Matthew Fowler/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Writing about Tesla, Inc. ( TSLA ) is always a funny experience. In a company with such polarized opinions, taking a moderate tone is definitely a good way to receive criticism from both bulls and bears. I believe that in all my years of analyzing companies, I’ve never seen an example where the recent fundamental trajectory is so de-correlated from ...
Matthew Fowler/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Writing about Tesla, Inc. ( TSLA ) is always a funny experience. In a company with such polarized opinions, taking a moderate tone is definitely a good way to receive criticism from both bulls and bears. I believe that in all my years of analyzing companies, I’ve never seen an example where the recent fundamental trajectory is so de-correlated from price action. In other words, a company where investors are willing to bet increasingly larger amounts of money on future promises while the present reality keeps getting worse. Data by YCharts And why is that? Tesla bulls are not investing in the results the company is showing today. They are paying to be a partner of CEO Elon Musk in any of his future endeavors, believing he’s capable of landing any project, even with the timeframe always being questionable. Are they wrong? Only the future will tell... There’s also a history of Tesla’s price action destroying short sellers, which helps keep the stock unanchored, even when a large number of investors believe the valuation makes no sense. In my previous article on TSLA, I tried to dissect some of these opportunities, like robotaxis and Optimus, and value them as separate businesses. Of course, there’s a lot of speculation here, since none of these products has a defined business model yet, but I’d invite you to read that article too. The latest Tesla earnings call was another example of the same debacle between the present and the future, which I’ll be commenting on. Tesla, Inc. Q4 2025 Earnings Call Auto sales continue to suffer. Revenue for the quarter reached $24.9 billion, a 3.1% year-over-year decline. The contraction was mostly in the automotive segment, which fell 11% YoY to $17.69 billion. Total deliveries declined 8.6% YoY, after 2024 was already below 2023. It’s also worth remembering that on the Q3 2024 earnings call , Elon gave a "best guess" of 20% to 30% growth in vehicle sales in 2025. Well, not even close......
Oracle Corporation Announces Oracle Life Sciences Ai Data Platform Unites Data and Agentic Intelligence to Accelerate Medical Breakthroughs and Drive Commercial Success marketscreener.com
Oracle Corporation Announces Oracle Life Sciences Ai Data Platform Unites Data and Agentic Intelligence to Accelerate Medical Breakthroughs and Drive Commercial Success marketscreener.com
When words fail, clothes do the talking – from the Beckhams to Diana’s revenge dress, fashion is the language of image management • Don’t get Fashion Statement delivered to your inbox? Sign up here It’s been over a week since Beckxit and still we wait. Yes, we’ve had David’s aphorisms at Davos ; Romeo on the Willy Chavarria catwalk ; Cruz on tour ; Victoria’s reunion – not to mention the various f...
When words fail, clothes do the talking – from the Beckhams to Diana’s revenge dress, fashion is the language of image management • Don’t get Fashion Statement delivered to your inbox? Sign up here It’s been over a week since Beckxit and still we wait. Yes, we’ve had David’s aphorisms at Davos ; Romeo on the Willy Chavarria catwalk ; Cruz on tour ; Victoria’s reunion – not to mention the various fulsome Instagram posts from both parties. But no rebuttal, no apologies, no tears. Then, the remaining Beckhams hit Paris fashion week and finally we got our first statement. David Beckham – once the most famous footballer in the world, now its most famous parent – was in town to wingman Victoria Beckham as she became a knight of the Order of Arts and Letters. But he was also there for the optics. The remaining kids flew in. So did their partners. Some wore Victoria Beckham, others wore Loewe, everyone looked demure and sober and matchy-matchy, what a celebrity astrologist might call “a united front”. Continue reading...
Chinese leader bestows a little largesse on the British PM while getting the green light for London ‘mega embassy’ Let’s face it, this was never likely to be a meeting of equals. Keir Starmer had been desperate to squeeze in a trip to China for some time. Another country to tick off his list and he always feels a lot better about himself when he’s abroad. Less noise from his unhappy MPs. Plus he l...
