MCCAIG/E+ via Getty Images Consumer delinquencies remain at comfortable levels. Consumer spending comprises 68%-70% of US GDP. When the consumer is in trouble is when we are likely to enter recession on any given shock. Consumer delinquency rates remain well below the thresholds indicating financial fragility in the past. Both credit card and consumer loan delinquencies have been trending lower. T...
MCCAIG/E+ via Getty Images Consumer delinquencies remain at comfortable levels. Consumer spending comprises 68%-70% of US GDP. When the consumer is in trouble is when we are likely to enter recession on any given shock. Consumer delinquency rates remain well below the thresholds indicating financial fragility in the past. Both credit card and consumer loan delinquencies have been trending lower. The recent small rise in loan delinquencies is likely due to student loans now requiring payments after a post-COVID period of deferral. Original Post Editor's Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.
Aldi Irvan Darmansyah/iStock via Getty Images Market review and outlook The Bloomberg 1-3 Year Government/Credit Index returned 0.28% in Q1, its lowest quarterly return since Q4 2024 (-0.02%). Through the first two months of the year, the index returned 0.75% as economic data remained broadly resilient despite concerns around the February sell-off in software stocks, a key tariff decision by the S...
Aldi Irvan Darmansyah/iStock via Getty Images Market review and outlook The Bloomberg 1-3 Year Government/Credit Index returned 0.28% in Q1, its lowest quarterly return since Q4 2024 (-0.02%). Through the first two months of the year, the index returned 0.75% as economic data remained broadly resilient despite concerns around the February sell-off in software stocks, a key tariff decision by the Supreme Court and the growing drumbeat of war in the Middle East. The US and Israel launched combat operations against Iran on February 28, and the markets spent most of March reeling from the ongoing conflict, resulting in Brent crude oil experiencing its biggest quarterly increase since the Gulf War in 1990. While one normally thinks of a flight-to-quality trade as a rally in Treasury yields as investors move away from risk assets to safer alternatives, this was not the case in March as rates pushed higher across the curve. The Fed held rates steady at the March 18 meeting and avoided any kind of hints about the future path of rates. Despite concerns around the impact of higher energy prices on inflation due to the conflict, no participants viewed a 2026 hike as appropriate at this time. At his press conference, Chairman Jerome Powell alleviated some concern around the leadership of the Federal Reserve, stating that he would remain as chair pro tempore until his replacement is confirmed. Updates by sector Treasury The entire Treasury yield curve pushed higher in Q1, with most of the shift taking place in March after combat operations began in the Middle East. The 2-year Treasury yield climbed 41.8 basis points ( BPS ) in March, marking its biggest monthly move since October 2024 when ongoing strength in economic news had investors reconsidering rate cut expectations. The dramatic shift in March was more than enough to offset some of the compression in yield during the first two months of the year, resulting in an increase of 32 bps during Q1. But the trend higher impacted ...
Biogen Today BIIB Biogen $189.47 +1.67 (+0.89%) 52-Week Range $121.05 ▼ $205.97 P/E Ratio 20.33 Price Target $215.62 Add to Watchlist U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) events crystallize the risk/reward thesis for many biotechnology stocks, and Biogen Inc.'s NASDAQ: BIIB latest Alzheimer’s update shows why that trade can turn quickly. Biogen entered May with momentum after a solid first-quarte...
