Eric Johnston/iStock via Getty Images Thesis First National Bank Alaska ( FBAK ) is a well-capitalized commercial bank with a firm footprint in the Alaskan economy. The bank has displayed strong return metrics over the prior eight quarters with both net interest margin and earnings per share compounding at compelling rates. Despite the attractive return metrics, the best rating I can give the firm...
Eric Johnston/iStock via Getty Images Thesis First National Bank Alaska ( FBAK ) is a well-capitalized commercial bank with a firm footprint in the Alaskan economy. The bank has displayed strong return metrics over the prior eight quarters with both net interest margin and earnings per share compounding at compelling rates. Despite the attractive return metrics, the best rating I can give the firm at this time is a hold for three reasons: 1) Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) have nearly tripled in the last 12 months; 2) the Alaskan economy is heavily tied to oil prices and the seafood industry, both of which can be volatile, threatening the deposit base and margins; and 3) the bank appears to be priced for perfection at current valuations, leaving little room for upside potential. Company Profile Headquartered in Anchorage, AK, First National Bank Alaska is a 103-year-old commercial bank operating 28 branches solely in Alaska. FBAK operates in an oligopolistic banking market where the market is dominated by a very small number of large players, meaning the bank does not have to compete as aggressively on pricing, leading to generally higher profit margins. FBAK holds the distinction of being recognized as a Minority Depository Institution by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, as it is owned primarily by women. The bank employs more than 600 Alaskans as of March 31st, 2026, and offers a full suite of banking services, including commercial and industrial loans, real estate construction and development loans, and multifamily residential real estate loans. Q1, 2026 Earnings Review FBAK delivered strong earnings results in its Q1 2026 earnings on May 6, 2026. Net income increased to $21.2 million from $17.7 million from the same period in 2025. The financial growth was driven by a stronger asset mix and expanding margins; net interest margin rose to 3.98%. These results helped push the bank past the historic $1 billion valuation mark for the first time. Total asset...
Olemedia/iStock via Getty Images NICE Ltd. ( NICE ) dropped 28.47% since my last buy call at $123.53. It’s at $88.36 now. The price looks like it’s way too negative on what NICE can actually earn over the next few years and where it fits in the industry. Shares have been cut in half from the $180.61 high of the past year. They’re sitting near their recent 52-week low of $84.38. But business perfor...
Olemedia/iStock via Getty Images NICE Ltd. ( NICE ) dropped 28.47% since my last buy call at $123.53. It’s at $88.36 now. The price looks like it’s way too negative on what NICE can actually earn over the next few years and where it fits in the industry. Shares have been cut in half from the $180.61 high of the past year. They’re sitting near their recent 52-week low of $84.38. But business performance hasn’t really fallen apart, operations are holding up. So I’m switching from a Buy to a Strong Buy. There’s a big gap showing up now between how NICE is running the business, the actual growth drivers in play, and just how cheap the stock has gotten. Right now, the market looks like it’s overreacting to short-term margin pressures and a weaker-than-expected second-quarter revenue outlook, even though full-year revenue guidance still points to about 8% growth. That kind of drop is what opens the door for people willing to go against the crowd. The steep fall in valuation after the last quarter isn’t really about NICE losing its long-term edge, cash flow, or place in the market. It looks more tied to near-term margin compression, the weaker Q2 revenue outlook and uncertainty about how quickly AI monetization flows through the model. Q1 Growth Last quarter, NICE brought in $768.6 million in revenue, up nearly 10% from a year ago. Cloud revenue climbed 14.6% to $603.4 million. AI & Self-Service annual recurring revenue jumped 66% to $345 million. AI was included in 100% of CXone enterprise deals. International sales did well too, up 30% outside North America. The real question is if NICE can keep turning its AI-focused platform and the Cognigy deal into steady cash flow and better returns on what it spends. Management is clear: AI remains a powerful growth driver, with AI ARR increasing 66% year over year and included in 100% of our CXone enterprise deals, highlighting the growing adoption of our AI solutions at scale. -Scott Russell, CEO It’s showing up in how clients ar...
Alphabet's Google is in talks with Samsung Electronics to manufacture part of its next-generation chip, codenamed "Icefish," The Information reported on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the matter. Google plans for Taiwan's TSMC make the main part of the chip, while Samsung may produce a separate component that helps connect it to memory, the report said. Alphabet did not immed...
