The stock market got what it needed, at least for the moment. Stocks soared Wednesday after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire . As part of the deal, the Strait of Hormuz would be temporarily reopened. Crude prices tumbled following the announcement. West Texas Intermediate futures were down 18% at around $92 per barrel. Brent oil plunged 16.7% to rou...
The stock market got what it needed, at least for the moment. Stocks soared Wednesday after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire . As part of the deal, the Strait of Hormuz would be temporarily reopened. Crude prices tumbled following the announcement. West Texas Intermediate futures were down 18% at around $92 per barrel. Brent oil plunged 16.7% to roughly $91. Since the beginning of the war, equities and oil have largely traded inversely. If oil rose, stocks fell on fears higher energy prices would put upward pressure on inflation. If crude fell, equities would rise as traders priced in an end to the conflict. @SP.1 @CL.1 1M mountain S & P 500 futures and oil in past month Now that a ceasefire has been reached, Wall Street is pricing in greater odds of the war coming to an end — or at least lowering chances of further escalation. Airlines surged in early trading Wednesday, as lower crude prices signaled lower costs for the companies and more cash in consumer pockets for traveling. United Airlines was up more than 12%. Delta Air Lines and American Airlines jumped about 11% each. There are other, perhaps less obvious stocks that could see a big jump as well. JPMorgan last month put together a list of S & P 500 stocks that are inversely correlated with WTI. Two tech stocks that made the cut are Sandisk and On Semiconductor . Both names are already enjoying strong 2026 performances — up about 199% and 18%, respectively. They looked to add to those gains Wednesday, with Sandisk popping 9% and On Semi climbing 5% in the premarket. Health care names Boston Scientific and McKesson also made JPMorgan's list. Both stocks could use a boost. The former is down 35% year to date, while the latter is up 4%. The gained more than 1% each before the bell. Another stock on JPMorgan's list is Ulta Beauty . The beauty giant climbed almost 2% in the premarket. However, shares have fallen 12% year to date.
A trader works, as a screen broadcasts a press conference by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell following the Fed rate announcement, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., March 18, 2026. Brendan McDermid | Reuters Traders are entertaining the possibility of an interest rate cut by the end of the year now that the U.S. and Iran have agreed to a cease fire....
A trader works, as a screen broadcasts a press conference by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell following the Fed rate announcement, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., March 18, 2026. Brendan McDermid | Reuters Traders are entertaining the possibility of an interest rate cut by the end of the year now that the U.S. and Iran have agreed to a cease fire. Odds for a reduction jumped Wednesday morning, hitting about 43%, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, which uses 30-day fed funds futures contracts to compute market expectations for moves by the Federal Reserve. Market pricing is implying a 3.5% rate in December for the overnight borrowing benchmark, compared to the current effective level of 3.64%. Prior to the announcement, market-implied odds for a cut were just 14%. Traders had expected the Fed would be hesitant to cut this year as the Iran conflict had sent energy prices skyrocketing , threatening the central bank's efforts to get inflation back to its 2% goal. Previous to that, markets had expected multiple cuts this year in an effort to shore up the plodding labor market . With at least a fragile peace in Iran , sentiment began tilting back toward the probability for a cut. "The market is now discounting a clear skew to one cut from the Fed this year," Krishna Guha, head of global policy and central bank strategy at Evercore ISI, said in a note. "Assuming a flawed deal likely will be reached, this repricing has more to go, with the looming inflation shock now much less likely to threaten inflation expectations." Guha sees rate cuts in play for the Fed's global peers including the Bank of England, European Central bank and Bank of Japan. In the U.S., markets this week will get data that will provide two perspectives on inflation. The Commerce Department on Thursday will release the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed's preferred gauge, that will show where inflation was in February, prior ...
Nicholas Smith/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Jefferies upgraded Deere ( DE ) to Hold from a previous investment rating of Underperform, pointing to a more even risk and reward profile after a recent pullback in the stock. Shares of the agricultural equipment maker have fallen about 15% since mid-February, a move that analysts say has reduced downside risk and brought valuation closer to fair l...
