Getty Images Introduction On October 14th, 2025, Larry Fink, the CEO of the world's largest asset manager , BlackRock, declared in an interview that we are at the beginning of the " tokenization of all assets " utilizing blockchain technology. To date, less than 1% of global assets have been tokenized, but the total number of tokenized distributed real-world assets (RWA) has exploded, increasing r...
Getty Images Introduction On October 14th, 2025, Larry Fink, the CEO of the world's largest asset manager , BlackRock, declared in an interview that we are at the beginning of the " tokenization of all assets " utilizing blockchain technology. To date, less than 1% of global assets have been tokenized, but the total number of tokenized distributed real-world assets (RWA) has exploded, increasing roughly 4-5x in the past two years (see chart below). RWA.xyz Once market structure regulation gets passed by the U.S. government, it is reasonable to assume this trend will accelerate. Then there are Stablecoins , which have grown from a $10 billion market in 2020 to a $300 billion market today. Deutsche Bank's conservative estimates see tokenized RWAs valued at somewhere between $3 and $4 trillion by 2035, while Bernstein sees $4 Trillion in stablecoins by 2035, placing the total tokenized assets at roughly $8 trillion. However, more aggressive estimates from Ark Invest place total tokenized assets at $11 trillion by 2030 , while even more aggressive estimates from Skynet see $16 trillion by 2030 . So, on the conservative side, tokenized assets are expected to grow by roughly 25x over the next ten years. However, the most bullish estimates place growth at close to 50x in just the next 4 years. Regardless of who turns out to be right, one can conservatively say that growth in this area will likely be massive in the coming years. I see three ways to benefit from this financial revolution: 1. Buy companies that will enjoy the efficiency gains of tokenized assets. This is the most conservative option because it involves names like JPM and BlackRock. 2. Buy companies that help firms tokenize assets. In relation to the three options, this is the middle-of-the-road option when it comes to risk because it involves newer and smaller companies like Coinbase or Securitize, set to go public this year. 3. Buy cryptocurrencies (or digital asset treasuries, if you prefer) of the blockcha...
Earnings Call Insights: Otis Worldwide Corporation (OTIS) Q4 2025 Management View Judith Marks, Chair, President & CEO, highlighted Otis’ achievement of record modernization orders, stating the company ended the year with "record adjusted free cash flow of $817 million in the fourth quarter" and a "modernization backlog up 30% at constant currency, the highest since spin and positioning us well fo...
Earnings Call Insights: Otis Worldwide Corporation (OTIS) Q4 2025 Management View Judith Marks, Chair, President & CEO, highlighted Otis’ achievement of record modernization orders, stating the company ended the year with "record adjusted free cash flow of $817 million in the fourth quarter" and a "modernization backlog up 30% at constant currency, the highest since spin and positioning us well for 2026." She emphasized strong execution of the uplift program, completion of China transformation initiatives, and growth of the largest maintenance portfolio in the industry, now at approximately 2.5 million units. Marks reported, "We delivered double-digit adjusted EPS growth in the quarter, up 11%, which was the highest level this year and our strongest performance in the last 6 quarters." She added that subscription revenue from Otis ONE connected units increased 35% in 2025. Cristina Mendez, Executive VP & CFO, noted, "Service operating profit of $638 million increased $49 million at constant currency," and that operating profit margins expanded 100 basis points to 25.5% in the quarter, matching record service margins from last quarter. Mendez also referenced the China modernization market, remarking that Otis’ "mod revenue in China... grew 100% in the fourth quarter year-over-year and was up 75% full year." Outlook Marks described a positive market outlook for 2026, expecting "the global new equipment market outlook to continue moving towards stabilization," with growth in the Americas and EMEA, acceleration in Asia Pacific, and moderating decline in China. She projected "total organic sales are expected to increase low to mid-single digits, driven by accelerating growth in our Service segment as well as moderating declines in new equipment sales." For 2026, Otis expects "adjusted EPS to grow mid- to high single digits for the full year." Mendez specified, "At constant currency, adjusted operating profit is expected to grow $60 million to $100 million," and "adjusted...
Earnings Call Insights: M/I Homes, Inc. (MHO) Q4 2025 Management View CEO Robert Schottenstein began by highlighting the company's 50th anniversary and stated, "we are the best financial condition in our history, have a group of leadership teams that are as strong as we've ever had and that we are well positioned in our 17 markets." Schottenstein reported, "Despite choppy demand, affordability cha...
