In this article STX META AMZN NVDA GOOGL Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images U.S. stocks soared on Wednesday after President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran , and beaten-down tech names shared in the rally. Meta , Amazon , Alphabet and Nvidia led the way among the Magnificent 7 names. Chipmakers also soared, with Taiwan Sem...
In this article STX META AMZN NVDA GOOGL Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images U.S. stocks soared on Wednesday after President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran , and beaten-down tech names shared in the rally. Meta , Amazon , Alphabet and Nvidia led the way among the Magnificent 7 names. Chipmakers also soared, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. gaining 7% and ASML , Applied Materials and Micron popping 9%. Lam Research , Western Digital and Seagate all climbed 10%. Trump backed down from his Tuesday threat that "a whole civilization will die" shortly before his 8 p.m. ET deadline and said that the U.S. would pause fighting. He said the U.S. had received a proposal from Iran and the two sides would continue to negotiate. Despite the truce, ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has yet to return to pre-war levels and Saudi Arabia's east-west pipeline was hit by a drone hours after Trump's Truth Social post . Read more CNBC tech news Samsung shares rise after profit seen jumping 8-fold on AI chip boom Broadcom shares climb as chipmaker agrees Google and Anthropic deals OpenAI asks California, Delaware to probe Musk's 'anti-competitive behavior' ahead of April trial AI data center boom 'stress tests' insurers as private capital floods in watch now VIDEO 4:06 04:06 Markets will soon go back to being driven by AI investment, says Aperture’s Peter Kraus Squawk Box Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.
imaginima/E+ via Getty Images Commercial crude stocks (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) for the week ended April 3: 464.7 M barrels. Crude inventory change: +3.1M barrels vs. +5.5M barrels for the week ended March 27. Consensus estimate: -1.000M. Gasoline inventory change: -1.6M barrels vs. -0.6M barrels for the week ended March 27. Distillates inventory change: -3.1M barrels vs...
imaginima/E+ via Getty Images Commercial crude stocks (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) for the week ended April 3: 464.7 M barrels. Crude inventory change: +3.1M barrels vs. +5.5M barrels for the week ended March 27. Consensus estimate: -1.000M. Gasoline inventory change: -1.6M barrels vs. -0.6M barrels for the week ended March 27. Distillates inventory change: -3.1M barrels vs. -2.1M barrels for the week ended March 27. Crude Oil Futures ( CL1:COM ) -16% to $94.7/barrel. ETFs: ( USO ), ( UCO ), ( SCO ), ( BNO ), ( DBO ), ( USL ). More on Crude Oil Futures, United States Oil Fund LP ETF, etc. Clock Is Ticking On Iran's Oil Leverage The Iran War - Crisis Averted, But Inflationary Pressures Remain Ceasefire Crash: Oil Tumbles 15% As U.S.-Iran Deal Unwinds Global 'Fear Trade' What is in Iran’s 10-point ceasefire plan? Iran, Oman to charge fees for Hormuz transit during ceasefire - report
With former ministers and party heavyweights being dragged into court, the country is once again confronting the unresolved legacy of political graft and shady backroom deals • Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Easter will not have been a particularly celebratory time for Spain’s two biggest political parties. In a quirk of judicial fate, both the ruling Spanish S...
With former ministers and party heavyweights being dragged into court, the country is once again confronting the unresolved legacy of political graft and shady backroom deals • Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Easter will not have been a particularly celebratory time for Spain’s two biggest political parties. In a quirk of judicial fate, both the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) and the conservative People’s party (PP) are bracing themselves after two high-profile trials involving former senior figures from each party began in Madrid this week. Though vastly different, both cases have the potential to seriously dent each party’s claims of having zero-tolerance for corruption as voters in Andalucía, Spain’s most populous autonomous community, prepare for next month’s regional election. That will be followed by a general election next year. Continue reading...
A temporary US, Iran cease-fire may calm markets, but deeper geopolitical risks are intensifying. Former State Department official Jennifer Gavito joined Bloomberg Open Interest to break down Iran’s growing leverage over global oil routes, why diplomacy remains fragile, and how rivals like Russia and China are quietly gaining ground while US strategic goals remain unmet. (Source: Bloomberg)
A temporary US, Iran cease-fire may calm markets, but deeper geopolitical risks are intensifying. Former State Department official Jennifer Gavito joined Bloomberg Open Interest to break down Iran’s growing leverage over global oil routes, why diplomacy remains fragile, and how rivals like Russia and China are quietly gaining ground while US strategic goals remain unmet. (Source: Bloomberg)
Iryna Melnyk/iStock via Getty Images Introduction Omega Flex ( OFLX ) is a major manufacturer of flexible metal hose with marine and automotive fuel as its main applications. The company has a presence in the U nited States and in Europe, but unfortunately its margins have come under pressure , and this has had a negative impact on its earnings, free cash flow, and dividend coverage ratio. While t...
Iryna Melnyk/iStock via Getty Images Introduction Omega Flex ( OFLX ) is a major manufacturer of flexible metal hose with marine and automotive fuel as its main applications. The company has a presence in the U nited States and in Europe, but unfortunately its margins have come under pressure , and this has had a negative impact on its earnings, free cash flow, and dividend coverage ratio. While the balance sheet is cash-rich (the company has about $5/share in net cash on the balance sheet), it’s not very helpful when that cash isn’t deployed properly. Data by YCharts While the Cash Flow Remains Strong, I Still Don’t See a Catalyst I didn’t have high hopes for Omega Flex in 2025, and my main focus was to see how the company would deal with a stagnating market and pressure on its margins. In 2025, Omega Flex reported a total revenue of $98.3 million , which is a 3% decrease compared to the previous financial year. Unfortunately, the total amount spent on COGS remained relatively stable (a decrease of less than 0.5%), which caused the gross profit to decline by approximately 5% to $59 million. OFLX Investor Relations Unfortunately, pretty much all other operating expenses increased as well. While the increase in the selling expenses was moderate, with just 1%, G&A and engineering expenses saw a more noticeable increase, which ultimately resulted in a 20% decrease in the reported operating profit, which drifted down to just under $17 million. And to make things worse, as interest rates on the financial markets decreased throughout 2025, Omega Flex also recorded a lower interest income on its cash pile (which I will discuss in a moment). With a net profit of $14.6 million, of which $14.8 million was attributable to the shareholders of Omega Flex (there was a $0.2 million loss attributable to non-controlling interests), the EPS of $1.47 was disappointing, as it represents a decrease of about a sixth compared to the $1.78 EPS in FY 2024. While the generous cash dividends ...