UALink Consortium has ratified the UALink 2.0 Specification for open AI accelerator and chiplet interconnects. The update adds features such as In-Network Compute and standardized interfaces to support distributed AI systems. Advanced Micro Devices (NasdaqGS:AMD) is a key backer of the consortium, tying this standard directly to its AI hardware ambitions. For investors tracking Advanced Micro Devi...
UALink Consortium has ratified the UALink 2.0 Specification for open AI accelerator and chiplet interconnects. The update adds features such as In-Network Compute and standardized interfaces to support distributed AI systems. Advanced Micro Devices (NasdaqGS:AMD) is a key backer of the consortium, tying this standard directly to its AI hardware ambitions. For investors tracking Advanced Micro Devices at a share price of $231.82, this standards news sits alongside very strong recent returns,...
steele2123/E+ via Getty Images UnitedHealth Group Incorporated ( UNH ) is a best-of-breed health insurer and pharmacy benefits manager trading at a discount to historical valuations. However, the insurance segment is under huge pressure from medical cost inflation, which requires them to push up premium rates. Rate increases are, however, curtailed by government funding pressures. This dynamic, wh...
steele2123/E+ via Getty Images UnitedHealth Group Incorporated ( UNH ) is a best-of-breed health insurer and pharmacy benefits manager trading at a discount to historical valuations. However, the insurance segment is under huge pressure from medical cost inflation, which requires them to push up premium rates. Rate increases are, however, curtailed by government funding pressures. This dynamic, which is compounded by a potential deterioration in the health of the insured risk pool, is keeping the medical cost ratio high. The Q4 2025 results and 2026 guidance announcement coincided with news that the CMS proposal for 2027 Medicare rate increases would be lower than anticipated. The share price dropped up to 20% on earnings day, and continued to drift lower over the 1st quarter, in sympathy with the broader market ( SPY ). Data by YCharts Then, on April 6th, CMS issued updated 2027 rates for Medicare Advantage , which increased the average rates from the originally proposed 0.09% to 2.48%. The market liked the news, with an initial share-price gain of over 10%, which dropped back slightly in subsequent trading. Data by YCharts This has prompted a rash of upgrades on Seeking Alpha, with they key theme that the CMS re-rate is a catalyst for both earnings growth and multiple re-rating. The most bullish upside target given was 30-50%. My thesis is that the impact of the CMS Medicare Advantage re-rating is overstated. The increase lags UNH management's own estimates of medical cost inflation significantly. Furthermore, as I explain below, the detail of the adjustment clearly shows that this is a one-off for 2027. A major technical re-set is deferred for 2027, but can be expected to apply for 2028. All in all, the key challenges to the UNH shareholder proposition that are outlined here remain just as problematic for the company as they were prior to this latest news. I continue to view UNH as the safest bet for investors in managed healthcare, however do not see the CMS re-...
In his annual letter to shareholders, Amazon (AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy highlighted the tech giant's latest push into AI chip manufacturing and forecasts on its AWS business (Amazon Web Services). Yahoo Finance Tech Editor Dan Howley breaks down how Jassy's semiconductor vision may challenge Nvidia (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
In his annual letter to shareholders, Amazon (AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy highlighted the tech giant's latest push into AI chip manufacturing and forecasts on its AWS business (Amazon Web Services). Yahoo Finance Tech Editor Dan Howley breaks down how Jassy's semiconductor vision may challenge Nvidia (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
The retail exodus from business development companies has dragged the vehicles’ debt to levels that are starting to look attractive, according to MFS Investment Management ’s Alex Mackey. “Pressure for redemptions that they’re facing likely ends up creating some opportunities within the public credit markets,” the co-chief investment officer for fixed income at the $622 billion asset manager said ...
