Daniel Grizelj/DigitalVision via Getty Images Owning hard infrastructure assets at reasonable prices can be a good way to hedge against market volatility. Such may be the case in this volatile market. As of late, Gold ( GLD ), Silver ( SLV ), and even software companies like Microsoft ( MSFT ) and ServiceNow ( NOW ) are trading well off their recent highs as the market re-assesses their risk profi...
Daniel Grizelj/DigitalVision via Getty Images Owning hard infrastructure assets at reasonable prices can be a good way to hedge against market volatility. Such may be the case in this volatile market. As of late, Gold ( GLD ), Silver ( SLV ), and even software companies like Microsoft ( MSFT ) and ServiceNow ( NOW ) are trading well off their recent highs as the market re-assesses their risk profiles. This brings me to Air Products and Chemicals ( APD ), which I last covered in March 2025, highlighting its expansion in the hydrogen market and cost savings initiatives. At the current price of $272, APD currently trades at a forward P/E of 21 and sits below the midpoint of it 52-week range ($229 - $341), as shown below. APD Stock 1-Yr Trend (Seeking Alpha) In this article, I revisit APD including recent business results , and discuss what makes it an attractive growth stock to own, so let's dive in! Why APD? Air Products and Chemicals is a leading global industrial gas company. It supplies essential gases such as hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and specialty gases to a wide range of end markets. APD's customers include those in the refining, chemicals, electronics, aerospace, healthcare, and energy sectors. APD's operations span across more than 40 countries and plays a foundational role in global industrial activity. In recent years, APD has increasingly positioned itself as a leader in clean hydrogen and energy transition infrastructure with a focus on core industrial gas profitability. APD delivered on profitable growth with a strong start to fiscal 2026. This included adjusted operating income rising by 12% YoY and EPS growth of 10% YoY during Q1'26 (ended December 31, 2025). This was driven by higher operating income in the Americas, Asia, and Europe due to pricing and on-site volume growth. At the same time, the Middle East and India benefited from income growth due to lower cost. As shown below, adjusted operating margin grew by 140 basis points YoY to 24.4% due to...
Meta Platforms has flipped the script from defensive tech giant to market momentum machine. With a powerful earnings beat, an aggressive AI push, and a massive buyback, the stock has surged, compressing skeptics and rewarding believers. But after this vertical move, is the risk now in being too early or in being left behind? Meta Platforms Inc has just reminded Wall Street how violently sentiment ...
Meta Platforms has flipped the script from defensive tech giant to market momentum machine. With a powerful earnings beat, an aggressive AI push, and a massive buyback, the stock has surged, compressing skeptics and rewarding believers. But after this vertical move, is the risk now in being too early or in being left behind? Meta Platforms Inc has just reminded Wall Street how violently sentiment can swing when a mega cap delivers on revenue, earnings, and narrative all at once. The stock has ripped higher in recent sessions, feeding off a potent mix of artificial intelligence optimism, stronger than expected advertising demand, and shareholder friendly capital returns. Traders who spent months debating whether Meta was an overextended ad cyclical or a misunderstood AI contender are now dealing with a market that is voting clearly with its wallet. The short term price action leaves little doubt about the mood. Over the last five trading days, Meta’s share price has marched sharply higher, with the most dramatic jump arriving right after its latest earnings release. According to data cross checked between Yahoo Finance and Google Finance, Meta traded recently around the mid 460s in US dollars, up strongly from the low 400s only days earlier. That roughly double digit percentage surge in less than a week is the kind of move that turns a solid tech stalwart into the market’s new obsession. Under the surface, the trend has been building for months. On a 90 day view, the stock has climbed decisively from the mid 300s to well above 450, an advance of around 30 percent. That climb has been punctuated by brief pauses and shallow dips, but the dominant pattern is clear higher highs and higher lows. This is not the look of a tired old FAANG component approaching the end of its run; it resembles a stock that has rediscovered both growth and a compelling story. The bigger picture is just as striking. Meta’s recent price action has taken it right back toward its 52 week high, wh...