Biogen Today BIIB Biogen $189.47 +1.67 (+0.89%) 52-Week Range $121.05 ▼ $205.97 P/E Ratio 20.33 Price Target $215.62 Add to Watchlist U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) events crystallize the risk/reward thesis for many biotechnology stocks, and Biogen Inc.'s NASDAQ: BIIB latest Alzheimer’s update shows why that trade can turn quickly. Biogen entered May with momentum after a solid first-quarter earnings report and its planned acquisition of Apellis Pharmaceuticals NASDAQ: APLS for $41 per share, which would add two commercialized rare disease and immunology drugs and a nephrology infrastructure to anchor the felzartamab launch. Get Biogen alerts: Sign Up The bigger driver, however, was anticipation for Phase 2 data from CELIA, a study of diranersen, Biogen’s experimental tau-targeting treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. That readout arrived on May 14 and produced a mixed reaction. Diranersen missed its primary endpoint, which measured dose response on the Clinical Dementia Rating-Sum of Boxes at Week 76, and BIIB fell more than 10%. But the selloff may not tell the full story: Biogen still reported meaningful reductions in tau pathology and signs of slower clinical decline, giving investors a reason to keep the drug—and the stock’s long-term Alzheimer’s thesis—in focus. Why Tau Matters for Biogen’s Alzheimer’s Pipeline Diranersen is an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapy that targets tau. Tau is a protein that stabilizes the internal transport system neurons use to carry nutrients and signals. In Alzheimer’s disease, tau can become chemically altered, detach from its structural role and form tangles inside brain cells. Along with amyloid plaques, those tangles are a defining feature of the disease, disrupting cellular communication, contributing to neuron death and tracking closely with the cognitive decline patients experience. For investors, tau matters because it appears to be the more proximate driver of symptoms. A drug that reduces tau pathology, such a...
The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) has been a tailwind for several companies in recent years. From hardware manufacturers making critical data center components to software providers helping enterprises integrate generative AI into their day-to-day operations, AI adoption has accelerated the growth of companies involved in deploying this technology across various niches. The good ne...
The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) has been a tailwind for several companies in recent years. From hardware manufacturers making critical data center components to software providers helping enterprises integrate generative AI into their day-to-day operations, AI adoption has accelerated the growth of companies involved in deploying this technology across various niches. The good news is that AI adoption is still in its early stages. A UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report predicts that the global AI market could grow by a whopping 25x between 2023 and 2033, generating annual revenue of $4.8 trillion at the end of the forecast period. This massive growth will be fueled by the productivity gains AI can unlock for companies that adopt it . As a result, the aggressive investments in AI data center infrastructure are unlikely to slow down any time soon. That's why, if you've $500 in investible cash right now after meeting your expenses, saving for difficult times, and clearing any high-interest debt, you can consider putting that money into shares of Applied Digital (NASDAQ: APLD) . Continue reading
Biotech firm Zai Lab ( ZLAB ) announced that President and COO Josh Smiley is leaving the company immediately as part of a leadership shake-up to improve efficiency. This executive change comes at a crucial time for the company, as it prepares for the China launch of its drug COBENFY™ and expects key clinical trial results for its main cancer therapies later this year. More on Zai Lab Zai Lab: A S...
Biotech firm Zai Lab ( ZLAB ) announced that President and COO Josh Smiley is leaving the company immediately as part of a leadership shake-up to improve efficiency. This executive change comes at a crucial time for the company, as it prepares for the China launch of its drug COBENFY™ and expects key clinical trial results for its main cancer therapies later this year. More on Zai Lab Zai Lab: A Speculative Bet On Global Oncology, With A Greater China Bag Attached Zai Lab Limited 2026 Q1 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation Zai Lab Limited (ZLAB) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript Zai Lab wins FDA fast track status for cancer drug zocilurtatug pelitecan Zai Lab expects Zoci Phase III enrollment completion in first half of 2027, while targeting first FDA BLA in late 2027
AoZaaStudio/iStock via Getty Images Executive Summary While most institutional investors recognize that private equity and public equity share similar economic risks, they often seem to ignore how their aggregate equity portfolio is affected by their substantial allocation to private equity. Analyzing 700 private equity leveraged buyouts over the last 45 years allowed us to compare a meaningful pr...
