Iran's top officials pushed back against President Trump's deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz, striking a defiant tone as the warring sides traded missile attacks. (Image credit: Ilia Yefimovich)
Iran's top officials pushed back against President Trump's deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz, striking a defiant tone as the warring sides traded missile attacks. (Image credit: Ilia Yefimovich)
sankai/iStock via Getty Images The last time I wrote on Novo Nordisk ( NVO ), it was with a Seeking Alpha article entitled " Novo Nordisk: CagriSema Sets Potential Obesity Drug Development Comeback ." With respect to this article, I mentioned that the company was gearing up to release results from its phase 3 REDEFINE-4 study, which was comparing the use of its fixed-dose combination of cagrilinti...
sankai/iStock via Getty Images The last time I wrote on Novo Nordisk ( NVO ), it was with a Seeking Alpha article entitled " Novo Nordisk: CagriSema Sets Potential Obesity Drug Development Comeback ." With respect to this article, I mentioned that the company was gearing up to release results from its phase 3 REDEFINE-4 study, which was comparing the use of its fixed-dose combination of cagrilintide 2.4 mg and semaglutide 2.4 mg [CagriSema] versus that of tirzepatide [Zepbound] from Eli Lilly ( LLY ) for the treatment of patients with obesity. The reason for my "buy" rating I gave at that time was because there was the possibility that the company could stage a comeback with this other obesity drug. Unfortunately, this was not the case, as the primary endpoint of achieving superior or non-inferior weight loss for CagriSema versus tirzepatide was not shown. I will be going over the clinical trial in detail below. With this setback, plus the fact that Novo continues to face stiff competition in the GLP-1 drug development space, these warrant a downgrade to a "Sell" rating. This is not the only reason, though, as there are several other reasons why. A second reason is because even though Novo Nordisk was able to achieve FDA approval of oral Wegovy as a weight loss treatment in December of 2025, it is still going to face competition from Eli Lilly yet again. Why is that? That's because several days ago the FDA approved an oral version of orforglipron, known as Foundayo, as a weight loss drug as well. While Novo touted that its oral version of Wegovy achieved greater weight loss than that of Foundayo, the issue is that it was not a head-to-head study but instead a cross-trial comparison for starters. The advantage for Novo is that the Wegovy pill also may have fewer side effects. While this is good, there is one advantage that Foundayo maintains, which is that it can be taken without food restrictions. It's possible that Novo might be able to compete with its oral GLP-1 ...
Circle Internet (NYSE: CRCL) stock posted strong gains in March's trading. The cryptocurrency company's share price managed to climb 14.3% in the month despite the S&P 500 declining 5.1% and the Nasdaq Composite declining 4.8%. Circle stock continued to move higher last month thanks to continued momentum from the encouraging earnings results it reported near the end of February. Relatively strong ...
Circle Internet (NYSE: CRCL) stock posted strong gains in March's trading. The cryptocurrency company's share price managed to climb 14.3% in the month despite the S&P 500 declining 5.1% and the Nasdaq Composite declining 4.8%. Circle stock continued to move higher last month thanks to continued momentum from the encouraging earnings results it reported near the end of February. Relatively strong performance for the price of Bitcoin in March also helped boost Circle's valuation. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
The S&P 500 has stumbled in recent weeks and even delivered a negative performance in the first quarter of the year as it dropped 4.6%. Many investors hesitated to buy stocks, and the reason is clear: They worried about elements that could disrupt growth, from the potential for weakness in the artificial intelligence (AI) revenue story to the war in Iran. All of this has created volatility, with t...
The S&P 500 has stumbled in recent weeks and even delivered a negative performance in the first quarter of the year as it dropped 4.6%. Many investors hesitated to buy stocks, and the reason is clear: They worried about elements that could disrupt growth, from the potential for weakness in the artificial intelligence (AI) revenue story to the war in Iran. All of this has created volatility, with the index swinging from gains to losses depending on the news of the day. And this movement, too, has weighed on the minds of investors. Amid the turmoil, one particular stock is sounding a warning bell for investors. This company is very well known and is a part of daily life for many. I'm talking about retail giant Walmart (NASDAQ: WMT) . Jim Paulsen, who retired as chief investment strategist at The Leuthold Group in 2022, continues to follow the market closely and recently highlighted this message from Walmart stock. Continue reading
'New Iranian Terror Group' Claims Responsibility For Attacks Across Europe A group that did not exist online or anywhere else before March 9, 2026, has suddenly claimed responsibility for a string of low-tech arson and attempted bombings at synagogues and US banks across Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and the UK. Police in Paris at the scene of the thwarted attack on the offices of Bank of Amer...
