Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft ETR: BMW outlined its near-term product plans, regulatory concerns, and regional market trends during a media Q&A session at the BMW Group Annual Conference, with CEO Oliver Zipse and other board members addressing questions ranging from the Neue Klasse rollout to China pricing, tariffs, and workforce trends. Get BMW alerts: Sign Up Neue Klasse launch ti...
Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft ETR: BMW outlined its near-term product plans, regulatory concerns, and regional market trends during a media Q&A session at the BMW Group Annual Conference, with CEO Oliver Zipse and other board members addressing questions ranging from the Neue Klasse rollout to China pricing, tariffs, and workforce trends. Get BMW alerts: Sign Up Neue Klasse launch timing and “beating heart” of BMW Zipse described the upcoming i3 as “the beating heart of BMW” and tied it directly to the Neue Klasse program. He said BMW has spent years rebuilding the Munich main plant and indicated the work is completed, with vehicles already being produced. Zipse also pointed to early demand for the iX3, saying the vehicle is available to order and “going extremely well,” with more than 50,000 customers having ordered the car without having seen it in person. He said BMW would present the i3 “next week” in more detail and expressed confidence the company will be “at the absolute peak of the industry.” On the production side, board member Milan Nedeljković said BMW’s global production system has been prepared for the Neue Klasse and other upcoming models. He added that preparations at the Spartanburg plant are on time and that BMW expects to ramp production and deliver on time, citing strong demand and “a lot of orders” at its plants. CEO succession and continuity Zipse said that after 35 years at the company, he believes “the time has come to step away,” adding he is leaving “very happy” and “very satisfied.” He said there would be significant continuity and identified production board member Milan Nedeljković as his successor, describing the transition as consistent with “the BMW way” and not expecting disruption. EU CO2 policy: “tailpipe” focus and technology openness Zipse devoted significant time to European emissions policy and BMW’s preference for a broader CO2 accounting approach. He said BMW had met 2025 CO2 goals without pooling and claimed BMW...
Welsh Water is to pay a proposed £44.7m after the industry regulator found “serious and unacceptable” breaches in the supplier’s sewage and network services. Ofwat said Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water failed to properly operate, maintain and upgrade its wastewater network to ensure it could cope with levels of sewage and wastewater, and did not have adequate processes in place or oversight by senior bosses....
Welsh Water is to pay a proposed £44.7m after the industry regulator found “serious and unacceptable” breaches in the supplier’s sewage and network services. Ofwat said Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water failed to properly operate, maintain and upgrade its wastewater network to ensure it could cope with levels of sewage and wastewater, and did not have adequate processes in place or oversight by senior bosses. Ofwat said the planned enforcement package will include £40.6m to reduce spills at specific overflows and reduce the environmental damage caused, tackle groundwater entering the sewer network, as well as an extra £4.1m to improve river quality in “extremely sensitive catchments”. Lynn Parker, senior director for enforcement at Ofwat, said: “Our investigation has found serious and unacceptable breaches in how Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water has operated and maintained its sewage works and networks, which has resulted in excessive spills from storm overflows to the environment. “We now expect them to focus on putting things right so that customers can regain trust in their water company and the critical service they provide. We understand that the public wants to see transformative change.” Ofwat stressed the package was more than would otherwise have been paid if Ofwat was to fine the firm the £40m it could have done. It will now consult on the proposed enforcement package, with a deadline for responses of 2 April. Details of the planned action come as the bills of Welsh Water customers are due to increase again next month, with the supplier having announced rises of 42% by 2029-30. The company serves about 3 million people across Wales and Herefordshire. A Welsh Water spokesperson said: “We accept the findings of Ofwat’s investigation and apologise for where we have fallen short of the standards that our customers and regulators rightly expect from us. “We have started a major transformation programme across the company, including within our wastewater services, focused on improving...
U.S. stock markets closed mixed on Wednesday as the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran showed no signs of de-escalation. Crude oil prices remained elevated due to severe supply concerns from the Middle East. Earnings reports and key inflation data came in mixed and failed to enthuse market participants. The Dow and the S&P 500 ended in negative territory while the Nasdaq Composite managed to finish in the...
