Marvell (MRVL) reported its Q4 earnings on March 5. The stock closed 18.35% higher at $89.57 on the next day, according to Yahoo Finance. The stock soared thanks to the strength of the report, but also because it proved that the rumors about the company losing its key customers were not true. I ...
Marvell (MRVL) reported its Q4 earnings on March 5. The stock closed 18.35% higher at $89.57 on the next day, according to Yahoo Finance. The stock soared thanks to the strength of the report, but also because it proved that the rumors about the company losing its key customers were not true. I ...
The US-Mexico-Canada free trade deal shouldn’t undergo a major renegotiation but instead be improved and strengthened, according to consultations with key economic sectors overseen by the Mexican government. The consultations concluded that the three-nation accord known as the USMCA has promoted economic integration across North America while enhancing the region’s global competitiveness. “The tre...
The US-Mexico-Canada free trade deal shouldn’t undergo a major renegotiation but instead be improved and strengthened, according to consultations with key economic sectors overseen by the Mexican government. The consultations concluded that the three-nation accord known as the USMCA has promoted economic integration across North America while enhancing the region’s global competitiveness. “The treaty is perceived as an asset that should be preserved, even though its operation could be improved,” according to a report from Mexico’s economy ministry that cited a majority of business interests surveyed. The high-stakes trade pact review could boost or undermine trillions of dollars worth of cross-border North American commerce that has grown dramatically over the past three decades. “The challenge is to implement it better, modernize it, and make it more inclusive,” Deputy Minister for Industry and Commerce Vidal Llerenas said during an event to present the results of the consultation process. President Claudia Sheinbaum is betting on a successful review to bolster a sluggish Mexican economy battered by US trade uncertainty as well as business concerns over sweeping reforms she’s championed, including a judicial overhaul that critics argue has undermined the independence of the country’s courts. The USMCA, which supplanted the earlier NAFTA trade pact, was inked during President Donald Trump’s first term. Its long-anticipated review is set to start on March 16, but Trump has offered mixed support, at times suggesting he’d prefer new bilateral deals instead. The economy ministry conducted consultations with 30 sector roundtables, ranging from metals, agriculture, construction, carmaking and tourism. It sent more than 500 surveys to companies, chambers and industrial groups.
Even the world’s richest people sometimes need a mortgage. Elon Musk is the world’s richest man, on track to become the first-ever trillionaire, but he’s done one thing most average Americans have to do: take out a mortgage. The Tesla CEO has taken out several mega mortgages, including $61 million from Morgan Stanley on five properties in California, according to The Los Angeles Times. That’s bare...
Even the world’s richest people sometimes need a mortgage. Elon Musk is the world’s richest man, on track to become the first-ever trillionaire, but he’s done one thing most average Americans have to do: take out a mortgage. The Tesla CEO has taken out several mega mortgages, including $61 million from Morgan Stanley on five properties in California, according to The Los Angeles Times. That’s barely a drop in the bucket of his now-$662 billion net worth, so it could be difficult to understand why he’d borrow tens of millions of dollars to buy real estate. But financial experts say taking out a mortgage—even when you could easily pay cash—can actually be a smart wealth strategy. Why wealthy buyers still take out mortgages One of the main reasons is that most of the wealth held by UHNW people is tied up in investments, stocks, and bonds, and they don’t keep as much liquid cash on hand. “Ultra-high-net-worth individuals think differently about liquidity and leverage,” Miltiadis Kastanis, executive director of sales at Compass, told Fortune. “They’d rather keep their money working for them in investments, businesses—or even art—rather than tying it all up in one property.” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the world’s fifth-richest man, has also used mortgages to his advantage. In 2012, Zuckerberg refinanced his Palo Alto home with a 30-year, 1.05% adjustable-rate mortgage, according to CNBC. With such a low rate, the mortgage cost him practically nothing, so it didn’t make sense to have nearly $6 million tied up in a home. Plus, borrowing during the era of ultra-low interest rates in the 2010s was especially attractive. Many wealthy buyers locked in mortgages at a much lower rate than today. “If they believe their investments will yield a greater return than the interest they’re paying on a mortgage, it makes more sense to finance the property,” Kastanis added. “It’s less about the cost of the loan itself and more about optimizing where their money is placed.” Mortgage interes...
