Stockyme/iStock via Getty Images By Elior Manier Precious metals surged higher last week, only to quickly reverse and drop due to weak price levels. It looked like metals were gaining control, with strong rallies reaching new two-month highs. But this momentum turned out to be a classic bull trap. The main reason for this big reversal is the fast rise of the Warsh Trade. After Kevin Warsh was conf...
Stockyme/iStock via Getty Images By Elior Manier Precious metals surged higher last week, only to quickly reverse and drop due to weak price levels. It looked like metals were gaining control, with strong rallies reaching new two-month highs. But this momentum turned out to be a classic bull trap. The main reason for this big reversal is the fast rise of the Warsh Trade. After Kevin Warsh was confirmed as the next Federal Reserve Chairman, markets quickly adjusted for a major tightening of monetary policy. This change led to a strong, lasting increase in the US dollar and a sharp drop in bond prices. As a result, long-term treasury yields are rising quickly. This big jump in yields makes interest-bearing assets much more appealing to large investors. Because gold and silver do not pay interest, they are under heavy pressure. Silver vs WTI Crude Inverse Correlation – Source: TradingView. May 19, 2026 Why hold a zero-yield metal when government paper is offering increasingly rising risk-free returns? Looking ahead, if the Middle Eastern geopolitical landscape remains frustratingly cloudy and deadlocked, gold may still see occasional safe-haven demand to cushion its downside. However, higher-beta, industrial-leaning alternatives like Copper and Silver may continue struggling under the sheer weight of a surging US dollar and restrictive financial conditions. Crucial, trend-defining price action is rapidly approaching for the entire asset class. Daily Market Performance (14:22). May 19, 2026 – Courtesy of Finviz Let's explore the recent shifts in an intraday timeframe analysis of gold ( XAUUSD:CUR ) and silver ( XAGUSD:CUR ) to identify where the key levels are to watch for the action ahead. Gold (XAU/USD) 4H Chart and Levels Gold (XAU/USD) 4H Chart, May 19, 2026 – Source: TradingView Gold is rejecting its resistance and now struggling at the $4,500 support – With the descending RSI, the odds are towards a support break. Any break back above $4,600 on momentum would undo...
Nuclear reactor developer X-Energy’s stock has been in a lull since the company’s highly successful initial public offering last month, but investors should focus on the long-term potential rather than day-to-day trading, analysts say. A host of investment banks initiated coverage of X-Energy on Tuesday as the quiet period on firms involved in its IPO lifted. As is often the case with IPO underwri...
Nuclear reactor developer X-Energy’s stock has been in a lull since the company’s highly successful initial public offering last month, but investors should focus on the long-term potential rather than day-to-day trading, analysts say. A host of investment banks initiated coverage of X-Energy on Tuesday as the quiet period on firms involved in its IPO lifted. As is often the case with IPO underwriters, most opinions were positive.
On May 19, 2026, EMG Holdings disclosed a new position in Dynex Capital (DX 1.04%), acquiring 345,000 shares in an estimated $4.74 million trade based on quarterly average pricing. What happened According to an SEC filing dated May 19, 2026, EMG Holdings reported acquiring 345,000 shares of Dynex Capital during the first quarter. The estimated value of this transaction, based on the period's avera...
