Key Points Finland just suffered a nuclear incident. Nuclear stocks are up today despite it (or because of it?) 10 stocks we like better than NuScale Power › NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) stock, a start-up manufacturer of small modular (nuclear) power reactors, surged 12.9% through 12:40 p.m. ET Friday -- apparently on no good news at all. Actually, the opposite: Reports today say a technical fault at the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant in Finland caused one of the site's three units, "OL2," to shut down temporarily today. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks » Traditional nuclear versus SMR Is this bad news for nuclear power investors? Maybe, but it's not terribly bad news. News site "Mezha" reports "an update of the power management system software" caused the "unplanned unavailability" of the reactor, but this should last no more than 16 hours. The reactor shut down as designed, "the incident did not compromise the facility's safety, and the other units at the plant continue to operate normally." Might investors be reading this news and thinking, "Anything bad for traditional nuclear reactors could be good news for the adoption of SMRs?" Perhaps. Still, you'd be more likely to expect an incident like this to spook nuclear power investors than excite them. From that perspective, a near-13% gain in NuScale's stock price on the Finnish news probably speaks more to irrational exuberance about nuclear power stocks than to investors correctly interpreting whether the news was "good" or "bad." Is NuScale stock a buy? NuScale's rising stock price also doesn't speak highly of investors' ability to properly gauge the risk of investing in expensive, unprofitable nuclear stocks. On the one hand, yes, NuScale may be the only SMR stock currently booking revenue from this business. However, with no profits forecast before 2030, there's ample time for thin...

Families are struggling to survive amid the devastation. Israel’s ban on international NGOs will worsen this disaster As Gaza enters the bleakest period of winter, children are dying of hypothermia, drowning in flooded camps and burning to death as their families try to cook in flimsy tents. Israel destroyed nine out of 10 homes over more than two years of war. Camped amid the ruins, Palestinians struggle against strong winds, heavy rain and freezing temperatures . Aid deliveries resumed following the ceasefire, staving off the famine that had taken hold in parts of the territory, but remain wholly insufficient: 1.6 million people face acute food insecurity. The sanitation infrastructure has collapsed. The UK, Canada, Japan, France and six other nations have jointly warned that the situation is catastrophic. Yet Israel is now deepening one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. On Tuesday, it announced that it is deregistering 37 NGOs active in Gaza . They must cease all operations there by 1 March unless they meet its new “security and transparency standards” – including by disclosing the personal details of staff. Many of the listed groups are among the best-regarded in their field, including Oxfam, Médecins Sans Frontières and the Norwegian Refugee Council. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here . Continue reading...

Option traders moderately bearish in Meta Platforms Inc with shares down 1.48% TipRanks

Free prescriptions and eye tests ought to help these young adults stay healthy. They also signal the state’s ongoing role The outcomes for children who grow up in care are shocking. A vital part of the welfare state, which exists to promote the safety and wellbeing of highly vulnerable young people, is falling short in health, education and employment terms. They have a 62% higher chance of dying before the age of 75 than their peers, and are four times as likely to have a criminal conviction or caution. While the number of children in the care system in England has fallen from its all-time high of 83,750 in 2023, the latest figure of 81,770 in March last year is still 17.7% higher than a decade ago. A recently announced raft of reforms, including free prescriptions for care leavers, will not solve all of the problems. The dire financial position of many councils, and depleted state of local services, have a particularly damaging impact on the lives of those who rely most on the state. One survey last year found that the recruitment and retention of social workers was the biggest workforce challenge that English councils face. There is also a shortage of foster carers , with a consultation on expanding eligibility expected to open soon. Since children’s social care is devolved, none of the changes being discussed will affect Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland , where the most recent figures show that a further 23,230 children are looked after by the state. Continue reading...

