Hirurg/iStock via Getty Images A bipartisan group of U.S. senators is set to introduce legislation on Monday that would bar CFTC‑regulated entities from offering contracts tied to sporting events, a move that would directly target prediction market platforms such as Kalshi ( KALSHI ) and Polymarket’s ( POLYMARKET ) U.S. operations, according to the Wall Street Journal. Against this backdrop of rising scrutiny on betting‑style products, casino and gaming equities remain in focus, and below is a list of the top 10 stocks in the space ranked by their Seeking Alpha Quant Ratings. Accel Entertainment ( ACEL ) leads the list with a Strong Buy rating of 4.58, making it the top-ranked stock in the sector. Rush Street Interactive ( RSI ) follows with a Buy rating of 4.18, while PENN Entertainment ( PENN ) and Las Vegas Sands ( LVS ) round out the top four with ratings of 3.51 and 3.50, respectively. The list spans a wide range of market capitalizations, from smaller companies like Accel Entertainment with a market cap under $1 billion to industry giants like Las Vegas Sands at over $35 billion. Notable names in the middle of the pack include MGM Resorts International ( MGM ) and Caesars Entertainment ( CZR ), while Boyd Gaming ( BYD ), Red Rock Resorts ( RRR ), and Light & Wonder ( LNWO ) appear in the lower portion of the rankings. Seeking Alpha’s Quant system ranks stocks based on their performance on critical quantitative measures, including valuation, growth, stock momentum, and profitability. Stocks are rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with any rating of 3.5 or above considered bullish and any rating of 2.5 or below considered bearish. Here is the list: Accel Entertainment ( ACEL ), Quant Rating: 4.58 Rush Street Interactive ( RSI ), Quant Rating: 4.18 PENN Entertainment ( PENN ), Quant Rating: 3.51 Las Vegas Sands ( LVS ), Quant Rating: 3.50 MGM Resorts International ( MGM ), Quant Rating: 3.01 Caesars Entertainment ( CZR ), Quant Rating: 3.00 Monarch Casino & Resort ( MCRI...

Prediction markets are facing fresh bipartisan scrutiny in the US Senate as companies such as Kalshi and Polymarket continue to battle state-led efforts to regulate online betting. A bill was introduced in the US Senate on Monday that would ban federally regulated platforms from allowing wagers on sporting events, what would be a huge blow to marketplaces where billions of dollars have been traded on major events like the Super Bowl and the NCAA’s March Madness. The bill follows several other state-level efforts to regulate marketplaces, which are overseen by a federal agency. On Friday, a Nevada judge temporarily banned most of Kalshi’s operations in the state for two weeks after the state filed a lawsuit against the company. Online prediction markets are currently regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Under the Trump administration, the agency has argued it has exclusive regulatory control over the companies. Adam Schiff, a Democratic senator from California who introduced the bill with John Curtis, a Republican senator from Utah, said in a statement that the CFTC is “greenlighting these markets and even promoting their growth”. “Sports prediction contracts are sports bets – just with a different name.” Schiff said in a statement. “It’s time for Congress to step in and eliminate this backdoor which violates state consumer protections, intrudes upon tribal sovereignty and offers no public revenue.” The bill also bans casino-style games such as virtual poker, slot machines and blackjack from being available on the platforms. Curtis said in a statement that “addictive sports betting and casino-style gaming contracts” belong “under state control, not under federal regulators”. In response to the bill, Kalshi said in a statement: “Banning sports on regulated prediction markets would just push this behavior offshore, where no regulation exists.” “It’s clear this bill is motivated by casino interests that are threatened by competition. They’re mor...

