Shell Plc Chief Executive Officer Wael Sawan said that Europe will soon begin to experience the same kind of disruption to fuel supplies that Asia has faced due to the war in Iran in recent weeks. Sawan said the effects of the conflict continue to ripple out across global fuel markets, first in South Asia, then Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia, and increasingly in Europe as April approaches. “We ...
Shell Plc Chief Executive Officer Wael Sawan said that Europe will soon begin to experience the same kind of disruption to fuel supplies that Asia has faced due to the war in Iran in recent weeks. Sawan said the effects of the conflict continue to ripple out across global fuel markets, first in South Asia, then Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia, and increasingly in Europe as April approaches. “We are trying to work with governments to just alert them to the various levers they will need to pull, including on the demand side, including what they need to do around storage,” he said Tuesday at CERAWeek by S&P Global. Sawan also said the UK company may decide on whether to invest in one or two Venezuelan natural gas projects by the year-end.
Aviation fuel prices have doubled compared to before the outbreak of the Middle East conflict. Photo: VCG The ongoing war in the Middle East has more than doubled aviation fuel prices, triggering flight cancellations worldwide, fuel export restrictions in Asia, and a surge in airfares as airlines scramble to manage rising costs. With crude supplies disrupted by the escalating conflict, the shock h...
Aviation fuel prices have doubled compared to before the outbreak of the Middle East conflict. Photo: VCG The ongoing war in the Middle East has more than doubled aviation fuel prices, triggering flight cancellations worldwide, fuel export restrictions in Asia, and a surge in airfares as airlines scramble to manage rising costs. With crude supplies disrupted by the escalating conflict, the shock has rippled through the global aviation industry, straining fuel-importing countries and forcing major airlines to raise ticket prices or cut capacity as refinery output tightens.
Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) was under pressure today, with the stock falling as much as 5.8%. As of 11:55 a.m. ET, the stock was still down 4.1%. The data mining and artificial intelligence (AI) specialist seemed to be caught in a broader downdraft in technology stocks, but the news surrounding Palantir was decidedly positive. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) was under pressure today, with the stock falling as much as 5.8%. As of 11:55 a.m. ET, the stock was still down 4.1%. The data mining and artificial intelligence (AI) specialist seemed to be caught in a broader downdraft in technology stocks, but the news surrounding Palantir was decidedly positive. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
Microsoft has agreed to rent a data center project in Texas that was originally being developed for Oracle and OpenAI, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the situation. Microsoft struck an agreement with developer Crusoe after both Oracle and OpenAI walked away from talks to occupy the site, according to the report. A spokesperson for Microsoft said it had noth...
Microsoft has agreed to rent a data center project in Texas that was originally being developed for Oracle and OpenAI, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the situation. Microsoft struck an agreement with developer Crusoe after both Oracle and OpenAI walked away from talks to occupy the site, according to the report. A spokesperson for Microsoft said it had nothing to share, while Oracle and Crusoe did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
NASA Head Adds Lunar Base, Nuclear-Powered Mars Rocket To Space Road Map NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman is moving ahead with the agency's ambitious push to return astronauts to the moon, unveiling new plans for a lunar base alongside a nuclear-propelled spacecraft intended to pave the way for a future Mars mission. At an earlier event, The New York Times reported that Isaacman laid out the agen...
NASA Head Adds Lunar Base, Nuclear-Powered Mars Rocket To Space Road Map NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman is moving ahead with the agency's ambitious push to return astronauts to the moon, unveiling new plans for a lunar base alongside a nuclear-propelled spacecraft intended to pave the way for a future Mars mission. At an earlier event, The New York Times reported that Isaacman laid out the agency's three-phase plan: first, expand robotic missions and surface systems; second, build semi-habitable infrastructure for regular astronaut visits; and third, construct permanent infrastructure for a sustained human presence on the moon. "We are calling today's event Ignition because it represents the start of a transformative journey for NASA," Isaacman told an audience of representatives from aerospace companies, international space agency officials, and Congress. BREAKING: NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announces plans to build a PERMANENT U.S. base on the Moon—the plan rolls out in three phases: rover and tech deployments, semi-habitable infrastructure for astronauts, and ultimately a permanent human presence on the lunar surface.… pic.twitter.com/5wansZv09f — Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 24, 2026 Isaacman's top objective is to return astronauts to the moon in a series of missions called Artemis by 2028. At the same time, he outlined plans to launch a nuclear-propelled spacecraft to Mars by the end of 2028. He said NASA will deploy $20 billion over seven years to ensure America leads the Moon and Mars missions. "The moon base will not appear overnight," Isaacman said. "We will invest approximately $20 billion over the next seven years and build it through dozens of missions." The announcement comes just ahead of Artemis II, the mission expected to send astronauts around the moon and back for the first time since 1972. Isaacman also said Artemis missions would accelerate to twice a year after Artemis V in 2028, and NASA is seeking replacements for Boeing's Space ...
CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV) surged to the forefront a year ago when it completed its initial public offering and then went on to climb more than 300% in just a few months. Investors were excited about the company due to its central role in the artificial intelligence (AI) story. CoreWeave offers something much-needed: capacity for AI workloads. This business has been a successful one for CoreWeave, d...
CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV) surged to the forefront a year ago when it completed its initial public offering and then went on to climb more than 300% in just a few months. Investors were excited about the company due to its central role in the artificial intelligence (AI) story. CoreWeave offers something much-needed: capacity for AI workloads. This business has been a successful one for CoreWeave, driving triple-digit quarterly revenue growth. But, in recent months, the stock has lost momentum -- in fact, it's slid about 50% from its high point back in June. Is it now the most misunderstood AI stock of 2026? Let's find out. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
The Meta Platforms chief is building an AI agent to help him do his job as CEO, I reported over the weekend. The agent, which is still in development, is currently helping Zuckerberg get information faster by retrieving answers that he would typically have to go through multiple layers of people to get. It’s one of a number of current projects that are going on at Meta as the company tries to get ...
The Meta Platforms chief is building an AI agent to help him do his job as CEO, I reported over the weekend. The agent, which is still in development, is currently helping Zuckerberg get information faster by retrieving answers that he would typically have to go through multiple layers of people to get. It’s one of a number of current projects that are going on at Meta as the company tries to get its 78,000-person workforce to be more nimble and remain competitive with AI-native startups with much smaller staffs.
The upside in stocks is likely capped at 7,000 on the S&P 500 ( SP500 ) in the near term until the market starts pricing Federal Reserve cuts again or growth re-accelerates driven by a sustained re-stocking cycle, according to Wells Fargo Equity Research analysts. The research team noted that “private credit and AI disruption overhang remain meaningful headwinds for the index,” suggesting multiple...
The upside in stocks is likely capped at 7,000 on the S&P 500 ( SP500 ) in the near term until the market starts pricing Federal Reserve cuts again or growth re-accelerates driven by a sustained re-stocking cycle, according to Wells Fargo Equity Research analysts. The research team noted that “private credit and AI disruption overhang remain meaningful headwinds for the index,” suggesting multiple factors are constraining the market’s potential rally. Valuations have undergone a significant reset, with the S&P 500 ( SP500 ) trading below 20x for the first time since Liberation Day, according to the strategists. The Nasdaq 100 ( COMP:IND ) forward P/E ratio currently sits at 23.2x, down 25% since October and well below the post-COVID average of 27.2x. “Valuations have reset,” the analysts wrote, highlighting the dramatic compression in multiples across major indices. Stocks have finally caught up to oil markets ( CL1:COM ) ( CO1:COM ) in pricing approximately four months of energy disruption, according to Wells Fargo’s analysis. War headlines have been the main price mover over the past week, and the strategists expect that to continue with a dearth of macro catalysts. “We believe stocks have priced in an adequate amount of war risk and see the risk skewed to the upside from here,” they said. Market fundamentals have remained intact despite the volatility, with Nasdaq 100 ( COMP:IND ) next-twelve-month earnings per share rising 23% over the past six months, according to the research team. This represents “one of the largest divergences between earnings and multiples in history,” the analysts noted. Fixed income markets have also priced out more than two Fed cuts over the past month, a 2.5 standard deviation move that has pushed bond volatility to its highest level since April 2025. Equity, oil, and prediction markets are now discounting a mid-June resolution versus late July, as recently as Friday, according to the Wells Fargo analysis. Prediction market data shows a...
The Hill and Valley Forum convened dozens of senior executives, venture capitalists, and government officials to discuss the US lead in artificial intelligence and its economic impact. Event organizers Christian Garrett, 137 Ventures partner and Delian Asparouhov, Founders Fund partner, join Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow on a special edition of “Bloomberg Tech” live from the event. (Source: Bloomber...