AoZaaStudio/iStock via Getty Images Executive Summary While most institutional investors recognize that private equity and public equity share similar economic risks, they often seem to ignore how their aggregate equity portfolio is affected by their substantial allocation to private equity. Analyzing 700 private equity leveraged buyouts over the last 45 years allowed us to compare a meaningful proportion of private equity portfolios to their public equity counterparts. Relative to public equities, private equity skews small and lower quality, and has a massive bet on software—all of which make a portfolio with a significant private equity allocation riskier and less well diversified from an industry- and factor-perspective versus the overall equity universe. Investors committed to substantial private equity portfolios should consider mitigating those biases in their public equity allocation with both long and short positions. Those positions could be in passive index form, but we believe a more effective and higher-returning approach would be a levered long position in large-cap, high-quality public equities paired with a short position in smaller-cap, low-quality public equities. This takes advantage of the fact that within public equities, low-quality small caps tend to perform poorly over time, particularly in difficult economic circumstances. Read Part 2 of the Quarterly Letter, Letter to the Investment Committee on Private Equity: The Persistent Dream of Performance Persistence , in which Ben Inker addresses the erosion of private equity performance persistence and its implications for institutions with meaningful private equity exposure. Introduction When the economy suffers, so too do stocks. This is both obvious—it would be bizarre for even a diversified set of companies to thrive at a time when people and businesses are demanding and consuming less—and somehow, easy to forget. This fugue is particularly prevalent in the private corners of the U. S. equity ...
From ISIS To Finance Bro: Syria's Sharaa To Attend G7 Summit In France Syria continues stepping out of the geopolitical wilderness, now apparently onto the highest-stakes stage in international finance. Or rather, the reality is that Washington's post-Assad Al Qaeda in suits makeover of 'former' terror leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has reached its peak. According to a Reuters report on Thursday, self-app...
From ISIS To Finance Bro: Syria's Sharaa To Attend G7 Summit In France Syria continues stepping out of the geopolitical wilderness, now apparently onto the highest-stakes stage in international finance. Or rather, the reality is that Washington's post-Assad Al Qaeda in suits makeover of 'former' terror leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has reached its peak. According to a Reuters report on Thursday, self-appointed Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (Jolani) is set to lead a national delegation to the G7 summit in France next month . HTS leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa, now self-declared President, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani The invitation marks the country's first-ever participation in the summit since the elite forum was founded back in 1975. Citing three sources familiar with the matter, the agency confirmed that an invitation was officially hand-delivered to Syrian Finance Minister Mohammed Yisr Barnieh while he was attending the group's preparatory financial talks in Paris earlier this week. The main G7 summit is set to run mid-June, from the 15th through 17th in Évian-les-Bains, southeastern France. A Syrian official speaking Reuters described that Damascus plans to heavily pitch its geography to the G7 . This will likely center on leveraging the country's role as a "potential strategic hub for supply chains" amid the Iran war and Hormuz Strait crisis. "After the closure of the Hormuz Strait, pretty much all the neighboring countries in the region knocked on our door to get access to our Syrian ports," stated Mazen Alloush, the director of local and international relations for Syria's borders and customs authority. "They are making Plan B's in case the crisis goes on longer." The over decade-long proxy war to oust Assad, which heavily involved the CIA and Gulf states, as well as Israel, has long been discussed as part of the 'pipeline wars' theme , and has for years been an open secret. President Trump, who helped put Sharaa in power, and vouched for him when they first me...
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Good morning . Donald Trump says he’ll send 5,000 more US troops to Poland. Progress in Iran talks is hampered. And Lionel Messi joins exclusive club—soccer billionaires. Listen to the day’s top stories. Market Snapshot S&P 500 futures 7,489.50 +0.3% Nasdaq 100 futures 29,558.50 +0.4% WTI crude oil futures $98.09 +1.8% Market data as of 07:30 AM GMT. Data is subject to provider delays. President D...
