Key Points The Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF holds more than 3,500 stocks. If it can duplicate its returns over the last decade, the VTI ETF provides a path to greater wealth. 10 stocks we like better than Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF › One of the most important lessons of investing is to spread the wealth around. While it's fun to choose individual winners like Nvidia or Palantir Technologie...
Key Points The Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF holds more than 3,500 stocks. If it can duplicate its returns over the last decade, the VTI ETF provides a path to greater wealth. 10 stocks we like better than Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF › One of the most important lessons of investing is to spread the wealth around. While it's fun to choose individual winners like Nvidia or Palantir Technologies and see your nest egg climb, it's even more important to create a diversified portfolio so you can spread your investments across sectors and geographies, helping you reduce your risk should tragedy strike any single investment or industry. Broad market exchange-traded funds are ideal vehicles for this task. These passively managed funds cover hundreds -- or in some cases, thousands -- of stocks. And they often have extremely low expense ratios, making them ideal for a set-it-and-forget-it strategy. 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 » One of my favorite picks in this arena is the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (NYSEMKT: VTI), which tracks the entire U.S. stock market and has an expense ratio of just 0.03%, or $3 annually on a $10,000 investment. If you can pool together $1,000 and add $200 a month on an ongoing basis, the VTI ETF could be your ticket to wealth. Because after 30 years of consistent accumulation and reinvestment, your $1,000 could turn into a nest egg of nearly $1.4 million. Here's how you get there. A look at the VTI ETF First, let's take a closer look at the VTI. This fund tracks the CRSP US Total Market Index, which measures the performance of U.S. companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq, and other smaller exchanges. It's designed to measure nearly 100% of the investible market. That means you get access to thousands of stocks, from large caps to those ...
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attends an event to pitch AI for businesses in Tokyo, Feb. 3, 2025. Kim Kyung-hoon | Reuters Artificial intelligence start-up OpenAI plans to nearly double its workforce to 8,000 from 4,500 by the end of 2026, the Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. OpenAI did not immediately re...
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attends an event to pitch AI for businesses in Tokyo, Feb. 3, 2025. Kim Kyung-hoon | Reuters Artificial intelligence start-up OpenAI plans to nearly double its workforce to 8,000 from 4,500 by the end of 2026, the Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. OpenAI plans to deploy most of the new hires across product development, engineering, research and sales, the FT said. The ChatGPT-maker is also ramping up recruitment of specialists focused on "technical ambassadorship," aimed at helping businesses make better use of its tools, the report added. The company's latest funding round valued it at $840 billion as Big Tech and Masayoshi Son's Softbank joined its blockbuster $110 billion round. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly issued an internal "code red" in early December last year, pausing non-core projects and redirecting teams to accelerate development in response to Google's Gemini 3. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.
Diamond Dogs/iStock via Getty Images Thesis The conflict with Iran has pushed oil prices above $100 per barrel, with some spikes going even higher in recent days. Rising fuel costs have weighed most on airlines and travel. Airlines (and travel) fell sharply as surging fuel costs hit margins. (Seeking Alpha) Meanwhile, oil and gas firms have held up better. Energy stocks climbed as oil prices spike...
Diamond Dogs/iStock via Getty Images Thesis The conflict with Iran has pushed oil prices above $100 per barrel, with some spikes going even higher in recent days. Rising fuel costs have weighed most on airlines and travel. Airlines (and travel) fell sharply as surging fuel costs hit margins. (Seeking Alpha) Meanwhile, oil and gas firms have held up better. Energy stocks climbed as oil prices spiked amid escalating conflict. (Seeking Alpha) But conflicts in the Middle East (or elsewhere) tend to follow a pattern: initial escalation, fear, and oil price spike. Then either there's de-escalation (diplomacy, ceasefires), or stabilization, and it's no longer the front page headlines. Initially, markets price in the worst-case scenario early. There are quite a few examples ranging from the Gulf War, Iraq War, and, most recently, the Russia-Ukraine War. I covered this “ this too shall pass ” scenario in a recent piece about Royal Caribbean ( RCL ) here. When the conflict with Iran eventually ends, it could quickly lift a big weight off the global economy. My core thesis is that the biggest winners will likely be smaller U.S. companies and businesses that rely on consumer spending. And the cleanest way to capture the peace dividend is through the iShares Russell 2000 ETF ( IWM ) for broad small-cap leverage, the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ( XLY ) for the spending rebound, and the U.S. Global Jets ETF ( JETS ) for the fastest margin expansion from collapsing fuel costs. A Simple Bet on U.S. Small Companies Small companies didn't waste any time getting hit. These businesses usually operate with tight budgets. So when fuel and energy costs go up, they can’t easily pass those extra costs on to customers. Seeking Alpha Because of that, the Russell 2000 Index (which tracks small U.S. companies) began to decline. The iShares Russell 2000 ETF ( IWM ), which follows that index, also dropped. On the main days when tensions increased, it fell by about 2.15%, and over the...
