Quiet architect of Saracens’ modern dynasty prepares for emotional farewell as his side battle for a playoff spot in penultimate match of the season on Saturday The quietest man in the stadium will be the most brilliantly lit when the spotlight falls on him come the end of the match. Mark McCall will hope that his last home match in charge of Saracens will have ended with his team back in the top ...
Quiet architect of Saracens’ modern dynasty prepares for emotional farewell as his side battle for a playoff spot in penultimate match of the season on Saturday The quietest man in the stadium will be the most brilliantly lit when the spotlight falls on him come the end of the match. Mark McCall will hope that his last home match in charge of Saracens will have ended with his team back in the top four, just when it matters most, with one round to play. A win against Harlequins on Saturday in front of a sellout crowd would move Saracens ahead of Exeter into fourth, with the Chiefs due to visit Leicester on Sunday. Saracens are 20-point favourites to beat Quins, Leicester 11-point favourites to beat Exeter. Unless both underdogs rear up to bite their hosts this weekend (an outcome the bookies rate as a one-in-50 chance), we are due a straight shootout for that fourth playoff spot on the final weekend of the regular season at Sandy Park, where Exeter will host Saracens. Continue reading...
Key Points The iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF offers a lower expense ratio and a more stable volatility profile than U.S. Global Jets ETF. Performance over the last five years shows iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF producing significantly higher total returns for investors. The U.S. Global Jets ETF concentrates heavily on airline operators, while iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF focu...
Key Points The iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF offers a lower expense ratio and a more stable volatility profile than U.S. Global Jets ETF. Performance over the last five years shows iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF producing significantly higher total returns for investors. The U.S. Global Jets ETF concentrates heavily on airline operators, while iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF focuses on domestic defense contractors and aerospace manufacturers. 10 stocks we like better than iShares Trust - iShares U.s. Aerospace & Defense ETF › Investing in the aviation space can mean two very different things: betting on the cyclical travel demand of commercial airlines or the contract-driven stability of defense firms. While both the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (NYSEMKT:ITA) and the U.S. Global Jets ETF (NYSEMKT:JETS) occupy the industrial sector, their risk profiles and underlying economic drivers diverge significantly for investors interested in the skies. Snapshot (cost & size) Metric JETS ITA Issuer US Global iShares Expense ratio 0.6% 0.38% 1-yr return (as of 5/27/26) 28.7% 32.2% Dividend yield 0.8% 0.5% Beta 1.18 1.02 AUM $865.2 million $14.3 billion The iShares fund is the more affordable choice with a 0.38% expense ratio compared to 0.6% for JETS. While JETS offers a slightly higher distribution yield of 0.8%, the iShares fund has paid out more cash on a per-share basis over the trailing 12 months. Performance & risk comparison Metric JETS ITA Max drawdown (5 yr) (55.6%) (21.7%) Growth of $1,000 over 5 years (total return) $1,099 $2,172 What's inside The iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF focuses on domestic aerospace and defense companies, with 100% of the portfolio in the industrial sector. Its largest positions include GE Aerospace at 20%, RTX Corp. at 14.3%, and Boeing at 9.5%. The fund holds 44 securities, was launched in 2006, and has paid $1.07 per share over the trailing 12 months. The U.S. Global Jets ETF concentrates on the global airli...
William_Potter/iStock via Getty Images Mercury Systems ( MRCY ) up 1.7% pre-market Friday after saying it received its largest-ever single order for its highly secure rackmount servers from defense industry distributor Blue Raven. Mercury ( MRCY ) said it received a multi-year contract to deliver 1,000 of its RTBX06 BuiltSECURE servers to Blue Raven; financial terms were not disclosed. The servers...
