for risk-conscious investors. The Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares (SOXL 10.84%) and ProShares - Ultra QQQ (QLD 4.18%) both offer leveraged exposure to U.S. technology themes, but SOXL delivers triple daily leverage to semiconductors while QLD targets double daily leverage to a broader NASDAQ-100 mix. Both SOXL and QLD cater to investors seeking amplified returns from leading technology stocks, but their approaches diverge sharply. SOXL is a pure semiconductor play with three times daily leverage, while QLD offers two times daily leverage to a more diversified set of technology, communication services, and consumer cyclical companies. This comparison explores their costs, risk profiles, sector tilts, and portfolio concentration to help clarify which may appeal depending on an investor’s risk appetite and market outlook. Snapshot (cost & size) Metric SOXL QLD Issuer Direxion ProShares Expense ratio 0.75% 0.95% 1-yr return (as of 2026-01-30) 127.6% 27.6% Dividend yield 0.34% 0.17% Beta 5.36 2.34 AUM $12.68 billion $10.7 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. SOXL is slightly more affordable on expenses, but both funds charge close to one percent annually. Dividend yields are identical and minimal, so cost differences are modest and unlikely to drive most decisions. Performance & risk comparison Metric SOXL QLD Max drawdown (5 y) (90.51%) (63.78%) Growth of $1,000 over 5 years $1,654 $2,370 SOXL’s triple leverage results in dramatic swings, with a five-year max drawdown exceeding 90%, compared to QLD’s 64%. Despite higher recent one-year returns, SOXL’s long-term compounding lagged QLD, which grew an initial $1,000 to $2,370 over five years. What's inside QLD seeks to double the daily performance of the NASDAQ-100, resulting in...
A group of banks led by Deutsche Bank AG has been unable to sell about $1.2 billion of loans backing the acquisition of a software provider — the latest casualty of investor fears surrounding disruption from artificial intelligence. Deutsche Bank told prospective creditors that the group will instead fund Conga Corp .’s acquisition of PROS Holdings ’ B2B unit with a $625 million term loan, accordi...
A group of banks led by Deutsche Bank AG has been unable to sell about $1.2 billion of loans backing the acquisition of a software provider — the latest casualty of investor fears surrounding disruption from artificial intelligence. Deutsche Bank told prospective creditors that the group will instead fund Conga Corp .’s acquisition of PROS Holdings ’ B2B unit with a $625 million term loan, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The group was also due to refinance a $540 million loan maturing in 2028, which will now remain outstanding, the German bank told investors. Deutsche Bank had struggled to generate interest in the debt amid deepening anxiety over exposure to a sector currently being upended by AI. Conga, which is backed by private equity firm Thoma Bravo LLC , provides document automation software for businesses. Many such SaaS — or software-as-a-service — companies are seen as particularly vulnerable because AI models are increasingly capable of writing code and analyzing data, tasks they typically handle. A representative for Thoma Bravo declined to comment. Representatives for Deutsche Bank didn’t have an immediate comment while Conga didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Deutsche Bank launched the debt for Conga last month, offering a $1.17 billion loan at an interest rate of 4 percentage points over the benchmark rate and at a discount between 97.5 cents to 98 cents on the dollar. The bank told investors in its note that the acquisition was expected to close on Monday and that it will continue to try and sell the debt. Failure to sell committed debt to third-party investors before an acquisition closes leaves banks stuck with those borrowings on their balance sheet. When so-called hung debt piles up, it means less capacity for lenders to underwrite future loans. The risk of AI disruption has weighed on credit markets globally. Shares of business development companies — whi...
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan on Tuesday said the company plans to build graphics processing units (GPUs), the category of chip popularized by Nvidia. Speaking at an artificial intelligence conference in San Francisco hosted by Cisco Systems, Tan said the company has already hired an executive to lead the GPU effort. "I just hired the chief GPU architect, and he's ...
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan on Tuesday said the company plans to build graphics processing units (GPUs), the category of chip popularized by Nvidia. Speaking at an artificial intelligence conference in San Francisco hosted by Cisco Systems, Tan said the company has already hired an executive to lead the GPU effort. "I just hired the chief GPU architect, and he's very good. I'm very delighted he joined me, and it takes some persuasion," Tan said. (Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco, writing by Stephen Nellis, editing by Chris Reese)
Getty Images Thesis : The U.S.-India trade deal should buoy markets and could help pave the way for peace in Europe if Russia loses one of its most crucial revenue streams. The global economy has remained strong in spite of the trade war and other issues, but every such deal reached should provide additional tailwinds. Further, despite the Trump Administration's bellicose approach to relations, In...
