On a recent episode of How to Money, co-host Joel Larsgaard summed up Fannie Mae’s new crypto-as-collateral mortgage program in five words: “This seems incredibly, it feels like a house of cards, man.” He owns crypto himself. He still thinks “it’s a bad idea for lenders to be doing this.” Here is the program in ... Fannie Mae’s New Crypto Mortgage Program Explained: The $200,000 Collateral Problem
On a recent episode of How to Money, co-host Joel Larsgaard summed up Fannie Mae’s new crypto-as-collateral mortgage program in five words: “This seems incredibly, it feels like a house of cards, man.” He owns crypto himself. He still thinks “it’s a bad idea for lenders to be doing this.” Here is the program in ... Fannie Mae’s New Crypto Mortgage Program Explained: The $200,000 Collateral Problem
Nikada/E+ via Getty Images By Benjamin Schroeder The possibility of a deal drives rates market volatility Geopolitical headlines continue to drive market volatility. Even if signals remain conflicting at times, there is a suggestion of progress – or at least a narrowing of the gap between the warring parties' positions. The market reaction in the wake of this latest news has also brought the diffe...
Nikada/E+ via Getty Images By Benjamin Schroeder The possibility of a deal drives rates market volatility Geopolitical headlines continue to drive market volatility. Even if signals remain conflicting at times, there is a suggestion of progress – or at least a narrowing of the gap between the warring parties' positions. The market reaction in the wake of this latest news has also brought the different macro backdrops across regions into sharper relief. The spread between 10y US Treasury and Bund yields has widened by almost 10bp over the past week alone. At over 150bp, the spread has reached its widest level since August 2025. EUR rates have managed to largely hold at lower levels on the back of the latest news. For one, Europe is more directly exposed to the energy market disruptions and stands to benefit most from a timely resolution to the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz. More importantly, the macro backdrop is shakier, as a round of disappointing PMIs has just highlighted. European Central Bank officials have signalled lately that a June hike is likely to materialise. While still tying the decision to the dynamics in the Middle East, the near-term inflation dynamics have moved closer to the adverse scenario. And that said, it is unclear whether by mid-June there will be enough clarity and certainty around any potential deal to call off a rate hike. As the ECB’s Olli Rehn has said, hiking in June would be more about protecting the ECB’s credibility than anything else. There is good reason for caution around the need for further tightening. A Reuters insider story late on Wednesday had indeed suggested the ECB might prefer to wait until the September projections to make any decision. The market currently fully prices three hikes over the next 12 months, suggesting a greater potential to drop should the ECB find room to focus more on the growth story again. Over in the US, risk assets remain largely supported and the macro backdrop resilient, while the FOMC minute...
Bill Ackman is one of the world's preeminent investors. He runs a very concentrated portfolio of just a handful of stocks, so when he makes moves, investors tend to pay attention. In Q1, Ackman's Pershing Square Management (PS 2.63%) fund took a huge new stake in Microsoft (MSFT 0.16%) while increasing its position in Amazon (AMZN +1.38%) by 19%. To help fund these new purchases, Ackman sold 95% o...
Bill Ackman is one of the world's preeminent investors. He runs a very concentrated portfolio of just a handful of stocks, so when he makes moves, investors tend to pay attention. In Q1, Ackman's Pershing Square Management (PS 2.63%) fund took a huge new stake in Microsoft (MSFT 0.16%) while increasing its position in Amazon (AMZN +1.38%) by 19%. To help fund these new purchases, Ackman sold 95% of his stake in fellow cloud computing giant Alphabet (GOOGL 0.36%) (GOOG 0.40%). Ackman had been trimming the fund's stake in Alphabet over the past few quarters. He initially started building this position in Q1 2023. Despite dumping most of the fund's shares, Ackman praised Alphabet, saying he is very bullish on the stock long term. However, he found Microsoft more attractive at current valuations. I am a huge fan of Alphabet and would not be dumping the stock, as it looks poised to be one of the biggest long-term AI winners. With the most complete artificial intelligence (AI) stack of any company, owning its own world-class AI model and chips, this is a stock to hang on to, in my opinion. That said, let's take a look at why Ackman bought Microsoft and increased his stake in Amazon, and if investors should follow suit. Microsoft: A cloud computing and software giant In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Ackman laid out the reasons why Pershing Square took a large position in Microsoft. He noted that the company operates two highly valuable businesses in Microsoft 365 and its cloud computing unit, Azure. It also owns a 27% stake in OpenAI, as well as stakes in other leading businesses, including LinkedIn and its video game platform. The hedge fund manager believes the market is overly concerned with the threat of AI to its software-as-a-service (SaaS) business, given that Microsoft 365 is so ingrained in enterprise workflows. He sees the company's continued Copilot rollout and shift to a hybrid seat-and-consumption model as potential growth drivers. Meanwhile, he believes Azu...