Good morning . Donald Trump says he’ll send 5,000 more US troops to Poland. Progress in Iran talks is hampered. And Lionel Messi joins exclusive club—soccer billionaires. Listen to the day’s top stories. Market Snapshot S&P 500 futures 7,489.50 +0.3% Nasdaq 100 futures 29,558.50 +0.4% WTI crude oil futures $98.09 +1.8% Market data as of 07:30 AM GMT. Data is subject to provider delays. President Donald Trump said he would send 5,000 more troops to Poland, reversing course on plans to suspend deployment to the NATO ally. The bloc’s foreign ministers hold their second day of talks in Sweden today, with Secretary General Mark Rutte set to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Iran said the White House’s latest proposal partly bridged the gap between the warring sides, but comments from the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader about keeping Tehran’s uranium stash and a dispute over tolls in the Strait of Hormuz meant prospects of a breakthrough were still uncertain. Stocks and futures climbed as investors rotated into a broader set of companies tied to the world’s artificial intelligence buildout. Brent crude climbed back up above $104 a barrel on caution over developments in the Middle East. Check out our Markets Today live blog for all the latest news and analysis relevant to UK assets. Britain’s lowest earners’ confidence plunged in May, with even those on average wages digging into savings to pay daily bills as the Mideast energy shock ripples across budgets , a key survey found. UK retail sales fell at the fastest pace in nearly a year as consumers pulled back spending. Germany is due to release its final GDP and France issues business confidence data. In corporate news, Estee Lauder and Puig Brands walked away from a deal potentially worth billions because of makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury’s compensation demands , people familiar said. Shell is set to battle climate activists urging top Dutch judges to impose mission cuts in line with its net zero 2050 target. Ope...
One of Wall Street's favorite artificial intelligence (AI) stocks right now is, no surprise, the semiconductor company Cerebras (CBRS 3.04%). It's been a publicly traded company for only about a week, but enthusiasm is high. Investors rushing in to buy the stock have pushed it up by about 60% from its $185 IPO price as of this writing. But not all AI stocks are feeling the love right now, especial...
One of Wall Street's favorite artificial intelligence (AI) stocks right now is, no surprise, the semiconductor company Cerebras (CBRS 3.04%). It's been a publicly traded company for only about a week, but enthusiasm is high. Investors rushing in to buy the stock have pushed it up by about 60% from its $185 IPO price as of this writing. But not all AI stocks are feeling the love right now, especially not Microsoft (MSFT 0.16%). Despite solid growth in its recently reported fiscal 2026 third quarter and its strong position in AI and cloud computing, Microsoft's stock is down by more than 8% over the past 12 months. With many investors rushing to buy Cerebras stock and shunning Microsoft, should you follow the crowd? I don't think the masses are getting this one right -- and the financial numbers back me up. Cerebras has quickly caught Wall Street's attention Cerebras recently burst onto the tech scene and generated a lot of buzz when its shares jumped 68% on May 14 -- its first day of trading. Most chipmakers begin the manufacturing process by cutting large semiconductor wafers into dozens or hundreds of smaller pieces, which are then used to make individual chips. Cerebras designs and manufactures unusually large semiconductors, using an entire wafer to create a single chip that is about the size of a dinner plate. Acting as one big integrated semiconductor unit, they are, according to the company, far more efficient than hundreds of smaller processors. For example, the company's main product, the Wafer Scale Engine (WSE-3), has 250 times more on-chip memory and 2,625 times more memory bandwidth than Nvidia's B200 platform, according to a Cerebras SEC filing. Cerebras hopes to chip away at Nvidia's dominance in AI data center processors by offering a more efficient alternative. But it won't be easy to knock Nvidia off its perch at the top of the AI semiconductor hill, considering that the company had 86% of the AI data center processor market as of the end of 2025. T...
Key Points Shares of semiconductor company Cerebras surged 68% on their first day of trading. The company isn't profitable even on a non-GAAP basis, and its revenue falls well short of that of established AI players. Despite Microsoft's impressive financial results and a strong position in AI and cloud computing, its stock is somewhat out of favor on Wall Street right now. 10 stocks we like better...