U.S. stock markets closed mixed on Wednesday as the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran showed no signs of de-escalation. Crude oil prices remained elevated due to severe supply concerns from the Middle East. Earnings reports and key inflation data came in mixed and failed to enthuse market participants. The Dow and the S&P 500 ended in negative territory while the Nasdaq Composite managed to finish in the green. How Did The Benchmarks Perform? The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) tumbled 0.6% or 289.24 points to close at 47,417.27 after a choppy session. At intraday high, the index was up nearly 5 points. Notably, 24 components of the 30-stock index ended in negative territory while six ended in positive territory. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 22,716.14, rising 0.1% owing to the good performance by corporate bigwigs. At intraday high, the tech-laden index was up 180.61 points and at intraday low, the index was down nearly 95 points. The S&P 500 fell 0.1% to finish at 6,775.80. At intraday high, the index was up 0.4%. All 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index ended in the negative territory. The Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) was down 1.3%. The fear gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 2.8% to 24.23. A total of 17.79 billion shares were traded on Wednesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 20.09 billion. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 1.84-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, a 1.38-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues. Crude Oil Prices Remain Elevated The geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East remained heightened. Iran continued to retaliate against the U.S.-Israel joint attack and the largest crude oil supply line through the Strait of Hormuz remained heavily disturbed. The 32 countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed to release 400 million barrels of crude oil to normalize global oil supply. This marked the largest such action in IEA’s history. Moreover, OPEC said that Saudi Arabia has also ramped up oil prod...
U.S. stock markets closed mixed on Wednesday as the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran showed no signs of de-escalation. Crude oil prices remained elevated due to severe supply concerns from the Middle East. Earnings reports and key inflation data came in mixed and failed to enthuse market participants. The Dow and the S&P 500 ended in negative territory while the Nasdaq Composite managed to finish in the...
U.S. stock markets closed mixed on Wednesday as the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran showed no signs of de-escalation. Crude oil prices remained elevated due to severe supply concerns from the Middle East. Earnings reports and key inflation data came in mixed and failed to enthuse market participants. The Dow and the S&P 500 ended in negative territory while the Nasdaq Composite managed to finish in the green. How Did The Benchmarks Perform? The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) tumbled 0.6% or 289.24 points to close at 47,417.27 after a choppy session. At intraday high, the index was up nearly 5 points. Notably, 24 components of the 30-stock index ended in negative territory while six ended in positive territory. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 22,716.14, rising 0.1% owing to the good performance by corporate bigwigs. At intraday high, the tech-laden index was up 180.61 points and at intraday low, the index was down nearly 95 points. The S&P 500 fell 0.1% to finish at 6,775.80. At intraday high, the index was up 0.4%. All 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index ended in the negative territory. The Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) was down 1.3%. The fear gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 2.8% to 24.23. A total of 17.79 billion shares were traded on Wednesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 20.09 billion. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 1.84-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, a 1.38-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues. Crude Oil Prices Remain Elevated The geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East remained heightened. Iran continued to retaliate against the U.S.-Israel joint attack and the largest crude oil supply line through the Strait of Hormuz remained heavily disturbed. The 32 countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed to release 400 million barrels of crude oil to normalize global oil supply. This marked the largest such action in IEA’s history. Moreover, OPEC said that Saudi Arabia has also ramped up oil prod...
hapabapa Morgan Stanley ( MS ) has restricted investor withdrawals from one of its private credit funds after redemption requests surged well beyond the fund’s limits, highlighting growing stress in the private lending market. Morgan Stanley ( MS ) Private Credit capped redemptions at its North Haven Private Income Fund (PIF) after investors requested withdrawals of about 11% of outstanding shares...
hapabapa Morgan Stanley ( MS ) has restricted investor withdrawals from one of its private credit funds after redemption requests surged well beyond the fund’s limits, highlighting growing stress in the private lending market. Morgan Stanley ( MS ) Private Credit capped redemptions at its North Haven Private Income Fund (PIF) after investors requested withdrawals of about 11% of outstanding shares. Under the fund’s rules, only 5% of shares can be redeemed each quarter, so the fund fulfilled about 45.8% of the requests, returning roughly $169M. The Wall Street major told investors that limiting withdrawals is consistent with the fund documents and is meant to avoid forced asset sales in “periods of market dislocation” and to protect long‑term, risk‑adjusted returns. Retail investors have been pulling money from a group of private credit funds recently, prompting more redemption requests at other managers like Blackstone ( BX ), Blue Owl Capital ( OBDC ), Cliffwater. Blackstone ( BX ) President Jon Gray recently said in an interview on CNBC that concerns in the private credit market, which has led to record redemptions at its flagship private credit fund, are a "ton of noise." The firm's institutional clients "continue to allocate significant amounts to private credit," he added. Cliffwater LLC’s flagship $33B Cliffwater Corporate Lending Fund ( CCLDX ) faced investor redemption requests exceeding 7% of assets . Last month, Blue Owl Capital ( OWL ) said that it will no longer allow regular quarterly withdrawals from Blue Owl Capital Corporation II (OBDC II), which targets retail investors. More on Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley A Vs. E Preferred Shares: Rating Change For Both Morgan Stanley: Maybe I Was Wrong To Sell (And Why The Preferreds Remain Attractive) Morgan Stanley (MS) Presents at UBS Financial Services Conference 2026 Transcript Morgan Stanley turns to contract staff to deal with surge in Hong Kong deals - report Big banks in top losers; Circle Internet, Coi...