A new film, Blondi, takes audiences inside the Führer’s bunker in the final days of the Third Reich, from the point of view of his beloved Alsatian When Pablo Álvarez-Hornia stood up to present Blondi – a new film about the dying days of the Third Reich – at its premiere at a cinema in Brixton earlier this month, he went in big. Picture the scene, he told the audience: it’s 1924 and FW Murnau has ...
A new film, Blondi, takes audiences inside the Führer’s bunker in the final days of the Third Reich, from the point of view of his beloved Alsatian When Pablo Álvarez-Hornia stood up to present Blondi – a new film about the dying days of the Third Reich – at its premiere at a cinema in Brixton earlier this month, he went in big. Picture the scene, he told the audience: it’s 1924 and FW Murnau has just strapped a movie camera to a bicycle and invented subjective cinematic perspective. The result was The Last Laugh which captured the precariousness of life in Germany after the first world war with such poignant precision it foreshadowed the following decade – and revolutionised cinema. For Blondi, shot 102 years later, the camera was strapped to a dog. Lexie, a seven-month-old German shepherd, is both the title character – Hitler’s last dog, possibly the most famous hound in geopolitics – but is also the director of photography, or cinemadographer if you prefer, as both Álvarez-Hornia (the film’s producer) and Jack Salvadori (its director) certainly do. It makes for a novel cinematic experience. Sometimes you feel a bit sick at the sudden changes of pace and freaky angles. “Some things need to be made uncomfortable,” says Álvarez-Hornia, “and, in a way, it needed to be dirtier and grittier and uglier for it to work.” Continue reading...
VinFast ( VFS ) was sued by Attorney General Jeff Jackson on behalf of the North Carolina Department of Commerce over alleged breaches of agreements tied to its EV and battery plant project in Chatham County. "Through the lawsuit, North Carolina is exercising its contractual right to acquire the property, thereby, protecting taxpayer investments while preserving the site for future economic develo...
VinFast ( VFS ) was sued by Attorney General Jeff Jackson on behalf of the North Carolina Department of Commerce over alleged breaches of agreements tied to its EV and battery plant project in Chatham County. "Through the lawsuit, North Carolina is exercising its contractual right to acquire the property, thereby, protecting taxpayer investments while preserving the site for future economic development opportunities," according to a statement. “VinFast agreed to build a factory and create jobs for North Carolinians – it didn’t do either,” said Jackson. "VinFast broke the deal, so we’re using that protection to find a project for this site that will create jobs.” In 2022, the Economic Investment Committee awarded a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) to VinFast Manufacturing US, LLC with the goal of creating 7,500 jobs and investing more than $3B in an electric vehicle manufacturing facility in Chatham County. The North Carolina General Assembly also appropriated $450M to support site preparation, transportation improvements, and water and sewer infrastructure associated with the project, the statement said. Under those agreements, VinFast ( VFS ) was required to meet construction benchmarks, have the facility operational by July 2026, and create 1,750 jobs by the end of 2026. VinFast cleared and graded the site in 2023, costs that were reimbursed by the state so that it was ready for construction. "But since then, VinFast has failed to meet key obligations and performance requirements tied to the project." The Department of Justice notified VinFast in January that it had defaulted on its agreement and that the state intended to protect its investment by exercising its right to acquire the site. In response, VinFast argued that it had met its construction deadlines and would have a facility opened on a delayed 2028 timeline. "The state’s action seeks to protect taxpayer investments and enforce the commitments tied to the project." More on VinFast Auto VinFast: Re...