Chinese leader bestows a little largesse on the British PM while getting the green light for London ‘mega embassy’ Let’s face it, this was never likely to be a meeting of equals. Keir Starmer had been desperate to squeeze in a trip to China for some time. Another country to tick off his list and he always feels a lot better about himself when he’s abroad. Less noise from his unhappy MPs. Plus he loved the pomp and ceremony that came with it. The large flags. The military bands. A country that treated him with respect. Almost. Besides, Mark Carney and Emmanuel Macron had both made recent trips. He had seen their holiday photos. Now it was his turn. He couldn’t bear to be left out. The Chinese? Not so much. They couldn’t really see the point. But they would schedule in a couple of meetings on the condition the UK government gave the green light to the new “mega embassy” near the Tower of London. Consider it done, said Keir. All systems go for the first prime-ministerial visit since Theresa May in 2018. Continue reading...
The BBC has made clear it will not use licence fee payers’ money to help leading pundits such as Micah Richards to work for rival podcasts during this summer’s World Cup. Cost constraints and environmental considerations mean the BBC’s World Cup presentation will come from its Salford studios for the bulk of the tournament, with Richards expected to have a leading role. However, he has also commit...
The BBC has made clear it will not use licence fee payers’ money to help leading pundits such as Micah Richards to work for rival podcasts during this summer’s World Cup. Cost constraints and environmental considerations mean the BBC’s World Cup presentation will come from its Salford studios for the bulk of the tournament, with Richards expected to have a leading role. However, he has also committed to appearing on The Rest is Football podcast, which will be presented by Gary Lineker in New York. During Euro 2024 the then BBC trio of Lineker, Richards and Alan Shearer recorded episodes of The Rest is Football together in Berlin, but the BBC’s decision to stay at home and Lineker’s split from the corporation last year have created issues in terms of filming together during the World Cup. In another complication, The Rest is Football is expected to be shot to higher production standards this summer owing to a distribution deal with Netflix, which will be making the podcast available on its platforms after a £14m deal agreed last month. Netflix’s deal with Lineker’s production company, Goalhanger, is understood to include a commitment to produce more than 40 Rest is Football video podcasts during the World Cup, which the streaming platform will want to feature as many big-name guests as possible. Lineker will be in Netflix’s New York studio throughout, with other pundits to join him when they are available. The BBC has told its pundits that it is happy for them to do other media work during the World Cup and many are expected to do so, but it will not subsidise the cost. As a result Richards’ travel costs will have to be met by Netflix or Goalhanger. Shearer will be in the US throughout the tournament on co-commentary duties by the BBC, so there is more chance of him presenting The Rest is Football alongside Lineker in person. View image in fullscreen Gary Lineker (left) and Alan Shearer will both be in the US this summer for the World Cup. Photograph: Ben Whitley/PA ...
Hudson Bay Capital Management brought on a team of ex- BlackRock Inc. executives to start a new private credit strategy for the $20 billion money manager, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The former BlackRock investors, who specialized in middle-market lending, joined Hudson Bay over the past few months, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing the private company’s...
