For investors seeking low-cost U.S. stock market exposure, two Vanguard funds dominate the conversation: the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Admiral Shares (VTSAX) and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO). At first glance, choosing between a mutual fund and an ETF can feel confusing. Both give you broad exposure to the U.S. market, but they work differently when it comes to how you buy, trade, an...
For investors seeking low-cost U.S. stock market exposure, two Vanguard funds dominate the conversation: the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Admiral Shares (VTSAX) and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO). At first glance, choosing between a mutual fund and an ETF can feel confusing. Both give you broad exposure to the U.S. market, but they work differently when it comes to how you buy, trade, and manage them. Here, we compare both to help investors decide which option may be the better fit for
chiewr/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis Rubrik Inc. ( RBRK ) is down 35% YTD, mainly due to the overall software industry’s sell-off and not because of a slowdown in the company’s performance. Many investors and analysts are focusing on the company’s Q4’26 revenue and ARR growth, as well as the impressive FCF increase. In my view, FCF does not reflect RBRK’s full financial performance, as...
chiewr/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis Rubrik Inc. ( RBRK ) is down 35% YTD, mainly due to the overall software industry’s sell-off and not because of a slowdown in the company’s performance. Many investors and analysts are focusing on the company’s Q4’26 revenue and ARR growth, as well as the impressive FCF increase. In my view, FCF does not reflect RBRK’s full financial performance, as it hides a major risk factor that investors need to take into account: stock-based consumption (SBC). Additionally, I’m trying to analyze the company’s current momentum, given that the core business - cloud subscription revenue from data reliance and backup solutions -seems mature, and the promising growth catalysts of identity security and AI agent security remain at an early stage. The Strong ARR Revenue Growth Doesn’t Translate to Healthy FCF Given the SBC Expenses First, let me explain why I focus on ARR! RBRK traditionally offers data recovery and backup solutions through its Rubic Security Cloud (RSC) platform. Two years ago the company expanded into identity security solutions able to protect the most prominent ecosystem, such as Microsoft Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, and Okta. Recently, it developed the Rubrik Agent Cloud , which monitors and controls AI agents within an enterprise. RBRK is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that generates revenue under a subscription model. This means that revenue may be affected by timing effects; therefore, revenue volatility is more likely to appear over time. For this reason, annual recurring revenue (ARR) - which represents the total annualized value of the company’s active subscriptions and reflects the practicable revenue that RBRK expects to generate over the next 12-months – is more suitable performance metric than revenue growth. Q4’26 Presentation The company reported impressive ARR YoY growth of 34% in Q4’26, reaching almost $1.5B. Notably, the ARR YoY growth for 2025 was 39%, and the company anticipates A...
Olga Kostrova /iStock via Getty Images Two years ago, Coeur Mining ( CDE )( CDE:CA ) was fighting for survival. Leverage had ballooned past 4x. Free cash flow was negative $297M. The Rochester mine expansion, a $730M bet-the-company project, was running behind schedule and over budget. The stock traded below $3. TradingView Today, CDE sits on over $550M in cash, carries negative net leverage, and ...
Olga Kostrova /iStock via Getty Images Two years ago, Coeur Mining ( CDE )( CDE:CA ) was fighting for survival. Leverage had ballooned past 4x. Free cash flow was negative $297M. The Rochester mine expansion, a $730M bet-the-company project, was running behind schedule and over budget. The stock traded below $3. TradingView Today, CDE sits on over $550M in cash, carries negative net leverage, and just closed a $7B merger that created the only senior precious metals producer with every asset in North America. Management is guiding for $3B in EBITDA and $2B in FCF for 2026. They authorized a $750M buyback and declared their first-ever dividend. At $19.89 per share, I think the market is still underpricing the transformation. The Business in 60 Seconds CDE mines gold, silver, and copper from seven wholly owned operations across the US, Canada, and Mexico. Revenue is roughly 65% gold, 30% silver, and 5% copper. The company produces around 800,000 gold-equivalent ounces annually. The revenue model is simple: ounces out of the ground multiplied by prevailing metal prices, minus the cost of digging them out. At $4,760 gold, margins across the portfolio range from $2,600 to $4,000 per ounce, depending on the mine. That kind of pricing power has not existed in this industry for decades. TradingView The Thesis: Three Pillars The first pillar is the transformed financial profile. FY2025 revenue hit $2.07B, up 96% y/y. Adjusted EBITDA tripled to $1.03B, a 50% margin. FCF surged to $666M. The balance sheet went from $535M in net debt at Q2 2024 to a net cash position of $213M by year-end 2025. Adding NGD's $532M cash balance at close means the combined company likely started 2026 with over $1B in liquidity before touching the new $1B revolving credit facility. Management is pursuing an investment-grade credit rating, which would further reduce borrowing costs and expand institutional access. ROIC hit 26% in 2025, peer-leading for a company this size. The second pillar is the pro...