William_Potter/iStock via Getty Images Mercury Systems ( MRCY ) up 1.7% pre-market Friday after saying it received its largest-ever single order for its highly secure rackmount servers from defense industry distributor Blue Raven. Mercury ( MRCY ) said it received a multi-year contract to deliver 1,000 of its RTBX06 BuiltSECURE servers to Blue Raven; financial terms were not disclosed. The servers are used to process huge amounts of battlefield data while guarding against local and remote attacks. Under the contract, Mercury ( MRCY ) will produce, configure, and support the servers, while Blue Raven will focus on global resale and distribution. Mercury ( MRCY ) said it has been investing to expand production capacity, add automation, consolidate its operational footprint, and deepen supplier partnerships to meet growing demand and align with U.S. Department of War priorities. More on Mercury Systems Mercury Systems Q3 2026 Earnings Call Presentation Mercury Systems: Buy Maintained, But Cost Inflation Is The Swing Factor Mercury Systems Tumbles 25%, But This Turnaround Is Just Getting Started
Shutterfly is looking to refinance its looming debt pile with $1.875 billion of new junk bonds and loans. The Apollo Global Management Inc. -backed photo-sharing site is selling a $500 million term loan , as well as $1.15 billion of junk bonds and a $225 million riskier second-lien loan, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The deal comes after talks with private credit lenders lost m...
Shutterfly is looking to refinance its looming debt pile with $1.875 billion of new junk bonds and loans. The Apollo Global Management Inc. -backed photo-sharing site is selling a $500 million term loan , as well as $1.15 billion of junk bonds and a $225 million riskier second-lien loan, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The deal comes after talks with private credit lenders lost momentum. Read More: Barclays Sounds Out Investors for a Shutterfly Refinancing Deal Barclays Plc is running both the term loan and bond sale, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak publicly. A call with investors is scheduled for Monday at 1 p.m. New York time, and the loans and bonds are expected to wrap up on June 10, they added. Shutterfly, bought by Apollo in 2019, faces a rapid succession of sizable maturities on its more than $2.7 billion debt pile, starting next year. Banks, including Barclays, stepped in after a private credit group led by General Atlantic had been in talks to provide debt for Shutterfly’s refinancing, Bloomberg previously reported .
In February 2025, Bondi declared during a Fox News interview that she had a list of Epstein's high-profile clients "sitting on my desk right now", only to have the justice department walk back the statement that July when it said there was no "client list" and that Bondi had meant the overall case file was on her desk.
In February 2025, Bondi declared during a Fox News interview that she had a list of Epstein's high-profile clients "sitting on my desk right now", only to have the justice department walk back the statement that July when it said there was no "client list" and that Bondi had meant the overall case file was on her desk.
Foreign workers in Japan send billions of dollars home each year, and one company handles much of that flow. SBI Remit, the international transfer arm of Japan’s SBI Holdings, announced that its cumulative cross-border volume crossed ¥2.5 trillion since launch, equivalent to more than $15 billion at today’s exchange rates. This matters for XRP (CRYPTO: ... XRP News: Japan’s SBI Remit Hits $15 Bill...
Foreign workers in Japan send billions of dollars home each year, and one company handles much of that flow. SBI Remit, the international transfer arm of Japan’s SBI Holdings, announced that its cumulative cross-border volume crossed ¥2.5 trillion since launch, equivalent to more than $15 billion at today’s exchange rates. This matters for XRP (CRYPTO: ... XRP News: Japan’s SBI Remit Hits $15 Billion Milestone, Built on Ripple Infrastructure
Young people from China and the United States should continue to contribute to cultural exchanges and mutual understanding between the two countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping has said in a letter to a university student in Hong Kong. The Chinese University of Hong Kong said on Friday that fourth-year undergraduate Liu Runjie received the letter after he and other students shared their experien...
Young people from China and the United States should continue to contribute to cultural exchanges and mutual understanding between the two countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping has said in a letter to a university student in Hong Kong. The Chinese University of Hong Kong said on Friday that fourth-year undergraduate Liu Runjie received the letter after he and other students shared their experiences in a China-US youth friendship programme with the president. “In his reply, President Xi expressed his appreciation for the deep friendships forged between young people from the two countries through the programme,” the university said. Advertisement “He also encouraged them to continue contributing to cultural exchange and mutual understanding between China and the United States.” Liu, an electronic engineering student, was among 20 participants from the two countries who took part in the two-week “A Shared Voyage: China-US Youth Friendship Program” in March and April. Advertisement The group visited Ningbo and Shanghai, as well as boarded the China-US Youth Friendship research vessel to explore the ocean.
