Tevarak/iStock via Getty Images Crypto-linked stocks came under pressure alongside Bitcoin as the world’s largest cryptocurrency extended its losing streak amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and weakening institutional demand signals. Bitcoin recently slipped below $64,000, while several major crypto-related equities moved lower in premarket trading, including miners, exchanges, ...
Tevarak/iStock via Getty Images Crypto-linked stocks came under pressure alongside Bitcoin as the world’s largest cryptocurrency extended its losing streak amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and weakening institutional demand signals. Bitcoin recently slipped below $64,000, while several major crypto-related equities moved lower in premarket trading, including miners, exchanges, and digital asset infrastructure companies. Investor sentiment has also been pressured by persistent outflows from U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs and a decline in Coinbase’s premium index, signaling softer demand from U.S.-based buyers. Despite the recent pullback, several crypto-linked stocks continue to maintain strong quantitative ratings based on factors including valuation, growth, momentum, and profitability. Leading the list is Galaxy Digital ( GLXY ), which currently carries a Strong Buy Quant Rating of 4.80. The digital asset investment and infrastructure firm has remained one of the highest-rated names in the cryptocurrency financial services space. Block ( XYZ ), the payments and fintech company with growing Bitcoin and digital asset exposure, follows closely behind with a Strong Buy rating of 4.72. The remainder of the list consists primarily of Hold-rated crypto infrastructure and mining companies, reflecting the sector’s continued volatility despite strong long-term momentum in select names. Among the Hold-rated stocks, Hut 8 ( HUT ) stands out with year-to-date gains of nearly 186%, while TeraWulf ( WULF ) and Riot Platforms ( RIOT ) have also posted triple-digit percentage gains this year. The list spans several areas of the crypto economy, including digital asset mining, financial services, payments, and blockchain infrastructure. Top crypto-linked stocks by Quant Rating: Galaxy Digital ( GLXY ) - Quant Rating: 4.80 Block ( XYZ ) - Quant Rating: 4.72 Hut 8 ( HUT ) - Quant Rating: 3.48 Cipher Digital ( CIFR ) - Quant Rating: 3.47 TeraWulf ( WULF ) - Quant Rat...
Welcome to Bloomberg’s Banking Monitor . Every Thursday we’ll deliver you the top news of the global banking industry with emerging trends, winners and losers and market opportunities. Sign up now if you’re not already on the list. We have not reached the place where lenders will dump their private loans, but you can see it from here. That’s one of the nervous vibes that emerged during this week’s...
Welcome to Bloomberg’s Banking Monitor . Every Thursday we’ll deliver you the top news of the global banking industry with emerging trends, winners and losers and market opportunities. Sign up now if you’re not already on the list. We have not reached the place where lenders will dump their private loans, but you can see it from here. That’s one of the nervous vibes that emerged during this week’s Bloomberg Global Credit Forum attended by bankers and their alternative-lending counterparts. More on that in a minute, but in the meantime, there’s lots of money still to be made on the equity side. Anthropic chose Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to lead its initial public offering, and the SpaceX IPO could be worth as much as $500 million to the bankers even after Elon Musk pestered them into cutting their fee . And that’s just fine: their involvement seen as a prestige boost, with the fees less important than the bragging rights . Speaking of IPOs, Revolut could turn its leader Nikolay Storonsky into a billionaire 76 times over if the fintech goes public within the next two years. JPMorgan Chase boss Jamie Dimon counts himself as an admirer of the firm. (By contrast, Dimon had some harsh words for the head of Coinbase about crypto’s push to pay interest on digital currency.) Fintech darling Nubank unnerved investors by doing something apparently radical — appointing a highly qualified and deeply experienced new chief financial officer ahead of its US expansion. Back to Bloomberg’s Credit Forum: Loans made during the lax, low-interest heydays at the start of this decade don’t make sense anymore to some bankers, and there’s talk that would-be investors are deliberately tanking their bids to avoid getting stuck with loans they don’t really want. More debtors are going to fail, and a survey of attendees found their top concerns include a potential oversupply of AI-related debt. For a summary of the event, check out our Going Private newsletter ( sign up here ). You might w...
Professor25/iStock via Getty Images Wix ( WIX ) confirmed Thursday that it planned to slash around 1,000 jobs in the coming months. This is roughly 20% of its workforce, and easily the largest layoffs in the company's history. Wix is the latest of a long line of well-known companies taking an ax to their workforces in recent months, with the primary reason cited being AI. A recent survey of corpor...
