Tiny X-Ray Telescope Could Unlock The Moon's Hidden Chemistry Authored by Tokyo Metropolitan University via ScienceDaily , Researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University have used simulations to show that a small, newly developed X-ray telescope could help create a chemical map of the entire lunar surface . Such a map would be a major step toward understanding how the Moon formed, changed, and evolv...
Tiny X-Ray Telescope Could Unlock The Moon's Hidden Chemistry Authored by Tokyo Metropolitan University via ScienceDaily , Researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University have used simulations to show that a small, newly developed X-ray telescope could help create a chemical map of the entire lunar surface . Such a map would be a major step toward understanding how the Moon formed, changed, and evolved over time. A new compact X-ray telescope could help scientists produce the first-ever complete map of the Moon’s chemical makeup. Credit: Shutterstock Their detailed modeling, which included both the telescope detector and a realistic Moon orbiting satellite mission, suggests that one telescope could map five important elements in about two years. A larger five by five array of detectors could produce sharper maps and complete the work more quickly. Mapping The Moon's Chemistry The Moon's geological history is still not fully understood . One major reason is that scientists do not yet have a complete geochemical map of the lunar surface. Because researchers cannot simply collect samples from every part of the Moon, they must rely on remote sensing methods. One of these methods is X-ray fluorescence imaging. In this approach, detectors are pointed at the Moon to capture X-rays emitted by specific elements after they are struck by solar radiation. Those signals can help reveal which elements are present across different regions of the surface. Why Complete Lunar Maps Are Difficult Earlier observations from the Apollo and Chandrayaan missions produced useful partial maps, but a full global map is still missing. Creating one is technically difficult for several reasons. Missions have limited time to gather enough sunlight driven X-ray signals, and detectors can degrade during long periods in space. The problem is especially difficult near the Moon's poles. In these regions, solar X-rays are weaker, which makes it harder to collect the signals needed to identify surface eleme...
MF3d/iStock via Getty Images While there was a small rebound in weekend trading in addition to the start of the week on Monday, Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) remains one of the more notable pain trades of late. As shown below, the world's largest cryptocurrency has been in a downtrend since last fall when it broke below its 200-DMA. With a series of lower highs and lower lows since then, Bitcoin made an att...
MF3d/iStock via Getty Images While there was a small rebound in weekend trading in addition to the start of the week on Monday, Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) remains one of the more notable pain trades of late. As shown below, the world's largest cryptocurrency has been in a downtrend since last fall when it broke below its 200-DMA. With a series of lower highs and lower lows since then, Bitcoin made an attempt to run up to that moving average as recently as mid-May, but the steep leg lower since then has resulted in 52-week lows last week when it traded below $60K for the first time since October 2024. Talk about an ugly chart... In the chart below, we show bitcoin drawdowns from all-time highs since 2017 (when the crypto first traded above $1,000 and roughly when it came into the mainstream). It goes without saying that Bitcoin has been a volatile instrument. Since the start of 2017, it has been in a 37% drawdown on average. That includes a couple of extended periods without new highs, such as from 2018 through 2020 and 2022 through 2024. The crypto again finds itself in not only a longstanding drawdown (as of Monday it is on its 245th day without a fresh high, the third longest streak on record), but nearly cut in half versus its high from last October. Original Post Editor's Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.
The S&P 500 is up about 8% year to date. The same money parked in iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ex China ETF (NASDAQ:EMXC) is up roughly 29.2%. Broad emerging markets funds like iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA:IEMG) and iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA:EEM) sit between those poles, up about 20% and about ... Emerging Markets Are Delivering Over 22 Percent Returns and Mo...
The S&P 500 is up about 8% year to date. The same money parked in iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ex China ETF (NASDAQ:EMXC) is up roughly 29.2%. Broad emerging markets funds like iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA:IEMG) and iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA:EEM) sit between those poles, up about 20% and about ... Emerging Markets Are Delivering Over 22 Percent Returns and Most American Investors Are Missing It Entirely
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) may soon pose a new question to its shareholders. Shares of the social media giant fell roughly 6% on Friday, June 5, after a Financial Times report said the company is weighing a sale of new stock -- potentially tens of billions of dollars' worth -- to help fund its surging investment in artificial intelligence (AI) . Meta quickly called the report "pure speculation,...
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) may soon pose a new question to its shareholders. Shares of the social media giant fell roughly 6% on Friday, June 5, after a Financial Times report said the company is weighing a sale of new stock -- potentially tens of billions of dollars' worth -- to help fund its surging investment in artificial intelligence (AI) . Meta quickly called the report "pure speculation," noting that it hasn't hired banks and continues to explore flexible ways to raise money. So, this is a possibility, not a plan. But it's one worth taking seriously, arriving just days after rival Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) priced a roughly $85 billion equity raise to fund its own AI ambitions. The question for shareholders is less about whether Meta can fund its plans than about how it chooses to -- and selling new shares would be a very different lever than the ones it has used so far. Continue reading
A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after the broader semiconductor sector recovered from a sharp selloff during the previous trading session.
A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after the broader semiconductor sector recovered from a sharp selloff during the previous trading session.
Asian stocks enjoyed a partial rebound from the previous day's rout as investors returned to the AI trade, while easing Middle East tensions also provided support and pushed oil prices down. Investors also took heart from news that Iran and Israel said Monday they had halted hostilities after exchanging strikes that threatened to reignite the Middle East war.
Asian stocks enjoyed a partial rebound from the previous day's rout as investors returned to the AI trade, while easing Middle East tensions also provided support and pushed oil prices down. Investors also took heart from news that Iran and Israel said Monday they had halted hostilities after exchanging strikes that threatened to reignite the Middle East war.
