Torsten Asmus/iStock via Getty Images Today, I am reviewing the Franklin Intl Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF ( LVHI ). LVHI, as the name suggests, combines what many investors would consider “the best of both worlds”: high dividend yield and low volatility. The volatility screen is what differentiates it from many high-dividend ETFs. As part of the strategy, the fund does not only prioriti...
Torsten Asmus/iStock via Getty Images Today, I am reviewing the Franklin Intl Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF ( LVHI ). LVHI, as the name suggests, combines what many investors would consider “the best of both worlds”: high dividend yield and low volatility. The volatility screen is what differentiates it from many high-dividend ETFs. As part of the strategy, the fund does not only prioritize high dividends for the sake of yield, but also ensures that the dividends are sustainable. LVHI is a particularly attractive option for investors who want income but may be concerned about the volatility that comes from traditional high-yield oriented equity investments. LVHI benefited from its exposure to the financial and energy sectors, beating the S&P 500 over a 5-year time frame. However, this outperformance may not last in the future if demand for energy cools off and global interest rates decline. Still, LVHI remains a great hybrid between income and risk reduction, and that is why I rate it a BUY for the right type of investor. The idea behind LVHI: defensive global income play LVHI positions itself as a defensive alternative to traditional international equity ETFs. LVHI tracks the proprietary index developed by Franklin Templeton, the Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Hedged Index. This index consists of equities from developed markets ex-U.S. with relatively high yield and low price and earnings volatility. Its exposure spans across multiple developed regions, including Europe, Japan, and Canada. Despite being USD-denominated, the ETF carries embedded foreign currency exposure due to its international holdings. The main objective of the fund is to provide current income with lower volatility than the broad international market, which is achieved by the combination of dividend yield screening and a volatility filter. High-volatility names are generally excluded from the ETF, regardless of their dividend strength. The mechanism that improves LV...
akinbostanci/iStock via Getty Images What a rollercoaster it has been so far holding CoreWeave ( CRWV ). Now, although the stock has surged 42% since my last article , I still feel that my bullish thesis hasn't played out yet. And that's good. Now, the data center company traded in a range from roughly $64 to $187 over the past 52 weeks. So, volatility is definitely something that's challenging to...
akinbostanci/iStock via Getty Images What a rollercoaster it has been so far holding CoreWeave ( CRWV ). Now, although the stock has surged 42% since my last article , I still feel that my bullish thesis hasn't played out yet. And that's good. Now, the data center company traded in a range from roughly $64 to $187 over the past 52 weeks. So, volatility is definitely something that's challenging to stomach. I expect CoreWeave to remain a volatile stock. CRWV: Stock Surged 42% Since My Last Article (Seeking Alpha) But regardless of the run-up, I still find CRWV one of the cheapest data center plays here. At the forward price-to-sales ratio of 4.78 , CRWV trades at only about a 33% premium versus peers at 3.60. And that's something I find insignificant. On top of this, I believe that key tailwinds are playing out favorably for the company. So, I have maintained my rating as Strong Buy . The Global Data Center Market Could Double from Here That's correct. And that's something that I find extremely bullish for CoreWeave's long-term outlook. Now, the global data center market remains valued at about $300 billion in 2026. While it's already a significant market, it's anticipated to more than double by 2034. It could reach approximately $700 billion in size. And that's roughly an 11% CAGR. Although it could be a bold statement here, I am in the camp that this estimate could come in as conservative. Why's that? Well, a few reasons. Initially, I'd like to highlight that the group of Mag 7 is expected to spend $700 billion in capex in 2026 alone. Yes, I know that these are some of the largest companies in the market. But it's still a fairly small group. So, if these heavy capex investments translate into top and bottom-line growth, I think more companies could join this capex spending trend. Now, there's also the global AI market. And that one could basically 8x over the next 7 years. While it was valued at $390 billion in 2025 , it could expand to a significant $3.5 trillion ...
SlavkoSereda/iStock via Getty Images VFMF - Proving Its Worth The Vanguard U.S. Multifactor ETF Shares ( VFMF ) is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (also known as an ETF) that invests in U.S. stocks using a rules-based quantitative model to evaluate U.S. common stocks and construct an equity portfolio that looks at multiple factors. The point of this ETF is to have an actively managed opti...