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Billionaire investor Leo KoGuan, widely known as one of Tesla's largest individual shareholders, says he has significantly increased his bet on Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) as markets grapple with fresh geopolitical volatility. KoGuan revealed on X that he bought an additional 1 million Nvidia shares, doubling his position in the AI chip giant to about 2 million s...
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Billionaire investor Leo KoGuan, widely known as one of Tesla's largest individual shareholders, says he has significantly increased his bet on Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) as markets grapple with fresh geopolitical volatility. KoGuan revealed on X that he bought an additional 1 million Nvidia shares, doubling his position in the AI chip giant to about 2 million shares. Based on recent prices, the stake is estimated to be worth roughly $350 million. As promised, I bought additional 1 million shares of NVDA today, KoGuan wrote, adding that he hoped the purchase could contribute a little to calm the nervous market. The move comes at a tense moment for investors. Global markets have been under pressure following the U.S.Israel conflict with Iran, which has fueled uncertainty across equities and commodities. Nvidia shares are down roughly 5% so far this year, while KoGuan's longtime core holding Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has dropped nearly 12%. By comparison, the S&P 500 (SPY) has slipped less than 2% over the same period.
Vivek Vishwakarma/iStock via Getty Images Timing the market can be a hard proposition, especially in these uncertain times with global flashpoints lighting up the news screen regularly. That’s why I’m content with not getting " too greedy" in trying to find a bottom. Rather, when a stock enters my buy range, I may gradually layer in capital while locking in high dividend yields. This brings me to ...
Vivek Vishwakarma/iStock via Getty Images Timing the market can be a hard proposition, especially in these uncertain times with global flashpoints lighting up the news screen regularly. That’s why I’m content with not getting " too greedy" in trying to find a bottom. Rather, when a stock enters my buy range, I may gradually layer in capital while locking in high dividend yields. This brings me to the following 2 picks, both of which are in the " Buy" range and carry yields in the 9% to 10% range. Both are actually positioned to benefit from higher interest rates. In this article, I explore why both stocks are quality names to be bought in this downturn, so let’s get started! #1: Ladder Capital – 9% Yield Ladder Capital ( LADR ) is a commercial mortgage REIT that’s also diversified across physical properties, CRE securities. It has a conservative capital structure and a diversified investment model. This is reflected by its loan business being primarily first mortgages, which comprise over 99% of the loan portfolio. At the current price of $10.24, LADR sits solidly in the bottom half of its 52-week range with a 9% dividend yield, as shown below. LADR Stock 1-Yr Trend (Seeking Alpha) Most of LADR’s loans (95%) were originated post-COVID. As such, they reflect underwriting standards that fit with the current real estate environment, particularly for office properties. CRE loans make up just 42% of the portfolio, while physical properties and CRE securities constitute the rest. As shown below, LADR’s tenants are primarily investment-grade-rated tenants (61% of rents), and its CRE securities portfolio is 97% AAA-rated. Investor Presentation LADR produced a 7.1% return on equity last year amidst a volatile macroeconomic backdrop. Distributable EPS excluding previously reserved allowance for credit loss was $0.21 for Q4 2025. While this didn’t fully cover the $0.23 quarterly dividend , this has more to do with the timing of loan originations. Dividend coverage for the full...
The sporting decision to send Lossiemouth, the Mares’ Hurdle winner for the last two seasons, in against all-comers in Tuesday’s Champion Hurdle adds considerably to the depth of the competition, but it has also prompted a minor drift in the price of The New Lion and he is an attractive bet to follow up last year’s novice win at this meeting. Unlike the other three runners at single-figure odds fo...
