Marccophoto/E+ via Getty Images By Jennifer Nash Gas prices inched lower for a second straight week, though they remain near their highest level in almost four years. As of May 25th, weekly prices were down 2 cents for regular and premium gasoline. Currently, the national average for regular gasoline stands at $4.48 per gallon, with premium averaging $5.43. These prices represent a significant jum...
Marccophoto/E+ via Getty Images By Jennifer Nash Gas prices inched lower for a second straight week, though they remain near their highest level in almost four years. As of May 25th, weekly prices were down 2 cents for regular and premium gasoline. Currently, the national average for regular gasoline stands at $4.48 per gallon, with premium averaging $5.43. These prices represent a significant jump since the start of the year, with regular gas up 59% and premium up 44%. Compared to one year ago, regular gas is 42% more expensive (up from $3.16), while premium has seen a 32% increase (up from $4.10). Gas Prices by State According to GasBuddy, regional price disparities have widened significantly, leaving a $2.23 gap between the nation’s highest and lowest averages. California currently holds the highest average for regular gas at $6.08, while Indiana offers the cheapest at $3.85. While nearly every state in the nation is now averaging over $4.00 per gallon, a clear geographic divide has emerged. The West Coast continues to lead the nation in fuel costs, though the ceiling has moved higher. California now stands alone as the only state with an average surpassing the $6.00 mark. The remainder of the West Coast (Alaska, Nevada, Oregon, Hawaii, and Washington) all maintain averages between $5.00 and $6.00. The most dramatic shift is seen in the middle tier; there are now 38 states across the West, Northeast, and Midwest falling into the $4.00 to $5.00 range, signaling a broad national increase. Conversely, the number of states with relatively lower prices has dwindled significantly. Only three states (Indiana, Oklahoma, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana) remain below the $4.00 threshold, with these lowest averages concentrated mainly in the South. Behind the Price: Components and Inflation To understand these surges, it is helpful to look at the "price at the pump" as a sum of its parts. The retail price of gas is made up of four main components: 1) cost of crud...
The Daily Telegraph headlines on reporting that former British ambassador to the US Lord Peter Mandelson "told Cabinet how to do their jobs". The paper says files due to be released next week on the peer's time in Washington will show he "often messaged senior Labour politicians and officials with suggestions on how to conduct official business far outside his remit". It also carries the picture o...
The Daily Telegraph headlines on reporting that former British ambassador to the US Lord Peter Mandelson "told Cabinet how to do their jobs". The paper says files due to be released next week on the peer's time in Washington will show he "often messaged senior Labour politicians and officials with suggestions on how to conduct official business far outside his remit". It also carries the picture of a young woman, with the caption: "I was a Palestine activist... then I went to Israel."
The U.S. Justice Department charged Google software engineer Michele Spagnuolo with insider trading, alleging the employee made $1.2 million trading on Polymarket based on confidential business information. Spagnuolo, who used the name “AlphaRaccoon” on Polymarket, has worked at Google for over 12 years, according to information on LinkedIn. “As alleged, Spagnuolo violated the duties he owed to hi...
The U.S. Justice Department charged Google software engineer Michele Spagnuolo with insider trading, alleging the employee made $1.2 million trading on Polymarket based on confidential business information. Spagnuolo, who used the name “AlphaRaccoon” on Polymarket, has worked at Google for over 12 years, according to information on LinkedIn. “As alleged, Spagnuolo violated the duties he owed to his employer and used Google’s confidential business information to make more than $1.2 million in trading profits on Polymarket,” Jay Clayton, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a press release. “Insider trading compromises the integrity of our markets, and the American people want this greed-driven conduct investigated and prosecuted.” Prediction markets like Polymarket, Kalshi, and others allow users to bet on pretty much anything. Insider trading is not allowed on these platforms because it’s illegal, but some users still commit the offense. The Justice Department recently charged a U.S. Army soldier for allegedly using his insider knowledge of the U.S. military operation to capture Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro to make $400,000 on Polymarket. According to the complaint, Spagnuolo risked over $2.7 million on wagers related to Google’s 2025 Year in Search, a marketing campaign in which Google reveals the world’s most popular searches of the year. Spagnuolo allegedly accessed confidential, internal Google Search data about the most-searched celebrities to inform his bets. “Polymarket worked closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the CFTC, and is the only prediction platform to date whose cooperation has led to insider trading charges in the United States,” a Polymarket spokesperson told TechCrunch. “Blockchain trading is transparent, traceable, and bad actors leave footprints. We are committed to maintaining accurate, fair, and transparent markets as well as enforcing our rules and worki...
The U.S. Justice Department charged Google software engineer Michele Spagnuolo with insider trading, alleging the employee made $1.2 million trading on Polymarket based on confidential business information. Spagnuolo, who used the name “AlphaRaccoon” on Polymarket, has worked at Google for over 12 years, according to information on LinkedIn. More from Yahoo Scout What insider trading charges does ...
