Donny DBM/iStock via Getty Images Key takeaways The fund underperformed its benchmark Underperformance mainly resulted from stock selection in the information technology ( IT ), health care and industrials sectors. Stronger stock selection in the communication services, financials and real estate sectors partially offset these results. Portfolio activity There was no significant change to the fund...
Donny DBM/iStock via Getty Images Key takeaways The fund underperformed its benchmark Underperformance mainly resulted from stock selection in the information technology ( IT ), health care and industrials sectors. Stronger stock selection in the communication services, financials and real estate sectors partially offset these results. Portfolio activity There was no significant change to the fund's overall positioning during the quarter as we sought to keep most sector, factor and other macro-related exposures similar to the Russell 1000 Index. US equity markets rose Despite renewed volatility and economic crosscurrents, US equities advanced during the quarter supported by strong corporate earnings and US Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate cuts. The Russell 1000 Index returned 2.41%, led by the health care and communication services sectors. Top issuers (% of total market value) Fund Index NVIDIA Corp ( NVDA ) 7.97 6.96 Microsoft Corp ( MSFT ) 7.44 5.72 Alphabet Inc ( GOOGL ) 6.90 5.27 Apple Inc ( AAPL ) 5.82 6.32 Amazon.com Inc ( AMZN ) 4.42 3.53 Broadcom Inc ( AVGO ) 3.11 2.55 Meta Platforms Inc ( META ) 2.95 2.30 JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM ) 2.77 1.40 Eli Lilly & Co ( LLY ) 2.06 1.37 Wells Fargo & Co ( WFC ) 1.70 0.47 As of 12/31/25. Holdings are subject to change and are not buy/sell recommendations. Click to enlarge Portfolio positioning We maintain our valuation discipline and focus on companies with competitive advantages and skilled management teams that we believe are executing better than peers. These companies historically tend to have higher profit margins and returns on invested capital (ROIC), rising market shares and consistently strong pricing power. As of quarter end, all sector weights were within +/- 3% of the Russell 1000 Index. At quarter end, the fund's largest overweight was the consumer staples sector and the largest underweight was the consumer discretionary sector. The largest additions during the quarter included the following: Abbot Labs...
Humanity Crossed A Threshold, And Most Of Us Scrolled Past It Authored by Kay Rubacek via The Epoch Times, Something happened last week that most people scrolled past. Two Amazon data centers in the United Arab Emirates were struck during Iran’s retaliation for U.S. military action. Another facility in Bahrain was reportedly damaged after a drone landed nearby. The earlier strikes that triggered t...
Humanity Crossed A Threshold, And Most Of Us Scrolled Past It Authored by Kay Rubacek via The Epoch Times, Something happened last week that most people scrolled past. Two Amazon data centers in the United Arab Emirates were struck during Iran’s retaliation for U.S. military action. Another facility in Bahrain was reportedly damaged after a drone landed nearby. The earlier strikes that triggered the retaliation were said to have used AI-assisted targeting systems. It was a brief moment in the news cycle, quickly overtaken by the next political story. But the implications are difficult to ignore. Artificial intelligence has now crossed into active geopolitical conflict. The infrastructure that powers the digital world—the same systems that store family photos, run businesses, and answer questions on our phones—has become strategic wartime infrastructure. Algorithms woven quietly into civilian technology are now helping guide decisions about where weapons land. Humanity crossed a threshold, and most of us scrolled past it. But we know from history that major technological shifts rarely announce themselves with a single dramatic moment. They appear first as signals in small news items, policy disputes, unexplained departures by insiders. Another signal appeared almost at the same time. The federal government recently removed the artificial intelligence systems developed by Anthropic from its networks. Shortly afterward, OpenAI stepped in with a defense agreement of its own. The public does not know the full story behind the change. We do not know exactly what demands were made behind closed doors, what ethical guardrails were contested, or why one of the world’s leading AI companies was suddenly pushed out of federal systems. But the episode itself is another signal. And yet another signal has been appearing quietly inside the AI industry itself: the departure of safety researchers. Over the past several years, numerous high-profile researchers tasked with studying the...
(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders react to the improved outlook for interest rates after the US Fed paused its interest rate hikes following ten consecutive rate hikes. They also await the Bank of Japan's rate decision later in the day. Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday. The Australian stock m...