Olena Bartienieva/iStock via Getty Images Palladyne AI Corp. ( PDYN ) is a defense and industrial technology company that builds solutions for embodied AI, autonomy software, avionics, and unmanned systems in the US. In November 2025, PDYN acquired GuideTech, Warnke Precision Machining, MKR Fabrication, and MKR Fabrication Properties. The idea is to expand PDYN’s closed-loop autonomy software into...
Olena Bartienieva/iStock via Getty Images Palladyne AI Corp. ( PDYN ) is a defense and industrial technology company that builds solutions for embodied AI, autonomy software, avionics, and unmanned systems in the US. In November 2025, PDYN acquired GuideTech, Warnke Precision Machining, MKR Fabrication, and MKR Fabrication Properties. The idea is to expand PDYN’s closed-loop autonomy software into flight prototyping, precision machining, and defense-oriented production. Recently, PDYN’s subsidiary GuideTech won a US Navy contract to develop the Air-Launched Rapid Response Missile (ALRRM), which will be a new low-cost, near-hypersonic weapon. As such, I feel it’s reasonable to remain bullish on the stock at these levels for long-term investors. Military Defense Systems Palladyne AI Corp. is a technology company that develops defense and industrial AI-based applications. The company changed its name from Sarcos Technology and Robotics Corporation to Palladyne AI in March 2024. PDYN is currently headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. I also previously covered PDYN in December 2024, and since then, the stock has declined by 45.8%, so I thought it was worthwhile writing an update on them. Source: Investor Presentation. January 2026. As a quick recap, PDYN is a middle-tier defense platform company. Basically, these types of defense companies fill the gap between startup defense-tech firms and giant primes. In this middle tier, PDYN claims to be capable of moving faster than legacy defense contractors while also providing a more complete set of solutions than many early-stage defense startups. Having said that, PDYN’s core product is autonomy software for mobile (moving robotics) and stationary machines (fixed robotic systems). This technology works in a closed-loop, which means that it is capable of sensing the environment, interpreting it, deciding what to do, and acting accordingly. This process is a feedback loop itself, as PDYN’s autonomy software can then use the res...
Amazon’s Big Spring Sale doesn’t kick off until next week, but the retailer is already dropping a host of good deals , especially on robot vacuums. We recently saw Ecovacs’ Deebot X8 and X9 Pro Omni drop to $599 ($501 off) and $679 ($621 off) , respectively; however, if you’re looking for a cheaper robot vacuum / mop, the Dreame L10s Pro Ultra is down to $349.98 ($950 off its original list price) ...
Amazon’s Big Spring Sale doesn’t kick off until next week, but the retailer is already dropping a host of good deals , especially on robot vacuums. We recently saw Ecovacs’ Deebot X8 and X9 Pro Omni drop to $599 ($501 off) and $679 ($621 off) , respectively; however, if you’re looking for a cheaper robot vacuum / mop, the Dreame L10s Pro Ultra is down to $349.98 ($950 off its original list price) at Amazon , matching its lowest price to date. You can also pick it up from Best Buy and Dreame for the same price, the latter with code L10PUXM . Dreame L10s Pro Ultra Robot Vacuum Where to Buy: $1299.99 $349.98 at Amazon $1299.99 $349.99 at Best Buy $1299.99 $349.99 at Dreame (with code L10PUXM) The L10s Pro Ultra is designed to be as low-maintenance as possible. The vacuum’s self-cleaning dock can wash the mops with hot water, dry them with hot air, and automatically dispense cleaning solution. The dock can also empty the robovac’s contents into a 3.2L dust bag, allowing you to go 75 days without emptying it yourself, and refills the water tank as needed. You don’t need to constantly keep an eye on the robovac, either; it uses lidar navigation to map your home and AI-powered obstacle avoidance to clean around clutter. While it’s not as powerful as higher-end models like the aforementioned Ecovacs, the L10s Pro Ultra still delivers a respectable 7,000Pa of suction. It does a good job cleaning hardwood floors, too, with a mop that can lift itself to avoid getting carpets wet and extend into edges, corners, and other hard-to-reach areas. It also lets you choose which rooms to clean, and uses AI to adjust its cleaning approach based on the room type and layout. Plus, it can automatically return to mop areas if it detects they’re still dirty, providing for a more thorough clean.
