The United States’ decision to lift key arms-export restrictions on Cambodia signals a thaw in long-strained defence ties, but Phnom Penh is likely to make only modest purchases and remain heavily reliant on Chinese weaponry for the foreseeable future, analysts say. In what Cambodian media described as a landmark move, the US Department of Commerce last week removed Cambodia from “Country Group D:...
The United States’ decision to lift key arms-export restrictions on Cambodia signals a thaw in long-strained defence ties, but Phnom Penh is likely to make only modest purchases and remain heavily reliant on Chinese weaponry for the foreseeable future, analysts say. In what Cambodian media described as a landmark move, the US Department of Commerce last week removed Cambodia from “Country Group D:5” – a classification that had effectively barred most US arms exports – according to a notice published in the Federal Register. The change, which took effect on February 3, eases restrictions on the transfer of American defence-related technologies and comes amid a broader warming in military relations between Washington and Phnom Penh. Advertisement Last month, the USS Cincinnati made a port call at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, a visit framed by both sides as part of efforts to strengthen cooperation between the two militaries. During the visit, Admiral Samuel Paparo, Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, met Prime Minister Hun Manet and defence chief Tea Seiha to discuss strengthening military-to-military engagement. Advertisement Both countries also agreed to revive their annual Angkor Sentinel joint military exercises, which had been suspended since 2017.
Announcing its latest results, BP said it aimed to make cost savings of $5.5bn-$6.5bn by the end of 2027. This is an increase from its previous target of up to $5bn, and comes after its decision to sell a 65% stake in its Castrol business.
Announcing its latest results, BP said it aimed to make cost savings of $5.5bn-$6.5bn by the end of 2027. This is an increase from its previous target of up to $5bn, and comes after its decision to sell a 65% stake in its Castrol business.
Axalta Coating Systems press release ( AXTA ): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.59 misses by $0.01 . Revenue of $1.26B (-3.8% Y/Y) misses by $10M . Adjusted EBITDA of $272 million Adjusted EBITDA margin of 21.5%, a 50 basis point increase year over year Record fourth quarter cash provided by operating activities of $344 million Record fourth quarter free cash flow of $290 million. Financial Guidance First Qu...
Axalta Coating Systems press release ( AXTA ): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.59 misses by $0.01 . Revenue of $1.26B (-3.8% Y/Y) misses by $10M . Adjusted EBITDA of $272 million Adjusted EBITDA margin of 21.5%, a 50 basis point increase year over year Record fourth quarter cash provided by operating activities of $344 million Record fourth quarter free cash flow of $290 million. Financial Guidance First Quarter and Full Year 2026 Outlook: (in millions, except %’s and per share data) Projection Item Q1 2026 FY 2026 Net Sales (YoY% growth) ( MSD )% vs. estimated growth of -0.22% Y/Y LSD% vs. $5.22B consensus Adjusted EBITDA $240 - $250 $1,140 - $1,170 Adjusted Diluted EPS ~$0.50 vs. $0.59 consensus $2.55 - $2.70 vs. $2.67 consensus Free Cash Flow >$500 Depreciation and Amortization $300 Tax Rate, As Adjusted ~24% Diluted Shares Outstanding ~215 Interest Expense $150 - $160 Capital Expenditures $180 - $200 Click to enlarge More on Axalta Coating Systems Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (AXTA) Presents at Citigroup 2025 Basic Materials Conference Transcript Axalta And Akzo Nobel Merger - Painting A Mixed Picture Axalta Coating Systems Q4 2025 Earnings Preview Axalta downgraded at UBS as Akzo deal tempers near-term upside Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Axalta Coating Systems
courtneyk/iStock via Getty Images By Ken Chen, CFA The 60/40 equity–bond portfolio remains a widely used benchmark for long-term asset allocation, despite ongoing debate about its optimality (Pham et al., 2025). For many households, however, the challenge lies not in the framework itself but in the amount of capital required to implement it. Limited investable assets, a desire to avoid explicit bo...