Alphabet's Google is in talks with Samsung Electronics to manufacture part of its next-generation chip, codenamed "Icefish," The Information reported on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the matter. Google plans for Taiwan's TSMC make the main part of the chip, while Samsung may produce a separate component that helps connect it to memory, the report said. Alphabet did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Samsung shares have rallied 150% so far this year with Korea’s army of retail investors speculating on further gains as the supply=demand imbalance in memory chips shows no sign of abating.
Samsung shares have rallied 150% so far this year with Korea’s army of retail investors speculating on further gains as the supply=demand imbalance in memory chips shows no sign of abating.
Galeanu Mihai/iStock via Getty Images By Warren Patterson Falling Chinese oil imports offer relief to the oil market for now One wouldn’t think that the oil market is facing an unprecedented supply shock at the moment when looking at price action, with ICE Brent trading below $100/bbl. There has been little to no improvement in energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz, and for now, there is littl...
Galeanu Mihai/iStock via Getty Images By Warren Patterson Falling Chinese oil imports offer relief to the oil market for now One wouldn’t think that the oil market is facing an unprecedented supply shock at the moment when looking at price action, with ICE Brent trading below $100/bbl. There has been little to no improvement in energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz, and for now, there is little sign that we are going to see an imminent resumption in energy flows, with a deal still some way off. This means that the oil market will only continue to tighten and will eventually reach a point where the drawdown of buffers leaves the market increasingly vulnerable to significant upside. From an inventory perspective, we believe that the end of July could be an inflection point for the market if there is no improvement in energy flows from the Persian Gulf. This could see ICE Brent spike to $120-130/bbl, prompting increased pressure to come to a deal, which at least starts to see energy flows normalising. And failing a deal, one can’t rule out the possibility that we get to a point where energy-starved buyers are more willing to pay Iran tolls for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Our base case now assumes that we have to wait for this upward pressure before seeing some sort of deal and/or resumption of flows. Therefore, we are of the view that Strait of Hormuz flows will remain largely inhibited until the end of July. This leaves the market in deficit over the third quarter, which sees Brent averaging $110/bbl over 3Q26, before trending lower in 4Q26 and 2027 and flows recover. There are several factors which have helped to take some pressure off oil markets since the start of the war. First, China has stepped back from the oil market significantly. Crude oil imports in May 2026 fell 3.2m b/d year-on-year to 7.8m b/d – the weakest since October 2017. While China sits on significant inventories, it’s unclear how willing they would be to continue tapping reserv...
Microsoft's Build 2026 conference outlined its agentic AI strategy and gave investors three key dates to show if Copilot can justify the company's capex spend
Microsoft's Build 2026 conference outlined its agentic AI strategy and gave investors three key dates to show if Copilot can justify the company's capex spend
Sundry Photography A Korean subsidiary of Coupang ( CPNG ) was fined a little over $410M by the Korean Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) for the November 2025 data breach, a record fine from the Korean commission, though less than Wall Street feared. The fine included $278M for data breach violations and $132M for unlawfully collecting user data from other websites. While the breac...
Sundry Photography A Korean subsidiary of Coupang ( CPNG ) was fined a little over $410M by the Korean Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) for the November 2025 data breach, a record fine from the Korean commission, though less than Wall Street feared. The fine included $278M for data breach violations and $132M for unlawfully collecting user data from other websites. While the breach began in June, it continued undetected until mid-November when Coupang ( CPNG ) identified suspicious activity and notified regulators. The investigation uncovered a former Chinese software developer employed by Coupang ( CPNG ) retained an authentication key, which gave them unauthorized access for nearly a year. The incident affected roughly 70% of the Korean population. “This incident was caused not by sophisticated hacking techniques but by Coupang’s inadequate basic security management system and negligence,” PIPC Chairwoman Kyung Hee Song said in a statement regarding the decision. The fallout included a police raid on Coupang's ( CPNG ) South Korean headquarters, the resignation of its CEO, and a disappointing fourth quarter in which the company swung to a loss and missed profit expectations by 75%. Although the less-than-expected penalty is driving shares as much as 7% higher in Thursday’s premarket trading, the reverberations from the data breach have peeled 42% off the value of Coupang ( CPNG ) shares. More on Coupang Coupang: Nvidia Collaboration Sparks Excitement, But Don't Rush Out To Buy Just Yet Coupang: Worst Is Over, Data Breach Quantified Coupang, Inc. 2026 Q1 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation Coupang continues to grow its Rocket Now food delivery service in Japan Quant check on Eminence Capital's top Q1 holdings: SE, AMZN, PFGC, CPNG
Allison Kirkby pocketed the payment after BT’s share price surged nearly 80% since she became chief executive The chief executive of BT saw her pay and bonus package more than double last year to £5.6m, the biggest pay award to a boss of the telecoms company in more than a decade. Allison Kirkby, who stepped up from the board to take the helm in February 2024 , received a pay, bonus and share awar...