Dilok Klaisataporn/iStock via Getty Images By Jeff Blazek, CFA and Jeff Wyll Even if the U.S. ends its war with Iran in the next few weeks, it's uncertain whether the Strait of Hormuz will reopen in the near term, likely keeping oil prices elevated. We outline two key phases to assess where we go from here. Since our initial assessment last month of the risks to oil markets from the Iran conflict,...
Dilok Klaisataporn/iStock via Getty Images By Jeff Blazek, CFA and Jeff Wyll Even if the U.S. ends its war with Iran in the next few weeks, it's uncertain whether the Strait of Hormuz will reopen in the near term, likely keeping oil prices elevated. We outline two key phases to assess where we go from here. Since our initial assessment last month of the risks to oil markets from the Iran conflict, the situation has oscillated almost daily between escalation and de-escalation, whipsawing energy and risk markets. This was demonstrated in the space of 24 hours last week when reports that President Trump was looking for an off-ramp first becalmed markets—pushing the oil price below $100 and triggering a rally across global markets—before he warned of further escalation during his national TV address on Wednesday, sending markets in the opposite direction. Such volatility isn’t going away, and so long as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed, we expect the oil price to stay elevated, in turn carrying real economic implications. We estimate, for instance, that each incremental $10 added to oil prices represents roughly 0.1% of U.S. growth foregone, an aspect of the economic impact analysis we highlighted here last week. The situation clearly continues to be highly complex and fluid, and the gap between political rhetoric and physical oil flows is wide. In this context, we see the impacts unfolding across two distinct phases. Understanding where we sit between them is key to assessing what comes next. Phase 1: Destocking Global oil and product inventory levels were largely healthy coming into the conflict, and refiners will need to lean on these inventories to source crude while the Strait is effectively closed. This marks the destocking phase of the crisis, where everything that can be done to soften the supply loss is being done: workarounds, buffer zones, diplomatic levers, reserve releases. We think oil prices can remain in the ~$100 per barrel range during t...
The rescue of a missing American crew member after Iran shot down an F-15E fighter jet shows the United States’ “comprehensive capability” for carrying out high-risk rescue operations, according to Chinese analysts. On Sunday, United States President Donald Trump confirmed that the missing crew member – one of two on the fighter jet shot down over the southern part of Iran on Friday – had been res...
The rescue of a missing American crew member after Iran shot down an F-15E fighter jet shows the United States’ “comprehensive capability” for carrying out high-risk rescue operations, according to Chinese analysts. On Sunday, United States President Donald Trump confirmed that the missing crew member – one of two on the fighter jet shot down over the southern part of Iran on Friday – had been rescued amid the US-Israel war on Iran. Trump posted to social media that the US military had “pulled...
Stock index futures were higher on Monday as traders remained focused on developments in the Middle East, including the status of the Strait of Hormuz. Now, here are five news stories that broke overnight to watch out for: U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks advance: The U.S., Iran, and regional mediators are negotiating a potential 45-day ceasefire that could pave the way for ending the war, Axios reported...
Stock index futures were higher on Monday as traders remained focused on developments in the Middle East, including the status of the Strait of Hormuz. Now, here are five news stories that broke overnight to watch out for: U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks advance: The U.S., Iran, and regional mediators are negotiating a potential 45-day ceasefire that could pave the way for ending the war, Axios reported, citing four U.S., Israeli, and regional sources with knowledge of the talks. Discussions are centered on a two-phased deal, with the first phase being a 45-day ceasefire to allow further negotiations and the second phase being a deal to end the war. Trump issues ultimatum on the Strait of Hormuz: U.S. President Donald Trump has given Iran until 8 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, warning that failure to comply could trigger U.S. attacks on key infrastructure across the country. In a series of social media posts and interviews over the weekend, Trump escalated pressure on Tehran, signaling that power plants, bridges, and other critical facilities could be targeted if the waterway remains closed. The strait, a vital conduit for global oil shipments, has been largely shut since hostilities between the U.S., Israel, and Iran intensified more than a month ago. Iran allows Iraqi oil through the Strait of Hormuz: Iran has signaled a partial easing of restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz, allowing Iraqi oil shipments to pass through the vital corridor after weeks of disruption that rattled global energy markets, the Financial Times reported Sunday. An Iraqi tanker, the Ocean Thunder, successfully navigated the strait along Iran’s coastline over the weekend, carrying roughly 1 million barrels of Basrah Heavy crude, according to shipping data cited by the newspaper. The passage marks one of the clearest signs yet that Tehran may be selectively reopening the waterway. Global chip sales surge in February: Global semiconductor sales climbed to $88.8B in Februar...