The retail exodus from business development companies has dragged the vehicles’ debt to levels that are starting to look attractive, according to MFS Investment Management ’s Alex Mackey. “Pressure for redemptions that they’re facing likely ends up creating some opportunities within the public credit markets,” the co-chief investment officer for fixed income at the $622 billion asset manager said on the Bloomberg Intelligence Credit Edge podcast. The century-old MFS is eyeing the debt after BDC investors raced for the exits, fearing losses driven by weak underwriting standards and outsized exposure to software firms at risk from artificial intelligence’s rapid advances. The flight from the investment vehicles that lend to mid-size companies has sent a chill through the private credit market, spurring a negative outlook revision on BDCs from Moody’s Ratings. Low leverage and portfolio diversification makes the bonds of some BDCs relatively appealing after spreads blew out, according to Mackey. US BDC spreads jumped as high as 2.6 percentage points above their benchmark last month, from 1.7 in January, Bloomberg compiled data show. Read More: BDC Blowups Are Going to Be a Real Economy Problem “We’ve been spending a lot of time talking about BDCs,” said Mackey. “There’s been a pretty significant dislocation in spreads, in a market where spreads haven’t moved much.” He also noted significant growth in both the amount of investment-grade BDC debt outstanding and the number of issuers. MFS, which oversees $120 billion in fixed income and isn’t an active investor in private credit, aims to find value in BDCs by analyzing loan risk, losses and so-called non-accruals, which refer to loans no longer generating interest income. “You can line up all the public and the private BDCs and you can go through and see which ones have the leverage metrics that are most attractive,” said Mackey. Meanwhile, US high-grade bond risk premia stood at 81 basis points on Wednesday, tighter tha...
The consumer protection agency says the company violated the FTC Act and its Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees by "deceptively" advertising ticket prices on its website without clearly disclosing upfront what the total cost would be, including all mandatory fees.
The consumer protection agency says the company violated the FTC Act and its Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees by "deceptively" advertising ticket prices on its website without clearly disclosing upfront what the total cost would be, including all mandatory fees.
J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he's “fed up” with the volatility in energy prices due to actions taken by U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I’m fed up with the fact that families across the country see their bills go up and down on energy, businesses’ bills go up and down on energy, because of the actions of Putin or ...
J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he's “fed up” with the volatility in energy prices due to actions taken by U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I’m fed up with the fact that families across the country see their bills go up and down on energy, businesses’ bills go up and down on energy, because of the actions of Putin or Trump across the world,” Starmer told ITV News, according to CNBC . Starmer's comments come amid surging oil prices due to armed conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran. Oil prices have also been impacted by the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. More on SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, State Street® Energy Select Sector SPDR® ETF AAII Sentiment Survey: Pessimism Retreats Dow Jones And U.S. Stock Market Outlook - Ceasefire Uncertainty Clears And Wall Street Persists Q4 GDP Revision And February PCE: Growth Revised Down, No Relief On Inflation Prediction markets point to Iran de-escalation as Wall Street extends gains Rutte says NATO moving away from U.S. "co-dependency"
Robert Way/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Since Tencent ( TCEHY ) was last covered (Hold rating), the stock had largely held steady until the start of this year when it began to decline. With the stock down around 21% year to date, it is worth a revisit. Financial context While their share price headed south, Tencent reported fairly robust financials; FY 2025 revenues rose 14% YoY to CNY 751 bi...