Key Points Shares of semiconductor company Cerebras surged 68% on their first day of trading. The company isn't profitable even on a non-GAAP basis, and its revenue falls well short of that of established AI players. Despite Microsoft's impressive financial results and a strong position in AI and cloud computing, its stock is somewhat out of favor on Wall Street right now. 10 stocks we like better than Cerebras Systems › One of Wall Street's favorite artificial intelligence (AI) stocks right now is, no surprise, the semiconductor company Cerebras (NASDAQ: CBRS). It's been a publicly traded company for only about a week, but enthusiasm is high. Investors rushing in to buy the stock have pushed it up by about 60% from its $185 IPO price as of this writing. But not all AI stocks are feeling the love right now, especially not Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). Despite solid growth in its recently reported fiscal 2026 third quarter and its strong position in AI and cloud computing, Microsoft's stock is down by more than 8% over the past 12 months. 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 » With many investors rushing to buy Cerebras stock and shunning Microsoft, should you follow the crowd? I don't think the masses are getting this one right -- and the financial numbers back me up. Cerebras has quickly caught Wall Street's attention Cerebras recently burst onto the tech scene and generated a lot of buzz when its shares jumped 68% on May 14 -- its first day of trading. Most chipmakers begin the manufacturing process by cutting large semiconductor wafers into dozens or hundreds of smaller pieces, which are then used to make individual chips. Cerebras designs and manufactures unusually large semiconductors, using an entire wafer to create a single chip that is about the size of a dinner plate. Acting as one b...
The US president, Donald Trump, and the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, on Thursday again raised the spectre of military intervention in Cuba, a renewed threat that takes on greater weight a day after the administration announced criminal charges against the island’s former leader, Raúl Castro. Trump said previous US presidents have considered intervening in Cuba for decades but that “it looks li...
The US president, Donald Trump, and the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, on Thursday again raised the spectre of military intervention in Cuba, a renewed threat that takes on greater weight a day after the administration announced criminal charges against the island’s former leader, Raúl Castro. Trump said previous US presidents have considered intervening in Cuba for decades but that “it looks like I’ll be the one that does it”. “Other presidents have looked at this for 50, 60 years, doing something,” Trump told reporters when asked about Cuba during an environmental event in the Oval Office. “And, it looks like I’ll be the one that does it. So, I would be happy to do it.” Rubio told reporters separately that Cuba has been a national security threat for years because of its ties to US adversaries and that Trump was intent on addressing it. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants who has long taken a hard line against Cuba’s socialist leadership, said the Trump administration wants to resolve differences with Havana peacefully but is doubtful the US can reach a diplomatic resolution with the island’s current government. “[Trump’s] preference is always a negotiated agreement that’s peaceful. That’s always our preference. That remains our preference with Cuba,” Rubio said in Miami before boarding a plane to attend a Nato meeting in Sweden and then visit India. “I’m just being honest with you, you know, the likelihood of that happening, given who we’re dealing with right now, is not high,” he said. Top Trump aides – including Rubio, the CIA chief, John Ratcliffe, and other senior national security officials – have met Cuban officials in recent months to explore possible improvements in relations. But the US side has come away unimpressed from those talks, leading to even more sanctions imposed on the Cuban government in the past week. Over the years, Cuba has gotten used to “buying time and waiting us out,” Rubio said. “They’re not going to be able to wait us out or buy tim...
Finnish phone maker HMD today launched its first smartphone, called the Vibe 2 5G, which comes preloaded with Indian AI company Sarvam’s chatbot Indus. Both companies had first announced the partnership during the India AI summit held in New Delhi in February. The Indus app is powered by Sarvam’s locally trained 105-billion-parameter model — a measure of the AI’s scale and sophistication — and lau...
