Anne Longfield has a vast, fraught task ahead of her. Victims must know from the outset what they can expect Terms of reference for the independent inquiry into grooming gangs in England and Wales have been agreed. The formal process starts in less than two weeks. For victims and survivors, this is a huge moment . Many have battled for years for a statutory inquiry of this sort. In response to the...
Anne Longfield has a vast, fraught task ahead of her. Victims must know from the outset what they can expect Terms of reference for the independent inquiry into grooming gangs in England and Wales have been agreed. The formal process starts in less than two weeks. For victims and survivors, this is a huge moment . Many have battled for years for a statutory inquiry of this sort. In response to their feedback, the timeframe now stretches back to 1996. Examining crimes, and the response to them, in many locations over such a long period is a daunting task . But by commissioning this inquiry, after initially rejecting the idea, the government has accepted that a nationwide overview of the phenomenon of group-based child sexual exploitation is needed. Continue reading...
DNY59/E+ via Getty Images Maine Governor Janet Mills has shifted her stance on taxing top earners, now supporting a proposed levy on millionaires as she trails in a competitive Democratic Senate primary. The governor on Thursday endorsed a 2% surtax on high incomes included in a budget plan advancing through Maine’s legislature. The move marks a reversal from 2024, when she vetoed a similar propos...
DNY59/E+ via Getty Images Maine Governor Janet Mills has shifted her stance on taxing top earners, now supporting a proposed levy on millionaires as she trails in a competitive Democratic Senate primary. The governor on Thursday endorsed a 2% surtax on high incomes included in a budget plan advancing through Maine’s legislature. The move marks a reversal from 2024, when she vetoed a similar proposal and warned it could drive wealthy residents out of the state. Her change in position comes as Mills lags behind challenger Graham Platner , a political newcomer who has built his campaign around raising taxes on the rich. Platner is seeking the Democratic nomination to face Republican Senator Susan Collins in November, a race Democrats view as critical to gaining a Senate majority. Under the current proposal, the surtax would apply to income above $1 million for individuals and $1.5 million for couples, pushing Maine’s top rate above 9%. Mills now argues the measure is needed to sustain funding for priorities like health care and education while supporting property tax relief. She said preserving those investments is especially important given economic uncertainty tied to federal policy shifts. Maine would join states such as Massachusetts and Washington in pursuing higher taxes on top earners, even as it has recently attracted higher-income residents. Federal data shows the state saw a net influx of wealthier households in 2023. Mills had previously cautioned that relying on a small pool of high-income taxpayers could be risky and temporary. She also argued earlier this year that state-level tax hikes might prompt affluent residents, particularly retirees, to relocate to lower-tax states. Platner, meanwhile, continues to push for steeper taxes on the ultra-wealthy. He has framed the issue as a test of Democratic priorities, arguing that many voters feel the party has become too aligned with affluent donors instead of working Americans. Dear Readers: We recognize that po...
stockcam/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Losing ground in 2025 In February 2026, Duolingo ( DUOL ) dropped 20% post Q4-2025 earnings after revenue guidance tumbled to an astonishingly low growth of just 15-17% for the full year 2026. A huge drop from the 39% growth in 2025, which itself saw sequential growth decline each quarter, with MAUs dropping sequentially from 135.3Mn to 133.1Mn, in Q4-20...