Nicholas Smith/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Jefferies upgraded Deere ( DE ) to Hold from a previous investment rating of Underperform, pointing to a more even risk and reward profile after a recent pullback in the stock. Shares of the agricultural equipment maker have fallen about 15% since mid-February, a move that analysts say has reduced downside risk and brought valuation closer to fair levels. While no longer bearish, the firm stopped short of turning positive, maintaining a more neutral stance at current prices. Jefferies continues to view Deere ( DE ) as a high-quality company, citing its leadership in product innovation, strong market position and access to valuable operational data generated by its equipment base. Looking ahead, the firm expects the company to deliver another strong upcycle. In past cycles, Deere ( DE ) has grown revenue by roughly 65% from trough to peak, and Jefferies forecasts a similar trajectory this time, with total growth of about 75%. That outlook is driven primarily by higher volumes, with a smaller contribution from pricing. Margins are also expected to expand meaningfully, with incremental margins projected around 35% over the next three years. Based on these assumptions, Jefferies applies a peak valuation multiple of 15 times earnings and discounts that back to arrive at a $550 price target. More on Deere Deere Is Finally Receiving Winds Of Change Deere: Fertilizer Prices Could Be The Straw That Breaks The Camel's Back Deere & Company: Outrunning Broader Markets, Shares Fairly Valued Deere reaches settlement in U.S. right-to-repair lawsuit White House scrambles for fertilizer supplies as Iran war disrupts trade
The 2024 winner I Am Maximus heads to Aintree on Saturday as favourite to win again. Here is a look through the chances of all 34 contenders One of two previous winners at the top of the weights, and he backed up his 2024 success by pressing Nick Rockett all the way to the Elbow 12 months ago before finally crying enough. He had shown precious few hints of his National-winning form in two runs pri...
The 2024 winner I Am Maximus heads to Aintree on Saturday as favourite to win again. Here is a look through the chances of all 34 contenders One of two previous winners at the top of the weights, and he backed up his 2024 success by pressing Nick Rockett all the way to the Elbow 12 months ago before finally crying enough. He had shown precious few hints of his National-winning form in two runs prior to that exceptional performance under top weight and has more to recommend him this year, having finished second in a Grade One in December and then fifth in the Irish Gold Cup. In strict handicapping terms, he should probably find one or two too good, but Aintree aptitude is a serious weapon and another podium place is no forlorn hope. Verdict: each-way hope on Aintree form but no top-weight winner since 70s Continue reading...
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images News Anthropic ( ANTHRO ) revealed Project Glasswing, a cybersecurity initiative that will be built with the capabilities of its most powerful model, Claude Mythos Preview, with help from the most prolific software and security providers. The partners include CrowdStrike ( CRWD ), Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ), Microsoft ( MSFT ), Cisco ( CSCO ), Broadcom ( AVGO ), G...
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images News Anthropic ( ANTHRO ) revealed Project Glasswing, a cybersecurity initiative that will be built with the capabilities of its most powerful model, Claude Mythos Preview, with help from the most prolific software and security providers. The partners include CrowdStrike ( CRWD ), Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ), Microsoft ( MSFT ), Cisco ( CSCO ), Broadcom ( AVGO ), Google ( GOOG )( GOOGL ), Apple ( AAPL ), Nvidia ( NVDA ), Amazon ( AMZN ), JPMorganChase ( JPM ), and the Linux Foundation. The capabilities of the new model have demonstrated that " AI models have reached a level of coding capability where they can surpass all but the most skilled humans at finding and exploiting software vulnerabilities," Anthropic said. "Mythos Preview has already found thousands of high-severity vulnerabilities, including some in every major operating system and web browser ," Anthropic said. "Given the rate of AI progress, it will not be long before such capabilities proliferate, potentially beyond actors who are committed to deploying them safely. The fallout—for economies, public safety, and national security—could be severe. Project Glasswing is an urgent attempt to put these capabilities to work for defensive purposes." For cybersecurity companies, the initiative shows that these firms remain more necessary than ever in the era of artificial intelligence, according to analysts. "We believe that pressure will be alleviated off Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike, which remain our top cybersecurity picks, as these companies are now seen as primary cyber defense names that are keeping up with the AI model advancements," said Wedbush analysts in a Wednesday morning investor report. "We believe the cyber stalwarts with the right AI product portfolios, like CRWD & PANW, are in the driver's seat to monetize this new world of agents/threats/infrastructure over the coming years. We estimate that cybersecurity represents roughly 5% of IT budgets and will like...
