Last week, the US government announced $2 billion in investments in quantum computing companies, allocating $100 million each to a range of startups in exchange for equity in the companies. Those could be make-or-break investments for many companies that are likely years away from a product that could see widespread use. But a member of the US Congress is now arguing that those deals are illegal, ...
Last week, the US government announced $2 billion in investments in quantum computing companies, allocating $100 million each to a range of startups in exchange for equity in the companies. Those could be make-or-break investments for many companies that are likely years away from a product that could see widespread use. But a member of the US Congress is now arguing that those deals are illegal, as Congress did not allocate the money for this purpose—instead, it was meant to support public research in semiconductors. But the biggest chunk of money would go to a company that likely wouldn't exist if it weren't for the government's backing. Anderon will be set up with a billion dollars each from IBM and the government and will inherit personnel and IP from IBM. It will serve as a foundry for fabricating quantum processing units and will contract its services out to IBM and any other company that wants access to cutting-edge hardware. Is any of this legal? Zoe Lofgren (D–Calif.), the ranking member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, made it clear that she is not happy with how the government is using its money to support this technology. Read full article Comments
Welcome to the Mideast Money newsletter, I’m Adveith Nair . Join us each week as my team and I chronicle the intersection of money and power in a region that’s become one of the most influential in global finance. You can sign up here . This week: Saudi Arabia sees unexpected gains from the Iran war, the Public Investment Fund looks to build a logistics giant , and the kingdom’s bridge to Trump fa...
Welcome to the Mideast Money newsletter, I’m Adveith Nair . Join us each week as my team and I chronicle the intersection of money and power in a region that’s become one of the most influential in global finance. You can sign up here . This week: Saudi Arabia sees unexpected gains from the Iran war, the Public Investment Fund looks to build a logistics giant , and the kingdom’s bridge to Trump falters. But first, let’s start in Abu Dhabi. The Strait of Hormuz has been blocked for almost three months, choking off one of the world’s most important trade routes and forcing Gulf economies into an urgent scramble to keep supply flowing. Some producers have leaned on stealth shipping and rerouting, though many use leased tankers and are constrained by the risk appetite of shipowners. Here, Abu Dhabi’s state energy firm has an edge , as it uses vessels controlled by a subsidiary. That’s made Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. among the most successful producers when it comes to moving supplies out of the Middle East, my colleagues Serene Cheong , Stephen Stapczynski and Weilun Soon report. Adnoc has also been sending recently-exited ships back into the Persian Gulf for more cargoes — so-called shuttle runs that can keep oil and fuels flowing. Once through Hormuz, the vessels typically transfer their cargoes to clients’ tankers in safer waters off Fujairah or Sohar, or sail to India’s west coast. Qatar, too, has managed to get some energy supplies out of the strait in recent days, alongside neighboring Saudi Arabia, which has the added advantage of a pipeline that runs across the kingdom to an alternative port on the Red Sea coast. Those ports on the Red Sea have grown in importance since since the war began, handing Saudi Arabia an unexpected win. Oman is emerging as another beneficiary. Also Read : Saudi Crown Prince MBS Scores Unexpected Wins During Iran War While the US and Iran appear to have inched closer to a deal to reopen the strait, the mechanics of its future operation ...
Leonid Andronov/iStock Editorial via Getty Images No two utilities are identical. Often, utility companies can be compared to one another, especially if they're regulated or non-regulated utilities. There are some comparisons there if they mean in those two camps. Some companies try to expand into being both a regulated and non-regulated utility or even a multi-faceted utility focusing on natural ...
