Key Points IBM plans to invest over $10 billion in quantum computing over the next five years, targeting a fault-tolerant system by 2029. Meanwhile, Project Lightwell commits $5 billion and 20,000 engineers to securing open source software at enterprise scale. Both initiatives position IBM as the trusted enterprise layer between cutting-edge tech and corporate risk tolerance. 10 stocks we like bet...
Key Points IBM plans to invest over $10 billion in quantum computing over the next five years, targeting a fault-tolerant system by 2029. Meanwhile, Project Lightwell commits $5 billion and 20,000 engineers to securing open source software at enterprise scale. Both initiatives position IBM as the trusted enterprise layer between cutting-edge tech and corporate risk tolerance. 10 stocks we like better than International Business Machines › Shares of IBM (NYSE: IBM) surged as much as 5.3% higher on Thursday morning, peaking around 10 a.m. ET. Two hours later, Big Blue's stock is up by 4%, adding $10.0 billion to the tech stock's market value. The company is making significant investments in quantum computing and open-source software. The quantum news did most of the market-moving work today, but I'm honestly just as excited about the software news. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » IBM puts $15 billion where its mouth is In a financial filing, IBM laid out a five-year plan for quantum computing investments. The company will deploy "more than $10 billion" in several parts of the quantum ecosystem, ranging from research efforts to buyouts. The core goal is to build "the first large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer" before the calendar turns to 2030. Meanwhile, IBM and its Red Hat subsidiary just launched Project Lightwell, a $5 billion initiative that pairs over 20,000 engineers with AI to secure the open source software supply chain. Lightwell provides companies with a central clearinghouse to find, test, and fix vulnerabilities in open-source code. Open-source software rarely sees billion-dollar budget boosts, but Lightwell's security support could mark a new era of interest and innovation in this space. Why these announcements feel different I've been covering IBM for years, and ...
sankai/E+ via Getty Images Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Limited ( KC ) just reported its Q1 numbers , which showed an impressive increase in the top line but quite a massive decline in operations, although intentional. I wanted to go over the numbers in more detail and give some comments on the outlook. I covered the company back in February of this year, and since my hold rating, the company’s share p...
sankai/E+ via Getty Images Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Limited ( KC ) just reported its Q1 numbers , which showed an impressive increase in the top line but quite a massive decline in operations, although intentional. I wanted to go over the numbers in more detail and give some comments on the outlook. I covered the company back in February of this year, and since my hold rating, the company’s share price has gone nowhere, compared to SPY’s ( SPY ) gain of 10.4%. By the Numbers Starting from the top , KC’s revenues came in at around $392m, up a really strong 37.2% y/y, beating estimates by around $15.8m. The management attributed this performance to the growth from Xiaomi and Kingsoft Ecosystem and AI-related customers, as well as additional penetration into enterprise cloud customers. Breaking revenue down in more detail, public cloud services increased by 47.5% y/y to $102.6m. This segment benefited from the growth of AI as AI gross billings grew over 90% y/y to $1B. The enterprise cloud services came in at $102.6m, an increase of 14.7%, but decreased around 17.6% sequentially due to the Chinese New Year impact. Enterprise remains quite important, but the eyes are all on the public cloud services due to AI. Looking at the company’s margins for the quarter, gross profit is up 8.6% y/y, but gross margins are down considerably. This time, gross margins came in at 12.8% vs. 16.2% last year. This may seem quite alarming, but the management explicitly said that this was intended, as the company expanded its AI computing capacity, with a lot of upfront costs related to future revenue-generating AI projects, as per the press release. This is quite typical of software companies. Most of them already run high gross margins as they are fully established, but what we don’t often see from these companies is the beginning growth and investment phase, which puts a lot of pressure on profitability for now; once these upfront costs are absorbed, profitability comes back stronger, and ...