courtneyk/iStock via Getty Images By Ken Chen, CFA The 60/40 equity–bond portfolio remains a widely used benchmark for long-term asset allocation, despite ongoing debate about its optimality (Pham et al., 2025). For many households, however, the challenge lies not in the framework itself but in the amount of capital required to implement it. Limited investable assets, a desire to avoid explicit borrowing, significant exposure to residential real estate, and the need to maintain liquid reserves often constrain the ability to fully fund a traditional allocation. Leveraged ETFs offer an alternative. Rather than increasing risk, they allow households to achieve a desired risk exposure with less deployed capital, improving the management of liquidity, real estate leverage, and broader balance sheet constraints. As illustrated below, leveraged ETFs combined with cash holdings can approximate the risk characteristics of a traditional 60/40 portfolio while avoiding margin accounts, personal credit lines, or other forms of household-level leverage. By separating market exposure from capital commitment, this framework preserves liquidity and financial flexibility while maintaining a familiar asset allocation profile. Motivation: Asset Allocation at the Household Level For most retail investors, portfolio construction takes place within the constraints of the household balance sheet, where housing exposure, mortgage leverage, employment income risk, and liquidity needs shape feasible investment choices. Many households are already structurally leveraged through real estate. Over recent decades, rising home values in developed economies have increased net worth while simultaneously concentrating risk in illiquid assets. As a result, investors often find themselves overweight real assets and underweight liquid financial capital. Traditional forms of financial leverage introduce additional risks that many retail investors are unwilling or unable to bear, including margin calls du...
WESCO press release ( WCC ): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of $3.40 misses by $0.49 . Revenue of $6.1B (+10.9% Y/Y) beats by $70M . Organic sales up 9% YOY Data center sales of $1.2 billion, up ~30% YOY Full-year 2026 outlook of 5% to 8% reported sales growth, adjusted EBITDA margin of ~6.8% at the mid-point, adjusted diluted EPS of $14.50 to $16.50, and free cash flow of $500 - $800 million Plan to increase ou...
WESCO press release ( WCC ): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of $3.40 misses by $0.49 . Revenue of $6.1B (+10.9% Y/Y) beats by $70M . Organic sales up 9% YOY Data center sales of $1.2 billion, up ~30% YOY Full-year 2026 outlook of 5% to 8% reported sales growth, adjusted EBITDA margin of ~6.8% at the mid-point, adjusted diluted EPS of $14.50 to $16.50, and free cash flow of $500 - $800 million Plan to increase our annual common stock dividend by over 10% to $2.00 per share More on WESCO WESCO: Growth Is There, Cash Discipline Will Decide The Upside WESCO International, Inc. (WCC) Presents at Baird 55th Annual Global Industrial Conference - Slideshow WESCO International, Inc. (WCC) Presents at Baird 55th Annual Global Industrial Conference Transcript WESCO Q4 2025 Earnings Preview Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on WESCO
Spotify press release ( SPOT ): Q4 GAAP EPS of €4.43 beats by €1.65 . Revenue of € 4.53B (+7.9% Y/Y) beats by €10M . Premium Revenue growth of 8% Y/Y (or 14% Y/Y constant currency*), driven by subscriber gains; and Ad-Supported Revenue decline of -4% Y/Y (or 4% Y/Y constant currency*) Unfavorable currency movements slowed Total Revenue Y/Y growth by ~580 bps vs. the ~620 bpsincorporated into our g...
Spotify press release ( SPOT ): Q4 GAAP EPS of €4.43 beats by €1.65 . Revenue of € 4.53B (+7.9% Y/Y) beats by €10M . Premium Revenue growth of 8% Y/Y (or 14% Y/Y constant currency*), driven by subscriber gains; and Ad-Supported Revenue decline of -4% Y/Y (or 4% Y/Y constant currency*) Unfavorable currency movements slowed Total Revenue Y/Y growth by ~580 bps vs. the ~620 bpsincorporated into our guidance Record Q4 MAU net adds of 38M drove total MAUs to 751M, up 11%Y/Y and reflecting Y/Y and Q/Qgrowth across all regions Premium Subscribers grew 10%Y/Y to 290 million, reflecting 9M netadds and Y/Y and Q/Q growthacross all regions 1Q26 Guidance: MAU 759M Total premium subs: 293M Total revenue of €4.5B vs total revenue consensus of €4.57B. More on Spotify Why Spotify's Recent Dip Is A 'Buy' Signal For Patient Investors Spotify: Buy The Dip As $12.99 Price Takes Hold Spotify: Growth Is Solid, But The Valuation Limits Immediate Upside Spotify set to report Q4 results amid focus on pricing, margins Earnings week ahead: F, KO, CSCO, SHOP, MCD, BP, AMAT, COIN, MRNA, ROKU, and more
LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Apple and Google have agreed to make their mobile app stores fairer and more transparent for thousands of developers, Britain's antitrust regulator said on Tuesday, hailing it as important first steps in its tougher regime. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) designated the two tech giants as having "strategic market status" in smartphones in October, giving i...
LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Apple and Google have agreed to make their mobile app stores fairer and more transparent for thousands of developers, Britain's antitrust regulator said on Tuesday, hailing it as important first steps in its tougher regime. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) designated the two tech giants as having "strategic market status" in smartphones in October, giving it the power to demand specific changes to boost competition. Nearly all smartphones in Britain run either Apple iOS or Google's Android operating systems, and their app stores and browsers have exclusive or dominant positions on their platforms. Under the new commitments, the companies will review apps in a fair, objective and transparent way, the CMA said. Developers will also be able to request access to more of Apple's features in iOS to create competing products, for example related to digital wallets or live translation. The regulator has previously said this dominance enables the two companies to exert considerable influence over content, services and technological developments. Apple said it faced "fierce competition in every market where we operate, and we work tirelessly to create the best products, services and user experience". "The commitments announced today allow Apple to continue advancing important privacy and security innovations for users and great opportunities for developers," it said. Google said that while it believed its existing developer practices were fair, objective, and transparent, it welcomed the opportunity to resolve the CMA’s concerns collaboratively. (Reporting by Paul Sandle and Sam Tabahriti; Editing by Kate Holton)
In this article TSLA NVDA BABA 9988-HK Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT A man walks past the Alibaba logo displayed at its booth during the China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, China July 16, 2025. Florence Lo | Reuters Alibaba on Tuesday launched an artificial intelligence model designed to power robotics, as more tech giants push into the fast-growing field. The model...
In this article TSLA NVDA BABA 9988-HK Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT A man walks past the Alibaba logo displayed at its booth during the China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, China July 16, 2025. Florence Lo | Reuters Alibaba on Tuesday launched an artificial intelligence model designed to power robotics, as more tech giants push into the fast-growing field. The model, called RynnBrain, is designed to help robots comprehend the physical world around them and identify objects. One video released by Alibaba's DAMO Academy shows a robot identifying fruit and putting it in a basket. While these tasks seem simple, they involve complex AI that governs a robot's understanding of individual items as well as movement. Robotics falls under the umbrella term dubbed "physical AI," which includes machines that rely on artificial intelligence, such as self-driving cars – an area China has prioritized as it competes with the U.S. for technological leadership. watch now VIDEO 8:49 08:49 How Alibaba quietly became a leader in AI Built for Billions with Arjun Kharpal Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has been among the tech industry's most bullish on the sector and last year said AI and robotics represent "a multitrillion-dollar growth opportunity ." For Alibaba, the RynnBrain model gives it an entry point into the robotics market and continues the momentum it has seen with its Qwen family of AI models that are among the most advanced coming out of China. Alibaba is not alone in creating models designed for physical AI. These AI "world models" are being developed by tech giants around the world. Nvidia has a number of models to train and run AI in robotics under the "Cosmos" brand, while Gemini Robotics-ER 1.5 is Google DeepMind's own version. Elon Musk, one of the biggest proponents of robotics, is designing his own AI with Tesla 's Optimus. When it comes to humanoid robots specifically, the machines designed to walk and move like humans, China is seen as forging...
bymuratdeniz/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis VWOB's ETF is a bet on emerging markets fixed income. The recent rebound in commodities serves as a factor in favor of spreads remaining contained and the price remaining stable. Based on this, we recommend keeping VWOB in the portfolio given its low expense ratio and the carry contribution it offers. ETF Overview Fund Web Vanguard Emerging Ma...
bymuratdeniz/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis VWOB's ETF is a bet on emerging markets fixed income. The recent rebound in commodities serves as a factor in favor of spreads remaining contained and the price remaining stable. Based on this, we recommend keeping VWOB in the portfolio given its low expense ratio and the carry contribution it offers. ETF Overview Fund Web Vanguard Emerging Markets Govt Bd Idx; ETF ( VWOB ) , is a fixed income ETF whose objective is to replicate the movements of the index: Bloomberg USD Emerging Markets Government RIC Capped Index. For this purpose, the management is passive and the index sampling method is applied in which the portfolio is composed of a representative sample of index values. The fund distributes monthly dividends and currently yields 5 5.69% (30 day SEC yield) and it has a competitive expense ratio of 0.15% compared to other ETFs of this type: EEM: 0.79%, EMB: 0.39% or EMLC: 0.30%. Holdings As far as its investment universe is concerned, it is very limited to the sovereign debt of emerging countries and government-related issuers (nationalized or pseudo-private companies that are backed by the government). Holdings (Fund Web) From a rating point of view, approximately 60% of the holdings would be within the IG (Investment Grade) rating. Geographically, most bonds are concentrated in major issuers, contributing 11 countries accounting for more than 60 per cent of the portfolio's weight. Portfolio Composition (Fund Web) The bonds in which they invest are U.S. dollar-denominated bonds, which have at least one year remaining to maturity and an average duration of 6.8 years that serves as a reference to estimate the sensitivity of the portfolio to changes in interest rates. Prospectus (Prospectus) As in other funds that apply the same strategy of index sampling, under normal circumstances the policy is to invest at least 80% of the assets in securities that are in the benchmark. The remaining 20% can be invested in ...