North Carolina Sean Pavone | Istock | Getty Images Lithium and steel outshined A.I. in 2025, at least when it comes to CNBC's exclusive Power City Indexes. The Power City Indexes (PCI) were built ten years ago. The 'indexes' are made up from the 11 or 12 largest market cap companies in 36 different city and metro areas around America. The stocks are equally weighted in each index and tracked through the year on FactSet. The PCIs are an easy and exclusive way to find out which city or metro area is "winning" the stock market. We highlight them through the year on CNBC and also bring them to you on CNBC Pro. They are meant more for fun, but we take them seriously. Here's how we do it. We base the city location on a company's headquarter location via a stock screener on S&P CapitalIQ. Even if a company has more people in a different area, it is the location of the headquarters that matters for the PCI. We use the median return for all 11 or 12 stocks. And if a company is bought, the stock stays in the index until it delists, and then is replaced by the next largest company. Formalities now out of the way, let's have some fun and look at the median return for each region. The third best metro area for the stock market in 2025 was around our nation's capital. D.C.'s solid year Washington, D.C. listed companies — which includes those based in the city itself and those in the surrounding Virginia and Maryland suburbs — posted a solid year. Defense contractors were an offensive play for investors, with RTX (RTX) , General Dynamics (GD) , Northrop Grumman (NOC) and Boeing (BA ) all popping. It wasn't that long ago that all of these companies would've been represented in a different city's index, but over the past decade or so, they've all moved to be closer to the Pentagon and halls of power. DC Metro Power City Index members Stock Ticker 2025 RTX RTX 59% Capital One COF 37% General Dynamics GD 28% Northrop Grumman NOC 22% Boeing BA 23% Xylem XYL 18% Hilton Worldwide HLT 17%...

Key Points Investors are worried that the Google Search usage rate will fall. The stock is growing far faster than the historical average of the market. Alphabet's stock is quite cheap for its growth. 10 stocks we like better than Alphabet › It's hard to pick just one growth stock as the smartest to buy right now, but I think it's a worthy exercise for investors to go through. It helps determine what they value in a business and how confident they are in their pick. For me, it's Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL). While Alphabet may not seem like a growth stock, it fits the general definition. Furthermore, Alphabet is a growth stock that's trading like a value stock, making it even more attractive. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » I think it's one of the best stocks available on the market, and investors should highly consider adding some to their portfolio. Alphabet's growth easily places it in growth stock territory Alphabet is the parent company of many brands, but most notably, Google Search. This is where more than half of Alphabet's revenue comes from, and it's under attack. Many investors are worried that generative AI will replace Google Search. This would cause Alphabet's revenue to tumble and drag the stock along with it. However, I think that's an outdated analysis. Google Search has integrated AI search overviews, which provide a generative-AI-powered search summary at the top of each Google result. While some may prefer a full-on generative AI experience, the general population is already locked into their habits of using Google, and any real exodus from the platform could take years to show up. Right now, Google Search is doing quite well, as it delivered 12% revenue growth for the second quarter. That's not a sign of a struggling business, and it shows that Google Search isn't going anywhere. Another exciting division for Alphabet is Google Cloud...

(Bloomberg/Kara Carlson) — Tesla Inc. ended last year on a roll, with investors increasingly buying into Elon Musk’s ebullience about autonomous vehicles. Winning over actual car buyers was another story. Shares in the world’s most valuable auto company soared in the second half, largely on the basis of its chief executive officer touting advances in artificial intelligence and robotics. But the progress Musk trumpeted didn’t translate to success in showrooms — the company likely sold fewer vehicles in the last six months than a year earlier, despite record deliveries in the third quarter. On Friday, Tesla is expected to report that it delivered around 440,900 vehicles in the fourth quarter, down 11% from a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Tesla took the unusual step this week of publishing its own average of analyst estimates that was even more pessimistic, calling for a 15% decline. Wall Street has grown similarly gloomy about the outlook for 2026. This time two years ago, analysts were predicting Tesla would deliver more than 3 million vehicles. That average estimate for deliveries this year has plunged to roughly 1.8 million. “Tesla investors are focused on how the company might look five, 10, 15 years down the road, and really discounting what they see in the near term,” Garrett Nelson, an equity analyst at CFRA Research, said by phone. “The question is, can they maintain that, especially when we think headwinds are going to become more apparent in the financials?” Topsy-Turvy Even by the standards of Musk and Tesla — two names synonymous with turbulence — 2025 was a tumultuous year. The carmaker’s vehicle sales got off to a dismal start, partly due to the company retooling production lines at each of its auto plants for the redesigned Model Y, its most popular vehicle. Another major factor was the intense backlash against its CEO’s work for US President Donald Trump. By early April, when Musk was publicly feuding with members of the admin...