On May 19, 2026, EMG Holdings disclosed a new position in Dynex Capital (DX 1.04%), acquiring 345,000 shares in an estimated $4.74 million trade based on quarterly average pricing. What happened According to an SEC filing dated May 19, 2026, EMG Holdings reported acquiring 345,000 shares of Dynex Capital during the first quarter. The estimated value of this transaction, based on the period's average closing price, was approximately $4.74 million. At quarter-end, the position was valued at $4.40 million, reflecting both the purchase and subsequent price changes. What else to know Top holdings after the filing: NYSE: EFC: $11.39 million (16.7% of AUM) NYSE: MFA: $6.12 million (9.0% of AUM) NYSE: MHO: $5.84 million (8.6% of AUM) NYSE: PFSI: $5.74 million (8.4% of AUM) NYSE: CPT: $5.39 million (7.9% of AUM) As of May 18, 2026, Dynex Capital shares were priced at $12.99, up about 3% over the past year. Company Overview Metric Value Revenue (TTM) $304 million Net Income (TTM) $241.8 million Dividend Yield 16% Price (as of market close 2026-05-18) $12.99 Company Snapshot Dynex Capital invests in agency and non-agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS), including residential and commercial MBS, as well as CMBS interest-only securities. It operates as a mortgage REIT, generating income primarily from net interest spread on leveraged MBS portfolios; distributes at least 90% of taxable income as dividends to maintain REIT status. Dynex serves institutional investors and income-focused shareholders seeking exposure to U.S. mortgage-backed securities markets. Dynex Capital is a specialized mortgage REIT that invests in agency and non-agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS), with a reported dividend yield of 15.89%. The company invests in both agency MBS, which carry a guaranty of principal payment by U.S. government agencies or government-sponsored entities, and non-agency MBS, and generally distributes at least 90% of its taxable income as dividends to maintain REIT status. What ...
July NY world sugar #11 (SBN26) today is up +0.37 (+2.51%), and Aug London ICE white sugar #5 (SWQ26) is up +9.00 (+2.06%). Sugar prices are climbing today as Brazil's decision to announce new fuel subsidies to cushion the impact on gasoline and diesel prices from the Iran war will support ethanol prices, which could prompt Brazil's sugar mills to divert more cane crushing toward ethanol productio...
July NY world sugar #11 (SBN26) today is up +0.37 (+2.51%), and Aug London ICE white sugar #5 (SWQ26) is up +9.00 (+2.06%). Sugar prices are climbing today as Brazil's decision to announce new fuel subsidies to cushion the impact on gasoline and diesel prices from the Iran war will support ethanol prices, which could prompt Brazil's sugar mills to divert more cane crushing toward ethanol production rather than sugar. Don’t Miss a Day: Sugar prices also have support on projections from the International Sugar Organization (ISO) that 2026/27 global sugar production will fall -1.15 y/y to 180 MMT, and that there will be a global sugar deficit of 262,000 MT, citing the potential impact of an El Niño weather pattern on harvests in India and Thailand. On Monday, sugar prices fell to 1-week lows after the ISO forecast a record global sugar crop for the 2025/26 season and raised its global surplus estimate. The ISO forecasts 2025/26 global sugar production at a record 182 MMT, up +3.5% y/y, and raised its 2025/26 global sugar surplus estimate to 2.2 MMT from a February forecast of 1.22 MMT, rebounding from a -3.46 MMT deficit in 2024-25. Last Monday, Citigroup projected Brazil's 2026/27 sugar production at 39.50 MMT, well below Conab's estimate of 43.95 MMT, citing Brazilian sugar mills' allocation of more sugarcane to ethanol production amid soaring gasoline prices. Also, Citigroup said a potentially strong El Niño weather pattern this year could have "a significant impact" on sugar production in India and Thailand over the next 6 to 12 months. Sugar prices are also supported by India's 4-month ban on sugar exports, effective until September 30, to protect local supplies. In addition, Datagro raised its 2026/27 global sugar surplus deficit estimate to -3.17 MMT from -2.26 MMT previously. Meanwhile, StoneX last Tuesday predicted that the global sugar market will fall into a -550,000 MT deficit during the 2026/27 season from a 2.3 MMT surplus in the 2025/26 season. On April ...
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DOWI), what a joke right? WRONG. The oldest of the three “headline” indexes tracking U.S. large-cap stocks has been the butt of many jokes in recent years. But I can make a case that it might just laugh all the way to the proverbial bank. At least for the last seven months of 2026. For years, the investing world has been entirely dominated by cap-weighted perform...
