(This is The Best Stocks in the Market , brought to you by Josh Brown and Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management.) Josh — People are worried about the economy right now. The combination of weak hiring, high gas prices and a raft of large corporate layoff announcements has led to investors taking a second look at some defensive stocks that haven't done much in recent years (decades). Two stocks t...
(This is The Best Stocks in the Market , brought to you by Josh Brown and Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management.) Josh — People are worried about the economy right now. The combination of weak hiring, high gas prices and a raft of large corporate layoff announcements has led to investors taking a second look at some defensive stocks that haven't done much in recent years (decades). Two stocks that fit the bill are AT & T (T) and Verizon (VZ) . Over the last 10 years, they've trailed the market as investors prized asset-light companies with big profit margins and even bigger growth. T has annualized at just under 6% per year, while VZ has done just under 5%. That's basically bond-like performance, as these companies spent the last few years unwinding some of the worst media deals in history. AT & T spent $85 billion to buy Time Warner, ultimately puking it up (along with $45 billion in debt) into a spin-off merger with Discovery Media (you know what happened next - Larry Ellison's son and Netflix just had a knife fight over it this winter). Not to be outdone, the brain trust at Verizon inexplicably decided to spend a combined $10 billion to acquire AOL (literally, America Online) and Yahoo, both of which it disgorged shortly afterward. Wall Street analysts began referring to AT & T and Verizon as "Dumb and Dumber" and shareholders had to watch as years of cashflow were washed down the drain from ill-fated M & A. But that was then and this is now. AT & T is now doubling down on what it does best, communications and fiber optics for voice, wireless and data. It's in a great position for the Age of AI. Verizon just posted a blow-out subscriber number the last time it reported earnings . The effects of its costly price war with T-Mobile seem to be ebbing. And, in the end, when investors are looking for companies with defensive characteristics, they usually come back to the mobile phone business. In the modern economy, a stressed consumer would probably give up their c...
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says there’s tension currently between the central bank’s two main objectives during an event at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Source: Bloomberg)
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says there’s tension currently between the central bank’s two main objectives during an event at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Source: Bloomberg)
Italy’s government is nearing decisions on who will lead major state-backed companies worth about €250 billion ($287 billion), with shakeups expected at some of the firms. The list of companies with board chairs and chief executive officers whose terms are set to expire by May include energy and defense groups Eni SpA , Enel SpA and Leonardo SpA . Changes are under consideration for Leonardo, Bloo...
Italy’s government is nearing decisions on who will lead major state-backed companies worth about €250 billion ($287 billion), with shakeups expected at some of the firms. The list of companies with board chairs and chief executive officers whose terms are set to expire by May include energy and defense groups Eni SpA , Enel SpA and Leonardo SpA . Changes are under consideration for Leonardo, Bloomberg reported on Saturday. Read More: Meloni Mulls Changes at Italian State Firms After Setback The government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is set to confirm Claudio Descalzi for another term as CEO of Eni, the oil-and-gas company that plays an outsize role in Italian foreign relations, as well as Matteo Del Fante at state-controlled Poste Italiane SpA , people familiar with the matter said. Decisions on other CEO roles remain under discussion and haven’t been finalized, the people added, asking not to be named before deliberations are concluded. The choices will offer insight into Meloni’s priorities for strategic sectors, and play a key role in shaping the 49-year-old premier’s economic agenda as she seeks a second term. The stakes have risen with a war in the Middle East that’s jolted energy prices and put pressure on defense companies to meet rising needs in Europe. Meloni’s government is due to announce the choices at six major state-backed firms as soon as this week, capping weeks of negotiations within her ruling coalition, people familiar with the matter said. The premier is leaning toward changes, with the board chairs at all six companies potentially being replaced, the people said. Talks are ongoing regarding these roles, they said. The companies include Enel, Eni, Leonardo, Poste, grid operator Terna SpA and air traffic control Enav SpA . A spokesperson for the government declined to comment, as did representatives at energy utility Enel, Leonardo, Poste, Terna and Enav. Eni declined to comment “on decisions that are up to our shareholders.” Political Reset...
Kinwun/iStock via Getty Images Vertical Aerospace ( EVTL ) confirmed on Monday that it has secured a comprehensive financing package of up to $850M to provide the company with capital to advance certification and eventual commercialization of its electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL). The package is structured across multiple instruments, including ordinary shares, convertible se...