MSFT Stock Today Slips as Investors Reassess AI-Fueled Tech Rally Azure Cloud and Enterprise AI Adoption in Focus for Microsoft Stock Live Events Microsoft Stock Price Target 2026 Microsoft Strengthens Security Features for Business Users Microsoft Valuation Magnifies Market Sensitivity in 2026 Microsoft Earnings Outlook and AI Momentum Remain in Spotlight FAQs as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Addas a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Microsoft opened the first US trading session of 2026 under mild pressure, with shares slipping more than 2% on Friday, as investors reassessed big tech positions after a year dominated by artificial intelligence enthusiasm and shifting interest-rate expectations.While the decline was modest, it stood out because Microsoft is one of the market’s most influential companies, and its moves often ripple across major indexes, as per a report. The dip came alongside broader weakness in large-cap growth stocks, with the Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ down about 0.8%, with Amazon lower by 0.7% in early trading, and even Apple stock is down today.The pullback followed a firmer tone in futures before the opening bell, suggesting investors were still trying to find footing after late-2025 volatility. Attention was also turning to upcoming US data releases on manufacturing activity and construction spending later in the day, as per a Ts2.tech report.Also read: S&P 500 climbs, Dow Jones today edges higher and Nasdaq surges as tech stocks rebound – why US stock market is up on first trading day of 2026 Microsoft remains closely watched as a gauge of corporate technology spending, particularly through its Azure cloud business. Investors are focused on whether companies are moving beyond early experimentation with AI tools and toward broader deployment, a shift that has become a key driver of sentiment in megacap tech stocks.Despite Friday’s weakne...

(Bloomberg) — Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok has created sexualized images of people including minors on the social media platform X in response to user prompts in recent days, drawing rebuke from officials such as the French government. Grok created and published images of minors in minimal clothing, in apparent violation of its own acceptable use policy, which prohibits the sexualization of children. Some of the offending images were later taken down. Most Read from Bloomberg The French government accused Grok on Friday of generating “clearly illegal” sexual content on X without people’s consent, flagging the matter as potentially violating the European Union’s Digital Services Act. The regulation requires large platforms to mitigate the risk of illegal content spreading, the country said in a statement. Representatives for xAI (XAAI.PVT), the company that develops Grok and runs X, didn’t respond to requests for comment. The chatbot Grok generated a post on X in response to users’ questions on Friday that it had identified “lapses in safeguards” that were being “urgently” fixed. It echoed xAI employee Parsa Tajik who earlier posted that “the team is looking into further tightening” its guardrails. X users can interact with Grok directly on the platform by tagging its account in posts and prompting the chatbot to respond. Grok generates text and images that appear as posts on the social network. The rise of AI tools that can generate realistic pictures of undressed minors highlights the challenges of content moderation and safety systems built into image-generating large language models. Tools that claim to have guardrails can be manipulated, allowing for the proliferation of material that has alarmed child safety advocates. The Internet Watch Foundation, a nonprofit that identifies child sexual abuse material online, reported a 400% increase in such AI-generated imagery in the first six months of 2025. “AI products must be tested rigorously befor...

Why Amazon Could Lead The Mag 7 In 2026 (NASDAQ:AMZN) Seeking Alpha

美國總統特朗普與日本首相高市早苗通電話，並邀請她在春季訪問美國。 高市昨晚在網上帖文，提到跟特朗普通話是「意義重大」。她稱今年正值美國建國250周年，美國為日本的重要盟邦，雙方確定在目前國際局勢下，將保持緊密合作。高市又稱獲特朗普邀請在春季訪美，雙方會協調相關行程細節，並期望日美同盟邁向新篇章。 高市去年11月在國會，提到台灣一旦有事，可能構成日方行使集體自衛權的存亡危機事態，中日關係陷入低谷。北京多次敦促日方切實反思糾錯，撤回錯誤言論。據報特朗普曾要求高市，不要在台灣問題上挑釁北京。

