In Brief All startups accepted into YC will soon have the option to receive their seed checks via stablecoins, crypto YC partner Nemil Dala told The Block. YC’s famous “standard deal” is that it invests $500,000 into startups accepted into its program in exchange for 7% of their companies. Now that deal is hitting the blockchain (Base, Solana, and Ethereum, to be exact), starting with the upcoming...
In Brief All startups accepted into YC will soon have the option to receive their seed checks via stablecoins, crypto YC partner Nemil Dala told The Block. YC’s famous “standard deal” is that it invests $500,000 into startups accepted into its program in exchange for 7% of their companies. Now that deal is hitting the blockchain (Base, Solana, and Ethereum, to be exact), starting with the upcoming spring batch. Dala said that stablecoin transfers are often more effective, specifically for founders working in emerging markets. But also, YC is putting its money where its mouth is, so to speak. Last fall, YC partnered with Base and Coinbase Ventures to encourage founders to build more blockchain-related companies. Interest in blockchain tech is on the rise again in Silicon Valley as the US has taken steps toward more formal, crypto-friendly regulation of the industry.
Cotton price action is 13 to 31 points on Tuesday AM trade. Futures saw weaker trade across most contracts on Monday, with front months down 45 to 53 points at the close. Crude oil futures were down $2.88 per barrel on the day at $62.33. The US dollar index was up $0.581 to $97.440. Just prior to midday, President Trump issued a Truth Social post that a call with India’s President Modi went well w...
Cotton price action is 13 to 31 points on Tuesday AM trade. Futures saw weaker trade across most contracts on Monday, with front months down 45 to 53 points at the close. Crude oil futures were down $2.88 per barrel on the day at $62.33. The US dollar index was up $0.581 to $97.440. Just prior to midday, President Trump issued a Truth Social post that a call with India’s President Modi went well with the US lowering tariffs on the country from 25% to 18% and India agreeing to buy over $500 billion of US energy, technology, agricultural, coal and other products. India has historically been a top 8 buyer of US cotton. Don’t Miss a Day: Friday’s online auction from The Seam showed sales of 56.571 cents/lb on 4,462 bales. The Cotlook A Index was down 20 points on January 30 at 73.95 cents. ICE certified cotton stocks were up 25,666 on 1/30 with the certified stocks level at 34,226 bales. The Adjusted World Price was updated to 50.23 cents/lb on Thursday afternoon, down 76 points from the week prior. Mar 26 Cotton closed at 62.67, down 50 points, currently up 13 points May 26 Cotton closed at 64.4, down 53 points, currently up 21 points Jul 26 Cotton closed at 66.1, down 45 points, currently up 20 points More news from Barchart The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) is set to report its fourth quarter financial results after the bell on Wednesday amid growing optimism from Wall Street over the Google parent company's AI leadership. Analysts tracked by Bloomberg expect revenue to climb more than 15% to $111.4 billion and earnings per share to rise to $2.65 from $2.15 in the year-ago period. The projected jump in revenue is expected to be...
Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) is set to report its fourth quarter financial results after the bell on Wednesday amid growing optimism from Wall Street over the Google parent company's AI leadership. Analysts tracked by Bloomberg expect revenue to climb more than 15% to $111.4 billion and earnings per share to rise to $2.65 from $2.15 in the year-ago period. The projected jump in revenue is expected to be spurred by a more than 35% rise in Google Cloud revenue to $16.2 billion. Google Services — the segment including ad revenue from Search and YouTube, which accounts for the majority of Alphabet's revenue — is estimated to see revenue climb a more modest 13% from the previous year to $94.9 billion, per Bloomberg consensus estimates. Alphabet stock could rise or fall as much as 5% following its fourth quarter report, according to Bloomberg data. The stock has soared 25% since its last earnings report showed the tech giant beginning to benefit from a slew of AI deals with Meta (META), Anthropic (ANTH.PVT), and OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) involving its cloud segment. The release of Google's Gemini 3 AI model — which outperformed competing models on benchmark tests and prompted rival OpenAI to declare a "code red" — as well as the announcement of a landmark deal with Apple, cemented Alphabet's position as an AI winner and pushed the stock higher. Read more: Live coverage of corporate earnings At the same time, the broader "Magnificent Seven" group of Big Tech stocks is collectively down about 3% over that period, led by a 24% drop in Microsoft shares. Alphabet is positioned to boast "the highest quality top-line AI acceleration stories in the public universe," Raymond James analyst Josh Beck wrote in a late-January note to clients, upgrading the stock's rating to a Strong Buy from Outperform. He pointed to Google's advantage as a full-stack AI provider, as the company has begun selling its AI chips, called TPUs, to external customers rather than reserving them solely for internal use. Ah...