Bloomberg’s Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow break down Snowflake's share moves after the software maker gave a strong outlook and signed a $6 billion deal with Amazon. Plus, Bloomberg News pulls back the curtains on Apple's revamped Siri design ahead of its WWDC debut. And, Meta introduces paid chatbot subscriptions to help offset its AI infrastructure costs. (Source: Bloomberg)
Bloomberg’s Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow break down Snowflake's share moves after the software maker gave a strong outlook and signed a $6 billion deal with Amazon. Plus, Bloomberg News pulls back the curtains on Apple's revamped Siri design ahead of its WWDC debut. And, Meta introduces paid chatbot subscriptions to help offset its AI infrastructure costs. (Source: Bloomberg)
US-based maritime technology company Navier is deploying 100 electric vessels across the Maldives to build an inter-island transportation network linking airports, resorts, and local communities. The rollout marks a major milestone for electrified marine mobility. Navier CEO Sampriti Bhattacharyya joins Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow on "Bloomberg Tech." (Source: Bloomberg)
US-based maritime technology company Navier is deploying 100 electric vessels across the Maldives to build an inter-island transportation network linking airports, resorts, and local communities. The rollout marks a major milestone for electrified marine mobility. Navier CEO Sampriti Bhattacharyya joins Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow on "Bloomberg Tech." (Source: Bloomberg)
Salesforce's quarterly results didn't convince the naysayers that AI can be a friend, not a foe, to its business. But they shored up Jim Cramer's confidence in the stock. "It's worth it to stay long Salesforce, and we're going to," Jim said during Wednesday's Morning Meeting . Earlier on CNBC, he said he would buy more shares if not restricted. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC, he must wait...
Salesforce's quarterly results didn't convince the naysayers that AI can be a friend, not a foe, to its business. But they shored up Jim Cramer's confidence in the stock. "It's worth it to stay long Salesforce, and we're going to," Jim said during Wednesday's Morning Meeting . Earlier on CNBC, he said he would buy more shares if not restricted. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC, he must wait 72 hours before executing a trade. Shares of Salesforce are up roughly 1% since the enterprise software maker reported a strong quarter on Wednesday. Revenue rose 13.3% year over year to $11.13 billion, beating the Street's $11.05 billion estimates, according to LSEG. Adjusted earnings per share totaled $3.87, beating the consensus estimate by 76 cents. Salesforce has been trying to counter the prevailing market narrative that AI poses an existential threat to its business. Bears say the company's per-seat business model is in danger as AI efficiency forces headcount reduction, and that AI code-writing tools will lead customers to replace some Salesforce tools with in-house applications. Several analysts, including Wells Fargo, UBS, Bernstein, and D.A. Davidson, either cut price targets on the stock or left them unchanged. But Jim is convinced that CEO Marc Benioff isn't getting the credit he deserves as Salesforce quietly transitions to a consumption-based model. The strategy includes tokenized pricing, where customers can redeem tokens across services as a more flexible way to pay for usage. He points to Salesforce's AI-powered model, Agentforce, as proof of that transformation. Agentforce helps customers build AI agents that can work autonomously to execute tasks. Salesforce said the business closed on a record 98 deals in the quarter, with annual recurring revenue (ARR) now sitting at $1.2 billion. That's a 205% year-over-year jump from $800 million in the fourth quarter. "Agentforce revenue is now over a billion dollars, Jim. That's incredible. And Agentforce is now o...
Emrah Onder/iStock via Getty Images I recently moved from a 100% Equity weighting to 92% in a pot of money with an investment horizon of at least a decade. For now, I want to park the cash into something that is liquid and pays a little more yield than T-bills do. My first thought was the iShares Floating Rate Bond ETF ( FLOT ), an ETF that I wrote about two years ago. Unfortunately, as the accoun...