Earnings Call Insights: M/I Homes, Inc. (MHO) Q4 2025 Management View CEO Robert Schottenstein began by highlighting the company's 50th anniversary and stated, "we are the best financial condition in our history, have a group of leadership teams that are as strong as we've ever had and that we are well positioned in our 17 markets." Schottenstein reported, "Despite choppy demand, affordability challenges, economic uncertainty and other macroeconomic pressures, our performance remained very solid." He noted a 9% year-over-year increase in monthly new contracts during the fourth quarter and a 6% rise in average community count versus guidance of about 5%. Schottenstein detailed 2025 results: 8,921 homes delivered, $4.4 billion in revenue, and pretax income of nearly $590 million excluding $59 million in charges. Gross margins, excluding charges, were 24.4%, down 220 basis points year-over-year, primarily due to higher incentives and lot costs. The Smart Series accounted for 49% of Q4 sales. CFO Phillip Creek shared, "Our new contracts, were up 18% in October, a 9% -- excuse me, up 6% in November and up 4% in December for a 9% improvement in the quarter compared to last year's fourth quarter." Creek reported a fourth quarter sales pace of 2.8% and a cancellation rate of 10%. He added, "Revenue decreased 5% in the fourth quarter of 2025 to $1.1 billion." Derek Klutch, President & CEO of M/I Financial, stated, "In the fourth quarter, our mortgage and title operations achieved pretax income of $8.5 million, down $1.6 million from 2024, and revenue of $27.8 million, down 20% from last year, primarily as a result of lower margins on loans closed and sold and partially offset by higher average loan amounts and more loans closed." Outlook Creek indicated, "We currently estimate that our average 2026 community count will be about 5% higher than 2025." Management expects a 5% increase in community count but did not provide guidance on margins for the next quarter. Schottenstein...
Apple (AAPL) will release its first-quarter fiscal 2026 financial results on Thursday, Jan. 29. Shares of the iPhone maker have retreated from recent highs heading into the earnings report, largely reflecting investor unease about profitability. Apple’s underlying business momentum appears strong. Management has guided for a record quarter, supported by robust performance across both hardware and ...
Apple (AAPL) will release its first-quarter fiscal 2026 financial results on Thursday, Jan. 29. Shares of the iPhone maker have retreated from recent highs heading into the earnings report, largely reflecting investor unease about profitability. Apple’s underlying business momentum appears strong. Management has guided for a record quarter, supported by robust performance across both hardware and services. iPhone sales are expected to be a key driver, with revenue projected to remain solid. The primary overhang has been margins, as rising memory costs due to supply constraints have raised questions about near-term cost pressures. This has been enough to temper enthusiasm, even as top-line prospects remain compelling. From a technical perspective, that pullback has reduced some of the downside risk. Apple’s 14-day Relative Strength Index is hovering around 40, well below the 70 threshold typically associated with overbought conditions. This suggests AAPL stock is no longer extended and could be positioned for a rebound if earnings results or forward guidance exceed expectations. Derivatives markets are also signaling that investors are bracing for a more meaningful reaction than usual. Traders are pricing in a post-earnings move of roughly 3.5% in either direction for options expiring Jan. 30. That is greater than Apple’s average post-earnings move of about 1.9% over the past year, especially given that the stock barely moved after its Q4 earnings report. Apple Q1: Top Line to Register Double-Digit Growth Apple’s Q1 is likely to mark strong revenue growth led by momentum across both hardware and services. After delivering $102.5 billion in Q4 revenue, up 8% year-over-year (YOY), the company has guided for Q1 sales growth of roughly 10% to 12%, signaling acceleration from the prior quarter. Apple’s hardware sales are likely to be driven by its refreshed product lineup, including the latest iPhone 17 family, the AirPods Pro 3, and a new generation of Apple Watch models...
The US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged after its first rate-setting meeting of the year on Wednesday, resisting enormous pressure from the White House to lower rates. A majority of members in the Fed’s federal open market committee (FOMC) voted to pause interest rate cuts after slashing rates three times in the fall. Rates currently sit at a range of 3.5% to 3.75%. The Trump administ...