The Hill and Valley Forum convened dozens of senior executives, venture capitalists, and government officials to discuss the US lead in artificial intelligence and its economic impact. Event organizers Christian Garrett, 137 Ventures partner and Delian Asparouhov, Founders Fund partner, join Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow on a special edition of “Bloomberg Tech” live from the event. (Source: Bloomberg)
Industry groups say delay to defence investment plan (DIP) leaving UK behind in global race for funding Defence manufacturers are going bust while others have been left in “paralysis” and “bleeding cash” as they wait for a long-delayed UK military spending plan for the next decade, MPs have heard. Industry groups said that a more than six-month delay to the defence investment plan (DIP) has also l...
Industry groups say delay to defence investment plan (DIP) leaving UK behind in global race for funding Defence manufacturers are going bust while others have been left in “paralysis” and “bleeding cash” as they wait for a long-delayed UK military spending plan for the next decade, MPs have heard. Industry groups said that a more than six-month delay to the defence investment plan (DIP) has also left the UK behind Germany and the US in attracting cash from global investors. Continue reading...
Deagreez/iStock via Getty Images Introduction & Investment Thesis US President Donald Trump seems to have backed off yesterday morning , with his post on Truth Social where he said that he has ordered a pause on all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period after two days of “very good” conversations with Iran. This move from the President comes ...
Deagreez/iStock via Getty Images Introduction & Investment Thesis US President Donald Trump seems to have backed off yesterday morning , with his post on Truth Social where he said that he has ordered a pause on all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period after two days of “very good” conversations with Iran. This move from the President comes after the S&P 500 ( SPY ) closed below its 200 DMA (day moving average) last week. The last time the index closed below the 200 DMA was during the tariff-related selloff in March 2025, which was followed by the index correcting another 15% after that. But similar to the 90-day tariff pause that President Trump implemented at the peak of market fears during the tariff-related selloff, he seems to be following a similar playbook this time as well. Last week, we saw the 10Y US Treasury yield rise to 4.39%, its highest level since July 2025, along with real yields climbing sharply on fears of supply-related inflation from rising oil prices amid ongoing conflict. Meanwhile, after a pretty nasty PPI print last week where the headline number surged more than double the expectation, the Fed decided to keep their interest rates anchored at 3.5%-3.75%, reiterating the “higher for longer” narrative while raising their full-year expectation on inflation, which further unnerved investors. While the postponing of further military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days is a constructive start to holding “productive talks” with Iran, Iran's foreign ministry, however, refuted the post and said there have been no talks with Washington. The way I see it, while the news has given markets an initial sigh of relief, which can lead to a sizable bounce in the short term, we may not be out of the woods. And by that, I mean the risks of a bear market. In this post, I will explain why. Addressing The Bond Market Volatility Last week, we saw oil prices measured by...
Youth organisation says its belief in ‘dignity, respect and inclusion’ is unchanged but it ‘must operate lawfully’ Transgender girls and women who are part of Girlguiding groups have been given until September to leave the organisation, under new rules introduced after the supreme court ruling on gender last year. In an announcement on Tuesday, Girlguiding said current members who were trans girls...
Youth organisation says its belief in ‘dignity, respect and inclusion’ is unchanged but it ‘must operate lawfully’ Transgender girls and women who are part of Girlguiding groups have been given until September to leave the organisation, under new rules introduced after the supreme court ruling on gender last year. In an announcement on Tuesday, Girlguiding said current members who were trans girls or trans young women could stay until 6 September 2026, at which point they would have to leave. Continue reading...
Microsoft ( MSFT ) has apparently moved forward with a plan to rent out some remaining space at a massive data center that was a flagship site in the Stargate Project being led by Oracle ( ORCL ) and OpenAI ( OPENAI ), according to Bloomberg. Microsoft will use about 700 MW of capacity at the site, which is located in Abilene, Texas, the report said, citing people familiar with the situation. The ...
Microsoft ( MSFT ) has apparently moved forward with a plan to rent out some remaining space at a massive data center that was a flagship site in the Stargate Project being led by Oracle ( ORCL ) and OpenAI ( OPENAI ), according to Bloomberg. Microsoft will use about 700 MW of capacity at the site, which is located in Abilene, Texas, the report said, citing people familiar with the situation. The Redmond-based software company will use the capacity to meet rising demand from its cloud customers and for internal work on artificial intelligence. The data center company Crusoe is leading the development on the site. Crusoe develops data centers with power from stranded natural gas and renewables. OpenAI and Oracle continue to utilize the rest of the 1,000-acre development. Oracle currently leases out eight buildings at the site for use by OpenAI. For various reasons, OpenAI and Oracle decided not to expand their footprint on the site from 1.2 GW to 2 GW, leaving the expansion open for other hyperscalers. Meta Platforms ( META ) was also in discussions to lease some of the planned expansion. Seeking Alpha reached out to Microsoft for comment on the development. More on Microsoft Microsoft: Agentic AI May Be The 2-In-1 Recovery Catalyst Microsoft: Beneath The Selloff Microsoft: Don't Jump To Conclusions From The Recent Share Price Rout Microsoft in focus as BofA reinstates coverage with Buy rating OpenAI flags Microsoft dependence as key business risk ahead of expected IPO - report
NiseriN/iStock via Getty Images APA Corp. ( APA ) has made a new natural gas discovery in Egypt's Western Desert, following the drilling of the SKAL-1X exploratory well in the South Kalabsha area, the country's petroleum ministry said Tuesday. Preliminary test results from the well show production rates of 26M cf/day of gas and 2,700 bbl/day of condensate. The discovery is near existing i...
