Dougal Waters/DigitalVision via Getty Images An analogy I love to use about the insurance sector, since springtime is when many people go sailing or boating, is that an experienced skipper should anticipate the risk of potential storms or sudden wind changes before even leaving the harbor, which is calm water and often elusive. Allstate Corp. ( ALL ) is like that skipper and is ultimately in the b...
Dougal Waters/DigitalVision via Getty Images An analogy I love to use about the insurance sector, since springtime is when many people go sailing or boating, is that an experienced skipper should anticipate the risk of potential storms or sudden wind changes before even leaving the harbor, which is calm water and often elusive. Allstate Corp. ( ALL ) is like that skipper and is ultimately in the business of managing risk before it occurs. A property & casualty/P&C insurer around since the 1930s, according to its SA profile, it considerably beat its last 4 earnings estimates , which is impressive. Its stock is also up around +76% since I first recommended holding on to it in my Sept. 2023 article , and also up since my buy rating in May 2025 . In both cases, I was motivated by the dividend growth, strong credit ratings, and market share within the P&C niche. In this follow-up, nearly a year since my last, I preview this stock ahead of its late-April earnings call and consider additional angles I didn't before, combining both fundamental and technical analysis points. Thesis Summary After my updated research, for my 1-year anniversary coverage of this stock, I'm reaffirming my prior buy rating again, agreeing with the latest buy consensus (as of Thursday) from Wall St. and SA analysts. Although many fundamental and technical points about Allstate were driving more of a neutral view, what really helped move the needle just into bullish territory for me was growth of new insurance policies, an acceptable balance sheet risk profile, and a convincing dividend story. Allstate - rating worksheet (Author's Calculations) The above worksheet shows how my 8 rating categories contributed to the overall bullish score. Read on to see my actionable insights in each category. Macro & Sector Trends To start off, when considering the larger macro and sector environment, I gave this section a hold rating after considering cost inflation, stiff competition, and pricing pressure. While t...
Kevin Warsh, former governor of the US Federal Reserve, during the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Spring meetings at the IMF headquarters in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, April 25, 2025. Tierney L. Cross | Bloomberg | Getty Images The Senate Banking Committee will hold a nomination hearing on April 16 for Kevin Warsh to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve , a person familia...
Kevin Warsh, former governor of the US Federal Reserve, during the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Spring meetings at the IMF headquarters in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, April 25, 2025. Tierney L. Cross | Bloomberg | Getty Images The Senate Banking Committee will hold a nomination hearing on April 16 for Kevin Warsh to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve , a person familiar with the matter told CNBC. Warsh's nomination is moving ahead even as a separate criminal probe into the Fed continues, setting up a potential clash between the two parallel processes set in motion by the Trump administration. Banking Committee member Sen. Thom Tillis, R.-N.C. has said he won't vote to confirm Warsh until the probe is resolved. Yet President Donald Trump is eager to get Warsh confirmed. Tillis's opposition means Trump can't do both. But by moving ahead with the hearing, he is trying to anyway. The committee hasn't yet put the hearing on its public schedule. Warsh and a spokesman for the Senate Banking Committee declined to comment. Read more CNBC politics coverage U.S. fighter jet shot down in Iran, one crew member rescued: MS NOW Trump calls for huge increase in defense spending, domestic spending cuts Trump tariff fallout: Some industries grapple with effects one year later Trump threatens to destroy Iranian infrastructure Army chief of staff fired by Hegseth, Reuters Tiger Woods called Trump after DUI crash, he told cop on bodycam video Warner, Schiff probe potential insider trading in government Trump's White House ballroom gets approval after judge's halt order Trump fires Attorney General Pam Bondi Grocery shock on the horizon as U.S. midterm elections approach Politico earlier reported that the committee had scheduled the hearing. The criminal probe is looking into allegations that Jerome Powell , the current Fed chair, lied to Congress about the state of expensive renovations to the Fed's offices. Powell has denounced the probe as a pretext to pre...
Beyond rising costs of gas and air travel, experts say this is likely just beginning of higher prices amid global volatility Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox As consumers watch the price of gasoline and airline tickets rise, experts say that the war in Iran will continue to drive up prices across the economy . “The good old days are gone,” said Christop...
Beyond rising costs of gas and air travel, experts say this is likely just beginning of higher prices amid global volatility Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox As consumers watch the price of gasoline and airline tickets rise, experts say that the war in Iran will continue to drive up prices across the economy . “The good old days are gone,” said Christopher Tang, a professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management who studies global supply chain management. “Right now we see the gasoline prices going up , but that is only part of the story. Everything will be more expensive.” Continue reading...