Leonid Andronov/iStock Editorial via Getty Images No two utilities are identical. Often, utility companies can be compared to one another, especially if they're regulated or non-regulated utilities. There are some comparisons there if they mean in those two camps. Some companies try to expand into being both a regulated and non-regulated utility or even a multi-faceted utility focusing on natural gas, water, and power or some combination of the three. However, there is one universal consideration for regulated utilities, and even in some regard for non-regulated utilities, and that would be the difficulty of the governmental structure where they operate. Some regions of the United States, like Florida, are very regulatorily friendly, meaning that regulators typically are agreeable to the pricing increases and return on equity percentages that utilities are seeking. This is one reason why NextEra Energy ( NEE ) has been able to grow so successfully over the years. It has benefited from strong regulatory support. However, if you go to the other side of the United States of America, on the West Coast, it is considered to be an extremely unfriendly regulatory environment. Regulators are more concerned about consumers and the impacts that utility operations will have on their wallets than some of their East Coast peers. Often regulators are also more concerned about environmentally friendly practices or renewable energy, which are often more expensive and produce less power than other opportunities that exist. At the end of the day, a regulated utility cannot control how their regulators are going to operate, and this can cause some utilities to sell at a discounted valuation compared to others, especially if those utilities exist on the West Coast, where there are regulatory-unfriendly environments and often higher risks for liability for wildfires. The government may not have done a good job taking care of their forests , but they sure as anything like to blame a utili...
Getty Images Introduction On April 26th, Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated ( LGND ) announced their agreement to acquire XOMA Royalty Corporation ( XOMA ). Terms in the announcement included: Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (LGND) and XOMA Royalty Corporation (“XOMA Royalty”) (Nasdaq: XOMA), both biotechnology royalty aggregators, today announced that the companies have entered into a defini...
Getty Images Introduction On April 26th, Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated ( LGND ) announced their agreement to acquire XOMA Royalty Corporation ( XOMA ). Terms in the announcement included: Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (LGND) and XOMA Royalty Corporation (“XOMA Royalty”) (Nasdaq: XOMA), both biotechnology royalty aggregators, today announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement under which Ligand will acquire XOMA Royalty for $39.00 per share of common stock in cash, for a total equity value of approximately $739 million. XOMA Royalty stockholders are expected to separately receive one non-transferable Contingent Value Right (“CVR”) per share entitling the holder to receive a portion of 75% of the net proceeds that may result from certain pending litigation at XOMA Royalty. XOMA Royalty’s Series X Convertible Preferred Stock is expected to be converted into shares of common stock at its stated fixed price prior to closing, whereas the outstanding shares of Series A Preferred Stock and Series B Preferred Stock are expected to be redeemed. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026 and to be immediately accretive to Ligand earnings per share. Source: Acquisition press release . This will be the last review of these, as I am expecting them to be redeemed. XOMA Corporation 8.375% DP PFD B ( XOMAO ). XOMA Corporation 8.625% CUM PERP PFD SER A ( XOMAP ). Based on the change in owners, XOMAO now rates a Strong Buy for its 7+% YTC. The owner of XOMAP should hold as the YTC is much better than what a 5-month CD offers. Ligand Pharmaceuticals review Data by YCharts Ligand provides this description of the company (edited): Ligand is a biopharmaceutical company that invests in the groundbreaking medicines of today and tomorrow. We fund the clinical development and commercialization of high-value programs that can improve and extend lives around the world. Our diversified portfolio of royalty assets generates consistent an...
Grail 's (NASDAQ: GRAL) share price decline of over 20% so far in 2026 is understandable. After all, when a multicancer early detection (MCED) test company misses a primary endpoint of a landmark three-year trial, investors immediately price in difficulties receiving Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, let alone receiving insurance coverage for a test that failed in a trial. That said, th...
Grail 's (NASDAQ: GRAL) share price decline of over 20% so far in 2026 is understandable. After all, when a multicancer early detection (MCED) test company misses a primary endpoint of a landmark three-year trial, investors immediately price in difficulties receiving Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, let alone receiving insurance coverage for a test that failed in a trial. That said, there's still a powerful case for the stock, and a very strong catalyst could be about to be unleashed, propelling it higher. The investment case for the stock centers on its MCED test, Galleri, which completed a three-year, 142,000-person trial with England's National Health Service (NHS). Grail released the top-line results from the trial in mid-February and promptly disappointed the market by revealing it had missed its primary endpoint. Early-stage cancers (Stage I and Stage II) are far easier and cheaper to treat than later-stage cancers (Stage III and Stage IV). The latter two are defined by cancer that has spread to surrounding tissues (Stage III) or to another organ (Stage IV). Continue reading
Dr. Oz Fires Back After Joy Behar's TrumpRx Meltdown Authored by David Manney via PJMedia.com, Dr. Mehmet Oz, the 17th administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services , answered Joy Behar after the longtime co-host of The View warned viewers about President Donald Trump's prescription drug initiative. Behar said once Trump puts his name on prescriptions, “We're all going to die.” Joy...