Earnings Call Insights: Ingredion Incorporated (INGR) Q4 2025 Management View CEO James Zallie reported "record full year operating income and earnings per share growth driven by continued strength in Texture and Healthful solutions and solid results from our Food and Industrial Ingredients LatAm business." He emphasized operational challenges at the Argo facility in U.S./Canada, stating that "act...
Earnings Call Insights: Ingredion Incorporated (INGR) Q4 2025 Management View CEO James Zallie reported "record full year operating income and earnings per share growth driven by continued strength in Texture and Healthful solutions and solid results from our Food and Industrial Ingredients LatAm business." He emphasized operational challenges at the Argo facility in U.S./Canada, stating that "actions we are taking should lead to steadily improving performance throughout 2026." Zallie highlighted that "Texture and Healthful Solutions posted its seventh straight quarter of volume growth, up 4%, led by clean label ingredients and solutions." He described clean label as "one of the food industry's fastest-growing areas," and noted strong growth in Asia Pacific and U.S./Canada. Strategic investments included the completion of a starch modernization project at the Indianapolis facility and an expansion of the Belcamp blending center, increasing revenue potential by $30 million annually for customized solutions. In LatAm, Zallie said "our team managed to deliver record operating income and margins of greater than 21% for the year, up 140 basis points," with Mexico repurposing part of its grind to higher-margin products. Protein fortification delivered a "record year, with net sales growth exceeding 40%." Zallie said, "we doubled production and were able to increase the average selling price through new product innovation." On innovation, Zallie cited "a new family of ingredient solutions that help customers readily replace ingredients that have been impacted by shortages and rapidly rising raw material costs," and mentioned the advancement of the sugar reduction taste modulation platform in partnership with Oobli. Zallie reported $59 million of Cost2Compete run rate savings in 2025, exceeding the $50 million target, and announced the transition toward long-term enterprise productivity. Zallie announced CFO Jim Gray's retirement effective March 31, 2026, and the launch of ...
Earnings Call Insights: Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD) Q4 2025 Management View Co-CEO A. Teague highlighted a record $2.7 billion of EBITDA for the fourth quarter, surpassing the previous record of $2.6 billion set in Q4 2024. Teague stated, "We brought on a number of assets in 2025. Frac 14 in mid-October, Mentone West and Orion midyear, several gathering and treating projects in the Per...
Earnings Call Insights: Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD) Q4 2025 Management View Co-CEO A. Teague highlighted a record $2.7 billion of EBITDA for the fourth quarter, surpassing the previous record of $2.6 billion set in Q4 2024. Teague stated, "We brought on a number of assets in 2025. Frac 14 in mid-October, Mentone West and Orion midyear, several gathering and treating projects in the Permian, the Neches River Terminal, ethane export train midyear, midyear start-up of diluent exports to Canada and finally, Bahia NGL pipeline in December. All these assets performed well, but they also filled holes created by a decline in our commodity-sensitive businesses and marketing spreads." He emphasized the impact of lower crude prices, noting, "Crude oil prices averaged about $12 a barrel lower than in 2024. That reduced many of the pricing spreads we benefited from over the prior 3 years." Teague shared that the company is "fully contracted on our ethane export terminals and all 20 processing trains that we have -- we will have online in the Permian by year-end" and that LPG exports are "highly contracted through the end of this decade, and we continue to see strong interest for additional long-term commitments." Co-CEO W. Fowler reported, "Net income attributable to common unitholders was $1.6 billion or $0.75 per common unit on a fully diluted basis for the fourth quarter of 2025... our adjusted cash flow from operations, which is cash flow from operating activities before changes in working capital grew 5% to $2.4 billion." Fowler announced a distribution of $0.55 per common unit for Q4 2025, a 2.8% increase year-over-year, and total capital returned to equity investors for 2025 of $5 billion, comprised of $4.7 billion in distributions and $300 million in buybacks. Fowler highlighted the partnership with ExxonMobil, noting, "In November, we announced ExxonMobil's acquisition of an undivided joint interest in Bahia Natural Gas Liquid Pipeline and the related expans...
