Investors in Element Solutions Inc ESI need to pay close attention to the stock based on moves in the options market lately. That is because the June 18, 2026 $30.00 Call had some of the highest implied volatility of all equity options today. What is Implied Volatility? Implied volatility shows how much movement the market is expecting in the future. Options with high levels of implied volatility ...
Investors in Element Solutions Inc ESI need to pay close attention to the stock based on moves in the options market lately. That is because the June 18, 2026 $30.00 Call had some of the highest implied volatility of all equity options today. What is Implied Volatility? Implied volatility shows how much movement the market is expecting in the future. Options with high levels of implied volatility suggest that investors in the underlying stocks are expecting a big move in one direction or the other. It could also mean there is an event coming up soon that may cause a big rally or a huge sell off. However, implied volatility is only one piece of the puzzle when putting together an options trading strategy. What do the Analysts Think? Clearly, options traders are pricing in a big move for Element Solutions share, but what is the fundamental picture for the company? Currently, Element Solutions is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) in the Chemical - Specialty Industry that ranks in the Top 38% of our Zacks Industry Rank. Over the last 60 days, no analyst has increased his estimate for the current quarter, while two have revised their estimates downward. The net effect has taken our Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current quarter to move from 44 cents per share to 43 cents per share in the same time period. Given the way analysts feel about Element Solutions right now, this huge implied volatility could mean there’s a trade developing. Often times, options traders look for options with high levels of implied volatility to sell premium. This is a strategy many seasoned traders use because it captures decay. At expiration, the hope for these traders is that the underlying stock does not move as much as originally expected. 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days Just released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops." Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over wit...
Amber heat health alerts have been issued for the bank holiday weekend as record-breaking May temperatures as high as 33C (91F) are expected in parts of the UK. The alerts – which indicate a possible risk to life as well as potential damage to properties, significant travel delays and power cuts – were announced for the East Midlands, West Midlands, the east of England, London and the south-east, ...
Amber heat health alerts have been issued for the bank holiday weekend as record-breaking May temperatures as high as 33C (91F) are expected in parts of the UK. The alerts – which indicate a possible risk to life as well as potential damage to properties, significant travel delays and power cuts – were announced for the East Midlands, West Midlands, the east of England, London and the south-east, and will be in effect from 2pm on Friday until 5pm on Wednesday. Yellow alerts were also issued for the north-east and north-west of England, Yorkshire and Humber, and south-west England, indicating potentially significant impacts on health and social services as well as risk of life to anyone who is over the age of 75 or has existing health conditions. The UK is forecast to have its hottest ever day in May over the long weekend, marginally exceeding the 32.8C recorded around parts of London, West Sussex and Kent more than 80 years ago, on 29 May 1944. Friday marked the hottest day of the year so far as temperatures reached 26.9C at Heathrow in the early afternoon, the Met Office said. The hotter weather is being attributed to a change in wind direction, with strong jet-stream winds shifting north and bringing warmer air from hotter places. It follows one of central and southern England’s driest Aprils on record, which left river levels below normal. The peak temperature in the UK, which is predicted to occur in southern England or the Midlands on Monday, is likely to be hotter than many parts of the Mediterranean, including Rome, Athens and Barcelona. The Met Office deputy chief forecaster, Steve Kocher, said: “Temperatures will climb through the weekend, especially in the south, where 30C is likely to be recorded on Saturday and 32C on Sunday. Temperatures are forecast to peak on Monday when we could see 33C recorded in southern England and the Midlands. “It is likely that the May and spring UK temperature records will be broken over the bank holiday weekend, with forecas...
Instead, they are used in a technique called ring vaccination - where only the people most likely to get infected are immunised, including the close contacts of cases of Ebola as well as healthcare workers who are treating sick patients who can be very infectious.
Instead, they are used in a technique called ring vaccination - where only the people most likely to get infected are immunised, including the close contacts of cases of Ebola as well as healthcare workers who are treating sick patients who can be very infectious.
There’s a bit of overlap between the world’s largest and second-largest companies, and it’s becoming a bit more striking over time. Indeed, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), which just pulled the curtain on a slew of AI innovations at its I/O 2026 event, and GPU titan Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), which just delivered another blockbuster result for its first quarter, ... Alphabet’s Growing Overlap With NVIDIA Is Ge...
There’s a bit of overlap between the world’s largest and second-largest companies, and it’s becoming a bit more striking over time. Indeed, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), which just pulled the curtain on a slew of AI innovations at its I/O 2026 event, and GPU titan Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), which just delivered another blockbuster result for its first quarter, ... Alphabet’s Growing Overlap With NVIDIA Is Getting Hard to Ignore
Regulators Circle StanChart After CEO's AI Layoff Comments Spark Uproar It has been a tumultuous week for Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters. Winters appeared out of touch with the growing anxiety surrounding mounting white-collar AI-related job losses. He described the bank's AI adoption push as "not cost-cutting," but rather as "replacing lower-value human capital with financial and investment ...