Robert Way/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Since Tencent ( TCEHY ) was last covered (Hold rating), the stock had largely held steady until the start of this year when it began to decline. With the stock down around 21% year to date, it is worth a revisit. Financial context While their share price headed south, Tencent reported fairly robust financials; FY 2025 revenues rose 14% YoY to CNY 751 billion, driven by solid growth in their VAS segment, their largest revenue generator, accounting for nearly 50% of revenues (which covers their domestic and international gaming businesses and social networks), which grew 16% YoY to CNY 370 billion. Within this segment, games remained the growth driver; domestic games, the largest, saw revenues rise 18% YoY to CNY 164 billion, driven by recently released game titles Delta Force, Valorant, and Wuthering Waves, as well as good performance from evergreen titles like Honor of Kings. Tencent’s continued strength and dominance in domestic games, a fairly mature market in China, suggests growth may be driven by market share gains. For perspective, rival NetEase ( NTES ) has been lagging Tencent recently, with their games business growing 10% and 2.5% in FY 2025 and FY 2024, respectively, compared with 18% and 10% for Tencent, respectively. International games accelerated in 2025, rising 33% YoY to CNY 77.4 billion, helped by Supercell’s games, PUBG Mobile, and Wuthering Waves. This is a stellar performance and may also be indicative of market share gains. For perspective, Microsoft ( MSFT ) reported a 16% YoY growth in their Xbox content and services revenue for FY 2025, which was partially driven by their mammoth acquisition of Activision Blizzard, in contrast to Tencent, whose growth was largely organic. Social Networks revenues inched up 5% YoY to CNY 28 billion, helped by music subscription revenues from their music division, Tencent Music (up 16% in FY 2025), which helped offset weakness in their long form video segment, which...
romrodinka/iStock via Getty Images Freeport-McMoRan Inc. ( FCX ) gapped up about 7% on April 8, jumping from yesterday's close of $60.76 to roughly $65 at the open. The catalyst was a copper price rally driven by easing energy costs and renewed optimism around Chinese manufacturing data . Goldman Sachs conveniently initiated coverage with a Buy rating last week. The stock surged. The crowd piled i...
romrodinka/iStock via Getty Images Freeport-McMoRan Inc. ( FCX ) gapped up about 7% on April 8, jumping from yesterday's close of $60.76 to roughly $65 at the open. The catalyst was a copper price rally driven by easing energy costs and renewed optimism around Chinese manufacturing data . Goldman Sachs conveniently initiated coverage with a Buy rating last week. The stock surged. The crowd piled in. And now, if my two decades of gap trading have taught me anything, it's time to fade this move. The Gap Let me be precise about what I'm seeing. FCX closed on April 7th at $60.76. On Apr8 it opened near $65, creating a gap of roughly $4. Looking at the candlesticks, we see a 10% difference from Apr7's low to Apr8's high. The bottom of this gap, or the price level where the gap fills, sits at $61.12. This is an area gap. The telltale signs are all there: it occurred on news that is positive but not structurally transformative. (This is a copper price rally, not a new mine discovery or an acquisition.) The gap was met with heavy volume at the open, suggesting retail enthusiasm rather than institutional accumulation. And the stock is trading near the upper end of its recent range rather than breaking out of a consolidation pattern. Area gaps fill. My backtests show this consistently across thousands of instances, and commodity stocks like FCX are among the most reliable candidates for gap fills. The reason is straightforward: copper miners are leveraged bets on a commodity that mean-reverts over short time horizons. When copper spikes, FCX overshoots. When the spike fades - and copper spikes always fade - FCX gives back the excess. The gap fills because the exuberance that created it was temporary. My backtest on FCX up area gaps of 5%+ when near 52-week highs shows a fill rate above 85% within two weeks, with the median fill time around five trading days. The kurtosis here is what makes the trade attractive: the expected gain on the put side (gap fill to $61.12) is roughly...
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev is currently in the United States and is meeting members of US President Donald Trump’s administration for discussions on a peace deal for Ukraine and US-Russia economic cooperation, sources with knowledge of the visit said on Thursday. The visit comes before the US decision on whether to extend sanctions relief on Russian oil, ...
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev is currently in the United States and is meeting members of US President Donald Trump’s administration for discussions on a peace deal for Ukraine and US-Russia economic cooperation, sources with knowledge of the visit said on Thursday. The visit comes before the US decision on whether to extend sanctions relief on Russian oil, which expires on April 11 and could also be on the agenda. The United States issued a 30-day waiver...