Kinwun/iStock via Getty Images Vertical Aerospace ( EVTL ) confirmed on Monday that it has secured a comprehensive financing package of up to $850M to provide the company with capital to advance certification and eventual commercialization of its electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL). The package is structured across multiple instruments, including ordinary shares, convertible secured notes, preferred equity, and an equity line of credit. Mudrick Capital Management and Yorkville Advisors Global partnered with Vertical ( EVTL ) to assemble the financing package, of which $50M in new shares will be issued. In addition, Mudville Capital will purchase $50M in convertible secured notes and extend the maturity of existing notes to 2030, while Yorkville will purchase $250M in convertible preferred equity and provide a $500M equity line of credit. The financing agreement also includes access for up to $800M in additional committed capital. Both parties have committed to complete the financing by April 19. “By shoring up its balance sheet, the company believes the market can now focus on its core product potential and business fundamentals,” Vertical said in a statement. "We have assembled a comprehensive, flexible financing package designed to execute our strategic plan and materially strengthen our ability to build and certify Valo. We are grateful to Mudrick Capital and Yorkville for their support of our technology, team, and mission," said Stuart Simpson, Vertical Aerospace CEO. Vertical Aerospace ( EVTL ) shares are up by nearly 2% Monday, snapping a six-day losing streak. More on Vertical Aerospace Vertical Aerospace: Liquidity Crisis Deepens As Transition Delay Triggers Dilution Spiral Vertical Aerospace Ltd. 2025 Q4 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation Vertical Aerospace Ltd. (EVTL) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Vertical Aerospace is said to near $800M fundraise for air taxi plans Vertical Aerospace shares set record low, reiterates "going conc...
Funtay/iStock via Getty Images Alcoa ( AA ) up 11% and Century Aluminum ( CENX ) up 10.5% in Monday's trading after Iran attacked two aluminum production sites in the Middle East over the weekend, threatening to deepen global supply disruptions and sending prices on the London Metal Exchange surging to nearly four-year highs ( LMAHDS03:COM ). Also, Constellium ( CSTM ) up 3.3%, Kaiser Aluminum ( K...
Funtay/iStock via Getty Images Alcoa ( AA ) up 11% and Century Aluminum ( CENX ) up 10.5% in Monday's trading after Iran attacked two aluminum production sites in the Middle East over the weekend, threatening to deepen global supply disruptions and sending prices on the London Metal Exchange surging to nearly four-year highs ( LMAHDS03:COM ). Also, Constellium ( CSTM ) up 3.3%, Kaiser Aluminum ( KALU ) up 3%, and Rio Tinto ( RIO ) up 2.9% on Monday. The Middle East's top aluminum producer, Emirates Global Aluminium, said it had sustained "significant damage" at its Al Taweelah plant in Abu Dhabi, while A luminium Bahrain said it was assessing damage at its facility. The Middle East is home to 7M metric tons of aluminium smelting capacity, accounting for ~9% of global capacity. The Iran war had already pushed up prices of aluminum - used in cars, planes and solar panels - as smelters in the region cannot ship out metal or bring in raw materials, and the latest attacks risk making the situation worse by potentially knocking out supplies for a longer period. More on Alcoa and Century Aluminum Alcoa Presents at JPMorgan Industrials Conference 2026 - Slideshow Alcoa: Valuation Concern Overshadows Aluminum Strikes Century Aluminum: A High-Stakes, Strait Of Hormuz Hedge
bauwimauwi/iStock via Getty Images As an avid energy drink enjoyer, I tend to try out many new flavors and brands when they come out. One brand that I have tried many flavors of is Celsius ( CELH ), which is the subject of this article. Celsius is a challenger in the energy drink market, setting itself apart by using more natural ingredients. The question that will be explored in this article is w...
bauwimauwi/iStock via Getty Images As an avid energy drink enjoyer, I tend to try out many new flavors and brands when they come out. One brand that I have tried many flavors of is Celsius ( CELH ), which is the subject of this article. Celsius is a challenger in the energy drink market, setting itself apart by using more natural ingredients. The question that will be explored in this article is whether this is enough to make it a good investment. Company Overview Celsius is a Nevada-incorporated, Florida-headquartered energy drink company. The company's main brand, Celsius, was founded in 2005 but did not really get into prominence until the Covid lockdowns. Where other challengers managed to get a foot in the door in the energy drink market but subsequently failed (such as Bang), Celsius managed to take a decent market share from Monster ( MNST ) and Red Bull. Last year, the company also completed the acquisitions of Alani Nu and Rockstar (from Pepsi ( PEP )), making it the largest competitor to the incumbents. Even though the acquired brands are also active in the energy drink sector, they are to an extent complementary. The Celsius brand mostly focuses on fitness/wellness consumers, whereas Alani Nu mainly focuses on female consumers and Rockstar on the more "traditional" energy drink consumers. Brand Acquired Positioning Key Consumer U.S. Market Share (Q4 2025) CELSIUS® Founding brand (2005) Flagship functional energy, zero sugar Fitness/wellness consumers ~11.0% Alani Nu® April 1, 2025 Wellness-focused energy protein supplements Female consumers, Gen Z ~6.4% Rockstar® August 28, 2025 Traditional energy, full-sugar & zero-sugar Broader/traditional energy drinkers ~2.4% Combined ~19.8% Click to enlarge While the ready-to-drink (RTD) category is by far the largest, the company also sells on-the-go powder & hydration sticks. The advantage of the sticks is that the costs to manufacture are cheaper as they do not require the aluminum cans, nor do they need to add th...