A new venture capital fund focused on prediction markets is launching with initial investments from a long list of prominent investors including two of the industry’s biggest players, Polymarket’s Shayne Coplan and Kalshi Inc.’s Tarek Mansour, according to an investment document viewed by Bloomberg News. The investment firm, 5c(c) Capital, is named for the section of the Commodity Exchange Act related to prediction markets. It appears to be the first fund focused on the nascent industry, and underscores the rapid growth of exchanges like Kalshi and Polymarket, which have opened up betting on a wide array of real-world events, such as elections and sports. “We want to capitalize on the second-, third-, and fourth-order effects of what we built ourselves,” the founders of the new fund, who both previously worked at Kalshi, wrote in the document. 5c(c) Capital is planning to raise up to $35 million with about 20 portfolio companies over the next two years, the document says. A spokesperson for Kalshi confirmed that Mansour is involved. Polymarket did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The joint participation of Mansour and Coplan is notable because the two have otherwise been fierce rivals. The pitch document lists more than twenty prominent investors offering early support, including a portfolio manager at Millennium Management, several crypto-focused venture capital funds, and the founders of other prediction market companies such as PredictIt. A representative for Millennium did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Marc Andreessen, the founder of Andreessen Horowitz, invested through a separate fund, Moneta Luna, along with the other leaders of that firm, Elena Silenok and Chris Dixon, Silenok confirmed. Other notable limited partners include Jeremy Levine, CEO of Underdog Fantasy, a gambling company, and Jacob Fortinsky, the CEO of Novig, a sports-focused prediction market, both of whom confirmed their involvement. One of the founders of...

The Dow Jones index rose after President Trump spoke on Iran talks. A pharma stock cleared an entry. Nvidia rose on the stock market today.

SLB N.V. (SLB +5.61%) stock, the artist formerly known as Schlumberger, soared on Monday after Citigroup recommended buying SLB "on weakness" this morning, as StreetInsider.com reports. SLB stock is up 6% as of 12:10 p.m. ET. Big trouble for big oil We don't have much detail on why Citi decided to recommend SLB, but I think we can guess. Priced below $47 at Friday's close, SLB stock was down 9% since before the Iran conflict began. SLB had fallen even further than that, and given how volatile oil prices have been lately, rising and falling on the latest headlines out of the Middle East, it makes sense to keep an eye out for weakness -- and good times to buy oil stocks. More than just that, though, consider this: As The Wall Street Journal just reported, oil infrastructure in the Persian Gulf is getting beaten up by Iranian attacks this month. One of two production lines at Shell's (SHEL 0.35%) Pearl gas-to-liquid plants -- which cost $20 billion to build -- has been "knocked out." Damage to ExxonMobil's (XOM +0.59%) natural gas facilities in Qatar could take five years to repair. Damage from a drone attack forced Occidental Petroleum (OXY 0.92%) to shut down operations at its Shah gas field in the U.A.E. Expand NYSE : SLB Slb Today's Change ( 5.61 %) $ 2.62 Current Price $ 49.24 Key Data Points Market Cap $70B Day's Range $ 47.08 - $ 49.85 52wk Range $ 31.11 - $ 52.45 Volume 12M Avg Vol 20M Gross Margin 16.85 % Dividend Yield 2.47 % What it means for SLB stock When oil and gas stop flowing, SLB suffers, too. Two weeks ago, the company lowered Q1 earnings guidance by $0.06 to $0.09. But here's the thing: This short-term pain for SLB stock could yield long-term gain, if oil companies and Mideast customers need to spend the next few years repairing the damage -- and paying SLB to help. Priced below 20x earnings and with tremendous free cash flow, SLB could enjoy years of growth after this conflict finally ends.

Key Points Oilfields are getting damaged by the Mideast war. SLB services oilfields. That's probably a good reason to own SLB stock. 10 stocks we like better than Slb › SLB N.V. (NYSE: SLB) stock, the artist formerly known as Schlumberger, soared on Monday after Citigroup recommended buying SLB "on weakness" this morning, as StreetInsider.com reports. SLB stock is up 6% as of 12:10 p.m. ET. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » Big trouble for big oil We don't have much detail on why Citi decided to recommend SLB, but I think we can guess. Priced below $47 at Friday's close, SLB stock was down 9% since before the Iran conflict began. SLB had fallen even further than that, and given how volatile oil prices have been lately, rising and falling on the latest headlines out of the Middle East, it makes sense to keep an eye out for weakness -- and good times to buy oil stocks. More than just that, though, consider this: As The Wall Street Journal just reported, oil infrastructure in the Persian Gulf is getting beaten up by Iranian attacks this month. One of two production lines at Shell's (NYSE: SHEL) Pearl gas-to-liquid plants -- which cost $20 billion to build -- has been "knocked out." Damage to ExxonMobil's (NYSE: XOM) natural gas facilities in Qatar could take five years to repair. Damage from a drone attack forced Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) to shut down operations at its Shah gas field in the U.A.E. What it means for SLB stock When oil and gas stop flowing, SLB suffers, too. Two weeks ago, the company lowered Q1 earnings guidance by $0.06 to $0.09. But here's the thing: This short-term pain for SLB stock could yield long-term gain, if oil companies and Mideast customers need to spend the next few years repairing the damage -- and paying SLB to help. Priced below 20x earnings and wi...