SlavkoSereda/iStock via Getty Images VFMF - Proving Its Worth The Vanguard U.S. Multifactor ETF Shares ( VFMF ) is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (also known as an ETF) that invests in U.S. stocks using a rules-based quantitative model to evaluate U.S. common stocks and construct an equity portfolio that looks at multiple factors. The point of this ETF is to have an actively managed option to track value stocks within the U.S. market, using a factor-based approach, with the fund manager rebalancing and reviewing the fund often for investment opportunities. This fund is a multifactor ETF that specifically targets stocks that the advisor thinks have strong recent performance, strong fundamentals, and low prices relative to fundamentals. Unlike general value ETFs like the Vanguard Value Index Fund ETF Shares ( VTV ), which simply include all stocks classified as "value" within an index, VFMF employs a factor-based selection process to rank and weight stocks based on their value characteristics. The fund builds its portfolio using three main factors: value, momentum, and quality. The value is assessed using price-to-book, forward price-to-earnings, and operating price-to-cash flow ratios. Meanwhile, momentum is evaluated through three metrics: total returns from the last 12 months and 6 months and the intercept from a one-year regression of returns against their regional benchmark. The quality factor varies by sector: for financials, it includes return on equity and share issuance, while for non-financials, it incorporates return on equity, gross profitability, changes in net operating assets, and leverage. VFMF also removes 20% of the most volatile stocks within each market capitalization group for risk management. All that to say, there's a clear mandate of what the fund is trying to do from a broad index perspective. VFMF's benchmark target is the Russell 3000 Index, and this article will tell you whether it's worth investing with VFMF or another passive as...
Shares of electric vehicle pioneer Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 6.9% in the afternoon session after reports emerged that the company pushed its next-generation Roadster demo to August.
Shares of electric vehicle pioneer Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 6.9% in the afternoon session after reports emerged that the company pushed its next-generation Roadster demo to August.
Thomas Barwick/DigitalVision via Getty Images Wall Street has had its eyes firmly locked on AI demand metrics, and for good reasons. The Harvard Business Review notes the surge in power demand that is expected from new AI products, but also how those AI products have shifted in format: This shift is easy to miss, because AI still looks like software. But its economics are increasingly industrial. ...
Thomas Barwick/DigitalVision via Getty Images Wall Street has had its eyes firmly locked on AI demand metrics, and for good reasons. The Harvard Business Review notes the surge in power demand that is expected from new AI products, but also how those AI products have shifted in format: This shift is easy to miss, because AI still looks like software. But its economics are increasingly industrial. A model is not just code. It is chips, cooling, land, interconnection rights, and power contracts. The International Energy Agency’s 2026 update projects that global data-center electricity use will rise from about 485 terawatt-hours in 2025 to about 950 terawatt-hours in 2030, with use by AI-focused data centers tripling over that period. Essentially, any company that isn't adapting to this new world and doing so rapidly is going to fall behind. Fortunately, for Arista Networks ( ANET ) shareholders, I see a story of management staying on top of the trends and creating products and services that fit with the model of the world that we live in today, and I will explain why. The Q1 2026 Earnings Call Offered Insights Into Arista's AI Growth Story On May 5, 2026, Arista management presented the company's Q1 2026 earnings and revealed some impressive headline numbers. Right off the top, the company reported revenues of $2.71B, or an increase of 35.13% YoY. It also reported EPS of $0.87, which was $0.06 ahead of analysts' expectations. Perhaps surprisingly, even those figures weren't strong enough for investors who have come to expect a lot from the company. The stock fell off, at least initially, after the report, but has since rebounded: Data by YCharts That's just how sky-high expectations are for Arista. Not even a 35+% YoY increase in revenue and an EPS beat is enough to satisfy shareholders. However, the initial sell-off simply prompted more investors to swoop in and purchase the shares at a lower price. Now, just a month later, the stock trades quite close to its price b...
The Philippine anti-graft court dismissed the remaining claims in a civil case seeking to recover assets allegedly acquired by the late former President Ferdinand Marcos and his family. The Sandiganbayan dismissed the outstanding claims after the Presidential Commission on Good Government opted not to present further evidence, saying most of the properties at issue had already been recovered in se...
The Philippine anti-graft court dismissed the remaining claims in a civil case seeking to recover assets allegedly acquired by the late former President Ferdinand Marcos and his family. The Sandiganbayan dismissed the outstanding claims after the Presidential Commission on Good Government opted not to present further evidence, saying most of the properties at issue had already been recovered in separate civil actions, a division of the court said in a ruling Tuesday. Read: Top Philippine Court Affirms Dismissal of Marcos Wealth Case Marcos was ousted by a mass uprising in 1986. Philippine authorities have long alleged that he, his family and associates amassed between $5 billion and $10 billion during his rule, according to government estimates. His son was elected president in 2022 and will serve until 2028.
Move over, SpaceX; a perhaps even more highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO) looks like it is just around the corner. Anthropic , the start-up behind large language model (LLM) Claude and agentic coding assistant Claude Code, announced at the start of June that it has filed to go public. In late May, it raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation, so it looks set to be the next trill...
Move over, SpaceX; a perhaps even more highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO) looks like it is just around the corner. Anthropic , the start-up behind large language model (LLM) Claude and agentic coding assistant Claude Code, announced at the start of June that it has filed to go public. In late May, it raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation, so it looks set to be the next trillion-dollar IPO after SpaceX. While Anthropic reported $4.8 billion in revenue in Q1, it said it was on track to more than double revenue sequentially in Q2 to $10.9 billion. It is also expecting an operating profit of $559 million in the current quarter, showing an ability not just to rapidly grow revenue but also to do so profitably. That's impressive, and one of the big reasons why the company's private market valuation has been skyrocketing. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading