At the end of October last year, the family-owned Glenfiddich Scotch whisky maker William Grant & Sons Distillers Ltd. and its chief executive officer abruptly parted ways. Although sudden, the exit of CEO Søren Hagh after less than two years in the role didn’t come as a complete surprise to many inside the prized Scottish exporter, according to people familiar with the matter who declined to be n...
At the end of October last year, the family-owned Glenfiddich Scotch whisky maker William Grant & Sons Distillers Ltd. and its chief executive officer abruptly parted ways. Although sudden, the exit of CEO Søren Hagh after less than two years in the role didn’t come as a complete surprise to many inside the prized Scottish exporter, according to people familiar with the matter who declined to be named discussing a sensitive issue. Over a period of a months, the people said, a potentially explosive situation had been developing -- a combination of a new CEO rushing to shake things up, a controlling family and board used to calling the shots, and an industry grappling with one of its worst downturns in decades. Then, an executive complained to the board about a confrontation he said he had with the CEO during a business trip to Shanghai, the people said. Hagh, who “strongly denies” the allegation, ended his 21-month stint at the company not long thereafter. The company and Chairman Glenn Grant Gordon, the great-great grandson of the distiller’s founder, didn’t respond to repeated emails, calls and a letter requesting comment. A spokesperson for Hagh said he’s proud of the progress he made during his time at William Grant, denying any allegation of impropriety and noting that his resignation was in no way related to the complaint. Hagh “is deeply saddened that such entirely false and unsubstantiated claims can be made, let alone published,” the spokesperson said. Just as William Grant was putting Hagh’s exit behind it, the former president of William Grant’s US operations sued the company last month in New York. In the complaint, James Casey claimed Chairman Gordon and the company had “wrongfully” fired him, accusing them of “discrimination” due to a disability he says he developed at work, and also of flouting US alcohol-labeling laws. Casey’s successor is the company’s fourth US president in five years. Together, the episodes provide a rare glimpse into the 139-year-...
To get John Authers’ newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, sign up here . Today’s Points: US payrolls expand in a big way for the third month in a row. Markets gave up on fed funds cuts this year — and Trump spoke out against hikes . Tech stocks suffer a massive (and overdue) one-day selloff . S&P steps back from letting SpaceX straight into the S&P 500 once it floats . AND: Another install...
To get John Authers’ newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, sign up here . Today’s Points: US payrolls expand in a big way for the third month in a row. Markets gave up on fed funds cuts this year — and Trump spoke out against hikes . Tech stocks suffer a massive (and overdue) one-day selloff . S&P steps back from letting SpaceX straight into the S&P 500 once it floats . AND: Another installment of neglected masterpieces . Altitude H-IPO-xia When pilots or mountaineers ascend too high too fast, they risk altitude hypoxia . With the supply of oxygen to the brain limited, blood pressure can drop. In extreme cases, fatal cerebral or pulmonary edemas can result. To avoid this terrifying condition, ascend slowly. Once patients are hypoxic, the imperative is to descend, quickly. Markets are suddenly looking hypoxic, with a drastic selloff Friday on Wall Street followed by more dizzying losses to open Asian trading for this week. Forthcoming IPOs, led by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, threaten to intensify the condition as the market struggles to absorb a welter of shares in the rarefied atmosphere. This does look like a case of altitude sickness. The Nasdaq 100 has been further above its 50-day moving average, a measure of the short-term trend, than at any time since 2002. This “overbought” state contributed to the brutal selloff: Extreme valuations foster such conditions. Judged as a multiple of their sales, the recent sharp increase in semiconductors’ profit forecasts has taken the SOX index to an infeasible extreme. The level of the valuation and the speed with which it was reached look hypoxic: Momentum strategies — buying what has been winning — suffered their worst day since Liberation Day. This was primarily about cutting back on the stocks that had gained most altitude: Good news announced Friday provided the catalyst for the excitement. US non-farm payrolls grew by 170,000 in May, the third month in succession of significant gains despite the ongoing war in Iran. Unem...
