The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called on China to make the shift to a consumption-led growth model an “overarching priority”, while urging the country to curb what it called “unwarranted industrial policy” amid mounting external imbalances. The IMF staff’s recommendations, issued ahead of Beijing’s annual parliamentary meetings, joined increasingly loud calls for economic rebalancing, p...
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called on China to make the shift to a consumption-led growth model an “overarching priority”, while urging the country to curb what it called “unwarranted industrial policy” amid mounting external imbalances. The IMF staff’s recommendations, issued ahead of Beijing’s annual parliamentary meetings, joined increasingly loud calls for economic rebalancing, particularly after China’s record trade surplus last year deepened global concerns. “China needs to...
Diageo on Wednesday said it was cutting its dividend in half as it reduced its sales outlook, citing American consumer reluctance to spend due to affordability concerns.
Diageo on Wednesday said it was cutting its dividend in half as it reduced its sales outlook, citing American consumer reluctance to spend due to affordability concerns.
Arla Foods Amba , Northern Europe’s largest dairy company, will make its biggest investment ever, spending about €300 million ($350 million) to expand cheese production. The Danish cooperative will build a new dairy plant at its existing site in Gotene, Sweden, according to a statement on Wednesday. Once operational in 2030, the facility will process about 1 billion kilograms (2.2 billion pounds) ...
Arla Foods Amba , Northern Europe’s largest dairy company, will make its biggest investment ever, spending about €300 million ($350 million) to expand cheese production. The Danish cooperative will build a new dairy plant at its existing site in Gotene, Sweden, according to a statement on Wednesday. Once operational in 2030, the facility will process about 1 billion kilograms (2.2 billion pounds) of milk per year — roughly double its current volume. The move comes amid booming demand for protein and whey, a byproduct of cheese production. Arla said earlier this month that revenue is expected to decline this year as dairy prices fall. Still, the farmer-owned cooperative, which has 7,600 members across Europe, expects lower prices to encourage consumers to trade up to premium branded products, a category it estimates could grow by as much as 3%. The new production will focus on Arla’s Household cheese, one of its most popular brands in Sweden. The company said the investment will also make Sweden less reliant on cheese imports, raising the country’s self-sufficiency ratio to about 47% from 37%.
Robert Way/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Amer Sports, Inc. ( AS ) reported blowout Q4 results as Arc’teryx and Salomon continued to shine, but the market still reacted negatively—an increased valuation has already put massive expectations on the two brands, stalling stock momentum. I believe that a slowing 2026 guidance and Arc’teryx’s trends underneath suggest that investors should have cauti...
Robert Way/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Amer Sports, Inc. ( AS ) reported blowout Q4 results as Arc’teryx and Salomon continued to shine, but the market still reacted negatively—an increased valuation has already put massive expectations on the two brands, stalling stock momentum. I believe that a slowing 2026 guidance and Arc’teryx’s trends underneath suggest that investors should have caution going forward. I maintained a Hold rating in my previous August 2025 article on the stock, titled “ Amer Sports Q2: Salomon Enters Rapid Growth Mode.” The stock has since returned 4%, nearly on par with the S&P 500’s 8% return. My Rating History on AS (Seeking Alpha) Amer Reported Great Q4 Growth Amer again reported blowout results for the holiday season quarter. Revenues and the adjusted EPS both beat Wall Street’s consensus estimates by a clear margin. The $107 million topline beat was Amer’s largest since the company was listed on NYSE in early 2024, while the EPS beat was more modest. Sales grew by 26% in constant currency to $2.10 billion; growth stayed consistent from previous quarters in 2025. By segment, Technical Apparel showed 34% growth to $1.00 billion and Outdoor Performance showed 29% growth to $764 million, reflecting Arc’teryx’s and Salomon’s brand growth, respectively. While Ball & Racquet Sports grew the slowest, the segment also saw a great 14% increase in revenues to $337 million. Direct-to-consumer sales grew by 38%, while wholesale revenues grew by 18%. Amer has continued to open new stores, especially in China, fueling an increasing mix of direct-to-consumer sales. The total store count ended up at 703 at the end of 2025, up by 39% from 2024. Author's Illustration Using AS's Filings The adjusted gross margin improved by 140 basis points to 57.8%. Amer has been able to maintain great pricing power, more than offsetting U.S. tariff pressure. Great brand relevance, enabling strong full-price sales, and an increasing direct-to-consumer mix continue to ...
Maximusnd/iStock via Getty Images Market Review The municipal bond market extended its rally in the fourth quarter, outperforming U.S. Treasuries and corporate bonds, supported by relatively favorable technicals and two additional 25 bp Fed rate cuts. Despite two consecutive quarters of strength, municipal bonds trailed other fixed income sectors for the full year. On the supply side, new issuance...
Maximusnd/iStock via Getty Images Market Review The municipal bond market extended its rally in the fourth quarter, outperforming U.S. Treasuries and corporate bonds, supported by relatively favorable technicals and two additional 25 bp Fed rate cuts. Despite two consecutive quarters of strength, municipal bonds trailed other fixed income sectors for the full year. On the supply side, new issuance accelerated in November and December after a soft October, bringing total 4Q25 issuance to $141 billion, up 12.5% from 4Q24, according to the Bond Buyer. Full-year supply set another new annual record of $580 billion, up 12.9% year over year, driven in part by front-running tax policy uncertainties, higher cost of capital expenditure due to higher inflation, and waning of pandemic-related funds. Taxable municipal issuance remained low at $33 billion in 2025, down 12.4% year over year. In 4Q25, investor demand remained robust and municipal funds saw strong inflows, especially into municipal ETFs. Per Investment Company Institute data, municipal open-ended mutual funds had net inflows of $13 billion, while ETFs gained $45 billion for the whole year 2025. During the fourth quarter, the municipal yield curve twisted flatter, with yields from two- to five-year maturities increasing 8 to 19 bps, while yields from ten-to-thirty years decreased 8 to 27 bps. To the contrary, the treasury yield curve twisted steeper, with yields from one-to-three-year maturities decreasing 1 to 14 bps, while yields from five-to-thirty years increased 5 to 14 bps. As a result, the Muni-Treasury ratio, a key gauge of relative value, cheapened in the short 2-5-year maturity range while richening in the 10-30-year part. The 2-year AAA Muni-to-Treasury ratio increased to 70% from 62%, while the 10-year ratio decreased to 65% from 70% and the 30Y ratio decreased to 85% from 89%, which were at richer side of fair value. In 4Q25, shorter duration municipal bonds underperformed their intermediate and longer ...
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with members of Congress as he departs following his State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Feb. 24, 2026. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images BEIJING — U.S. President Donald Trump avoided directly naming China in his State of the Union address Tuesday, just weeks before his scheduled trip to Beiji...
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with members of Congress as he departs following his State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Feb. 24, 2026. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images BEIJING — U.S. President Donald Trump avoided directly naming China in his State of the Union address Tuesday, just weeks before his scheduled trip to Beijing. In what was the longest State of the Union (SOTU) speech by any U.S. president, Trump covered a range of topics from inflation and tariffs to stock market records. But notably, he did not directly mention China, other than a reference to "Russian and Chinese military technology" that guarded Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during the operation that led to the capture of the foreign leader. During Trump's first term from 2017 to 2021, he made direct references to the Chinese nation in all three of his State of the Union addresses. The remarks had largely highlighted the threat from Beijing to the U.S. "Trump doesn't want to pick a fight with China in an election year," said Gabriel Wildau, managing director, Teneo, referring to the coming U.S. midterm elections in November. "Stability in U.S.-China relations is a priority for the president at least this year and potentially for the rest of his term," Wildau said. In order to maintain that relationship, Trump plans to visit Beijing from March 31 to April 2, the first trip by a U.S. president since 2017. But China's foreign ministry has yet to confirm exact dates for the visit, pointed out George Chen, partner at The Asia Group. "That makes Trump look more desperate to visit China more than how much [Chinese president Xi Jinping] wants to host him." "The lack of mentions about China in Trump's speech is another example to show how Trump stays cautious now about U.S.-China relations," Chen said. watch now VIDEO 3:20 03:20 Pres. Trump addresses tariff ruling in front of Supreme Court justices News Videos China and the U....