“I understand that I must initiate probate in his state of residence.”

US equity indexes rebounded Friday, with the Nasdaq Composite surging over 450 points, as semiconduc Upgrade to read this MT Newswires article and get so much more. A Silver or Gold subscription plan is required to access premium news articles.

国际原子能机构总干事格罗西6日通报称，乌克兰电网上周末再次遭到军事行动冲击，多地输电线路受损，核电（885571）站运行受到严重影响。格罗西表示，连接乌克兰与邻国的输电线路被切断，引发境内多条线路连锁断电。受电压波动影响，一座核电（885571）站的一台机组脱网并自动停机，其他机组被迫降功率运行。切尔诺贝利核电（885571）站一度完全失去外部供电，仅依靠应急柴油发电机维持约一小时。格罗西强调，电网受损持续对核安全构成威胁，亟需开展大规模修复，提高核电（885571）站供电可靠性。他再次呼吁各方保持克制，遵守国际原子能机构提出的七项支柱原则，为相关修复工作创造条件。(央视新闻)

Jonathan Kitchen/DigitalVision via Getty Images After years of chasing big growth names in tech, investors, investors are giving consumer stocks with real-world demand a second look. Linda Otamendi, Associate for Portfolio Research with TD Asset Management, says there are some positive trends which could push the sector higher. Transcript Greg Bonnell: As doubts creep into the market about whether AI investments will pay off, we're beginning to see some consumer stocks getting a second look. Linda Otamendi, Associate for Portfolio Research with TD Asset Management, joins us now with more on this. And this is your first show. Welcome to the program. It's good to have you, Linda. Linda Otamendi: Thanks so much. Excited to be here. Greg Bonnell: Alright. We know if we're talking about consumer stocks first, we have to talk about the health of the consumer. These, ultimately, are the people who are going to buy the products. We'll start with the Americans. How are they feeling coming out of 2025? Linda Otamendi: For sure. Well, in 2025, we saw nominal spending up 5%, which on paper, you would have thought that the economy is booming. But when you look under the hood, you realize how much of that was actually just driven by inflation. And so, to put it into perspective for you, I want you to imagine American consumers on a treadmill, and they've always been used to running the same 30 minutes at a nice light jog. But then, all of a sudden last year they were told that they now need to run the same 30 minutes but at a full-on sprint. And that's the effect of higher prices on their same basket of goods. And then at the same time, you had the Fed watching them sprint going, whoa, whoa, whoa, they're going too fast. We got to jack up the incline. And that's the effect of higher rates. So all of a sudden, you had Americans working twice as hard just to afford the same groceries, car loan, and rent-- all of which meant that less was left over for the fun stuff. So it's no wond...

Looking at options trading activity among components of the S&P 500 index, there is noteworthy activity today in Charter Communications Inc (Symbol: CHTR), where a total volume of 36,625 contracts has been traded thus far today, a contract volume which is representative of approximately 3.7 million underlying shares (given that every 1 contract represents 100 underlying shares). That number works out to 151% of CHTR's average daily trading volume over the past month, of 2.4 million shares. Especially high volume was seen for the $200 strike put option expiring February 20, 2026 , with 18,739 contracts trading so far today, representing approximately 1.9 million underlying shares of CHTR. Below is a chart showing CHTR's trailing twelve month trading history, with the $200 strike highlighted in orange: 3M Co (Symbol: MMM) options are showing a volume of 56,121 contracts thus far today. That number of contracts represents approximately 5.6 million underlying shares, working out to a sizeable 117.5% of MMM's average daily trading volume over the past month, of 4.8 million shares. Particularly high volume was seen for the $150 strike call option expiring March 20, 2026, with 26,515 contracts trading so far today, representing approximately 2.7 million underlying shares of MMM. Below is a chart showing MMM's trailing twelve month trading history, with the $150 strike highlighted in orange: And Microchip Technology Inc (Symbol: MCHP) options are showing a volume of 95,543 contracts thus far today. That number of contracts represents approximately 9.6 million underlying shares, working out to a sizeable 103.6% of MCHP's average daily trading volume over the past month, of 9.2 million shares. Especially high volume was seen for the $67.50 strike call option expiring June 18, 2026, with 45,543 contracts trading so far today, representing approximately 4.6 million underlying shares of MCHP. Below is a chart showing MCHP's trailing twelve month trading history, with the $67.50 ...