Regulators Circle StanChart After CEO's AI Layoff Comments Spark Uproar It has been a tumultuous week for Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters. Winters appeared out of touch with the growing anxiety surrounding mounting white-collar AI-related job losses. He described the bank's AI adoption push as "not cost-cutting," but rather as "replacing lower-value human capital with financial and investment capital." Such language ignited a firestorm for the CEO and the bank, and by the end of the week, regulatory scrutiny had descended on the firm. Reuters reports that authorities in Hong Kong and Singapore have pressed the bank for clarity on Winters' comments and the scope of upcoming AI-related layoffs. On Tuesday, StanChart began labor restructuring to cut 15% of its corporate roles (about 7,800 jobs) by 2030 as part of a broader efficiency push amid the adoption of AI. Hong Kong authorities asked StanChart whether AI was being used as a pretext to reduce headcount. By midweek, Winters scrambled into damage control following the "lower-value human capital" remarks. Early today, he apologized for his " choice of words " in a LinkedIn post . "For that, I am sorry. I am therefore showing below a verbatim transcript of what I actually said, which I hope allows for a better understanding of the important point I was raising..." Here's the transcript:" “For example, this new core banking system in Hong Kong, which is a major, major accomplishment. This is not an everyday thing. It happens once in 40 years. And when it goes wrong, it's a disaster. It did not; it was practically perfect. That was a two and a half year programme, to get that right. The people that were gonna be affected, who were very important for helping us get to the right answer, knew that they were gonna be affected, and we began reskilling them at the earliest possibility. We're not long on talent in the markets where we operate, because these markets are growing fast. So the people that want to reskill, tha...
sankai/iStock via Getty Images It's been a couple years since I last covered Hercules Capital ( HTGC ), the mid-scale venture-oriented business development company. In 2024, when I wrote my last article, Hercules was in a unique position; trading at a record premium, and positioned to deliver continued NAV growth and stable recurring distributions to investors. On one hand, the business has perfor...
sankai/iStock via Getty Images It's been a couple years since I last covered Hercules Capital ( HTGC ), the mid-scale venture-oriented business development company. In 2024, when I wrote my last article, Hercules was in a unique position; trading at a record premium, and positioned to deliver continued NAV growth and stable recurring distributions to investors. On one hand, the business has performed as (or better) than expected. HTGC has continued to grow that investment income while minimizing fees through its internal cost structure. On the other, fears around private credit, especially in the technology space, have driven down the company's multiple. As such, over the last two or so years, the stock has traded relatively flat; down, even, if you don't include dividends: Seeking Alpha But here's the thing. Now trading at only 1.2x price to NAV, the stock is considerably more attractive than it has been in prior years. With a strong portfolio, a robust track record, and recent originations topping $1.8 billion in Q1, HTGC is positioned to deliver continued net income growth in the years ahead. As such, this considerably better entry price appears quite attractive for long-run income investors. Today, I'll update my coverage on Hercules, investigate the firm's portfolio and fears around AI disruption, and make the case that shares of the stock still look like a buy at the current price. Sound good? Let's dive in. Financials At a high level, Hercules is a business development company, or 'BDC'. That means that the firm raises money from investors, to re-loan out to mid-size private businesses. Other popular companies with a similar model include Main Street Capital ( MAIN ), Ares Capital ( ARCC ), and Blue Owl Capital ( OBDC ). Hercules is relatively unique within the BDC for two distinct reasons. First, it tends to focus on venture debt, as opposed to other BDCs that focus on more mature, cash flowing businesses. Over the last 2+ decades, the company has committed ...
FREDERICA ABAN/iStock via Getty Images Market Overview US fixed income markets faced a more challenging backdrop in the first quarter of 2026, as the inflation shock from the war in Iran reset expectations for Federal Reserve policy rates and shifted US Treasury yields higher across the curve. Credit spreads 1 came under pressure as risk premiums widened later in the quarter, though hopes for a ce...