The U.S. Justice Department charged Google software engineer Michele Spagnuolo with insider trading, alleging the employee made $1.2 million trading on Polymarket based on confidential business information. Spagnuolo, who used the name “AlphaRaccoon” on Polymarket, has worked at Google for over 12 years, according to information on LinkedIn. More from Yahoo Scout What insider trading charges does Google engineer face? How did Spagnuolo allegedly use Google's confidential data? What is Polymarket's role in insider trading investigations? How are prediction markets addressing insider trading violations? “As alleged, Spagnuolo violated the duties he owed to his employer and used Google’s confidential business information to make more than $1.2 million in trading profits on Polymarket,” Jay Clayton, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a press release. “Insider trading compromises the integrity of our markets, and the American people want this greed-driven conduct investigated and prosecuted.” Prediction markets like Polymarket, Kalshi, and others allow users to bet on pretty much anything. Insider trading is not allowed on these platforms because it’s illegal, but some users still commit the offense. The Justice Department recently charged a U.S. Army soldier for allegedly using his insider knowledge of the U.S. military operation to capture Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro to make $400,000 on Polymarket. According to the complaint, Spagnuolo risked over $2.7 million on wagers related to Google’s 2025 Year in Search, a marketing campaign in which Google reveals the world’s most popular searches of the year. Spagnuolo allegedly accessed confidential, internal Google Search data about the most-searched celebrities to inform his bets. “Polymarket worked closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the CFTC, and is the only prediction platform to date whose cooperation has led to insider trading c...
Richard Drury/DigitalVision via Getty Images This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb's 13F portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on their regulatory 13F Form filed on 05/15/2026. Please visit our Tracking Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb's Portfolio article for an idea of their investment philosophy and our previous update ...
Richard Drury/DigitalVision via Getty Images This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb's 13F portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on their regulatory 13F Form filed on 05/15/2026. Please visit our Tracking Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb's Portfolio article for an idea of their investment philosophy and our previous update for the moves during Q4 2025. This quarter, Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb's 13F portfolio value decreased from $6.40B to $6.03B. The number of holdings increased from 48 to 50. 23 of those stakes are significantly large (more than ~0.5% of the portfolio each), and they are the focus of this article. The top three positions are at ~31%, while the top five are at ~45% of the 13F assets: Alphabet, Liberty Media, Charles Schwab, Intercontinental Exchange, and Taiwan Semi. The firm is best known as the investment advisor of the Sequoia Fund ( SEQUX ), which has a venerable ~56-year track record (July 15, 1970, inception, 13.17% annualized return compared to 11.33% for the S&P 500 index). For 2025, they returned 22.13% compared to 17.88% for the S&P. For Q1 2026, they were down ~11% compared to down ~4% for the S&P 500 index. Note: The following top stakes in Sequoia's portfolio are not in the 13F report as they are not 13F securities: Constellation Software ( CNSWF ), Eurofins Scientific SE ( ERFSF ), Rolls-Royce Holdings plc ( RYCEY ), and Universal Music Group ( UMGNF ). Bill Ruane was a Benjamin Graham pupil. To learn about Benjamin Graham's teachings, check out the classics The Intelligent Investor and Security Analysis. New Stakes: Sunbelt Rentals Holdings ( SUNB ): SUNB is a fairly large ~6% of the portfolio stake established this quarter at prices between ~$62 and ~$77. The stock currently trades just above that range at $79.04. Zoetis Inc. ( ZTS ): The 4.76% ZTS position was purchased this quarter at prices between ~$113 and ~$133. The stock is now well below that range at $...
Taiwanese tech firms have completed a record $14.5 billion of debt deals so far this year, as they race to secure financing to meet soaring demand for artificial intelligence capacity. Hardware manufacturers such as chip component makers and server builders, vital parts of the global AI supply chain, have been driving the surge in borrowing as procurement and capital expenditure needs accelerate. ...
Taiwanese tech firms have completed a record $14.5 billion of debt deals so far this year, as they race to secure financing to meet soaring demand for artificial intelligence capacity. Hardware manufacturers such as chip component makers and server builders, vital parts of the global AI supply chain, have been driving the surge in borrowing as procurement and capital expenditure needs accelerate. The trend mirrors a global debt binge by tech companies as they build up AI infrastructure. The borrowing volume is nearly double the $7.5 billion the firms raised in the same period last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, and it’s on track to climb further as more deals fill the pipeline. Taiwanese tech firms play a crucial role in development of AI capacity, with Nvidia Corp. , Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI increasingly relying on them to fabricate their chips and build their servers. That’s helped boost shares of not only tech behemoths like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. , but also those of smaller AI players , turning the island’s stock market into the fifth largest in the world. Of the total amount of financing, loans made up the biggest chunk, with $6.2 billion in deals so far this year, while tech firms issued $5.9 billion of convertible bonds and $2.4 billion of corporate notes. “AI has substantially scaled up the value and complexity of traditional server hardware,” said Randy Abrams , head of research at UBS Taiwan. Manufacturers need more working capital as they upgrade production lines and invest in new facilities in North America and Southeast Asia to meet demand, he added. Among the largest borrowings in the pipeline is Hon Hai’s up to $1.5 billion convertible bond to help fund procurement of materials from overseas. That follows a $1.1 billion-equivalent loan the firm raised in February. Hon Hai, long known for its work assembling iPhones for Apple Inc. , expects AI hardware to be its key growth driver this...