Listen to this article Listen to this article 1x An employee works on a semiconductor production line in Haikou, Hainan province. Photo: VCG Leveraged funds have poured into Chinese semiconductor stocks, making the sector the main target of margin financing even as sharp swings expose rising volatility. The move highlights how speculative trading in China’s equity market has shifted from tradition...
Listen to this article Listen to this article 1x An employee works on a semiconductor production line in Haikou, Hainan province. Photo: VCG Leveraged funds have poured into Chinese semiconductor stocks, making the sector the main target of margin financing even as sharp swings expose rising volatility. The move highlights how speculative trading in China’s equity market has shifted from traditional sectors toward technology shares tied to artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.
Key Points The memory industry that Micron Technology serves has experienced boom-and-bust cycles in the past. However, the ongoing boom in the memory industry seems durable, primarily due to the huge supply gap created by AI. Micron could easily beat Wall Street's growth expectations and soar nicely over the next five years. 10 stocks we like better than Micron Technology › The memory industry ha...
Key Points The memory industry that Micron Technology serves has experienced boom-and-bust cycles in the past. However, the ongoing boom in the memory industry seems durable, primarily due to the huge supply gap created by AI. Micron could easily beat Wall Street's growth expectations and soar nicely over the next five years. 10 stocks we like better than Micron Technology › The memory industry has been booming for the past three years, propelled by the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI), which has created demand for larger, faster memory across multiple applications. Micron Technology(NASDAQ: MU) has been a major beneficiary of the memory boom. Micron stock has shot up by 935% over the past three years, driven by a big jump in its revenue and earnings. Investors, however, may now be wondering if the memory specialist has now entered bubble territory, especially considering that it has been historically susceptible to oversupply in the memory industry that has seen its share of boom and bust cycles. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » For example, Micron had a forgettable fiscal 2023 (which ended in August 2023). Its revenue halved that year, and it swung to a loss, driven by a drop in demand for smartphones and personal computers (PCs) that led to an oversupply of memory chips. The supply glut led to a sharp decline in memory prices in 2023, which explains why investors may be worried about a similar scenario unfolding in the future. But will that indeed be the case? Or will the memory market continue to benefit from the robust investments in AI data centers, fueling more upside in Micron stock over the next five years? Let's find out. The ongoing memory boom cycle is durable The current memory boom seems long-lasting. Running AI workloads in data centers requires faster an...
JuSun/E+ via Getty Images Investment Thesis Tectonic shift toward InP-based lasers, which are replacing outdated VCSEL technology, has been driven by the transformation of data center architecture. This powerful supercycle in the optical components sector is propelling key players Lumentum Holdings Inc. ( LITE ) and Coherent Corp. ( COHR ) to the forefront. The conclusion of strategic partnerships...
JuSun/E+ via Getty Images Investment Thesis Tectonic shift toward InP-based lasers, which are replacing outdated VCSEL technology, has been driven by the transformation of data center architecture. This powerful supercycle in the optical components sector is propelling key players Lumentum Holdings Inc. ( LITE ) and Coherent Corp. ( COHR ) to the forefront. The conclusion of strategic partnerships with Nvidia ( NVDA ) worth $2 billion demonstrates technology leaders’ long-term commitment to their developments. While LITE is transforming into a pure-play optical component design company, however, COHR is focusing on large-scale and vertical integration. This is why each of these companies has its own strategic development path, regardless of the similarity of their chosen segments and overlapping partners/customers. In this article, the goal is to do a thorough fundamental analysis of the companies’ business strategies and key performance indicators to determine who’s more attractive for investment. Even though COHR has higher revenue than LITE, that doesn't make it the leader since it's lagging in terms of annual growth rates. Also, while Lumentum is showing a significant improvement in margins and profitability, Coherent is having a bumpy ride without breaking any records. Even though their shares are trading at high historical multiples, considering the generous advance by market participants on future growth, I can pick out one leader in terms of investment appeal. It's the chosen asset that looks like a better buy to me for the next phase of the AI supercycle. LITE Strategy Overview Previously a traditional supplier of optical components to the telecommunications sector, Lumentum is undergoing a fundamental transformation, emerging as one of the key beneficiaries of the AI supercycle. The transition to indium phosphide and the resolution of the chip shortage are driving this shift. Contemporary data centers require new solutions, because early vertical-cavity su...