Jobs and inflation data, following the brief delay in government data, will be released together next week, bringing the interest rate outlook to the fore for investors. January's nonfarm payrolls report and consumer price index, set to hit screens days after their original release dates , could re-instill confidence in the market following a recent bout of panic selling. So long as the data turns out better than investors fear. The big jobs report Wednesday is expected to show the U.S. added 60,000 jobs last month, up from an increase of 50,000 in December. It's also forecast to show the unemployment rate stayed unchanged at 4.4%. January CPI, set to come out next Friday, is expected to show inflation increasing 0.29% and 2.5% on a monthly and yearly basis, respectively, an improvement from December, though still short of the Federal Reserve's 2% target. Market critical What the two reports suggest about the Fed outlook on the economy will be critical for the market, which is still pricing in two cuts for 2026, more than the central bank has indicated it might deliver. They're also coming two weeks after policymakers, at their January Federal Open Market Committee meeting, indicated a somewhat hawkish bent toward monetary policy. "Those are the two things that investors are largely looking at to try to figure out how aggressive the Fed's going to be" in light of the central bank's dual mandate to ensure price stability and maximum employment, said Thomas Browne, portfolio manager at Keeley Gabelli Funds. "And you get the most important data points regarding both of those next week." How the central bank may shift in its assessment of its dual mandate is especially acute now that Kevin Warsh has been named as the Trump administration's nominee to lead the Fed when the Jerome Powell chairmanship ends in May. But some indications suggest that the jobs report could come in weaker than expected. Fed Governor Christopher Waller, one of two dissenting voices to vote in fa...

Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Stocks were rebounding Friday. After a terrible week, technology was leading Friday's market higher — even as Amazon , technically in the consumer discretionary bucket, pulls back after earnings. For the week, the S & P 500 and the Nasdaq were still lower. There has been a lot of damage to the tech trade as enterprise software stocks sold off on fears that AI tools will displace their business. While software names such as Club names Salesforce , CrowdStrike , and Palo Alto Networks fell by more than 10% and the Magnificent Seven struggled, about 11 other Club stocks posted gains of more than 5%, helping our diversified portfolio withstand the market pain. The best performing sector this week was consumer staples — up 13% in 2026 as a group and having their best year in decades, according to Bank of America. Staples were hated for so long, and this quick change in sentiment for this dependable but lower growth group prompted us on Wednesday to downgrade Procter & Gamble to our hold-equivalent 2 rating . We're through hyperscalers' earnings. A consistent message from management teams is the need to ramp spending to build out AI infrastructure to meet demand. Meta Platforms invested $22.14 billion in the fourth quarter and $72.22 billion for the full year 2025 and said in 2026 it anticipates spending another $115 billion to $135 billion. Microsoft spent $37.5 billion on capex, and analysts are modeling $148 billion over the company's fiscal year. Alphabet said this week it spent $27.5 billion on capex during the fourth quarter and $91.4 billion over the year. That figure is expected to surge to the range of $175 billion to $185 billion in 2026. Finally, Amazon spent about $39.5 billion in capex during the fourth quarter and $128 billion in 2025. It plans to be the most aggressive of them all in 2026...