The sporting decision to send Lossiemouth, the Mares’ Hurdle winner for the last two seasons, in against all-comers in Tuesday’s Champion Hurdle adds considerably to the depth of the competition, but it has also prompted a minor drift in the price of The New Lion and he is an attractive bet to follow up last year’s novice win at this meeting. Unlike the other three runners at single-figure odds for Tuesday’s feature event, The New Lion does not benefit from a 7lb mares’ allowance. While Brighterdaysahead, Golden Ace and Lossiemouth have 12, 12 and 17 runs behind them respectively, however, The New Lion has just half a dozen, with five wins and just one defeat when he made an uncharacteristic jumping error at Newcastle in December. The three mares also have some questions to answer. Lossiemouth was below her best behind Brighterdaysahead at Leopardstown last time and has first-time cheekpieces on Tuesday, while Brighterdaysahead ran no sort of race in last year’s Champion. Golden Ace, meanwhile, looked a very lucky winner 12 months ago, and The New Lion looked to have her measure when he came down two out at Newcastle. In a closely matched field, the fact that The New Lion (4.00) has more scope for improvement than his main rivals could prove highly significant, and he is a very fair price at around 11-4 to edge Dan Skelton significantly closer to a first trainers’ title. Cheltenham 1.20 Willie Mullin’s Mighty Park is a lurking, could-be-anything presence after a 38-length win in a maiden hurdle, but Old Park Star arrives with rock-solid form and a similar profile to Nicky Henderson’s last three Supreme winners: Altior, Shishkin and Constitution Hill. His 18-length success at Haydock in January was backed by an excellent timefigure, and he has looked a natural at his hurdles while progressing by the run. View image in fullscreen The New Lion ridden was victorious on festival Trials Day at Cheltenham. Photograph: Nigel French/PA Cheltenham 2.00 With the market squarel...
While many market risks remain in the current conflict involving Iran, the U.S., and Israel, one thing is certainly clear: How long the conflict lasts remains the top question on investors' minds this week. The ongoing conflict, which has spread to other countries in the Middle East, has caused significant jitters in the market, particularly amid rising oil prices. Crude oil futures are close to $...
While many market risks remain in the current conflict involving Iran, the U.S., and Israel, one thing is certainly clear: How long the conflict lasts remains the top question on investors' minds this week. The ongoing conflict, which has spread to other countries in the Middle East, has caused significant jitters in the market, particularly amid rising oil prices. Crude oil futures are close to $99 per barrel as of this writing, up a whopping 72% this year. The war in Iran has certainly led to a sell-off in the stock market. However, it's been somewhat contained. ^DJI data by YCharts As you can see above, the major indexes have all struggled, but I think most would agree it could be worse, given the instability in the Middle East and surging oil prices. Investors don't seem to think the conflict will be prolonged. However, if this consensus changes, things could get much worse. A prolonged conflict could have big consequences for the broader market The price of oil had fallen close to $55 per barrel earlier this year, and the outlook for oil in general was not positive heading into the year. However, everything changed once rumors began to circulate about the U.S. and Israel conducting airstrikes on Iran. Once those officially happened, the Iranian government subsequently announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to ships from the U.S., Israel, and Western allies, and oil prices skyrocketed. The Strait of Hormuz is a key oil passage Iran controls and through which 20 million barrels of oil flow per day. There have also been concerns that energy assets in the Middle East could be damaged, potentially impacting production. Higher oil prices essentially serve as a tax on consumers and can also raise the cost of doing business for corporations. The U.S. is also currently worried about an incoming recession, after a dismal February jobs report that showed the economy lost 92,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4%. A slowing economy with h...
China should not follow SpaceX in launching artificial intelligence data centres into orbit, but instead focus on more practical near-term space-based computing, a senior researcher has said. Gao Wen, a computer scientist at Peking University and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said on Thursday that electricity demand was not a major bottleneck for AI data centres in China, meaning...
