Starmer is determined to see his five-year term through, even if it’s not what the country or the party wants 'Twas the night before the elections, when all through No 10, not a creature was stirring, not even a hen. Mainly because Downing Street had come to the conclusion that letting Keir Starmer loose on the campaign trail was a surefire way to lose votes. Canvassers from all over the country h...
Starmer is determined to see his five-year term through, even if it’s not what the country or the party wants 'Twas the night before the elections, when all through No 10, not a creature was stirring, not even a hen. Mainly because Downing Street had come to the conclusion that letting Keir Starmer loose on the campaign trail was a surefire way to lose votes. Canvassers from all over the country had confirmed what the polls were saying. That the prime minister was kryptonite to Labour’s chances. Mention his name to voters and people would turn their heads away. Some even made the sign of the cross. It was out of sight, out of mind. The less everyone saw of Keir, the more they decided they liked him. The new dialectics. Keir functioned best as an abstract idea, rather than as a living person. Continue reading...
jirkaejc/iStock via Getty Images By Christopher Gannatti, CFA Global Head of Research, and Dovile Silenskyte Director, Digital Assets Research at WisdomTree in Europe Bitcoin and gold are responding to the same forces. The ratio tells you which one the market is favoring right now. Before asking where Bitcoin’s price is going, or where gold’s price is going, ask something more useful: What should ...
jirkaejc/iStock via Getty Images By Christopher Gannatti, CFA Global Head of Research, and Dovile Silenskyte Director, Digital Assets Research at WisdomTree in Europe Bitcoin and gold are responding to the same forces. The ratio tells you which one the market is favoring right now. Before asking where Bitcoin’s price is going, or where gold’s price is going, ask something more useful: What should the relationship between these two assets look like, given everything happening in the world right now? And then ask: Is that actually what we're seeing? These questions, deceptively simple, are the foundation of a model we have built. It’s called the Bitcoin in Gold model, or BiG for short. It doesn't predict a Bitcoin price. It doesn’t predict a Bitcoin price or a gold price. What it does is considerably more interesting, and understanding how it works may change the way you think about both assets. Why a Ratio? The idea of comparing two assets as a ratio, rather than tracking each one individually, isn’t new. Investors have followed the gold-to-silver ratio for decades, and it specifically measures how many ounces of silver it takes to buy one ounce of gold. Shifts in that ratio have historically told investors something meaningful about relative demand for each metal. 1 When the ratio gets very high, silver looks historically cheap relative to gold. When it compresses, the opposite is true. The ratio doesn’t tell you that gold is definitely going up or silver is definitely going down; it tells you something about the relationship between them, which can be every bit as actionable. Bitcoin and gold, it turns out, are well-suited to this kind of comparative analysis, for a specific reason: They respond to many of the same underlying forces, just with different intensities. Both are what you might call monetary assets, which is to say they’re not claims on a company’s earnings; they don’t pay dividends, and much of their perceived value comes from their role as stores of v...
Despite Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's pledge to provide "radical transparency," the agencies under his control continue to suppress scientific research that conflicts with his anti-vaccine agenda. On Tuesday, The New York Times reported confirmation from the Department of Health and Human Services that the Food and Drug Administration had blocked the publication of studies showing the safet...
Despite Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's pledge to provide "radical transparency," the agencies under his control continue to suppress scientific research that conflicts with his anti-vaccine agenda. On Tuesday, The New York Times reported confirmation from the Department of Health and Human Services that the Food and Drug Administration had blocked the publication of studies showing the safety and efficacy of vaccines against COVID-19 and shingles . The revelation follows a report from The Washington Post last month that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scrapped a scientifically vetted study previously scheduled for publication that found COVID-19 vaccines sharply cut the risk of emergency care and hospitalization among healthy adults. The study was ultimately rejected by Kennedy's acting CDC director, who claimed to have concerns about the study's methodology. Similarly at the FDA, two studies on COVID-19 vaccines by agency scientists were accepted for publication at medical journals, according to the Times. But unnamed FDA officials directed the agency scientists to withdraw the studies. While a preliminary abstract of one of the studies presented at a conference last fall remains online, the Times obtained a copy of the full manuscript, the conclusion of which reads, "Given the available evidence, FDA continues to conclude the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks." Read full article Comments
Getty Images BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. ( BBAI ) just reported its Q1 numbers to a lackluster reception. I thought I’d go through the numbers in more depth and give some comments on what the company needs to do to entice me in the future, because right now, I am not convinced. Numbers In Depth Revenues came in essentially flat at $34.4m, which beat estimates by $840k (-1% y/y). Army programs were t...