Finnish phone maker HMD today launched its first smartphone, called the Vibe 2 5G, which comes preloaded with Indian AI company Sarvam’s chatbot Indus. Both companies had first announced the partnership during the India AI summit held in New Delhi in February. The Indus app is powered by Sarvam’s locally trained 105-billion-parameter model — a measure of the AI’s scale and sophistication — and launched at the AI summit. The app supports 22 Indic languages and mid-sentence code-switching (the ability to fluidly mix languages mid-conversation, like switching between Hindi and English), which helps the assistant better understand the context of a query. Currently, the application doesn’t support offline usage, and it doesn’t have any integrated feature with the device to invoke the AI assistant through a shortcut. The partnership is a potential testing ground for both companies to gauge the appetite for an India-focused chatbot. “With this partnership, the first thing we want to do is get the Indus app to consumers,” said Ravi Kunwar, HMD’s CEO and Vice President for India and APAC, in an interview with TechCrunch. “Once they start using it, we will move to phase two to focus on driving more traction and stickiness. Right now, by pre-loading the app, we want to be more accessible to users,” he said. The Vibe 2 5G is a mid-range Android phone with a 6,000mAh battery and a price tag of ₹10,999($114). Kunwar added the devices in the Vibe series of smartphones will also get the chatbot, and the company is also expected to launch a feature phone with Sarvam AI integration in the coming months. That feature phone integration may ultimately prove more significant for both companies. HMD held a 4% share of India’s feature phone market in 2025, but its smartphone share was negligible — the company doesn’t even appear in the top 15, according to analyst firm IDC. While it’s early days for Indus, the download numbers reflect that. Nearly three months after its launch, the app has...
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, Financials) said it will invest more than $10 billion across Taiwan's semiconductor ecosystem to support its next-generation artificial intelligence chips. The investment will focus on expanding strategic partnerships and scaling advanced packaging manufacturing, a critical step in building high-performance AI processors. Taiwan remains one of the most important center...
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, Financials) said it will invest more than $10 billion across Taiwan's semiconductor ecosystem to support its next-generation artificial intelligence chips. The investment will focus on expanding strategic partnerships and scaling advanced packaging manufacturing, a critical step in building high-performance AI processors. Taiwan remains one of the most important centers in the global chip supply chain. For AMD, deeper ties there could help secure capacity as demand for AI infrastructure grows. The move also shows how chipmakers are investing beyond design and into the manufacturing networks needed to deliver more powerful processors at scale. AMD is competing with Nvidia and other semiconductor companies for a larger share of AI spending from cloud providers, enterprises and governments. Investors will watch for more details on timing, partners and whether the investment helps AMD convert AI demand into stronger revenue growth.
Australia's Tour Down Under will become the first World Tour race to host men's and women's stages on the same course and day, over the same distance. The 2027 season opener will feature a six-stage men's race from 19 January, while the three-stage women's event will open on 22 January. The Adelaide-area event, which in 2018 became the first in the world to offer equal prize money for both sexes, ...
Australia's Tour Down Under will become the first World Tour race to host men's and women's stages on the same course and day, over the same distance. The 2027 season opener will feature a six-stage men's race from 19 January, while the three-stage women's event will open on 22 January. The Adelaide-area event, which in 2018 became the first in the world to offer equal prize money for both sexes, previously held its women's race prior to its men's event. "It's a great platform to highlight the strength of our women's peloton and the fact that we're even able to do this reflects the growth and progression of women's cycling," said Tour Down Under assistant race director Carlee Taylor. In Europe, major races including Paris-Roubaix, the Tour of Flanders and Tour de Suisse host men's and women's events on the same day, but over different distances and routes. "The challenge we were given by UCI [Union Cycliste Internationale] was to deliver a more condensed program of racing and optimise the time the women's teams spent in Australia," said race director Stuart O'Grady. "We saw it as an opportunity to do something different and bring both men's and women's racing together and finish off with a bumper final weekend of racing." The new schedule reduces the gap for women's riders between the two early season events in Australia, with the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race typically staged in late January or early February.