jetcityimage/iStock Editorial via Getty Images W.W. Grainger ( GWW ) shares climbed as much as 6.7% to a 13-month high on Tuesday after the industrial supplies distributor reported quarterly results that topped revenue expectations and issued guidance largely in line with Wall Street forecasts. Grainger ( GWW ) posted fourth-quarter revenue of $4.425 billion, up 4.5% from a year earlier and ahead ...
jetcityimage/iStock Editorial via Getty Images W.W. Grainger ( GWW ) shares climbed as much as 6.7% to a 13-month high on Tuesday after the industrial supplies distributor reported quarterly results that topped revenue expectations and issued guidance largely in line with Wall Street forecasts. Grainger ( GWW ) posted fourth-quarter revenue of $4.425 billion, up 4.5% from a year earlier and ahead of analysts’ estimates of $4.40 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $9.44, in line with the consensus estimate of $9.46 as margins narrowed. Earnings and margins Net income fell to $451 million, or $9.44 a share, from $475 million, or $9.71 a share a year earlier. Operating margin declined 70 basis points to 14.3%, reflecting higher expenses and slower growth in the company’s North American high-touch business. “In 2025, we executed well despite a challenging macro environment,” chief executive officer D.G. Macpherson said in the earnings release. For the full year, Grainger ( GWW ) reported sales of $17.9 billion, up 4.5%, while reported earnings per share declined 8.6% to $35.40. Cash flow and shareholder returns Grainger ( GWW ) generated $2 billion in operating cash flow during 2025 and returned $1.5 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, underscoring continued capital discipline despite margin pressure. 2026 outlook Looking ahead, Grainger ( GWW ) guided for 2026 net sales of $18.7 billion to $19.1 billion, compared with the consensus estimate of $18.83 billion. The company forecast earnings of $42.25 to $44.75 a share, bracketing analysts’ expectations of $43.84, and projected daily organic constant currency sales growth of 6.5% to 9.0% as it continues to invest across its high-touch and endless assortment businesses. More on W.W. Grainger W.W. Grainger's Biggest Threat Is High Expectations W.W. Grainger: Great Growth, But Not Enough W.W. Grainger's U.K. Exit: Capital Discipline Over Footprint TRGP, GWW, and CTVA are the ‘best sto...
The ex-British ambassador to the U.S. is under U.K. investigation into Epstein ties toggle caption Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP LONDON — British police on Tuesday opened a criminal investigation into politician Peter Mandelson over alleged misconduct in public office related to his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The U.K. government says newly released Epstein files suggest Man...
The ex-British ambassador to the U.S. is under U.K. investigation into Epstein ties toggle caption Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP LONDON — British police on Tuesday opened a criminal investigation into politician Peter Mandelson over alleged misconduct in public office related to his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The U.K. government says newly released Epstein files suggest Mandelson – a former Cabinet minister, ambassador and elder statesman of the governing Labour Party – may have shared market-sensitive information with the convicted sex offender a decade and a half ago. London's Metropolitan Police force said detectives had reviewed reports of misconduct and decided they met the threshold for a full investigation. Sponsor Message Commander Ella Marriott said the force "has now launched an investigation into a 72-year-old man, a former government minister, for misconduct in public office offenses." Misconduct in public office carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Opening an investigation does not mean Mandelson will be arrested, charged or convicted. But his friendship with Epstein has now cost him his political career. Mandelson said Tuesday he was resigning from the House of Lords, Parliament's upper chamber, to which he was appointed for life in 2008. The Speaker of the Lords, Michael Forsyth, said Mandelson had informed officials he will retire effective Wednesday. The announcement came as the British government prepared legislation to eject Mandelson from the Lords and remove the noble title, Lord Mandelson, that came with his seat in the chamber. Mandelson will retain the title after he retires unless lawmakers pass legislation to strip it from him — something that has not been done for more than a century. A trove of more than 3 million pages of Epstein-related documents released by the U.S. Justice Department has brought excruciating revelations about 72-year-old Mandelson, who served in senior government roles under previous L...