AI may boost euro area productivity growth by 4% in 10 years, ECB says Reuters

Okta OKTA prospects benefit from an expanding clientele, driven by an innovative product pipeline and strong demand for Identity solutions. Customers with more than $100K in Annual Contract Value increased 6% year over year to 5,100. OKTA ended fiscal 2026 with more than 20,000 customers. Okta’s strong portfolio includes new offerings such as Okta Identity Governance, Okta Privileged Access, Okta Device Access, Identity Security Posture Management, Identity Threat Protection with Okta AI, Fine-Grained Authorization, Auth0 for AI Agents and Okta for AI Agents. These new solutions are helping OKTA gain market share and drive top-line growth. These new products represented 30% of the fiscal fourth-quarter bookings. Okta’s neutral and independent identity solution secures and governs the entire agentic life cycle. It gives customers the freedom to deploy on any agent platform without ecosystem lock-in. Auth0 and Okta for AI Agents treat AI agents with the same importance as humans, providing customers with everything they need to securely deploy agentic AI technology. The company recently introduced a security framework called the Blueprint for the Secure Agentic Enterprise, which is designed to secure enterprises in deploying agentic AI. Okta has highlighted that 88% of enterprises have already faced AI agent security incidents, while only 22% treat agents as identities. The newly introduced Blueprint works by detecting known and shadow AI agents and registering them as first-class identities. OKTA Faces Tough Competition In the security domain, Okta is facing stiff competition from the likes of SentinelOne S and Broadcom AVGO. While OKTA offers cloud-based identity solutions, SentinelOne focuses on endpoint security, cloud security and threat detection through its Singularity Platform, which leverages a unified security data lake and Purple AI, its Generative AI (GenAI) engine. Singularity, a complete AI-native platform, benefits from SentinelOne’s AI and automation-d...

Expanding Portfolio Drives Okta's Clientele: More Upside Ahead? TradingView

The boom in artificial intelligence risks widening inequality, with only a handful of companies and investors likely to reap its financial rewards, the BlackRock chief executive, Larry Fink, has warned. The boss of the $14tn (£10.4tn) asset manager used his annual letter to investors on Monday to highlight potential hazards around the exponential growth in AI, which has attracted rapid investment and become “central to strategic competition” between global powers such as the US and China. “The massive wealth created over the past several generations flowed mostly to people who already owned financial assets,” Fink said. “And now AI threatens to repeat that pattern at an even larger scale.” He warned that the AI boom risked accelerating a trend where leading companies pulled ahead while others struggled to keep pace. AI-focused tech stocks have made significant gains in recent years – the market leader, the chipmaker Nvidia, is now valued at $4.3ttn. Fink said that companies with the data, infrastructure and funding to deploy AI on a large scale “are positioned to benefit disproportionately”. That, Fink said, could end up exacerbating a gulf between the rich and the poor. View image in fullscreen Larry Fink says companies with the data, infrastructure and funding to deploy AI on a large scale ‘are positioned to benefit disproportionately’. Photograph: Kylie Cooper/Reuters “History suggests that transformative technologies create enormous value – and much of that value accrues to the companies that build and deploy them, and to the investors who own them,” Fink said. “That is not unusual, and none of this is inherently problematic,” he added, noting that the winds had often shifted with technological change. However, “the broader question is who participates in the gains,” Fink warned. “When market capitalisation rises but ownership remains narrow, prosperity can feel increasingly distant to those on the outside.” Fink’s comments come weeks before the company is expec...