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DOWI), what a joke right? WRONG. The oldest of the three “headline” indexes tracking U.S. large-cap stocks has been the butt of many jokes in recent years. But I can make a case that it might just laugh all the way to the proverbial bank. At least for the last seven months of 2026. For years, the investing world has been entirely dominated by cap-weighted performance. If you didn’t own a concentrated basket of tech and AI giants, you simply weren’t keeping up. That dynamic pushed the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) and the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) to historic highs, while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) was largely dismissed as a boring, backward-looking relic. The “cool kids’ table” has two members. QQQ and SPY. And if they were to let in a third, it would likely be the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) or the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH), since what do a couple of tech-laden stock indexes need to feel better about themselves than to have MORE tech, more semiconductors, and more AI-mania to tell them how great they are. That’s all a metaphor of course. But you can see just how the asset flows have shaken out over time. The Dow? $43 billion in assets? That’s like a rounding error in the wide world of narrowly focused equity index ETFs. Has DIA’s performance severely lagged that of SPY and QQQ for several years? Absolutely. Is that alone a reason to be curious about it now? Absolutely! Note I did not say “go out and buy it, sight unseen.” That type of sustained underperformance indicates one of two things: A structural change in how markets work, where tech is forever king (DIA owns a notably lower tech allocation than the other two ETFs). A cyclical comeback for the stocks not currently in favor, versus the couple of handfuls that crowd the top of SPY and QQQ. I do not want to overstate the “Dow is value-ish vs. SPY/QQQ are growth-ish” differences. Those are part of my rationale for liking the Dow 30 and...
What Happened? Shares of technology giant Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) jumped 3.8% in the afternoon session after reports revealed billionaire investor Bill Ackman's Pershing Square fund established a new stake in the company, alongside a series of analyst upgrades. Ackman cited a 'highly compelling valuation' following a recent pullback as a key reason for the investment, expressing confidence in Micr...
What Happened? Shares of technology giant Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) jumped 3.8% in the afternoon session after reports revealed billionaire investor Bill Ackman's Pershing Square fund established a new stake in the company, alongside a series of analyst upgrades. Ackman cited a 'highly compelling valuation' following a recent pullback as a key reason for the investment, expressing confidence in Microsoft's long-term growth in AI and cloud computing. The positive sentiment was reinforced by multiple analysts. Wedbush raised its price objective to $575, viewing a renegotiated commercial agreement with OpenAI as a net positive. TD Cowen also reiterated a Buy rating, highlighting expected acceleration in Azure's growth. Adding to the news, Microsoft announced it was in advanced talks to acquire Inception, a Stanford University AI spin-off, and unveiled a new AI-powered cyber defense system. After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $422.32, up 3.2% from previous close. Is now the time to buy Microsoft? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free. What Is The Market Telling Us Microsoft’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 1 move greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business. The previous big move we wrote about was 15 days ago when the stock dropped 4% on the news that investors reacted to its massive spending on artificial intelligence, which overshadowed an otherwise strong first-quarter earnings report. The company reported revenue of $82.89 billion and earnings per share of $4.27, beating Wall Street expectations. However, the positive results were secondary to concerns about the cost of its AI ambitions. The company's heavy investment cycle appeared to weigh on its cash generation, as its free cash flow margin fell to 19.1% for the quarter, a significant drop from 29% in the sa...
The market has recognized CrowdStrike (CRWD +0.51%) as a major winner in the evolving cybersecurity landscape. After some brief volatility earlier in the year, the stock has climbed 70% from its February lows and now trades at an all-time high. The company's partnerships with tech leaders such as Nvidia and Anthropic helped persuade investors that its security platform will indeed be useful as AI'...
