Philippine rescuers were racing against time on Monday in a search for possible signs of life more than 24 hours after the collapse of a building under construction in the city of Angeles, with crews carefully removing rocks and surrounding debris by hand. The painstaking manual operation around 80 km (50 miles) north of the capital Manila underscored the difficulty of the rescue effort, carried ...
Philippine rescuers were racing against time on Monday in a search for possible signs of life more than 24 hours after the collapse of a building under construction in the city of Angeles, with crews carefully removing rocks and surrounding debris by hand. The painstaking manual operation around 80 km (50 miles) north of the capital Manila underscored the difficulty of the rescue effort, carried out under scorching heat, with authorities unable to rely on excavators and other machinery for fear that the unstable structure could shift further and bury any survivors deeper beneath the wreckage and rubble. As search operations stretched into a second day, families waiting near the disaster area voiced growing frustration and despair, saying they were receiving no information about the fate of their missing loved ones. “My youngest child keeps asking, but I do not have answers,” said 47-year-old Lea Casilao, whose husband, a construction worker, is believed to be trapped beneath the rubble. Advertisement “If only the rescuers could call out his name, he might still respond, so I’d have something to hold on to, some hope,” Casilao said, wiping away her tears. Rescuers move debris as they search for trapped survivors following the collapse of a nine-storey building under construction in Balibago, Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines, on Sunday. Photo: Reuters Search teams, assisted by K9 dogs, continued to comb through the debris after overnight thermal scans detected heartbeats and breathing beneath the collapsed structure. Advertisement Rescuers also placed yellow flexible tubes to channel air into pockets beneath a tangle of concrete, mangled metal and collapsed scaffolding.
IanGoodPhotography/iStock via Getty Images Mortgage rates have climbed to their highest level since August, delivering yet another blow to what was supposed to be a stronger spring housing season. According to Freddie Mac, the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage jumped to 6.51%, up from 6.36% just one week earlier. That increase may not sound dramatic, but in today's affordability-constrained...
IanGoodPhotography/iStock via Getty Images Mortgage rates have climbed to their highest level since August, delivering yet another blow to what was supposed to be a stronger spring housing season. According to Freddie Mac, the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage jumped to 6.51%, up from 6.36% just one week earlier. That increase may not sound dramatic, but in today's affordability-constrained market, even small changes in rates can have a massive impact on purchasing power. And mortgage rates are only part of the problem. Home prices remain elevated across much of the country, while rising insurance costs and property taxes continue to pressure affordability. With renewed geopolitical tensions in Iran, rising oil prices, and inflation concerns, many prospective buyers are sitting on the sidelines. The result? Existing home sales in April came in essentially flat and well below economists' expectations, while applications for home purchases also declined week over week, despite still being modestly higher year over year. Anthony Smith, senior economist at Realty.com, summed it up well when he noted that every uptick in rates narrows the pool of buyers who can "make the numbers work." That's the backdrop. Now let's pivot to what this means for apartment landlords and why the current environment may create a compelling setup for apartment REITs. The American Dream is Getting Delayed For decades, homeownership has been the cornerstone of the American dream, but today that dream is increasingly deferred, especially for younger households. The combination of elevated mortgage rates, expensive home prices, tighter lending standards, and rising operating costs has created one of the most difficult affordability environments in modern history, and as a result, millions of households are remaining renters longer. That's important because apartment REITs don't need homeownership to collapse to thrive; they simply benefit when the barriers to buying become too high for man...
Gold prices rose more than 1% on Monday, as optimism for a breakthrough in U.S.-Iran peace negotiations weakened the dollar and eased oil prices, which softened the inflation outlook. Spot gold was up 1.1% at $4,559.07 per ounce, as of 0736 GMT. U.S. gold futures for June delivery gained 0.8% to $4,559.80. While U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that he was in no hurry to finalize a deal wi...
Gold prices rose more than 1% on Monday, as optimism for a breakthrough in U.S.-Iran peace negotiations weakened the dollar and eased oil prices, which softened the inflation outlook. Spot gold was up 1.1% at $4,559.07 per ounce, as of 0736 GMT. U.S. gold futures for June delivery gained 0.8% to $4,559.80. While U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that he was in no hurry to finalize a deal with Iran, investors seem to rely more on his Saturday statement that Washington and Iran had " largely negotiated " a memorandum of understanding on a peace deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz. "Trump has been raising market hopes for some sort of deal with Iran, which could lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. That prospect has weighed on oil prices and, by extension, given gold a welcome lift from an inflation perspective," said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade. The U.S. will either have a good agreement with Iran or deal with the country "another way," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday. The dollar was around its lowest levels in a week, making greenback-priced bullion more affordable for holders of other currencies. Oil prices, which influence inflation expectations, hit two-week lows. Elevated crude can fuel inflation and keep interest rates higher for longer. While gold is seen as an inflation hedge, higher rates tend to weigh on the non-yielding metal. Kevin Warsh was sworn in as chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve on Friday at a pivotal moment for the American economy, where surging gasoline prices linked to the Iran war fuel inflation and erode consumer sentiment. Spot silver climbed 3.1% to $77.79 per ounce, platinum rose 2.3% to $1,966.59, and palladium was up 2.7% at $1,384.70. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.