BING-JHEN HONG/iStock Editorial via Getty Images The iShares Russell 1000 ETF ( IWB ) is a way to get effective exposure to the broader, tech-led US market, as we discussed in our previous coverage . The immediate issue is that it's more expensive in terms of operating costs compared to the ( IVV ), which has a lower expense ratio (0.03% versus 0.15%) but with very similar allocations and almost i...
BING-JHEN HONG/iStock Editorial via Getty Images The iShares Russell 1000 ETF ( IWB ) is a way to get effective exposure to the broader, tech-led US market, as we discussed in our previous coverage . The immediate issue is that it's more expensive in terms of operating costs compared to the ( IVV ), which has a lower expense ratio (0.03% versus 0.15%) but with very similar allocations and almost identical sectoral exposures. This is a relative problem. But in terms of market timing, the concern is that with so many stretched valuations, the shoe may drop on tech. While the first wave of selling off equities focused on input cost exposure, the next leg of the sell-off is likely to concentrate on tech, as high multiples mean sensitivity to horizon values, which in turn means sensitivity to capital costs. With the war stretching on and with very considerable uncertainty around the progress towards ending it, capital costs are now in question, and the market is settling on a reality of serious risks of no more rate cuts or simply hiking. We don't like the tech and high multiple skew. IWB Breakdown With exposures in Nvidia ( NVDA ), Apple ( AAPL ), Microsoft ( MSFT ), and Amazon ( AMZN ), there really isn't much of a difference between them and the ( IVV ), which is the iShares reference for tracking the S&P 500. IVV Sectors (iShares) IWB Sectors (iShares) This is reflected in the sectoral numbers. Over 30% in IT and around 10-12% in financials, consumer discretionary, industrials, communications, and healthcare, in that order. Functionally, there is little difference between the ETFs. Data by YCharts This is reflected even in the long-term compounded performance. Bear Case The bear case, which is what we're inclined towards, is the following: Megacap tech-led ETFs feature high multiples, meaning a lot of expectations in future performance by definition. Consequently, there are a lot of distant theoretical cash flow projections being made collectively by markets, which m...
XiFotos/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Beyond the escalating tensions in Iran, the other major news item that has splattered across U.S. headlines is the funding crisis in the TSA. Partisan gridlock over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which is still pending the House and Senate to reconcile different funding priorities , has sidelined TSA officers and created huge lines at U....
XiFotos/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Beyond the escalating tensions in Iran, the other major news item that has splattered across U.S. headlines is the funding crisis in the TSA. Partisan gridlock over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which is still pending the House and Senate to reconcile different funding priorities , has sidelined TSA officers and created huge lines at U.S. airports. The airport crisis is turning into Clear Secure's ( YOU ) time to shine. The biometric security company, which provides the Clear "fast lanes" at airports that enable expedited screening, is a major outlier in the stock market this year, with its stock up ~35% since the start of January and nearly doubling over the past year. The question for investors now is, does Clear have sufficient fundamental tailwinds to keep rallying, or should we lock in gains here? Data by YCharts I last wrote an article upgrading Clear to a neutral rating (from a previous sell opinion) in November, when the stock was trading in the high $30s. Since then, Clear has continued to rally, but at the same time, the company's bookings growth has accelerated, while Clear has also issued a very robust outlook for the current year, FY26. That's on top of the potential new member adds that may happen in Q1 as a result of long TSA lines that may fuel additional upside for Clear this year. I'm not hesitating to upgrade the stock to a buy. The first topic we should address is valuation. With Clear's stock skyrocketing this year, it's important for us to note that the stock is not unreasonably priced, especially given an accelerating growth trajectory against substantial improvements in free cash flow. At current share prices near $47, Clear trades at a market cap of $6.32 billion. Netting off the $700.1 million of cash against zero debt on the company's latest balance sheet gives us an enterprise value of $5.62 billion. For FY26, Clear has guided to free cash flow of "at least $440 million," which...