Source: Bloomberg, 5:60

The flash-storage specialist delivered stellar returns this past year and still has room for more upside. Micron Technology (MU +2.01%) has been one of the hottest stocks on the market in the past year. Shares of the memory specialist jumped an incredible 339% in the past year. This isn't surprising, given its accelerating revenue and earnings growth, driven by robust demand and constrained supply of memory chips. The good news is that Micron stock seems poised to deliver more upside, thanks to the stunning earnings growth that the company is poised to deliver in the future. But what's worth noting is that Micron isn't the only memory-industry participant capitalizing on the booming memory demand. Sandisk (SNDK +4.35%), which manufactures data storage solutions using NAND flash technology for personal computers (PCs), smartphones, gaming consoles, data centers, and other applications, saw its share price jump by a phenomenal 1,840% in the past year. Sandisk's gains significantly outpaced Micron during this period. Let's see why that's been the case and check if Sandisk has the potential to become the next big player in the memory market, like Micron. Sandisk is enjoying incredible earnings growth, just like Micron The terrific demand for both storage and compute memory chips has been a massive catalyst for Micron in recent quarters. The company's bottom line is anticipated to quadruple in the current fiscal year, primarily due to a shortage of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and NAND flash chips. These memory chips are in high demand in data centers, where the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) workloads has driven the need for massive computing power and storage. Micron gets 80% of its revenue from selling DRAM chips, which are being designed into AI accelerators to help move massive datasets at incredible speeds. It's worth noting that the company has sold out its 2026 memory capacity due to robust end-market demand. Sandisk, on the other hand, is a...

Key Points Micron isn't the only company benefiting from the healthy demand for memory chips used in data centers and other applications. Sandisk saw remarkable growth in revenue and earnings in recent quarters and is poised to overtake Micron's earnings. Sandisk's growth potential suggests it could see a significant jump in its stock price going forward. 10 stocks we like better than Sandisk › Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) has been one of the hottest stocks on the market in the past year. Shares of the memory specialist jumped an incredible 339% in the past year. This isn't surprising, given its accelerating revenue and earnings growth, driven by robust demand and constrained supply of memory chips. The good news is that Micron stock seems poised to deliver more upside, thanks to the stunning earnings growth that the company is poised to deliver in the future. But what's worth noting is that Micron isn't the only memory-industry participant capitalizing on the booming memory demand. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks » Sandisk (NASDAQ: SNDK), which manufactures data storage solutions using NAND flash technology for personal computers (PCs), smartphones, gaming consoles, data centers, and other applications, saw its share price jump by a phenomenal 1,840% in the past year. Sandisk's gains significantly outpaced Micron during this period. Let's see why that's been the case and check if Sandisk has the potential to become the next big player in the memory market, like Micron. Sandisk is enjoying incredible earnings growth, just like Micron The terrific demand for both storage and compute memory chips has been a massive catalyst for Micron in recent quarters. The company's bottom line is anticipated to quadruple in the current fiscal year, primarily due to a shortage of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and NAND flash chips. These memo...

Is Sandisk the Next Micron? Nasdaq

Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) has been one of the hottest stocks on the market in the past year. Shares of the memory specialist jumped an incredible 339% in the past year. This isn't surprising, given its accelerating revenue and earnings growth, driven by robust demand and constrained supply of memory chips. The good news is that Micron stock seems poised to deliver more upside, thanks to the stunning earnings growth that the company is poised to deliver in the future. But what's worth noting is that Micron isn't the only memory-industry participant capitalizing on the booming memory demand. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks » Sandisk (NASDAQ: SNDK), which manufactures data storage solutions using NAND flash technology for personal computers (PCs), smartphones, gaming consoles, data centers, and other applications, saw its share price jump by a phenomenal 1,840% in the past year. Sandisk's gains significantly outpaced Micron during this period. Let's see why that's been the case and check if Sandisk has the potential to become the next big player in the memory market, like Micron. Image source: Getty Images Sandisk is enjoying incredible earnings growth, just like Micron The terrific demand for both storage and compute memory chips has been a massive catalyst for Micron in recent quarters. The company's bottom line is anticipated to quadruple in the current fiscal year, primarily due to a shortage of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and NAND flash chips. These memory chips are in high demand in data centers, where the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) workloads has driven the need for massive computing power and storage. Micron gets 80% of its revenue from selling DRAM chips, which are being designed into AI accelerators to help move massive datasets at incredible speeds. It's worth noting that the company has sold o...