Deutsche Bank AG flagged a €26 billion ($30 billion) exposure to private credit, an asset class that’s grappling with fund redemptions, scrutiny of underwriting standards and the impact of AI on some borrowers such as software makers. In its annual report published Thursday, the lender said it is not exposed to “significant risks” related to non-bank financial institutions, but that it could face ...
Deutsche Bank AG flagged a €26 billion ($30 billion) exposure to private credit, an asset class that’s grappling with fund redemptions, scrutiny of underwriting standards and the impact of AI on some borrowers such as software makers. In its annual report published Thursday, the lender said it is not exposed to “significant risks” related to non-bank financial institutions, but that it could face potential indirect credit risks through interconnected portfolios and counterparties. “Failures of a select number of sub-prime lenders in the U.S. increased investor focus on risks associated with private credit and raised wider concerns around underwriting standards and fraud risk,” it said in the report. The $1.8 trillion private credit market is witnessing an exodus of investors after some high-profile corporate blowups led to mounting concerns over loan quality and exposure to software firms, whose business models are being threatened by rapid strides in artificial intelligence. JPMorgan Chase & Co. is restricting some lending to private credit funds after marking down the value of certain loans in their portfolios. The latest credit shock to rattle both banks and private lenders was the collapse of UK mortgage lender Market Financial Solutions Ltd, which is facing allegations of fraudulent behaviour . Accusations of wrongdoing also surfaced last year in the failures of US auto parts supplier First Brands Group LLC and subprime auto lender Tricolor Holdings LLC . Deutsche Bank’s annual report showed its private credit portfolio increased to €25.9 billion of loans at amortized cost, from €24.5 billion in 2024. Its loan exposure to the technology sector, including software, accounts for €15.8 billion at amortised cost, up from €11.7 billion. People familiar with the matter said last month that the German firm is part of a group of lenders who have been unable to sell about $1.2 billion of loans backing the acquisition of a software provider in a rare hung deal. Read More...
March 12 (Reuters) - Oracle's Mike Sicilia is the latest software CEO to wade in to the debate on whether artificial intelligence tools that heavily automate human tasks will mean the demise of his industry. His verdict was a resounding "no." "You've all heard ... that new companies coding quickly using AI will spell the death of SaaS (software as a service)," he told analysts on a conference cal...
March 12 (Reuters) - Oracle's Mike Sicilia is the latest software CEO to wade in to the debate on whether artificial intelligence tools that heavily automate human tasks will mean the demise of his industry. His verdict was a resounding "no." "You've all heard ... that new companies coding quickly using AI will spell the death of SaaS (software as a service)," he told analysts on a conference call on Tuesday. "I don't agree with that at all. I do think that AI tools and their coding capabilities would be a threat if we weren't adopting them, but we are, and very rapidly." Sicilia was responding to Wall Street concerns that new AI tools can now perform some of the tasks that traditional software companies' products were built for, such as organizing customer information or guiding people through business processes. Those worries led to a nearly $1 trillion rout in software stocks last month after heavyweight AI startup Anthropic introduced AI plugins for its Claude Cowork agent, a digital assistant that can automate such tasks. CEOs of software companies have since used their post-earnings conference calls to fight back. Sicilia also laid out a case that Oracle was ahead of its smaller rival Salesforce, saying his company was using AI to actually build new products and automate full business processes, not just add AI features on top of existing tools. Salesforce, for its part, has offered a different defense, with CEO Marc Benioff last month telling analysts that his company will outlast any so-called SaaS-pocalypse, a term for last month's share rout that hit software-as-a-service companies. Benioff brought in Salesforce customers who positioned Salesforce as a company that has transformed itself into an enterprise platform that builds, deploys and governs those AI agents, using the company's mountains of proprietary customer and sales‑process data. Even Jensen Huang, an AI pioneer and the CEO of chipmaker Nvidia, last month dismissed fears that AI would repla...
