Eoneren/E+ via Getty Images Vertical Aerospace ( EVTL ) has lost 47% since my strong sell rating in July 2025. The stock is now down 84.8% since I initiated it with a sell rating. As I discuss in this report, Vertical Aerospace is not necessarily a company that does not have a promising product, but its liquidity runway generally has been too short for a comfortable investment in a higher-risk spa...
Eoneren/E+ via Getty Images Vertical Aerospace ( EVTL ) has lost 47% since my strong sell rating in July 2025. The stock is now down 84.8% since I initiated it with a sell rating. As I discuss in this report, Vertical Aerospace is not necessarily a company that does not have a promising product, but its liquidity runway generally has been too short for a comfortable investment in a higher-risk space. It simply means that additional delays in certification timelines may cause significant volatility and erode shareholder value, and that is exactly what happened with Vertical Aerospace. Vertical Aerospace Transition Milestone Slips Vertical Aerospace For eVTOL companies, the key element to success is not providing fancy marketing material but realistically assessing the certification timelines. Not doing so may result in the company not raising sufficient capital or not raising capital timely. Vertical Aerospace is aiming for a certification of its eVTOL by 2028 and cash flow break-even by 2030. In September 2025, the company highlighted that it expects to have a positive free cash flow by 2030. That is a >$100 million shift from an earlier break-even expectation in 2030. So, that is a positive development that can be seen as a positive for shareholders, as it could potentially reduce some of the requirements on capital raises. Vertical Aerospace stock tumbled following its Q4 earnings release. In my view there was nothing major that would justify a drop. The company did highlight that adverse weather conditions did impact the test campaign, which is perfectly normal, and they also said during the Q4 2025 earnings call that the transition from vertical lift/hover to wing-borne flight is taking longer than expected: So the focus right now from the entire organization is to complete that transition successfully and as quickly as possible from where we stand today. And the reality is it's taken us longer than we anticipated. On our last earnings call, I specifically said ...
The Frozen Market For Homes Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times, Mortgage rates on a 30-year loan just hit 7 percent, intensifying problems on the demand side. Mortgages plus insurance—which turns a half-million dollar house into a $1.2 million house plus property taxes—became unaffordable for another class of buyers while already out of reach for most people. On the supply side, millio...
The Frozen Market For Homes Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times, Mortgage rates on a 30-year loan just hit 7 percent, intensifying problems on the demand side. Mortgages plus insurance—which turns a half-million dollar house into a $1.2 million house plus property taxes—became unaffordable for another class of buyers while already out of reach for most people. On the supply side, millions of existing homeowners are locked into COVID-era mortgages of 3 percent or lower, which makes them negative in real terms. That’s a great deal unless you sell and then have to buy again. It would make no sense to sell in any case, but you are still stuck paying ever higher property taxes on ever higher valuations. This has produced a problem that is evident in January’s new home sales numbers, which fell 18 percent, the largest drop in 13 years and a level comparable to the bust following the 2008 financial crisis that began with housing. What’s happening in real time is suggested by the anecdotes. People are neither selling nor buying—unless of course you have a full load of cash on hand. The picture this creates is one of illusory wealth, on one hand, and frustrated renters on the other. The existing owners are paying ever higher property taxes on rising home valuations but their own joy comes from looking at their paper wealth rise on Zillow. It’s an unrealized gain, and realizing it is contingent on willing and lucrative buyers. Otherwise, they are stuck. Closing a sale at the market price is wonderful but parlaying that into new living conditions would certainly land you in a smaller home or a different market entirely, requiring a geographic relocation. A fixer upper is not really viable either when it seems nearly impossible to find affordable and competent service providers these days plus the high cost of all resources. This is again more collateral damage from lockdowns and zero interest rates. The people who used stimulus payments for home purchases thought th...
The Iranian parliament is working on a draft bill to charge a fee in exchange for providing security to ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. The plan is expected to be finalized next week, the agency said, citing an unnamed lawmaker. “We are pursuing a proposal in which Iran’s sovereignty, control, and oversight in the Strait of Hormuz are fo...