Emrah Onder/iStock via Getty Images I recently moved from a 100% Equity weighting to 92% in a pot of money with an investment horizon of at least a decade. For now, I want to park the cash into something that is liquid and pays a little more yield than T-bills do. My first thought was the iShares Floating Rate Bond ETF ( FLOT ), an ETF that I wrote about two years ago. Unfortunately, as the account in question is based in the UK, FLOT isn’t an option, but I thought that this would be a good opportunity to update and extend my original article . I like FLOT for my own investment needs at this particular time, and if I could buy it, I would. However, as I originally wrote, nothing can be all things to all people, so I still rate FLOT as a HOLD instead of as a Buy. This article will; Compare FLOT’s performance to several of its peers, Examine how well FLOT has acted as a Store of Wealth (one of the three functions of money) in both nominal terms, and in “real” terms after adjusting for inflation, Briefly discuss the assets FLOT invests in, how well both they and FLOT can be expected to hold up in periods of market disruption, and how these assets differ from the assets that several of FLOT’s peers invest in, Discuss how well FLOT is likely to act as a Store of Wealth over the next few years. How does FLOT compare to other alternatives? FLOT is designed to track the Bloomberg US Floating Rate Notes 1-5 Years Index. Graph 1 and Table 1 compare FLOT with several other peers that also track this index, as well as BIL , the State Street SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF, and ICSH , an ETF that invests in a mixture of Floating Rate Notes, and Fixed Rate bonds, and which is benchmarked to a 6-month T-Bill Index . Graph 1: Total Returns May 20, 2025, to May 21, 2026 Seeking Alpha I've only shown one year of total returns, but the comparisons hold up for any period looked at over the past five years. FLOT has outperformed FLRN by approximately 5 bps per year, and both have ha...
DKosig/iStock via Getty Images Portfolio management Adam Hetts, CFA Oliver Blackburn, CFA Investment environment Global financial markets were relatively stable in the first two months of 2026, supported by resilient economic growth and hopes for central bank rate cuts. Volatility increased in March, after the outbreak of war in the Middle East led to surging oil prices, increased inflation fears,...
DKosig/iStock via Getty Images Portfolio management Adam Hetts, CFA Oliver Blackburn, CFA Investment environment Global financial markets were relatively stable in the first two months of 2026, supported by resilient economic growth and hopes for central bank rate cuts. Volatility increased in March, after the outbreak of war in the Middle East led to surging oil prices, increased inflation fears, and reduced expectations for rate cuts. The U.S. benchmark 10-year yield rose to the highest level since mid-2025, while yields on core 10-year government bonds in the UK, Germany, and Japan also increased. Against this backdrop, fixed income investments delivered mixed performance, with corporate bonds outperforming sovereign debt. Most broad equity market indices ended the period with negative performance, while investors rotated from cyclical stocks into energy shares. Value stocks outperformed growth stocks. Portfolio review The portfolio held an overweight allocation to international fixed income. Those investments detracted from relative performance. The portfolio's underweight allocation to U.S. fixed income also slightly detracted. The portfolio held an overweight position in U.S. equities. Those holdings detracted from relative performance, due to stock selection. However, exposure to value stocks helped to partially offset weakness in other equity investments. The portfolio held a slight overweight in international equities, and those investments were modest contributors to relative performance. The portfolio's equity and fixed income exposures during the period averaged 21.72% and 76.00%, respectively. Manager outlook The Iran conflict reverberated across the global economy as disruptions in a critical energy choke point placed acute pressure on the countries most dependent on Middle Eastern resources. While volatility understandably increased with the onset of the conflict, financial markets have proven relatively resilient as investors coalesced around the cri...
You may want to keep hitting the buy button on Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), and the last six weeks handed you three more reasons to do it again. While the financial press tracks every twitch in the Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) versus AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) slap fight, Qualcomm quietly signed the biggest AI deal in its history. The stock has run 100% from ... While Nvidia Battles AMD, Qualcomm Quietly Signed the Bigg...
