A Petrobras board member appointed by non-controlling shareholders is warning that the state-controlled producer is losing billions from below-market fuel sales and risks reputational damage. Petrobras has accumulated between $2 billion and $3 billion in losses from selling diesel below international prices since the Iran war began, according to estimates from Francisco Petros, who was elected for...
A Petrobras board member appointed by non-controlling shareholders is warning that the state-controlled producer is losing billions from below-market fuel sales and risks reputational damage. Petrobras has accumulated between $2 billion and $3 billion in losses from selling diesel below international prices since the Iran war began, according to estimates from Francisco Petros, who was elected for a fifth term on April 16. Petrobras’s pricing policy calls for the company to shield consumers from short-term volatility. Petros’s stance, while not shared by a majority of the board, reflects concern among investors that Petrobras may again be absorbing losses to hold down fuel costs — a politically sensitive issue in Brazil that has historically weighed on the company’s balance sheet. His views carry weight because he represents a sizable bloc of non-controlling investors and can act as a counterweight to the government’s majority on the board. “Unfortunately, a problem that is structurally economic could be used for political purposes,” Petros said in an interview. Petrobras declined to comment. Petrobras has raised wholesale diesel prices once since the conflict sent them soaring, while wholesale gasoline prices have gone unchanged and are about 30% below international levels, he calculates. Petros, a lawyer and economist, warned Petrobras that postponing adjustments could undermine compliance with its own policy — a key market concern given the company’s history of subsidy-driven debt. “Gasoline has a more direct impact on the government’s popularity. So it seems to me that this restraint may ultimately serve some other interest,” he said. “Demonstrating that this is not the case has to be concrete — which means raising prices.” While Petros doesn’t see the same “strict political interference” in Petrobras’s fuel prices like in the past, he said the company should begin gradually adjusting them to show its independence. The war-fueled energy inflation puts Chief Exec...
laddawan punna/iStock via Getty Images Market Overview The March quarter started off well as January and February were strong opening months for the U.S. equity market. Key drivers of the market were favorable, including: strong economic growth, robust earnings (especially for small caps), the Federal Reserve's rate cutting cycle, tax cuts (as the so called Big Beautiful Bill became effective in 2...
laddawan punna/iStock via Getty Images Market Overview The March quarter started off well as January and February were strong opening months for the U.S. equity market. Key drivers of the market were favorable, including: strong economic growth, robust earnings (especially for small caps), the Federal Reserve's rate cutting cycle, tax cuts (as the so called Big Beautiful Bill became effective in 2026), expanded deregulation, the ISM PMI Manufacturing index entering expansion territory (above 50), and inflation gradually easing along with long-term interest rates. These positives outweighed negatives such as the stalled labor market and growing concerns about private credit. As a result, through February, equities were up for the year, market breadth expanded and small caps outperformed large caps. Then on February 28th, the US & Israel launched strikes on Iran, initiating the Iran War. This was in response to growing potential threats by the Iranian regime and the recent brutal attacks on its own people. The Iran War The Iran War has dramatically changed the equity market environment for the time being. Equities fell sharply in the month of March as the price of crude oil nearly doubled, interest rates rose, the US dollar rallied, economic uncertainty spiked and investor sentiment plunged. WTI crude oil increased from $65 two days before the war to over $100 by the end of March just over a month later. Other key global crude oil benchmarks, such as, Brent, Oman, and Dubai were even higher. On most individual trading days in March, the price of crude oil was the critical factor. Favorable war headlines caused the price of crude oil to fall and equities to rally in an inverse relationship. However, the opposite was true on most days, where negative war headlines and higher crude prices caused equity multiples to compress. Overall, the fog of war remains thick. As of one week into April, the US and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire. The ceasefire is a clear posi...
Toronto-Dominion Bank ( TD ) is exploring the use of a rare kind of significant risk transfer (SRT) to hedge current and future data center exposure as tech companies' investments in artificial intelligence surge. The reference portfolio would start at ~$1B but could then increase the SRT over time through a forward-flow arrangement, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter....
