sompoch sivakosit/iStock via Getty Images At a glance Performance The Fund returned 3.62% and the MSCI World ex-USA Index returned 5.20%. Contributors/detractors Information technology, healthcare, and consumer discretionary drove positive relative returns, while stock selection in financials and industrials detracted. Outlook We continue to see compelling opportunities across sectors and geograph...
sompoch sivakosit/iStock via Getty Images At a glance Performance The Fund returned 3.62% and the MSCI World ex-USA Index returned 5.20%. Contributors/detractors Information technology, healthcare, and consumer discretionary drove positive relative returns, while stock selection in financials and industrials detracted. Outlook We continue to see compelling opportunities across sectors and geographies to generate attractive capital and income returns for investors over the medium to long term. Investment environment International equity markets continued to rise over the final quarter of 2025, buoyed by the loosening of monetary policy by the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) and the easing of global trade tensions. Central banks continued to adopt more accommodative policy, with the Fed cutting interest rates twice, by a combined 50 basis points (bps) to 3.75%. Policymakers said they expect to implement another reduction in 2026. Continued interest in artificial intelligence (AI) initially boosted sentiment, although worries about valuations weighed on share prices in November and December. In the U.S., consumer price rises cooled to 2.7% year on year in November, which was lower than expected compared with September's 3.0% increase. No inflation data was released for October because of the government shutdown. The economy remained resilient, expanding by an annualized 4.3% in the third quarter, although there were some signs of weakness. Both the euro and sterling strengthened slightly against the U.S. dollar during the quarter. Regionally, the UK was the standout performer, buoyed by cooling inflation, looser monetary policy, and reduced tariff worries. The Bank of England lowered its benchmark rate by 25 bps to 3.75% in December. European equities also strengthened. In Asia, equities gained, as investors' AI hopes and a U.S./China trade truce powered regional equities to a record high. Local benchmarks in South Korea and Taiwan also hit record highs, boosted by rallying...
Ideally, by the time you get to retirement, you'll have a nice amount of savings to live on. But even if you manage to retire with a respectable balance in your IRA or 401(k), you might still need Social Security to pull off the lifestyle you're hoping for. Plus, you can't discount the possibility of a prolonged market downturn during retirement. During a period like that, Social Security could be...
Ideally, by the time you get to retirement, you'll have a nice amount of savings to live on. But even if you manage to retire with a respectable balance in your IRA or 401(k), you might still need Social Security to pull off the lifestyle you're hoping for. Plus, you can't discount the possibility of a prolonged market downturn during retirement. During a period like that, Social Security could become a crucial source of income as you attempt to leave your investments as untouched as possible. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
Leon Neal/Getty Images News My last ratings for Take-Two Interactive ( TTWO ) were a hold. And whenever I covered it, even with the changes in earnings, TTWO stock seemed to always maintain a very similar price, something around $230 or $250. But since my last article (check it here ), which was in November, the stock fell 16%, and this even with a fiscal Q3 that was quite solid. In part, the mark...
Leon Neal/Getty Images News My last ratings for Take-Two Interactive ( TTWO ) were a hold. And whenever I covered it, even with the changes in earnings, TTWO stock seemed to always maintain a very similar price, something around $230 or $250. But since my last article (check it here ), which was in November, the stock fell 16%, and this even with a fiscal Q3 that was quite solid. In part, the market saw it as a threat and brought down the stock a few months ago due to Alphabet’s ( GOOGL ) ( GOOG ) generative AI called Project Genie (check it here ), which greatly facilitates the creation of games (with a few prompts, in an ideal and utopian scenario). I think the effect of this type of tool for Take-Two Interactive is much more positive than negative. But my main point in this article isn't even that. I think the market is missing something very important, which is the pre-order of GTA VI (and the total full potential), which has the potential to collect millions and make TTWO greatly exceed estimates in the coming quarters. A Word About AI and Rockstar Studios Rockstar Studios - responsible for GTA - is, arguably, the best game company currently. And I don't say this in terms of financials, but rather in terms of credibility with the community. Companies like Ubisoft ( UBSFF ) or even CD Projekt RED ( OTGLF ) have already launched excellent titles, but consumers do not give them the benefit of the doubt because they previously launched games full of bugs or even promised something incredible and did not deliver. With Rockstar, it's different. It's one of the few companies that fans truly trust in the promises. For instance, even with the delays of GTA VI, I believe most fans believe that this delay was for the good of the game, to come out more polished or with more content. And this is something difficult to build. Red Dead Redemption 2, which was a game launched in 2018, is used as a benchmark for various factors nowadays. It’s been almost 8 years since its launc...