Here’s your guide for today. The key thing to note: each team has a salary cap of £2.05m. There are only 16 overseas spots still available. Welcome to another day of gavel-slamming, subcontinental tensions and hefty sums. Am I alone in feeling a touch icky about these auctions? Or are we all OK with watching a room of people bid for other human beings? Am I just overthinking this? Anyway, let’s ge...
Here’s your guide for today. The key thing to note: each team has a salary cap of £2.05m. There are only 16 overseas spots still available. Welcome to another day of gavel-slamming, subcontinental tensions and hefty sums. Am I alone in feeling a touch icky about these auctions? Or are we all OK with watching a room of people bid for other human beings? Am I just overthinking this? Anyway, let’s get out of my head: Jonny Bairstow, Adil Rashid and Jordan Cox are some of the big domestic names up for grabs. Among the overseas, there’s been an update overnight from the ECB: Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock, Shaheen Afridi, Allah Ghazanfar and Peter Siddle (still going!) are no longer on the auction list. Of course, we’ll keep a close on eye on those Pakistan players in the mix, not just to see if they get a gig, but whether any of the Indian-owned teams place a bid on them. It’s quite grim that this is a storyline, but here we are.
Erman Gunes/iStock via Getty Images The Templeton Emerging Markets Income Fund ( TEI ) is a closed-end fund that offers an interesting proposition for income-seeking investors. In short, the fund invests its assets in both U.S. dollar-denominated and local currency emerging market bonds and uses the profits that it earns from this investment strategy to provide its own shareholders with a very att...
Erman Gunes/iStock via Getty Images The Templeton Emerging Markets Income Fund ( TEI ) is a closed-end fund that offers an interesting proposition for income-seeking investors. In short, the fund invests its assets in both U.S. dollar-denominated and local currency emerging market bonds and uses the profits that it earns from this investment strategy to provide its own shareholders with a very attractive 8.93% distribution yield. As most market watchers will immediately recognize, this yield is significantly higher than that of any of the major bond index funds, but it is unfortunately a bit lower than what many closed-end bond funds are able to boast. However, the fact that the Templeton Emerging Markets Income Fund includes emerging market bonds that are denominated in the currency of the emerging markets makes it somewhat unique among bond funds, and this aspect of the fund’s strategy could ultimately provide investors with both diversification benefits and potentially higher returns. As such, it might be worth considering for a portfolio today, despite the fact that there are other bond funds on the market with higher yields. Understanding the Strategy of the Templeton Emerging Markets Income Fund The website for the Templeton Emerging Markets Income Fund offers the following description of its strategy: The fund seeks high, current income, with a secondary goal of capital appreciation, by investing under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its net assets in income-producing securities of sovereign or sovereign-related entities and private sector companies in emerging market countries. This description clearly states that the Templeton Emerging Markets Income Fund primarily invests in a portfolio of “income-producing securities” issued by entities that are located in emerging market nations. While technically securities such as dividend-paying common equities provide their investors with a certain level of income, this phrasing almost always refers specifi...
09.27 GMT Opening summary: minister admits Mandelson due diligence report raises 'serious questions' Good morning and welcome to our coverage of UK politics. A minister admitted that the due diligence report prepared for Keir Starmer before Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador in 2024 raised “serious questions”. Asked about the report, which pointed to concerns over the former business s...
09.27 GMT Opening summary: minister admits Mandelson due diligence report raises 'serious questions' Good morning and welcome to our coverage of UK politics. A minister admitted that the due diligence report prepared for Keir Starmer before Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador in 2024 raised “serious questions”. Asked about the report, which pointed to concerns over the former business secretary’s relationship with the child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Nick Thomas-Symonds told Sky News: double quotation mark The prime minister then did put those questions to Lord Mandelson. The prime minister has said he was misled. He deeply regrets believing the reassurances he was given.” That correspondence has not been published because it is subject to an ongoing police investigation. Thomas-Symonds continued: “He has apologised for believing what was said to him by Peter Mandelson.” The minister – who holds several roles, including paymaster-general – told the broadcaster that he shares the “the moral outrage” over Mandelson retaining his £75,000 payout after being sacked as ambassador, and called for the disgraced peer to hand the money to a charity. Mandelson had originally sought a £500,000 payout. Starmer is expected to face questions from journalists on a visit to Northern Ireland this morning. Stay with us for all the developments. In other news: A health minister and surgeon has warned on the rise of extreme views of race and identity. Zubir Ahmed – who was told “thanks for the transplant, now go home” after carrying out an operation – welcomed the government bringing in a definition of anti-Muslim hostilit y. He said it was a turning point that could mean a better future for his children and others. Men whose abusive behaviour drives women to take their own lives are more likely to get away with their crimes because of proposed law changes , justice campaigners have warned. Starmer said the government will “step in” if companies exploit rising heating oil ...
