ASX Ltd. shares have tumbled to their lowest level in almost a decade after rising costs prompted several brokers to trim their earnings outlooks for Australia’s beleaguered exchange operator. The stock dropped as much as 8.6% on Wednesday to its lowest price since November 2016, building on a record 13% slump in the previous session. The company unveiled a larger-than-expected step up in expenses...
ASX Ltd. shares have tumbled to their lowest level in almost a decade after rising costs prompted several brokers to trim their earnings outlooks for Australia’s beleaguered exchange operator. The stock dropped as much as 8.6% on Wednesday to its lowest price since November 2016, building on a record 13% slump in the previous session. The company unveiled a larger-than-expected step up in expenses tied to technological updates on Tuesday, spurring brokers including Barrenjoey Markets Pty Ltd., UBS Group AG and Macquarie Group Ltd. to downgrade profit expectations. The higher costs deepen the challenges for incoming chief Anthony Attia , who will be tasked with repairing trust after a regulator probe found governance and risk management failures at the firm. The Euronext NV executive will start in the role on Sept. 1. “The broader outlook remains unclear” for ASX, according to Barrenjoey’s Andrew Adams , whose firm holds a neutral rating on the stock. With the bourse facing a CEO transition, a clearing and settlement upgrade completion due in 2029 and an impending regulator court case, “we are hesitant to step in on a low-growth company,” he wrote in a note. Read More: ASX Stock Near Decade Low as Analysts Cut Estimates: Street Wrap The exchange operator lifted its capital expenditure forecast to between A$180 million and A$200 million ($129 million and $143 million) for the financial year starting July 1, up from its previous range of A$160 million to A$180 million. It also flagged capex of A$170 million to A$190 million for the following year, citing costs related to improving its technical market infrastructure. ASX’s new guidance also reduces the risk for future earnings, with current valuations offering an attractive entry point, according to UBS’ Kieren Chidgey . “With cost uncertainty reduced, we see a clearer runway for upside revenue recognition,” he wrote in a note, maintaining his buy rating. Australian Regulator Flags Tougher Scrutiny of ASX Tech Upgrade ...
It’s a stunning evening for a walk at Durlston Country Park. The position of its headland on the south-west coast of England makes it a fantastic place to watch bird migration in action. As I walk along the coastal path, enjoying the panoramic sea views, barn swallows arrive from across the Channel. Below is a cacophony of sound coming from the cliff edges; this part of the Jurassic Coast is home ...
It’s a stunning evening for a walk at Durlston Country Park. The position of its headland on the south-west coast of England makes it a fantastic place to watch bird migration in action. As I walk along the coastal path, enjoying the panoramic sea views, barn swallows arrive from across the Channel. Below is a cacophony of sound coming from the cliff edges; this part of the Jurassic Coast is home to a breeding colony of seabirds, with last year’s survey recording 1,377 guillemots, 179 razorbills, 12 fulmars and just six puffins. This population of puffins is incredibly perilous, and work is being carried out by the National Trust and dedicated volunteers to understand why the three pairs are unable to successfully fledge young. It comes as no surprise that this time I’m unable to spot one myself. Despite the riches below, something up here catches my eye on the grassy clifftop: a small, grey streaky bird with an unmistakable accelerating song flight. It lifts into the air, rising higher and higher before parachuting back down, wings held slightly open, all while singing its trill-like song. Landing in front of me, it gives me a close view of its long, dark bill and legs, and buffish underparts. View image in fullscreen Three of Dorset’s fragile puffin population. Photograph: John Allen My first encounter with this species was back in 2017 when I was birding on the Dorset coast. One walked beneath the picnic bench that I was sitting on at Portland, picking up crumbs from my lunch – clearly a fan of my jam sandwich. This one is likely to be a male, performing aerial displays to defend its territory and attract a mate, as the breeding season is well under way now. Its nest will be tucked away in a nearby crevice or on a rocky ledge, hidden among vegetation. These underrated birds can be found along our coastlines throughout the year, with the largely resident UK population bolstered in winter by migrant birds arriving from Scandinavia. Further along the path, the rock ...