Hudson Bay Capital Management brought on a team of ex- BlackRock Inc. executives to start a new private credit strategy for the $20 billion money manager, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The former BlackRock investors, who specialized in middle-market lending, joined Hudson Bay over the past few months, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing the private company’s hires. Hudson Bay’s private credit team of about 10 includes Raj Vig , Jon Hugo , Jeffrey Gordon and Tim Morris, the people added. The new group comes mostly from BlackRock’s legacy private credit business, which existed for several years before the world’s largest asset manager paid $12 billion to bring on hundreds of staffers and new leadership from credit specialist HPS Investment Partners . A representative for Hudson Bay declined to comment. A BlackRock spokesperson declined to comment. Vig, Hugo, Gordon and Morris didn’t respond to requests for comment. Some of the BlackRock executives were affiliated with Tennenbaum Capital Partners , which focused on loans to middle-market companies and which BlackRock acquired in 2018. While BlackRock is expanding considerably in private markets and now manages more than $600 billion overall of alternative assets, some of its older private credit funds have faced challenges. BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. , a publicly traded middle-market fund, disclosed last week it was writing down its net asset value by 19% largely in response to six soured investments. Its shares plunged earlier this week. Read More: BlackRock Cuts Value of Private Debt Fund by 19%, Waives Fee As it continues to integrate the HPS acquisition, BlackRock has been shifting its approach to private credit. The company has separately cut about 10 people from its private financing solutions group. Hudson Bay was founded about 20 years ago. Last year, Chief Executive Officer Sander Gerber said the firm was staffing up in private credit and real estate.
Deutsche Bank has had a record year for profits , with higher trading income and a new share buyback — although a raid on their Frankfurt offices yesterday still casts a cloud over the company. Revenue from fixed-income and currencies trading rose 6% from a year ago, the bank said in a statement today. Germany’s largest bank also announced a €1 billion buyback, which along with a €1 dividend per s...
Deutsche Bank has had a record year for profits , with higher trading income and a new share buyback — although a raid on their Frankfurt offices yesterday still casts a cloud over the company. Revenue from fixed-income and currencies trading rose 6% from a year ago, the bank said in a statement today. Germany’s largest bank also announced a €1 billion buyback, which along with a €1 dividend per share would bring distributions to 50% of last year’s profit. This comes a day after a surprise raid of its Frankfurt offices , part of a money laundering investigation into past dealings with firms linked to the now-sanctioned Roman Abramovich, people familiar with the matter told our reporters previously. The allegations relate to transactions for the period 2013 to 2018. “We know where we want to go, and we will not be diverted from that path,” Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing said in a message to staff. “The presence of the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s staff in our offices yesterday does nothing to change that.” Sewing also assured investors that he had no plans to curtail the independence of the bank’s research after one of the lender’s analysts suggested Europe may become less willing to hold US assets amid President Donald Trump’s threats over Greenland. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week that Sewing had called him to dismiss the report. “It is quite normal for management to have a slightly different view of things than the researchers,” Sewing said. “It’s good for a bank and good for our clients.” What You Need to Know Today The US is “no longer the reliable ally it once was,” said PME Chairman Alae Laghrich in a statement today , explaining why the €60 billion Dutch pension fund will focus on European opportunities going forward, especially in tech. Laghrich listed policies like trade tariffs, as well as “threats and not upholding existing agreements” as reasons for the decision. The comments come amid market speculation that European funds ...
Keir Starmer has taken a major step towards rapprochement with China, opening the door to a UK visit from Xi Jinping in a move that drew immediate anger from British critics of Beijing. During the first visit by a British prime minister to China in eight years – a period which Starmer described as an “ice age” – he said talks with the Chinese president had left the bilateral relationship in a stro...
Keir Starmer has taken a major step towards rapprochement with China, opening the door to a UK visit from Xi Jinping in a move that drew immediate anger from British critics of Beijing. During the first visit by a British prime minister to China in eight years – a period which Starmer described as an “ice age” – he said talks with the Chinese president had left the bilateral relationship in a stronger place. However, while Starmer and his team were flaunting the results of the visit – including a visa waiver, a cut in whisky tariffs and economic cooperation agreements – there was growing concern in the UK over the prospect of a return trip. While travelling to Beijing, Starmer had said the UK government would remain “clear-eyed and realistic” about national security threats from China, despite Beijing’s espionage activities in the UK and imposition of sanctions on British MPs. But, asked whether Starmer would like Xi to visit the UK, his official spokesperson said: “The prime minister has been clear that a reset relationship with China, that it’s no longer in an ice age, is beneficial to British people and British business. I’m not going to get ahead of future engagements, we’ll set those out in the normal way.” Five Conservative MPs, who are some of the most vocal critics of Beijing in parliament, and two peers are among nine Britons who had sanctions imposed on them by China in 2021 in retaliation for measures taken by the UK over human rights abuses against the Uyghur people. It would be politically challenging for Starmer to invite Xi to the UK while the sanctions remained in place – although No 10 said progress had been made on this in the talks – and while Chinese diplomats are banned from parliament after a spying row. 11:17 Starmer thaws China relations: what’s at stake? - The Latest The first, and last, time Xi travelled to the UK was for a state visit in 2015, at the height of the “golden era” in relations under the then prime minister, David Cameron, when...