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning , Lars Sivertsen, Mark Langdon, Ewan Murray and Jack Snape to preview Groups A-D including Scotland and Brazil Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts and join the conversation on email . On the podcast today; the first of our World Cup previews. Four groups per podcast in alphabetical order. Continue reading...
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning , Lars Sivertsen, Mark Langdon, Ewan Murray and Jack Snape to preview Groups A-D including Scotland and Brazil Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts and join the conversation on email . On the podcast today; the first of our World Cup previews. Four groups per podcast in alphabetical order. Continue reading...
This tale of a midlife man dating his best friend’s 26-year-old daughter is interminable, and so unconvincing that Clement looks embarrassed throughout I’ll be honest with you – committed pessimist that I am, pseudo-incest was still not a square on my 2026 bingo card. But then along comes Alice and Steve to prove me wrong! It’s nice to find that life still has ways to surprise you. The titular cha...
This tale of a midlife man dating his best friend’s 26-year-old daughter is interminable, and so unconvincing that Clement looks embarrassed throughout I’ll be honest with you – committed pessimist that I am, pseudo-incest was still not a square on my 2026 bingo card. But then along comes Alice and Steve to prove me wrong! It’s nice to find that life still has ways to surprise you. The titular characters are best friends and have been since they met at university, 30-plus years ago. Alice (Nicola Walker) is on her second marriage, to a sweet, contented beta-male (Daniel, played by Joel Fry) to her alpha-woman; he is 10 years younger than she is. They have a teenage son, and have raised her daughter Izzy (Yali Topol Margalith) from childhood. Izzy is now 26 and just back home after breaking up with her boyfriend. Continue reading...
Meta’s former head of global affairs says executives pivoted right in some cases for ‘rather more self-interested’ reasons Silicon Valley companies including Meta have decided to embrace Maga politics, some for “rather more self-interested” reasons, the former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has said. Clegg, who spent nearly seven years at Meta as the head of global affairs, told The Rest is M...
Meta’s former head of global affairs says executives pivoted right in some cases for ‘rather more self-interested’ reasons Silicon Valley companies including Meta have decided to embrace Maga politics, some for “rather more self-interested” reasons, the former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has said. Clegg, who spent nearly seven years at Meta as the head of global affairs, told The Rest is Money podcast that it felt like “a very good time for me to move on” when he left the company in March 2025, three months into the second Trump administration. Continue reading...
It’s one thing to remove a PM from office, as happened to the former cricketer in 2022. But it’s another thing to try to eradicate the most famous person in Pakistan’s history By Osman Samiuddin. Read By Aaron Neil Continue reading...
It’s one thing to remove a PM from office, as happened to the former cricketer in 2022. But it’s another thing to try to eradicate the most famous person in Pakistan’s history By Osman Samiuddin. Read By Aaron Neil Continue reading...
She starred in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, had to stoop when she danced with Fred Astaire, then became world-famous – and a gay icon – in the original Batman series. But her life behind the scenes has been just as interesting ... Julie Newmar is showing me her secret garden: an oasis of greenery around her house in Brentwood, Los Angeles, that is crammed with trees, flowers, sculptures and la...
She starred in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, had to stoop when she danced with Fred Astaire, then became world-famous – and a gay icon – in the original Batman series. But her life behind the scenes has been just as interesting ... Julie Newmar is showing me her secret garden: an oasis of greenery around her house in Brentwood, Los Angeles, that is crammed with trees, flowers, sculptures and labyrinthine paths. It feels like a little piece of old-school Hollywood, untouched by the world outside. “Here, try one,” Newmar says as she leans over from her mobility scooter and picks me a blueberry from a bush. “Isn’t that nice?” It’s a well-maintained jungle of begonias, jasmine, geraniums, fruit trees, and above all, roses. She has 90 varieties, she says, including one named after her. “That one’s Marilyn Monroe,” she says, pointing out a creamy pink one. “Doesn’t it look like her flesh?” Monroe’s former house is just up the road, she mentions. Newmar has lived here for decades with her son, John, who has Down’s syndrome. They spend a lot of time out here. “I would say my life is about beauty,” Newmar says. “I want to be a beautiful old woman; beauty in the garden; beauty in your behaviour, in your treatment of others. Because we all know that life’s a circle. All this stuff comes back. And in my 90s now, one has evolved. Big things happen now and they’re more in the metaphysical, they’re in the ‘what can I do for others?’ Because I’ve already done it for myself.” Continue reading...