ZE14361/iStock via Getty Images I last wrote about Blue Owl Capital Inc. ( OWL ) in January and highlighted it as my ultimate contrarian bet. Since then, the stock price action has made me look like a fool, as it has plunged over 40% since then. While the broader stock market ( SPY ) has been down as well, and the broader alternative asset management space has gotten hammered, OWL has still been a...
ZE14361/iStock via Getty Images I last wrote about Blue Owl Capital Inc. ( OWL ) in January and highlighted it as my ultimate contrarian bet. Since then, the stock price action has made me look like a fool, as it has plunged over 40% since then. While the broader stock market ( SPY ) has been down as well, and the broader alternative asset management space has gotten hammered, OWL has still been a loser even on a relative basis. Today, I’m going to revisit my original thesis in light of what has transpired since then and update my investment thesis. One thing that has remained the same, and in fact has accelerated since my previous article, has been the negative media coverage of OWL and the broader direct lending space. It seems like every day there is a new negative article from a mainstream source or financial news outlet about how software loans are risky or how transactions in the space are supposedly opaque, dangerous, and/or non-transparent. While this hurts the stock price in and of itself, the more dangerous long-term impact is that this constant barrage of negative media coverage makes investors in private credit funds themselves jittery. That has carried over into plunging stock prices and yawning price-to-NAV gaps in the publicly traded business development company ("BDC") sector ( BIZD ), with even stalwart names like Ares Capital Corporation ( ARCC ) now trading at around a 10% discount to net asset value, and traditionally all-star internally-managed names like Hercules Capital ( HTGC ) have plunged sharply year to date despite posting very strong underlying fundamental numbers. Additionally, redemption requests are surging in private credit funds, with the Financial Times recently reporting that over $20 billion worth of redemption requests had been made among leading private credit firms like Blackstone ( BX ), Ares Management ( ARES ), and OWL, along with a few others. OWL got hit particularly hard, with its technology fund and diversified fund, in...
An unreleased new AI model is the talk of Silicon Valley. Plus: New developments in the fight to prevent Chinese developers from copying US AI models. But first… Three things to know: • Meta debuts first AI model from new Superintelligence group • Anthropic completes tender offer , but employees hold onto shares • OpenAI advocates electric grid, safety net spending for new AI era A ‘terrifying’ mo...
An unreleased new AI model is the talk of Silicon Valley. Plus: New developments in the fight to prevent Chinese developers from copying US AI models. But first… Three things to know: • Meta debuts first AI model from new Superintelligence group • Anthropic completes tender offer , but employees hold onto shares • OpenAI advocates electric grid, safety net spending for new AI era A ‘terrifying’ model Over the past three years, the top AI developers have raced to one-up each other by introducing better artificial intelligence models, with new releases becoming increasingly frequent. Now, we may be entering an era when AI progress is defined in part by what gets held back. On Tuesday, Anthropic unveiled Mythos, a more powerful general-purpose model that it says significantly outperforms prior offerings on a range of benchmarks, including for coding and reasoning. Yet, the company has decided to limit the release to a small group of trusted partner companies because of concerns about its advanced cybersecurity capabilities. During Anthropic’s testing, its in-house security team found that Mythos was capable of identifying and then exploiting vulnerabilities “in every major operating system and every major web browser when directed by a user to do so,” according to a blog post. The hope, according to Anthropic, is a narrow release will allow companies to use Mythos to find their own cybersecurity vulnerabilities before hackers do. Meanwhile, OpenAI is also finalizing a product with greater cybersecurity capabilities that it intends to release to select partners, Axios reported on Thursday. The ChatGPT maker had previously introduced a pilot program meant to put its tools “in the hands of defenders first.” Many AI industry insiders applauded Anthropic — a company that has long positioned itself as a safety-focused organization — for taking what appears to be a responsible approach to rolling out the technology. Some were also spooked by a model that one Anthropic employe...