格隆汇1月3日｜消息人士称，埃利奥特投资管理公司合伙人根里希（Genrich）已离开公司。

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Investors seeking ways to capitalize on this harsh winter's heavier snowfall can consider buying shares of Douglas Dynamics, according to D.A. Davidson. In a Friday note, the investment firm laid out its top three ways to play the ongoing cold weather. Analyst Michael Shlisky noted that snowfall currently appears to be at or above its normal levels in the Northeast, and well ahead of last year. Meanwhile, the Midwest seems to be experiencing its harshest winter in over a decade. "In the Northeast region, the average major city saw ~6 inches of snow in December, slightly above the long-term average and 3x what was seen in the prior year," he wrote. "In the Midwest, where winter is in full swing by December, the average large city saw 12.8 inches of snow in December, over 3x what was seen in the prior year and the most since 2013-14." This ongoing cold spell provides tailwinds for stocks such as Douglas Dynamics , which manufacturers snowplows and other de-icing equipment. The stock has surged 38% over the last 12 months. Shlisky pointed out that the Northeast is Douglas Dynamics' most important region. "This winter seems to be off to a good start, and our basic math suggested that normalized Attachments EBITDA could be ~$84M — our current estimate for 2026 is ~$59M," he wrote. "When combined with M & A expansions outside of Snow & Ice for the first time in over a decade, it lays the groundwork for substantial upside from here." PLOW 1Y mountain Douglas Dynamics shares over the past year Shlisky is similarly bullish on Toro Co ., which manufactures and maintains equipment for snow and ice management, among others. The analyst said he will be meeting with management and may update his estimates following those conversations. "The company is seeing a combination of strength across Golf, Underground Construction, and Snow, as well as easy weather comps in Residential and Landscape/Grounds. When combined with ongoing cost-containment efforts, the company appears poised to...

NEW YORK, Jan 2, 2026, 12:41 ET — Regular session QUALCOMM shares rose about 1.3% in midday trading as semiconductor stocks outperformed. Chip ETFs climbed more than 3% as investors leaned back into the sector to start 2026. Traders are watching CES next week and Qualcomm’s Feb. 4 earnings call for demand and guidance signals. Shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated rose 1.3% to $173.26 on Friday, extending an early-year rebound for chip stocks. The stock traded between $172.21 and $174.63, with about 2.1 million shares changing hands by midday. The move matters because Qualcomm sits at the center of smartphone and connected-device supply chains, and its shares often trade with broader sentiment toward semiconductors. Investors are resetting positions at the start of the year after a choppy finish to 2025. It also lands days before CES in Las Vegas, a showcase where chipmakers and device brands often set expectations for new products and demand. Qualcomm’s next earnings update is due in early February, giving the market another near-term checkpoint on handset trends and margins. Semiconductor funds outperformed broader tech on Friday. The iShares Semiconductor ETF was up 3.6% and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF added 3.1%, while the Nasdaq 100-tracking Invesco QQQ was down about 0.3% and the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund was little changed. Big tech also helped set the tone, with Nvidia up 2.4% and Broadcom up 3.1% in a broader rebound in risk appetite. “The next Fed Chair is probably going to be much more dovish than Jerome Powell,” said Dennis Dick, chief market strategist at Stock Trader Network, as he pointed to the potential for lower rates later in 2026; investors were also looking ahead to next week’s U.S. labor market data. Reuters “Dovish” is Wall Street shorthand for policymakers who are more willing to cut interest rates, which can lift growth stocks by raising the value investors assign to future earnings. Qualcomm, best known for Snapdragon processors and mod...

Moving into your first studio apartment can be exciting, but it can also feel a bit overwhelming. You quickly realize how much your old roommates helped out with stuff you took for granted, like light bulbs, smoke detectors, and even a vacuum. To make your new place feel more like home, here are some must-have gadgets that can really help you out. SimpliSafe Home Security System – $282.94 Image Credits:SimpliSafe A home security system is a worthwhile investment to ensure your peace of mind in a new apartment. SimpliSafe offers an easy-to-install setup that’s perfect for renters. It’s tool-free to set up, which is a huge perk for renters since you can place sensors on doors and windows with adhesive strips instead of drilling holes. The starter kit is tailored for small spaces and includes everything you need for basic home security: a base station, wireless keypad, one motion sensor, and one entry sensor. You can also buy additional sensors — such as glass-break, water, and temperature sensors — and cameras as needed. SimpliSafe offers two monitoring options. You can choose to monitor the system yourself or opt for professional monitoring with a subscription plan starting at $23 per month. This includes 24/7 coverage, so if an alarm is triggered, SimpliSafe will reach out to you or dispatch the police if you’re unreachable. Kidde Smart Smoke Detector – $74.97 Image Credits:Kidde While we’re on the subject of safety, a smoke detector is essential. Kidde’s Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detector is highly regarded, and the most notable aspect is that it sends alerts directly to your phone. Another nice detail is that the sensor is designed to avoid false alarms, like cooking smoke. Techcrunch event Join the Disrupt 2026 Waitlist Add yourself to the Disrupt 2026 waitlist to be first in line when Early Bird tickets drop. Past Disrupts have brought Google Cloud, Netflix, Microsoft, Box, Phia, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Hugging Face, Elad Gil, and Vinod Khosla to the stages — p...

