The war in Iran may be showing few signs of easing, but Wall Street strategists are encouraging investors to start buying stocks again. This month’s pullbacks in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indexes have sapped investor sentiment as hostilities in the Middle East push oil prices higher and raise inflation fears. Still, stock market strategists at Barclays Plc, CIBC Capital Markets and Truist Advisor...
The war in Iran may be showing few signs of easing, but Wall Street strategists are encouraging investors to start buying stocks again. This month’s pullbacks in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indexes have sapped investor sentiment as hostilities in the Middle East push oil prices higher and raise inflation fears. Still, stock market strategists at Barclays Plc, CIBC Capital Markets and Truist Advisory Services Inc. are advising clients to look past the near-term risks, citing attractive valuations, solid profit estimates, optimism over artificial intelligence technology and a history of market rebounds after geopolitical shocks. Their views offer a dose of confidence to traders watching the S&P 500 head for its fifth consecutive down week, having shed almost 6% since the war in Iran started. Sentiment indicators, which usually offer contrarian signals, are hovering near depressed levels. And the index is valued at 19.5 times earnings over the next 12 months, in line with its average over the past decade. “Overall, it’s a walk not run type situation with equities but the starter’s pistol has gone off,” Christopher Harvey , head of equity and portfolio strategy at CIBC Capital Markets, wrote in a research note Thursday. Equity bears were in control on Thursday, as the S&P 500 fell 1.7% to 6,477.16 in its worst day since January. The Cboe Volatility Index jumped above 27 amid skepticism that the US and Iran will reach a ceasefire any time soon. A gauge of expected price swings in the Nasdaq 100 hovered near 30 . The rout pushed the S&P 500 almost 1,000 points below Harvey’s year-end target of 7,450, indicating a 15% upside if the strategist is correct and the biggest war-related risks fail to materialize. While acknowledging Iran-related uncertainty, Harvey advised investors to “start putting money to work in a slow and methodical fashion,” pointing to stocks such as technology giants Alphabet Inc. , Apple Inc. , Nvidia Corp. and Palantir Technologies Inc. Harvey isn’t th...
(Bloomberg) -- The war in Iran may be showing few signs of easing, but Wall Street strategists are encouraging investors to start buying stocks again.This month’s pullbacks in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indexes have sapped investor sentiment as hostilities in the Middle East push oil prices higher and raise inflation fears. Still, stock market strategists at Barclays Plc, CIBC Capital Markets and ...
(Bloomberg) -- The war in Iran may be showing few signs of easing, but Wall Street strategists are encouraging investors to start buying stocks again.This month’s pullbacks in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indexes have sapped investor sentiment as hostilities in the Middle East push oil prices higher and raise inflation fears. Still, stock market strategists at Barclays Plc, CIBC Capital Markets and Truist Advisory Services Inc. are advising clients to look past the near-term risks, citing attracti
(RTTNews) - Apple Inc. announced the addition of new partners to its American Manufacturing Program or AMP, aiming to expand advanced manufacturing and critical component production in America and strengthen the tech major's domestic supply chain.
(RTTNews) - Apple Inc. announced the addition of new partners to its American Manufacturing Program or AMP, aiming to expand advanced manufacturing and critical component production in America and strengthen the tech major's domestic supply chain.
Listen on the go! A daily podcast of Wall Street Breakfast will be available by 8:00 a.m. on Seeking Alpha , iTunes , Spotify . Getty Images Up for a challenge? Test your knowledge on the biggest events in the investing world over the past week. Take the latest Seeking Alpha News Quiz and see how you stack up against the competition. Good morning! Here's the latest in trending: Subscription fees: ...
Listen on the go! A daily podcast of Wall Street Breakfast will be available by 8:00 a.m. on Seeking Alpha , iTunes , Spotify . Getty Images Up for a challenge? Test your knowledge on the biggest events in the investing world over the past week. Take the latest Seeking Alpha News Quiz and see how you stack up against the competition. Good morning! Here's the latest in trending: Subscription fees: Netflix ( NFLX ) is raising prices again , across all of its streaming plan tiers. IPO chatter: Anthropic could go public as soon as October , given the race with OpenAI, while SpaceX's offering might not be conventional . Ending the wait? President Trump plans to sign an order to pay TSA agents , aiming to ease airport disruptions amid the partial government shutdown. How long? Stocks are stumbling again , erasing the gains seen earlier in the week, amid back-and-forth headlines and reports surrounding the Iran war. The Nasdaq Composite ( COMP:IND ) ended in correction territory on Thursday for the first time in a year, dropping more than 10% from its record high notched on Oct. 29. Traders are struggling to interpret the geopolitical uncertainty, as well as the timeframe for how long things will take to play out. Latest forecasts: In a community poll on Seeking Alpha last week, most subscribers predicted Operation Epic Fury would last up to three months . That could be nearly double the four- to six-week estimated timeline being touted by the White House, which could impact much of the economy due to reverberating energy shocks. The average gasoline price in the U.S. is now $3.98, or $1.00 higher than only a month ago, while seasonal demand is projected to accelerate with the onset of spring. "How higher energy prices impact monetary policy still remains to be seen. It could be both inflationary through higher prices and potentially deflationary through demand destruction," SA analyst Christopher Yates writes in Will The Middle East Crisis Upend The Bull Market In Stocks?...
Hong Kong developers on Friday released 222 new flats in Kowloon, the city’s largest batch of units on a single day since buyers were warned about the uncertain direction of interest rates. K&K Property launched 122 one-bedroom units at foto+, a single residential tower in Mong Kok close to Olympic station, while Wang On Properties put 100 units up for sale at the Connext project in Wong Tai Sin. ...
Hong Kong developers on Friday released 222 new flats in Kowloon, the city’s largest batch of units on a single day since buyers were warned about the uncertain direction of interest rates. K&K Property launched 122 one-bedroom units at foto+, a single residential tower in Mong Kok close to Olympic station, while Wang On Properties put 100 units up for sale at the Connext project in Wong Tai Sin. By 7pm Friday, 103 of the foto+ units had found buyers, and seven Connext flat were taken, according...
Welcome to India Edition, Bloomberg’s daily dive into what’s moving the worlds of business, markets and politics in this dynamic, fast-paced economy. I’m Rajesh Kumar Singh , Bloomberg’s Energy Reporter in New Delhi , standing in for Menaka Doshi. If you didn’t receive this directly in your inbox, you can subscribe here , and share feedback with us here . Today, I look at India’s power supply chal...
Welcome to India Edition, Bloomberg’s daily dive into what’s moving the worlds of business, markets and politics in this dynamic, fast-paced economy. I’m Rajesh Kumar Singh , Bloomberg’s Energy Reporter in New Delhi , standing in for Menaka Doshi. If you didn’t receive this directly in your inbox, you can subscribe here , and share feedback with us here . Today, I look at India’s power supply challenge as summer demand is forecast to be higher than usual. Power Struggle The war in the Middle East couldn’t have come at a worse time for India’s electricity planners. But before I delve deeper into that, a quick look at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tightrope walk as he tries to shield consumers from high fuel prices and refiners from heavy losses on retail sales. To keep both sides happy, the government has cut excise duties on domestic sales of diesel and gasoline, while keeping pump prices unchanged. This will ease losses for oil marketing companies who have been losing about 24 rupees per liter on gasoline and 30 rupees on diesel since the jump in benchmark prices because of the war, writes my colleague Rakesh Sharma . For itself, the government imposed levies on exports of diesel and jet fuel. Rakesh tells me this move will help offset some of the tax revenue losses due to excise duty cuts, while at the same time making domestic sales relatively attractive and help rebuild local inventories. And now, back to the electricity problem. The effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and missile strikes on Qatar’s Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility have halted the flow of the super-chilled fuel vital to run the country’s gas-fired power plants — a crucial resource that’s used during times of high demand. The trade disruptions have also choked shipments of liquefied petroleum gas, the nation’s most-used kitchen fuel, prompting a rapid shift to electric cooking. All this is happening just ahead of what’s expected to be a blistering summer that could send electrici...
Tarun Gupta/iStock via Getty Images On April 3, 2026, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will report non-farm payrolls for March. The data might show the impact of the oil crisis on the labor market. The chances are very low that employment will rise like it did in February. In February, employment trended higher in five main areas: healthcare, financial activities, transportation/warehousing, and soc...
Tarun Gupta/iStock via Getty Images On April 3, 2026, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will report non-farm payrolls for March. The data might show the impact of the oil crisis on the labor market. The chances are very low that employment will rise like it did in February. In February, employment trended higher in five main areas: healthcare, financial activities, transportation/warehousing, and social assistance. Jobs in the Federal government fell. Job Loss Shocker in February The BLS reported that total nonfarm payroll employment edged down by 92,000 in February. Despite the large figure, the unemployment rate of 4.4% did not change by much. Compared to the year before (in February 2025 ), the unemployment rate held a range of between 4.0% and 4.2%. Unfortunately, the upcoming March job data might come in weaker for several reasons. In chart 1 (below, left), the unemployment rate headed toward, but stayed below, 4.5%. Last November, the rate peaked after the BLS did not collect data in October. The downtrend ended in February, when job losses increased. BLS In chart 2, the BLS posted a dramatic swing of over 100,000 jobs created in January and a drop the month after. Even though the Supreme Court ruled against various Liberation Day 2025 tariffs, a hangover might persist. Higher oil prices compound that problem, affecting trade. Reuters reported that US import prices posted the biggest increase in four years amid a broad rise in goods . After Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz in response to the U.S. and Israel's actions, an oil crisis ensued. WTI crude rose from around $65 to around $100. It settled below $91 at the time of writing this article. OilPrice The oil prices most affected are those that depend on ships unable to pass the Strait. OilPrice The longer the conflict lasts, the greater the impact that higher energy prices will have on the economy beyond a few weeks. Consumers will cut spending as prices rise. Companies will cut jobs to lower their expenses. Te...