Glenfarne Group CEO and Founder Brendan Duval joined Christina Ruffini and David Gura this morning on Bloomberg This Weekend to discuss how the Iran War is upending the market for the commodity. (Source: Bloomberg)
Glenfarne Group CEO and Founder Brendan Duval joined Christina Ruffini and David Gura this morning on Bloomberg This Weekend to discuss how the Iran War is upending the market for the commodity. (Source: Bloomberg)
Key Points Alphabet's Gemini app now has over 750 million monthly active users. Meta Platforms wants its artificial intelligence (AI) to completely automate the ad process for its customers. These leading AI stocks could be winners over the long term. 10 stocks we like better than Alphabet › It looks like the next big technological shift is underway. Artificial intelligence (AI) has kicked off a g...
Key Points Alphabet's Gemini app now has over 750 million monthly active users. Meta Platforms wants its artificial intelligence (AI) to completely automate the ad process for its customers. These leading AI stocks could be winners over the long term. 10 stocks we like better than Alphabet › It looks like the next big technological shift is underway. Artificial intelligence (AI) has kicked off a gold rush. And companies looking to be leaders in this area have no intention of slowing down. These are exactly the strategies that Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) are deploying. Combined, they plan to spend $305 billion (at the midpoints of their forecasts) on capital expenditures (capex) just in 2026. Both businesses are going all in on AI. 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 » But which is the better AI stock to buy and hold with a five-year time horizon? From infrastructure to end users Alphabet isn't new to the AI race. It's been using similar capabilities for decades. In 2001, the company was leveraging machine learning to improve users' spelling in search queries. In 2016, Sundar Pichai shifted Alphabet's focus to becoming an AI-first enterprise. In 2026, this business looks like a true AI juggernaut. Google DeepMind is a leading research lab. Alphabet is a dominant force at the infrastructure layer of AI, developing its own chips called Tensor Processing Units (TPUs). And Google Cloud is a thriving platform that sells AI-related and other IT products and services to enterprise clients. It generated $58.7 billion in revenue and $13.9 billion in operating income in 2025. Google Cloud now has a backlog of $240 billion. Alphabet has one of the most popular AI assistants in Gemini, which had 750 million monthly active users in the fourth quarter last ...
utah778/iStock via Getty Images Thesis: ACI-7104 to drive upside AC Immune SA ( ACIU ) reported a FY25 GAAP EPS loss of CHF 0.70. Again, we saw continued losses typical of a clinical-stage biotech company. However, what was concerning was that revenue came in at just CHF 3.57 million, a hefty 86.9% year-over-year decline, mainly due to the absence of milestone payments they received back in 2024. ...
utah778/iStock via Getty Images Thesis: ACI-7104 to drive upside AC Immune SA ( ACIU ) reported a FY25 GAAP EPS loss of CHF 0.70. Again, we saw continued losses typical of a clinical-stage biotech company. However, what was concerning was that revenue came in at just CHF 3.57 million, a hefty 86.9% year-over-year decline, mainly due to the absence of milestone payments they received back in 2024. So overall, the results are very telling of the company’s reliance on partnership-driven income. Overall, I’m quite bullish on AC Immune’s pipeline potential, particularly the progression surrounding ACI-7104 as a first-in-class disease-modifying therapy for early Parkinson’s. The interim Phase 2 data, which have been priced in, were very encouraging, as we saw strong immunogenicity and biomarker engagement. That said, I also think it’s best to wait to see the final Phase 2 Part 1 readout later this year. I expect this to serve as the critical catalyst to reassess upside here for AC Immune. FY25 results AC Immune reported FY25 results in mid-March, and on initial viewing, it’s clear that the company is in transition. As you would expect, as they’re moving toward later-stage clinical development, they’re facing the typical financial pressures of a clinical-stage biotech. I think the biggest change is the sharp decline in cash, which fell to CHF 91.4 million from CHF 165.5 million back in 2024. As you know, the reduction is mostly explained by a pretty steep drop in contract revenues, which we saw decrease to just CHF 3.6 million from CHF 27.3 million in the prior year, which we can put down to the absence of a significant milestone payment received in 2024. Now, this goes to show just how much AC Immune relies on partnership-driven income rather than recurring revenues. So in response, the company also implemented some cost-control measures, including about a 30% workforce reduction and a more focused pipeline strategy. As per management, that should allow them to extend the...
Key Points Uber currently has over 20 active driverless-vehicle partnerships. The company's strategy revolves around owning the user experience and data. Its driverless strategy should scale up much more quickly than the hardware aspect of the vehicles. 10 stocks we like better than Uber Technologies › When looking for huge long-term winners in the stock market, one of the simplest things to seek ...