Allison Kirkby pocketed the payment after BT’s share price surged nearly 80% since she became chief executive The chief executive of BT saw her pay and bonus package more than double last year to £5.6m, the biggest pay award to a boss of the telecoms company in more than a decade. Allison Kirkby, who stepped up from the board to take the helm in February 2024 , received a pay, bonus and share award package of £5.58m for the year to the end of March. Continue reading...
JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images CME Group ( CME ) on Thursday announced the launch of four new E-mini futures contracts starting June 29 , expanding its benchmark suite of equity index futures. The new contracts are E-mini Morningstar U.S. Total Market Index futures, E-mini Russell 3000 Index Futures, E-mini S&P 1500 Composite Index Futures, and E-mini S&P Total Market Index Futures. "...
JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images CME Group ( CME ) on Thursday announced the launch of four new E-mini futures contracts starting June 29 , expanding its benchmark suite of equity index futures. The new contracts are E-mini Morningstar U.S. Total Market Index futures, E-mini Russell 3000 Index Futures, E-mini S&P 1500 Composite Index Futures, and E-mini S&P Total Market Index Futures. "In any market conditions, choosing the right index is essential, and these contracts will deliver the precision and capital efficiency investors need to seamlessly gain exposure to and hedge U.S. equity portfolios," said Joe Hickey, global head of equity products at CME. CME shares were 0.89% higher at $266.16 during pre-market trading on Thursday. More on CME CME Group Inc. (CME) Presents at Piper Sandler Global Exchange and Fintech Conference Transcript CME Group Q1 Earnings Show Strength, But The Stock Still Looks Expensive CME Group Inc. (CME) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript CME, Morningstar enter exclusive index derivatives licensing pact CME Group launches Nasdaq CME Crypto Index futures
US Initial Jobless Claims Jump To 4-Month-Highs The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time jumped to 229k last week (more than the 220k expected) and the highest in four months... Source: Bloomberg Pennsylvania, California, and Minnesota are the states seeing the largest rise in claims last week... Continuing jobless claims also rose last week to 1.795mm Americans ...
US Initial Jobless Claims Jump To 4-Month-Highs The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time jumped to 229k last week (more than the 220k expected) and the highest in four months... Source: Bloomberg Pennsylvania, California, and Minnesota are the states seeing the largest rise in claims last week... Continuing jobless claims also rose last week to 1.795mm Americans - highest in two months, but still relatively low in the context of the last two years... Source: Bloomberg The bottom line is that while initial jobless claims are rising, they remain low by historical standards and continue to run below year-ago levels . Taken together with the May payrolls report, the data suggest that labor-market momentum remains firm. Tyler Durden Thu, 06/11/2026 - 09:08
Small investors are backing out of artificial intelligence stocks ahead of SpaceX's market debut, according to VandaTrack. The firm said that retail traders have dumped stocks including Micron , Advanced Micro Devices and Marvell Technology . Retail investors have net purchased the lowest amount of single stocks in the past three days since March 2020, according to Vanda. "We're already seeing sig...
Small investors are backing out of artificial intelligence stocks ahead of SpaceX's market debut, according to VandaTrack. The firm said that retail traders have dumped stocks including Micron , Advanced Micro Devices and Marvell Technology . Retail investors have net purchased the lowest amount of single stocks in the past three days since March 2020, according to Vanda. "We're already seeing signs that retail investors are rotating out of recent AI [favorites] ahead of the IPO wave," Vanda told clients in a Wednesday note. MU AMD,MRVL 5D mountain Micron, AMD and Marvell in the past five trading days The firm said individual investors may be shoring up cash ahead of Friday's expected debut for SpaceX , as well as for the potential public offerings of Anthropic and OpenAI down the road. Anthropic and OpenAI both confidentially filed for IPOs this month. Concerns that AI expenditure growth is hitting a peak could also be encouraging retail traders to pull back on the trade, according to Vanda. Vanda said its positioning indicator for U.S. equities has exited crowded territory. The firm described the recent unwinding of positioning as one of the sharpest seen in the last 15 years. "The question we're now asking is whether the upcoming IPO cycle triggers another leg of deleveraging," Vanda wrote. Retail traders have been buzzing about SpaceX in recent days. The company's planned ticker "SPCX" has been one of the most-mentioned on the WallStreetBets Reddit forum recently, according to data from Breakout Point. Retail traders aren't alone, Vanda said. Institutional investors have also indicated "fatigue" with long AI plays such as semiconductor stocks, the firm found. "Given how crowded this trade had become, it hasn't taken much to trigger profit-taking," Vanda's team wrote.