McIninch/iStock via Getty Images Introduction For many years, I have included higher-yielding stocks in my coverage. Even though I am more than 30 years away from the legal retirement age in any Western nation, it was obviously an important topic for many readers. And, besides that, I think many investors may benefit from adding some income-focused stocks to their portfolios. I also own a few stoc...
McIninch/iStock via Getty Images Introduction For many years, I have included higher-yielding stocks in my coverage. Even though I am more than 30 years away from the legal retirement age in any Western nation, it was obviously an important topic for many readers. And, besides that, I think many investors may benefit from adding some income-focused stocks to their portfolios. I also own a few stocks where a bigger part of the (expected) total return comes from their dividend payments. However, on March 20, I wrote an article titled “The Retirement System Is Breaking—8 Risks Most Investors Still Ignore.” In that article, I promised to put even more emphasis on this type of investment, as we are dealing with structural risks that I expect to lead to an even bigger need to invest, especially in light of taxation and inflation risks. Interestingly enough, after that article launched, I also participated in an “SA Asks” article, where experts are asked to share their views on certain topics. In this case, it was about retirement risks. One of these questions was “What happens if the Social Security fund runs dry?” Allow me to quote myself: Technically speaking, this fund cannot run dry, as it's just a transfer mechanism from paying people to receivers. While the surplus is at risk, cash flows will keep the fund from being useless, so to speak. That said, it's still a serious situation. Depending on whom you ask, the surplus could turn into a deficit in the early to mid-2030s. That means current payroll taxes will not be enough to cover expenses. Such a situation would result in an immediate pay cut. As CBO expectations see coverage of just 77% to 81%, it would imply a pay cut of roughly 20%. They also asked , “What can Congress do to protect Social Security benefits?” Here's what I wrote: [...] I think there are two likely paths here. The first one is taxation. Currently, the Social Security payroll tax is capped at $170,000 per year (6.2% rate). I think we'll see a scen...
Schroptschop/iStock via Getty Images Originally published on March 25, 2026 We've been talking about the "boom loop" in the American economy. Compute generates revenue, revenue funds more compute, compute generates more revenue. Here's the result of that in a chart. This black line (going straight up) is this self-reinforcing loop at work, fueled by $650 billion of AI capex this year, $1 trillion ...
Schroptschop/iStock via Getty Images Originally published on March 25, 2026 We've been talking about the "boom loop" in the American economy. Compute generates revenue, revenue funds more compute, compute generates more revenue. Here's the result of that in a chart. This black line (going straight up) is this self-reinforcing loop at work, fueled by $650 billion of AI capex this year, $1 trillion next year, massive commitments to expand domestic energy capacity, and simultaneously, a defense industrial mobilization. This is why the Fed is raising its growth forecast and sees high productivity growth continuing, leading to higher incomes and higher potential growth for the economy. Notice in that chart above, the planned capacity for the "rest of the world" (led by China) is following the U.S. trajectory. This is the "AI race" we've been documenting. And then there's the blue line. Europe. It's barely visible, at the bottom. This is a key ingredient in the "doom loop" we've been talking about for the European economy. Europe has spent a year planning a big spend on defense, AI and energy capacity. The question has been, how will they pay for it? The plan: They tried to knit together support last month for fiscal union: "One Europe, One Market." That plan may have blown up on February 28th, when the U.S. started dropping bombs on Iran. Twenty-six days later, Europe's deficits in defense, AI and energy have been exposed, and now its solvency and liquidity vulnerabilities may be exposed. With that, European policymakers and economists were in Frankfurt recently at "The ECB and Its Watchers" conference. And the ECB's own chief economist presented a "severe scenario" where eurozone inflation rises to almost six percent this year - and does not return to target over the next two years. Growth goes negative for 2026. Important detail: This "severe scenario" (which includes destruction of energy infrastructure) is particularly interesting, because it's already happened. The ...