(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders react to the improved outlook for interest rates after the US Fed paused its interest rate hikes following ten consecutive rate hikes. They also await the Bank of Japan's rate decision later in the day. Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday. The Australian stock market is notably higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous four sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 7,200 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains across most sectors, led by miners and technology stocks. Energy stocks were also strong amid the spike in crude oil prices. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 43.50 points or 0.61 percent to 7,218.80, after touching a high of 7,221.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 46.60 points or 0.63 percent to 7,416.60. Australian markets ended modestly higher on Thursday. Among major miners, Mineral Resources is gaining more than 3 percent and BHP Group is edging up 0.1 percent, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are losing almost 1 percent each. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos is gaining almost 2 percent, Beach energy is up almost 1 percent and Woodside Energy is adding more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy is edging down 0.3 percent. Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Appen is surging more than 6 percent, Zip is adding more than 1 percent and Xero is advancing more than 2 percent. Among the big four banks, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.2 to 9.3 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 1 percent. ANZ Banking is flat. Gold miners are strong. Gold Road Resources is gaining almost 3 percent, Newcrest Mining is adding almost 1 percent and Resolute Mining is advancing more than 2 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mini...
In a dramatic twist that has Hollywood buzzing and Wall Street watching closely, Paramount Skydance has pulled off one of the most audacious deals in recent media history. In late February 2026, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) accepted Paramount's $31-per-share bid, valuing the transaction at roughly $110–111 billion—a figure that stunned many who had expected Netflix to seal the prize after months o...
In a dramatic twist that has Hollywood buzzing and Wall Street watching closely, Paramount Skydance has pulled off one of the most audacious deals in recent media history. In late February 2026, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) accepted Paramount's $31-per-share bid, valuing the transaction at roughly $110–111 billion—a figure that stunned many who had expected Netflix to seal the prize after months of speculation. This isn't just another corporate marriage of studios, streamers, and cable networks. At its core, the deal carries a deep personal dimension: David Ellison, the ambitious CEO of Paramount Skydance, is the son of Larry Ellison, Oracle's co-founder and one of the world's wealthiest individuals. Larry's willingness to back his son's vision with billions of his own fortune has turned what could have been a straightforward industry consolidation into a high-stakes family saga with far-reaching implications, especially for Oracle (ORCL) shareholders. The financial engineering behind the acquisition is breathtaking in its scale and complexity. Paramount, dwarfed by WBD in size, brings only about $3 billion in cash to the table. To bridge the gap, the deal leans heavily on debt—estimated at $54–58 billion from banks like Bank of America, Citigroup, and Apollo, plus commitments from private equity players such as RedBird Capital (around $1.3 billion). But the real backbone comes from Larry Ellison himself, who has personally guaranteed roughly $45.7 billion (or slightly varying figures reported around $40–46 billion) in equity financing.
It has been a highly volatile stretch for shareholders of cloud monitoring and security platform Datadog (DDOG +2.25%). As of this writing, the growth stock has rallied about 15% over the past week, yet shares remain down about 37% from their 52-week high. A massive pullback like this can naturally attract investors seeking bargains. Even more, we're talking about a sell-off of a compelling busine...
It has been a highly volatile stretch for shareholders of cloud monitoring and security platform Datadog (DDOG +2.25%). As of this writing, the growth stock has rallied about 15% over the past week, yet shares remain down about 37% from their 52-week high. A massive pullback like this can naturally attract investors seeking bargains. Even more, we're talking about a sell-off of a compelling business -- one in the software sector where artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the technological landscape. Adding to the reasons to look at the stock, Datadog has seen accelerating momentum recently. Accelerating growth and the AI agent catalyst Datadog's latest quarterly update shows that the company is executing well. Revenue in Datadog's fourth quarter rose 29% year over year to $953 million. Not only did this mark an acceleration from the 28% growth Datadog delivered in the prior quarter, but it was a meaningful acceleration over the company's full-year 2024 top-line growth rate of 26%. Additionally, leading indicators suggest this momentum is building. The company drove a record $1.63 billion in bookings during the fourth quarter, surging 37% year over year. And Datadog is seeing success with its most lucrative accounts. The company ended the quarter with 603 customers generating annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $1 million or more, up 31% from 462 in the year-ago period. "We continue to see broad-based positive trends in the demand environment," explained Datadog co-founder and CEO Olivier Pomel during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call. "With the ongoing momentum of cloud migration, we experienced strength across our business, across our product lines, and across our diverse customer base." Driving this top and bottom-line momentum is a massive secular catalyst: AI. Specifically, the explosion of AI agents presents a unique opportunity. Large enterprises cannot trust an AI agent operating autonomously. These agents require careful monitoring for securit...