Enraged at how the victims of Jeffrey Epstein are being forgotten, more than 80 female and non-binary writers united – to create an epic drama fusing art, activism and anger. How will it work? As the Jeffrey Epstein juggernaut rolled across the media landscape earlier this year, transfixing the world with its grim stories of corruption and sexual abuse by powerful and well-connected men, a small g...
Enraged at how the victims of Jeffrey Epstein are being forgotten, more than 80 female and non-binary writers united – to create an epic drama fusing art, activism and anger. How will it work? As the Jeffrey Epstein juggernaut rolled across the media landscape earlier this year, transfixing the world with its grim stories of corruption and sexual abuse by powerful and well-connected men, a small group of female playwrights decided enough was enough: there was a glaring need for the story to be turned on its head, to focus on the suffering of the victims rather than the perpetrators. The writers all belonged to a WhatsApp group. “I just put out a call,” says Rebecca Lenkiewicz. “I asked: ‘Is anyone else enraged about the Epstein files and how it’s all about the men and the money?’ It wasn’t just a question of what happened, but of how it is being dealt with by the press afterwards.” Lenkiewicz was all too familiar with the history of abusive and powerful men, being the screenwriter of She Said, about the struggle to bring Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein to justice. Continue reading...
The notorious Code Noir is gone. But people in Guadeloupe and Martinique continue to live with the consequences “Vive la République, et vive la France.” Emmanuel Macron closed his 21 May speech marking the 25th anniversary of the passing of the Taubira law, which recognised slavery as a crime against humanity, with the customary patriotic slogan. As applause rippled around the reception room of th...
The notorious Code Noir is gone. But people in Guadeloupe and Martinique continue to live with the consequences “Vive la République, et vive la France.” Emmanuel Macron closed his 21 May speech marking the 25th anniversary of the passing of the Taubira law, which recognised slavery as a crime against humanity, with the customary patriotic slogan. As applause rippled around the reception room of the Elysée Palace, whose construction was financed by a 18th-century slave-owning magnate, Leïla Brédent, a black soprano from Guadeloupe, launched into a stirring rendition of La Marseillaise. Continue reading...
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) made headlines on June 3 when, according to Bloomberg, the fund surpassed $1 trillion of net assets. That means Vanguard investors are now holding a total of more than $1 trillion of their money in this one exchange-traded fund (ETF). It's an impressive milestone. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has become the most popular way for ETF investors to buy the S&P 500 i...
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) made headlines on June 3 when, according to Bloomberg, the fund surpassed $1 trillion of net assets. That means Vanguard investors are now holding a total of more than $1 trillion of their money in this one exchange-traded fund (ETF). It's an impressive milestone. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has become the most popular way for ETF investors to buy the S&P 500 index of the 500 largest publicly traded U.S. stocks. In February 2025, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF became the largest ETF in the world, outgrowing the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEMKT: SPY) , another popular S&P 500 tracker fund that currently has over $781 million in assets under management. Both funds are well-regarded in the investing world as easy, low-cost ways to buy a diversified mix of the biggest companies in America. Both have become shorthand nicknames for the best S&P 500 ETFs . The two ETFs hold almost exactly the same stocks and deliver almost identical returns. In the past five years, the Vanguard fund's shares have gained 79.17%, while the State Street fund's share price is up 79.15%. Continue reading
This is the forum for daily political discussion on Seeking Alpha. A new version is published every market day. Please don't leave political comments on other articles or posts on the site. The comments below are not regulated with the same rigor as the rest of the site, and this is an 'enter at your own risk' area as discussion can get very heated. If you can't stand the heat... you know what the...