Getty Images BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. ( BBAI ) just reported its Q1 numbers to a lackluster reception. I thought I’d go through the numbers in more depth and give some comments on what the company needs to do to entice me in the future, because right now, I am not convinced. Numbers In Depth Revenues came in essentially flat at $34.4m, which beat estimates by $840k (-1% y/y). Army programs were the main culprit for such a lackluster performance, which offset Ask Sage revenues tremendously. The company doesn’t disclose any revenue breakdown, so we cannot look into that any further. Another key performance metric that is essential to look at is the company’s backlog and how it progressed over the last year, as well as sequentially. Backlog is up 14% sequentially to $281.9m, which was primarily driven by a single large contract, to the tune of $53m. The most recent backlog number is increasing sequentially; it is still down around 27% y/y. The last time the company even reported backlog numbers was back in Q3 ’25, when they were at $376m. I don’t like it when management is not transparent about some of the critical points of the results, but I understand why. It went down considerably, and it may be coming back up, unless it was just a fluke. If the company doesn’t report next quarter, it’s a pretty good telltale sign that the backlog declined once again. Going over BBAI’s efficiency and profitability, we can see that the management is highlighting the increase in the overall gross margins of a whopping 1,278 basis points. Gross margins went from 21.3% to 34%. That is a very good improvement, which is due to increased volume from Ask Sage’s high-margin products, like its GenAI platform and other related products. It’s a bit odd that the most progress the company saw in operations was due to an acquisition of Ask Sage back in November-December of last year, 2025. I suppose if internal operations aren’t as impressive, then make them more impressive through inorganic mea...
imaginima/iStock via Getty Images PJM Interconnection, the largest power grid operator in the United States, said Wednesday it is weighing a series of market overhauls that could fundamentally change how electricity is priced and procured across its network, as demand from data centers threatens to outpace available supply, Reuters reported. The organization’s wholesale markets span 13 states acro...
imaginima/iStock via Getty Images PJM Interconnection, the largest power grid operator in the United States, said Wednesday it is weighing a series of market overhauls that could fundamentally change how electricity is priced and procured across its network, as demand from data centers threatens to outpace available supply, Reuters reported. The organization’s wholesale markets span 13 states across the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, setting electricity prices for about 20% of the U.S. population. Those markets also play a central role in determining where new power plants are built and how reliably electricity is delivered, particularly in regions that have become major hubs for data centers. PJM is exploring changes after capacity prices surged to record levels, driven largely by a wave of new data center projects seeking connections to the grid. Chief Operating Officer Stu Bresler said the pace of demand growth is unlike anything typically seen in the utility sector, describing it as a sharp acceleration that stands in stark contrast to the industry’s usual steadiness and more reminiscent of historic periods of rapid industrial expansion, Reuters reported. Capacity markets, typically set through annual auctions, are PJM’s primary mechanism for ensuring enough electricity is available during peak demand periods. While elevated prices are designed to incentivize new generation, supply has not been coming online quickly enough. PJM has warned that the region could face a power shortfall as soon as 2027. At the same time, higher electricity costs for households and small businesses have drawn increasing political attention, prompting scrutiny of PJM’s operations and pricing mechanisms. Earlier this year, PJM’s board directed staff to evaluate alternatives to the current market design. On Wednesday, the operator outlined three potential paths forward, each placing greater emphasis on long-term contracts compared with today’s more short-term approach. One option would requi...
With her eye on No 10, the former deputy PM is apparently shedding bad habits. But isn’t a proudly imperfect leader just what we need? Angela Rayner, the former deputy prime minister, is the bookmakers’ favourite to be Keir Starmer’s successor. She is also someone who has recently given up vaping , according to the government minister Steve Reed, who had dinner with her at the weekend and told Sky...
With her eye on No 10, the former deputy PM is apparently shedding bad habits. But isn’t a proudly imperfect leader just what we need? Angela Rayner, the former deputy prime minister, is the bookmakers’ favourite to be Keir Starmer’s successor. She is also someone who has recently given up vaping , according to the government minister Steve Reed, who had dinner with her at the weekend and told Sky News about it. These two facts about her – wanting to be PM and quitting vaping – are almost certainly connected. Plainly, giving up vaping is preparation for the highest office. Rayner loves vaping: who can forget that fabulous photo of her, in the middle of the tax turmoil that led to her resignation last year, vaping in a dinghy off Brighton beach ? You can get away with a huge amount of vaping as a middle-aged woman, owing to your fabled cloak of invisibility. I have vaped in committee room 10 in the House of Commons. I have vaped in the middle of an interview about whether or not vaping is bad for you. But I draw the line at vaping in the middle of the actual sea. Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here . Continue reading...
