Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following the Federal Open Markets Committee meeting at the Federal Reserve on March 18, 2026 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images Federal Reserve officials at their March meeting still expected to lower interest rates this year, even with a high level of uncertainty from the Iran war and tariffs, according to minute...
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following the Federal Open Markets Committee meeting at the Federal Reserve on March 18, 2026 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images Federal Reserve officials at their March meeting still expected to lower interest rates this year, even with a high level of uncertainty from the Iran war and tariffs, according to minutes released Wednesday. Most of the participants said the war could result in the need for easier monetary policy if rising gas prices hit the labor market and consumer wallets. Policymakers said they would need to remain "nimble" as they weighed the impact the war had on inflation, which continued to hold above the Fed's target, and hiring, which has been mostly flat over the past year. "Many participants judged that, in time, it would likely become appropriate to lower the target range for the federal funds rate if inflation were to decline in line with their expectations," the minutes stated. The consensus anticipated one cut this year, unchanged from the last update in December. The summary further noted caution over "a further softening in labor market conditions, which could warrant additional rate cuts, as substantially higher oil prices could reduce households' purchasing power, tighten financial conditions, and reduce growth abroad." Ultimately, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee voted 11-1 to keep the benchmark overnight borrowing rate targeted in a range between 3.5%-3.75%. Possible hike? The consensus was to keep rates steady as they observed conditions unfold, with officials also expressing concern that the Middle East hostilities could result in sustained inflation that could require rate hikes. "Most participants commented that it was too early to know how developments in the Middle East would affect the U.S. economy and judged it prudent to continue to monitor the situation and assess the implications for the appropriate stance of monetary policy,"...
DutchScenery/iStock via Getty Images Palantir Technologies Inc. ( PLTR ), which is up since my last analysis by +15%, where I issued a Hold rating, has now found somewhat of a base in price. Barring macro considerations like Hormuz causing compression across the equity board (now easing), I think this could be quite a good entry point. My thesis here is based more on fundamentals and long-term gro...
DutchScenery/iStock via Getty Images Palantir Technologies Inc. ( PLTR ), which is up since my last analysis by +15%, where I issued a Hold rating, has now found somewhat of a base in price. Barring macro considerations like Hormuz causing compression across the equity board (now easing), I think this could be quite a good entry point. My thesis here is based more on fundamentals and long-term growth rather than analyzing price and entry points. I begin the thesis with an obvious caveat for you to keep in mind: Palantir is expensive, but that does not mean it won't continue to rise in price. Palantir Is NATO's Core Modernization Engine World military expenditure rose 9.4% in 2024, which is the steepest annual increase since at least 1988. Whether you like it or not, that puts Palantir in a compounding vector rather than a short-term cyclical shift. However, investors in PLTR stock need to be aware that its valuation can still compress even in a structural military expansion environment. The IMF has recorded that major geopolitical shocks have cut aggregate stock prices by 3% on average and as much as 9% in some instances; the ECB also says that such shocks tighten financial conditions and raise risk premia. Palantir's ontology matters economically because it maps data into context and links data, logic, and actions inside a decision-centric architecture. Inevitably, this leads to faster operations in organizations that have data abundance and coordination scarcity. The alliance angle is one that is strong for Palantir and also potentially undertapped. NATO itself has warned that weak modernization raises interoperability gaps, and Palantir also reported about $4.4 billion of government remaining deal value from the United States and allied countries, so part of the moat sits in coalition architecture. However, one core risk for Palantir right now is if NATO breaks up. Of course, we know from countless news headlines that the Trump administration is considering it, a...
The US-Iran ceasefire and associated relief in risk aversion and pullback in oil prices may be a first step out of the sterling-dollar bear cycle of the past few weeks. There will be cyclical relief as the market adjusts back to less hawkish Bank of England rate expectations, which were hurting the pound via the stagflation narrative. Structural relief may also emerge, as the expected monetary-fis...
The US-Iran ceasefire and associated relief in risk aversion and pullback in oil prices may be a first step out of the sterling-dollar bear cycle of the past few weeks. There will be cyclical relief as the market adjusts back to less hawkish Bank of England rate expectations, which were hurting the pound via the stagflation narrative. Structural relief may also emerge, as the expected monetary-fiscal policy mix implies less reliance on fiscal stimulus to support the economy and reduces fiscal cr
Coatue-led funding supports Asia-Pacific AI data center expansion using Nvidia technology, with Southgate project set to deploy 36,000 accelerator chips.
Coatue-led funding supports Asia-Pacific AI data center expansion using Nvidia technology, with Southgate project set to deploy 36,000 accelerator chips.
The Middle East’s best hope may be that the US president continues to rebadge strategic defeat as success Both the US and Iran claimed victory on Wednesday morning. Both were lying. The two-week ceasefire announced by Donald Trump the night before is not the triumph that he declared. It may not be an end to the war, as welcome as the pause is, or even last the fortnight. Mr Trump said that Iran ha...
The Middle East’s best hope may be that the US president continues to rebadge strategic defeat as success Both the US and Iran claimed victory on Wednesday morning. Both were lying. The two-week ceasefire announced by Donald Trump the night before is not the triumph that he declared. It may not be an end to the war, as welcome as the pause is, or even last the fortnight. Mr Trump said that Iran has gone through regime change. It has not. If anything, less experienced, less readable but more hardline figures are now in charge. He said that the strait of Hormuz would be open; Iran said that ships would pass through with permission, and at a price. By Wednesday evening, Iranian state media said that the strait was closed after Israel unleashed a brutal assault on Lebanon: about 100 strikes in 10 minutes. Iran had insisted that Lebanon was part of the deal, while Mr Trump disagreed . This conflict has killed thousands in the region, including children, and left many more exhausted, terrified and traumatised, while the aggressors have openly boasted of their intent to commit war crimes. Continue reading...