FREDERICA ABAN/iStock via Getty Images Market Overview US fixed income markets faced a more challenging backdrop in the first quarter of 2026, as the inflation shock from the war in Iran reset expectations for Federal Reserve policy rates and shifted US Treasury yields higher across the curve. Credit spreads 1 came under pressure as risk premiums widened later in the quarter, though hopes for a ceasefire limited the extent of the move. Agency mortgage-backed securities outperformed despite elevated rate volatility. The Bloomberg Municipal Bond 1-15 Year Blend (1-17) Index returned -0.27% during the quarter. The ratio of 10-year AAA general obligations (GOs) to 10-year Treasuries increased from 64.1% to 72.4%, remaining below the long-term historical average of 86% over the last 20 years.* Performance Summary The Hartford Sustainable Municipal Bond Fund (I share)( HMKIX ) outperformed the Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index during the period. Security selection in high-yield healthcare and investment-grade housing, healthcare, and education were the main contributors to relative returns. Security selection in investment-grade general obligation bonds, particularly Local GO, contributed meaningfully to performance during the period. Duration 2 and yield curve positioning detracted from performance, as we were overweight in the 10-year while AAA muni yields rose during the period. Positioning & Outlook Most states ended the first quarter with revenues outpacing budgets. We have seen recent evidence of expense pressures that have led to some softening of reserves, but balance sheets remain strong relative to history, direct debt levels are low, and fixed costs largely manageable, keeping us positive overall. Many municipal sectors have the ability to raise revenues quickly to address inflationary pressures. The more labor constrained sectors such as healthcare and state and local governments will be more challenged if inflation persists, but local governments still have exce...
Read Steven Cress' Article on Seeking Alpha Explore Alpha Picks Today! Join the Waitlist for the launch of the Quant Income Growth Portfolio! This video's transcript was generated by a third party. It is not curated or reviewed and is provided for convenience and information purposes only. The accuracy and completeness of the transcript are not guaranteed. Nicole Benjamin : Hey, everybody. It's Ni...
Read Steven Cress' Article on Seeking Alpha Explore Alpha Picks Today! Join the Waitlist for the launch of the Quant Income Growth Portfolio! This video's transcript was generated by a third party. It is not curated or reviewed and is provided for convenience and information purposes only. The accuracy and completeness of the transcript are not guaranteed. Nicole Benjamin : Hey, everybody. It's Nicole Benjamin, your host here at Seeking Alpha, to bring you another episode of The Weekly Grade with Steven Cress, where we’re going to be giving you market signals in minutes. Now, for a little bit of housekeeping. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Content is offered for information purposes only. Unless stated otherwise, any and all individuals participating in the video are third parties that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body. Unless stated otherwise, the views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. The accuracy and completeness of content shared cannot be guaranteed. Seeking Alpha does not take into account of your objectives or financial situation and does not offer any personalized investment advice. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker, US investment adviser, or investment bank. Steven Cress : Wow! I think that’s a record in time. Well done. NB : Alright. Well, without further ado, Steven Cress, everyone. VP of Quantitative Strategy here at Seeking Alpha. He is a wonderful guy who is behind a lot of the amazing products you see on site, Alpha Picks, the PQP, and if any of that might be of interest to you, take a look. See if that might be right for your portfolio and the picks that we have in there. Now, Steve, before we jump in, can you give us a little bit about just your background? SC : Yeah. No. Absolutely. I've been in the world of finance, both Wall Street and the City of London, for over ...
Retail sales in Canada increased 0.60 percent in April of 2026 over the previous month. Retail sales ex autos in Canada increased to 1.40 percent in March from 0.60 percent in February of 2026. farres tariq/iStock via Getty Images More on Canada, Canada services PMI hits 49.20 in April; private sector activity almost flat Canada achieves surprise trade surplus in March as exports hit 14-month high...
Retail sales in Canada increased 0.60 percent in April of 2026 over the previous month. Retail sales ex autos in Canada increased to 1.40 percent in March from 0.60 percent in February of 2026. farres tariq/iStock via Getty Images More on Canada, Canada services PMI hits 49.20 in April; private sector activity almost flat Canada achieves surprise trade surplus in March as exports hit 14-month high Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Franklin FTSE Canada ETF Dividend scorecard for Franklin FTSE Canada ETF
Ideal Power Inc (NASDAQ:IPWR, FRA:5ILA) is seeing growing industry momentum behind next-generation high-voltage DC power architectures, as AI computing pushes data center infrastructure beyond the limits of legacy systems. Traditional 400-480V AC-based data centers were built for rack power...
Ideal Power Inc (NASDAQ:IPWR, FRA:5ILA) is seeing growing industry momentum behind next-generation high-voltage DC power architectures, as AI computing pushes data center infrastructure beyond the limits of legacy systems. Traditional 400-480V AC-based data centers were built for rack power...
Lisa Su Says AI Demand Is Tightening CPU Supply AMD CEO Lisa Su said the global CPU market is experiencing much stronger demand than the industry expected a year ago as companies rapidly expand AI infrastructure. Speaking in Taipei, Su said AI inferencing and agentic AI workloads are driving the surge in CPU demand, pushing CPUs back to the center of data-center computing after years of focus on G...