It's a global effort with a multibillion dollar price tag. Among its aims: re-greening nearly 250 million acres, planting 4,000 miles of trees, helping farmers, creating jobs, sequestering carbon. (Image credit: Tommy Trenchard for NPR)
It's a global effort with a multibillion dollar price tag. Among its aims: re-greening nearly 250 million acres, planting 4,000 miles of trees, helping farmers, creating jobs, sequestering carbon. (Image credit: Tommy Trenchard for NPR)
george tsartsianidis/iStock via Getty Images Today, I'm writing about Morgan Stanley Direct Lending ( MSDL ). I won't hide the fact that I have a long position in MSDL, and I bought at much higher prices. Obviously, my buys weren't successful. So far, at least. I put MSDL on a hold rating in January this year due to broad private lending concerns. Seeking Alpha While I like to talk about my good b...
george tsartsianidis/iStock via Getty Images Today, I'm writing about Morgan Stanley Direct Lending ( MSDL ). I won't hide the fact that I have a long position in MSDL, and I bought at much higher prices. Obviously, my buys weren't successful. So far, at least. I put MSDL on a hold rating in January this year due to broad private lending concerns. Seeking Alpha While I like to talk about my good buys, such as an outstanding investment in Micron ( MU ) last year, I also have to discuss worse decisions. I bought a lot of shares in REITs last year, and I've been accumulating BDCs, including MSDL. With decreasing interest rates and AI concerns hurting software businesses (BDCs have a lot of exposure to that), REITs have been performing well. BDCs not so much. But there are some names I keep adding. I'm mostly buying Ares Capital ( ARCC ), Sixth Street Specialty Lending ( TSLX ), and Capital Southwest ( CSWC ). And I decided to bring MSDL to a buy as well. Not because it's as solid as ARCC or others I named above. But because the price is unusually attractive, I think the portfolio itself is better than the market believes it to be. MSDL Has Some Issues, But It Deserves More Appreciation I will start with the safety of the portfolio. In general, I think it's meant to be defensive, but there are some cracks I see. I'm pasting the table below with MSDL's internal performance ratings. I see a bad thing happening there. The share of 3-rated and 4-rated investments is growing. I see it amounted to 4.3% vs. "just" 1.7% two quarters ago. MSDL's Investor Presentation It's not too bad, as I still consider non-accruals reasonable at 1.6% (cost-based). There are investments in 4 companies with that status, as MSDL showed in its Investor Presentation I linked above. And now I will show you the second issue I see. I think the dividend is risky. Here's why: I see decreasing interest income and higher expenses. MSDL's Investor Presentation I will summarize my thinking about the tables ...
Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ:HRZN) cut its monthly distribution by roughly 45% in early 2026, and the share price has lost nearly half its value over five years. The headline yield once looked like 25%. The reality is considerably more complicated. A 45% Distribution Cut That Was a Long Time Coming On February 27, 2026, Horizon’s ... From 25% Yield to 46% Loss: What Income Investors Missed A...
Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ:HRZN) cut its monthly distribution by roughly 45% in early 2026, and the share price has lost nearly half its value over five years. The headline yield once looked like 25%. The reality is considerably more complicated. A 45% Distribution Cut That Was a Long Time Coming On February 27, 2026, Horizon’s ... From 25% Yield to 46% Loss: What Income Investors Missed About HRZN
Residents describe the constant disruption of life under fire and whether military action should wind down It is a day after Israel killed more than 300 in a ceasefire-defying attack in Lebanon, and five miles from the border, at kibbutz Cabri in northern Israel, the quiet of the early Thursday evening has been disrupted. Three times, as the Guardian tries to leave, air raid sirens sound, and twic...
Residents describe the constant disruption of life under fire and whether military action should wind down It is a day after Israel killed more than 300 in a ceasefire-defying attack in Lebanon, and five miles from the border, at kibbutz Cabri in northern Israel, the quiet of the early Thursday evening has been disrupted. Three times, as the Guardian tries to leave, air raid sirens sound, and twice Iron Dome interceptors are launched. The last of the rockets fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon is sufficiently close that the Moria family and their visitors head promptly to a reinforced safe room, shutting a heavy metal door behind them. The family dog is there too, knowing the drill. Continue reading...
Jimmy’s Corner, opened by former boxer Jimmy Glenn in 1971, is a vestige of an older New York – and its loyal patrons are fighting to protect it On Friday morning, David Gladman was looking at tables in the back of Jimmy’s Corner, the Times Square dive bar that has served up beers for more than 50 years. The table tops are covered with photographs, some dating back to the 70s, with yellowing lamin...
Jimmy’s Corner, opened by former boxer Jimmy Glenn in 1971, is a vestige of an older New York – and its loyal patrons are fighting to protect it On Friday morning, David Gladman was looking at tables in the back of Jimmy’s Corner, the Times Square dive bar that has served up beers for more than 50 years. The table tops are covered with photographs, some dating back to the 70s, with yellowing laminate over the top. Gladman used the torch on his phone to scour the pictures. Continue reading...
Iran war drives demand for solar panels, heat pumps and EVs, with energy bills expected to rise 18% from July British households are turning to green home energy upgrades in record numbers to try to keep bills down as the Iran crisis sends global oil and gas prices soaring, data from leading energy suppliers suggests. Figures show demand for solar panels, electric vehicles and heat pumps in Great ...
Iran war drives demand for solar panels, heat pumps and EVs, with energy bills expected to rise 18% from July British households are turning to green home energy upgrades in record numbers to try to keep bills down as the Iran crisis sends global oil and gas prices soaring, data from leading energy suppliers suggests. Figures show demand for solar panels, electric vehicles and heat pumps in Great Britain has leapt since the war began on 28 February, as households brace for a sharp increase in monthly payments when the next energy price cap takes effect in the summer. Continue reading...
A Guardian investigation reveals how the prediction market can shape news – and how it rules on ‘the truth’ “Horekunden” was rapidly losing patience. His frustration was with the Institute for the Study of War, a US thinktank which produces a daily map of the frontline in Ukraine. Continue reading...
A Guardian investigation reveals how the prediction market can shape news – and how it rules on ‘the truth’ “Horekunden” was rapidly losing patience. His frustration was with the Institute for the Study of War, a US thinktank which produces a daily map of the frontline in Ukraine. Continue reading...
Archaeological record suggests hunter gatherers were playing games of chance at the end of the last ice age Native American hunter gatherers were using dice for gaming and gambling more than 6,000 years before the practice appeared anywhere else, a new study argues. It says dice were being made and used on the western great plains of North America at the end of the last ice age, more than 12,000 y...
Archaeological record suggests hunter gatherers were playing games of chance at the end of the last ice age Native American hunter gatherers were using dice for gaming and gambling more than 6,000 years before the practice appeared anywhere else, a new study argues. It says dice were being made and used on the western great plains of North America at the end of the last ice age, more than 12,000 years ago. Continue reading...
Amid death, threats, obliterated buildings and wasted money, the administration’s remarks have been head-spinning to witness Trump threatened to commit genocide and Iran came to the table. A little threat – plus the deaths of thousands of Iranians and 13 Americans, the obliteration of schools, homes, hospitals and mosques, the waste of $40bn by the US and losses to the Gulf nations of as much as $...
Amid death, threats, obliterated buildings and wasted money, the administration’s remarks have been head-spinning to witness Trump threatened to commit genocide and Iran came to the table. A little threat – plus the deaths of thousands of Iranians and 13 Americans, the obliteration of schools, homes, hospitals and mosques, the waste of $40bn by the US and losses to the Gulf nations of as much as $200bn – is all it took. Ergo: threatening genocide works. That, anyway, is what the “secretary of war”, Pete Hegseth, strongly suggested in a press briefing on Wednesday, the day after the president vowed to wipe Iran’s “whole civilization” off the map and then a few hours later announced a ceasefire, obviating the need to wipe Iran’s civilization off the map, at least for two weeks. Continue reading...
As a young mother, Tareena Shakil fled with her toddler from the UK to Syria and joined Islamic State. Now she’s giving dating advice on TikTok. How did she get here? If you met Tareena Shakil today, you would have no idea that the person in front of you had served time in prison for terrorism offences and holds the dubious distinction of being the first British woman convicted of joining Islamic ...