Dr. Oz Fires Back After Joy Behar's TrumpRx Meltdown Authored by David Manney via PJMedia.com, Dr. Mehmet Oz, the 17th administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services , answered Joy Behar after the longtime co-host of The View warned viewers about President Donald Trump's prescription drug initiative. Behar said once Trump puts his name on prescriptions, “We're all going to die.” Joy Behar claims "we're all going to die" because Trump wants to lower drug prices with TrumpRX. pic.twitter.com/uG458SU1AD — MRC NewsBusters (@newsbusters) May 19, 2026 She also reached for Trump's past business failures, as if cheaper medicine belongs in the same dusty joke drawer as casino chatter and late-night monologue scraps. Dr. Oz didn't need a medical chart to spot the problem, saying TrumpRx.gov still has no medication for Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS), though they're working on it. https://t.co/8XMXPxEXtl pic.twitter.com/1brcfTOarK — DrOzCMS (@DrOzCMS) May 20, 2026 His joke landed because Behar's reaction sounded less like analysis and more like a smoke alarm installed over a toaster sitting near a burning pile of pine boughs: loud, frantic, and not especially useful once breakfast remains intact. President Trump announced on May 18 that TrumpRx would expand with over 600 generic medications. The AP reports : The beefed-up website is the Trump administration’s answer to criticism from Democrats who have called TrumpRx performative and noted that many of the brand-name drugs it has featured are cheaper with insurance or have lower-cost generic versions sold elsewhere. It also marks an effort to respond to a top voter concern for November’s midterm elections: affordability. Health costs are a worry for many Americans, an issue compounded by the Republican-led Congress’ recent cuts to Medicaid and the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies this year that sent some people’s premiums skyrocketing. The expansion is made possible by partnerships with othe...
Jardine Matheson, an investment company headquartered in Hong Kong, announced on Monday the A$3.4 billion (US$2.4 billion) acquisition of the entire stake of an Australian diagnostic and teleradiology group. The acquisition of I-MED Radiology Network, which spans 215 diagnostic imaging clinics across metropolitan and regional communities in Australia and New Zealand, is one of Jardine Matheson’s l...
Jardine Matheson, an investment company headquartered in Hong Kong, announced on Monday the A$3.4 billion (US$2.4 billion) acquisition of the entire stake of an Australian diagnostic and teleradiology group. The acquisition of I-MED Radiology Network, which spans 215 diagnostic imaging clinics across metropolitan and regional communities in Australia and New Zealand, is one of Jardine Matheson’s largest in recent years, following its full takeover of the luxury hotel unit Mandarin Oriental in a buyout completed in January, which valued the unit at US$4.2 billion. The deal marked “a significant step” for Jardine Matheson’s “strategic evolution as an Asia-Pacific-focused investor and control owner of high-quality businesses in the region”, the investment company said in a statement. The deal also covered I-MED’s minority interest in Harrison.ai, which develops radiology AI solutions , including CT brain and chest scans. Advertisement “The investment in I-MED is consistent with Jardines’ capital allocation priorities to invest for control in market-leading assets and to expand Jardines into strong growth verticals such as healthcare diagnostics,” the statement said. “Jardines is excited to partner with Dr Shrey Viranna, Clare Battellino and the outstanding doctors and clinicians of I-MED,” said Lincoln Pan, CEO of the Jardine Matheson, whose assets span real estate, retail and hotels with stakes in Hongkong Land Wellcome supermarket chain and 7-Eleven in Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore owner DFI Retail Group and Mandarin Oriental. Both Wellcome and 7-Eleven are owned and operated by DFI. Advertisement “I-MED have a first-class management team, which have not only driven consistent earnings growth, but have stayed at the cutting edge of innovation, including bold steps into AI which will allow them to strengthen their market-leading position, while still supporting high clinical standards,” Pan said, adding that Jardine Matheson’s goal is to support I-MED in the next pha...