16.30% Coupon Auto-Callable Notes Linked to NVDA (MS) Stock Titan

wildpixel/iStock via Getty Images Introduction WeRide Inc. ( WRD ) just reported its Q4 and full-year results , so I thought it would be a good time to revisit the company since it’s been almost a year since the last time I covered it , when I gave WRD a hold rating as it seemed much too risky at the time. The company’s share price has dropped around 45% since then, and with decent expansion efforts, the company seems to be a lot more enticing, but I am not ready to upgrade my rating just yet. By The Numbers Revenue came in at around $45m, beating estimates by $5.6m and up 123% y/y. Product revenue, which makes up two-thirds of total revenues, came in at $30.2m, up a whopping 309%. All thanks to the company’s scaling efforts to get more autonomous vehicles in new cities and regions. Not just robotaxis but also robobuses. The autonomous fleet, which includes what I mentioned as well as robosweepers, stood at around 1,125 at the end of 2025, with operations in regions like Europe, the Middle East, and APAC. In terms of profitability, there is still none, whether you look at GAAP or adjusted numbers. Q4 non-GAAP EPADS came in at -$0.24, but it is an improvement from the same time last year, when non-GAAP EPADS were -$0.34. Gross profit increased substantially by 74% y/y to reach 28.5% margins, while R&D expenses increased by 28.5%. Operating loss narrowed to $82.5m. Profitability is still quite a long way from now, but any progress towards it is progress. Can the company’s financial position help it achieve the profitability goals, or is it too late? WeRide finished the year with around $1B in cash and equivalents against essentially zero debt on its books ($46m in ST debt only), so yes, WRD’s financial position is formidable, and it is exactly the type of position investors look for from companies that do not make a profit yet and are still working on becoming a viable, profitable business. A billion dollars in the bank is plenty to continue to rapidly expand its foot...

当地时间3月23日，黎巴嫩公共卫生部紧急行动中心宣布，3月2日至23日，以色列在黎巴嫩发动的袭击已造成1039人死亡、2876人受伤。在23日当天的袭击中，10人死亡、90人受伤。与此同时，以色列对黎巴嫩的袭击持续升级。（央视新闻）

Amazon Inc. (AMZN) stock has been flat for more than a month. It makes sense to take advantage of this by selling short out-of-the-money (OTM) AMZN puts and picking up attractive yields. This article will show how to make a 1.8% yield by selling short AMZN puts at a 5% lower strike price. AMZN is at $210.28 in midday trading on Monday, March 23. This is where it was in early February, but well below its 3-month peak of $247.38 on January 9. I discussed shorting $195 and $200 puts (at-the-money and in-the-money strike prices) expiring March 20 in a Feb. 16 Barchart article, “Amazon Put Options at Lower Strike Prices Have High Yields.” This provided short-put yields of between 3.1% to 4.2%. You could have also sold short the $200 put and bought the $195 put for a net 1.125% one-month yield. That play worked out well as AMZN closed above these high-yield put strike prices on March 20 (i.e., $205.37). The puts expired worthless, and the investors kept all the income. It makes sense now to sell short these same strike prices, which are now out-of-the-money for a one-month high-yield play. Shorting OTM AMZN Puts For example, the April 24 expiration period shows that the $200 put option has a $3.83 midpoint premium for the next month, and the $195.00 put has a $2.82 put premium. That implies a short-seller of these out-of-the-money (OTM) puts can make the following yields: $3.83/$200.00 = 1.915%, -5% below AMZN's price $2.82/$195.00 = 1.446%, -7.4% lower Note that the puts have low delta ratios - between 21% and 27%. That implies there is only about a quarter probability that AMZN will fall to the average of these two strike prices on or before April 24. This provides some downside protection, in the sense that past variability predicts future performance. Nevertheless, even if this occurs, the investor has a lower breakeven point, given the income already received: $197.50 (avg strike) - $3.33 (avg income) = $194.17 B/E That's 7.7% lower than today's price. In other words...