The Iranian parliament is working on a draft bill to charge a fee in exchange for providing security to ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. The plan is expected to be finalized next week, the agency said, citing an unnamed lawmaker. “We are pursuing a proposal in which Iran’s sovereignty, control, and oversight in the Strait of Hormuz are formally recognized in law, and through the collection of tolls, a source of revenue is also created for the country,” Fars cited the lawmaker as saying. Iran’s move to formalize a transit fee for the vital Strait of Hormuz comes as the war in the Middle East approaches the end of its fourth week. The waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes has been all but closed to tanker traffic, with only a trickle of ships, mainly with Chinese and Iranian affiliation, getting through. Read More: What It Would Take to Reopen the Strait of Hormuz: Explainer The disruptions in Hormuz have resulted in forced shut-ins of Persian Gulf oil production, while refineries in the area have also been damaged in the war. Oil prices have surged as a result, with global benchmark Brent topping $114 a barrel earlier this week, and the Trump administration examining what a potential spike to $200 would mean for the economy.
On March 25, 2026, Hengrui Pharma (600276.SH; 01276.HK) announced robust financial results for the full year 2025, fueled by its dual strategy of innovation and globalization. Revenue increased 13% year-on-year to RMB 31.63 billion, and net profit attributable to shareholders increased by 21.8% to RMB 7.72 billion.
On March 25, 2026, Hengrui Pharma (600276.SH; 01276.HK) announced robust financial results for the full year 2025, fueled by its dual strategy of innovation and globalization. Revenue increased 13% year-on-year to RMB 31.63 billion, and net profit attributable to shareholders increased by 21.8% to RMB 7.72 billion.
AlexSecret/E+ via Getty Images Market Review The consumer staples sector returned -0.66% in the fourth quarter, according to the MSCI U.S. IMI Consumer Staples 25/50 Index, underperforming the 2.66% gain of the broad-based S&P 500® index. In Q4, stocks extended a historically fast rebound that began in early April, but at a slower pace. The advance has been supported by strong corporate fundamenta...
AlexSecret/E+ via Getty Images Market Review The consumer staples sector returned -0.66% in the fourth quarter, according to the MSCI U.S. IMI Consumer Staples 25/50 Index, underperforming the 2.66% gain of the broad-based S&P 500® index. In Q4, stocks extended a historically fast rebound that began in early April, but at a slower pace. The advance has been supported by strong corporate fundamentals, a resilient economy, an ongoing boom in spending on artificial intelligence and the Federal Reserve's first interest-rate reductions since December 2024. Amid this favorable backdrop for higher-risk assets, the index closed the year just shy of its all-time high. Value stocks modestly outpaced growth in Q4, while large-caps had only a slight advantage over small-caps, as investors' appetite for risk waned versus the prior three months. Within this environment, the underperformance of the consumer staples sector was largely due to a modest rotation away from defensive sectors toward cyclical and higher-growth stocks. The MSCI consumer staples index returned -2.64% in October, whereas the S&P 500® notched a 2.34% gain. On October 29, the central bank lowered its benchmark federal funds rate by 0.25 percentage points at its second consecutive meeting. Staples stocks then gained in November (+3.77%) before losing steam in December (-1.68%), when the focus returned to a U.S. economy largely driven by massive AI-related outlays by big tech companies. Meanwhile, the Fed cut rates by another quarter point on December 10. Among the biggest segments in the sector, consumer staples merchandise retail (+3%), making up 31% of the index, gained ground, aided by some of its largest components, including Walmart ( WMT ) (+8%) and Target ( TGT ) (+10%). Soft drinks & non-alcoholic beverages (+7%), making up about 18% of the index, also helped the sector's result, with Keurig Dr Pepper ( KDP ) (+10%) and Coca Cola (+6%) leading the way. Conversely, household products, constituting roughl...