Our cartoonist looks back at the mayhem on Merseyside as visitors’ late win reminded Arsenal they’re still in the hunt Buy a cartoon | David’s favourite work of 2025 And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now Continue reading...
Our cartoonist looks back at the mayhem on Merseyside as visitors’ late win reminded Arsenal they’re still in the hunt Buy a cartoon | David’s favourite work of 2025 And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now Continue reading...
Vertiv stands to profit from a metaphorical gold rush, but Wheaton Precious Metals is profiting from a literal one. There has been a figurative gold rush surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) stocks over the past few years, and it has seen companies like Vertiv, which builds data centers, do rather well for themselves. But there has also been a literal gold rush in the past year. Gold is up 72....
Vertiv stands to profit from a metaphorical gold rush, but Wheaton Precious Metals is profiting from a literal one. There has been a figurative gold rush surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) stocks over the past few years, and it has seen companies like Vertiv, which builds data centers, do rather well for themselves. But there has also been a literal gold rush in the past year. Gold is up 72.5% over the past 12 months. There was a recent pullback, but over the past five years gold is up 156%. And even though investing in AI has been lucrative, there are reasonable fears many have that we are in a tech bubble akin to the dotcom crash of the early 2000s. In the case of an AI crash, Vertiv and companies like it might not be able to weather the storm. And the fears of an AI bubble and the real issue of a weakening dollar are only likely to drive further investment into gold. That makes it a solid hedge against both the potential AI bubble and a weak dollar. But many people don't have $5,000 to invest in a single ounce of gold. Fortunately, Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM +4.82%) offers a compelling and relatively inexpensive alternative. Expand NYSE : WPM Wheaton Precious Metals Today's Change ( 4.82 %) $ 6.55 Current Price $ 142.53 Key Data Points Market Cap $65B Day's Range $ 138.04 - $ 142.65 52wk Range $ 66.44 - $ 160.36 Volume 4 Avg Vol 2.1M Gross Margin 68.52 % Dividend Yield 0.46 % Don't stream The Office; stream gold Wheaton is a streaming company, just not one like Netflix. Instead of streaming tv shows, Wheaton streams gold and silver. In nature, gold and silver can be found in deposits of copper, nickel, lead, etc. Companies set up to mine one of those metals aren't necessarily able to get a good return on the gold and silver found with them. Enter Wheaton, which pays the mine up front and offers to take that gold and silver off the mine's hands periodically at an agreed-upon price. A new mine is able to better finance its start-up costs and it generates re...
Chiller about a skull-shaped Aztec whistle blends Final Destination-style deaths with a tender portrait of anxious adolescence On the surface, this teen-courting, genre-savvy Irish-Canadian horror effort looks like the kind of project ushered into production after the Philippou brothers’ cursed-artefact chiller Talk to Me cleared up at the box office. However, rather than suburban Australia, write...
Chiller about a skull-shaped Aztec whistle blends Final Destination-style deaths with a tender portrait of anxious adolescence On the surface, this teen-courting, genre-savvy Irish-Canadian horror effort looks like the kind of project ushered into production after the Philippou brothers’ cursed-artefact chiller Talk to Me cleared up at the box office. However, rather than suburban Australia, writer Owen Egerton and director Corin Hardy relocate us to an autumnal, Springsteen-ready North American steeltown, where artsy high-schooler Chrys (Dafne Keen) inherits the locker of the star basketballer we’ve just seen flambeed in a prologue. The deadly doodad she finds there is a skull-shaped Aztec whistle with either “summon the dead” or “summon your dead” (there’s some linguistic quibbling) inscribed on the side. Naturally she puts it back, and everybody lives happily ever after. I kid, of course. For a while, the horror element is less in-your-face than it was in the pummelling Antipodean predecessor, but whistleblowing soon makes everyone’s worst fears about dying literal. That development gives Hardy’s increasingly bloody kill scenes a Final Destination-like piquancy: your heart can only go out to the boy racer who perishes via car crash in his upstairs bedroom. One similarity to the Philippous’ film is the sympathy for insecure, troubled teens who couldn’t seem more unlike the usual disposable jocks and prom queens. Egerton observes courtship rituals with tenderness, quietly foregrounding Chrys’s struggles to come out to upright classmate Ellie (Sophie Nélisse); beneath the looming shadow of death, this is an attempt to live one’s truest life. Continue reading...