stockcam/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Losing ground in 2025 In February 2026, Duolingo ( DUOL ) dropped 20% post Q4-2025 earnings after revenue guidance tumbled to an astonishingly low growth of just 15-17% for the full year 2026. A huge drop from the 39% growth in 2025, which itself saw sequential growth decline each quarter, with MAUs dropping sequentially from 135.3Mn to 133.1Mn, in Q4-2025 and annual growth dropping to just 14.1%. Duolingo Operating Metrics 2025 (Duolingo, Fountainhead) You can see the quarterly growth rates drop on several metrics. MAUs dropped 2 out of 4 quarters, in Q2-2025 and Q4-2025. DAUs trickled down to single digits with just 2.4%, 5.9% and 4.4%, in 3 of the last quarters of the year. Still interestingly enough, paid subscriber growth continued, beating the trend with 6.1% growth in Q4, and 5.5% growth in Q3. Yes, much slower, but then this is on much higher bases, and given how fast growth deteriorated at the top, it could have been a lot worse. The subscriber penetration of LT MAUs also inched higher to 9.2% at about the same pace throughout the year. As a result, paid subscribers kept on growing, the money hasn't stopped flowing - Duolingo closed 2025 with 12.2Mn subscribers - its highest ever. As a whole, contrast that with 2024, when Duolingo could literally do nothing wrong. Perhaps one could have seen it as the end of the explosive, hockey stage growth phase. Duolingo Operating Metrics 2024 (Duolingo, Fountainhead) Just a quarter back, analysts had forecast a consensus estimate of 22-23% growth for 2026 even after ominous warnings from management that suggested that revenue growth had been pushed to the back burner, to revive user growth. Management had seen the writing on the wall and was pivoting to focus on user growth, but the street responded late and held out for a mid-twenties’ growth. This is what management said on the Q4 call on February 26th, 2026: But the short-term implication is that this year will see slower ...
Attorney General Pam Bondi is leaving her post at the head of the US Justice Department and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will take over as acting Attorney General. Fox News reported the move on air citing a phone call with President Donald Trump. Tyler Kendall reports on Bloomberg Television. (Source: Bloomberg)
Attorney General Pam Bondi is leaving her post at the head of the US Justice Department and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will take over as acting Attorney General. Fox News reported the move on air citing a phone call with President Donald Trump. Tyler Kendall reports on Bloomberg Television. (Source: Bloomberg)
Sacking of Simon Dudley is latest distraction at a time when party is keen to show it is serious contender for government It was a week that started with a candid admission from Nigel Farage when asked if his party’s vetting process was now finally up to scratch. “I accept that at the last general election, basically there was no vetting really,” the Reform UK leader said after the latest of what ...
Sacking of Simon Dudley is latest distraction at a time when party is keen to show it is serious contender for government It was a week that started with a candid admission from Nigel Farage when asked if his party’s vetting process was now finally up to scratch. “I accept that at the last general election, basically there was no vetting really,” the Reform UK leader said after the latest of what a senior colleague had described as a “series of abhorrent incidents”. The latest had involved a Welsh Senedd candidate, Corey Edwards, who was forced to step down after a picture of him appearing to do a Nazi salute surfaced online. Continue reading...
Keeping the world championship in the UK is good news for a city and region which have punched under their weight Sheffield was still an industrial powerhouse when George Orwell suggested that it “could justly claim to be called the ugliest town in the Old World” – adding that “its inhabitants, who want it to be pre-eminent in everything, very likely do make that claim for it”. The steel mills and...
Keeping the world championship in the UK is good news for a city and region which have punched under their weight Sheffield was still an industrial powerhouse when George Orwell suggested that it “could justly claim to be called the ugliest town in the Old World” – adding that “its inhabitants, who want it to be pre-eminent in everything, very likely do make that claim for it”. The steel mills and smog that he loathed disappeared, but much of the city’s confidence dissipated with its heavy industry. Though one of the country’s largest cities, it has punched below its economic and cultural weight. Manchester remains the northern colossus; Leeds proclaims itself the unofficial capital of Yorkshire. Last week’s announcement that the world snooker championships would remain at Sheffield’s Crucible theatre until 2045 was not just a surprise after heavy hints that it could move to Saudi Arabia or China: it was a major relief for a neglected northern giant. Continue reading...
Yahoo Finance Senior Producer John Hyland tracks today's top moving stocks and biggest market stories in this Market Minute.US stocks (^DJI, ^GSPC, ^IXIC) begin the second quarter under pressure as concerns around private credit and higher mortgage rates weigh on sentiment.Blue Owl Capital (OWL, OBDC) stock falls after the firm said it will limit redemptions from two of its largest private credit ...