Temperatures are expected to hit 35C in parts of England on Monday, in an “unprecedented” May heatwave. The Met Office is already predicting that records will be broken. A spokesperson said: “Today will be the hottest day in May in the UK in our temperature records, with highs of 35C expected. The current May record is 32.8C. Records are usually only broken by tenths of a degree, making this heatw...
Temperatures are expected to hit 35C in parts of England on Monday, in an “unprecedented” May heatwave. The Met Office is already predicting that records will be broken. A spokesperson said: “Today will be the hottest day in May in the UK in our temperature records, with highs of 35C expected. The current May record is 32.8C. Records are usually only broken by tenths of a degree, making this heatwave unprecedented for the time of year.” The last time a monthly maximum record was broken was in January 2024, by 1.6C. The 40.3C in July 2022 exceeded the previous record by 1.6C. If the forecasted temperature of 35C is hit, this will be a big jump of 2.2C. Much of England will have faced disturbed sleep on Sunday night, as a new overnight record for temperature was hit, at 19.4C at Kenley in Greater London. This means London residents narrowly avoided a “tropical night”, which is when temperatures overnight do not drop below 20C. This has not happened before in May. There are two “tropical nights” forecast for Monday night and Tuesday night, before temperatures ease off on Wednesday. Sunday was the UK’s hottest May day for at least 79 years, and Kew Gardens in west London recorded 32.3C (90.1F). Many areas of England are officially in a heatwave, with the first to meet the criteria being Santon Downham in Suffolk on Sunday. The other areas officially in heatwave conditions are Heathrow, Kew Gardens and Northolt in London, Benson in Oxfordshire, Brooms Barn in Suffolk, and High Beach and Writtle in Essex. More heatwaves are likely this summer as a “super El Niño” is due to hit. This phenomenon supercharges weather events and makes them more extreme, for example by making heatwaves hotter. The effects are due to build up to hit in 2027, making it likely to break global heat records, but it is expected to begin emerging this summer. El Niño is characterised by warming of the ocean surface in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. It is one of three states scientist...
DKosig/E+ via Getty Images The FT Vest Gold Strategy Target Income ETF ( IGLD ) participates in gold’s upside while also generating an income for investors. IGLD uses short-term US Treasury securities and options on SPDR Gold Shares ETF ( GLD ) to generate an income. The upside isn’t pure, like with GLD, for example; however, if gold is in a supported-but-volatile, sideways phase, IGLD can be usef...
DKosig/E+ via Getty Images The FT Vest Gold Strategy Target Income ETF ( IGLD ) participates in gold’s upside while also generating an income for investors. IGLD uses short-term US Treasury securities and options on SPDR Gold Shares ETF ( GLD ) to generate an income. The upside isn’t pure, like with GLD, for example; however, if gold is in a supported-but-volatile, sideways phase, IGLD can be useful. In 2026, this is an important difference. We just went through a major gold rally last year. Now, there are two basic rules I believe in. At the risk of sounding a little hackneyed, these are – 1) gold does well during periods of turmoil, and 2) nothing lasts forever. Now, in 2025, we saw turmoil – and gold rallied. The Lord knows we are seeing enough turmoil in 2026 as well – however, rule 2 now kicks in. There is bound to be a correction. Gold cannot keep rallying forever. Already we are seeing corrections – although still with considerable support – a quick look at the chart will confirm this. That tells me 2026 may be a year for IGLD. That said, IGLD’s distribution doesn’t offer a whole lot of downside protection. The fund participates fully in gold losses. This shouldn't be forgotten. IGLD overview IGLD’s return last year was 47.39% – excellent in absolute terms but still trailing the LBMA Gold price, which returned 67.41% in one of gold’s most bullish years. That gap is where IGLD generates its income from. IGLD is a Treasury-plus-options structure built around GLD. It is not a conventional gold ETF, and should not be confused as such. The fund holds short-term U.S. Treasury securities and uses FLEX options on GLD to create synthetic gold exposure. These FLEX options are customized exchange-traded options contracts that allow funds to modify strike price, expiration date etc. The fund buys call options and sells put options to participate in GLD’s price movement, and then sells shorter-term call options to generate income. FLEX options are, however, still exchange...