China should not follow SpaceX in launching artificial intelligence data centres into orbit, but instead focus on more practical near-term space-based computing, a senior researcher has said. Gao Wen, a computer scientist at Peking University and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said on Thursday that electricity demand was not a major bottleneck for AI data centres in China, meaning there was little reason to move them into space. In a Sina News interview during the annual “two sessions”, Gao, who is also a deputy to the National People’s Congress, said China should instead prioritise computing systems in orbit that processed data generated by satellites. Advertisement “Right now, satellites collect huge amounts of data , but a large portion of it is discarded before it is ever transmitted to the ground,” he said. “If processing and analysis can be done in orbit first, satellites could send back only the useful information. That would allow the data gathered in space to be used much more effectively.” Advertisement The idea of space-based data centres is gaining attention. In January, Elon Musk’s SpaceX filed a request with the US Federal Communications Commission to deploy a constellation of up to one million satellites that would operate as orbital data centres.
AzriSuratmin/iStock via Getty Images Klarna ( KLAR ) stock gained 5.4% in late morning trading on Monday after the lock-up on hundreds of millions of its shares expired, allowing existing shareholders to sell shares in the "Buy Now, Pay Later" lender. The company issued a clarification of the lock-up expiration process. Of the company's 378M total ordinary shares outstanding, 335M were subject to ...
AzriSuratmin/iStock via Getty Images Klarna ( KLAR ) stock gained 5.4% in late morning trading on Monday after the lock-up on hundreds of millions of its shares expired, allowing existing shareholders to sell shares in the "Buy Now, Pay Later" lender. The company issued a clarification of the lock-up expiration process. Of the company's 378M total ordinary shares outstanding, 335M were subject to lock-up restrictions that ended on March 9. The outstanding shares freed up with the expiration fall into several categories. About 30%, or 97 million shares, are held by institutional shareholders, executive officers, and members of the board. These holders are subject to trading volume restrictions. Any affiliate wishing to sell shares is required to file appropriate forms with the SEC when they place an order to execute a sale. " As of the date of this release, no such filings have been made by any affiliate of the company," Klarna ( KLAR ) said. Non-affiliate holders hold ~177M shares. They must complete a conversion process, which takes about seven to 10 business days to complete, before selling any shares. About 18% of shares, or 62M shares, are held by non-affiliate shareholders through depositary receipts, which allows them to keep their class B share voting rights (10 votes per share). "Conversion to depositary receipts means these shares are not being transferred to broker-dealer accounts for open-market trading," the company said. Furthermore, Klarna ( KLAR ) already had the opportunity to sell their shares at the IPO. "Shareholders who wished to realize liquidity have had multiple prior opportunities to do so," the company said in a statement. "March 9, 2026, is not the first opportunity for pre-IPO shareholders to sell." Klarna ( KLAR ) shares have dropped ~66% from their IPO price of $40 since they started publicly trading. If pre-IPO holders sold now, they'd be getting a lower return than if they sold in the IPO. More on Klarna Klarna: A High-Risk Growth Play...
The Trade Desk (TTD 2.83%) has been an amazing stock to own over the past decade. It's up nearly 900% in this time frame, although at its peak it was up more than 4,000%. The Trade Desk has seen its revenue growth slow in recent quarters, which caused it to lose its premium valuation. However, I think the sell-off has been too harsh on the stock, and now looks like a perfect buying opportunity to ...