Traders may have another reason to worry less about bond volatility spiking this summer: the FIFA World Cup . Citigroup Inc. says market swings in US and European debt markets tend to ebb when the most-watched sporting tournament on the planet takes place. With the first matches starting Thursday, the bank has reiterated its recommendation to position for lower volatility in the yield curve. “Hist...
Traders may have another reason to worry less about bond volatility spiking this summer: the FIFA World Cup . Citigroup Inc. says market swings in US and European debt markets tend to ebb when the most-watched sporting tournament on the planet takes place. With the first matches starting Thursday, the bank has reiterated its recommendation to position for lower volatility in the yield curve. “Historically, short-dated rates vols in US and EUR tend to stay low or grind even lower during the World Cup, which supports our near-term bearish vol bias,” strategists including Mike Chang wrote in a note dated June 8. Citi strategists say moves in the two- to 10-year part of the yield curve tend to be more modest than those implied over the next month by current market pricing. To take advantage of the trend, the bank is recommending a short yield-curve volatility trade using options. “We continue to favor being tactically short curve vol in the near-term, especially heading into this summer’s football tournament,” they wrote. Market volatility typically eases during the Northern Hemisphere summer as investors head on vacation and trading activity slows. The World Cup — which runs from June 11 through July 19 — could further drain liquidity, with some traders potentially devoting more attention to matches than markets. The ICE BofA MOVE Index , a measure of bond-market volatility, has fallen from a high in March and remains below levels seen a year ago, signaling rates have settled into a relatively narrow range. Despite uncertainty around the Middle East conflict, Citi expects short-term interest-rate volatility to remain subdued, saying that the Federal Reserve’s gradual approach to policy should help keep market swings contained. While this week’s US consumer-price report may trigger market swings, the bank said markets could see a month-long period of relative lull afterward. Mbappé Will Power France to World Cup Gold Over Spain, BofA Says Beer Stocks Set for Billion-Pin...
Oil could hit $150 per barrel within the next couple of months if the fighting in the Middle East continues, as inventories are now at very low levels, said Claudio Galimberti, chief economist at Rystad Energy. "At this point, unless we solve [the Middle East conflict], unless we start to see an increase in the flow, then we are going to see lower and lower inventories, which means higher and high...
Oil could hit $150 per barrel within the next couple of months if the fighting in the Middle East continues, as inventories are now at very low levels, said Claudio Galimberti, chief economist at Rystad Energy. "At this point, unless we solve [the Middle East conflict], unless we start to see an increase in the flow, then we are going to see lower and lower inventories, which means higher and higher prices," Galimberti said. Brent crude was sitting around $94 a barrel on Tuesday. Galimberti reckons that the global oil crunch may be solved by raising the number of barrels flowing through the Strait of Hormuz to 10 million a day from two million. "If we manage to go through from two to 10, and that is possible in our view, over the next three to six months, then we will have solved the [oil crunch] crisis," he said. '"The problem, sitting right here, right now, we are absolutely not there." he added. That said, even if the oil crunch crisis is solved, there may be a shift to a huge oil oversupply due to the unwinding done by OPEC, given that the UAE has left the cartel, said Galimberti. This "is a year of absolute deficit, but fast forward, 2027 may turn out to be a year of humongous surplus," he said, adding that this is another factor that could create a lot of confusion in the market. Recent oil prices and other asset classes have been hit by volatility caused by the Middle East conflict, as investors grapple with mixed signals in the Iran-U.S. negotiations amid a fragile ceasefire. It has been slightly over 100 days since the Middle East war began.
Lemon_tm/iStock via Getty Images The following segment was excerpted from Janus Henderson Opportunistic Alpha Managed Account Q1 2026 Commentary The Portfolio returned -4.62% (gro S s) and the S&P 500® Index returned -4.33%. Contributors/detractors Stock selection in the consumer discretionary and healthcare sectors detracted from relative performance. Stock selection in the information technology...
Lemon_tm/iStock via Getty Images The following segment was excerpted from Janus Henderson Opportunistic Alpha Managed Account Q1 2026 Commentary The Portfolio returned -4.62% (gro S s) and the S&P 500® Index returned -4.33%. Contributors/detractors Stock selection in the consumer discretionary and healthcare sectors detracted from relative performance. Stock selection in the information technology and industrials sectors contributed. Portfolio review We remain excited about opportunities around AI, and our conversations with companies across the ecosystem have reinforced our view that demand for AI compute will continue to exceed supply for the foreseeable future. This should fuel ongoing capital investment and opportunities for companies, especially those operating in critical bottlenecks around infrastructure, memory, optical, and power. Such companies include Vertiv Holdings ( VRT ), a top relative contributor for the first quarter. Vertiv is an essential supplier of cooling, power management, and rack systems to AI data centers. It has delivered strong earnings growth, with its orders backlog more than doubling on a year-over-year basis. It has continued to expand its market reach and capabilities through strategic investments, especially in liquid cooling technologies, and it announced a new partnership with NVIDIA ( NVDA ) to develop advanced solutions to support high-density data centers. Shares rose further on news that Vertiv's stock will be added to the S&P 500 Index, which may draw additional investor attention to the stock. Lumentum ( LITE ) Holdings, another outperformer, is a leading supplier of optical components critical to AI-driven data center networking. The company has several avenues for revenue growth, including sales of optical transceivers, which support the transmission of data through optic cables by transmitting electrical signals into light. It also has a strong foothold in the optical circuit switch market, where Google ( GOOGL ) is a ma...