Venezuela’s government is on track to regain formal relations with the International Monetary Fund this week, according to Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo . “I think we will be able to reach the required majority and we will know the result in the next days,” he said on Washington on Thursday, where he’s attending the IMF and World Bank’s spring meetings. The IMF last week sent out a poll t...
Venezuela’s government is on track to regain formal relations with the International Monetary Fund this week, according to Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo . “I think we will be able to reach the required majority and we will know the result in the next days,” he said on Washington on Thursday, where he’s attending the IMF and World Bank’s spring meetings. The IMF last week sent out a poll to members asking about their relations with Venezuela, a key step for the institution to potentially resume engagement with the oil-producing South American nation for the first time in decades. Under IMF rules the Venezuelan government is barred from having formal contact, discussions or access to financing from the institution until acting President Delcy Rodriguez is recognized as the official government by a majority of the fund’s members. Cuerpo stressed that Spain was on the vanguard of pushing for a restoring Venezuela’s relations with the IMF. Venezuela’s Neighbors Want IMF Engagement, Chief Georgieva Says IMF Moves Toward Resuming Venezuela Ties With Members’ Poll US Eases Venezuela Central Bank Sanctions to Aid Oil Revival
UNH heads into Q1 2026 earnings with costs rising and membership slipping, but growing services revenue and steady insurance operating income could keep a beat alive.
UNH heads into Q1 2026 earnings with costs rising and membership slipping, but growing services revenue and steady insurance operating income could keep a beat alive.
Andrii Dodonov/iStock via Getty Images Thesis The big story this year has been the Iran war, which has spiked oil prices and brought back the specter of inflation . The rates markets have responded handily, pricing out any Fed cuts this year and moving the entire yield curve higher. This move has helped the battered floating rate leveraged loan asset class, which had seen significant outflows in t...
Andrii Dodonov/iStock via Getty Images Thesis The big story this year has been the Iran war, which has spiked oil prices and brought back the specter of inflation . The rates markets have responded handily, pricing out any Fed cuts this year and moving the entire yield curve higher. This move has helped the battered floating rate leveraged loan asset class, which had seen significant outflows in the past year. One of our holdings, the Nuveen Floating Rate Income Fund ( JFR ), falls into this category. We added this name last year, after a massive evisceration of leveraged loan CEFs when market participants started pricing in Fed cuts: Prior Rating (Seeking Alpha) The trade did really well initially as the market rebounded from oversold conditions but has produced a more neutral result long-term given the actual cuts implemented by the Fed. We can see the vicious rebound after our rating (which marked an interim bottom) and the total return of roughly 7.7% since we assigned the prior Seeking Alpha rating. In today's article we are going to show readers why we are downgrading the CEF now given peak fear regarding rates. As the Iran war gets solved (one way or another), the market will start repricing Fed cuts, and outflows from leveraged loans will resume. We are now moving the fund to 'Hold' since we do not find the name presenting an attractive entry point anymore, but we will continue to hold it as a building block of our portfolio. What Does JFR Do? It Holds Leveraged Loans While investors are reading about the travails of private credit every day, nobody mentions leveraged loans. Private credit and leveraged loans are siblings, with private credit representing direct lending to a client (often floating rate), while leveraged loans are the syndicated version of the same lending action. 'Syndicated' simply means there are several banks that do the lending and then sell the debt in the secondary markets. This translates into better visibility into the respective cre...
Ambev S.A. ( ABEV ) fell in Thursday afternoon trading after UBS lowered its rating to Sell from Neutral on valuation concerns Analyst Rodrigo Alcantara and his team see the risk/reward on Ambev ( ABEV ) as skewed to the downside following a +32% rally over the past six months and pointed to a growing disconnect between its earnings growth profile, Brazil's cost of capital, and valuation. "Our bas...
Ambev S.A. ( ABEV ) fell in Thursday afternoon trading after UBS lowered its rating to Sell from Neutral on valuation concerns Analyst Rodrigo Alcantara and his team see the risk/reward on Ambev ( ABEV ) as skewed to the downside following a +32% rally over the past six months and pointed to a growing disconnect between its earnings growth profile, Brazil's cost of capital, and valuation. "Our base case points to flat EPS growth in 2026 and a ~5% CAGR over the next five years. We see two key risks of disappointment in 2026–27. First, the macro backdrop in Brazil and global commodities may weigh on EBITDA growth/ Second, capital returns may again fall short of investor expectations, given the company's reluctance to lever its balance sheet," warned Alcantara. Due to those factors, UBS sees a risk of a de-rating in valuation multiples over the coming quarters. Shares of Ambev ( ABEV ) were down 2.6% to $3.05 at 1:20 p.m. vs. the 52-week range of $2.10 to $3.24. The Seeking Alpha Quant rating on the Brazilian brewing stock is still flashing Buy. More on Ambev Ambev: Let's Cheers To More Upside Ambev: 2026 World Cup And Brazil's Rate Cuts Create A Powerful Recovery Setup Ambev S.A. (ABEV) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Petrobras continues to lead iShares MSCI Brazil ETF top holdings with Strong Buy rating Ambev Non-GAAP EPS of R$0.28 in-line, revenue of R$24.81B beats by R$210M; initiates FY26 outlook
In Sri Lanka, Buddhists and Hindus marked their New Year on Tuesday while a war thousands of miles away is making itself felt. (Image credit: Sanka Vidanagama)
In Sri Lanka, Buddhists and Hindus marked their New Year on Tuesday while a war thousands of miles away is making itself felt. (Image credit: Sanka Vidanagama)
May WTI crude oil (CLK26 ) today is up +2.40 (+2.63%), and May RBOB gasoline (RBK26 ) is up +0.0655 (+2.13%). Crude oil and gasoline prices settled mixed on Wednesday, with crude falling to a 3-week low. Crude oil and gasoline prices are moving higher today as the US naval...