The US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged after its first rate-setting meeting of the year on Wednesday, resisting enormous pressure from the White House to lower rates. A majority of members in the Fed’s federal open market committee (FOMC) voted to pause interest rate cuts after slashing rates three times in the fall. Rates currently sit at a range of 3.5% to 3.75%. The Trump administration has put unprecedented pressure on the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, to cut rates, with Donald Trump launching personal attacks on Powell and the justice department opening a criminal investigation into his handling of the refurbishment of the central bank’s offices. The FOMC has 12 voting members and meets just eight times a year to set interest rates. The stakes of each meeting have been high during Trump’s second term. Though economists say that the Fed’s independence, as the US central bank, is key for economic stability, the president has unabashedly tried to bend the Fed to his economic agenda. Cutting interest rates can spur short-term economic activity, though at the risk of pushing up prices in the long term. But Trump has claimed that the Fed not lowering interest rates costs the US economy “hundreds of billions of dollars”. Fed officials have resisted these calls. In December, at the last FOMC meeting, Powell implied the Fed would be pausing cuts for the time being. “We’re well positioned to wait and see how the economy evolves from here,” he said. After the Fed meeting, Trump called Powell “stiff” and said that the rate drop “could have been doubled”. The full extent of Trump’s anger would not be seen until 11 January, when Powell – whose term as chair is up in May – announced he was under criminal investigation. The investigation is focused on congressional testimony that Powell gave last summer on renovations at the Fed headquarters, which has gone over budget. Trump alleges Powell committed fraud, though the Fed chair has said that the renovations were nece...
In Brief Organic food company Once Upon a Farm, known for its baby food and kids snacks, is resuming its IPO plans, per an SEC filing and Reuters. The company had initially planned to hold its IPO last year, though it paused it amid the government shutdown. But it filed an updated S-1 on Tuesday which offered a price range of $17- $19 a share, indicating that the process has resumed, perhaps signa...
In Brief Organic food company Once Upon a Farm, known for its baby food and kids snacks, is resuming its IPO plans, per an SEC filing and Reuters. The company had initially planned to hold its IPO last year, though it paused it amid the government shutdown. But it filed an updated S-1 on Tuesday which offered a price range of $17- $19 a share, indicating that the process has resumed, perhaps signalling that the overall IPO market is starting to thaw. The company is expected to make its debut on February 6, according to IPO Scoop. Once Upon A Farm was founded in 2015 and counts actress Jennifer Garner among its co-founders (alongside serial founders Cassandra Curtis and Ari Raz; Garner joined later). With Goldman Sachs and J.P Mogran as the lead bankers, the company is looking to raise at least $208.9 million at a $764.4 million valuation. The company has raised almost $100 million in funding to date, according to PitchBook, with investors including S2G Ventures and CAVU Consumer Partners.
This is a comparison of Wednesday's Federal Open Market Committee statement with the one issued after the Fed's previous policymaking meeting in December. Text removed from the December statement is in red with a horizontal line through the middle. Text appearing for the first time in the new statement is in red and underlined. Black text appears in both statements. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing ou...
This is a comparison of Wednesday's Federal Open Market Committee statement with the one issued after the Fed's previous policymaking meeting in December. Text removed from the December statement is in red with a horizontal line through the middle. Text appearing for the first time in the new statement is in red and underlined. Black text appears in both statements. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Watch Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference here.
When prime ministers travel to China, heightened security arrangements are a given – as is the quiet game of cat and mouse that takes place behind the scenes as each country tests out each other’s tradecraft and capabilities. Keir Starmer’s team has been issued with burner phones and fresh sim cards, and is using temporary email addresses, to prevent devices being loaded with spyware or UK governm...
When prime ministers travel to China, heightened security arrangements are a given – as is the quiet game of cat and mouse that takes place behind the scenes as each country tests out each other’s tradecraft and capabilities. Keir Starmer’s team has been issued with burner phones and fresh sim cards, and is using temporary email addresses, to prevent devices being loaded with spyware or UK government servers being hacked into. The employment of such tactics may sound dramatic but they are par for the course in an age of digital espionage and information security. Burner phones, for example, are routinely used by No 10 on some trips abroad – at G20 the summits in Brazil in 2024 and South Africa in 2025, for example – though not on visits to allied nations or Five Eyes intelligence partners. For visits to China these precautions have been standard for at least a decade, such is the expectation that Beijing will eavesdrop and monitor. When she was prime minister, Theresa May was warned ahead of her trip to Beijing in 2018 to get dressed under the duvet to ensure that spy cameras would not film her without any clothes on. It was advice that was passed on generally by officials to all those travelling on the trip eight years ago. View image in fullscreen Theresa and Philip May with Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, at a tea ceremony in Beijing in 2018. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/EPA Concerns about peeping tom surveillance are particularly relevant to those in the official entourage or business and press delegations staying in hotels. “There was a well-worn routine in places like Shenzhen that foreigners from the west would be assigned the same rooms so they wouldn’t have to move the equipment,” a former senior British intelligence official said. Those with time on their hands would try to find the concealed bugging devices for fun. When Gordon Brown visited China in 2008, an aide was victim of a honey trap. The male aide met a Chinese woman at a lively hotel disco in Sh...