An earthquake of magnitude 7.4 struck the Northern Maluku Sea off Indonesia’s historic spice island of Ternate on Thursday, the United States Geological Survey said, triggering a tsunami warning for neighbouring Southeast Asian nations. There were no immediate reports of injuries, though the agency reported aftershocks of magnitude as high as 5, and Indonesia called tsunami warnings for areas ...
An earthquake of magnitude 7.4 struck the Northern Maluku Sea off Indonesia’s historic spice island of Ternate on Thursday, the United States Geological Survey said, triggering a tsunami warning for neighbouring Southeast Asian nations. There were no immediate reports of injuries, though the agency reported aftershocks of magnitude as high as 5, and Indonesia called tsunami warnings for areas in its provinces of North Maluku and North Sulawesi. Regional governments in some cities, such as...
The federal housing agency wants to shift money away from permanent housing and toward programs that impose sobriety and other conditions. Advocates warn that would push many back into homelessness. (Image credit: Jae C. Hong)
The federal housing agency wants to shift money away from permanent housing and toward programs that impose sobriety and other conditions. Advocates warn that would push many back into homelessness. (Image credit: Jae C. Hong)
Warren Pies of 3Fourteen Research has been one of the clearer voices cutting through the macro noise lately, and a recent TV appearance gave me a line I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. Asked where real market strength lives amid tariff uncertainty and geopolitical turbulence, Pies zeroed in fast: “I think that the ... 3Fourteen’s Pies: AI and semis are ‘where the underlying strength is’
Warren Pies of 3Fourteen Research has been one of the clearer voices cutting through the macro noise lately, and a recent TV appearance gave me a line I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. Asked where real market strength lives amid tariff uncertainty and geopolitical turbulence, Pies zeroed in fast: “I think that the ... 3Fourteen’s Pies: AI and semis are ‘where the underlying strength is’
I’ve been watching the memory semiconductor cycle for years now, and I can’t stop thinking about a comment from a market analyst this week. On a recent TV segment, the analyst argued the selloff in memory and semiconductor names has been completely overdone, and the data backs that up hard. “DRAM contracts this month, quarter ... DRAM prices surged 90-95%, memory suppliers booked two years out
I’ve been watching the memory semiconductor cycle for years now, and I can’t stop thinking about a comment from a market analyst this week. On a recent TV segment, the analyst argued the selloff in memory and semiconductor names has been completely overdone, and the data backs that up hard. “DRAM contracts this month, quarter ... DRAM prices surged 90-95%, memory suppliers booked two years out
Alexander Sikov/iStock via Getty Images Overview When I previously covered the BlackRock Science and Technology Term Trust ( BSTZ ), I issued a buy rating due to the attractive outlook at the time. Since then, there have been some shifts within the technology sector, and sentiment has rapidly changed. Investors are a bit concerned about the moat of SaaS companies, which sparked a sell-off of the i...
Alexander Sikov/iStock via Getty Images Overview When I previously covered the BlackRock Science and Technology Term Trust ( BSTZ ), I issued a buy rating due to the attractive outlook at the time. Since then, there have been some shifts within the technology sector, and sentiment has rapidly changed. Investors are a bit concerned about the moat of SaaS companies, which sparked a sell-off of the indices. However, BSTZ has held up a bit better than the rest of the market, so I wanted to revisit the overall value proposition through 2026. Additionally, the fund has released an updated annual report that provides some insights into the fund's earnings. At the time of my last coverage, BSTZ traded at a discount to NAV of 7.6%. Following the same pullback in the fund, BSTZ now trades at a slightly larger discount to NAV of 9.22%. Referring to the red line in the graph below, we can see that BSTZ trades at the higher end of its five-year price-to-NAV range. Despite this, I believe that the discount window will eventually close as interest rates trend lower and operating spreads improve. BSTZ is also directly aligned to participate in the expansion of the AI market through its exposure to semiconductor companies. CEFData.com What makes BSTZ unique is the high starting dividend yield of 8.8%. The fund issues those payouts on a monthly basis, and the latest annual report indicates that its portfolio strategy was capable of generating sufficient earnings without an issue. However, there are still some vulnerabilities that investors must be aware of. If the fund is unable to capture net realized gains from its positions, BSTZ may be faced with the scenario of paying out more than it earns. This can lead to NAV erosion and the inability to provide attractive returns. Fund Strategy According to the latest fund overview , BSTZ has total managed assets of $1.67B that are spread across 82 different positions. One of the defining features of BSTZ is the fact that it focuses on findi...