You may want to keep hitting the buy button on Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), and the last six weeks handed you three more reasons to do it again. While the financial press tracks every twitch in the Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) versus AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) slap fight, Qualcomm quietly signed the biggest AI deal in its history. The stock has run 100% from ... While Nvidia Battles AMD, Qualcomm Quietly Signed the Biggest AI Deal in Its History. With ByteDance
An iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) chart on the floor of the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. Wall Street traders drove stocks toward their worst session since May as weak jobs and manufacturing data bolstered concerns about the economy, a day after President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs.
An iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) chart on the floor of the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. Wall Street traders drove stocks toward their worst session since May as weak jobs and manufacturing data bolstered concerns about the economy, a day after President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs.
Key Points Chip stocks such as Nvidia, Broadcom, and AMD have shown that their revenue and earnings are growing at incredible rates due to the huge amount of money being spent on AI data centers. TSMC is the go-to foundry partner for chip designers capitalizing on the AI boom, making it a no-brainer buy right now. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › The artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructu...
Key Points Chip stocks such as Nvidia, Broadcom, and AMD have shown that their revenue and earnings are growing at incredible rates due to the huge amount of money being spent on AI data centers. TSMC is the go-to foundry partner for chip designers capitalizing on the AI boom, making it a no-brainer buy right now. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › The artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure boom isn't slowing down, as major hyperscalers, governments, and AI companies continue to invest hundreds of billions of dollars to set up more AI data centers. As reported by the Financial Times, the top four hyperscalers in the U.S. -- Google, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, and Amazon are going to spend $725 billion on capex this year, a 77% increase from last year's levels. The overall spending, however, could be much higher, as AI companies, neocloud infrastructure providers, and governments are also spending huge sums on the AI infrastructure build-out. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » It is easy to see why companies continue to invest aggressively in AI data centers. The demand for AI computing capacity exceeds supply, and these hyperscalers need to satisfy more than $2 trillion in contractual backlogs based on their remaining performance obligations (RPO). Though there are several AI stocks you can buy to benefit from this $725 billion opportunity, we are going to take a closer look at four names that are well-positioned to make the most of the booming AI infrastructure supercycle. These chip stocks will be definitive winners of the AI infrastructure boom A nice chunk of the massive AI infrastructure spending this year will be allocated to semiconductors. Gartner estimates that non-memory semiconductors, such as graphics cards and custom AI processors, will generate a whopping $687 bi...
Richard Drury/DigitalVision via Getty Images Listen below or on the go on Apple Podcasts and Spotify U.S. GDP growth slowed as inflation pressures remained elevated . (0:15) Drone stocks up on Trump administration defense funding. (1:29) Lamborghini defends abandoning EV plans as luxury buyers favored hybrid vehicles. (2:35) This is an abridged transcript of the podcast: Our top story so far, GDP ...
Richard Drury/DigitalVision via Getty Images Listen below or on the go on Apple Podcasts and Spotify U.S. GDP growth slowed as inflation pressures remained elevated . (0:15) Drone stocks up on Trump administration defense funding. (1:29) Lamborghini defends abandoning EV plans as luxury buyers favored hybrid vehicles. (2:35) This is an abridged transcript of the podcast: Our top story so far, GDP was revised lower for Q1 to a 1.6% annual rate , versus 2% in the initial estimate and 0.5% in the prior quarter. The downward revision primarily reflected weaker investment and consumer spending. Overall, GDP was supported by increases in government spending and exports, along with faster investment growth, partly offset by slower consumer spending. David Laut of Kerux Financial said the stability in economic growth “suggests that interest rates at their current levels are justified.” Meanwhile, the April core PCE price index showed inflation remains well above the Fed’s 2% target. The index rose 0.2% for the month, a touch below the 0.3% estimate, but increased 3.3% annually, in line with consensus and slightly hotter than March’s 3.2% pace. Consumers continued to spend despite persistent inflation, though income growth was flat. Economist Joseph Brusuelas said Americans are “so upset right now” because of three straight monthly declines in disposable income growth and weakness in that same measure over the past year. “Real wages are falling as disposable income declines and households are drawing down savings,” he said. “With rising inflation not having yet peaked this will get worse before it gets better and real spending is likely to decline in May. Among active stocks, drone-related stocks are rallying after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration is considering funding agreements with several companies as part of a broader push to expand domestic production and reduce costs for the increasingly important defense technology. Unusual Machines (UM...
FIFA's World Cup ticket sales outraged fans. Now they are under investigation toggle caption Win McNamee/Getty Images FIFA President Gianni Infantino has had an answer when asked about the sky-high ticket prices for this summer's World Cup: They are simply adapting to the North American market. That's the justification FIFA has used to sharply increase ticket prices for the World Cup taking place ...
FIFA's World Cup ticket sales outraged fans. Now they are under investigation toggle caption Win McNamee/Getty Images FIFA President Gianni Infantino has had an answer when asked about the sky-high ticket prices for this summer's World Cup: They are simply adapting to the North American market. That's the justification FIFA has used to sharply increase ticket prices for the World Cup taking place in the United States, Mexico and Canada this summer compared to previous tournaments. But those increases could come with some serious consequences: The New York and New Jersey attorneys general said on Wednesday they have launched a probe into FIFA over ticket practices. And it's not just the ticket prices. New York Atty Gen. Letitia James and New Jersey Atty Gen. Jennifer Davenport are also looking at FIFA's sales process, including the way it has allocated tickets to fans and whether the organization's sales tactics have contributed to "soaring prices." Sponsor Message Here's what to know about how FIFA sells tickets — and why it has become such a flash point with just two weeks to go before the start of the tournament. FIFA's prices draw condemnation Ticket prices for this tournament aren't just much higher than previous World Cups. For the first time, FIFA has introduced dynamic pricing, leading to sharply higher prices for many World Cup games. A clear example is for the final match, set to take place in New Jersey on July 19. FIFA initially sold the most expensive tickets at $6,730 — already much higher than the about $1,600 price for the most expensive tickets for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. By its latest sales windows starting in April, the same category of tickets cost $10,990. The prices have sparked widespread outrage — and drawn wide scrutiny on FIFA. Even President Trump, who has established a close relationship with Infantino, told the New York Post he wouldn't pay the roughly $1,000 for nosebleed seats for the U.S. opening game against Paraguay next mo...
(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended notably lower on Tuesday after staying weak right through the day's session, in line with the trend seen in most of the markets across Europe. The benchmark SMI ended with a loss of 149.74 points or 1.2% at 12,378.87, off the session's low of 12,337.05. Roche Holding tumbled 2.8% and Givaudan ended 2.75% down. Credit Suisse ended lower by about 2%. No...
(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended notably lower on Tuesday after staying weak right through the day's session, in line with the trend seen in most of the markets across Europe. The benchmark SMI ended with a loss of 149.74 points or 1.2% at 12,378.87, off the session's low of 12,337.05. Roche Holding tumbled 2.8% and Givaudan ended 2.75% down. Credit Suisse ended lower by about 2%. Novartis ended 1.3% down on reports the drugmaker will cut thousands of jobs worldwide as it combines its pharma and oncology businesses in a reorganisation. Swiss Re, Nestle, ABB, UBS Group and Lonza Group shed 0.7 to 1.1%. SGS and Alcon declined 0.55% and 0.4%, respectively. Partners Group moved up 1.9%. Richemont advanced 1.35% and Logitech gained 1%. Sika gained 0.56%. In the Mid Price Index, SIG Combibloc plunged more than 5.5%. Bachem Holding drifted down 3.2% and Lindt & Spruengli lost nearly 3%. Zur Rose ended lower by 2.45%, while Lindt & Spruengli, Tecan Group, Julius Baer and Barry Callebaut lost 1.3 to 2%. AMS gained 1.8%, Kuehne & Nagel climbed 1.6% and Ems Chemie Holding moved up 1.53%. VAT Group and Georg Fischer posted modest gains. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
Enfield council in north London has withdrawn from the government’s new towns programme, in a significant blow to Labour’s flagship housebuilding scheme. The move by the new minority Conservative-led administration could present one of the first tests of Rachel Reeves’s planning changes, designed to curb the use of judicial reviews against new infrastructure. The project to build 21,000 homes at C...
Enfield council in north London has withdrawn from the government’s new towns programme, in a significant blow to Labour’s flagship housebuilding scheme. The move by the new minority Conservative-led administration could present one of the first tests of Rachel Reeves’s planning changes, designed to curb the use of judicial reviews against new infrastructure. The project to build 21,000 homes at Crews Hill and Chase Park on the northern fringes of the capital was selected in March for the new towns programme along with six other locations across England. The new towns scheme has been heralded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) as the most ambitious housebuilding project in England for half a century and is regarded as a significant step towards helping Labour achieve its goal of building 1.5m homes during this parliament. The withdrawal comes after significant local opposition to the Enfield plan to build homes, shops, schools and services such as doctors’ surgeries on green belt land currently occupied by several garden centres and family-run businesses. Enfield council, which was previously run by Labour, had already devised a plan to build homes at Crews Hill and gave its backing to the new town proposal. However, Labour lost control of the council in the local elections earlier this month and on Wednesday evening the Conservative councillor Alessandro Georgiou was elected leader of the authority’s minority Tory administration. View image in fullscreen Several garden centres and family-run businesses occupy part of the land that had been earmarked for the new homes. Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian The Conservatives promised during the election campaign to halt the new town development if they took control of the council. On Thursday, Georgiou sent a letter to the minister for housing and planning, Matthew Pennycook, informing him that the council no longer supported the proposals to develop land at Crews Hill and other parts o...
peterschreiber.media/iStock via Getty Images Bitcoin's ( BTC-USD ) price on Thursday remained below the $75K mark on Thursday even after news that U.S. and Iranian negotiators reached a draft 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend a ceasefire and start nuclear-program talks. While U.S. President Donald Trump has yet to give the agreement his final approval, stocks ( SPY ) ( DIA ) ( QQQ ) and...
peterschreiber.media/iStock via Getty Images Bitcoin's ( BTC-USD ) price on Thursday remained below the $75K mark on Thursday even after news that U.S. and Iranian negotiators reached a draft 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend a ceasefire and start nuclear-program talks. While U.S. President Donald Trump has yet to give the agreement his final approval, stocks ( SPY ) ( DIA ) ( QQQ ) and bonds ( AGG ) ( TLT ) both moved higher and oil ( USO ) ( BNO ) fell on the report, while bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) ( IBIT ) stayed in the red. On the daily chart, BTC is testing its 100-day simple moving average around the low-$73K area after recently falling below its 50-day average near $77K. That leaves the 50-day line and the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement as the first resistance zone, with the 200-day average near $80K acting as a heavier ceiling above it. Traders on prediction marketplace Kalshi see bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) rebounding to $90K by the end of the year. Seeking Alpha More on the Crypto Market As Asset Managers Exit Crypto, The Music May Be Stopping For Many Cryptocurrencies Bitcoin Drops Below $76,000 And Enters Correction Phase Bitcoin Held The $75K Test, But Options Confirmation Is Still Narrow Donald Trump's 'saved crypto industry' bullish claim—but market voted bearish Bitcoin breaks below $73K, dragging crypto stocks lower
There is a number most people stop being able to picture once it gets past a billion. You can imagine a million dollars. You can almost imagine a billion. A trillion is already abstract. Five trillion, however, is folklore. That is the territory Nvidia (NVDA) is now operating in, and it is the part ...
There is a number most people stop being able to picture once it gets past a billion. You can imagine a million dollars. You can almost imagine a billion. A trillion is already abstract. Five trillion, however, is folklore. That is the territory Nvidia (NVDA) is now operating in, and it is the part ...