The Trade Desk (TTD 2.83%) has been an amazing stock to own over the past decade. It's up nearly 900% in this time frame, although at its peak it was up more than 4,000%. The Trade Desk has seen its revenue growth slow in recent quarters, which caused it to lose its premium valuation. However, I think the sell-off has been too harsh on the stock, and now looks like a perfect buying opportunity to scoop up a long-term winner. The Trade Desk could deliver incredible returns if it can return to its all-time high, but it must restart its growth first. The Trade Desk may have just made the biggest partnership in its history The Trade Desk operates a buy-side ad platform, which helps advertisers place their ads in the best spot on the internet. Whether it's the margins of a web page, during a commercial break on a streaming service, or a podcast, The Trade Desk is helping its clients maximize their spending. Expand NASDAQ : TTD The Trade Desk Today's Change ( -2.83 %) $ -0.83 Current Price $ 28.45 Key Data Points Market Cap $14B Day's Range $ 28.00 - $ 28.95 52wk Range $ 21.08 - $ 91.45 Volume 316K Avg Vol 17M Gross Margin 78.63 % Its platform is incredibly sticky, and 95% of its clients remained with The Trade Desk this past quarter -- something it has achieved for the past 13 years straight. However, The Trade Desk needs to find a way to kick-start its growth again, as that is what investors are most concerned with. During Q4 2025, The Trade Desk's revenue rose 14% year over year. While that's not necessarily a bad growth rate, it's a far cry from where it has been over the past few years. To make matters worse, The Trade Desk projects 10% revenue growth during Q1 2026. That's not going to cut it for a company that is supposed to be an ad technology leader, as there are several competitors that are growing much faster than this. However, The Trade Desk may have found a way to kick-start its growth. Currently, the company is in talks with OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, a...
Coeur Mining (CDE 5.19%) stock declined 6.6% through 10:25 a.m. ET Monday on sliding gold prices as war continues to rage in the Middle East. Investors often buy gold as a safe haven in times of conflict -- and they did this time, too. However, as the conflict drags on, gold prices have turned south. Gold miner Coeur stock is following them lower. Gold and silver prices fall Gold closed February a...
Coeur Mining (CDE 5.19%) stock declined 6.6% through 10:25 a.m. ET Monday on sliding gold prices as war continues to rage in the Middle East. Investors often buy gold as a safe haven in times of conflict -- and they did this time, too. However, as the conflict drags on, gold prices have turned south. Gold miner Coeur stock is following them lower. Gold and silver prices fall Gold closed February around $5,278 per ounce, according to data from TradingEconomics.com. Prices spiked when U.S. and Israeli forces began striking Iran last week, rising as high as $5,416 Monday before beginning to fade. At last report, gold was trading at $5,079 per ounce, down 1.5% from Friday's close. The silver story is similar, and Coeur mines both gold and silver, so this one is also worth a look. Silver closed at $93.73 per ounce at the end of February before moving higher, topping $96.10 Monday. Today, silver is down 0.5% to $83.90 per ounce. Expand NYSE : CDE Coeur Mining Today's Change ( -5.19 %) $ -1.18 Current Price $ 21.46 Key Data Points Market Cap $15B Day's Range $ 20.59 - $ 22.10 52wk Range $ 4.58 - $ 27.77 Volume 792K Avg Vol 24M Gross Margin 39.31 % Two big things affect precious metal prices Why are precious metals prices falling? For one thing, the U.S. dollar -- also a safe haven -- is strengthening. The U.S. dollar index, which compares the dollar's value to a basket of international currencies, is up about 1.7% since the war began. A "stronger dollar" means you need fewer dollars to buy an ounce of gold. Thus, when the dollar rises, the price of gold (in dollar terms) falls. Interest rates can also affect gold prices, and rate worries are rising. When interest rates rise, investors face the choice between owning gold, which doesn't pay interest, and owning bonds, which do. Investors may sell gold to buy bonds, and when this happens -- again -- the price of gold drops. This is why Coeur stock dropped today.
(This is The Best Stocks in the Market , brought to you by Josh Brown and Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management.) Josh — One of the things we've tried to do with this column on the Best Stocks in the Market is make new introductions to you and tell you the stories of stocks you've never looked at before. We're also trying to make sure we look back at some of the trades that are still alive so w...