The founder of CSG NV , which completed the biggest ever initial public offering for a pure defense company four months ago, is seeking to raise as much as €200 million ($233 million) this year to expand his industrial group. Jaroslav Strnad, who started what became CSG by trading scrap metal and refitting Soviet-era tanks, set up CE Industries in 2020. It includes 34 companies, one of which revam...
The founder of CSG NV , which completed the biggest ever initial public offering for a pure defense company four months ago, is seeking to raise as much as €200 million ($233 million) this year to expand his industrial group. Jaroslav Strnad, who started what became CSG by trading scrap metal and refitting Soviet-era tanks, set up CE Industries in 2020. It includes 34 companies, one of which revamps decommissioned Black Hawks helicopters. The new money he’s seeking from investors is for a fund starting next month that will be used to bolster the business, he said. “We are managing to grow by more than 30% a year,” Strnad said in an interview this month. “I don’t know whether we will be able to do that over the long term, but I think it’s good.” The 53-year-old handed over the company he founded to his son Michal, who turned CSG into a giant now valued at $18 billion even after the shares declined more than 20% since the IPO in January. Bloomberg estimates that Strnad senior is worth at least $310 million, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index . Michal Strnad’s net worth is about $22 billion. Jaroslav Strnad said he moved on from CSG eight years ago because there was no room for “two roosters” to run the company. The playbook he used to build CSG, though, is visible throughout his new group. One of the companies is Duro Dakovic, a Croatian rail car manufacturer that had been losing money for decades. Another is Helicopter Alliance, which buys decommissioned Black Hawks from the US Army to revamp and sell on to armies or firefighters around the world. His downtown Prague office displays memorabilia from the business he once built, including models of trucks by Tatra, now a core CSG asset. Still, Strnad said he does not “for a moment” regret giving CSG over to his then 25-year-old son. “Sometimes you may start to feel like you are becoming a bit of a brake,” he said. “Young people have the drive.”
Many crypto investors assume that if a blockchain can settle transactions in a blink, its native token must be worth something. For instance, the Avalanche (AVAX 2.14%) chain produces its blocks in under a second, and finalizes its transactions in about two seconds. But it's still down 94% from its all-time high set in November 2021, so there's clearly some kind of disconnect between what the netw...
Many crypto investors assume that if a blockchain can settle transactions in a blink, its native token must be worth something. For instance, the Avalanche (AVAX 2.14%) chain produces its blocks in under a second, and finalizes its transactions in about two seconds. But it's still down 94% from its all-time high set in November 2021, so there's clearly some kind of disconnect between what the network is capable of and what investors think the coin is worth. The most obvious challenge for the network is its biggest competitor, Solana (SOL 1.40%), which prioritizes speed and throughput as core tenets. Given that Solana is larger and faster, is Avalanche worth buying, as it's still faster than almost any other chain in the sector? Speed refers to more than one thing To start, let's talk speed and throughput. On Avalanche's C-Chain, its main venue for processing smart contracts, transactions are finalized in under two seconds at most. In terms of its throughput, the C-Chain averaged about 32 transactions per second (TPS) under the fairly normal conditions it experienced on May 20, but in theory, it's capable of processing around 1,190 TPS. In contrast, Solana handled over 1,400 TPS on May 20 and is theoretically capable of processing up to 65,000 TPS, while finalizing transactions in just under 13 seconds at peak. And while Solana's transaction finality is indeed slower than Avalanche's under worst-case conditions, in practice, the finalization time isn't what makes users think a chain is fast or slow; it's the block time, because users see their transactions confirmed within a single block, well before the network reaches true finality. Expand CRYPTO : SOL Solana Today's Change ( -1.40 %) $ -1.18 Current Price $ 83.11 Key Data Points Market Cap $48B Day's Range $ 83.01 - $ 85.92 52wk Range $ 70.61 - $ 252.78 Volume 2.7B On block time, Solana's blocks are produced about every 400 milliseconds, whereas Avalanche's blocks take a full second. So transfers and swaps tend to...
