Key PointsThe face of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, Nvidia, will report its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Feb. 25.
Key PointsThe face of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, Nvidia, will report its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Feb. 25.
An energy company in Anyang, Henan province, May 3, 2025. Photo: VCG More than half of the Chinese mainland’s provincial-level regions have lowered their fiscal revenue growth targets for this year, underscoring mounting pressure on local governments as the property slump drags on and industrial prices stay weak. Budget reports from the mainland’s 31 provincial-level regions show 18 have reduced t...
An energy company in Anyang, Henan province, May 3, 2025. Photo: VCG More than half of the Chinese mainland’s provincial-level regions have lowered their fiscal revenue growth targets for this year, underscoring mounting pressure on local governments as the property slump drags on and industrial prices stay weak. Budget reports from the mainland’s 31 provincial-level regions show 18 have reduced their general public budget (GPB) revenue growth targets from last year, while three kept them largely unchanged. Only 10 raised their goals. The GPB is the largest of the four budgets in China’s fiscal system. Twenty-one regions, including major economic hubs such as Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shanghai, are aiming for modest growth of about 2% to 3%. Expectations are even lower in some inland regions such as Hunan and Inner Mongolia, where targets range from 0.5% to 1.5%. Beijing and six other regions stand out, projecting growth of 4% or more.
Ukrainian president tells reporters that negotiators are expected to meet with the US later this week If you expected some big lines on Ukraine or Europe from Trump’s State of the Union address overnight, well, there was hardly anything – but he did speak positively about Nato. Here are the key bits, via this NPR transcript of his speech . Nato countries, our friends and allies, and they are -- th...
Ukrainian president tells reporters that negotiators are expected to meet with the US later this week If you expected some big lines on Ukraine or Europe from Trump’s State of the Union address overnight, well, there was hardly anything – but he did speak positively about Nato. Here are the key bits, via this NPR transcript of his speech . Nato countries, our friends and allies, and they are -- they’re our friends and they’re our allies, have just agreed at my very strong request to pay 5 percent of GDP for military defence rather than the 2 percent, which they weren’t paying; we were paying for almost all of them. … Now they’re paying five as opposed to not paying for it. … And getting that 5 percent was something which everyone said would never be done, could not happen. We got it really easily with one meeting and [it’s] a big difference between 2 percent that’s not paid. We were paying the freight of many of them. Very few were paid out. Now 5 percent then they’re paid. And everything we send over to Ukraine is sent through Nato and they pay us in full. They pay us totally in full. “And we’re working very hard to end the ninth war, the killing and slaughter between Russia and Ukraine, where 25,000 soldiers are dying each and every month. Think of that, 25,000 soldiers are dying a month. A war which would have never happened if I were president, would have never happened. As president, I will make peace wherever I can, but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever we must.” Continue reading...
Realty Income (NYSE: O) is one of the market's hottest dividend stocks. After several frustrating years that had investors pulling their hair out, Realty Income has exploded, racing to double-digit returns since the start of the year. But it's difficult to forgive and forget when stocks underperform for such long stretches. It's fair to wonder whether Realty Income's recent success is the selling ...
Realty Income (NYSE: O) is one of the market's hottest dividend stocks. After several frustrating years that had investors pulling their hair out, Realty Income has exploded, racing to double-digit returns since the start of the year. But it's difficult to forgive and forget when stocks underperform for such long stretches. It's fair to wonder whether Realty Income's recent success is the selling opportunity some may have been waiting for, or if the stock is genuinely beginning a new chapter in a success story that dates back to the mid-1990s. Here is why Realty Income is a long-term buy. Continue reading
William Luque/iStock via Getty Images West Red Lake Gold Mines ( WRLGF ) is a junior producer that has just started production from significant gold resources, with Madsen Mine being its main asset. Gold miners are currently strong on momentum but still cautious on valuation, as the consensus price on gold has not yet settled. Even taking this into account, West Red Lake Gold feels over-discounted...