As a young mother, Tareena Shakil fled with her toddler from the UK to Syria and joined Islamic State. Now she’s giving dating advice on TikTok. How did she get here? If you met Tareena Shakil today, you would have no idea that the person in front of you had served time in prison for terrorism offences and holds the dubious distinction of being the first British woman convicted of joining Islamic State. Now 36, Shakil is glamorous, heavily made-up with long, tousled hair. When we meet at a plush hotel in Birmingham, she wears a sharply tailored dress, waist cinched in with a wide leather belt, and carries a Louis Vuitton handbag. She is bubbly and warm, with a disarmingly open demeanour. In short, this isn’t what springs to mind when you hear the words “terrorism conviction”. What Shakil actually looks like is an influencer – which is fitting, because that’s what she is trying to be. She has gained most traction on TikTok, where her profile has about 50,000 followers. She gives relationship advice, usually sitting in her car and talking straight to camera. Her content is a mix of humour (“Muslim men who go to the gym while fasting – brother, the world needs more people like you”) and advice about the dating game (“Men are natural born hunters … they love the chase” in one video; “When they block you, it’s a punishment because they know it’s going to hurt you” in another). In among this are videos that hint at something darker (“If your partner hits you, you must leave, it doesn’t matter how much they cry or say they’ll never do it again”). She never directly references her own complicated past but, she tells me: “There’s an element of my own experience in most of the videos I make.” Continue reading...
The Bombay Beach Biennale started as an intimate event and has grown dramatically – but some question whether it sustain its DIY atmosphere It is hard to imagine a stranger place for a large outdoor art festival than Bombay Beach – a tiny, visibly impoverished California desert town over 150 miles east of Los Angeles and 235ft below sea level. The heat is scorching even in March, and the smell of ...
The Bombay Beach Biennale started as an intimate event and has grown dramatically – but some question whether it sustain its DIY atmosphere It is hard to imagine a stranger place for a large outdoor art festival than Bombay Beach – a tiny, visibly impoverished California desert town over 150 miles east of Los Angeles and 235ft below sea level. The heat is scorching even in March, and the smell of decay wafts over from the nearby Salton Sea; a dying inland lake created by an irrigation engineering disaster over 100 years ago. But the Bombay Beach Biennale is not your ordinary art festival. Continue reading...
Current and former government employees say they’re facing a tough job market over a year on from sweeping cuts Maggie was faced with a tough choice in February 2025: quit her job at the US office of personnel management or be unceremoniously fired. Though she was a few months pregnant at the time, Maggie was offered one of the buyouts that were offered to tens of thousands of federal government e...
Current and former government employees say they’re facing a tough job market over a year on from sweeping cuts Maggie was faced with a tough choice in February 2025: quit her job at the US office of personnel management or be unceremoniously fired. Though she was a few months pregnant at the time, Maggie was offered one of the buyouts that were offered to tens of thousands of federal government employees by the office of personnel management. Continue reading...
Gabelli Dividend & Income Trust (NYSE:GDV) trades around $28 and has returned 42% over the past year, a number that tells you something important before you even look at the income. This closed-end fund launched in November 2003 with $2.9 billion in total net assets and seeks high total return with an emphasis on dividends ... GDV returned 42% in a year by betting on dividend anchors like JPMorgan...
Gabelli Dividend & Income Trust (NYSE:GDV) trades around $28 and has returned 42% over the past year, a number that tells you something important before you even look at the income. This closed-end fund launched in November 2003 with $2.9 billion in total net assets and seeks high total return with an emphasis on dividends ... GDV returned 42% in a year by betting on dividend anchors like JPMorgan and Amex
China’s top judicial bodies have detailed ways that the country’s criminal law can be applied to corrupt middlemen, refining the criteria for tackling “new and hidden forms of corruption”. The guidance was part of a judicial interpretation released jointly by the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Friday. In it, the bodies highlight the need to enforce the law against...
China’s top judicial bodies have detailed ways that the country’s criminal law can be applied to corrupt middlemen, refining the criteria for tackling “new and hidden forms of corruption”. The guidance was part of a judicial interpretation released jointly by the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Friday. In it, the bodies highlight the need to enforce the law against all participants in the corruption chain, for the direct bribe-givers and recipients to...