As Trump’s administration aims to bring ‘warrior culture’ back to the military, young service members express anxiety and snark online over potential deployment If posts coming from the White House were to be believed, the US-Israel war on Iran looks something like scenes from Top Gun, Braveheart and Deadpool – or how a fifth-grade boy might imagine combat. The Trump administration has also presen...
As Trump’s administration aims to bring ‘warrior culture’ back to the military, young service members express anxiety and snark online over potential deployment If posts coming from the White House were to be believed, the US-Israel war on Iran looks something like scenes from Top Gun, Braveheart and Deadpool – or how a fifth-grade boy might imagine combat. The Trump administration has also presented Operation Epic Fury as a video game, borrowing gen Z parlance to describe the US armed forces as “locked in” on the conflict. Such macho posturing squares with secretary of defense Pete Hegseth’s desire to bring “warrior culture” back to the military. The former Fox News host has railed against DEI, “fat troops” and “beardos” (troops with beards), and envisioned a military full of “the right people” who fit his imposed standards of virility and masculinity. Continue reading...
Jesse Watters gave a litany of reasons why women shouldn’t lead before denying he agreed. But peddling these ideas normalizes them Oh dear, it looks like Jesse Watters’ mother needs to give him a good talking to again. The Fox News host regularly spouts so much deliberately provocative nonsense that his mum, a liberal, has called into his show to ask him to use his voice “ responsibly ”. Instead o...
Jesse Watters gave a litany of reasons why women shouldn’t lead before denying he agreed. But peddling these ideas normalizes them Oh dear, it looks like Jesse Watters’ mother needs to give him a good talking to again. The Fox News host regularly spouts so much deliberately provocative nonsense that his mum, a liberal, has called into his show to ask him to use his voice “ responsibly ”. Instead of listening to her, however, he’s told his audience of millions that men shouldn’t eat soup in public because it’s effeminate, shared his creepy fantasies about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s sex life , and urged America to bomb or “ maybe gas ” the United Nations headquarters. This week, as Donald Trump (a man) presides over a disastrous, immoral, and unpopular war, Watters has been busy informing the world that women just aren’t cut out to be president. What prompted this latest rant? The usual pathological desire to be noticed, I presume. And also a recent MS NOW interview with Nancy Pelosi, in which the former speaker of the House, 86, said a female US president is inevitable, but likely won’t happen in her lifetime. Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist The assault on freedom with Mehdi Hasan and Arwa Mahdawi On Monday 8 June, join Mehdi Hasan and Arwa Mahdawi to discuss the current seismic changes in geopolitics, the alarming rise of populism and nationalism, and its global implications. Live in London and livestreamed worldwide. Book tickets here or at guardian.live Continue reading...
Mikko Hyppönen is one of the most recognizable faces of the cybersecurity industry. After fighting computer viruses, worms, and malware, for more than 35 years, he tells TechCrunch why he is now working on systems to stop killer drones.
Mikko Hyppönen is one of the most recognizable faces of the cybersecurity industry. After fighting computer viruses, worms, and malware, for more than 35 years, he tells TechCrunch why he is now working on systems to stop killer drones.
"This looks like AI." It's a phrase I dread seeing as a writer who dabbles in illustration and amateur photography. In a world where generative AI technology is increasingly adept at mimicking the work of humans, people are naturally skeptical when online platforms refuse to label even obvious AI content . This leads me to one conclusion: maybe we should start labeling human-made text, images, aud...
"This looks like AI." It's a phrase I dread seeing as a writer who dabbles in illustration and amateur photography. In a world where generative AI technology is increasingly adept at mimicking the work of humans, people are naturally skeptical when online platforms refuse to label even obvious AI content . This leads me to one conclusion: maybe we should start labeling human-made text, images, audio, and video with something akin to a universally recognized Fair Trade logo. The machines sure as hell aren't motivated to label their work, but the creators at risk of being displaced most definitely are. Fortunately, I'm not alone in my thinki … Read the full story at The Verge.
Gold suffered its biggest monthly drop in nearly 13 years and some central banks have shifted from being buyers to sellers — but that actually proves the precious metal can be more valuable to investors than it’s ever been.