NiseriN/iStock via Getty Images APA Corp. ( APA ) has made a new natural gas discovery in Egypt's Western Desert, following the drilling of the SKAL-1X exploratory well in the South Kalabsha area, the country's petroleum ministry said Tuesday. Preliminary test results from the well show production rates of 26M cf/day of gas and 2,700 bbl/day of condensate. The discovery is near existing infrastructure and production facilities that will accelerate production launch while reducing capital expenditure, the ministry said. The discovery is the latest effort between APA's ( APA ) Apache Egypt unit and state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. to develop gas resources and follows last November's discovery from the Gomana-1 exploration well. More on APA Corp. APA Corp.: Deeply Undervalued While Advancing On All Fronts APA Corp.: Redefined By Operational Efficiencies And Middle East Turmoil APA Corp.: The Great FCF Machine
Sundry Photography/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) on Tuesday said it completed an initial live-fire test of its Grizzly launcher, a containerized system designed to fire Hellfire missiles from a compact, transportable platform. Live-fire test of Grizzly vertical launcher (Lockheed Martin) The test marked the first integrated demonstration of both vertical launch and live...
Sundry Photography/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) on Tuesday said it completed an initial live-fire test of its Grizzly launcher, a containerized system designed to fire Hellfire missiles from a compact, transportable platform. Live-fire test of Grizzly vertical launcher (Lockheed Martin) The test marked the first integrated demonstration of both vertical launch and live missile firing from the system, which is housed inside a standard 10-foot Tricon shipping container. The company said the launcher successfully met key performance requirements during the trial. Grizzly is being developed as a mobile launch solution that can be deployed across a range of environments. By using an enclosed container, the system is intended to be easier to transport and less conspicuous than traditional launch platforms. The launcher incorporates components derived from existing systems, including the M299 launcher, and relies in part on commercially available materials. Lockheed Martin said this approach is aimed at reducing production timelines and simplifying logistics compared with more complex weapons systems. The company began developing Grizzly roughly six months prior to the test, funded through internal investment. Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) said it will continue working with the U.S. government to refine the system based on data collected during the demonstration. The effort reflects a broader trend in defense toward more flexible and mobile weapons systems that can be deployed quickly and adapted to different operational needs. More on Lockheed Martin The Shahed Drone War Is Creating A Missile Defense Supercycle For Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin: The Upside Is Already Priced In Lockheed Martin: Operationally Strong, Valuation Fully Priced - A Textbook Hold For 2026 Colombian military plane crash kills one, dozens injured after takeoff U.S. Army receives Black Hawk variant equipped with autonomy system for testing
(Bloomberg) -- Software stocks dropped on Tuesday after a report on new AI tools from Amazon.com Inc. rekindled the disruption fears that have roiled the sector in the past few months.Amazon’s cloud-computing arm, Amazon Web Services, is developing an AI agent to automate some of functions for sales, business development and other groups that have been targeted in the tech giant’s sweeping job cut...
(Bloomberg) -- Software stocks dropped on Tuesday after a report on new AI tools from Amazon.com Inc. rekindled the disruption fears that have roiled the sector in the past few months.Amazon’s cloud-computing arm, Amazon Web Services, is developing an AI agent to automate some of functions for sales, business development and other groups that have been targeted in the tech giant’s sweeping job cuts, the Information reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The agent being developed by AW
Key PointsOld North State Trust sold all of its 72,921 shares of First Bancorp in the fourth quarter; the estimated transaction value was $3.70 million based on quarterly average prices.
Key PointsOld North State Trust sold all of its 72,921 shares of First Bancorp in the fourth quarter; the estimated transaction value was $3.70 million based on quarterly average prices.