The S&P 500 index is offering up a tiny little dividend yield of 1.2% right now. The average real estate investment trust (REIT) has a yield of 3.8%. All three of the REITs here beat that, with Rexford Industrial (NYSE: REXR) offering a fast-growing dividend and a 4.1% yield. Realty Income (NYSE: O) has a 5.8% yield backed by three decades' worth of annual dividend increases. And W.P. Carey's (NYS...
The S&P 500 index is offering up a tiny little dividend yield of 1.2% right now. The average real estate investment trust (REIT) has a yield of 3.8%. All three of the REITs here beat that, with Rexford Industrial (NYSE: REXR) offering a fast-growing dividend and a 4.1% yield. Realty Income (NYSE: O) has a 5.8% yield backed by three decades' worth of annual dividend increases. And W.P. Carey's (NYSE: WPC) 6.4% yield was recently cut, but there's more to that story than meets the eye. Rexford Industrial is for dividend growth investors Wall Street has a bad habit of going to extremes when it gets a story in its teeth. That's what happened with Rexford Industrial during the coronavirus pandemic period. The idea that there would be more online shopping and increased near-shoring to push up demand for industrial properties, like warehouses and manufacturing facilities, pushed the prices of industrial REITs sharply higher. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More » Rapid rental growth backed that story, particularly at Rexford, which operates exclusively in the Southern California market. This region is among the largest industrial markets in the world, and supply is highly constrained. But trees don't grow to the sky, no matter how much investors wish they did. Rexford's rental growth rates have slowed down. In the third quarter of 2024, the REIT's rental growth was "just" 39% on expiring leases. That's huge by any normal standard, but it's actually a material drop from Rexford's peak rental growth rates. Investors have moved on to other stories (like AI), and left Rexford Industrial's shares trading with a historically high dividend yield. But this rental growth story clearly isn't over yet for those who don't mind buying after the crowd has moved on. Realty Income is for conservative income investors The story around Realty Income isn't nearly as exciting. It is an industry gi...
October NY world sugar #11 (SBV24) today is up +0.05 (+0.28%), and Oct London ICE white sugar #5 (SWV24) is up +2.90 (+0.56%). Sugar prices today recovered from early losses and turned higher after a fall in the dollar index (DXY00) to a 6-3/4 month low sparked short-covering in sugar futures. Sugar prices today initially declined, with NY sugar falling to a 1-3/4 year nearest-futures low and Lond...
October NY world sugar #11 (SBV24) today is up +0.05 (+0.28%), and Oct London ICE white sugar #5 (SWV24) is up +2.90 (+0.56%). Sugar prices today recovered from early losses and turned higher after a fall in the dollar index (DXY00) to a 6-3/4 month low sparked short-covering in sugar futures. Sugar prices today initially declined, with NY sugar falling to a 1-3/4 year nearest-futures low and London sugar dropping to a 2-1/3 year low on optimism that above-average monsoon rains in India will lead to a bumper sugar crop. The Indian Meteorological Department reported today that India received 512.5 mm of rain during the current monsoon season as of August 4, up +6% from the comparable long-term average of 481.9 mm. India's monsoon season runs from June through September. The slump in the Brazilian real (^USDBRL) is also undercutting sugar prices as the real today fell to a 3-1/3 year low against the dollar. The weaker real encourages export selling from Brazil's sugar producers. The Indian Sugar and Bio-energy Manufacturers Association (ISM) on July 3 reported India's 2023/24 sugar reserves at 9.1 MMT and reported a surplus of 3.6 MMT. The group urged the government to allow increased exports of surplus sugar. India has restricted sugar exports since October 2023 to maintain adequate domestic supplies. India allowed mills to export only 6.1 MMT of sugar during the 2022/23 season to September 30 after allowing exports of a record 11.1 MMT in the previous season. Separately, the ISM reported on May 13 that India's 2023/24 sugar production from Oct-Apr fell -1.6% y/y to 31.4 MMT. Also, the ISM last Tuesday projected India's 2024/25 sugar production would fall by -2% y/y to 33.31 MMT. Unica reported on July 25 that Brazil's Center-South sugar output in the first half of July fell -9.7% y/y to 2.939 MMT. However Center-South sugar production in the marketing year through mid-July was still up by +10.4% y/y at 17.140 MMT. Conab, Brazil's crop agency, projected on April 25 t...
The death of the 53-year-old, who was once widely seen as his father's heir apparent, was reported by the head of his political team on Tuesday, according to the Libyan News Agency.