Professor25/iStock via Getty Images Wix ( WIX ) confirmed Thursday that it planned to slash around 1,000 jobs in the coming months. This is roughly 20% of its workforce, and easily the largest layoffs in the company's history. Wix is the latest of a long line of well-known companies taking an ax to their workforces in recent months, with the primary reason cited being AI. A recent survey of corporate executives was almost unanimous in finding leaders believe AI related layoffs will happen at their company over the next two years. Jobs most vulnerable to be displaced by AI (CloudTweaks) 2026 has seen a notable increase in the number of AI-related layoffs. Alphabet ( GOOG ) announced it plans to lay off up to 30,000 employees in April. That is nearly 20% of its current workforce. Meta Platforms ( META ) disclosed this month it will lay off 10% of its staff, or some 8,000 people. The company will also not fill thousands of currently open positions. Amazon has laid off 30,000 corporate employees since October to help support its projected $200 billion capex budget in 2026. Company Filings, RIA Advisors, Financial Times Both hyperscalers are scaling back their workforces to free up capital to feed their voracious capital ex budgets. The five major hyperscalers will spend nearly $700 billion on capex this year, up just north of 80% over 2025. This massive surge in tech spending has put revenue and profit growth on steroids for semiconductor companies like Micron Technology ( MU ), Intel ( INTC ) and NVIDIA Technology ( NVDA ) and AI related concerns like Datadog ( DDOG ). BofA Global Investment Research, Bloomberg However, the spending binge has decimated the free cash flows at the hyperscalers, with both Amazon ( AMZN ) and Oracle ( ORCL ) projected to has significantly negative free cash flow in 2026. Macrotrends This has resulted in a large increase in debt issuance to fund these large AI infrastructure buildouts at these hyperscalers. Alphabet just announced it will r...
alvarez/iStock via Getty Images Introduction Back when I last covered FLEX LNG Ltd. ( FLNG ), I reiterated their Buy rating, highlighting their modern fleet offering strong and predictable future cash flow, with a robust balance sheet that came with no maturities until 2029. Following a mixed quarter but a boost in guidance thanks to surging spot rates seen as a result of the Iran disruptions that...
alvarez/iStock via Getty Images Introduction Back when I last covered FLEX LNG Ltd. ( FLNG ), I reiterated their Buy rating, highlighting their modern fleet offering strong and predictable future cash flow, with a robust balance sheet that came with no maturities until 2029. Following a mixed quarter but a boost in guidance thanks to surging spot rates seen as a result of the Iran disruptions that helped their two ships that were available on spot rates, FLNG remains a Buy, as the valuation continues to imply a solid margin of safety and weak expectations despite the company’s potential stemming from long-term tailwinds. Mixed Quarter, Guidance Boost FLEX LNG IR Although FLNG reported mixed Q1 results , with a miss on EPS and a beat on revenue and an Average Time Charter Equivalent that continued to fall to $65,729 (vs. $70,119 in Q4 2025) and the Adj. EBITDA fell to $53.2 million (vs. $61.8 million in Q4’25), the company boosted its outlook by about 10% compared to the February guidance. FLEX LNG IR As we can see, the company expects an 8% boost in the average TCE rate during the year, translating into a 10% revenue guidance increase to $345 million to $370 million, and an 11% higher Adj. EBITDA than back in February, to $255 million to $280 million (vs. $251.1 million in 2025). FLEX LNG IR Although we see Artemis and Volunteer on fixed hires until Q2 and Q3 (compared to spot trading at the beginning of the year and during Q1; Artemis is employed until the end of September, Volunteer until early July), the company doesn’t have that much exposure to near-term rates, and especially given the options to extend a couple of the near-term contract expirations, it’s important to treat this as a long-term investment rather than jump on the current spot prices and treat this as a quick trade, in my opinion. FLEX LNG IR Financially, we continue to see an overall solid position, with current assets covering their current liabilities significantly, with no maturity until 2029 ...
designer491/iStock via Getty Images By Robin Marshall, M.A., M.Phil, Head of FICC Research Malaysia outperforms as intra-region spreads widen Emerging Asia (ex China) govt bonds remain in high and low yield groups, in response to the energy shock. Malaysia remains the strongest performer, reflecting a stable policy regime, attractive carry and roll-down. But Thailand's low growth and deflation ris...