There's no denying that artificial intelligence (AI) stocks are in a funk. Microsoft's share prices are off nearly 30% from their late-October peak, for instance, while Palantir Technologies' stock price is down 25%. Investors are no longer sure the AI industry will live up to the hype or justify the investments already made. As is so often the case, though, the market's made sweeping generalizations about a business when it should have been recognizing key differences among different parts of the industry -- or, for that matter, its individual companies. While AI hardware and software names may be hitting a wall -- largely due to steep valuations -- the infrastructure providers are enjoying sustained demand that isn't going anywhere. And one of these names in particular is arguably even safer than the rest. That's Vertiv Holdings (VRT +1.16%). Here's why. What's Vertiv? Don't sweat it if you've never heard of it. Most people haven't. With a market cap of only around $100 billion, it just doesn't turn many heads. Nevertheless, it's a compelling investment despite the stock's continued run-up to record highs. In simplest terms, Vertiv makes much of the equipment you'll find inside (and outside) modern-day data centers. Specifically, it offers power supplies, energy storage equipment, and, perhaps most importantly, cooling equipment, including in-rack refrigeration and liquid cooling solutions. Heat is a big problem for data centers, especially AI data centers that are constantly doing a huge amount of computing work. Whereas Precedence Research predicts the worldwide data center cooling market will grow at an average annual pace of nearly 12% through 2035, industry research outfit Technavio expects the liquid cooling business specifically for AI data centers to expand by an average of more than 31% per year through 2029. For its part, Vertiv's 2025 top line of $10.2 billion was up 26% year over year, and the company is calling for organic sales growth of around 28% t...

Key Points Weakness among artificial intelligence stocks has been broad. As the dust of this initial setback settles, though, it’s becoming clear that not all of these names are facing the same headwind. Demand for certain sorts of solutions -- particularly within the AI infrastructure market -- remains robust. 10 stocks we like better than Vertiv › There's no denying that artificial intelligence (AI) stocks are in a funk. Microsoft's share prices are off nearly 30% from their late-October peak, for instance, while Palantir Technologies' stock price is down 25%. Investors are no longer sure the AI industry will live up to the hype or justify the investments already made. As is so often the case, though, the market's made sweeping generalizations about a business when it should have been recognizing key differences among different parts of the industry -- or, for that matter, its individual companies. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » While AI hardware and software names may be hitting a wall -- largely due to steep valuations -- the infrastructure providers are enjoying sustained demand that isn't going anywhere. And one of these names in particular is arguably even safer than the rest. That's Vertiv Holdings (NYSE: VRT). Here's why. What's Vertiv? Don't sweat it if you've never heard of it. Most people haven't. With a market cap of only around $100 billion, it just doesn't turn many heads. Nevertheless, it's a compelling investment despite the stock's continued run-up to record highs. In simplest terms, Vertiv makes much of the equipment you'll find inside (and outside) modern-day data centers. Specifically, it offers power supplies, energy storage equipment, and, perhaps most importantly, cooling equipment, including in-rack refrigeration and liquid cooling solutions. Heat is a big...

Spencer Platt/Getty Images News Listen below or on the go on Apple Podcasts and Spotify Trump sparks big moves in stocks and oil , signaling rapid Iran war de-escalation. (0:15) DraftKings, Flutter jump on prediction market sports bet crackdown. (1:38) McReplicants serving Happy Meals . (2:19) This is an abridged transcript of the podcast: Our top story so far, President Donald Trump flipped the market narrative this morning, signaling a quick end to the war in Iran and potential joint control of the Strait of Hormuz. Risk-off sentiment reversed sharply. Equities and crypto rallied, while Treasury yields and oil fell. Odds of a Fed rate hike as soon as October evaporated. But the situation remains fluid, with Iran pushing back on the president’s assertions that negotiations are advancing. Here’s what we know: In posts and interviews, Trump said U.S. envoys were in talks with Iranian counterparts and claimed 15 points of agreement, including that Iran would not pursue a nuclear weapon. Iran’s foreign ministry denied that any talks are taking place and accused Washington of trying to buy time, according to Bloomberg. An Israeli official also said there is no sign of an imminent end to the war. As one analyst quipped: “It takes two to TACO.” Here’s the market reaction: Stocks swung from premarket losses to strong gains. All three major averages ( SPY ) ( QQQ ) ( DIA ) are up more than 2%, though trading remains choppy. Treasury yields are retreating , with the 2-year ( US2Y ) back below 3.85%. Oil ( USO ) ( BNO ) is down sharply , with double-digit percentage declines in both WTI and Brent. Sentiment is moving with every headline and post. But Michael Brown, strategist at Pepperstone, said the signal may matter more than the noise. “Have there been talks? Who knows … does it matter?” he wrote. “The signal is that Trump has pulled back on his ultimatum, is seeking de-escalation and appears to be looking for an off-ramp. That feels like the most important piece right now...