Gold suffered its biggest monthly drop in nearly 13 years and some central banks have shifted from being buyers to sellers — but that actually proves the precious metal can be more valuable to investors than it’s ever been.
Artificial intelligence (AI) stocks have been leading the market higher for the past few years, but investors hit the emergency brake in 2026, sending many tech stocks suddenly tumbling. The move into value and small-cap stocks after years of underperformance by itself isn't necessarily a bad move. There are some great bargains in the space. But this rotation has also left the tech sector with som...
Artificial intelligence (AI) stocks have been leading the market higher for the past few years, but investors hit the emergency brake in 2026, sending many tech stocks suddenly tumbling. The move into value and small-cap stocks after years of underperformance by itself isn't necessarily a bad move. There are some great bargains in the space. But this rotation has also left the tech sector with some screaming bargains. Perhaps the best of the bunch is Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) , which has been absolutely punished despite reporting an incredible earnings report last month and issuing robust guidance. The nosedive in the stock has left it trading at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of under 4 times fiscal 2027 (ending in August) analyst estimates. That's an insanely cheap valuation for a company with Micron's current growth profile, although investors are clearly questioning its earnings sustainability. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
Moving Wall Street’s trading infrastructure onto blockchain-based systems could accelerate financial crises beyond regulators’ ability to respond, even as the technology promises to cut costs and eliminate settlement delays, the International Monetary Fund says. Tokenization — the act of representing assets like stocks, bonds and cash as digital tokens on shared ledgers — is a structural overhaul ...
Moving Wall Street’s trading infrastructure onto blockchain-based systems could accelerate financial crises beyond regulators’ ability to respond, even as the technology promises to cut costs and eliminate settlement delays, the International Monetary Fund says. Tokenization — the act of representing assets like stocks, bonds and cash as digital tokens on shared ledgers — is a structural overhaul of financial architecture rather than a marginal efficiency gain, the IMF’s Tobias Adrian wrote in a report published on Thursday. Banks, clearing houses and asset managers including BlackRock Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are already running live pilots to test a technology that they hope will boost fees by making it easier to trade traditional assets like stocks and bonds. In September, Nasdaq sought approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission to allow stocks to be tokenized and traded on regulated venues like itself. Earlier this year, the New York Stock Exchange said it’s building a venue using blockchain technology to allow for trading tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds around the clock. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins has supported tokenization. The technology will allow for trades to move more quickly through the system, but what some see as a feature is also a vulnerability, said Adrian. “Stress events are likely to unfold faster, leaving less time for discretionary intervention,” he wrote. Settlement delays serve as buffers that give central banks and regulators time to intervene during crises, he noted. In a system that settles instantly and therefore continuously, there’s little time for regulators to intervene before margin calls hit. A tokenized system also functions around the clock — but central bank emergency lending facilities were built for business-hour crises, he said. He also compared privately issued stablecoins, increasingly used as settlement assets in tokenized markets, to money-market funds: functional in calm conditions but vulnerable...
UK reportedly considering aligning with EU rules allowing all conserves to be labelled as marmalade The story is, in Fleet Street terminology, a marmalade-dropper. The name marmalade is being dropped. But is it? Continue reading...
UK reportedly considering aligning with EU rules allowing all conserves to be labelled as marmalade The story is, in Fleet Street terminology, a marmalade-dropper. The name marmalade is being dropped. But is it? Continue reading...
Traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz has been picking up in the past week, with the seven-day rolling average for transits on Friday reaching the highest since the war started. More vessels are crossing, including those with no clear links to Iran or China, as nations negotiate with Tehran to get their ships through. Transits over the past day were led by liquefied petroleum gas carriers, in...
Traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz has been picking up in the past week, with the seven-day rolling average for transits on Friday reaching the highest since the war started. More vessels are crossing, including those with no clear links to Iran or China, as nations negotiate with Tehran to get their ships through. Transits over the past day were led by liquefied petroleum gas carriers, including one headed to India and others with Iranian affiliations. A total of 13 ships have crossed since Friday morning, with 10 exiting the Persian Gulf and three entering from the open seas, according to vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Still, that’s a trickle compared with the numbers before the war began on Feb. 28. In normal times, about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes through the strait every day. Iran has moved to tighten its control over the waterway, setting up a tolling system and directing most vessels to take a specific route close to its border. In the past day, all recorded transits went through that narrow northern passage, situated between the Iranian islands of Larak and Qeshm. Recent crossings include a French container ship and a Japanese-owned LNG tanker, seemingly the first such transits since the war began. It’s not clear whether those journeys were a result of diplomatic outreach or negotiations by shipping companies and their intermediaries. Tanker-tracking is hampered by electronic interference with ships’ signals, and some vessels disable their AIS transponders in high-risk waters, further reducing the timeliness and reliability of tracking data. Outbound Transits Five bulk carriers and one oil-product tanker joined the four LPG tankers in exiting the Persian Gulf since Friday morning. Three of the bulkers and the fuel tanker sailed on Saturday morning. Apart from the Indian LPG vessel, the others are linked to Chinese or Iranian interests. With vessels going dark in high-risk waters, transit counts may initia...