Supermodel Heidi Klum is surely used to making even the most form-fitting designs work on the runway, and her look for the 2026 Grammy awards red carpet was no different.
Supermodel Heidi Klum is surely used to making even the most form-fitting designs work on the runway, and her look for the 2026 Grammy awards red carpet was no different.
前銀行職員披露家人受廉署調查 涉違防止賄賂條例遭起訴 To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 【有線新聞】時任銀行職員涉嫌向家人披露對方正被廉署調查，違反《防止賄賂條例》，被落案起訴。 廉署去年1月底致函集友銀行，要求...
前銀行職員披露家人受廉署調查 涉違防止賄賂條例遭起訴 To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 【有線新聞】時任銀行職員涉嫌向家人披露對方正被廉署調查，違反《防止賄賂條例》，被落案起訴。 廉署去年1月底致函集友銀行，要求銀行就一項調查提供一個帳戶資料，因該賬戶於土瓜灣分行開設，銀行向分行提供廉署信件。被告當時任職該分行的客戶服務經理，得知被調查的賬號是家人開設，被告及後涉嫌向其家人披露對方正在被廉署調查，涉嫌違反《防止賄賂條例》中一項披露受調查人身分等資料罪名，被告獲准保釋，周二會在九龍城裁判法院答辯。
Indian bonds look set to suffer losses on Monday as the government’s plan to sell an unprecedented and more-than-expected amount of debt adds to pressure from weakening demand, market participants said. New Delhi will borrow 17.2 trillion rupees ($187 billion) in the year starting April 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in her budget speech on Sunday. The figure marks an increase of...
Indian bonds look set to suffer losses on Monday as the government’s plan to sell an unprecedented and more-than-expected amount of debt adds to pressure from weakening demand, market participants said. New Delhi will borrow 17.2 trillion rupees ($187 billion) in the year starting April 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in her budget speech on Sunday. The figure marks an increase of about 18% from the current year’s revised estimate and exceeds the 16.5 trillion rupees forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. The heavier supply could push the 10-year yield higher by four to five basis points on Monday, according to traders at Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance and Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Ltd. The yield may climb to 7% in the coming weeks, ICICI Securities Primary Dealership Ltd. said. Rising borrowing costs risk deepening strain on an economy already contending with steep US tariffs, while the central bank has limited scope to cut interest rates further to support growth. Bond yields are near their highest levels in almost a year amid heavy issuance by state governments and fading demand from pension and insurance funds. The central bank will need to ramp up its bond purchases to support liquidity, and buy debt at regular intervals to provide yield signals, said Alok Sharma , head of treasury at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Mumbai. “Active liquidity management will be required, or the path of least resistance is only upwards for yields,” he said. Sitharaman said the budget deficit will ease to 4.3% of gross domestic product in the fiscal year beginning April 1, from an estimated 4.4% in the current year. While the budget gap has been modestly narrowed, swelling bond redemptions have driven gross borrowing sharply higher. Net borrowing, which strips out redemptions, is estimated to be 11.7 trillion rupees in the next fiscal year. That’s slightly higher than the current year’s revised figure of 11.3 trillion rupees. Redemptions in the coming fis...
NEW YORK, Feb 1, 2026, 19:41 EST — Market closed Astera Labs shares dropped 6.1% on Friday, closing at $150.62 The decline followed U.S. stocks ending the day down, weighed by uncertainty over the path of interest rates Attention turns to Astera’s quarterly results and outlook set for Feb. 10 Astera Labs (ALAB.O) shares fell 6.1%, closing at $150.62 on Friday. The AI-infrastructure chip stock is h...