(This is The Best Stocks in the Market , brought to you by Josh Brown and Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management.) Josh — One of the things we've tried to do with this column on the Best Stocks in the Market is make new introductions to you and tell you the stories of stocks you've never looked at before. We're also trying to make sure we look back at some of the trades that are still alive so we can keep you posted. We wrote about a bunch of biotech giants last year, and now we're going to check in on Amgen (AMGN) and AbbVie (ABBV) once again. As Sean explains below, these stocks have been left out of the disruption conversation given how physical their technology is — molecules and proteins — as opposed to bits and bytes. And while growth investors have been gravitating toward them because of their undisruptability (made up word, was trying not to say HALOness), there's an even more exciting reason to keep them on your radar. Let's take a look at some of our high level Best Stocks data first and then we'll check in with our big biotech names. Here's Sean… Sector leaderboard As of Mar. 9, there are 214 names on The Best Stocks in the Market list. Top sector ranking: Top industries: Top 5 best stocks by relative strength: Sector spotlight: Biotech Sean — There's been a lot of discourse around AI. Who it benefits, who it disrupts, the energy needed to utilize it, etc. etc. Josh literally coined the term "HALO" which we have talked about extensively in this column. One fun thought experiment is going down a list of industries and trying to determine if it's HALO or not. Aerospace and Defense? HALO Software Applications? Not HALO Metal Fabrication? HALO Consulting? Not HALO Here's one I don't hear too often, but is breaking out with the rest of HALO this year. Biotech is HALO. Drug manufacturing requires specialized facilities, logistics and biologic infrastructure that can't be vibe-coded overnight. Without even mentioning the FDA, approval pipelines, patent exclusi...
Across three distinct global consumer markets, fresh analyst coverage is drawing a clear map of where institutional conviction sits heading into mid-2026. The signals are mixed: one bullish upgrade, one cautious resumption of coverage, and one target cut — each grounded in a specific thesis about how profitability will evolve. H World: UBS Sees Structural ... H World, Netflix and JD.com Are Gettin...
Across three distinct global consumer markets, fresh analyst coverage is drawing a clear map of where institutional conviction sits heading into mid-2026. The signals are mixed: one bullish upgrade, one cautious resumption of coverage, and one target cut — each grounded in a specific thesis about how profitability will evolve. H World: UBS Sees Structural ... H World, Netflix and JD.com Are Getting Fresh Analyst Coverage Across Global Consumer Markets
demaerre/iStock via Getty Images Overview Intellia Therapeutics’ stock ( NTLA ) is flat since my “ Sell ” rating earlier this year. This is a company advancing its in vivo gene therapies: mainly for ATTR and HAE. I’ve expressed caution in the past. Both ATTR-CM and HAE are crowded spaces and peer gene therapy launches, like CRISPR’s ( CRSP )/Vertex's ( VRTX ) ex vivo CASGEVY in SCD and TDT, have d...
demaerre/iStock via Getty Images Overview Intellia Therapeutics’ stock ( NTLA ) is flat since my “ Sell ” rating earlier this year. This is a company advancing its in vivo gene therapies: mainly for ATTR and HAE. I’ve expressed caution in the past. Both ATTR-CM and HAE are crowded spaces and peer gene therapy launches, like CRISPR’s ( CRSP )/Vertex's ( VRTX ) ex vivo CASGEVY in SCD and TDT, have disappointed. Throw in nearly $400M in cash burn (cash from operations) in FY25 and things can become unattractive quickly. When I last visited Intellia in January, the company was also dealing with safety issues—namely a patient with a severe Grade 4 liver event in its ATTR program that later died of "complicating comorbidities." Recently, Intellia reported its Q4/FY25 earnings and the FDA lifted the clinical hold on nex-z for ATTR-CM. Below, I take another stab at NTLA in light of recent developments. Clinical Hold Lifted Intellia delivered the positive headline on March 2. But the consequences from the Grade 4 liver events will be: (...) enhanced monitoring of liver laboratory tests, guidance for short-term steroid treatment if elevated liver transaminases are observed in the initial period following dosing and the exclusion of patients with certain liver abnormalities. The company also added exclusion criteria in the ATTR-CM MAGNITUDE event trial (“recent history of cardiovascular instability and those with ejection fraction <25% at the time of screening”). Intellia’s ATTRv-PN study ( MAGNITUDE-2 ) carries on as well following a separate January lift. Despite the apparent good news, NTLA has drifted lower. I think it’s because the safety event likely has lasting implications on nex-z’s clinical, regulatory, and commercial prospects. Author's Compilation These are the kinds of things that the market (aka “hive mind”) accounts for when adjusting stock valuations. Sometimes, this can leave the average retail investor a bit confused (“shouldn’t ‘good news’ make the stock go ...