Matheus Nunes (Man City): Nunes enjoyed a superb season at full-back, starting more games (32) and playing more minutes (2,865) than in his first two seasons at the club combined (26 starts, 2,327 minutes). City were far better off with him in the starting XI - they won 66% (W21 D8 L3) of the games he started, compared to 33% without him (W2 D1 L3). Nunes completed more passes in the opposition ha...
Matheus Nunes (Man City): Nunes enjoyed a superb season at full-back, starting more games (32) and playing more minutes (2,865) than in his first two seasons at the club combined (26 starts, 2,327 minutes). City were far better off with him in the starting XI - they won 66% (W21 D8 L3) of the games he started, compared to 33% without him (W2 D1 L3). Nunes completed more passes in the opposition half than any other player this season (1,153) while among full-backs he had the joint most open play assists (5), made the most line-breaking passes overall (275), as well as completing the most passes in the final third (600). He was also the full-back with the most ball carries (514) and carry distance - well over 5,000m. Gabriel (Arsenal): One of the odder statistics of 2025-26 is that Arsenal central defender Gabriel Magalhaes ended the season with more Premier League goals and assists combined than the likes of Jorgen Strand Larsen (5) and Bernardo Silva (6) and as many as Bournemouth striker Evanilson (7). Of his seven goal involvements (3 goals, 4 assists), six unsurprisingly came via set-pieces as the Brazilian caused chaos in opposition boxes, helping the Gunners to score a record 19 corner goals in 2025-26. It is, of course, at the other end where Gabriel really stands out, ending the season with 17 clean sheets, which was more than any other defender despite being absent from eight starting XIs in 2025-26. Arsenal conceded just 20 goals in 2,751 minutes with him on the pitch, an average of one every 138 minutes, which was the best by an Arsenal defender to play 2,000+ minutes since 2003-04, when Sol Campbell went 140 minutes between goals going in with him on the pitch. William Saliba (Arsenal): Alongside Gabriel, who else but Saliba? The pair are forging a legendary Premier League central defensive partnership, losing just 15 of the 117 games they've played together for Arsenal and the Gunners concede on average a goal every 44 minutes more frequently when they a...
Large-cap stocks have the power to shape entire industries thanks to their size and widespread influence. With such vast footprints, however, finding new areas for growth is much harder than for smaller, more agile players. These trade-offs can cause headaches for even the most seasoned professionals, which is why we started StockStory - to help you find high-quality companies that can grow their ...
Large-cap stocks have the power to shape entire industries thanks to their size and widespread influence. With such vast footprints, however, finding new areas for growth is much harder than for smaller, more agile players. These trade-offs can cause headaches for even the most seasoned professionals, which is why we started StockStory - to help you find high-quality companies that can grow their earnings no matter what. Keeping that in mind, here are three large-cap stocks whose momentum may slow and a few alternatives you should consider instead. Workday (WDAY) Market Cap: $31.65 billion Born from the vision of PeopleSoft founders after Oracle's hostile takeover of their previous company, Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) provides cloud-based software for financial management, human resources, planning, and analytics to help organizations manage their business operations. Why Are We Hesitant About WDAY? Sales trends were unexciting over the last two years as its 14.1% annual growth was below the typical software company Estimated sales growth of 10.8% for the next 12 months implies demand will slow from its two-year trend Operating profits and efficiency rose over the last year as it benefited from some fixed cost leverage Workday is trading at $127.70 per share, or 2.8x forward price-to-sales. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than WDAY. NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) Market Cap: $79.9 billion Spun off from Dutch electronics giant Philips in 2006, NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ: NXPI) is a designer and manufacturer of chips used in autos, industrial manufacturing, mobile devices, and communications infrastructure. Why Does NXPI Fall Short? Sales tumbled by 2.5% annually over the last two years, showing market trends are working against its favor during this cycle Projected sales growth of 14.6% for the next 12 months suggests sluggish demand NXP Semiconductors’s stock price of $316.96 implies a valuation ratio of 19.2x forward P/E. If you’re...