SIGNAUX GIROD (ISIN : FR0000060790) RESULTATS CONSOLIDES 2024/2025 Bellefontaine, le 29 janvier 2026 – 18h00 Le conseil d’administration a arrêté le 29 janvier 2026 les comptes consolidés de l’exercice clos au 30 septembre 2025. Les procédures d’audit sur les comptes consolidés ont été effectuées. Le rapport de certification est en cours d’émission. En millions d’Euros 2024/2025 2023/2024 Variatio...
SIGNAUX GIROD (ISIN : FR0000060790) RESULTATS CONSOLIDES 2024/2025 Bellefontaine, le 29 janvier 2026 – 18h00 Le conseil d’administration a arrêté le 29 janvier 2026 les comptes consolidés de l’exercice clos au 30 septembre 2025. Les procédures d’audit sur les comptes consolidés ont été effectuées. Le rapport de certification est en cours d’émission. En millions d’Euros 2024/2025 2023/2024 Variations (Chiffres arrondis au dixième de million le plus proche) Du 01/10/2024 Du 01/10/2023 en Au 30/09/2025 Au 30/09/2024 M€ Chiffre d’affaires 101,6 101,8 - 0,2 Résultat opérationnel courant + 1,4 + 1,7 - 0,3 Perte de valeur - 0,4 - 0,4 0,0 Autres produits et charges opérationnels + 0,3 + 0,6 - 0,3 Résultat opérationnel + 1,3 + 1,9 - 0,6 Résultat net consolidé + 0,8 + 0,9 - 0,1 Résultat net part du groupe + 0,8 + 0,9 - 0,1 EBITDA* + 7,3 + 7,4 - 0,1 * L’EBITDA représente le résultat net consolidé avant impôt, amortissements, provisions, pertes de valeur et résultat financier tels qu’ils apparaissent au compte de résultat consolidé. Cet indicateur non défini par une norme IFRS, est utilisé pour mesurer la capacité du groupe à générer de la trésorerie à partir de ses activités opérationnelles. Sur l’exercice 2024/2025, le chiffre d’affaires est en léger recul de 0,2 %. Le bénéfice net consolidé de l’exercice atteint 0,8 M€. Il intègre une perte de valeur de 0,4 M€ constatée sur le goodwill de notre filiale spécialisée Atech. L’EBITDA est stable à 7,3 M€ et passe de 7,3 % du chiffre d’affaires au 30 septembre 2024 à 7,1 % du chiffre d’affaires au 30 septembre 2025. Les marges ont sur le groupe légèrement baissé durant l’exercice mais une amélioration du résultat financier et une baisse de la charge d’impôt ont permis de maintenir le niveau de résultat net consolidé. Le résultat opérationnel courant ressort à +1,4 M€ et se décompose de la manière suivante sur les différents pôles : Signalisation France : (CA : 61,7 M€ - ROC : -0,7 M€) Dans un contexte économique et budgétaire cont...
While generative AI is being adopted at various levels of game development, a new survey suggests that developers increasingly think the technology is bad for the industry. According to the most recent survey from the Game Developers Conference, 52 percent of respondents said that gen AI is having a “negative” impact on the games industry, versus just 7 percent who viewed the technology as “positi...