Travelers is leveraging underwriting discipline, premium growth and rising investment income, while maintaining a strong record of shareholder returns.
Travelers is leveraging underwriting discipline, premium growth and rising investment income, while maintaining a strong record of shareholder returns.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images News SpaceX ( SPCX ) has attracted more than $70 billion in orders from individual investors ahead of its highly anticipated initial public offering, underscoring intense demand for what is expected to be the largest stock market debut on record, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Retail investors are expected to receive at least 20% of the sha...
Joe Raedle/Getty Images News SpaceX ( SPCX ) has attracted more than $70 billion in orders from individual investors ahead of its highly anticipated initial public offering, underscoring intense demand for what is expected to be the largest stock market debut on record, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Retail investors are expected to receive at least 20% of the shares offered in the IPO, the sources said. Based on the planned $75 billion fundraising, that allocation would satisfy only a fraction of demand from individual buyers. The scale of retail demand suggests SpaceX ( SPCX ) shares could see significant buying pressure once trading begins, particularly if many investors receive smaller allocations than requested. A strong aftermarket performance could reinforce investor appetite for large-cap AI and technology listings, while providing a key test of whether public markets will continue to support premium valuations for companies built around long-term growth narratives. The company has also received orders from roughly 1,000 institutional investors. The offering is expected to be priced at $135 per share, with approximately 555.6 million shares available, valuing the company at about $1.8 trillion. SpaceX ( SPCX ) is expected to limit international allocations to less than 10% of the offering, although demand from overseas investors remains strong. Japan's allocation was recently increased to $2.5 billion from $2 billion, reflecting heightened interest from retail investors there. The final terms of the offering remain subject to change, including the precise allocation between retail and institutional buyers. SpaceX ( SPCX ) has not publicly commented on the demand figures. Order books for institutional investors were expected to close Wednesday, with pricing scheduled for Thursday and trading set to begin Friday under the ticker symbol SPCX on Nasdaq and Nasdaq Texas. If completed as planned, the transaction would surpass Saud...
24K-Production/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Introduction Bitcoin and Ethereum were originally positioned as alternatives to the fiat financial banking system, but through the recently introduced ETF wrappers, they are now fully integrated into it. Because of this integration, they now respond to the same stress triggers as other traditional risk assets, such as rising yields, margin requireme...
24K-Production/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Introduction Bitcoin and Ethereum were originally positioned as alternatives to the fiat financial banking system, but through the recently introduced ETF wrappers, they are now fully integrated into it. Because of this integration, they now respond to the same stress triggers as other traditional risk assets, such as rising yields, margin requirements, and fund-driven rebalancing. This recent trend of growing institutional exposure to crypto ETFs brings along with it the traditional risks of the forced deleveraging of institutions that hold them alongside other traditional equities, credit, and derivatives. These institutional issues are only exacerbated by the addition of leveraged crypto ETFs, which have been largely responsible for the recent wave of institutional liquidations in the space and have in turn become a massive drag on the underlying asset as more “ paper Bitcoin ” as well as various other “paper” products within the crypto space have skewed the real underlying supply, with the MicroStrategy products being some of the most egregious examples. This product risk expanded in July of 2025 when the SEC marked the approval of in-kind creation and redemption for crypto Exchange Traded Products. This consequently wired a direct connection between institutional portfolio stress and spot crypto supply; according to Galaxy Research, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs shed ~$4.4 billion and 59,351 BTC across 13 consecutive trading days starting in mid-May, setting all-time records across every trailing window simultaneously. During this time, Ethereum ETFs ran a 17-day outflow streak. Both selling streaks concluded on June 4th and June 5th, respectively. This product deleveraging has brought the underlying down significantly since the approval and has weighed on future price appreciation as the market prices in more of this contractual paper supply. What the market has not priced is that the same mechanism works in reverse, a...
Management has shifted the spotlight from mass-market AI adoption to a massive enterprise backlog, leaving investors with a critical question: which engine still pays the bills.
Management has shifted the spotlight from mass-market AI adoption to a massive enterprise backlog, leaving investors with a critical question: which engine still pays the bills.