May WTI crude oil (CLK26 ) today is up +2.40 (+2.63%), and May RBOB gasoline (RBK26 ) is up +0.0655 (+2.13%). Crude oil and gasoline prices settled mixed on Wednesday, with crude falling to a 3-week low. Crude oil and gasoline prices are moving higher today as the US naval...
Maks_Lab Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is urging policymakers to prepare contingency measures to stabilize the government bond market in the event of a sudden drop in demand for U.S. Treasuries, warning such a scenario could trigger severe financial disruption. Paulson emphasized the importance of having a rapid-response plan ready to deploy if market conditions deteriorate. Unlike ...
Maks_Lab Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is urging policymakers to prepare contingency measures to stabilize the government bond market in the event of a sudden drop in demand for U.S. Treasuries, warning such a scenario could trigger severe financial disruption. Paulson emphasized the importance of having a rapid-response plan ready to deploy if market conditions deteriorate. Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, he noted, today’s risks are tied more directly to the scale of federal debt and the government’s ongoing financing needs. He cautioned that a breakdown in the roughly $31 trillion Treasury market could create a dangerous feedback loop. As investors demand higher yields to compensate for rising fiscal risks, borrowing costs would climb, further expanding budget deficits and increasing the government’s reliance on debt issuance. In a worst-case scenario, Paulson suggested the Federal Reserve could become the primary buyer of government debt if private demand weakens significantly—an outcome that could drive bond prices lower and push interest rates higher. While the timing of such stress is uncertain, Paulson warned that the consequences could be abrupt and severe, underscoring the need for proactive planning. See how yields are trading across the curve: U.S. 2 Year Treasury yield ( US2Y ) trades at 3.78%. U.S. 5 Year Treasury yield ( US5Y ) trades at 3.92%. U.S. 7 Year Treasury yield ( US7Y ) trades at 4.11%. U.S. 10 Year Treasury yield ( US10Y ) trades at 4.31%. U.S. 20 Year Treasury yield ( US20Y ) trades at 4.91%. U.S. 30 Year Treasury yield ( US30Y ) trades at 4.94%. Fixed Income ETFs: ( TLT ), ( TLH ), ( IEF ), ( IEI ), ( SHY ), ( SGOV ), ( SCHO ), ( BIL ), ( AGG ), ( BND ), ( VCIT ), ( MUB ), ( MBB ), ( JNK ), ( LQD ), ( HYG ), ( VTIP ), ( TIP ), ( SCHP ), ( STIP ), ( TIPX ), ( SPIP ), ( WIP ), ( GTIP ), ( LQDI ), and ( RINF ). More on markets Narrow tech rally powers market higher despite weak breadth Artificial Intelligence boom redefines c...
bigtunaonline/iStock via Getty Images Since the conflict in the Middle East began, auto suppliers have underperformed the S&P by an average of 10%. As one of the hardest hit (down 15% relative to the S&P 500), and with fiscal Q2 results likely to beat estimates, Citi Research sees a buying opportunity in Adient ( ADNT ), upgrading the stock to Buy from Neutral and raising the target price by 10% t...
bigtunaonline/iStock via Getty Images Since the conflict in the Middle East began, auto suppliers have underperformed the S&P by an average of 10%. As one of the hardest hit (down 15% relative to the S&P 500), and with fiscal Q2 results likely to beat estimates, Citi Research sees a buying opportunity in Adient ( ADNT ), upgrading the stock to Buy from Neutral and raising the target price by 10% to $33. Adient ( ADNT ), which supplies seating systems for the Ford ( F ) F-series, should benefit from a predicted 10% increase in production of the model as Ford ( F ) replenishes its depleted inventory after the Novelis fire. Moreover, Citi Research analyst Michael Ward expects Adient ( ADNT ) to be best positioned to benefit from the increased demand of “People Carriers” (family sedans, minivans, SUVs, and CUVs) as the Millennials and Gen Zers move into the prime age group for the auto sector. “Higher industry production and cost improvements lead to revenue and margin improvement in the second half and into 2027. In our view, improving margins and cash generation are the two most important metrics for ADNT,” Ward notes. Ward believes the impact of the Millennial and Gen Z generations on the U.S. auto industry will be greater than the impact of the Baby Boomers in the 1980s. This suggests a “wave of demand” over the next 5-10 years as these segments (~127M people) move into the prime demographic for vehicle ownership. Ward notes the ADNT has among the highest leverage to the “People Carrier” segment with exposure on key models for GM ( GM ), Toyota ( TM ), and Hyundai/Kia, which account for 45% of the overall “People Carrier” segment. While near-term results will continue to reflect lower F-series production, Ward expects improvement in ADNT’s results in the second half of the year based on higher production of key North American models and the benefits of cost actions, with further gains seen in 2027. More on Adient Adient plc (ADNT) Presents at Wolfe Research Auto, Au...
PepsiCo shares rallied Thursday after the beverage and snack giant indicated that new products and recent price cuts had brought back wary customers, while noting that it hadn’t taken much of a hit yet from the Iran war.
PepsiCo shares rallied Thursday after the beverage and snack giant indicated that new products and recent price cuts had brought back wary customers, while noting that it hadn’t taken much of a hit yet from the Iran war.