If you claimed your Social Security checks early, you aren't necessarily stuck with lower monthly income forever. If you claimed Social Security benefits early, you made a decision that shrunk your monthly payment. You have a full retirement age (FRA) when you can get your standard benefit, and a claim before that time reduces payments for every month you are ahead of your FRA. The benefits reduction can add up to 6.7% per year for the first three years and another 5% reduction in the years before that. If you regret shrinking your benefits check, you could potentially increase your monthly payments later. In fact, there are four ways you can do that -- although not everyone will be able to do all of them. Here's how you can increase the amount of Social Security income you're collecting, even if you've claimed sooner than you now realize you should have. 1. Rescind your claim The first option is to rescind your claim. If you filed for Social Security less than 12 months ago, you can request a do-over -- provided you can pay back all of the benefits you have received to date. You'll also have to pay back spousal benefits if your spouse collected them on your work record. Advertisement If you're able to repay the money the Social Security Administration paid you and you act quickly enough, rescinding your early claim effectively erases it, so your future benefit amount isn't impacted at all once you eventually restart your checks. 2. Work so you can forfeit some benefits If you have already reached your full retirement age, this technique won't work for you since working after FRA is allowed with no limits. If you're under FRA, though, working and earning a generous income can help you increase your future Social Security checks by erasing some early filing penalties. You're allowed to earn only up to a set amount of money from work while collecting Social Security if you're under FRA. For 2026, the limits will be $24,480 if you won't hit FRA at all during the year o...

With great returns comes added volatility, but that's not always the case. In this video, I will cover 5 value growth companies worth buying before 2026. Watch the short video to learn more, consider subscribing, and click the special offer link below. *Stock prices used were from the trading day of Dec. 24, 2025. The video was published on Dec. 24, 2025.

Minnesota To Mandate K–12 Ethnic Studies Instruction In 2026 Authored by Aaron Gifford via The Epoch Times, In the coming weeks, school boards across the Land of 10,000 Lakes state will decide on curricula to meet ethnic studies mandates for the 2026–2027 academic year. There appear to be limited alternatives to the free instructional materials developed with taxpayer dollars and endorsed by the state teachers’ union. That curriculum instructs 6th graders to learn the 13 guiding principles of the Black Lives Matter movement; 7th graders on how protesters have breached federal buildings; and higher schoolers to “identify plans of action that people have used to resist, refuse, and create alternatives to oppressive systems,” according to the materials developed by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Race, Indigeneity, Disability, Gender and Sexuality Studies (RIDGS) . “Students will be able to explain how race is socially constructed and how that social construction has been used to oppress people of color, specifically in relation to Jim Crow, segregation, and racial covenants,” reads the description for the 11th and 12th-grade Jim Crow of the North course. The Center of the American Experiment, a Minnesota-based education policy organization that opposes partisan and race-based curricula, is helping districts find politically neutral alternatives that it says are more like traditional social studies and history electives and less like social justice advocacy guidance. “The words ethnic studies have been hijacked,” Catrin Wigfall, a policy fellow with the center, told The Epoch Times. “But boards [of education] have more power in this than they might think.” Additionally, state laws allow parents to review a curriculum and opt their child out of any instruction they find objectionable, in which case the school is required to provide alternative materials, Wigfall said. The Minnesota Department of Education defines ethnic studies as an interdisciplinary area of i...

Morgan Stanley on Tesla (TSLA): 'Deliveries Broadly In-Line, All Eyes on Robo' StreetInsider