China’s claim it had used “electronic interference” during a confrontation with a Dutch warship in the disputed waters of the South China Sea might signal growing confidence in its capabilities in this area, analysts said. The PLA’s Southern Theatre Command, which oversees the South China Sea, accused the frigate De Ruyter of “illegally entering” waters near the Paracel Islands on Wednesday and re...
China’s claim it had used “electronic interference” during a confrontation with a Dutch warship in the disputed waters of the South China Sea might signal growing confidence in its capabilities in this area, analysts said. The PLA’s Southern Theatre Command, which oversees the South China Sea, accused the frigate De Ruyter of “illegally entering” waters near the Paracel Islands on Wednesday and repeatedly sending a helicopter into Chinese airspace. Chinese air and naval forces had issued verbal warnings as well as using unspecified electronic “countermeasures” to “drive the aircraft away”, the People’s Liberation Army command said. Advertisement China has never mentioned “electronic interference” in previous statements about encounters with US and other foreign warships or planes in the South China Sea. Fu Qianshao, a former air force pilot turned military analyst, said this was a “very serious form of warning” but “of course, not the most serious”. Advertisement He added: “This can involve transmitting electromagnetic signals to disrupt an adversary’s communications, radar or sensors – either through broad-spectrum barrage jamming or by targeting specific frequencies and wavelengths.”
Michelle Bowman, vice chair for supervision at the US Federal Reserve, during the Federal Reserve Board Community Bank Conference in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. Eric Lee | Bloomberg | Getty Images Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman on Friday cautioned against raising interest rates to address the current spike in prices. With inflation running well above the central bank's...
Michelle Bowman, vice chair for supervision at the US Federal Reserve, during the Federal Reserve Board Community Bank Conference in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. Eric Lee | Bloomberg | Getty Images Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman on Friday cautioned against raising interest rates to address the current spike in prices. With inflation running well above the central bank's 2% target, markets are expecting the Fed to stay on hold this year then possibly start raising rates in early 2027. Current pricing is indicating virtually no chance of cuts anytime through at least 2027. But Bowman said adjusting policy to offset energy-driven inflation surges has proven ineffective. "Reacting to temporarily elevated energy price inflation would add unwarranted policy restraint, weighing unnecessarily on economic activity and labor market conditions," the policymaker said at a conference in Reykjavík, Iceland. Bowman added that research shows that when reacting to temporary energy shocks, "policy should not be overly aggressive." The remarks come one day after the Commerce Department reported that the personal consumption expenditures price index — the Fed's benchmark inflation gauge — rose 3.8% in April and 3.3% when excluding food and energy prices. However, measures that strip out extremes in components within the gauges show inflation running closer to target. The Dallas Fed's "trimmed mean" inflation index puts the 12-month rate at 2.3%. Consistent with remarks from her fellow central bankers, Bowman noted that the policy reaction depends on the duration of the conflict with Iran. Should the fighting be prolonged and inflation pressures steepen, "the more likely I will consider shifting my approach to thinking about the balance of risks." Bowman added that she supported maintaining phrasing in the most recent post-meeting statement from the central bank that indicated the next rate move could be a cut. Three members of the Federal Open Market Committ...
The YieldMax COIN Option Income Strategy ETF (NYSEARCA:CONY) is built for one purpose: turn the wild volatility of Coinbase stock into a fat monthly check. CONY sells calls against a synthetic long position in Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) and passes the option premium to shareholders, which is how the fund has advertised distribution rates north of ... CONY’s 100% Yield Hides a 37% Decline That D...