South Africa’s central bank is likely to go on the offensive against inflation and raise interest rates as soon as its next meeting in May, according to Morgan Stanley. The South African Reserve Bank held rates at 6.75% on Thursday, but stressed the Iran war is clouding its inflation outlook and opening the door to hikes if the conflict drags on. Listen to the Next Africa podcast on Apple , Spotif...
South Africa’s central bank is likely to go on the offensive against inflation and raise interest rates as soon as its next meeting in May, according to Morgan Stanley. The South African Reserve Bank held rates at 6.75% on Thursday, but stressed the Iran war is clouding its inflation outlook and opening the door to hikes if the conflict drags on. Listen to the Next Africa podcast on Apple , Spotify or anywhere you listen “We now see a pre-emptive tightening cycle unfolding in the months ahead,” Morgan Stanley economist Andrea Masia said in a note seen by Bloomberg. He penciled in 25 basis-point rate hikes in May and July, before the SARB pauses and resumes easing in 2027. Oil prices have surged 50% since the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, forcing central banks around the world who had been easing policy to pivot. The SARB adopted a 3% inflation target last year and Governor Lesetja Kganyago emphasized it would defend that goal. “All our forecasts show inflation reverting to 3% during the next two years,” he told reporters during a press conference in Pretoria after the rate decision. “We are committed to delivering that outcome, and stand ready to act as needed to fulfill our mandate.” Read More: South Africa Holds Rates, Warns of Hikes If Iran War Drags Morgan Stanley sees headline inflation overshooting the 4.3% April peak forecast by the SARB and expects it to be closer to 4.6% as price pressures broaden and energy costs filter more persistently through the economy. The tone of the statement also suggested to Barclays analyst Michael Kafe that a rate hike may be on the cards in May if oil prices remain above $100, though he wrote in a client note that his view for now was the SARB staying on hold through 2026. The central bank’s baseline outlook assumes crude prices will ease relatively quickly, averaging about $78 a barrel this year before declining further. That would allow policymakers to keep rates on hold through much of 2026 and begin cutting in 20...
With a market cap of about $1.4 trillion, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is responsible for 58% of the crypto sector's market cap. Assets don't reach that size unless they're capable of growing for years on end, and most other cryptocurrencies simply can't compete. In that vein, here are four reasons Bitcoin remains the smartest long-term bet in the entire crypto sector. Image source: Getty Images. Continu...
With a market cap of about $1.4 trillion, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is responsible for 58% of the crypto sector's market cap. Assets don't reach that size unless they're capable of growing for years on end, and most other cryptocurrencies simply can't compete. In that vein, here are four reasons Bitcoin remains the smartest long-term bet in the entire crypto sector. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
The growing telemedicine sector is an unusual sector for high yield investors to find yield. LFMDP offers 2 good choices. Tim Kitchen/DigitalVision via Getty Images LifeMD Inc. ( LFMD ) seems like an unlikely place for high yield investors to find attractive yields. This telemedicine growth stock doesn't pay a dividend. LFMD has a debt free balance sheet, so there are no bonds available for invest...
The growing telemedicine sector is an unusual sector for high yield investors to find yield. LFMDP offers 2 good choices. Tim Kitchen/DigitalVision via Getty Images LifeMD Inc. ( LFMD ) seems like an unlikely place for high yield investors to find attractive yields. This telemedicine growth stock doesn't pay a dividend. LFMD has a debt free balance sheet, so there are no bonds available for investment. Surprisingly, LFMD offers two attractive choices for high yield investors to consider. This article covers the high yielding LifeMD, Inc. 8.875% CUM PFD A ( LFMDP ) as well as an LFMD options income strategy. The major risks are also discussed. Debt-free balance sheet with excellent liquidity A strong balance sheet with adequate liquidity is always a consideration for high yield investors. As of Q4 2025 LFMD had a debt free balance sheet with $36.8 million in cash. Cash exceeds debt even if the $35 million par value of LFMDP is treated as debt. Additional liquidity is provided by an undrawn $50 million credit line . Catalysts for growth There are several catalysts for continued growth at LFMD. Their in-house 50 state pharmacy is now operational. They have received 503-A compounding licenses for 35 states and expect nationwide licenses by the end of the year. This helps to increase margins as compared to routing orders to an outside pharmacy service. Insurance coverage is critical for growth, and LFMD is making rapid progress in this area. The pool of potential patients with insurance coverage accepted by LFMD is expected to more than double from 112 million people currently to over 230 million people in Q2 2026 (see page 9 of the March Investor Presentation ). GLP-1 weight loss drugs are becoming increasingly popular and are still only being used by a small percentage of eligible patients. LFMD has collaborated with both Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. LFMD is expanding into new sectors such as Women's Health, Cardiology, Psychiatry, and Primary Care. Strong revenue growt...