Vertigo3d/E+ via Getty Images I last wrote about Lumen Technologies, Inc. ( LUMN ) in September 2025 and issued a Buy rating when the stock was at $6. That was based on technical breakouts and the conclusion: The future could be bright as Lumen approaches an inflection point when the legacy business slowdown will be eclipsed by new growth areas. The February 2026 Lumen presentation provided a hand...
Vertigo3d/E+ via Getty Images I last wrote about Lumen Technologies, Inc. ( LUMN ) in September 2025 and issued a Buy rating when the stock was at $6. That was based on technical breakouts and the conclusion: The future could be bright as Lumen approaches an inflection point when the legacy business slowdown will be eclipsed by new growth areas. The February 2026 Lumen presentation provided a handy illustration of this inflection point and projected that new strategic areas will overtake legacy revenues this year. Lumen That's clearly a good thing, but the other takeaway from the above visual is that top-line growth is projected to remain mostly flat as strategic revenues are forecast to grow only slightly faster than legacy revenues decline. The future looks assured, but is perhaps not as rosy as the 2025 rally priced in when it reached $11.95. This article looks at why growth concerns are now eclipsing the turnaround story and why that is leading to a retracement in the stock. It also looks at where it would be a Strong Buy again. Stage 1 Complete I talked a bit about Lumen's history in my previous article, so I won't repeat myself too much. Essentially, it avoided Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late 2023 and 2024 by restructuring its unmanageable $20B debt pile. That took it back from the brink, but on horrible terms that it is only just overcoming by paying down debt and re-issuing it at new rates and maturities. The AT&T ( T ) deal in 2025 helped with this and allowed Lumen to focus on new sources of income. This whole process can be thought of as the turnaround, and now that the inflection mentioned in the intro has been reached, it is mostly complete. As CEO Katie Johnson said in February : We’ve done what many thought we couldn’t – stabilized the business, strengthened our financial foundation, and earned credibility in the market. Now we’re accelerating from turnaround to growth. So Lumen is no longer a turnaround story, and the focus will shift to growth. The pr...
Difficult spell for Liam Rosenior’s side further derailed by unhelpful interventions from two of their senior players Trust the process. Ignore the haters. Promise that the trophies will come. Stay on brand. Disappear on international duty and issue a brazen come-and-get-me plea to Real Madrid. Suggest a move to Barcelona would be difficult to reject. Don’t silence the noise. Increase the noise. Q...
Difficult spell for Liam Rosenior’s side further derailed by unhelpful interventions from two of their senior players Trust the process. Ignore the haters. Promise that the trophies will come. Stay on brand. Disappear on international duty and issue a brazen come-and-get-me plea to Real Madrid. Suggest a move to Barcelona would be difficult to reject. Don’t silence the noise. Increase the noise. Question the club’s transfer policy. Say you miss the previous manager. Say Madrid is your favourite European city. Say it more than once. Hang on. Have we gone off-message here? These have been a turbulent few weeks for Chelsea. Humbled in Europe by Paris Saint-Germain , and in danger of allowing their Premier League campaign to spiral out of control, they could have done without two of their biggest players creating a PR storm during the international break. Marc Cucurella and Enzo Fernández did not get the memo, though. Fernández is clearly after a summer move – “I really like Madrid, it’s similar to Buenos Aires,” the Argentina midfielder said this week. Meanwhile Cucurella did not hold back during a recent interview with the Athletic, saying Chelsea have “paid the price” for their inexperience, questioning Enzo Maresca’s mid-season departure and saying the heavy defeat by PSG in the last 16 of the Champions League has left players “discouraged”. Continue reading...
JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Investment Thesis While the S&P 500 ( SP500 ) has declined by 4.42% in 2026, dividend-income-producing ETFs such as the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF ( SCHD ) or the Vanguard International High Dividend Yield Index Fund ETF ( VYMI ), which focuses on dividend-paying companies outside the U.S., have performed positively. While the Schwab U.S. Dividend E...
JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Investment Thesis While the S&P 500 ( SP500 ) has declined by 4.42% in 2026, dividend-income-producing ETFs such as the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF ( SCHD ) or the Vanguard International High Dividend Yield Index Fund ETF ( VYMI ), which focuses on dividend-paying companies outside the U.S., have performed positively. While the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF has shown a Total Return of +12.67%, VYMI's performance has been +5.39%. Source: Seeking Alpha This demonstrates not only the importance of including dividend-paying companies in your portfolio, since they allow you to benefit from your investment without the need to sell positions of your portfolio, but also highlights the importance of providing your portfolio with some level of global diversification, since it allows you to further reduce the risk-level of your investment portfolio. In today's article, I will demonstrate how to build a $75,000 dividend portfolio that holds the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF as the core holding enhanced by eight attractive dividend picks that increase the portfolio's global diversification. The portfolio generates a Weighted Average Dividend Yield [TTM] of 4.46% and provides investors with a 5-Year Weighted Average Dividend Growth Rate [CAGR] of 7.75%. This implies that if you were following the approach and investing $75,000, the portfolio could generate a dividend income before taxes of $3,450 in the first year with strong potential to enhance this amount year over year given the portfolio's attractive dividend growth potential. The Current Composition of the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF Looking at the current composition of the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF, we can see that Lockheed Martin Corporation ( LMT ) (4.82%), ConocoPhillips ( COP )(4.32%), Verizon Communications Inc. ( VZ ) (4.31%), Chevron Corporation ( CVX ) (4.31%), and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company ( BMY ) (4.28%) are presently the five largest ETF positions...
By the time you reach your 60s, the end of your career probably feels within reach. Depending on how much retirement savings you have, that can either be a good thing or a bad thing. You might be excitedly awaiting the moment you can finally hand in your letter of resignation. Or you might be worried that poor health or a job loss might force you from your position before you've built up enough of...
By the time you reach your 60s, the end of your career probably feels within reach. Depending on how much retirement savings you have, that can either be a good thing or a bad thing. You might be excitedly awaiting the moment you can finally hand in your letter of resignation. Or you might be worried that poor health or a job loss might force you from your position before you've built up enough of a nest egg. In either situation, the new super catch-up contribution for workers aged 60 to 63 could help you reach your goal. Here's a closer look at how it works. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
Three LNG Tankers Are First To Cross Strait Of Hormuz Since War Started While a growing number of ships have been traversing the Strait of Hormuz, with Lloyd's List reporting a total of 142 vessels have transited since the start of March, but 67% of that traffic has a direct affiliation with Iran... and the figure rises to 90% when looking at traffic in recent days, as some ships have had to pay f...
Three LNG Tankers Are First To Cross Strait Of Hormuz Since War Started While a growing number of ships have been traversing the Strait of Hormuz, with Lloyd's List reporting a total of 142 vessels have transited since the start of March, but 67% of that traffic has a direct affiliation with Iran... and the figure rises to 90% when looking at traffic in recent days, as some ships have had to pay fees in yuan or cryptocurrencies before being escorted through the strait... IRAN’S TOLL SYSTEM IS NOW LIVE IN THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ In the last 24 hours, around 10 ships have made it through. Here’s how the system works: The IRGC is running an informal checkpoint inside the Strait. 1. Ships submit cargo and vessel details through intermediaries 2.… https://t.co/Q21S0gN0Zm pic.twitter.com/PrSDQpKo3R — Milk Road Macro (@MilkRoadMacro) April 2, 2026 ... one vessel class that has so far failed to make the key crossing are LNG-carrying VLCCs, which are critical to ease the Asian nat gas supply crunch because, unlike oil, there are no Hormuz alternatives or bypass pipelines to bring LNG/nat gas to gas-starved Asian customers where demand destruction is now rampant. But that is about to change: according to Bloomberg , a liquefied natural gas tanker has entered the Strait of Hormuz, and if it successfully navigates the waterway would become the first such vessel to pass through the strait since the start of the war. The Sohar LNG tanker, which appears not to be loaded with cargo, is moving eastward after changing its destination to the Qalhat LNG export terminal in Oman, according to ship-tracking data. The vessel, which is signaling that it’s an Omani ship, had been circling around the Persian Gulf over the past month, the data show. LNG ships have avoided the strait since the conflict broke out on Feb. 28, disrupting about a fifth of the world’s supply of the fuel. According to Bloomberg, which first reported about the crossing , the ship’s manager, recorded as Oman Ship Manageme...
Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX has had discussions with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund about PIF potentially taking an anchor stake of around $5 billion in the space company’s IPO, according to two people familiar with the matter. The investment would partly prevent dilution of PIF’s existing stake of just under 1% in SpaceX, the sources said. The rocket maker has been lining up anchor i...
Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX has had discussions with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund about PIF potentially taking an anchor stake of around $5 billion in the space company’s IPO, according to two people familiar with the matter. The investment would partly prevent dilution of PIF’s existing stake of just under 1% in SpaceX, the sources said. The rocket maker has been lining up anchor investors well ahead of its stock market debut, three other sources said.