Getty Images Thesis : The U.S.-India trade deal should buoy markets and could help pave the way for peace in Europe if Russia loses one of its most crucial revenue streams. The global economy has remained strong in spite of the trade war and other issues, but every such deal reached should provide additional tailwinds. Further, despite the Trump Administration's bellicose approach to relations, India agreeing to drop Russia's oil illustrates just how attractive America's markets and consumer base are. Context and Considerations Let’s give credit where credit is due: Getting India to drop Russian oil could prove to be a major breakthrough that leads to the Ukraine war freezing in its currently iced steps and could help sustain the long bull run investors have been enjoying. Of course, actually implementing such a deal could prove difficult, and either party could start to dig in or try to skirt around obligations. Ultimately, tomorrow’s history will determine whether the deal itself is a success, but regardless, Russia will feel pressure, Venezuela’s oil may suddenly be significantly more attractive, and increasing prospects of peace in Eastern Europe and amid the global trade war could bolster investor sentiments. Investors investing in America, especially, should feel good about this agreement. The United States’ position atop the global economy and world order has come under question, with increasing efforts by various countries to reduce dependence on America potentially eroding investor confidence. Ultimately, India, home to the world’s 5th largest economy, seems to have decided that access to American markets is more attractive than cheap Russian oil. This illustrates that even if a particular country may be disinclined to give in to Washington’s demands, America remains too tempting an opportunity. World Bank India has a long-standing, warm relationship with Russia (and formerly, the USSR as well). Admittedly, much of the relationship centered around geopoliti...
The past year has shown that the Magnificent 7, as the best stock bets to own, was overhyped. Case in point: Amazon (AMZN). Its stock has gained about 2% over the past year, at the time of writing, Tuesday morning, Feb. 3, according to Yahoo Finance. Meanwhile, the SPDR S&P 500 index (SPY) is ...
The past year has shown that the Magnificent 7, as the best stock bets to own, was overhyped. Case in point: Amazon (AMZN). Its stock has gained about 2% over the past year, at the time of writing, Tuesday morning, Feb. 3, according to Yahoo Finance. Meanwhile, the SPDR S&P 500 index (SPY) is ...
iQoncept/iStock via Getty Images As earnings season ramps up and geopolitical tensions keep affecting the markets, b elow is a list of the consumer discretionary sector stocks that are regarded as pricey with halting momentum according to SA grading system. Each of these stocks is listed according to the lowest momentum grade along with their valuation grade. The list is topped by Allurion Technol...
iQoncept/iStock via Getty Images As earnings season ramps up and geopolitical tensions keep affecting the markets, b elow is a list of the consumer discretionary sector stocks that are regarded as pricey with halting momentum according to SA grading system. Each of these stocks is listed according to the lowest momentum grade along with their valuation grade. The list is topped by Allurion Technologies ( ALUR ), with a momentum grade of F and valuation grade of C. Duolingo, ( DUOL ) and Lucid Group ( LCID ) are next, with Sweetgreen ( SG ) and Venu Holding ( VENU ) rounding out the rest of the top five. Bright Horizons Family Solutions ( BFAM ), DraftKings ( DKNG ) and Faraday Future Intelligent Electric ( FFAI ) are among the top ranked stocks as well. Momentum and valuation grades are assigned on a scale from A+ to F. For momentum, F represents the lowest momentum, indicating stocks with the weakest price performance trends. For valuation, F indicates the most overvalued (priciest) stocks while A+ indicates the most undervalued. Here is the list: Allurion Technologies ( ALUR ), Momentum: F, Valuation: C Duolingo ( DUOL ), Momentum: F, Valuation: D- Lucid Group ( LCID ), Momentum: F, Valuation: C- Sweetgreen ( SG ), Momentum: F, Valuation: D+ Venu Holding ( VENU ), Momentum: F, Valuation: C- Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. ( BFAM ), Momentum: D-, Valuation: D+ DraftKings Inc. ( DKNG ), Momentum: D-, Valuation: D- Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. ( FFAI ), Momentum: D-, Valuation: D Full House Resorts, Inc. ( FLL ), Momentum: D-, Valuation: C Groupon, Inc. ( GRPN ), Momentum: D-, Valuation: D- Consumer Discretionary ETFs: ( XLY ), ( VCR ), ( FXD ), ( FDIS ), ( RSPD ), and ( RXI ) More on consumer discretionary stocks RSPD: Consumer Discretionary Dashboard For January Where To Find Outperformance In 2026 My S&P 500 Prediction On Sector Outperformers And Laggards In 2026 Cheap high flyer consumer discretionary stocks - high momentum and low valuation Wor...