stockcam/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Investment Thesis Snap Inc. ( SNAP ) recently had a substantial setback with its stock price due to massive stock-based compensation (SBC) and Specs cash burn, which has sent the stock down well below its historical average. The market's disappointment has not only driven down its stock price but also pushed implied volatility (IV) of options to high lev...
stockcam/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Investment Thesis Snap Inc. ( SNAP ) recently had a substantial setback with its stock price due to massive stock-based compensation (SBC) and Specs cash burn, which has sent the stock down well below its historical average. The market's disappointment has not only driven down its stock price but also pushed implied volatility (IV) of options to high levels. However, investors ignore the fact that Snap is a special asset. It can be a highly profitable company if it changes. Furthermore, if the stock price falls excessively to current levels, change is inevitable. The management has acknowledged this and taken action, taking a step to establish Specs as a distinct subsidiary within Snap Inc. in Feb. 2026. This situation has attracted me to try to create an options strategy with a very thick safety margin and an annualized return of up to 21%. In the following analysis, I will delve into the underlying logic behind this trade. Business Overview Snap includes two business units: Snapchat and Specs. SNAPCHAT Snapchat is a very good and popular product, as highlighted by Irenic Capital in their “ Snap Back to Reality ” presentation. Advantages of Snapchat include: 1 of only 4 scaled U.S. social networks. ~1bn MAUs and 474mm DAUs—huge, irreplaceable scale. $6 billion in revenue, growing 10%+ YoY. $1 billion in subscription revenues, growing 60%+ YoY. Unique ability to captivate user attention and media trends. Proprietary data assets and advertising stack—one of the few “walled gardens.” The current price of Snap is $4.63, implying that TEV is only $8.4 billion and the TEV-to-sales ratio is 1.4x. Compared to its competitors, it is extremely undervalued (Reddit is 6.6x, Meta is 5.2x, and Pinterest is 2.0x), which is the consensus in the market. These undeniable facts form the basis for all the following discussion. TEV-to-Sales comparison (Irenic Capital: Snap back to reality) Specs Specs is another story. On the one hand, it is ...
Catherine Delahaye/DigitalVision via Getty Images Thesis Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited ( TLX ) reported some quite strong Q1 '26 results this week. Revenue hit $230 million, up about 24% year-over-year, with some very good continued growth in their commercial imaging portfolio. This performance just slightly exceeded market expectations, and we saw a nice upward swing in the share price as a resul...
Catherine Delahaye/DigitalVision via Getty Images Thesis Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited ( TLX ) reported some quite strong Q1 '26 results this week. Revenue hit $230 million, up about 24% year-over-year, with some very good continued growth in their commercial imaging portfolio. This performance just slightly exceeded market expectations, and we saw a nice upward swing in the share price as a result. We also saw the company reaffirm that FY26 revenue guidance range of $950 to $970 million. This sits a bit above consensus estimates of around $943 million. Elsewhere, Telix maintained its planned R&D investment of between $200 and $240 million. So we can expect some milestones in the near term to come from that pipeline, while still benefiting from a full-year contribution from its RLS acquisition. Q1 '26 Telix had a pretty solid start to 2026. Q1 '26 revenue managed to hit $230 million, about 24% year-over-year growth and an 11% jump since last quarter-over-quarter. We can put this mainly down to their Precision Medicine segment, which brought in a hefty $186 million in revenue, up about 23% and 16% since last year and since last quarter, respectively. So, there’s clearly some strong demand for their PSMA imaging products, particularly Illuccix and Gozellix. There have also been some external pressures, such as severe North American weather, so this goes to show some good resilience in their distribution model. Elsewhere, Telix Manufacturing Solutions contributed about $44 million, which was steady year-over-year growth but actually flattened a bit, which would suggest that near-term upside here is more tied to the core Precision Medicine business. Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited As for the broader strategic trajectory, I think things are still on track. Particularly, the near-$1 billion full-year revenue guidance that’s unchanged at $950 to $970 million. So it would seem that management is still pretty confident in continued commercial momentum and stable pricing dynami...