Loading the player… Elon Musk has merged SpaceX and xAI, creating what might be the blueprint for a new Silicon Valley power structure. With his $800 billion net worth already rivaling historic conglomerate GE’s peak market cap, and Musk being vocal about his view that “tech victory is decided by velocity of innovation,” the question isn’t whether a personal conglomerate can be built, but rather how far Musk himself is going to take it. Watch as Equity dives into this new era of the “everything” business, whether we’ll see others like Sam Altman follow suit, and more of the week’s headlines. Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.

Earnings Call Insights: Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) Q4 2025 Management View Jacek Olczak, Group CEO, stated that 2025 was “another outstanding year for PMI,” emphasizing the company’s leadership in smoke-free products and sustained growth: “We grew our smoke-free products volumes by an excellent 12.8% with the increasing profitability of the portfolio reflected in organic smoke-free gross profit growth of 18.7%.” IQOS drove the core performance, with both shipments and adjusted IMS growing around 11%, and smoke-free products reaching 106 markets. Olczak highlighted the multi-category strategy: “Both ZYN ex-Nordics and VEEV more than doubling shipment volumes in international markets.” The CEO noted that ZYN gained significant international share and VEEV became the fastest-growing closed pod brand internationally. The CEO reported that “our total net revenues reached over $40 billion in 2025 with 41.5% or close to $17 billion generated by our smoke-free business.” The adjusted operating margin returned to above 40%, and 27 markets surpassed the 50% smoke-free net revenue milestone. Olczak announced renewed 3-year CAGR targets for organic operating income and currency-neutral EPS, and a targeted leverage ratio of close to 2x by the end of 2026. Emmanuel Babeau, CFO, stated: “Organic top line and operating income growth were in line with our forecast ranges set at the start of 2025, and currency-neutral adjusted diluted EPS growth exceeded with expectation by 1.7 points.” Babeau also noted: “In dollar terms, adjusted diluted EPS of $7.54 was at the high end of our last guidance range despite a lower-than-expected currency tailwind.” Outlook PMI forecasts 2026 organic net revenue growth of 5% to 7% and organic operating income growth of 7% to 9%. Currency-neutral adjusted diluted EPS growth is projected at 7.5% to 9.5%, translating to $8.39 to $8.54 including currency benefits. Operating cash flow is targeted at around $13.5 billion. Management projects conti...

Earnings Call Insights: CNO Financial Group, Inc. (CNO) Q4 2025 Management View CEO Gary Bhojwani highlighted that "CNO once again delivered an excellent quarter and full year results. We are growing and investing in the franchise, growing operating earnings and improving profitability, all at the same time." He reported exceeding most 2025 guidance, citing a 14th consecutive quarter of sales growth and 12th consecutive quarter of producing agent count growth. The year marked record new annualized premium, up 15%, with production records across both divisions and multiple product lines. Bhojwani emphasized the company's focus on the underserved middle-income market and described the captive agent distribution model as a "durable competitive moat." Significant product performance included double-digit growth in life, supplemental health, and Medicare Supplement, with record annuity and brokerage/advisory asset growth. Direct-to-consumer life sales rose 20%, and non-television lead sources generated over 70% of all D2C life sales. Bhojwani noted a shift in consumer preference from Medicare Advantage to Medicare Supplement, with Medicare Supplement new annualized premium up 49% for the year and 92% for the quarter, calling it "our best Med Supp quarter in 15 years." Worksite insurance sales set new records, with life insurance up 36% and hospital indemnity up 41%. Regarding capital management, Bhojwani reported returning $386 million to shareholders, an 11% increase over 2024, and raising the quarterly dividend for the 13th consecutive year. Book value per diluted share, excluding AOCI, was $38.81. CFO Paul McDonough stated, "Operating return on equity, excluding significant items, was 11.4%, reflecting significant improvement from the 10% run rate return on equity in 2024 and good progress toward our 12% target ROE in 2027." He added, "At $4.02, our full year operating earnings per share, excluding significant items, exceeded the high end of our original guidance." He...