The market has recognized CrowdStrike (CRWD +0.51%) as a major winner in the evolving cybersecurity landscape. After some brief volatility earlier in the year, the stock has climbed 70% from its February lows and now trades at an all-time high. The company's partnerships with tech leaders such as Nvidia and Anthropic helped persuade investors that its security platform will indeed be useful as AI's footprint expands across workplaces. Where the stock might go from here is tougher to gauge. Shares now trade at roughly 30 times sales even though revenue growth slowed to 22% last quarter. That valuation leaves little margin of safety for investors who buy at today's price. While CrowdStrike's role in AI will unfold over time, the current story for the cybersecurity company is about platform consolidation. Its strategy is gaining traction, driving the results that have fueled the market's optimism. Falcon flexes its muscles CrowdStrike is moving from its roots as an endpoint security vendor to an integrated cybersecurity operating system for its enterprise clients. The company's Falcon Flex model allows customers to buy credits for the entire platform and activate new security modules on demand. This removes the hassle of traditional sales cycles and has been a key driver of adoption growth. The results have been strong: 50% of the company's customers now use six or more of its modules. This helped the company improve its dollar-based net retention rate by 3 percentage points to 115%. Annual recurring revenue (ARR) from Flex customers reached $1.7 billion at the end of last year, up 120% year over year. CrowdStrike's competitive advantage stems from its network effects and data-driven approach to cybersecurity. The company's platform collects massive amounts of data from its installed base of clients, which it uses to train its artificial intelligence (AI) models. As more businesses subscribe to the company's platform, the volume of data flowing through it increases, ma...
At last year's I/O event, Google was still talking about the 2.5 branch of Gemini, and what a difference a year makes. We've gone through the 3.0 and 3.1 families since then, and now it's on to version 3.5. Gemini 3.5 Flash is rolling out across a wide range of Google products starting today, and Google again claims this model is even better than its last-gen Pro model. That has been a trend with ...
At last year's I/O event, Google was still talking about the 2.5 branch of Gemini, and what a difference a year makes. We've gone through the 3.0 and 3.1 families since then, and now it's on to version 3.5. Gemini 3.5 Flash is rolling out across a wide range of Google products starting today, and Google again claims this model is even better than its last-gen Pro model. That has been a trend with Google's tick-tock model updates over the past year, but the team says this release is special. Gemini 3.5 Flash allegedly offers frontier-level intelligence while also being efficient enough that it may finally make complex agentic tasks worth doing at scale. Tulsee Doshi, senior director of product management for Gemini, explains that the innovations of Gemini 3.5 Flash are woven through multiple Google products, and this is just the start. Credit: Google Read full article Comments
Nvidia (NVDA +0.45%) is arguably the most highly watched technology stock on the market. The company's graphics processing units (GPUs) have become the gold standard for artificial intelligence (AI), making it a bellwether of the AI boom. As such, all eyes will be on Nvidia when the company reports the results of its fiscal 2027 first quarter (ended April 27) after the market close on Wednesday. I...
Nvidia (NVDA +0.45%) is arguably the most highly watched technology stock on the market. The company's graphics processing units (GPUs) have become the gold standard for artificial intelligence (AI), making it a bellwether of the AI boom. As such, all eyes will be on Nvidia when the company reports the results of its fiscal 2027 first quarter (ended April 27) after the market close on Wednesday. Investors are keen to know what the stock will do in the aftermath of this crucial financial report, as it will provide insight into the ongoing adoption of AI. Furthermore, some want to know if now is a good time to buy the stock ahead of the company's earnings release. History offers a startling answer for investors who are asking the right question. Let's review the company's recent results, expectations going into the report, and what history says about the future. Enviable results For its fiscal 2026 fourth quarter (ended Jan. 25), Nvidia reported revenue of $68.1 billion, which soared 73% year over year and 20% sequentially. These strong sales drove robust earnings per share (EPS) of $1.76, which surged 98%. The biggest contributor to the company's blowout results was the continuing adoption of AI, as revenue in its data center segment jumped 75%. Nvidia expects its stellar growth to continue. For its fiscal 2027 first quarter, management is guiding for revenue of $78 billion, representing 77% year-over-year growth. Wall Street is equally bullish, with analysts' consensus estimates calling for revenue of $79.12 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.77, representing growth of 79% and 119%, respectively. Existing customers, increasing demand Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Alphabet's Google Cloud -- the "Big Three" in cloud computing and among Nvidia's biggest customers -- have all announced plans to boost spending this year, with the vast majority earmarked to meet soaring AI demand. Furthermore, Meta Platforms has already announced plans to increase capex spending b...