This is the forum for daily political discussion on Seeking Alpha. A new version is published every market day. Please don't leave political comments on other articles or posts on the site. The comments below are not regulated with the same rigor as the rest of the site, and this is an 'enter at your own risk' area as discussion can get very heated. If you can't stand the heat... you know what they say... More on Today's Markets: Trump urges Fed to cut rates as strong jobs data fuels expectations of hike “Nowadays when you have good reports, the market goes down because they think they’re going to raise interest rates,” Trump said. “There’s no reason to raise interest rates.” Trump pushes restraint after Iran missile barrage raises Middle East risks Israeli military officials said Iran fired at least four rounds of missiles toward Israel. Israel's air defenses intercepted the projectiles and authorities reported no injuries, but the exchange marked the most direct confrontation between Iran and Israel since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect in early April. Iran fires new missile barrages at Israel as ceasefire strains “At this time, the Israeli Air Force is operating to intercept and strike threats where necessary,” the Israeli Defense Forces said before warning of another round of incoming missiles. Israeli officials later said all of the missiles from the initial attacks were intercepted and that no injuries had been reported. Moderation Guidelines: We remove comments under the following categories: Personal attacks on another user account Anti-Vaxxer or covid related misinformation Stereotyping, prejudiced or racist language about individuals or the topic under discussion. Inciting violence messages, encouraging hate groups and political violence. Regardless of which side of the political divide you find yourself, please be courteous and don't direct abuse at other users. For any issue with regards to comments please email us at : moderation@seekingalpha.com....
早上九点,小林戴上耳机,打开标注平台,耳朵里传来一段带四川口音的普通话。 她要先逐字把这段语音转写出来,再标出发音偏差、语调异常和方言特征词,最后判断 AI 的识别结果哪里对了、哪里跑偏。听起来像在听播客,旁人或许以为她在摸鱼,可这就是她的工作。 她的官方 title 叫"数据标注员",但她更愿意说自己是"AI 训练师"——这样听起来酷一点。毕竟在大多数人的认知里,这份工作就是 AI 时代的流水线...
早上九点,小林戴上耳机,打开标注平台,耳朵里传来一段带四川口音的普通话。 她要先逐字把这段语音转写出来,再标出发音偏差、语调异常和方言特征词,最后判断 AI 的识别结果哪里对了、哪里跑偏。听起来像在听播客,旁人或许以为她在摸鱼,可这就是她的工作。 她的官方 title 叫"数据标注员",但她更愿意说自己是"AI 训练师"——这样听起来酷一点。毕竟在大多数人的认知里,这份工作就是 AI 时代的流水线:面对电脑,机械地点鼠标,日复一日地画框、打标签,技术含量不高,是典型的"人肉电池"。 可一旦有人追问"具体做什么",小林通常会沉默两秒,然后答:"就……教 AI 听人话。"再多的,她也说不上来了。 也许下面这份从业者简历里的工作描述,大致能说明他们每天在做的事。 对于越来越多想进入AI行业的年轻人,数据标准正在成为他们会考虑的入门工作,这个工种因何而生,整个行业是什么面貌,从业者又将走向何方——我们抓取了 Boss 直聘上"数据标注"关键词下、base 在北京的 302 个岗位,逐一拆解其中 151 份完整 JD。 1 同一份标注工作,月薪能差出三十倍 ChatGPT 会写诗,靠的是标注员逐条评价"这句好、那句差";自动驾驶能在路口认出红绿灯,是因为有人对着数万张街景图、一个像素一个像素地描出边界。你对 agent 说一句"播放周杰伦的歌",它一秒就听懂并执行,这背后是成千上万条带口音、带环境噪声、带吞音连读的语音指令被人工标好了。 如今为了更自然的交互,语音标注的复杂度还在指数级上升——不再只是把声音转成文字,而是要标出情绪、意图、语用场景,连方言里那点微妙差异都要标,模型才能真正学会"听人话"。 每一处智能闪光,都有一双人类的手在托底。这双手的主人靠它挣多少、能干多久,是另一回事。先看收入。 151 份完整 JD 里,北京数据标注岗位月薪中位数 10500 元,最低 2K,最高 65K——首尾相差三十多倍。 低薪这头多是实习、兼职和众包。日薪岗有 84 个,中位 185 元/天,招聘帖上写着"数据标注,双休,小白可做",学历经验全不限,月薪 4-5K。光谱另一端,百度给自动驾驶数据标注算法实习生开出 500-600 元/天,要求硕士;阿里巴巴的 AI 训练师岗 20-35K、16 薪,同样卡硕士。 同为标注,身价差出十倍。差距来自工作内容早已分化:低薪端是执行,按要求...