AI stock lists usually involve Nvidia (NVDA 0.99%) and Microsoft (MSFT 0.81%), or perhaps Palantir (PLTR 2.94%). Investors rarely think about a beaten-down telecom company that traded at $1 two years ago. They should give Lumen Technologies (LUMN +6.79%) a chance, though. As of May 26, Lumen's stock has gained 416% in three years. It has nearly $13 billion in contracts with AI hyperscalers. Amazon...
AI stock lists usually involve Nvidia (NVDA 0.99%) and Microsoft (MSFT 0.81%), or perhaps Palantir (PLTR 2.94%). Investors rarely think about a beaten-down telecom company that traded at $1 two years ago. They should give Lumen Technologies (LUMN +6.79%) a chance, though. As of May 26, Lumen's stock has gained 416% in three years. It has nearly $13 billion in contracts with AI hyperscalers. Amazon (AMZN +2.47%) Web Services (AWS) and Anthropic are both building products around Lumen's networks. The stock formerly known as CenturyLink is up 170% in the past year alone. So why isn't it on anyone's radar? Expand NYSE : LUMN Lumen Technologies Today's Change ( 6.79 %) $ 0.69 Current Price $ 10.86 Key Data Points Market Cap $10B Day's Range $ 9.78 - $ 10.96 52wk Range $ 3.37 - $ 11.95 Volume 616.9K Avg Vol 13.3M Gross Margin 25.03 % Because fiber is boring Lumen doesn't make GPUs. It doesn't train large language models. CEO Kate Johnson doesn't even post cryptic memes on social media. But Lumen has nearly 80 million miles of fiber-optic cable connecting 139 data centers across North America. And each hub connects to the others over high-speed fiber at 400 gigabits per second. That fiber is increasingly valuable. AI workloads move massive amounts of data between training clusters, inference servers, and multiple cloud providers. All of that data travels over physical infrastructure. Much of it travels over Lumen's infrastructure, especially over long distances. The company has been quietly signing deals with the biggest names in tech. Recent clients include Microsoft, Anthropic, AWS, and Alphabet's (GOOG +0.02%) (GOOGL 0.01%) Google Cloud. These aren't speculative partnerships. AWS just made Lumen the first network operator for its new Interconnect service. The Alkira buyout In May, Lumen announced a $475 million acquisition of Alkira, a software company specializing in cloud-to-cloud connectivity. This deal targets what the industry calls "East-West" traffic: data moving...
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made a dual appeal to Donald Trump and the US Congress for more air defence munitions including Patriot missiles after Russia battered Ukraine with waves of ballistic missiles. The Ukrainian president said the Russian missiles represented Vladimir Putin’s “last major advantage on the battlefield” and neutralising them would force the Russian ruler to negotiate. Russia used ...
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made a dual appeal to Donald Trump and the US Congress for more air defence munitions including Patriot missiles after Russia battered Ukraine with waves of ballistic missiles. The Ukrainian president said the Russian missiles represented Vladimir Putin’s “last major advantage on the battlefield” and neutralising them would force the Russian ruler to negotiate. Russia used 30 ballistic missiles against Ukraine in a massive strike on Sunday, and only 11 of them were shot down, according to Ukraine’s air force. Zelenskyy also said Moscow’s troops launched two nuclear-capable Oreshnik missiles. Ukraine’s only means to shoot down Russian ballistic missiles is US-made interceptors shot by the Patriot air defence system. Throughout four years of war, Kyiv has been short of these interceptors. The US is supposed to be providing them through the European-financed Purl initiative, but the Iran war and Donald Trump’s antipathy to Ukraine have threatened supplies. Ukraine also has the similar SAMP/T interceptor system produced by France and Italy, but Ukrainian authorities say it needs upgrades to shoot down ballistic missiles. In his letter to Trump and the US Congress, seen by Reuters, Zelenskyy pitched missile defence as a tool to force the Russian president to the negotiating table. “As long as Putin still has even one meaningful advantage in conventional weapons, he will avoid conventional diplomacy. Today, his ballistic missiles remain exactly that – his last major advantage on the battlefield … Ukraine is ready to purchase the number of Patriot systems and interceptor missiles we need … The current pace of deliveries through the Purl programme is no longer keeping up with the reality of the threat we face.” Russia’s defence ministry has returned to proclaiming the capture of Ukrainian villages at a time when senior analysts concur that Ukraine holds the initiative on the frontline. Moscow’s defence ministry said its troops have taken control of H...