Key Points All eyes will be on Nvidia stock when the company releases its first quarter report after the market close on Wednesday. Nvidia's customers have been ramping up spending to support the ongoing demand for AI. Investors are keen to know what the stock will do immediately following the report, but they might be asking the wrong question. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › Nvidia (NASDA...
Key Points All eyes will be on Nvidia stock when the company releases its first quarter report after the market close on Wednesday. Nvidia's customers have been ramping up spending to support the ongoing demand for AI. Investors are keen to know what the stock will do immediately following the report, but they might be asking the wrong question. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) is arguably the most highly watched technology stock on the market. The company's graphics processing units (GPUs) have become the gold standard for artificial intelligence (AI), making it a bellwether of the AI boom. As such, all eyes will be on Nvidia when the company reports the results of its fiscal 2027 first quarter (ended April 27) after the market close on Wednesday. Investors are keen to know what the stock will do in the aftermath of this crucial financial report, as it will provide insight into the ongoing adoption of AI. Furthermore, some want to know if now is a good time to buy the stock ahead of the company's earnings release. History offers a startling answer for investors who are asking the right question. 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 » Let's review the company's recent results, expectations going into the report, and what history says about the future. Enviable results For its fiscal 2026 fourth quarter (ended Jan. 25), Nvidia reported revenue of $68.1 billion, which soared 73% year over year and 20% sequentially. These strong sales drove robust earnings per share (EPS) of $1.76, which surged 98%. The biggest contributor to the company's blowout results was the continuing adoption of AI, as revenue in its data center segment jumped 75%. Nvidia expects its stellar growth to continue. For its fiscal 2027 first quarter, management is guiding for revenue of $78 bill...
Key Points Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn sold 2,427,818 shares of ZoomInfo Technologies in the first quarter; the estimated transaction value was $17.85 million based on quarterly average prices. Meanwhile, the quarter-end position value declined by $28.42 million, reflecting both share sales and price movements. The tade represented 1.31% of the fund’s 13F AUM. Post-sale, the fund held 889,757 GTM sha...
Key Points Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn sold 2,427,818 shares of ZoomInfo Technologies in the first quarter; the estimated transaction value was $17.85 million based on quarterly average prices. Meanwhile, the quarter-end position value declined by $28.42 million, reflecting both share sales and price movements. The tade represented 1.31% of the fund’s 13F AUM. Post-sale, the fund held 889,757 GTM shares valued at $5.32 million 10 stocks we like better than ZoomInfo Technologies › On May 15, 2026, Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn reported selling 2,427,818 shares of ZoomInfo Technologies (NASDAQ:GTM) in a trade estimated at $17.85 million based on quarterly average pricing. What happened According to its SEC filing dated May 15, 2026, Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn reduced its holdings in ZoomInfo Technologies by 2,427,818 shares during the first quarter. The estimated trade value was $17.85 million, calculated using the quarter’s average share price. The fund’s total position value in the stock declined by $28.42 million at quarter’s end, a figure that includes both asset sales and market price changes. What else to know Top holdings after the filing: NYSE: BKU: $59.78 million (4.4% of AUM) NYSE: SKY: $57.06 million (4.2% of AUM) NYSE: RRX: $46.56 million (3.4% of AUM) NASDAQ: HUBG: $41.47 million (3.0% of AUM) NASDAQ: EVRG: $34.97 million (2.6% of AUM) As of May 14, 2026, GTM shares were priced at $3.90, down more than 60% over the past year and vastly underperforming the S&P 500, which is instead up about 25% in the same period. Company overview Metric Value Price (as of market close May 14, 2026) $3.90 Market Capitalization $1.1 billion Revenue (TTM) $1.25 billion Net Income (TTM) $126.70 million Company snapshot ZoomInfo Technologies offers a suite of cloud-based go-to-market intelligence and engagement platforms, including ZoomInfo Copilot, Sales, Marketing, Operations, Talent, and Lite, generating revenue through subscription-based products. The firm operates a SaaS business m...