jeffbergen/E+ via Getty Images I started writing on Seeking Alpha in October of 2024, and there is no company that I have written about more than Genworth Financial ( GNW ). This is my fourth analysis of the company and its operations, and on each of the previous three , my assessment of GNW has been positive. The stock's returns had been able to stay ahead of the market until the last two weeks o...
jeffbergen/E+ via Getty Images I started writing on Seeking Alpha in October of 2024, and there is no company that I have written about more than Genworth Financial ( GNW ). This is my fourth analysis of the company and its operations, and on each of the previous three , my assessment of GNW has been positive. The stock's returns had been able to stay ahead of the market until the last two weeks of May, when GNW took a tumble of about 10%. As I write this analysis on June 7, the stock is trading at the same price that it did six months ago. Seeking Alpha Genworth is a financial service company that operates in three business segments. It is active in providing mortgage insurance in the US through its 81% ownership of Enact Holdings ( ACT ). It provides long-term care options through CareScout , a business division that Genworth has described as "an integrated ecosystem of care and funding solutions". The company also has a collection of legacy products that are being managed down and not offered to new customers. This closed block of businesses includes legacy long-term care policies, life insurance, and annuities. The most significant case for supporting a Buy rating for Genworth is its ownership of Enact Holdings. With a market cap of $5.83 billion, Genworth's ownership in the company should be worth about $4.7 billion. However, GNW has a current market cap of just $3.3 billion, which shows just what the market thinks about the other business segments that the company controls. After reviewing the most recent quarterly results , which were released last month, I am maintaining my buy rating on Genworth for now. However, I am perhaps more cautious than I have been at any point in the last couple of years. This is a company that I have followed for over a decade, and in this analysis, I will attempt to give support for my continued ownership of GNW. Company Overview Based in Richmond, VA, Genworth Financial has roots that can be traced back over 150 years . The comp...
2d illustrations and photos/iStock via Getty Images Transcript Oscar Pulido: ETFs have become more popular in Asia since the global financial crisis. But so far, the conversation has been about access. Now that conversation is shifting because across Asia, ETFs are no longer just entry points into markets. They're becoming tools investors are using to build portfolios, manage risk, and navigate in...
2d illustrations and photos/iStock via Getty Images Transcript Oscar Pulido: ETFs have become more popular in Asia since the global financial crisis. But so far, the conversation has been about access. Now that conversation is shifting because across Asia, ETFs are no longer just entry points into markets. They're becoming tools investors are using to build portfolios, manage risk, and navigate increasingly complex conditions. But as the market has matured, so have the expectations. Investors aren't just asking what ETFs are anymore. They're asking how to use them, where do they fit, and how can they use them to make better decisions in a landscape with more choice, more nuance, and more moving parts. So how has the ETF story in Asia evolved to meet that moment? Welcome to The Bid, where we break down what's happening in the markets and explore the forces changing the economy and finance. I'm Oscar Pulido. In this episode, we're coming to you from the iShares ETF certification event in Singapore, where the conversation around ETFs has clearly moved beyond the basics and into real-world applications. I'm joined by Christian Obrist, Head of iShares Distribution in Asia, and Nick Peach, Head of iShares in the Asia Pacific region for BlackRock. We'll discuss how ETFs in Asia have evolved, what's driving their growing role in portfolios, and what investors need to understand as the markets become more sophisticated. Christian and Nick, thank you so much for joining us on The Bid. Christian Obrist: Thank you, Oscar. Nick Peach: It's great to be here. Thank you. Oscar Pulido: Guys, we're in Singapore. The Bid is on the road. We're filming a few episodes here in Asia and talking about topics that are pertinent to the region. We recently spoke with Aarti Angara, where we talked about the growing role that Asia is playing in investor portfolios and the growth dynamics that we're seeing across countries. Today we're going to talk about ETFs and the usage of ETFs by many invest...