The YieldMax COIN Option Income Strategy ETF (NYSEARCA:CONY) is built for one purpose: turn the wild volatility of Coinbase stock into a fat monthly check. CONY sells calls against a synthetic long position in Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) and passes the option premium to shareholders, which is how the fund has advertised distribution rates north of ... CONY’s 100% Yield Hides a 37% Decline That Distributions Cannot Reverse
In the past year, shares of Boston Scientific BSX and Abbott Laboratories ABT have lost 53% and 35%, respectively, significantly underperforming the S&P 500’s 31.4% gain. U.S. medical stocks are facing pressure in 2026 due to restrictive regulatory changes, lower-than-expected government reimbursement rates and evolving healthcare policies. Despite these hurdles, both Boston Scientific and Medtron...
In the past year, shares of Boston Scientific BSX and Abbott Laboratories ABT have lost 53% and 35%, respectively, significantly underperforming the S&P 500’s 31.4% gain. U.S. medical stocks are facing pressure in 2026 due to restrictive regulatory changes, lower-than-expected government reimbursement rates and evolving healthcare policies. Despite these hurdles, both Boston Scientific and Medtronic delivered robust first-quarter 2026 financial results. It is time for investors to assess whether this momentum can extend through 2026. Let’s find out. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The Case for BSX Boston Scientific reported strong sales growth of 11.6% on a reported basis, exceeding the company’s guidance of 10.5% to 12.0%. Across its key business segments, MedSurg delivered net sales growth of 7.8%, while Cardiovascular grew 13.5%. The company continued to see strong demand for its WATCHMAN left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) platform and FARAPULSE pulsed field ablation (PFA) platform, which remained key growth drivers during the quarter. During the quarter, Boston Scientific dealt with multiple operational challenges that led management to reduce full-year guidance. In the WATCHMAN franchise, stand-alone procedure volumes weakened amid hospital capacity limitations, reimbursement changes, workflow disruptions and an increasing shift toward concomitant procedures. The company’s EP segment also experienced heightened competitive intensity, contributing to larger-than-anticipated market-share losses, especially in the U.S. market. Within Urology, the stone business was affected by China’s volume-based procurement (VBP) program and product gaps in the core portfolio. The company also highlighted supply-chain disruptions in Endoscopy, inventory charges related to the discontinuation of the POLARx cryoablation system and discontinuation of the ACURATE platform, which mainly affected the EMEA region. Boston Scientific also noted the impact of the Middle East con...
As the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution accelerates, the spotlight has largely remained on hardware makers, with developments such as NVIDIA’s NVDA GPU shipments and Blackwell architecture frequently dominating headlines. However, a quieter yet potentially lucrative shift is unfolding as software companies emerge as the critical link between raw computing power and real-world business appli...
As the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution accelerates, the spotlight has largely remained on hardware makers, with developments such as NVIDIA’s NVDA GPU shipments and Blackwell architecture frequently dominating headlines. However, a quieter yet potentially lucrative shift is unfolding as software companies emerge as the critical link between raw computing power and real-world business applications. As per a report from Gartner, global spending on AI application software and infrastructure software, as of September 2025, totaled $298.2 billion, more than doubling from the prior year. This surge in investment is flowing directly into cloud platforms, cybersecurity solutions and advanced data pipelines, strengthening the revenue outlook for software infrastructure companies. As the AI infrastructure buildout moves from “building the engine” to “driving the car,” software giants like Microsoft MSFT and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) holding them are stepping into the driver's seat, offering exceptionally bright growth opportunities for savvy investors. That said, capturing meaningful alpha in this rapidly expanding ecosystem requires investors to understand why these software platforms are thriving and what the underlying data suggests about their long-term growth prospects before allocating capital to the funds that hold them. Why Software Companies Are Flourishing in the AI Era The connection between software and the AI infrastructure buildout is deeply interconnected. Once enterprises deploy AI servers, they often face the reality that raw AI models cannot deliver meaningful business outcomes without application software, integrated data systems and strong cybersecurity frameworks. That dynamic is creating significant opportunities for software firms. For example, Microsoft posted 40% year-over-year growth in Azure and other cloud-services revenue in its latest quarter reported, driven largely by rising AI-workload consumption. Similarly, Palantir PLTR posted a ...