When it comes to investment disclosures, Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) and ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood are two of the most followed names. Their portfolios, it turns out, have overlapped on seven stocks over the past three years. So which seven stocks are common to both Wood’s ETFs and Mullin’s portfolio? Here’s the full list, based on the Benzinga Government Trades page for Mullin and dat...
When it comes to investment disclosures, Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) and ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood are two of the most followed names. Their portfolios, it turns out, have overlapped on seven stocks over the past three years. So which seven stocks are common to both Wood’s ETFs and Mullin’s portfolio? Here’s the full list, based on the Benzinga Government Trades page for Mullin and data from CathiesArk. The 7 Shared Stocks The main Ark ETFs are: Ark Innovation ETF Ark Next Generation Internet ETF Ark Fintech Innovation ETF Ark Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF Ark Space Exploration & Innovation ETF Ark Genomic Revolution ETF Don't Miss: Here are the seven stocks: Amazon.com Inc: Mullin disclosed buying Amazon’s stock four times in the last three years with a purchase of $100,000 to $250,000 in December 2025, a $15,000 to $50,000 buy in February 2025 and investments of $1,000 to $15,000 and $50,000 to $100,000 back in 2023. The stock is a holding in ARKK, ARKW, ARKQ, ARKF and ARKX, but is not a top 10 position currently in any of the ETFs. Caterpillar Inc: The Senator has reported buying the stock three times in the last three years, including a $15,000 to $50,000 allocation in December 2025. The other two purchases were in 2023. Caterpillar is a holding in ARKQ, but is not a top 10 one. Deere & Company: Mullin picked up this stock three times in the last three years, including a $15,000 to $50,000 investment in December 2025 that followed two investments in 2023. Both ARKK and ARKQ own Deere, which is the seventh largest holding in the latter ETF at 4.4% of assets. Trending: You Saved for Retirement — But Do You Know What You'll Keep After Taxes? Alphabet Inc: The politician bought Alphabet Class A (GOOGL) stock three times in the last three years, including a $100,000 to $250,000 purchase in December 2025, and two smaller buys in 2023. Alphabet Class C (GOOG) stock is a holding in ARKQ, ARKW and ARKK. It is the ninth largest holding in ARKQ at 3.50% ...
March 12, 2026, 5:00 a.m. CT Five billionaires from Oklahoma appear on Forbes' most recent list of the world's richest people. With a net worth of $16.2 billion, George Kaiser was the highest-placing Oklahoma resident on Forbes' list of billionaires for 2026. Kaiser is the chairman of Kaiser-Francis Oil Company and majority owner of the Bank of Oklahoma, based in Tulsa. Other familiar Oklahoma nam...
March 12, 2026, 5:00 a.m. CT Five billionaires from Oklahoma appear on Forbes' most recent list of the world's richest people. With a net worth of $16.2 billion, George Kaiser was the highest-placing Oklahoma resident on Forbes' list of billionaires for 2026. Kaiser is the chairman of Kaiser-Francis Oil Company and majority owner of the Bank of Oklahoma, based in Tulsa. Other familiar Oklahoma names on the list included oil and gas magnates Harold Hamm and Lynn Schusterman, Paycom CEO Chad Richison, and the Love family, known for owning Love's Travel Stops. The richest person in the world overall was again Tesla founder Elon Musk, with a net worth of $839 billion, according to Forbes. The South African-born businessman was more than three times richer than the second person on the list, former Alphabet CEO Larry Page. In total, 3,428 people in the world are billionaires, 400 more than last year, USA TODAY reported. The world's billionaires are worth a combined $20.1 trillion as of March 2026. Here's what else to know about Oklahoma's richest residents. Who is the richest person in the world? Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, tops the list again this year, increasing his wealth from 2025 by an estimated $497 billion. He has nearly doubled his fortune, bringing it to a record $839 billion. The 54-year-old is more than three times richer than Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who Forbes lists as the second and third wealthiest people in the world. Who are the richest people in Oklahoma? These are the richest people in Oklahoma, according to Forbes: George Kaiser (177th richest person in the world): Chairman of Bank of Oklahoma and CEO of Kaiser-Francis Oil Company, net worth of $16.2 billion Harold Hamm (182nd richest in the world): Founder and chairman of Continental Resources, net worth of $16 billion Lynn Schusterman (972nd richest in the world): Co-founder of Samson Resources, net worth of $4.4 billion Love family (1,325th richest in the world): Laur...