Lisa Su Says AI Demand Is Tightening CPU Supply AMD CEO Lisa Su said the global CPU market is experiencing much stronger demand than the industry expected a year ago as companies rapidly expand AI infrastructure. Speaking in Taipei, Su said AI inferencing and agentic AI workloads are driving the surge in CPU demand, pushing CPUs back to the center of data-center computing after years of focus on GPUs, Focus Taiwan reported on Friday. She added that AMD is rapidly increasing production capacity and expects supply to expand every quarter this year, with much larger increases planned for 2027 and beyond, Reuters reported on Friday. AMD Expands Taiwan AI Investments And Partnerships On Thursday, AMD said it plans to invest more than $10 billion across Taiwan’s AI supply chain ecosystem to expand advanced chip manufacturing and packaging capacity. Su said the investment will focus on advanced packaging, substrates, and rack-scale AI systems, while AMD co-invests with partners to secure long-term manufacturing capacity through at least 2029. AMD said it is working with Taiwanese partners, including ASE, SPIL, PTI, Wiwynn, Wistron, Inventec, Unimicron, Nan Ya PCB, and Kinsus. AMD Accelerates Next-Generation Venice CPU Production Su said AMD’s early partnership with TSMC “has turned out to be a really great bet” as advanced chip manufacturing becomes increasingly important across the AI industry. She added that AMD also benefited from betting early on advanced packaging technologies that combine multiple smaller chips into larger computing systems, an approach now widely adopted across the semiconductor industry. Lisa Su Sees Massive Long-Term CPU Growth Opportunity At the CommonWealth Magazine summit in Taipei, Su said the AI infrastructure market could exceed $1 trillion in the next three to four years as AI deployments expand across industries. She projected that the CPU market could grow by more than 35% annually over the next five years as inference demand increases. S...
Investors in Churchill Downs Incorporated CHDN need to pay close attention to the stock based on moves in the options market lately. That is because the Jun 18, 2026 $140 Call had some of the highest implied volatility of all equity options today. What is Implied Volatility? Implied volatility shows how much movement the market is expecting in the future. Options with high levels of implied volati...
Investors in Churchill Downs Incorporated CHDN need to pay close attention to the stock based on moves in the options market lately. That is because the Jun 18, 2026 $140 Call had some of the highest implied volatility of all equity options today. What is Implied Volatility? Implied volatility shows how much movement the market is expecting in the future. Options with high levels of implied volatility suggest that investors in the underlying stocks are expecting a big move in one direction or the other. It could also mean there is an event coming up soon that may cause a big rally or a huge sell-off. However, implied volatility is only one piece of the puzzle when putting together an options trading strategy. What do the Analysts Think? Clearly, options traders are pricing in a big move for Churchill Downs shares, but what is the fundamental picture for the company? Currently, Churchill Downs is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) in the Gaming industry that ranks in the Top 36% of our Zacks Industry Rank. Over the last 30 days, two analysts have increased their earnings estimates for the current quarter, while none have revised their estimates downward. The net effect has taken our Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current quarter from $3.46 per share to $3.58 in that period. Given the way analysts feel about Churchill Downs right now, this huge implied volatility could mean there’s a trade developing. Oftentimes, options traders look for options with high levels of implied volatility to sell premium. This is a strategy many seasoned traders use because it captures decay. At expiration, the hope for these traders is that the underlying stock does not move as much as originally expected. 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days Just released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops." Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +23.9% per ...
Investors in Enerpac Tool Group Corp. EPAC need to pay close attention to the stock based on moves in the options market lately. That is because the August 21, 2026 $25.00 Call had some of the highest implied volatility of all equity options today. What is Implied Volatility? Implied volatility shows how much movement the market is expecting in the future. Options with high levels of implied volat...
Investors in Enerpac Tool Group Corp. EPAC need to pay close attention to the stock based on moves in the options market lately. That is because the August 21, 2026 $25.00 Call had some of the highest implied volatility of all equity options today. What is Implied Volatility? Implied volatility shows how much movement the market is expecting in the future. Options with high levels of implied volatility suggest that investors in the underlying stocks are expecting a big move in one direction or the other. It could also mean there is an event coming up soon that may cause a big rally or a huge sell-off. However, implied volatility is only one piece of the puzzle when putting together an options trading strategy. What do the Analysts Think? Clearly, options traders are pricing in a big move for Enerpac Tool Group, but what is the fundamental picture for the company? Currently, Enerpac Tool Group is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) in the Manufacturing - Tools & Related Products industry that ranks in the Bottom 25% of our Zacks Industry Rank. Over the last 60 days, no analysts have increased their earnings estimate for the current quarter, while three have dropped their estimates. The net effect has taken our Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current quarter from 53 cents per share to 49 cents in that period. Given the way analysts feel about Enerpac Tool Group right now, this huge implied volatility could mean there’s a trade developing. Oftentimes, options traders look for options with high levels of implied volatility to sell premium. This is a strategy many seasoned traders use because it captures decay. At expiration, the hope for these traders is that the underlying stock does not move as much as originally expected. 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days Just released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops." Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X ove...