Colleges and placements can help the 1 million 16- to 24-year-olds who aren’t earning or learning. But what they need most is work For a few days at least, political attention is focused on young people aged 16-24 who are not in education, employment or training (known as Neets). A report from the commission led by Alan Milburn, a former health secretary, shines a bright light on a group that need...
Colleges and placements can help the 1 million 16- to 24-year-olds who aren’t earning or learning. But what they need most is work For a few days at least, political attention is focused on young people aged 16-24 who are not in education, employment or training (known as Neets). A report from the commission led by Alan Milburn, a former health secretary, shines a bright light on a group that needs it. The document concentrates on analysis, with recommendations due in the autumn. Describing problems is generally easier than solving them. The latest figures record more than 1 million Neets – one in eight of their age group; 60% are economically inactive, meaning that they are not looking for work. The report warns that there will soon be more unless action is taken. It points out that this issue is too often approached from the wrong direction. Political attacks on welfare spending and mean-spirited criticisms of “kids these days” are a distraction from the facts about unemployment, rising ill health and inadequate training. The UK’s poor track record compared with other countries proves that this is a policy failure. Continue reading...
temizyurek/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Having conducted two earlier analyses on The Western Union Company ( WU )— one last October and another this February — I felt it was the right moment to update the company’s recent progress, as quite a few important developments have unfolded since then. My prior Buy ratings haven’t played out favorably yet, with the shares fluctuating between $8 and ...
temizyurek/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Having conducted two earlier analyses on The Western Union Company ( WU )— one last October and another this February — I felt it was the right moment to update the company’s recent progress, as quite a few important developments have unfolded since then. My prior Buy ratings haven’t played out favorably yet, with the shares fluctuating between $8 and $10, but after taking a deeper look at the latest developments, I find myself even more confident in those calls than before. My previous covers (Seeking Alpha) With the company on my watchlist, I’m keeping a close eye on its recent developments, the most important of which, in my view, is the long‑anticipated stablecoin launch that went live on May 4. Other key events include the wide EPS miss in Q1 and the setback in the Intermex acquisition, where the Mayor of New York unexpectedly voiced his opposition to the merger. Thesis For readers who don’t regularly follow Western Union and thus aren’t familiar with the company’s narrative, the broad thesis today is that WU — with its 100‑million‑plus clients and 400,000 retail locations — sits at an intriguing crossroads: it is now integrating its legacy physical agent‑based remittance network, the largest of its kind globally and originally built around cash transactions, with its newly developed, modern, stablecoin‑driven digital asset infrastructure. WU remains the global market leader in its category by a wide margin. For comparison, it generates annually roughly $4 billion in revenue ( of which around $3.4 billion is related to money transfer ), versus its closest rivals — Ria (part of Euronet (EEFT)) at around $1.8 billion, MoneyGram at approximately $1.5 billion (estimate; acquired by Madison Dearborn Partners, deal closed in 2023), Wise at about $1.5 billion (transaction revenue only; interest income and other revenue excluded), and Remitly ( RELY ) at roughly $1.0 billion. While building its future on an innovative new d...
Israel has intensified its strikes on Lebanon, saying it has hit hundreds of Hezbollah targets in the last few days. Verified videos show strikes on densely populated neighbourhoods in southern Lebanon along with the destruction caused. The Lebanese health ministry has said more than 3,000 people have been killed since the start of the war. Merlyn Thomas reports. Produced by Tom Joyner. Graphics b...
Israel has intensified its strikes on Lebanon, saying it has hit hundreds of Hezbollah targets in the last few days. Verified videos show strikes on densely populated neighbourhoods in southern Lebanon along with the destruction caused. The Lebanese health ministry has said more than 3,000 people have been killed since the start of the war. Merlyn Thomas reports. Produced by Tom Joyner. Graphics by Mesut Ersoz. Verification by Emma Pengelly, Sarah Jalali and Sherie Ryder.