Yahoo Finance Senior Producer John Hyland tracks today's top moving stocks and biggest market stories in this Market Minute.US stocks (^DJI, ^GSPC, ^IXIC) begin the second quarter under pressure as concerns around private credit and higher mortgage rates weigh on sentiment.Blue Owl Capital (OWL, OBDC) stock falls after the firm said it will limit redemptions from two of its largest private credit funds.Tesla (TSLA) stock drops after its first quarter deliveries miss Wall Street estimates.US mortgage rates rise for the fifth straight week.
Olemedia/E+ via Getty Images Atlas Lithium ( ATLX ) up 5.2% in Thursday's trading after saying its Neves lithium project in Brazil has been included in the recently signed Japan-U.S. Critical Minerals Project Cooperation agreement, as its project was named in the joint fact sheet submitted by the governments for funding consideration . The joint fact sheet follows the U.S. -Japan Critical Minerals...
Olemedia/E+ via Getty Images Atlas Lithium ( ATLX ) up 5.2% in Thursday's trading after saying its Neves lithium project in Brazil has been included in the recently signed Japan-U.S. Critical Minerals Project Cooperation agreement, as its project was named in the joint fact sheet submitted by the governments for funding consideration . The joint fact sheet follows the U.S. -Japan Critical Minerals Investment Ministerial held on March 14 in Tokyo among the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, as well as the summit between President Trump and Japan's Prime Minister Takaichi on March 19. Atlas Lithium ( ATLX ) noted its inclusion in the joint fact sheet given the company's existing strategic partnership with Mitsui , which made a $30M strategic investment in the company in 2024 and entered into an offtake agreement for the purchase of lithium concentrate from the Neves project. Now in the pre-production stage, the project involves the processing of ore from the Neves deposit in a dense media separation plant to produce lithium concentrates; once operational, it is expected to produce 300K metric tons/year. More on Atlas Lithium Atlas Lithium At A 2026 Inflection Point Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Atlas Lithium Financial information for Atlas Lithium
Wider spreads and credit enhancement causing upgrades in auto asset-backed securities reduces the sector’s risk against similarly rated and maturity corporate debt, says Rod Chadehumbe, Bloomberg Intelligence ABS Strategist. Chadehumbe joins host Ira Jersey, BI’s US Rates Strategist to discuss the findings from the first ABS Primer on available on the terminal. Though spreads are tight compared to...
Wider spreads and credit enhancement causing upgrades in auto asset-backed securities reduces the sector’s risk against similarly rated and maturity corporate debt, says Rod Chadehumbe, Bloomberg Intelligence ABS Strategist. Chadehumbe joins host Ira Jersey, BI’s US Rates Strategist to discuss the findings from the first ABS Primer on available on the terminal. Though spreads are tight compared to the five-year average, inflation may not cause spreads to widen. The note also makes the case for A
J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images Artificial intelligence has yet to deliver the broad economic productivity gains that many have anticipated, according to Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management. “At this point, we’re just not seeing that yet,” Slok said in an interview with CNBC, noting that the debate now centers on when and how these gains will finally materialize in t...
J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images Artificial intelligence has yet to deliver the broad economic productivity gains that many have anticipated, according to Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management. “At this point, we’re just not seeing that yet,” Slok said in an interview with CNBC, noting that the debate now centers on when and how these gains will finally materialize in the economy. Slok’s analysis examined the 20-24 age demographic, a group many feared would be among the first impacted by AI-driven job displacement. However, the data shows that youth unemployment trends currently mirror the broader labor market rather than revealing any AI-specific impact. “It is really not the case that people between 20 and 24 years old are having a harder time finding a job than other demographics,” Slok explained. Despite the current lack of evidence, Slok remains confident that AI’s economic impact will eventually become apparent. “I do believe that over time, it will begin to show up in the economy in a broader sense, and we will begin to see more gains to productivity and, with more gains to the economy more broadly,” he said. The question of when and how these productivity improvements will emerge remains a key issue for market participants. Slok also addressed the recent spike in oil prices ( CL1:COM ), ( CO1:COM ) following President Trump’s threats of military action against Iran, characterizing the inflationary pressure as a temporary shock to the economy. He pointed to recent strong economic data from ADP and ISM , along with improving consumer confidence, as evidence of underlying economic strength even as energy prices add short-term pressure to inflation. The chief economist emphasized that the U.S. is better positioned to weather oil price volatility than other regions because it is a net oil exporter, in contrast to Europe, which remains a net oil importer. Even if prices temporarily rise to $125 a barrel, Slok estimates the impact would ...