SK Hynix's blistering rally may still have room to run even after the South Korean memory-chip giant surged more than 250% this year on booming artificial intelligence demand, analysts said. The stock's sharp rise propelled SK Hynix's market capitalization above $1 trillion as investors piled into companies seen as key beneficiaries of the global scramble for high-bandwidth memory chips used in AI...
SK Hynix's blistering rally may still have room to run even after the South Korean memory-chip giant surged more than 250% this year on booming artificial intelligence demand, analysts said. The stock's sharp rise propelled SK Hynix's market capitalization above $1 trillion as investors piled into companies seen as key beneficiaries of the global scramble for high-bandwidth memory chips used in AI servers. "It seems the fundamentals and valuations of the two twin towers are still very much intact," Peter Kim, global investment strategist at KB Securities, told CNBC's " Squawk Box Asia ", referring to SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. However, some strategists argued that valuations remain relatively inexpensive despite the rally because earnings forecasts have climbed faster than share prices. "In fact, it's amazing that the valuation is getting cheaper because the race rate of earnings upgrades by analysts is actually surpassing the share price," Kim added. He added that U.S. memory giant Micron Technology traded at around 12 times earnings, while SK Hynix and Samsung traded at roughly six to seven times earnings, based on analyst estimates. "If you look at the share price, but if you look at the valuation fundamentals, I would say that we're still not halfway through this incredible rally," Kim said. In a recent note, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives described the current AI boom as being only i n the "3rd inning of a 9-inning game." "The AI Revolution is firing on all cylinders," Ives wrote, adding that demand for HBM, DRAM and NAND memory had reached "levels never seen before." While HBM is used in AI accelerators and servers, DRAM and NAND are widely used memory and storage chips across electronic devices. "We believe SK Hynix is a core beneficiary of this memory super-cycle and represents one of the most important AI plays in the market today as the Street still significantly underestimates the duration and magnitude of this cycle," he said. Ives said chip ...
Gigi Luk of GGL Capital Investment Group says "one risk that we're seeing is the potential liquidity overhang in AI." Luk adds that "the gap between winners and losers is widening structurally" and this creates opportunities. She speaks on Bloomberg Television. (Source: Bloomberg)
Gigi Luk of GGL Capital Investment Group says "one risk that we're seeing is the potential liquidity overhang in AI." Luk adds that "the gap between winners and losers is widening structurally" and this creates opportunities. She speaks on Bloomberg Television. (Source: Bloomberg)
Micron Technology is one of the most strategically important beneficiaries of the global artificial intelligence infrastructure cycle, as demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), DRAM, and advanced data-center storage solutions continues to accelerate at a pace rarely seen in the semiconductor industry. The company’s positioning within the AI supply chain has materially strengthened investor sentim...
Micron Technology is one of the most strategically important beneficiaries of the global artificial intelligence infrastructure cycle, as demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), DRAM, and advanced data-center storage solutions continues to accelerate at a pace rarely seen in the semiconductor industry. The company’s positioning within the AI supply chain has materially strengthened investor sentiment, particularly after UBS Secturities reiterated its “Buy” rating on the stock, and sharply increased its 12 month price target to $1,625 from $535, arguing that structural AI-driven memory demand is fundamentally reshaping the long-term earnings power of the memory sector. From a fundamental valuation perspective, UBS’s thesis appears rooted in a multi-year expansion of AI server deployments, hyperscaler capital expenditures, and generative AI compute requirements, all of which require significantly higher memory density per server compared with traditional cloud infrastructure. Micron’s advanced HBM products are increasingly viewed as mission-critical components within next-generation AI accelerators, particularly those tied to GPU-intensive training and inference workloads. As a result, analysts now anticipate a structurally tighter memory market rather than the historically cyclical boom-and-bust pricing environment that previously defined the sector. The core argument supporting UBS’s aggressive valuation upgrade is that AI demand may permanently alter the supply-demand equilibrium across the memory industry. Historically, memory manufacturers experienced severe pricing volatility due to oversupply cycles, weak visibility, and commoditized end markets. However, the rapid emergence of AI-centric data centers has created a scenario where leading-edge memory products are supply constrained, technologically differentiated, and increasingly essential to compute performance. This dynamic materially improves Micron’s pricing power, margin profile, and free-cash-flow generat...