Key Points Finland just suffered a nuclear incident. Nuclear stocks are up today despite it (or because of it?) 10 stocks we like better than Oklo › Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) stock, a start-up manufacturer of small modular (nuclear) power reactors, surged 5.5% through noon ET on Friday -- apparently on no good news at all. Actually, the opposite: Reports out of Finland say a technical fault at the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant caused one of the site's three units, "OL2," to shut down temporarily today. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » Traditional nuclear versus SMR Is this bad news for nuclear power investors? If so, it's not terribly bad. News site "Mezha" reports the "unplanned unavailability" of the reactor was related to "an update of the power management system software" and should last no more than 16 hours. The reactor shut down when the fault was reported, and did so safely. Furthermore, "the incident did not compromise the facility's safety, and the other units at the plant continue to operate normally." I suppose investors may read this news and think, "Well, anything that's bad for traditional nuclear reactors could be good for the adoption of SMRs instead." But you'd still more likely expect an incident like this to spook nuclear power investors than excite them. From that perspective, Oklo's 5.5% price increase on the Finnish news probably speaks more to investors' irrational exuberance about nuclear power stocks than to their correct interpretation of whether the news was "good" or "bad." Is Oklo stock a buy? Oklo's rising stock price also doesn't speak highly of investors' ability to properly gauge the risk of investing in expensive, unprofitable nuclear stocks. With no revenue forecast before 2027 and no profits till 2030, there's a lot of time for things to go wrong for Oklo stock, and no profits or free cash flow to support it in the meantime. Investors be...

Warren Buffett's annual letters to Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) shareholders have become legendary for their candid assessments of business performance and investment philosophy. In his 2020 letter, Buffett revealed that Berkshire Hathaway had returned an astounding 2,810,526% since he took control in 1965. The Oracle of Omaha attributed most of that value creation to four businesses he called “jewels.” Five years later, Berkshire shares have returned another 115%, suggesting those crown jewels continue to generate exceptional returns. Among them, Apple (AAPL) stands out as both the largest holding and the most controversial recent position. Berkshire's initial $40 billion stake in Apple has generated more than $100 billion in profits, making it one of the most successful investments on Wall Street. Yet Buffett has been aggressively selling AAPL stock. He has unloaded nearly 70% of his Apple shares since 2023, including a 49% reduction in Q2 2024. Buffett initially attributed the sales to tax planning. However, the magnitude of selling over the last two years may have meant that Berkshire is wary of the iPhone maker’s slowing growth and steep valuation. Notably, Apple is also struggling to build a competitive moat in the artificial intelligence segment compared to tech peers such as Microsoft (MSFT), Nvidia (NVDA), and Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL). At the end of fiscal 2025, Apple remains Berkshire’s largest holding, accounting for almost $65 billion and 21% of its equity portfolio. So, let’s see if you should own AAPL stock at the current valuation right now. How Did Apple Perform in Fiscal Q4? Apple reported fiscal fourth quarter (ended in September) results that crushed expectations and set the stage for what CEO Tim Cook called the company's best December quarter ever. Revenue hit $102.5 billion, up 8% year-over-year (YoY) and a September quarter record, while earnings per share came in at $1.85, also a Q4 record. In fiscal 2025, Apple reported total revenue of...

Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares are down Friday morning as the investors continue to weigh its competitive position in the AI space. This decline comes amid the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 trading flat to start 2026. Microsoft stock is under selling pressure. Why is MSFT stock retreating? Analyst Touts Azure's Gains, Flag Risks For Google's Model On Wednesday, John Freeman, co-founder and senior analyst at Ravenswood Partners, discussed the potential impact of Microsoft's Azure on Alphabet Inc’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) AI business, suggesting that Google's traditional revenue model could be at risk due to advancements in AI. The analyst highlighted that Microsoft's Azure is positioned as a leading AI cloud provider, which could significantly influence future growth. Freeman pointed out that Microsoft's investments in AI infrastructure, including a $19 billion CAD commitment in Canada, are expected to enhance its data center capacity and digital sovereignty. This strategic move is seen as a way to bolster its competitive edge against Google, which may face challenges in maintaining its revenue streams as AI technologies evolve. Also Read: China Urges US To Work In The ‘Same Direction’ As ByteDance Hands Over Control Of TikTok’s Operations To Oracle-Led Group The broader market is trading mixed Friday morning, with the Nasdaq-100 dropping around 0.25% midday. Technical Analysis Microsoft stock is currently trading 2.5% below its 20-day simple moving average (SMA) and 5.1% below its 100-day SMA, indicating some short-term weakness. Over the past 12 months, shares have increased approximately 13.01%, and they are currently positioned closer to their 52-week lows than highs. The RSI is at a neutral level, suggesting that the stock is neither overbought nor oversold at this time. Meanwhile, MACD is below its signal line, indicating bearish pressure on the stock. The combination of neutral RSI and bearish MACD suggests mixed momentum. Key Resistance : $489.50 : $489.50 Key Support: ...