Google DeepMind has reached a deal to hire more than 20 researchers from artificial intelligence startup Contextual AI and license its technology, according to people familiar with the matter. The Alphabet Inc. -owned research lab has agreed to pay roughly $100 million to Contextual as part of the arrangement, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the information is not public. A...
Google DeepMind has reached a deal to hire more than 20 researchers from artificial intelligence startup Contextual AI and license its technology, according to people familiar with the matter. The Alphabet Inc. -owned research lab has agreed to pay roughly $100 million to Contextual as part of the arrangement, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the information is not public. Among those joining DeepMind is Douwe Kiela, Contextual’s co-founder and chief executive officer, the people said. The move, which has not previously been reported, marks the latest example of large tech firms turning to unusual licensing deals to scoop up competitive talent from startups rather than acquiring the companies outright. The tactic, also employed by Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp. , is thought to be less likely to raise antitrust concerns, though some regulators have scrutinized the practice. Google previously struck multibillion-dollar licensing deals to poach top talent from AI startups Windsurf and Character.AI . Google and Contextual declined to comment. Kiela and Amanpreet Singh founded Contextual in 2023 with the goal of developing generative AI services for businesses. More recently, Contextual has been working to help companies develop and deploy AI agents, with a focus on financial and legal services. The startup had raised at least $100 million from venture firms including Greycroft, Bain Capital Ventures and Nvidia Corp. , as well as Jeff Bezos’ family office, according to the company’s website. Contextual’s product team is still at the startup, now led by interim CEO Jay Chen.
By Streisand Neto LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) - Apple hopes to enter other markets after securing a five-year U.S. streaming deal to show Formula One races on Apple TV. Yet differing media rights cycles may act as a brake on the $4.37-trillion tech company’s global ambitions. The Liberty Media-owned single seater is a popular live sports championship amongst fans, streaming services and traditional ...
By Streisand Neto LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) - Apple hopes to enter other markets after securing a five-year U.S. streaming deal to show Formula One races on Apple TV. Yet differing media rights cycles may act as a brake on the $4.37-trillion tech company’s global ambitions. The Liberty Media-owned single seater is a popular live sports championship amongst fans, streaming services and traditional broadcasters. “We have a buy on F1. I think you can really see that the sport is exploding in popularity. I think it's gaining ground even in some of the more mature markets like Europe and the U.S. has really gained ground,” said Matthew Harrigan, an equity research analyst for Benchmark Company. Bernstein, a research and brokerage firm, estimated that F1’s media rights would be a key revenue driver in 2026, reaching between $90 million and $110 million. “Live sports are such a valuable asset to have in terms of a TV or a streaming contract… And so when you're able to find one of these relatively smaller and quickly rising ones, there's going to be a lot of competition,” Morningstar’s Senior Equity Analyst William Kerwin told Reuters. Comcast-owned Sky agreed to extend its F1 media rights deal to 2034 in the U.K. and 2032 in Italy at a premium price of one billion pounds ($1.34 billion), according to industry sources, ahead of its original 2029 expiration year in the U.K. The extension follows positive first-quarter results for F1 this year, achieving $617 million in revenue, a 53% increase on last year, despite the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian races in April. Conversely, analysts assert that Sky, F1’s exclusive U.K. broadcaster since 2019, renewed their deal from a position of caution rather than strength. “I think that Sky felt vulnerable there… Sky knew that the U.K. was a very attractive market for Apple,” Francois Godard, an independent analyst, told Reuters. Godard also said that after the U.S., the U.K. was the next top market in Europe given...