NEW YORK, Feb 1, 2026, 19:41 EST — Market closed Astera Labs shares dropped 6.1% on Friday, closing at $150.62 The decline followed U.S. stocks ending the day down, weighed by uncertainty over the path of interest rates Attention turns to Astera’s quarterly results and outlook set for Feb. 10 Astera Labs (ALAB.O) shares fell 6.1%, closing at $150.62 on Friday. The AI-infrastructure chip stock is heading into Monday’s session after a steep weekly decline. (Yahoo Finance) Wall Street closed down as investors digested the news on the next Federal Reserve chair and what it means for interest rates. “Markets are calibrating to Trump’s pick of Kevin Warsh … and the outlook for monetary policy,” said Michael Hans, chief investment officer at Citizens Wealth. (Reuters) Why it matters now: Astera’s shares have been moving like a high-beta proxy for data-center spending, reacting sharply to even minor changes in macro outlooks. With earnings just around the corner, a drop this steep usually attracts short-term traders and triggers hedging activity. On Friday, the stock fluctuated between $149.13 and $161.17, with roughly 4.28 million shares traded. It showed little movement after the market closed. (MarketWatch) Astera offers semiconductor hardware and software designed to tackle data, memory, and networking bottlenecks in AI and cloud systems — essentially the infrastructure supporting large-scale computing expansions. (SEC) The next major event is set for Feb. 10, when Astera will release its fourth-quarter results after the market closes, with a conference call to follow. (GlobeNewswire) Investors will watch closely for changes in demand cues and shipment schedules, along with management’s take on short-term growth and spending trends in AI infrastructure. Margins will be crucial here. The stock can shift rapidly on even slight tweaks in outlook, particularly if guidance suggests customers are pacing orders more evenly instead of rushing them. One major caveat: if earnings...
US natural gas futures plummeted, erasing Friday’s surge, as near-term weather forecasts showed milder conditions. The front-month contract fell as much as 17% to $3.620 per million British thermal units in early Asian trading. The contract had added 11% on Friday ahead of record-breaking cold weather. While frigid temperatures are gripping the southern US and prompting power-saving efforts, the o...
US natural gas futures plummeted, erasing Friday’s surge, as near-term weather forecasts showed milder conditions. The front-month contract fell as much as 17% to $3.620 per million British thermal units in early Asian trading. The contract had added 11% on Friday ahead of record-breaking cold weather. While frigid temperatures are gripping the southern US and prompting power-saving efforts, the outlook through the middle of the month is warmer. Large portions of the country are set to see higher-than-normal temperatures, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That is likely to reduce demand for natural gas, which is used for heating and power generation. US gas futures have whipsawed over the past few weeks, with the February futures contract surging to a three-year high before expiring last Wednesday, driven by a winter storm that disrupted production and boosted heating demand. The March contract jumped again on Friday as traders digested mixed weather forecasts and a bullish government storage report.
Well done, Boeing (NYSE: BA) ! Last quarter's top line of just under $24 billion not only topped analysts' expectations of $22.6 billion but also improved the year-earlier figure by 57%. The company also swung back to a profit, offering a glimmer of hope to the beleaguered aircraft maker's investors. There's a fairly important footnote to add to these numbers, though. That is, the comparison was t...
Well done, Boeing (NYSE: BA) ! Last quarter's top line of just under $24 billion not only topped analysts' expectations of $22.6 billion but also improved the year-earlier figure by 57%. The company also swung back to a profit, offering a glimmer of hope to the beleaguered aircraft maker's investors. There's a fairly important footnote to add to these numbers, though. That is, the comparison was to a rather lousy fourth quarter of 2024, when revenue fell 31% year over year. Indeed, it did $24 billion less business than it did in the final quarter of 2018, shortly before a couple of fatal crashes of new Boeing-made aircraft hinted at potential design flaws. Nevertheless, this commercial aircraft manufacturer's future has never been brighter in a far more important regard. That's its backlog of orders that have yet to be delivered . As of the end of last year, Boeing is sitting on a record-breaking $682.2 billion worth of airplane orders. And the backlog's growth appears to be accelerating. Continue reading
Hang Seng Investment Management has launched a new gold ETF in Hong Kong as demand for the metal soars. The company's Director and CEO Rosita Lee discusses the rationale and outlook on Bloomberg's The China Show. (Source: Bloomberg)
Hang Seng Investment Management has launched a new gold ETF in Hong Kong as demand for the metal soars. The company's Director and CEO Rosita Lee discusses the rationale and outlook on Bloomberg's The China Show. (Source: Bloomberg)