Toronto-Dominion Bank ( TD ) is exploring the use of a rare kind of significant risk transfer (SRT) to hedge current and future data center exposure as tech companies' investments in artificial intelligence surge. The reference portfolio would start at ~$1B but could then increase the SRT over time through a forward-flow arrangement, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The bank would be able to add data center debt it originates over a predetermined period instead of in a one-shot deal. The tentative transaction is still in its early stages, and terms could change significantly in the issuance process, the people told Bloomberg. The rush to build data centers has some investors worried that an AI bubble will eventually pop, casting doubt on whether loans used to finance the expansion will be paid back. Four of the biggest U.S. tech companies plan ~$650B of capital spending this year for new data centers and related infrastructure, the article said. Other banks that are weighing risk transfers to hedge data center financing are Société Générale ( SCGLF ) and Morgan Stanley ( MS ), Bloomberg said. More on Toronto-Dominion Bank The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD:CA) Shareholder/Analyst Call Transcript The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD:CA) Presents at 24th Annual Financial Services Conference Transcript Toronto-Dominion Bank Is Still Fundamentally Resilient But Almost Fully Priced Toronto Dominion Bank Q1 earnings driven by Canadian P&C, Wholesale Banking fee growth
Corn price action is up 2 to 3 cents in most contracts. Futures closed the Tuesday trade with contracts 1 ½ to 3 cents higher on the session. Preliminary open interest was down 3,986 contracts, mostly rolling out of May, down 28,957. May options expire on Friday. The CmdtyView national...
Corn price action is up 2 to 3 cents in most contracts. Futures closed the Tuesday trade with contracts 1 ½ to 3 cents higher on the session. Preliminary open interest was down 3,986 contracts, mostly rolling out of May, down 28,957. May options expire on Friday. The CmdtyView national...
On The Investor’s Podcast (formerly known as We Study Billionaires), investor Daniel Mahncke made a claim worth stopping on: MercadoLibre has achieved “the longest ever streak of quarters with over 30% year over year revenue growth to 28 consecutive quarters. And at Meli’s size, that’s an insane number. And Meli’s actually the only company ever ... MercadoLibre Just Did What No Company Ever Has: 2...
On The Investor’s Podcast (formerly known as We Study Billionaires), investor Daniel Mahncke made a claim worth stopping on: MercadoLibre has achieved “the longest ever streak of quarters with over 30% year over year revenue growth to 28 consecutive quarters. And at Meli’s size, that’s an insane number. And Meli’s actually the only company ever ... MercadoLibre Just Did What No Company Ever Has: 28 Consecutive Quarters of 30%+ Revenue Growth
Jetlinerimages/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images American Airlines is scheduled to report its Q1 earnings on April 22, before market open, with analysts expecting a 22% rise in the company’s profits. The consensus EPS estimate is -$0.46, while revenue is expected to jump 9% to $13.75B. Over the last 3 months, EPS estimates have seen 17 downward moves but no upward revisions . Revenue estimates ha...
Jetlinerimages/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images American Airlines is scheduled to report its Q1 earnings on April 22, before market open, with analysts expecting a 22% rise in the company’s profits. The consensus EPS estimate is -$0.46, while revenue is expected to jump 9% to $13.75B. Over the last 3 months, EPS estimates have seen 17 downward moves but no upward revisions . Revenue estimates have seen 10 upward revisions and 1 downward move. The firm had guided Q1 CASM (excluding fuel, excluding profit sharing, and net special items) to be up between 3% and 5%. For the full year, adjusted earnings per diluted share were projected in the range of $1.70 to $2.70, while capacity for the period is seen rising 3% to 5% year-over-year. However, investors will be keenly looking out for the management’s comments on United Airlines’ ( UAL ) merger bid. The company had earlier denied merger talks, saying it was not interested. Earlier this month, United CEO Scott Kirby discussed with senior government officials a possible merger with American Airlines ( AAL ), as per Bloomberg. American Airlines has shown consistent underperformance and is characterized by high debt and limited strategic flexibility. Analysts are not optimistic about the merger, arguing that despite operational gains, the deal faces complex antitrust issues, unattractive financials, and disproportionate risk, making the combination inadvisable. “Looking at the financial metrics, there can be synergies once combined, but American Airlines brings an extremely high debt load with it. The subpar cash flow and margin performance is likely why United Airlines would be interested in American Airlines in the first place, but it brings a lot of execution risk,” Seeking Alpha analyst Dhierin Bechai said. Over the last 2 years, AAL has beaten EPS estimates 75% of the time and has beaten revenue estimates 75% of the time. The stock has declined by over 23% in the year so far. More on American Airlines United Airlines ...
Meta employees' activity at work is now being used to train the company's AI agents. As reported by Reuters , Meta is installing a tool it calls Model Capability Initiative (MCI) on US-based employees' computers that runs in work-related apps and websites, recording mouse movements, clicks, keystrokes, and occasional screenshots. The data from this tool will be used to train the company's AI model...
Meta employees' activity at work is now being used to train the company's AI agents. As reported by Reuters , Meta is installing a tool it calls Model Capability Initiative (MCI) on US-based employees' computers that runs in work-related apps and websites, recording mouse movements, clicks, keystrokes, and occasional screenshots. The data from this tool will be used to train the company's AI models to get better at interacting with computers the way humans do, including automating work tasks like those Meta's employees perform on the job. According to Reuters , the data from MCI won't be "used for performance assessments." "If we're buildin … Read the full story at The Verge.