While generative AI is being adopted at various levels of game development, a new survey suggests that developers increasingly think the technology is bad for the industry. According to the most recent survey from the Game Developers Conference, 52 percent of respondents said that gen AI is having a “negative” impact on the games industry, versus just 7 percent who viewed the technology as “positive.” Perhaps most startling is how the negative outlook has grown over the years: in 2024, just 18 percent of those surveyed viewed the tech as a negative, and that number jumped to 30 percent in 2025. Now it’s up to more than half. GDC surveyed 2,300 “game industry professionals” to get these results, and the demographics are primarily male (64 percent), white (67 percent), and based in the United States (54 percent). The organizers admit that this makeup is “far from truly representative of the global community, and we know more work is needed.” (You can check out the full report right here.) However, the results still provide some fascinating insight into how actual developers feel about the AI, at the same time that the leaders of major publishers like EA and Krafton are espousing its virtues (and as Larian has had to clarify how it’s using the technology). As for how much the gen AI is actually being used in the industry, 36 percent of those surveyed said they utilize it as part of their jobs, while 64 percent said they don’t. The majority of those who do use gen AI said they use the tech for research and brainstorming (81 percent), as well as administrative tasks like email (47 percent). But some did admit to using AI for more development-oriented tasks, including prototyping (35 percent), testing or debugging (22 percent), and asset generation (19 percent). Only 5 percent of that group said they use gen AI on “player-facing features.” The other major topic broached in the survey was the persistent layoffs and studio closures that have ravaged the industry over the la...
is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. This week, a new generative AI tool from Google let me create bad knockoffs of 3D Nintendo worlds. Check out my version of something like Super Mario 64: I didn’t like Metroid Prime 4: Bey...
is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. This week, a new generative AI tool from Google let me create bad knockoffs of 3D Nintendo worlds. Check out my version of something like Super Mario 64: I didn’t like Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, but it’s better than my version of a Metroid Prime experience: Or how about my take on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, complete with a paraglider (and, briefly, a second Link): It was all possible thanks to Project Genie, an experimental research prototype that Google gave me access to this week, though I don’t think I’m using it in exactly the way Google intended. Google DeepMind has been putting a lot of effort into building its AI “world” models that can generate virtual interactive spaces with text or images as prompts. The company announced its impressive-looking Genie 3 model last year, but it was only available as “a limited research preview” at the time. Project Genie, which will be rolling out to Google AI Ultra subscribers in the US starting today, will be the first opportunity for more people to actually try out what Genie 3 is capable of. Google is releasing Project Genie now partly because it wants to see how people use it. “It’s really for us to actually learn about new use cases that we hadn’t thought about,” Diego Rivas, a product manager at Google DeepMind, tells The Verge. The company is already excited about how Genie could help to visualize scenes for filmmaking or for interactive educational media. You could, if you wanted, take a photo of your kids’ favorite toy and use it to prompt a Genie-generated world. Genie could potentially help robots navigate the real world, too. But Project Genie isn’t yet an “end-to-end product that we expect people to just use every day,” stressed Shlomi Fruchter, a Google DeepMind research director. With Proj...
is transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Waymo has finally broken through its SFO logjam. The company announced today that it will start offering robotaxi rides to a select group ...
is transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Waymo has finally broken through its SFO logjam. The company announced today that it will start offering robotaxi rides to a select group of passengers traveling to and from the San Francisco International Airport, a major step in Waymo’s effort to increase its footprint in the Bay Area. The company plans on gradually growing the number of riders until anyone who wants to can hail a Waymo at the airport, which the company says should happen “in the coming months.” After years of back-and-forth negotiations with the airport’s operators, Waymo finally signed “Testing and Operations Pilot Permit” with SFO in September 2025. Under the agreement, Waymo’s airport service would roll out in three phases, including testing vehicles with a human driver, testing without a driver, and eventually beginning commercial service. Waymo has successfully completed the first two phases of that plan and now is entering the third phase, said SFO spokesperson Doug Yakel. But Waymo won’t have unfettered access to SFO’s terminals, at least not this year. Pickups and drop-offs will take place at SFO’s Rental Car Center, which is accessible to the terminals via the AirTrain. Additional locations, like the airport’s main terminals, will come later. Yakel noted that starting in the rental car lot allows airport operators to “isolate” Waymo’s robotaxis from the busy passenger terminals, which he noted was similar to how Phoenix’s airport initially rolled out Waymo’s access. SFO may call for adjustments based on how well Waymo does during this phase of the pilot program, he said. SFO wants to ‘isolate’ Waymo from its terminals for now “This careful, deliberate approach makes us comfortable launching passenger operations, knowing full well ...
is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Windows is in a weird spot. In its 40-year history, the operating system has weathered its fair share of missteps, but Windows 11 is testing the patience of its users in new ways. Persistent bugs, performance issues, intrusive prompts, ads, and bloatware have eroded the core Windo...
is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Windows is in a weird spot. In its 40-year history, the operating system has weathered its fair share of missteps, but Windows 11 is testing the patience of its users in new ways. Persistent bugs, performance issues, intrusive prompts, ads, and bloatware have eroded the core Windows experience. Early system requirement decisions have also damaged trust among Microsoft’s most loyal users, an erosion that’s accelerated by the company’s aggressive push into AI that doesn’t always deliver on its promises. Windows is at breaking point, and Microsoft knows it. Sources familiar with the company’s plans tell me Windows engineers are now focusing on fixing the core issues of Windows 11 over the coming months, in a process known as “swarming.” Microsoft is redirecting engineers to urgently fix Windows 11’s performance and reliability issues, aiming to halt the operating system’s death by a thousand cuts. Microsoft is also going to spend the rest of the year focusing on all of the Windows 11 pain points. “The feedback we’re receiving from our community of passionate customers and Windows Insiders has been clear. We need to improve Windows in ways that are meaningful for people,” says Pavan Davuluri, president of Windows and devices, in a statement to Notepad. “This year you will see us focus on addressing pain points we hear consistently from customers: improving system performance, reliability, and the overall experience of Windows.” Some of these improvements will be basic changes like fixing dark mode in Windows 11 and modernizing parts that have felt neglected over the past decade. While Microsoft has done a good job on improving driver stability and reducing BSODs in Windows 11, it still needs to address basic performance issues with File Explorer, or the fact that Linux can often run Windows games better than Windows. We’re only a month into the new year...
One analyst estimates Tesla could ultimately make $25 billion a year by selling Optimus robots manufactured on former Model S and Model X production lines.
One analyst estimates Tesla could ultimately make $25 billion a year by selling Optimus robots manufactured on former Model S and Model X production lines.
Green Thumb expects to generate significantly more free cash flow due to marijuana's rescheduling. There was a lot of hype and excitement around marijuana rescheduling in December, which lifted many pot stocks in the process. While investors were generally bullish on a wide range of marijuana companies due to the executive order President Trump signed to expedite the rescheduling of cannabis from ...