Key Points Uber currently has over 20 active driverless-vehicle partnerships. The company's strategy revolves around owning the user experience and data. Its driverless strategy should scale up much more quickly than the hardware aspect of the vehicles. 10 stocks we like better than Uber Technologies › When looking for huge long-term winners in the stock market, one of the simplest things to seek is a product or service solving a crucial issue -- or many issues. Driverless vehicles have the potential to greatly improve transportation safety -- when working properly at scale, which isn't the status quo -- and reduce traffic congestion. For consumers, they can improve mobility, productivity, and convenience for non-drivers, and there are economic advantages for robotaxis and for transporting goods and services. 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 » There is a long list of companies developing driverless vehicles, but Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER) might be the most brilliant. Here's why. A plethora of partnerships Uber has taken an interesting approach to tackling the challenges presented by driverless vehicles. Some automakers -- Tesla and Rivian among others -- have developed their own advanced vehicles and driverless technology alongside it. But Uber doesn't want to own the vehicle portion of the equation. Its driverless-vehicle strategy is brilliant in a way because it avoids a capital-intensive and higher-risk development in-house, using a platform-as-a-service model instead. The company is focusing on being a leading aggregator of driverless vehicles, rather than the manufacturer, so that it can leverage its existing global network, consumer base, and data to develop and commercialize major partnerships. As of March, Uber has over 20 active driverless-vehicle partnerships. You read t...
In this article BRK.B COIN JPM BRK.A Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT (This is the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, news and analysis on all things Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You can sign up here to receive it every Friday evening in your inbox.) Warren Buffett is defending the philanthropic initiative he co-founded with Bill Gates almost 15 years ago as it faces what Th...
In this article BRK.B COIN JPM BRK.A Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT (This is the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, news and analysis on all things Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You can sign up here to receive it every Friday evening in your inbox.) Warren Buffett is defending the philanthropic initiative he co-founded with Bill Gates almost 15 years ago as it faces what The New York Times calls a "billionaire backlash." Buffett wrote in an email to the newspaper, "I firmly believe in the Giving Pledge and consider it quite a success, though my physical limitations have eliminated my participation in the annual get-together. "I have continued to contact possible members but only on a minor scale in recent years. Bill Gates has continued major efforts." In 2010, Buffett said he and Gates hoped to "establish a new norm" with the Pledge, which is a " promise by the world's wealthiest philanthropists to give the majority of their wealth to charitable causes in their lifetime of wills ." Warren Buffett, Bill and Melinda Gates Lacy O'Toole | CNBC But in a major article this week , the Times says that over the past two years, "there has been a growing backlash from the billionaires who are its target donors," including a "quiet campaign by one pro-Trump tech billionaire to destroy it." Peter Thiel tells the Times he has privately encouraged around a dozen signers to cancel their pledges. "Most of the ones I've talked to have at least expressed regret about signing it." Peter Thiel Adam Jeffery | CNBC While the Times says Thiel wasn't involved, Coinbase co-founder Brian Armstrong, "an outspoken crypto executive who now evinces a disdain for liberal politics," voluntarily left the group in 2024 without a public explanation. The next year, Oracle's Larry Ellison, one of the first signers, announced he was "amending" his pledge to give some money to for-profit initiatives that the Pledge doesn't cover. More than 250 families are listed on the Giving Ple...
To put it mildly, 2026 has not been a good year for Big Software so far. Even the giants in the industry have taken serious hits to their stock prices. One stark example of this is Oracle's (ORCL 3.93%) near-21% year-to-date decline. The rout is due largely to investor fears that tech companies identified with legacy solutions -- like Oracle, with its databases -- will be swept up in a great wave ...
To put it mildly, 2026 has not been a good year for Big Software so far. Even the giants in the industry have taken serious hits to their stock prices. One stark example of this is Oracle's (ORCL 3.93%) near-21% year-to-date decline. The rout is due largely to investor fears that tech companies identified with legacy solutions -- like Oracle, with its databases -- will be swept up in a great wave of disruption from artificial intelligence (AI) models that can do their work better, cheaper, and quicker. Yet Oracle is actually pivoting toward an AI-heavy business model. So does the sell-off make the best bargain AI stock these days? Oracle of the future Oracle's big gamble is that it can transition from its traditional wheelhouse of database and software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions into a massive AI infrastructure hyperscaler (i.e., operator of large-scale data centers). In short, it aims to be a major -- if not the major -- landlord in the AI revolution. Speaking of AI, Oracle also wants to become a prominent vendor in the space. It envisions developing industry-specific AI "agents," i.e., next-generation models that can autonomously perform tasks for the client. The company also aims to become a purveyor of "sovereign AI" solutions for national governments that, instead of being housed on company servers, would rest entirely within the client's IT assets. That next-generation technology should help Oracle trim costs, too. It has shrunk its developer teams through a series of layoffs, as it can replace humans with AI coding tools to handle much of the grunt work. The financials behind this tectonic shift are, well, Oracle-sized. Recently, management drastically upped its estimate for its current fiscal year capital expenditures (capex) to $50 billion. For perspective, keeping the company's legacy database business alive and humming used to cost it less than $2 billion annually. Even with the company's mountains of revenue, it will need some help reaching its sudden...