The US military on Tuesday shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively” approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, the US military said. The Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying towards the carrier “with unclear intent” and was shot down by an F-35 US fighter jet, it said. “An F-35C fighter jet from Abraham Lincoln shot down the Iranian drone in self-defence and to pro...
The US military on Tuesday shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively” approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, the US military said. The Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying towards the carrier “with unclear intent” and was shot down by an F-35 US fighter jet, it said. “An F-35C fighter jet from Abraham Lincoln shot down the Iranian drone in self-defence and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board,” said Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesman at the US military’s Central Command. Advertisement No American service members were harmed during the incident and no US equipment was damaged, he added. An F-35C Lightning II makes an arrested landing on the flight deck of the Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea on Wednesday. Photo: US Navy via EPA The incident came as diplomats sought to arrange nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, and US President Donald Trump warned that with US warships heading towards Iran, “bad things” would probably happen if a deal could not be reached.
Key Points XRP is the native token of the XRP ledger, an innovative solution for cross-border transactions. Disrupting the entrenched advantages of the SWIFT network is a herculean task. While XRP has promise, investors should keep their expectations grounded. 10 stocks we like better than XRP › The cryptocurrency market has been on a slide in recent weeks as investors move away from riskier asset...
Key Points XRP is the native token of the XRP ledger, an innovative solution for cross-border transactions. Disrupting the entrenched advantages of the SWIFT network is a herculean task. While XRP has promise, investors should keep their expectations grounded. 10 stocks we like better than XRP › The cryptocurrency market has been on a slide in recent weeks as investors move away from riskier assets. XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) has now declined to below where it traded before the news that its creator, Ripple Labs, had resolved its long-standing lawsuit with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. XRP remains one of the largest cryptocurrencies, with a fully diluted market value of $162 billion. It's the native token of the XRP ledger, enabling quicker, cheaper cross-border transactions. 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 » Despite XRP's price sitting more than 50% below its all-time high, the token price has risen by more than 10,600% since 2015. Is this exciting token still a potential millionaire maker? The pitch is a good one In an increasingly digital world and economy, there is an incentive to develop more innovative and efficient ways to move money. That's what Ripple Labs had in mind when it created the XRP ledger, a decentralized blockchain network for cross-border transactions. The vast majority of cross-border transactions currently use SWIFT, a global messaging network between the world's banks and institutions. Transactions incur hefty fees, and settlement can take hours to days. The fees on the XRP ledger depend on network traffic, but are generally minuscule relative to SWIFT, and settlement can occur in a few seconds. In addition to its technological advantages, XRP is seeing increased demand from individual and institutional investors. Several spot XRP exchange-traded funds have launched, holding XRP on behalf of investors and giving people a way to invest in t...
Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) has been on a roll. Quarter after quarter, this tech company has reported soaring revenue and profit -- and has offered investors evidence of ongoing high demand. The company sells software systems that allow customers to easily harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to address their needs. With companies eager to get in on this promising technology,...
Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) has been on a roll. Quarter after quarter, this tech company has reported soaring revenue and profit -- and has offered investors evidence of ongoing high demand. The company sells software systems that allow customers to easily harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to address their needs. With companies eager to get in on this promising technology, it's no surprise that they like what Palantir has to offer. All of this has translated into explosive stock gains, too, with the shares advancing a mind-boggling 1,500% over three years. Though this sounds like the perfect investment story, Palantir has faced one problem over the past few years, and that's a surging valuation. It's discouraged some investors from buying and prompted caution from certain analysts, too. Still, the company's earnings picture remains bright, with growth marching on. Palantir started this week off with a bang, delivering yet another blowout report. Against this backdrop, should you still worry about valuation -- or is it time to buy Palantir? Let's find out. Continue reading