Meet the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Infrastructure Stock Crushing Micron Technology in 2026. Its Red-Hot Earnings Growth Could Send It Even Higher The Globe and Mail
Meet the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Infrastructure Stock Crushing Micron Technology in 2026. Its Red-Hot Earnings Growth Could Send It Even Higher The Globe and Mail
In a world where a viral TikTok video can cause a brand to trend globally in mere hours, the traditional market research cycle — often spanning 12 weeks — is becoming a liability. The lag between a survey question and the answers from a wide (or targeted) pool of respondents has become a primary bottleneck for Fortune 500 decision-makers who are forced to navigate volatile geopolitical and economi...
In a world where a viral TikTok video can cause a brand to trend globally in mere hours, the traditional market research cycle — often spanning 12 weeks — is becoming a liability. The lag between a survey question and the answers from a wide (or targeted) pool of respondents has become a primary bottleneck for Fortune 500 decision-makers who are forced to navigate volatile geopolitical and economic shifts with data that is frequently outdated by the time it reaches a slide deck, as industry experts have observed . Brox , a predictive human intelligence startup, recently announced a strategic funding round following a year where they reported 10X revenue growth. Their proposition is as ambitious as it is technical: the creation of a "parallel universe" populated by 60,000 digital twins of real, living human beings and their entire demographic profiles and consumer preferences, allowing enterprises to run unlimited experiments in hours rather than months. “These digital twins are one-to-one replicas of actual, real individuals," said Brox CEO Hamish Brocklebank in a recent video call interview with VentureBeat. "We recruit real people like a normal panel company does, pay them to interview them, and capture all the data around them — fully consent-driven.” The company, currently a lean 14-person operation, is positioning itself as the antithesis of the "insane" research industry. By replacing statistical models with behavioral replicas, Brox aims to transform how the world’s largest banks and pharmaceutical giants anticipate human reactions to high-stakes global and market-shifting events, or narrow, targeted product releases and personnel news, and everything in between. The kinds of surveys and specific questions that Brox asks its digital twins are completely open-ended and can be customized to fit any conceivable business customer's use cases and goals. According to Brocklebank, examples of survey questions include: “What happens if America invades Iran or Greenla...
Earnings Call Insights: Celanese (CE) Q1 2026 Management view Scott Richardson (President, CEO & Director) said the company’s focus “remains on cash generation while we position our businesses for long-term success,” adding that “demand continues to be low at an end use level” while Celanese looks to capture near-term supply chain disruption in Q2. Richardson framed second-half assumptions around ...
Earnings Call Insights: Celanese (CE) Q1 2026 Management view Scott Richardson (President, CEO & Director) said the company’s focus “remains on cash generation while we position our businesses for long-term success,” adding that “demand continues to be low at an end use level” while Celanese looks to capture near-term supply chain disruption in Q2. Richardson framed second-half assumptions around normalization: “we do believe the right one to assume in the second half is one where supply chains start to unwind here by the end of the quarter here in Q2, and you see that kind of moderate on where volumes and margins are in the second half.” On operating flexibility, Richardson said Celanese is “being positioned to respond,” citing swing operations at “Frankfurt” and “Singapore” and the ability to “pivot our supply chain in Engineered Materials as customer demand shifts and changes.” Chuck Kyrish (Senior VP & CFO) quantified Engineered Materials (EM) inventory and absorption items tied to nylon changes: “in the second half, in Engineered Materials, we would expect an additional $50 million of absorption hit on the income statement.” He added the company is “reducing costs, reducing complexity, taking this inventory permanently out of the system.” Kyrish also reiterated divestiture posture: “we continue to work that very aggressively,” and “we do feel good about signing another deal this year,” while noting “we have not baked in any assumption for cash proceeds from a deal just from the uncertainty of kind of signing versus closing.” Outlook Richardson confirmed the key EPS marker embedded in management’s framework for the back half: “the $3 per share in EPS you're guiding towards for the back half of the year,” and said the second-half scenario assumes supply chains unwind by end of Q2 with moderation in volumes and margins. Richardson said the guide also considered downside demand effects from higher costs: “there's also a potential offset to demand with feedstock pri...