ablokhin/iStock Editorial via Getty Images The market often gives investors only limited windows of opportunities to buy into good companies at good valuations. With cyclical names in particular, these stocks can often shoot up ahead of confirmation of underlying financial recovery, and such has been the case with Old Dominion Freight Line ( ODFL ). One of the best-run trucking companies, Old Dominion has stuck to its service-driven model through good times and bad, and now that the Street is gaining confidence in a broader economic recovery, the shares have shot up since November. Now up around 70% since my last article , Saia ( SAIA ) has done a little better, and XPO ( XPO ) has done much better following its restructuring, but Old Dominion has more than held its own against others like ArcBest ( ARCB ) and Knight-Swift ( KNX ). Valuation has long been a challenge with Old Dominion, as it has often traded more like a growth stock. With a 20%-plus trailing annual free cash flow growth rate, ROICs in the high 20%s to low 30%s, and ongoing opportunities to outgrow the market, I can’t say that valuation history is unfair, but it does make it harder to ascertain fair forward multiples. I think I can make a case for a fair value around $220, but this is a tough stock to argue for as a bargain. Decent Results in a Still-Challenging Market While trucking stocks have started moving, those share moves have been in anticipation of improving operating conditions later in 2026, not because of high expectations for near-term results. Old Dominion did do better than expected in its fourth quarter , but evidence of operational stress remains. Revenue fell 6% year over year and 7% quarter over quarter, but that was at least good for a small beat. Less-than-truckload (or LTL) revenue declined a similar amount, with LTL tons down almost 11%, offset by nearly 5% pricing gains. This is part and parcel of ODFL’s long-term strategy—the company values price over volume and won’t cede mu...

市场有风险，投资需谨慎。本文不构成个人投资建议，也未考虑到个别用户特殊的投资目标、财务状况或需要。用户应考虑本文中的任何意见、观点或结论是否符合其特定状况。据此投资，责任自负。 美国财政部长斯科特·贝森特称，关于他与特朗普总统在美元问题上观点不一的说法是一个“虚假命题（False Choice）”。贝森特解释称，“强势美元政策”意味着通过税收、贸易、去监管和能源政策为美元创造强大的经济背景。 在美国总统特朗普对近期美元汇率下跌表示欢迎，而财政部长斯科特·贝森特却在宣扬“强势美元政策”后，贝森特驳斥了两人在美元问题上立场不一的观点。“这是一个虚假命题，”贝森特在CNBC节目中被问及他和特朗普最近的言论“到底哪句算数”时回答道。 贝森特周五表示：“强势美元政策是指，我们是否正在采取行动为美元创造一个强大的背景？”他列举了现任政府的税收、贸易、去监管和能源政策，以及“重新确立我们在关键矿产领域的主权”。 “我们是否正在将美国打造为全球资本的最佳目的地？我认为没有人比特朗普总统做得更好，”这位财政部长说道。 1月28日，在贝森特表示美国“始终推行强势美元政策”且当局并未干预以打压美元对日元汇率后，美元汇率走高。而就在前一天，当特朗普被问及是否担心美元贬值时，他回答道：“不，我觉得这很好（I think it’s great）”，随后美元汇率出现暴跌。 风险提示及免责条款 市场有风险，投资需谨慎。本文不构成个人投资建议，也未考虑到个别用户特殊的投资目标、财务状况或需要。用户应考虑本文中的任何意见、观点或结论是否符合其特定状况。据此投资，责任自负。