William Luque/iStock via Getty Images West Red Lake Gold Mines ( WRLGF ) is a junior producer that has just started production from significant gold resources, with Madsen Mine being its main asset. Gold miners are currently strong on momentum but still cautious on valuation, as the consensus price on gold has not yet settled. Even taking this into account, West Red Lake Gold feels over-discounted, and I think that it's mainly due to the failure of the previous mine owner . Since this company has already entered production, the main permitting and launch risks have already been overcome, and if you think that gold can maintain $3500 per ounce or better, then I think this is a strong play. Why a previous insolvency might have artificially depressed its value It seems to me that the main source of value is a prior insolvency event involving the previous owner of the Madsen Mine, Pure Gold Mining. Pure Gold had already done a lot of the heavy lifting of laying down the initial infrastructure and, in the process, accrued $230 million in debt . Then the reconciliation with their models didn't happen - there seemed to be a lot more dirt than gold wherever they dug. Now, usually this doesn't mean the asset is necessarily bad - it means that technical and equipment upgrades are needed, meaning more time and cost. In this case, one of the main issues turned out to be that the gold needed to be mined in sharp 7-meter intervals rather than the standard 20-meter spacing. But Pure Gold was illiquid by this time. Now it is possible that the creditors could have held out for a higher value from someone convinced about the quality of the asset, but in this case they didn't. This meant that West Red Lake Gold could buy it out for about $6.5 million as a depressed asset. With a clean balance sheet and some leeway to spend, they implemented major rectifications over a couple of years - using high-resolution drilling at 7 meters, conducting bulk samples before committing to full-scale ...
At the halfway stage of the Six Nations, Rugby Special's John Barclay and Sam Warburton dish out their report cards for every team so far and give their predictions for what we could see in the rest of the tournament.
At the halfway stage of the Six Nations, Rugby Special's John Barclay and Sam Warburton dish out their report cards for every team so far and give their predictions for what we could see in the rest of the tournament.
DragonImages/iStock via Getty Images Volume Gains Offset by Import Headwinds Karat Packaging ( KRT ), which manufactures and distributes plastic, paper, and biopolymer-based products in restaurants, is in a transitory phase. Following up with the industry shift toward sustainable packaging, the recent Paper bag expansion has been a structural growth initiative. More so when the management put a $1...
DragonImages/iStock via Getty Images Volume Gains Offset by Import Headwinds Karat Packaging ( KRT ), which manufactures and distributes plastic, paper, and biopolymer-based products in restaurants, is in a transitory phase. Following up with the industry shift toward sustainable packaging, the recent Paper bag expansion has been a structural growth initiative. More so when the management put a $100 million annual revenue target on this operation—not insignificant for a business of KRT’s size. The restaurant industry and broader U.S. economy appear to be slowing. In response, KRT is prioritizing distributor relationships and supply chain resilience. In a softer demand environment, this focus should help defend volume and support margin stability. The environment, however, can discourage outsized sales expansion. The stock’s current valuation multiples appear stretched compared to its peers. The stock price lacked any momentum in the past six months, and I do not think it will gain any in the near term. So, I recommend a “Hold,” unchanged from my previous iteration . Explaining Strategies KRT's December 2025 Presentation Karat’s management has high confidence in developing the paper bag business as the next big growth driver. It has recently secured a two-year supply agreement with a major national chain. I expect volumes to accelerate in Q4. A full rollout, however, is not possible before Q1 2026. The management expects the business to generate $20 million to $25 million per year per chain. More importantly, the industry shift from plastic to paper bags is creating organic growth opportunities in paper, SOS, and bakery bag categories. In this scenario, KRT plans to expand into eco-friendly products, including recycled PET cups and lids. On top of that, additional chain testing could scale sales toward the $100 million annual revenue target within the next two to three years. In my understanding, restaurant chains are shifting from plastic to paper under regulatory p...