The death of the 53-year-old, who was once widely seen as his father's heir apparent, was reported by the head of his political team on Tuesday, according to the Libyan News Agency.
Key Points Bought 190,959 shares of JBND; estimated trade size $10.4 million based on quarterly average price. Quarter-end stake value rose by $10.3 million, reflecting both trading and bond price shifts. Trade equals 4.4% of Vawter's reportable U.S. equity assets under management. Post-trade position: 326,006 shares, valued at $17.6 million. JBND now represents 7.4% of AUM, which places it in the...
Key Points Bought 190,959 shares of JBND; estimated trade size $10.4 million based on quarterly average price. Quarter-end stake value rose by $10.3 million, reflecting both trading and bond price shifts. Trade equals 4.4% of Vawter's reportable U.S. equity assets under management. Post-trade position: 326,006 shares, valued at $17.6 million. JBND now represents 7.4% of AUM, which places it in the fund's top five holdings. 10 stocks we like better than J.p. Morgan Exchange-Traded Fund Trust - JPMorgan Active Bond ETF › On Feb. 2, 2026, Vawter Financial, Ltd. disclosed a purchase of 190,959 shares of the JPMorgan Active Bond ETF (NYSE:JBND), with an estimated transaction value of $10.36 million based on quarterly average pricing. What happened According to a Feb. 2, 2026, SEC filing, Vawter Financial, Ltd. increased its position in JPMorgan Active Bond ETF by 190,959 shares during the fourth quarter. The estimated transaction value was $10.36 million, calculated using the average closing price for the quarter. The quarter-end value of the position increased by $10.31 million, reflecting both new purchases and price changes in the underlying ETF. What else to know Vawter Financial, Ltd. increased its JBND stake to 7.4% of reportable AUM after the trade. Top holdings after the filing: NYSEMKT:JBND: $17.6 million (7.4% of AUM) NYSEMKT:VBK: $16.0 million (6.8% of AUM) NASDAQ:BNDX: $12.9 million (5.5% of AUM) NYSEMKT:BSV: $12.7 million (5.4% of AUM) NYSEMKT:VB: $12.5 million (5.3% of AUM) As of Jan. 30, 2026, JBND shares were priced at $54.12, down 2.94% from the 52-week high. One-year total return: 7.3%; underperformed the S&P 500 by 8.5 percentage points over the period. JBND’s trailing 12-month dividend yield was 4.41% as of Feb. 2, 2026. ETF overview Metric Value AUM N/A Price (as of market close 2/1/26) $53.93 Dividend Yield (TTM) 4.41% 1-Year Total Return 6.96% ETF snapshot The investment strategy seeks to outperform the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index over a th...
The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a funding measure that will end the partial government shutdown, while giving Democrats time to negotiate with the White House and Congress’s Republican leaders over restrictions on Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign. The Republican-controlled chamber approved the $1.2tn appropriations measure by a 217-214 vote, with all but 21 Republicans vo...
The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a funding measure that will end the partial government shutdown, while giving Democrats time to negotiate with the White House and Congress’s Republican leaders over restrictions on Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign. The Republican-controlled chamber approved the $1.2tn appropriations measure by a 217-214 vote, with all but 21 Republicans voting in favor and all but 21 Democrats against. Trump is expected to sign it, ending the shutdown that began after midnight last Friday, which halted many operations at departments including defense, health and human services, labor and transportation. The funding lapse occurred after Democrats refused to approve continued funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) following the killings by federal agents of US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis amid the Trump administration’s surge of immigration enforcement in the city. Democrats have demanded a host of guardrails be imposed on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other agencies involved in Trump’s mass deportation campaign. Among their conditions is the requirement that federal agents wear body cameras and cease wearing masks, follow a code of conduct and obtain arrest warrants for people in the country illegally. “What Democrats want is exceedingly commonsense,” the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, said in a floor speech earlier on Tuesday. Democrats initially blocked passage of the spending package in the Senate last week, prompting the White House to agree to a deal by which the DHS would be funded for two weeks while the rest of the departments would have spending authorized through September, when the 2026 fiscal year ends. In a statement released after the vote, the Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, said the changes his party was demanding “must be part of any full-year appropriations bill” for the DHS. “Americans from every corner of the country are demand...