Implementation of the Online Safety Act has just got going, leaving ex-chair of Channel 4 with a huge task on his hands UK politics live – latest updates Ian Cheshire’s Ofcom in-tray is big. It is available online under the regulator’s plan for 2026-27 and covers an array of industries: telecoms, broadband, the postal service, media and the online world. It is the latter that it going to dominate ...
Implementation of the Online Safety Act has just got going, leaving ex-chair of Channel 4 with a huge task on his hands UK politics live – latest updates Ian Cheshire’s Ofcom in-tray is big. It is available online under the regulator’s plan for 2026-27 and covers an array of industries: telecoms, broadband, the postal service, media and the online world. It is the latter that it going to dominate his tenure. Ofcom oversees the Online Safety Act, the legislation that regulates social media in the UK. Much is expected of the act from internet safety campaigners, and a bit less from freedom of speech advocates, which leaves Cheshire in a difficult place. Continue reading...
As the United States and Iran agree to a two-week ceasefire, Pakistan’s strongman military chief is emerging as a major diplomatic player on the international stage. When announcing the truce, both US President Donald Trump and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi expressed appreciation for the diplomatic efforts of Asim Munir. Munir, who last year became Pakistan’s first ever chief of defence ...
As the United States and Iran agree to a two-week ceasefire, Pakistan’s strongman military chief is emerging as a major diplomatic player on the international stage. When announcing the truce, both US President Donald Trump and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi expressed appreciation for the diplomatic efforts of Asim Munir. Munir, who last year became Pakistan’s first ever chief of defence forces, is widely seen as the most powerful man in the country. According to one prominent Chinese...
vchal/iStock via Getty Images Uranium Energy ( UEC ) up 7.5% pre-market Wednesday after saying it received approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and commenced production at its Burke Hollow project, the first new U.S. in-situ recovery operation in more than a decade. The company now operates two active ISR platforms in the U.S. following recent capacity expansion approvals at...
vchal/iStock via Getty Images Uranium Energy ( UEC ) up 7.5% pre-market Wednesday after saying it received approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and commenced production at its Burke Hollow project, the first new U.S. in-situ recovery operation in more than a decade. The company now operates two active ISR platforms in the U.S. following recent capacity expansion approvals at its Christensen Ranch facility in Wyoming. Production from Burke Hollow will be processed at the Hobson Central Processing Plant, which holds a license to produce up to 4M lbs/year of uranium . " With two ISR operations now producing and our Ludeman ISR project planned for startup in 2027, we are building a scalable, multi-faceted platform supported by the largest uranium resource base in the United States," Uranium Energy ( UEC ) President and CEO Amir Adnani said. More on Uranium Energy Commodity Prices Improve, But Uranium Energy's Dilution Problems Continue To Mount Uranium Energy: Nuanced Potential For 2026 Uranium Energy Q2 2026 Earnings Call Presentation
A fire services company never conducted any on-site inspections before submitting 85 notices to shut down the hose reel system of a housing estate hit by Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades, conceding that it acted as a “rubber stamp” to handle paperwork for the renovation contractor, an evidential hearing has been told. Separate testimony from a Fire Services Department official also noted tha...
A fire services company never conducted any on-site inspections before submitting 85 notices to shut down the hose reel system of a housing estate hit by Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades, conceding that it acted as a “rubber stamp” to handle paperwork for the renovation contractor, an evidential hearing has been told. Separate testimony from a Fire Services Department official also noted that another contractor had failed to notify authorities after discovering that Wang Fuk Court’s fire...
Securitize announced Currenc Group ( CURR ) has tokenized its ordinary shares on both Ethereum and Solana. Tokenized shares aim to enable 24/7 trading, lower transaction costs, fractional ownership, and integration with decentralized finance systems. The company also proposed a reverse merger with Animoca Brands. Cantor Equity Partners II ( CEPT ) is planning a proposed business combination with S...
Securitize announced Currenc Group ( CURR ) has tokenized its ordinary shares on both Ethereum and Solana. Tokenized shares aim to enable 24/7 trading, lower transaction costs, fractional ownership, and integration with decentralized finance systems. The company also proposed a reverse merger with Animoca Brands. Cantor Equity Partners II ( CEPT ) is planning a proposed business combination with Securitize. More on Currenc Currenc Group receives Nasdaq notice over annual meeting compliance Financial information for Currenc