India’s gas power generation has plunged to the lowest level in at least six years, with the Iran war hitting fuel shipments, straining electricity supplies at a time when a scorching summer is pushing demand to record highs. Peak electricity consumption surged to an unprecedented 270.8 gigawatts last week, rising for four straight days, as people cranked up air conditioners and other cooling appl...
India’s gas power generation has plunged to the lowest level in at least six years, with the Iran war hitting fuel shipments, straining electricity supplies at a time when a scorching summer is pushing demand to record highs. Peak electricity consumption surged to an unprecedented 270.8 gigawatts last week, rising for four straight days, as people cranked up air conditioners and other cooling appliances amid soaring temperatures. While daytime consumption was largely met with the help of solar generation, supplies struggled to keep pace with the surge in the night , also a record. Low output from gas-fired plants, hamstrung by fuel shortages caused by the war, worsened the pressure on the grid. Read More: India Calls for “Judicious” Use of Power as Heat Pushes Demand Gas-fired generators in India produced about 3.6 billion kilowatt hours of electricity between April and May 21 this year, the lowest for the period in at least six years, data from the power ministry showed. The output was about two-thirds of the production during the same period last year and just about half of that in 2024. The Strait of Hormuz has remained virtually shut with Iran and US enforcing blockades on a waterway that normally handles about a fifth of global LNG supply. India imported more than half of its LNG from Qatar and the UAE, but those shipments have almost dried in the last few months. While these stations bought the imported fuel from the Indian Gas Exchange to meet a part of the evening demand surge, generation was still below par. As a result, power supply fell short almost every night when demand peaked. The deficit, along with local grid breakdowns, have caused blackouts across the country, from the capital New Delhi to the most populated state of Uttar Pradesh in the north, as well as the heavily industrialized Tamil Nadu in the south. After fuel shortages and a series of energy price increases, the outages during a blistering summer underscore the rising toll from the conflic...
aapsky/iStock via Getty Images Setting the Stage It is my belief that we all agree that the consensus view of the defense stock in 2026 is straightforward. This is based on the rising global military budgets, geopolitical tensions, and munitions drawdown being the structural tailwinds for defense primes. While this is the common view, I find it missing a more interesting and more differentiated ar...
aapsky/iStock via Getty Images Setting the Stage It is my belief that we all agree that the consensus view of the defense stock in 2026 is straightforward. This is based on the rising global military budgets, geopolitical tensions, and munitions drawdown being the structural tailwinds for defense primes. While this is the common view, I find it missing a more interesting and more differentiated argument for RTX Corporation ( RTX ) specifically. It is my take that RTX is not simply a defense contractor. Rather, it simultaneously operates one of the world’s two dominant commercial jet engine platforms (Pratt and Whitney’s GTF and V2500 family). Also, it operates the world’s largest commercial aerospace systems supplier, which is Collins Aerospace, and one of the top three US prime contractors (Raytheon). As the defense expenditure keeps soaring, RTX wins from the trend. When commercial air travel grows, the company also wins. With the company running both simultaneously, it follows that it is firing from both ends. With its stock trading at about $177 post-earnings overreaction to tariff concerns, amid a record $271 billion backlog that provides multiyear earnings visibility, I am rating RTX a buy with a $201.85 price target. The Macro Lens: Market & Industry Context Over the past couple of years, global defense spending has entered a structural upcycle that is historically unusual in its breadth. Europe, on the one hand, is rearming at the fastest pace since the Cold War as the NATO allies accelerate towards the 2% GDP commitment. On the other hand, the US DoD’s 2026 budget proposals sit at approximately $1 trillion . Reuters A notable trend is how this soaring defense expenditure is tilting towards high technology and precision systems . This entails missiles, air defense, electronic warfare, and autonomous platforms. Interestingly, this is exactly the category where Raytheon sits to leverage this massive market opportunity. In Q1 2026, RTX signed five landmark agre...