designer491/iStock via Getty Images By Robin Marshall, M.A., M.Phil, Head of FICC Research Malaysia outperforms as intra-region spreads widen Emerging Asia (ex China) govt bonds remain in high and low yield groups, in response to the energy shock. Malaysia remains the strongest performer, reflecting a stable policy regime, attractive carry and roll-down. But Thailand's low growth and deflation risks raise concerns about bond issuance, given fiscal policy uncertainty. Within the higher yielders, India outperformed in May, as pressure to tighten policy is more modest, with inflation on target. In contrast, the spike in Philippines inflation makes further tightening likely. Macro & policy backdrop - Indonesian move signals strong defence of low inflation regime Indonesia follows the Philippines in raising rates, seeking to defend rupiah, pre-empt 2 nd round inflation effects, and reinforce credibility. RBI has more policy options, helped by lower inflation. Emerging Asia govt bond markets – Spreads widen between low and high yielders Yield differentials between low yielders (Malaysia and Thailand), and high (India, Indonesia and the Philippines) widened further in May. But note Indian yields fell within the higher yield group. Spotlight on Thailand – A different type of deflation risk the enduring legacy of Covid Weak domestic demand, high debt service costs & low inflation drove deflation fears, as the economy remains in a low growth trap. But low external debt, and stable funding make 1990-crisis risks low. Yield levels and changes – Yields backed up further in May, led by Philippine shorts Markets priced in more Philippine & Indonesian tightening, after rate increases. Malaysia continues to perform well on rolldown, stable policy and lower inflation. India outperformed in higher yield group. Emerging Asia and global bond returns – Malaysia strongest performer, Philippine weakest Global govt returns mainly weaker on 1-3 months, on stagflation risks. Some 12M returns ...
S4 Capital (LON:SFOR) told shareowners at its annual general meeting that trading remains pressured by macroeconomic uncertainty and client caution, while management said cost controls, working capital discipline and AI-driven offerings are supporting margin improvement and debt reduction. Founder
S4 Capital (LON:SFOR) told shareowners at its annual general meeting that trading remains pressured by macroeconomic uncertainty and client caution, while management said cost controls, working capital discipline and AI-driven offerings are supporting margin improvement and debt reduction. Founder
Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) reported another record quarter for fiscal 2026, with management pointing to AI-related network demand from cloud providers and renewed spending by service providers as major drivers of growth. On the company’s fiscal second-quarter earnings call, President and CEO Gary Smith said
Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) reported another record quarter for fiscal 2026, with management pointing to AI-related network demand from cloud providers and renewed spending by service providers as major drivers of growth. On the company’s fiscal second-quarter earnings call, President and CEO Gary Smith said
The choice between Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF (NYSEMKT:AAAU) and VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSEMKT:GDX) depends on whether an investor seeks direct bullion exposure or the higher volatility of miners. These two funds offer distinct ways to play the gold market. While one tracks the metal itself, the other follows the companies digging it out of the ground. Understanding the differences in volat...
The choice between Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF (NYSEMKT:AAAU) and VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSEMKT:GDX) depends on whether an investor seeks direct bullion exposure or the higher volatility of miners. These two funds offer distinct ways to play the gold market. While one tracks the metal itself, the other follows the companies digging it out of the ground. Understanding the differences in volatility, costs, and dividends is essential for any portfolio allocation in the precious metals space. Beta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year monthly returns. The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months. Dividend yield is the trailing-12-month distribution yield. Continue reading
Grafner/iStock via Getty Images Introduction The iShares MSCI Italy ETF ( EWI ), a $650 million-sized financial product, which comes across as a concentrated bet on the Italian stock market (it covers only 25 Italian stocks, and close to 80% of those are large caps), isn’t necessarily having its finest hour in 2026 (so far). On a YTD basis, when other developed markets have notched up price gains ...
Grafner/iStock via Getty Images Introduction The iShares MSCI Italy ETF ( EWI ), a $650 million-sized financial product, which comes across as a concentrated bet on the Italian stock market (it covers only 25 Italian stocks, and close to 80% of those are large caps), isn’t necessarily having its finest hour in 2026 (so far). On a YTD basis, when other developed markets have notched up price gains of ~15%, EWI has only managed roughly half of those gains; meanwhile, even global markets have outperformed our ETF in focus by 1.55x. YCharts After lagging these important pockets in the first five months of 2026, could EWI potentially change the narrative in the second half of the year, or is the status quo set to continue? An Unappealing Macro Outlook Beckons Over the last 3 calendar years, Italian real GDP growth on average, has come in at a miserly pace of less than 1% p.a., and the country is no close to reversing this trend over the next two years at the very least. OECD Meanwhile, in the intermediate term, note that Q1-26 GDP only came in at 0.8% YoY , and the latest forecasts this week imply that growth in the coming quarters will be a lot lower, as FY GDP growth forecasts are currently only budgeting for a figure of 0.5%. Investors need to recognize that the ongoing turbulence in the Middle East is likely leaving a more detrimental mark on Italy than on most other major European counterparts. For added context, this is a country where 25% of its refined petroleum supplies and 11% of natural gas supplies pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Little wonder that the recent aggregate import figures for Italy, which came in at EUR57B (growing at a pace of 8% YoY), represented its highest point in nearly 40 months (or over 3 years). Trading Economics If the import bill stays at this elevated threshold, investors can be reasonably sure of Italy’s long-standing current account surplus (Italy has been able to maintain a current account surplus in 11 out of the last 12 years) ...