Erik Isakson/DigitalVision via Getty Images In my recent articles, I have explored the ongoing pivot of crypto miners diversifying toward HPC data centers, covering companies like Applied Digital ( APLD ), IREN Limited ( IREN ), MARA Holdings ( MARA ), CleanSpark ( CLSK ) and TeraWulf ( WULF ). I was the most bullish on MARA and CleanSpark. I want to continue exploring the sector, with the goal of...
Erik Isakson/DigitalVision via Getty Images In my recent articles, I have explored the ongoing pivot of crypto miners diversifying toward HPC data centers, covering companies like Applied Digital ( APLD ), IREN Limited ( IREN ), MARA Holdings ( MARA ), CleanSpark ( CLSK ) and TeraWulf ( WULF ). I was the most bullish on MARA and CleanSpark. I want to continue exploring the sector, with the goal of identifying the most compelling companies. In this article, I will cover Hut 8 ( HUT ), going over its operating assets, pipeline, and the recent developments. I will concentrate this article on the upcoming HPC business, and not on crypto mining, which is acting as a cash cow, to fund AI data center development. In a way similar to how I evaluated other crypto miners, I will provide valuation estimates, and outline why HUT warrants a ''Buy'' rating. Introduction and Moat For those unfamiliar with the company, HUT has been a Bitcoin miner, but has restructured following its late 2023 merger with US Bitcoin Corp. Its majority owned subsidiary, American Bitcoin, now operates the mining business, allowing HUT to focus entirely on AI infrastructure, which is currently experiencing high demand. As long as the infrastructure is in high demand, the company has a data center scarcity moat. I believe current momentum in the HPC space will continue for the foreseeable future. Data center construction is on the rise, with data center vacancies reaching a record low of 1.4% at year-end, according to CBRE . This, in my opinion, completely negates the bearish theory that we are at the peak of the AI boom. As long as vacancy rates are low, HUT will have a pricing moat when renting out its upcoming data center capacity. It is reasonable to assume that at one point in the future, data center demand will stabilize, at which point we should see commoditization in the sector, eroding this pricing power. But until we see that, I remain bullish on the sector as a whole. Still, the main thing th...
Sundry Photography/iStock Editorial via Getty Images WW International ( WW ) has established an interim CEO office following the abrupt departure of its president and chief executive officer, Tara Comonte, barely a year after taking the helm of the diet company last year. Comonte had assumed the leadership of the company permanently in February 2025, following a period as interim CEO since Septemb...
Sundry Photography/iStock Editorial via Getty Images WW International ( WW ) has established an interim CEO office following the abrupt departure of its president and chief executive officer, Tara Comonte, barely a year after taking the helm of the diet company last year. Comonte had assumed the leadership of the company permanently in February 2025, following a period as interim CEO since September 2024, after the ouster of former Chief Executive Officer Sima Sistani. The former Shake Shack ( SHAK ) CEO resigned as president and chief executive officer on Mar. 31, WW International ( WW ) disclosed in a regulatory filing on Friday. The company, also known as WeightWatchers, said it has established an interim office of the CEO led by Chief Financial Officer Felicia DellaFortuna and Chief Operations Officer Jonathan Volkmann until the board appoints a permanent replacement for Comonte. Additionally, WW International ( WW ) announced the resignation of Jaqueline Cooke, Chief Legal and Administrative Officer and Secretary of the company, effective Apr. 10 at the request of the board. However, the company reaffirmed its Q1 and full-year outlook for 2026. More on WW International, Inc. WW International Is Great For Losing Weight And Losing Money For Shareholders WW International, Inc. (WGHTQ) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript WW International expects $620M–$635M revenue in 2026 as Med+ clinical subscribers surge WW International shares rally as weight loss meds lure in new subscribers Historical earnings data for WW International, Inc.