Funtap/iStock via Getty Images Key Takeaways • Markets: US equities endured a difficult first quarter of 2026 as investors reassessed the durability of the AI trade and geopolitical risk intensified. Technology-focused shares came under pressure as rising AI-related capital expenditure spurred a rotation away from mega-capitalization growth toward value stocks. At its two meetings during the quart...
Funtap/iStock via Getty Images Key Takeaways • Markets: US equities endured a difficult first quarter of 2026 as investors reassessed the durability of the AI trade and geopolitical risk intensified. Technology-focused shares came under pressure as rising AI-related capital expenditure spurred a rotation away from mega-capitalization growth toward value stocks. At its two meetings during the quarter, the US Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate on hold. March brought further strain as the Middle East conflict disrupted energy markets, lifting oil prices and adding to inflation risk. The Nasdaq Composite Index underperformed the S&P 500 Index, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average proved more resilient. By investment style, value investing surpassed growth across market-cap tiers, with small- and mid-cap stocks performing better than their large-cap counterparts. • Contributors: Stock selection decisions and, to a lesser extent, positive allocation effects benefited relative fund performance. Stock selection in the electric utilities industry and an allocation to the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry were strong contributors to relative performance. • Detractors: Leading relative detractors were at the individual stock level. • Outlook: We believe that power demand across the United States is likely to improve significantly, along with industry capital spending on data center development. Performance Review • The fund (Advisor Class without sales charges) outperformed the S&P 500 Utilities Index benchmark in the first quarter of 2026. The electric utilities industry was a source of both positive and negative relative contributors. An underweight in Constellation Energy ( CEG ) proved beneficial as the stock rose sharply early in 2026 but fell back by quarter-end, amid volatility over the period. An underweight in the renewable energy supplier limited our losses versus the benchmark as weaker 2026 guidance and higher capital-spending concerns weighed ...
Worawith Ounpeng/iStock via Getty Images Plains All American Analysis I've been covering oil and gas stocks for over 10 years now, and one thing remains true: midstream MLPs are some of the best income-producing stocks in the world. Plains All American Pipeline ( PAA ) is one of the more popular names in a bunch of good ones, and with a trailing yield around 7%, it does carry some appeal for incom...
Worawith Ounpeng/iStock via Getty Images Plains All American Analysis I've been covering oil and gas stocks for over 10 years now, and one thing remains true: midstream MLPs are some of the best income-producing stocks in the world. Plains All American Pipeline ( PAA ) is one of the more popular names in a bunch of good ones, and with a trailing yield around 7%, it does carry some appeal for income investors. But a high yield by itself doesn't make a buy, unfortunately. After working through PAA's latest results, its valuation, and its distribution history, I rate the stock a Hold. Here's the deal: it's a solid company. It just isn't the one I'd buy first here, as investors have quite a few names to choose from. Here, I will compare it to standouts in the MLP sector, including MPLX, Enterprise Products Partners ( EPD ), Energy Transfer ( ET ), and Western Midstream ( WES ). These are all very strong options for income investors, but they're not all the same, of course. Each one carries its own risks and opportunities. Here's my bull case on why MPLX is king of the MLPs and my piece on why I prefer WES over EPD and ET . Now, let's get into Plains All American. What Plains All American Owns Plains All American Pipeline PAA is in the middle of becoming a pure-play crude oil midstream operator. Its corporate presentation describes an extensive network of gathering lines, long-haul pipelines, terminals, and storage that moves roughly 9 million barrels per day of crude and NGL, with the footprint concentrated in the Permian Basin and tied to Gulf Coast export markets. The defining move is the sale of its Canadian NGL business to Keyera for about C$5.15 billion , or roughly $3.3 billion in net cash, which just recently closed. PAA is now essentially a crude pipeline and storage company with fee-based cash flows, plus a marketing arm that captures grade, location, and time spreads. Plains All American Pipeline Its first quarter 2026 adjusted EBITDA was very strong, coming i...