China will improve access to healthcare, education and other public services for the nation’s 357 million-plus migrant workers, potentially boosting urban living standards and stimulating consumer spending. Local governments will end their restrictions on employee social security and expand access to public schools for the children of migrants, according to an announcement on Friday by the State C...
China will improve access to healthcare, education and other public services for the nation’s 357 million-plus migrant workers, potentially boosting urban living standards and stimulating consumer spending. Local governments will end their restrictions on employee social security and expand access to public schools for the children of migrants, according to an announcement on Friday by the State Council, China’s cabinet. They will also remove bureaucratic restrictions affecting migrant residents...
Key Points Revenue from its latest chip design hasn't even started coming in the door. Nvidia reaffirmed its projection of $3 trillion to $4 trillion in data-center capital expenditure by 2030. The stock is cheap for its growth. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › Although Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) may be the world's most valuable company, I think the stock still has a lot of room to rise. The mark...
Key Points Revenue from its latest chip design hasn't even started coming in the door. Nvidia reaffirmed its projection of $3 trillion to $4 trillion in data-center capital expenditure by 2030. The stock is cheap for its growth. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › Although Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) may be the world's most valuable company, I think the stock still has a lot of room to rise. The market may have come to expect a lot from Nvidia, but there is a major growth runway ahead for the stock, and I think it's among the best buys right now. I've got three reasons Nvidia can continue rising, and all of them add up to make the stock a genius buy right now. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » 1. Vera Rubin's revenue hasn't even come in the door yet Nvidia tends to launch a new chip architecture every few years. The upgrades from one generation to the next are incredible, and that's exactly what we'll see when the Vera Rubin architecture is implemented, replacing the current Blackwell technology. Rubin chips can run inference 10 times cheaper than a comparable Blackwell chip, and four times less for training. That's a major upgrade that will unlock new AI capabilities that we haven't seen yet. While Nvidia has been hyping this launch, it has recorded no revenue from the platform. However, by the third quarter of this year, Vera Rubin chips will start shipping, and that could unlock a whole new venue of revenue growth for Nvidia. There's still a lot more ahead for Nvidia, and that makes me bullish as an investor. 2. The data-center build-out trend is set to last for many more years One item that may be holding investors up are doubts about how long the data-center build-out will last. After all, of Nvidia's $81.6 billion in Q1 revenue (up 85% year over year), $75.2 billion came from its ...
The site of a gas explosion at Tongzhou Group's Liushenyu coal mine in Qinyuan county, Changzhi, Shanxi province, on May 23, 2026. Photo: VCG Just past 7 p.m. on May 22, a miner went underground to conduct a routine inspection at a coal mine operating on a three-shift system. By 10 a.m. the following day, his personnel tracking device showed he was still in the same underground location, a family ...
The site of a gas explosion at Tongzhou Group's Liushenyu coal mine in Qinyuan county, Changzhi, Shanxi province, on May 23, 2026. Photo: VCG Just past 7 p.m. on May 22, a miner went underground to conduct a routine inspection at a coal mine operating on a three-shift system. By 10 a.m. the following day, his personnel tracking device showed he was still in the same underground location, a family member told Caixin. The miner had walked into a catastrophic gas explosion. The blast occurred at 7:35 p.m. on May 22, at the Liushenyu Coal Mine in Qinyuan county, Shanxi province. According to an official press conference held the evening of May 23, there were 247 people working underground at the time of the explosion. The accident killed 82 people, left two missing, and hospitalized 128 with injuries as of May 23. Another 35 miners managed to return home uninjured.
matejmo/iStock via Getty Images Fund performance The abrdn Ultra Short Municipal Income Fund (Institutional class shares, net of fees) returned 0.57% for the first quarter, and underperformed the 0.64% return of its benchmark, the Bloomberg Municipal Bond 1 Year (1-2) Index. ¹ During the quarter, allocations to multi-family housing detracted from relative performance. Conversely, the Fund's exposu...