Green Thumb expects to generate significantly more free cash flow due to marijuana's rescheduling. There was a lot of hype and excitement around marijuana rescheduling in December, which lifted many pot stocks in the process. While investors were generally bullish on a wide range of marijuana companies due to the executive order President Trump signed to expedite the rescheduling of cannabis from a Schedule I to Schedule III substance, the truth is that not all companies will benefit from the development. The main benefit will flow through to multi-state operators in the U.S. market today selling cannabis products. And one of the biggest pot producers today that may benefit from marijuana rescheduling is Green Thumb Industries (GTBIF 4.46%). Here's why the pot stock could have a lot of upside ahead. Green Thumb's CEO expects much more free cash flow The big win for multi-state operators from cannabis rescheduling is that they will have to pay much less in taxes. That's because Section 280e of the tax code will no longer apply, and it blocks many standard deductions for cannabis companies. With that gone, multi-state operators will generate much more profit and free cash flow. In a recent interview, Green Thumb's CEO estimated that his company will generate an extra $60 million in free cash flow per year due to the rescheduling, noting that with the change, the business will be taxed based on operating income rather than gross margin. By freeing up additional cash, the company can use that to pursue more growth initiatives to expand its operations. Expand OTC : GTBIF Green Thumb Industries Today's Change ( -4.46 %) $ -0.32 Current Price $ 6.86 Key Data Points Market Cap $1.7B Day's Range $ 6.71 - $ 7.25 52wk Range $ 4.63 - $ 10.43 Volume 385K Avg Vol 620K Gross Margin 48.93 % The company is already one of the better-run cannabis businesses out there today Today, Green Thumb is already one of the safer cannabis stocks to invest in, as it is generating not only positiv...
Mortgage rates in the US rose for a second week as demand from buyers remains sluggish. The average for 30-year , fixed loans was 6.1%, up from 6.09% last week , data from Freddie Mac showed Thursday. Mortgage rates that have fallen in the past few months are helping to ease the affordability crisis, but demand so far remains sluggish. Some would-be buyers are holding out for even lower rates, whi...
Mortgage rates in the US rose for a second week as demand from buyers remains sluggish. The average for 30-year , fixed loans was 6.1%, up from 6.09% last week , data from Freddie Mac showed Thursday. Mortgage rates that have fallen in the past few months are helping to ease the affordability crisis, but demand so far remains sluggish. Some would-be buyers are holding out for even lower rates, while others may be discouraged by the weakening job market. The Federal Reserve left benchmark rates unchanged at its Wednesday meeting, signaling a more-cautious approach to potential future adjustments. “Mortgage rates will remain elevated in 2026,” Ershang Liang, an economist at PNC Economic Research, wrote in a note this week. “But stronger job growth and continued wage gains should help juice housing demand and increase housing affordability, even with modest price growth.”
Prosecutors investigating the deadly new year bar fire that killed 40 people in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana have opened a criminal investigation into a current and a former local council official, according to documents and local media reports. The municipality’s head of public safety was this week summoned to a hearing next Friday, their lawyer, Nicolas Rivard, confirmed on Thursday, ad...
Prosecutors investigating the deadly new year bar fire that killed 40 people in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana have opened a criminal investigation into a current and a former local council official, according to documents and local media reports. The municipality’s head of public safety was this week summoned to a hearing next Friday, their lawyer, Nicolas Rivard, confirmed on Thursday, adding that his client would be reserving any statement for the public prosecutors. A former council fire safety officer is also due to be questioned by investigators in the south-western canton of Valais on 9 February. Their lawyer, David Aioutz, said his client would be present at the state prosecutor’s office then. The official and former official have not been named. Documents from the prosecutor’s office seen by Reuters describe both individuals as “defendants” in the case and indicated that past and present town hall officials could be held responsible for safety failings at Le Constellation bar. The bar’s French owners, Jacques and Jessica Moretti, who face formal charges of negligent manslaughter, negligent bodily harm and negligent arson, were until now the only suspects under criminal investigation in the tragedy. The new year’s inferno also injured 116 people, most of them teenagers. The dead include 21 Swiss nationals, nine French citizens, six Italians, and a person from Belgium, Portugal, Romania and Turkey; the average age was 19. Authorities believe the blaze started in the basement party room of the crowded bar after sparklers attached to champagne bottles were held too close to the ceiling, which was clad with soundproofing foam that caught fire. Questions have been raised about the presence and accessibility of fire extinguishers in the basement, and whether the exits – including a reportedly narrow single staircase up to the bar – complied with regulations. Jacques Moretti was held in preventive custody for nearly two weeks before being released on bail of...