US President Donald Trump removed Attorney General Pam Bondi from her post on Thursday, a White House official said, following mounting frustration with her performance, including her handling of investigative files related to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump had also reportedly grown frustrated that Bondi was not moving quickly enough to prosecute critics and adversar...
US President Donald Trump removed Attorney General Pam Bondi from her post on Thursday, a White House official said, following mounting frustration with her performance, including her handling of investigative files related to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump had also reportedly grown frustrated that Bondi was not moving quickly enough to prosecute critics and adversaries who he wanted to face criminal charges. During her tenure as the top US law enforcement...
Bondi earned president’s ire over handling release of Epstein files and failing to prosecute his political enemies Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Donald Trump has fired Pam Bondi , the attorney general, according to multiple reports, dismissing a loyalist who reshaped the justice department, but still failed to please a president fixated on prosecutin...
Bondi earned president’s ire over handling release of Epstein files and failing to prosecute his political enemies Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Donald Trump has fired Pam Bondi , the attorney general, according to multiple reports, dismissing a loyalist who reshaped the justice department, but still failed to please a president fixated on prosecuting political enemies and frustrated with the politically explosive release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Bondi presided over a major purging of career justice department staff, shifted focus away from criminal prosecutions toward immigration cases and spearheaded the defense of Trump’s towering stack of executive orders as they faced legal challenges. Continue reading...
Richard Drury/DigitalVision via Getty Images I rate NEOS Enhanced Income Aggregate Bond ETF ( BNDI ) as a Buy, for income focused investors seeking an edge over the U.S. Aggregate Bond Market Index. Given heightened volatility in the markets, now is an ideal time to invest in BNDI, an actively managed fund which invests in a representative portfolio of the bond index, plus enhances returns by sell...
Richard Drury/DigitalVision via Getty Images I rate NEOS Enhanced Income Aggregate Bond ETF ( BNDI ) as a Buy, for income focused investors seeking an edge over the U.S. Aggregate Bond Market Index. Given heightened volatility in the markets, now is an ideal time to invest in BNDI, an actively managed fund which invests in a representative portfolio of the bond index, plus enhances returns by selling puts on SPX Index options. The ETF currently yields 5.74%, paid in monthly tax efficient distributions. The fund's March distribution was 71% return of capital, making the cumulative distributions 62%. This is highly beneficial to tax sensitive investors, meaning that an investor defers taxes, while reducing their cost basis. Based on the fund's objectives, this will continue throughout the year. NEOS is well known for their expertise in this derivative trading space, which works well in today's more volatile environment. The options are unique because they are 1256 contracts which are taxed at 60% long term and 40% short term capital gains. In comparison to competitive funds at J.P. Morgan or BlackRock, this NEOS actively managed fund generates a little more income from derivatives, which other funds don't include. Typical US Aggregate Bond Index funds are targeting a more conservative investor such as endowments, foundations, insurance companies and pension funds. The most important factors that influence my opinion of BNDI are: Expectation of further volatility caused by the Iran War. Aggregate Bond Fund Index provides preservation of principal Currently pays a 5.74% forward distribution yield , going ex-dividend on 4/14. Strong liquidity as an ETF vs. owning individual bonds. Tax efficiency using the 1256 Index option contracts being taxed at 60% long term. Reduced volatility vs. owning stocks. Benefit of reduced draw downs in a portfolio during equity shocks, such as the ongoing war. Low expense ratio of 0.61%, considering active management. Professional options ma...