An index tracking semiconductor stocks is on track for its all-time longest streak of daily gains, as investors anticipate strong growth for the sector driven by demand related to artificial intelligence. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index rose as much as 1.9% on Wednesday. If it closes higher, that would mark its 16th straight positive session — its longest such streak on record ...
An index tracking semiconductor stocks is on track for its all-time longest streak of daily gains, as investors anticipate strong growth for the sector driven by demand related to artificial intelligence. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index rose as much as 1.9% on Wednesday. If it closes higher, that would mark its 16th straight positive session — its longest such streak on record — based on data that goes back to 1994. Over the course of the rally, the index has climbed 37%, putting April on track for the biggest one-month percentage gain since February 2000. The rally is just the latest example of chips leading the broader market. The introduction of ChatGPT, which ignited the modern AI era, spurred the years-long trend. Major companies are spending aggressively on AI-related infrastructure, fueling growth for chips in particular. “There’s a huge amount of demand because of artificial intelligence, and I think we can expect the heavy spending on AI to continue for the foreseeable future,” said Mark Grant , chief global strategist at Alliance Global Partners. “I think the sector still looks attractive in terms of both valuation and growth, and that should be positive for both semiconductor stocks broadly, but also the market overall.” The semiconductor sector is expected to grow revenue by about 57% in 2026, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data , which is twice the pace of the overall tech sector, and well above the 9.3% growth expected for the S&P 500 Index. Nvidia Corp. in particular has emerged as not only the poster child for both the sector and AI, but arguably the economy overall. The chip-maker has soared more than 1,200% over the past five years, becoming the world’s largest company in the process, with a market capitalization near $5 trillion. Other major winners of the AI era include Broadcom Inc. , up nearly 800% over the past five years; Micron Technology Inc. , up more than 400%; and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. , which has gained ab...
After almost three hours on their feet and the finish line in sight, two runners sacrificed personal bests to come to the rescue of an exhausted competitor at the Boston Marathon.
After almost three hours on their feet and the finish line in sight, two runners sacrificed personal bests to come to the rescue of an exhausted competitor at the Boston Marathon.
Infosys said the integration will be used to help its clients modernize software development, automate workflows and deploy AI systems, initially focusing software engineering, legacy modernization, and DevOps.
Infosys said the integration will be used to help its clients modernize software development, automate workflows and deploy AI systems, initially focusing software engineering, legacy modernization, and DevOps.
peshkov/iStock via Getty Images It is “very hard to not be bullish right now” across U.S. stocks, crypto, and artificial intelligence, according to Anthony Pompliano, chairman and CEO of ProCap Financial. In an interview with CNBC, Pompliano dismissed concerns about inflation and geopolitical tensions, arguing that data points to an American economy experiencing a “manufacturing renaissance” and e...
peshkov/iStock via Getty Images It is “very hard to not be bullish right now” across U.S. stocks, crypto, and artificial intelligence, according to Anthony Pompliano, chairman and CEO of ProCap Financial. In an interview with CNBC, Pompliano dismissed concerns about inflation and geopolitical tensions, arguing that data points to an American economy experiencing a “manufacturing renaissance” and economic boom that should benefit stocks ( SP500 ), ( COMP:IND ), ( DJI ), crypto ( BTC-USD ), ( ETH-USD ), and related assets over the next 12 months. He spoke about the launch of an AI-first financial research product on prediction markets in partnership with Kalshi ( KALSHI ). Pompliano explained that his firm’s AI system has uncovered a rare historical market pattern that suggests significant gains ahead. The AI system, according to Pompliano, excels at sifting through “mountains and mountains of data” to find undiscovered insights. He pointed to one striking finding: the stock market has posted three consecutive weeks of gains of 3% or more, something that has only happened three times in the past 76 years. Following those previous instances, the market returned an average of 33% over the subsequent 12 months. On Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) specifically, Pompliano made the case that the cryptocurrency has established itself as the “king of safe haven assets.” He cited research showing that in every financial crisis since 2020—including the banking crisis, COVID, tariffs, and geopolitical conflicts—Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) outperformed stocks, gold, cash, and treasuries within 60 days of each crisis beginning. “I think that the market is saying that something like Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) is an asset that they want to hold during times of uncertainty,” he said. Acknowledging Bitcoin’s ( BTC-USD ) volatility, Pompliano expressed confidence that the cryptocurrency likely bottomed at $60,000 and will reach new all-time highs within the next two to three years. He revealed that both he person...