Japan ’s call to maintain “impeccable” defences on its northern frontier reflects Tokyo’s deepening concern over growing Russian military activity in the region, analysts say. They also point to rapid north-south troop deployment exercises as preparation against a potential “diversionary operation” around Hokkaido: a scenario in which Russia could open a second front if Japan were already focused ...
Japan ’s call to maintain “impeccable” defences on its northern frontier reflects Tokyo’s deepening concern over growing Russian military activity in the region, analysts say. They also point to rapid north-south troop deployment exercises as preparation against a potential “diversionary operation” around Hokkaido: a scenario in which Russia could open a second front if Japan were already focused on a crisis with China in the south. During a visit to military bases in Hokkaido on Saturday, Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi expressed alarm over Russia’s increasing military activities in its Far East region, saying this made strengthening the defence of Japan’s northernmost main island essential. Advertisement Russia’s military posture in the Far East region “is a cause for serious concern along with its strategic cooperation with China”, broadcaster NHK quoted Koizumi as saying. “Even as the importance of strengthening the defence of the southwestern regions grows, Hokkaido remains a vital region, and it is necessary to continue maintaining an impeccable defence system here,” he added. Japan’s Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi holds a press conference on May 19. He has called Russia’s military posture around Japan “a cause for serious concern”. Photo: Kyodo Koizumi had earlier visited the Self-Defence Force’s Makomanai Garrison in Sapporo and Chitose Air Base, around 40km (25 miles) to the southeast.
Taiwan prosecutors suspect that three individuals successfully smuggled at least one shipment of Nvidia Corp. ( NVDA ) AI chips to China after first exporting them to Japan, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The trio was detained last week by Taiwan’s Keelung District Prosecutors Office for allegedly falsifying documents related to exports of Super Micro Computer Inc. ( S...
Taiwan prosecutors suspect that three individuals successfully smuggled at least one shipment of Nvidia Corp. ( NVDA ) AI chips to China after first exporting them to Japan, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The trio was detained last week by Taiwan’s Keelung District Prosecutors Office for allegedly falsifying documents related to exports of Super Micro Computer Inc. ( SMCI ) servers containing advanced Nvidia ( NVDA ) chips, which the US has barred from sale to China without a license from Washington. The move marked the island democracy’s first public crackdown on AI chip diversion after years of pressure from the US to take a more active role in curtailing China’s tech access, the report added. More on Nvidia, Super Micro Computer Nvidia Vs. AMD: Nvidia Will Eat AMD's CPU Lunch Nvidia's Just Getting Started; It's Time To Buy (Rating Upgrade) Super Micro Computer: The Next AI Bottleneck (Rating Upgrade) Nvidia, AMD among group of winners as BofA thinks AI spending has 'staying power' Nvidia CEO urges Super Micro to tighten up on compliance amid Taiwan crackdown - report
Key Points Company Director and activist investor Edward Garden purchased 57,400 shares for a total consideration of approximately $2 million on May 20, 2026. The transaction represented 1.61% of his total holdings, with post-transaction indirect ownership at 3,624,932 shares. All shares are held indirectly, with no direct ownership noted in the filing. 10 stocks we like better than Fortune Brands...