As Amazon 's shares tank on Friday, CNBC's " Halftime Report " traders see a buying opportunity. The ecommerce giant tumbled nearly 7% in afternoon trading after earnings per share narrowly missed expectations and big spending plans worried some investors. Amazon shares have dropped around 13% this week, on track for their biggest weekly drop since 2022. "I already loved the stock where it was, so it made perfect sense to me that I would want to add more shares," Malcolm Ethridge, managing partner at Capital Area Planning Group, said on CNBC's "Halftime Report" Friday. AMZN 1D mountain Amazon, 1-day Ethridge said Amazon's plan for $200 billion in capital expenditure makes sense given that they have to work through a backlog valued at hundreds of billions of dollars. Amazon said much of that spending would be focused on artificial intelligence data centers . Ethridge said he wasn't surprised to see the stock fall sharply in overnight trading. With the rise of retail investor participation since the Covid pandemic, he said the market is more likely to have a reaction of selling first and then deciding how to actually play a stock later. "We have to accept that that really is just one of the dynamics of how the market is going to work," Ethridge said. Altimeter Capital CEO Brad Gerstner pointed out that Amazon joins a list of major technology firms announcing large-scale spending plans recently. He said he trusts executives helming Big Tech companies to ensure their investments bear results, or walk back their plans. To the credit of Amazon CEO Andy Jassy specifically, Gerstner pointed out that he grew the Web Services business to $140 billion. In its early days back in the late 2000s, many questioned why Amazon should be investing in it, Gerstner added. "I don't think this is a permanent new normal in the amount that's going to get built," he said of Big Tech's AI spending. "But I think for the next three years, this is like building the interstate highway system." Wa...

The second-largest transit system in the US is benefiting from municipal bond investors looking to put billions of dollars to work. The Chicago Transit Authority sold about $530 million in sales-tax-backed bonds on Thursday. Proceeds from the deal will finance projects such as the Red Line extension and refund old debt for savings. It comes as the Trump administration threatens to freeze or withdraw funding for transit systems and projects in Chicago and other major cities if they fail to comply with the administration’s policies. Read More: NY-NJ Hudson Tunnel to Be Halted After Trump Blocked Funding Inflows into the muni market, subdued supply and CTA’s higher rating with greater revenue made investors more “comfortable” and set the agency apart from other issuers in the region, said Dan Solender , head of municipal investments at Lord Abbett & Co. A “big slug” of money looking to be reinvested into the municipal market bolstered demand, said Sweta Singh , a portfolio manager at City Different Investments. Investors have about $46 billion in principal and interest payments available to funnel back into the market in February, one of the highest monthly amounts this year, according to Bloomberg Intelligence estimates . That demand has been outweighing supply so far this year. Read More: Munis Beating Treasuries in January as Supply Trails Demand While analysts on average have projected muni long-term issuance of about $600 billion this year, which would top last year’s record, volume so far has trailed 2025, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. So far in 2026, state and local governments have sold $43.6 billion in long-term debt, 4.6% below the same period a year ago. Issuance “has been a little lighter than people had expected,” said Ryan Ciavarelli , senior vice president for credit research at Belle Haven Investments . Singh added that Moody’s Ratings’ recent credit upgrade of CTA also helped the bond sale. The company said in a December report that the rais...

Key Points Stellantis announced on Friday that it will take $26.5 billion in charges. Most of the charges relate to cancelled or downsized plans for electric vehicles. Shares were hit hard in Friday trading. 10 stocks we like better than Stellantis › Shares of Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), the global automotive giant that owns former Chrysler brands like Jeep and Ram, fell sharply on Friday after the company announced massive write-offs amid lower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles. As of 1:15 p.m. ET, Stellantis's U.S.-traded shares were down about 24.5% from Thursday's closing price. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks » Over $26 million to unwind an aggressive EV plan Stellantis announced a whopping 22.2 billion euros ($26.5 billion) of charges before the U.S. markets opened on Friday. Most are related to downsizing its ambitious EV plans; some address overall quality issues. The charges include: 14.7 billion euros related to product-plan changes. That includes write-offs for recent models that aren't selling as well as expected, charges for the work put into future products that have now been cancelled, and payments to suppliers that had geared up to make parts for models that now won't be made. 2.1 billion euros related to downsizing the company's plans for an EV supply chain, mostly related to planned investments in battery manufacturing. 5.4 billion euros in "other charges" including an increase in the amount the company sets aside for warranty work -- an acknowledgment that recent quality-improvement efforts haven't delivered results. Several rivals, including Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) and General Motors (NYSE: GM), have announced similar EV resets amid flagging demand in the U.S. and Europe. But none have been as costly as Stellantis's changes, and neither Ford nor GM investors saw anything like the hit Stellantis's stock...