Most investors who want broad U.S. equity exposure reach for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY). It is the default. But a lesser-known fund built entirely from stocks already inside the S&P 500 has quietly delivered stronger returns over virtually every meaningful time horizon, while also holding up better when markets fall. That fund is ... This 1 ETF Keeps Outrallying the SPY, While Also Losi...
Most investors who want broad U.S. equity exposure reach for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY). It is the default. But a lesser-known fund built entirely from stocks already inside the S&P 500 has quietly delivered stronger returns over virtually every meaningful time horizon, while also holding up better when markets fall. That fund is ... This 1 ETF Keeps Outrallying the SPY, While Also Losing Less During Downturns
Key Points The market has consistently been pricing in one or two Fed rate cuts before the end of 2026. With most of the economic data still looking healthy and inflation risk rising, the Fed could need to consider raising rates. It's an unlikely possibility, but one that investors should be prepared for. 10 stocks we like better than S&P 500 Index › The Iran conflict has thrown both the U.S. econ...
Key Points The market has consistently been pricing in one or two Fed rate cuts before the end of 2026. With most of the economic data still looking healthy and inflation risk rising, the Fed could need to consider raising rates. It's an unlikely possibility, but one that investors should be prepared for. 10 stocks we like better than S&P 500 Index › The Iran conflict has thrown both the U.S. economic outlook and Fed policy plans out the window. While geopolitical events tend to be short term in nature and conditions often return to the way they were after tensions settle, this conflict is looking more and more like it will be a problem for a while. It's also impacting what the Fed might be able to do this year. For months, the Fed Funds futures market has been pricing in rate cuts this year. Even with inflation remaining stubbornly above target and several Fed members expressing hesitation to cut rates in light of this, futures had been indicating expectations for two rate cuts in 2026. 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 » This belief was largely based on the notion that gross domestic product (GDP) growth was likely to slow and the labor market showed stagnant job growth. Plus, if the current oil spike was due to a supply driven event, it may only be temporarily inflationary. Long-term macro fundamentals should outweigh short-term shocks. But the inflation question still isn't going away. It doesn't seem out of the question that the Iran conflict could drag out for months. If Iran is willing to close off the Strait of Hormuz indefinitely despite the United States government's insistence that it won't withdraw until Iran surrenders, we could be facing a long stalemate. This all leads to one big question: Should the Fed be giving stronger consideration to hiking rates here, rather than ...
Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) shares cratered roughly 33% yesterday after U.S. prosecutors charged the company’s co-founder, Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, along with sales manager Ruei-Tsang Chang and contractor Ting-Wei Sun, in a scheme to smuggle billions of dollars’ worth of servers containing banned Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) AI chips into China. The trio allegedly routed $2.5 billion in ... Super Mi...
Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) shares cratered roughly 33% yesterday after U.S. prosecutors charged the company’s co-founder, Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, along with sales manager Ruei-Tsang Chang and contractor Ting-Wei Sun, in a scheme to smuggle billions of dollars’ worth of servers containing banned Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) AI chips into China. The trio allegedly routed $2.5 billion in ... Super Micro Risks S&P 500 Removal. Here’s the Stock to Replace It
Planet Labs (NYSE:PL), a leading provider of global, daily satellite imagery and geospatial solutions, saw its shares jump 23% after hours on March 19 after the company posted its largest quarterly revenue ever and a backlog that now exceeds its entire annual revenue. Moving into the following day, shares surged 29% on March 20 after ... Planet Labs Jumps 23% After Hours as Its $900M Backlog Final...
Planet Labs (NYSE:PL), a leading provider of global, daily satellite imagery and geospatial solutions, saw its shares jump 23% after hours on March 19 after the company posted its largest quarterly revenue ever and a backlog that now exceeds its entire annual revenue. Moving into the following day, shares surged 29% on March 20 after ... Planet Labs Jumps 23% After Hours as Its $900M Backlog Finally Gets Wall Street’s Attention