Key Points Company Director and activist investor Edward Garden purchased 57,400 shares for a total consideration of approximately $2 million on May 20, 2026. The transaction represented 1.61% of his total holdings, with post-transaction indirect ownership at 3,624,932 shares. All shares are held indirectly, with no direct ownership noted in the filing. 10 stocks we like better than Fortune Brands Innovations › Activist investor Edward P. Garden, now a member of the Board of Directors for Fortune Brands Innovations (NYSE:FBIN), reported the acquisition of 57,400 shares of Common Stock at a weighted average price of $34.89 per share on May 20, 2026, according to a SEC Form 4 filing. Transaction summary Metric Value Shares traded 57,400 Transaction value ~$2 million Post-transaction shares (indirect) 3,624,932 Transaction value based on SEC Form 4 weighted average purchase price ($34.89). Key questions How does this purchase relate to Edward P. Garden's overall ownership structure? Garden's entire Common Stock position is now held indirectly through GI SPV II L.P. and Green 73 LLC, maintaining exposure without any directly held shares noted in the filing. Garden's entire Common Stock position is now held indirectly through GI SPV II L.P. and Green 73 LLC, maintaining exposure without any directly held shares noted in the filing. What is the proportional impact of this transaction on Garden's holdings? The 57,400 shares acquired represent 1.6% of his holdings as of the filing date. The 57,400 shares acquired represent 1.6% of his holdings as of the filing date. Is there any indication of a change in transaction cadence or size? There is insufficient historical data on prior purchases or sales to establish a trend, but the timing and size reflect a portfolio adjustment rather than a shift in strategy. There is insufficient historical data on prior purchases or sales to establish a trend, but the timing and size reflect a portfolio adjustment rather than a shift in strat...
Sometimes you should invest in skyrocketing stocks before they truly go stratospheric. In other cases, you want to buy shares of great companies when they're way too cheap. It's easy to find both types of super-investable stock ideas in today's market. Read on to see a great example in each category: Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) Market makers seem to have missed SoundHound AI's (NASDAQ: SOUN) If you hav...
Sometimes you should invest in skyrocketing stocks before they truly go stratospheric. In other cases, you want to buy shares of great companies when they're way too cheap. It's easy to find both types of super-investable stock ideas in today's market. Read on to see a great example in each category: Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) Market makers seem to have missed SoundHound AI's (NASDAQ: SOUN) If you have $1,000 of investable cash on hand, you should consider these two tech stocks before anything else right now. Netflix: The soaring media star Netflix is a clear leader in the streaming industry, with a household-name brand, massive subscriber base of 270 million paid memberships, and an award-winning content library. The stock might seem pricey at first glance, but the company's recent streak of 52-week-high share prices are a testament to Netflix's continued growth and potential for further expansion. Key factors driving Netflix's growth include: Global expansion: Netflix is aggressively expanding into international markets, tapping into a vast pool of potential subscribers. What started as a tentative Canadian launch more than a decade ago has bloomed into 69% of the global subscriber base -- and growing. This presents a significant growth opportunity, as the company expands its streaming services in new regions and cultures. Netflix is aggressively expanding into international markets, tapping into a vast pool of potential subscribers. What started as a tentative Canadian launch more than a decade ago has bloomed into 69% of the global subscriber base -- and growing. This presents a significant growth opportunity, as the company expands its streaming services in new regions and cultures. Original content: Netflix's heavy investment in original content, including critically acclaimed series like Stranger Things and films such as Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, has been a major driver of subscriber growth and engagement. This strategy not only attracts new viewers but ...
The breathtaking rally in South Korean stocks took gains for 2026 to 100%, eclipsing even the historic run-ups seen before the dotcom bubble burst and during the nation’s industrial boom in the late 1980s. Supercharged by advances in memory makers SK Hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., the benchmark Kospi has shattered record after record — racing from 5,000 to 8,000 in a matter of months. The...
The breathtaking rally in South Korean stocks took gains for 2026 to 100%, eclipsing even the historic run-ups seen before the dotcom bubble burst and during the nation’s industrial boom in the late 1980s. Supercharged by advances in memory makers SK Hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., the benchmark Kospi has shattered record after record — racing from 5,000 to 8,000 in a matter of months. The gauge jumped as much as 5.1% on Wednesday. Less than halfway through the year, the Kospi’s performance now rivals the Nasdaq 100 Index’s 102% surge in 1999 — right before the bubble burst. Still, few market watchers are raising the alarm bells for Korea as they see a structural change in global demand for memory chips — moving from a cyclical pattern to an enduring growth trend. Read more: Memory Chip Frenzy Sends SK Hynix, Micron Into $1 Trillion Club