(RTTNews) - Vallourec S.A. (VLOUF, VLOWY, VK.PA), a French-based manufacturing company, said Wednesday that it has secured five contracts in Indonesia, including two signed in February, for a total of approximately 36,000 tons of oil country tubular goods to support oil and gas o
(RTTNews) - Vallourec S.A. (VLOUF, VLOWY, VK.PA), a French-based manufacturing company, said Wednesday that it has secured five contracts in Indonesia, including two signed in February, for a total of approximately 36,000 tons of oil country tubular goods to support oil and gas o
A senior Japanese official and the country’s military have expressed regret after a serving army officer was arrested on suspicion of trespassing at the Chinese embassy in Tokyo. Tokyo police have identified the 23-year-old suspect as Kodai Murata, a second lieutenant with the Ground Self-Defence Force, and said he was suspected of bringing an 18cm (7-inch) knife onto the embassy premises. No one ...
A senior Japanese official and the country’s military have expressed regret after a serving army officer was arrested on suspicion of trespassing at the Chinese embassy in Tokyo. Tokyo police have identified the 23-year-old suspect as Kodai Murata, a second lieutenant with the Ground Self-Defence Force, and said he was suspected of bringing an 18cm (7-inch) knife onto the embassy premises. No one was injured in the incident and a blade was found in shrubbery on the embassy grounds, Japanese...
Pakorn Supajitsoontorn/iStock via Getty Images A federal judge said the Pentagon's move to blacklist Anthropic ( ANTHRO ) appears to be punishment for the AI startup going public with its contract dispute, which would be a violation of the company's right to free speech. "Everyone, including Anthropic, agrees that the Department of War is free to stop using Claude and look for a more permissive AI...
Pakorn Supajitsoontorn/iStock via Getty Images A federal judge said the Pentagon's move to blacklist Anthropic ( ANTHRO ) appears to be punishment for the AI startup going public with its contract dispute, which would be a violation of the company's right to free speech. "Everyone, including Anthropic, agrees that the Department of War is free to stop using Claude and look for a more permissive AI vendor," Judge Rita Lin said during a hearing on Tuesday. But the Pentagon designating Anthropic as a supply chain risk "looks like an attempt to cripple" the company and doesn't "really seem to be tailored to the stated national security concern," she noted. "It looks like DOW is punishing Anthropic for trying to bring public scrutiny to this contract dispute, which would, of course, be a violation of the First Amendment," Lin added. Anthropic ( ANTHRO ) sued the U.S. government after it was blacklisted over its safeguards that prevent its AI from being used for domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons. It warned that the blacklisting could reduce its 2026 revenue by "multiple billions of dollars." The company sought a temporary restraining order on its blacklisting while the case plays out in court. Lin said she expects to issue a ruling on Anthropic's ( ANTHRO ) request in the next few days. More on Anthropic Wall Street Lunch: Anthropic Sues Pentagon Anthropic's blacklisting defended by Trump administration in court filing Pentagon is said to move to replace Anthropic AI after supply-chain rift Karp says Palantir still using Anthropic, despite Pentagon blacklisting Microsoft backs Anthropic in legal fight over Pentagon blacklisting
Maksim Labkouski/iStock via Getty Images US business activity growth slowed to an 11-month low in March as businesses reported a weakening inflow of new orders and a spike in prices following the outbreak of war in the Middle East. Growth slows as war breaks out The headline Flash S&P Global US PMI Composite Output Index fell from 51.9 in February to 51.4 in March, its lowest since April of last y...
Maksim Labkouski/iStock via Getty Images US business activity growth slowed to an 11-month low in March as businesses reported a weakening inflow of new orders and a spike in prices following the outbreak of war in the Middle East. Growth slows as war breaks out The headline Flash S&P Global US PMI Composite Output Index fell from 51.9 in February to 51.4 in March, its lowest since April of last year. Although above the 50.0 no-change level to signal an ongoing expansion of output, the March reading pointed to a slowing in the rate of growth for a second successive month to round off the economy’s weakest quarter since the fourth quarter of 2023. The March PMI data are indicative of GDP rising at an annualized rate of just 1.0%, with a modest 1.3% expansion signalled for the first quarter as a whole. The slowdown was led by the service sector, where business activity grew at the weakest pace for 11 months amid a weaker gain in new work, the latter driven by a steepening rate of loss of export sales. Slower growth and falling orders, especially in terms of exports, were commonly blamed on subdued confidence among both consumers and business customers. A reticence to commit to additional projects and orders amid the increased geopolitical uncertainty caused by the war in the Middle East reportedly compounded existing policy-related concerns over federal spending. There was better news from manufacturing, where output growth accelerated slightly as new orders rose at their fastest rate for five months. Export orders stabilized after eight months of decline. Panelists indicated some softening of the tariff impact on order books, as well as instances of purchasing of safety stocks, with factories and their customers keen to lock in low prices and ensure supply availability. Supply delays and rising prices War-related shipping issues were a key cause of longer supplier delivery times in March. Supply delays were more widely reported by manufacturers than at any time since...