Brazil's Petrobras not considering short-term diesel price hike, sources say Reuters

Getty Images No Longer a Traditional E-Commerce Company Last week, Alibaba Group Holding Limited ( BABA , OTCPK:BABAF ) released its 4Q FY2026 earnings, and I believe a pullback was reasonable. The market was not overreacting for three reasons. First, the stock's forward 12-month (fwd) valuation is not cheap, as heavy investment causes multi-quarter declines in earnings. While I expect a major growth inflection in 2Q FY2027 due to a very low YoY comparison (72% YoY earnings decline in 2Q FY2026), I believe earnings recovery could take at least 2 years to reach FY2025 levels. However, this is not captured by its forward 12-month multiple. Second, BABA should be punished for missing both revenue and EPS. Lastly, the stock's risk premium could be higher as the company undergoes a structural transition, repositioning itself from a traditional e-commerce giant to a future AI and cloud company. In my 2Q FY2026 earnings analysis , I maintained a Strong Buy. My bullish thesis remains unchanged: significant investment in quick commerce and AI will eventually feed through to the bottom line, with improved monetization driving strong growth acceleration in the medium term. Given its large e-commerce revenue exposure, the transition may be painful, and the selloff is justified, as sharp earnings declines and elevated capex are compressing FCF. Even so, I didn't expect China's e-commerce revenue to be flat in 3Q. Cloud and quick commerce revenue remained robust, but they weren't strong enough to offset the e-commerce segment. Despite near-term volatility, I'm still bullish on BABA, and the post-earnings pullback could be an opportunity to accumulate shares for the long term. However, I'm lowering my rating to Buy after the 3Q results. A Big Miss in the E-Commerce Segment The company model Let's start with its core business. BABA missed the e-commerce revenue by a wide margin in 3Q. Excluding quick commerce, the China e-commerce segment (46.2% of total revenue) barely generated g...

The Nomura Focused Large Growth ETF is seeing unusually high volume in afternoon trading Monday, with over 699,000 shares traded versus three month average volume of about 69,000. Shares of LRGG were up about 1% on the day. Components of that ETF with the highest volume on Monday were Nvidia, trading up about 1.4% with over 100.9 million shares changing hands so far this session, and AMAZON.COM, up about 2.8% on volume of over 22.7 million shares. Ferrari is the component faring the best Monday, up by about 4.2% on the day, while Costar Group is lagging other components of the Nomura Focused Large Growth ETF, trading lower by about 1.3%. VIDEO: Monday's ETF with Unusual Volume: LRGG The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

HJBC/iStock Editorial via Getty Images TotalEnergies ( TTE ) said Monday it signed settlement agreements with the U.S. Interior Department to relinquish its leases for Carolina Long Bay and New York Bight off the coasts of New York, New Jersey, and North Carolina, and will no longer develop offshore wind projects in the U.S. Under the deal terms, TotalEnergies ( TTE ) said it will recover the lease fees paid and invest an equal amount in the development of U.S. gas and power production and exports. The company said its studies on the leases have shown that offshore wind developments in the U.S.—unlike in Europe—are costly, and it believes there is no need to allocate capital to the technology in the U.S. since other technologies are available to meet the growing demand for electricity. "These agreements, under which we will reinvest the refunded lease fees to finance the construction of the Rio Grande LNG plant and the development of our oil and gas activities, allow us to support the development of U.S. gas production and export," TotalEnergies ( TTE ) Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanné said. "These investments will contribute to supplying Europe with much-needed LNG from the U.S. and provide gas for U.S. data center development. We believe this is a more efficient use of capital in the United States," Pouyanné said. More on TotalEnergies TotalEnergies: Then Came Iran TotalEnergies: LNG Exposure And AI Power Demand Offer Structural Growth TotalEnergies Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript