Polly Hudson’s piece on her relationship with her dad felt so poignant (My dad was far from perfect – but I live by the advice he gave me on his deathbed, 24 May). I lost my dad during Covid and didn’t get to have that deathbed conversation with him and get the sage advice that Polly got from hers. Although we didn’t get to say goodbye, I know he would have said, “Make the most of every day, queen...
Polly Hudson’s piece on her relationship with her dad felt so poignant (My dad was far from perfect – but I live by the advice he gave me on his deathbed, 24 May). I lost my dad during Covid and didn’t get to have that deathbed conversation with him and get the sage advice that Polly got from hers. Although we didn’t get to say goodbye, I know he would have said, “Make the most of every day, queen”. And I will. Julie Craig Stockport, Greater Manchester Your 21 May editorials on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and the Grenfell Tower fire demonstrate the dangers of deferring to those in positions of power or influence. This has characterised British society for too long and will only end when those responsible for the Grenfell, Post Office and other disasters are held to account and sent to prison. Geoffrey Payne Ealing, London I was shocked to read the boss of M&S saying food price caps were “completely preposterous” (Report, 20 May). I have a mantra for him – “people before profit”. I won’t be shopping at M&S in the near future. Linda Karlsen Whitstable, Kent Wouldn’t it be better to not refer to Tommy Robinson/Stephen Yaxley-Lennon at all (Letters, 19 May) Chris Burr Stoford, Somerset There should be a wall chart: 100 best novels – the readers’ choice (Letters, 22 May). Peter Johnson Leicester
Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd. is nearing an agreement to buy I-MED Radiology Network Ltd. , people familiar with the deal said on Sunday, an acquisition that would add Australia’s biggest medical diagnostic imaging provider to the conglomerate’s portfolio. Asia-focused Jardine and I-MED’s private equity owner Permira are finalizing the details of a transaction that may value I-MED at about A$3.4 ...
Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd. is nearing an agreement to buy I-MED Radiology Network Ltd. , people familiar with the deal said on Sunday, an acquisition that would add Australia’s biggest medical diagnostic imaging provider to the conglomerate’s portfolio. Asia-focused Jardine and I-MED’s private equity owner Permira are finalizing the details of a transaction that may value I-MED at about A$3.4 billion ($2.4 billion), including debt, said the people, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. A deal could be announced as soon as Monday, the people said. Representatives for Jardine and Permira declined to comment. The AFR reported the transaction earlier. I-MED has more than 250 clinics across Australia offering services such as MRI, CT, X-Ray, ultrasound and nuclear medicine, according to Permira’s website . London-based Permira bought I-MED in 2018 from EQT AB and other investors for about A$1.3 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said at the time. Hong Kong-based Jardine, which traces its roots back to an opium trading house founded in 1832, has been ramping up efforts to increase investor returns. Last year, it appointed Lincoln Pan , previously co-head of private equity at PAG, as chief executive officer to replace a three-decade veteran. In January, the company bought the remaining 12% of hotel arm Mandarin Oriental International Ltd. it didn’t already own.
Getty Images By Elior Manier Week in Review - Earnings break records, pulling markets higher Market participants endured an absolute rollercoaster of emotions over the past five sessions, navigating a landscape that violently whipsawed between extreme fear and sudden euphoria. The week kicked off with intense anxiety as the United States firmly rejected an initial Iranian diplomatic offer, a move ...
Getty Images By Elior Manier Week in Review - Earnings break records, pulling markets higher Market participants endured an absolute rollercoaster of emotions over the past five sessions, navigating a landscape that violently whipsawed between extreme fear and sudden euphoria. The week kicked off with intense anxiety as the United States firmly rejected an initial Iranian diplomatic offer, a move that immediately spiked crude oil prices and threatened to reignite severe inflationary pressures. Compounding this geopolitical dread was a severe, hawkish monetary repricing. Following the official confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the incoming Federal Reserve Chairman, institutional capital aggressively scrambled to price in a revolutionary, austere era of balance sheet reduction. This emerging trade unleashed a ruthless wave of US dollar dominance, temporarily suffocating equities, precious metals, and crypto beneath the weight of surging bond yields. However, just as the technical charts looked their bleakest, the narrative completely flipped. A sudden, highly promising path to peace emerged, supported by strategic Middle Eastern mediation. This breakthrough triggered a massive risk-on relief rally heading into the weekend. As the geopolitical clouds finally begin to clear, traders are aggressively recalibrating their portfolios, getting ready for next week's incredibly important bet on global stability. Weekly Performance across Asset Classes Weekly Asset Performance - May 22, 2026 (Source: TradingView) With oil tumbling 7%, the rest of the market shines. European stock markets are once again at the top of global assets. Keep an eye on the huge outflows in cryptos towards the end of the week. The Week Ahead - GDP releases and a potential path to peace Asia-Pacific Markets - RBNZ Meeting, Australian and Japanese CPI The entire action in Asia will be focused on Wednesday and Thursday, with a key inflation release for Australia, shortly followed by the RBNZ rate decision, w...
Forever is a long time, especially in investing, where a company can lose its edge for any number of reasons as the world around it changes over the years. Even businesses with decades of past success aren't a sure thing for the future. That said, companies that are the best at what they do, have proven brands, and sell something consumers will need over and over again can be as close to forever s...
Forever is a long time, especially in investing, where a company can lose its edge for any number of reasons as the world around it changes over the years. Even businesses with decades of past success aren't a sure thing for the future. That said, companies that are the best at what they do, have proven brands, and sell something consumers will need over and over again can be as close to forever stocks as you'll find. Here are three dividend stocks that fit that description. They all happen to hail from the consumer goods sector. After all, consumer spending is the engine of the U.S. economy. These stocks all offer durable growth and dividends that can add up to tremendous investment returns over the years ahead. Consider buying and stashing them in your portfolio indefinitely. 1. Costco Wholesale The retail industry is ruthlessly competitive, but Costco Wholesale (COST 2.14%) stands out for several reasons. The company sells bulk merchandise in warehouse stores that require a paid membership. The membership fees drive Costco's bottom line, allowing the company to sell goods at razor-thin margins. The business model also attracts higher-income shoppers who are more likely to pay up for bulk quantities to recognize more savings per unit. Expand NASDAQ : COST Costco Wholesale Today's Change ( -2.14 %) $ -22.47 Current Price $ 1027.98 Key Data Points Market Cap $456B Day's Range $ 1025.19 - $ 1044.90 52wk Range $ 844.06 - $ 1096.50 Volume 104.4K Avg Vol 1.9M Gross Margin 12.93 % Dividend Yield 0.52 % Costco has built its brand with some ingenious loss leaders, including its famous $1.50 hot dog meal, which seems to have a cult following. In fact, Costco is so well known that it spends no money on advertising. Costco continues to grow through a combination of sales growth and membership price hikes, and management has rewarded shareholders along the way with regular dividends and occasional special dividends. The formula works quite well. Costco Wholesale's stock has ou...
The end of the year is the perfect time to reflect on your portfolio. But sometimes, that can lead to anxiety if there is a rift between where your portfolio is and where you want it to be. Instead of trying to trade your way out of discomfort, a better approach is to engage in exercises that can help set the stage for compounding your wealth over time. Here are investment portfolio actions worth ...
The end of the year is the perfect time to reflect on your portfolio. But sometimes, that can lead to anxiety if there is a rift between where your portfolio is and where you want it to be. Instead of trying to trade your way out of discomfort, a better approach is to engage in exercises that can help set the stage for compounding your wealth over time. Here are investment portfolio actions worth taking before the end of the year. Conduct a portfolio review Investing in the art of putting capital to work in quality companies, identifying risks that can derail an investment thesis, and sticking with winning companies over time -- these are all part of a portfolio review. Having an investment thesis for each asset you own is paramount. Some can be short, whereas others can be long. But it's essential to know what a company does, what it is trying to do, and why you believe it is worth putting your hard-earned money into. You can also make investment theses for companies you don't own but are high on your watchlist so that you can have the conviction to buy them when it makes sense for you to do so. As an example, here's the essence of my investment thesis on Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT): Microsoft is an industry-leading company with exposure to several end markets. It has evolved from mediocre sales growth and weak margins to a high-margin cash cow -- largely thanks to the build-out of Microsoft Cloud and product upgrades of existing software. Microsoft is monetizing artificial intelligence (AI) throughout its product suite, from Microsoft 365 to GitHub, Azure, and more. The company is well diversified across hardware and software. It owns LinkedIn and has a powerful place in gaming with Xbox and Activision Blizzard. Microsoft generates plenty of excess earnings to pay a growing dividend and repurchase more than enough stock to offset stock-based compensation, which grows earnings per share by decreasing the outstanding share count and making Microsoft a better value. Bec...
The Mandalorian and Grogu , the first film in the Star Wars franchise in seven years, was the highest-grossing movie in the US and Canada over the four-day holiday weekend with $102 million in ticket sales. The performance compares with estimates of at least $100 million from industry tracker Boxoffice Pro. Although it would be considered a strong start for any other big-budget release, it’s among...
The Mandalorian and Grogu , the first film in the Star Wars franchise in seven years, was the highest-grossing movie in the US and Canada over the four-day holiday weekend with $102 million in ticket sales. The performance compares with estimates of at least $100 million from industry tracker Boxoffice Pro. Although it would be considered a strong start for any other big-budget release, it’s among the lowest debuts for a Star Wars picture since franchise-owner Lucasfilm was acquired by Walt Disney Co. in 2012. Directed by Jon Favreau , The Mandalorian and Grogu follows the adventures of bounty hunter Din Djarin, played by Pedro Pascal, and a young acolyte named Grogu — colloquially known as Baby Yoda. It’s the first Star Wars film to be shot entirely in California, aided by $22 million in state tax credits. Early reviews have been mixed , with some saying that the film lacks scope — both in geography and in storyline — while others call it “purely entertaining.” It won 63% approval with critics on Rotten Tomatoes and 89% with audiences. The storyline and characters are adapted from The Mandalorian , a TV series that debuted on the Disney+ streaming service in 2019. “Bringing these stories to the big screen, there’s an opportunity to engage with potential audience members who may have not been following Star Wars closely,” Favreau said in an interview at the Los Angeles premiere of the film on May 14. “I think it’s incumbent upon us to put stuff on the screen and put it on in a way that rewards them for going when it’s in the theaters.” Read More: Disney Is Banking on Baby Yoda to Revive the ‘Star Wars’ Saga To give the film a more cinematic feel, Favreau said The Mandalorian and Grogu includes choreographed action sequences that go toe-to-toe with John Wick or Jason Bourne , and that his team spent more on visual effects than the series did. He also built sets that would lend themselves to the vertical imagery of a giant Imax Corp. screen rather than a widescreen TV...
William_Potter/iStock via Getty Images After a strong 2025, emerging market equities were broadly flat during the quarter. Following a promising start to the year, markets pulled back sharply in March amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. Performance at the country level was led by strength in Brazil and South Korea. Brazilian equities benefited from stronger commodity prices and improved d...
William_Potter/iStock via Getty Images After a strong 2025, emerging market equities were broadly flat during the quarter. Following a promising start to the year, markets pulled back sharply in March amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. Performance at the country level was led by strength in Brazil and South Korea. Brazilian equities benefited from stronger commodity prices and improved domestic policy visibility, supporting companies tied to energy and financials. South Korea advanced on the back of a recovery in technology-related exports, particularly in memory semiconductors. In contrast, India and China were weaker, as investor concerns around growth and company-specific issues weighed on returns. During the quarter, our Emerging Markets Select Value portfolio rose and outperformed both the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and MSCI Emerging Markets Value Index. Consumer staples, information technology, and energy were the largest contributing sectors. Korean semiconductor manufacturer Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) was the largest contributor, supported by a strengthening memory cycle driving improved pricing and margins across its core businesses. Brazilian oil producer Petrobras ( PBR ) also performed well, benefiting from higher oil prices driven by geopolitical tensions, alongside a more established domestic fuel pricing framework that helped alleviate investor concerns around policy intervention. Chinese truck and engine manufacturer Weichai Power ( WEICF ) contributed on the back of strong demand for power solutions tied to data center and infrastructure buildout. Consumer discretionary, communication services, and real estate were the largest detracting sectors. Shenzhou International ( SHZHY ), a China-based apparel manufacturer, declined after reporting weak results, reflecting tariff-related cost pressures and softer demand from key global apparel customers. IT services provider Cognizant ( CTSH ) reported strong bookings and market share gains, bu...
With no food aid, 65-year-old Saeedah Mohammed heads out with a plastic bag to pick tree leaves near her displacement camp in southern Yemen, before serving them to her grandchildren to stave off hunger. Behind the camp wooded hills stretch under a clear sky, while on the ground, yellowed and stony earth is strewn with rubbish. Amid the trash and destitution, daily life manages to organise itself,...
With no food aid, 65-year-old Saeedah Mohammed heads out with a plastic bag to pick tree leaves near her displacement camp in southern Yemen, before serving them to her grandchildren to stave off hunger. Behind the camp wooded hills stretch under a clear sky, while on the ground, yellowed and stony earth is strewn with rubbish. Amid the trash and destitution, daily life manages to organise itself, however imperfectly. Advertisement Worn-out clothes dry on lines strung between spindly trees, and two old discarded tyres lie in the dust. In Al-Manij camp near Taez in southwest Yemen, Mohammed lives in a makeshift tent with her two divorced daughters and their six children. Advertisement Aid from the World Food Programme (WFP), on which her family depended, stopped more than six months ago.
NVIDIA (NVDA) just reported record quarterly results, paired with a 25x dividend increase to US$0.25 per share and a new US$80b buyback. This puts capital returns and AI growth firmly in focus for shareholders. Despite a slight pullback around the results, with the share price down 1.9% over the last day and 4.4% over the past week, NVIDIA still shows firm momentum, with a 30 day share price retur...
NVIDIA (NVDA) just reported record quarterly results, paired with a 25x dividend increase to US$0.25 per share and a new US$80b buyback. This puts capital returns and AI growth firmly in focus for shareholders. Despite a slight pullback around the results, with the share price down 1.9% over the last day and 4.4% over the past week, NVIDIA still shows firm momentum, with a 30 day share price return of 3.4% and a 1 year total shareholder return of 64.1% on the back of record AI demand, Vera CPU announcements and the expanded capital return program. If NVIDIA’s results have you rethinking your AI exposure, this is a good moment to look beyond the giants and see what else is emerging in AI infrastructure through With record revenue, a very large dividend hike and a US$80b buyback now on the table, NVIDIA is clearly rewarding shareholders. At a US$5.2t market cap, however, is the stock still mispriced or already reflecting years of future AI growth? Advertisement Most Popular Narrative: 36.6% Undervalued Compared to NVIDIA’s last close of $215.33, the most followed narrative on Simply Wall St sees fair value at $339.90, which implies a sizeable valuation gap and puts long term AI demand assumptions front and center. Nvidia will hit $400b annual revenue in 5 years time. ~90% of revenue will come from data centre customers. This equates to $90b / quarter, or equivalent to 30,000 Blackwell racks (at ~$3m per rack). According to KiwiInvest, this fair value rests on bold revenue concentration in data centers, aggressive rack deployments and sustained AI hardware refresh cycles. It also raises the question of what growth path and margin structure are incorporated into that view. Result: Fair Value of $339.90 (UNDERVALUED) However, this depends on NVIDIA maintaining its lead in AI software and avoiding major regulatory or power supply constraints that could slow data center demand and spending. Another View Using Our DCF Model The user narrative points to a fair value of $339....
Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images News President Donald Trump on Sunday cautioned that the United States wouldn’t rush into a peace agreement with Iran, tempering optimism that a breakthrough in the months-long conflict could arrive quickly. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the U.S. blockade on Iranian shipping through the Strait of Hormuz would “remain in full force and effect until an agreement ...
Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images News President Donald Trump on Sunday cautioned that the United States wouldn’t rush into a peace agreement with Iran, tempering optimism that a breakthrough in the months-long conflict could arrive quickly. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the U.S. blockade on Iranian shipping through the Strait of Hormuz would “remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed.” He added that negotiations were progressing but stressed patience, writing: “Both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes!” President Trump said a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz remains in effect. (Truth Social) The comments marked a more cautious tone after Trump said a day earlier that Washington and Tehran had “largely negotiated” a memorandum of understanding aimed at reopening the strategically vital waterway. Before the conflict erupted in late February, the Strait of Hormuz handled roughly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments. For investors, the stakes extend far beyond geopolitics. Any durable ceasefire or reopening of the strait could ease pressure on energy markets, shipping costs and inflation-sensitive sectors ranging from airlines to agriculture. But continued uncertainty threatens to keep oil and natural gas prices volatile, complicating central bank policy and corporate earnings forecasts worldwide. Major disagreements reportedly remain over Iran’s nuclear program, sanctions relief and access to billions of dollars in frozen oil revenues. Iranian media reports suggested negotiators were still divided over key provisions of the proposed framework agreement. Iranian officials have also continued to assert control over shipping access in the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring how fragile any potential arrangement could be. Traffic through the passage remains sharply below prewar levels, with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards saying only 33 vessels passed through over a recent 24-hou...
AMD pledged more than $10 billion to Taiwan's AI supply chain on May 21 — and two days later, CEO Lisa Su explained exactly why: the bottleneck that strangled AI chip production throughout 2024 and 2025 has moved. Advanced packaging is no longer the primary constraint. High-bandwidth memory is. The shift, identified publicly by Su this week, matters to anyone planning to buy a laptop, phone, or de...
AMD pledged more than $10 billion to Taiwan's AI supply chain on May 21 — and two days later, CEO Lisa Su explained exactly why: the bottleneck that strangled AI chip production throughout 2024 and 2025 has moved. Advanced packaging is no longer the primary constraint. High-bandwidth memory is. The shift, identified publicly by Su this week, matters to anyone planning to buy a laptop, phone, or desktop before 2028, because the same reallocation of silicon wafers that feeds AI data centers is already removing the sub-$500 PC from store shelves. "Commodities like memory have become tighter," Su told investors at a recent conference, flagging constrained availability of memory components as a gating factor for AI accelerator shipments and data center deployments. The remark came alongside AMD's first-quarter 2026 earnings call, during which Su said the company had "secured enough supply to certainly meet and exceed our targets" — a statement of competitive positioning that simultaneously confirmed how contested memory allocation has become across the entire industry. Bottleneck Shifts from Packaging to High-Bandwidth Memory For the past two years, advanced packaging — specifically TSMC's CoWoS process — was the chokepoint every AI chipmaker navigated. CoWoS, or Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate, fuses logic dies and high-bandwidth memory stacks onto a shared silicon interposer, creating the dense, short-path connections that AI accelerators require and that conventional packaging cannot match. When CoWoS capacity was tight, everything downstream stalled. That constraint is now easing. TSMC's CoWoS output reached approximately 75,000 wafers per month in 2025, and analysts at TrendForce project further expansion to 120,000 monthly by the end of 2026 through capacity additions at its AP6, AP7, and AP8 advanced packaging facilities. Memory is harder to loosen. Producing a single gigabyte of HBM3E — the high-bandwidth memory generation inside current AI accelerators — consumes rou...
The court decided that Özel should be replaced by Kemal Kilicdaroğlu, a 77-year-old party veteran who was defeated by Erdoğan in the 2023 presidential election and then voted out as party leader.
The court decided that Özel should be replaced by Kemal Kilicdaroğlu, a 77-year-old party veteran who was defeated by Erdoğan in the 2023 presidential election and then voted out as party leader.