matejmo/iStock via Getty Images Fund performance The abrdn Ultra Short Municipal Income Fund (Institutional class shares, net of fees) returned 0.57% for the first quarter, and underperformed the 0.64% return of its benchmark, the Bloomberg Municipal Bond 1 Year (1-2) Index. ¹ During the quarter, allocations to multi-family housing detracted from relative performance. Conversely, the Fund's exposures to other revenue, industrial and hospitals bonds were favorable. In terms of credit quality, AA-rated bonds detracted slightly, while BBB and A-rated bonds improved relative performance. Market review The overall municipal ( MUNI ) bond market, as measured by the Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index, returned -0.18% for the first quarter of 2026. The short end of the muni market outperformed both the intermediate and long end of the market, with the Bloomberg Municipal 1-2 Year Index returning 0.64%, the Bloomberg Municipal 4-6 Year Index returning 0.01%, and the Bloomberg Municipal 17-22 Year Index returning 0.37%. The taxable muni bond market experienced positive performance over the quarter, with the Bloomberg Taxable Municipal Bond Index returning 0.43% over the period, which compares favorably to the negative performance of the Bloomberg US Aggregate Index, which returned -0.05% over the same period. Meanwhile, high yield muni bonds outperformed their corporate counterparts, with the Bloomberg Municipal Bond: High Yield Index returning 0.71% over the quarter compared to a -0.50% return of the Bloomberg US Corporate High Yield Bond Index. Annualised GDP grew by a lower-than-expected 0.7% in the fourth quarter, compared to the preliminary estimate's 1.4% and the 4.4% expansion recorded in the third quarter. The US Federal Reserve (Fed) held the federal funds target range at 3.50-3.75% amid an uncertain macroeconomic backdrop. The yield spread between two- and 10-year Treasuries decreased as the curve modestly flattened, beginning the quarter at 69 basis points ( BPS ) and ...
As earnings season comes to a close, artificial intelligence (AI) investors eagerly awaited Nvidia (NVDA 1.86%) to report its first-quarter results last Wednesday. I wasn't too surprised to learn that the company once again blew past Wall Street's expectations and also beat its own internal guidance. After all, the rest of big tech -- many of which are Nvidia's largest customers -- already reporte...
As earnings season comes to a close, artificial intelligence (AI) investors eagerly awaited Nvidia (NVDA 1.86%) to report its first-quarter results last Wednesday. I wasn't too surprised to learn that the company once again blew past Wall Street's expectations and also beat its own internal guidance. After all, the rest of big tech -- many of which are Nvidia's largest customers -- already reported earnings. The main theme from those reports was that investment in AI infrastructure is accelerating. That's a good sign for Nvidia's core data center business. What I most certainly did not expect was the company's announcement of an additional $80 billion stock repurchase authorization. Let's explore what a stock buyback signals about management's views regarding the current AI capex supercycle. Why do companies buy back stock? If management believes its company's stock is trading below its intrinsic value, it may choose to deploy excess capital to buy back shares. Moreover, buybacks often reflect management's confidence in the company's ability to sustain robust growth. Rather than hoard cash or pursue questionable acquisitions, companies can return capital to shareholders when they are optimistic about the revenue and profit expansion ahead. In Nvidia's case, with massive free cash flow amid unrelenting chip demand from hyperscalers, such shareholder rewards programs underscore management's belief that the company's trajectory outpaces current market pricing. Expand NASDAQ : NVDA Nvidia Today's Change ( -1.86 %) $ -4.09 Current Price $ 215.42 Key Data Points Market Cap $5.2T Day's Range $ 214.84 - $ 221.07 52wk Range $ 132.92 - $ 236.54 Volume 5.8M Avg Vol 171.3M Gross Margin 74.15 % Dividend Yield 0.02 % What does Nvidia's share repurchase history look like? In August 2023, the company authorized a $25 billion buyback without expiration. Of note, this was an increase to a prior buyback program. Exactly one year later, Nvidia approved a subsequent $50 billion stock re...
Vessels are seen anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, off the port city of Khasab on Oman's northern Musandam Peninsula on May 17, 2026. - | Afp | Getty Images Iran and the United States played down hopes for an imminent breakthrough in the three-month-old war on Monday, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying there will either be a good agreement or Washington would deal with the country in ...
Vessels are seen anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, off the port city of Khasab on Oman's northern Musandam Peninsula on May 17, 2026. - | Afp | Getty Images Iran and the United States played down hopes for an imminent breakthrough in the three-month-old war on Monday, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying there will either be a good agreement or Washington would deal with the country in "another way." Rubio told reporters in New Delhi that the U.S. would give diplomacy every chance to succeed before exploring "alternatives", after President Donald Trump said on Sunday he had told his representatives not to rush into any Iran deal. There was a "pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the strait, get the strait open, enter into a very real, significant, time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matter, and hopefully we can pull it off," Rubio said. Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that Iran was negotiating an end to the war and was not currently discussing nuclear issues. The spokesperson added that a framework had been reached but no one could say an agreement between the United States and Iran was imminent. The potential memorandum of understanding contained no specific details about the management of the Strait of Hormuz, which belongs to the coastal countries, he said. A day earlier, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the U.S. blockade on Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz would "remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed". He added, "Both sides must take their time and get it right." Oil prices fell 5% to two-week lows on Monday, as optimism grew that the U.S. and Iran were moving closer to a peace deal. Sticking points Trump raised expectations of an imminent deal on Saturday when he said Washington and Tehran had "largely negotiated" a memorandum of understanding on a peace agreement that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's foreign ministry s...