alacatr/iStock via Getty Images Watsco Inc. ( WSO ) is an American distributor of air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration equipment, as well as related parts and supplies. Founded in 1956, Watsco is now a $17 billion (by market cap) distribution giant that employs approximately 7,000 people. This is the largest US distributor of HVAC/R equipment, along with related parts and supplies. Operati...
alacatr/iStock via Getty Images Watsco Inc. ( WSO ) is an American distributor of air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration equipment, as well as related parts and supplies. Founded in 1956, Watsco is now a $17 billion (by market cap) distribution giant that employs approximately 7,000 people. This is the largest US distributor of HVAC/R equipment, along with related parts and supplies. Operating out of nearly 700 locations across 40+ states, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, Watsco sells to contractors and dealers that serve the new construction and replacement markets. Watsco generates 70% of revenue from sales of equipment. Multiple joint ventures with Carrier Global Corp. ( CARR ) have given Watsco exclusive distribution rights for equipment from the US’s largest OEM. While the domestic housing market has been mostly frozen in recent years due to interest rates and other factors, limiting new construction opportunities, Watsco has multiple levers to pull over the long run to grow and produce fantastic results for investors. There’s first the organic growth, stemming from both new construction (which must pick up in coming years in order to close the supply-demand gap) and replacements. Regarding the former, the US is short millions of homes; as the deficit is reduced in coming years, all of those new homes will need what Watsco provides. Regarding the latter, if something is not working, it will be repaired or replaced in short order; no reasonable person is going to live without modern-day HVAC/R. In addition to organic growth, Watsco employs the serial acquirer model to slowly consolidate a fragmented industry. Watsco has spent the last 40 years adding bolt-on businesses, expanding capabilities, improving scale, and strengthening its lock on the industry it now leads. The company has acquired something like 70 businesses since 1989, creating a unified constellation of US distribution, all while maintaining a stellar balance sheet (which I’ll touch on later)....
Rasi Bhadramani/iStock via Getty Images Oil prices ( CO1:COM ), ( CL1:COM ) could soar to unprecedented levels if the Middle East conflict continues to escalate, according to Neil Atkinson, former Head of Oil at the International Energy Agency. Prices reached nearly $120 a barrel in early trading on Monday, and Atkinson warned that without a resolution, “the sky is the limit.” In an interview with...
Rasi Bhadramani/iStock via Getty Images Oil prices ( CO1:COM ), ( CL1:COM ) could soar to unprecedented levels if the Middle East conflict continues to escalate, according to Neil Atkinson, former Head of Oil at the International Energy Agency. Prices reached nearly $120 a barrel in early trading on Monday, and Atkinson warned that without a resolution, “the sky is the limit.” In an interview with CNBC, Atkinson outlined the mounting supply disruptions already reshaping the market. Iraq has shut in approximately 3M barrels a day of production, Kuwait may follow suit with its own cuts, and Saudi Arabia could be forced to reduce wellhead production within weeks as the kingdom runs out of storage capacity. “At that point, you know, if we’re still in a situation where this war is going on and people are shooting at each other, then the sky is the limit,” Atkinson said. “We cannot know because we have never been here before.” The former IEA official drew comparisons to past energy shocks—including the 1973 crisis, the 1979 Iranian revolution, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine—but emphasized that none match the potential scale of the current threat. Nearly 20M barrels of crude oil and products flow through the Strait of Hormuz daily, alongside massive liquefied natural gas exports from Qatar. “We have not yet seen the complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz for any—well, in fact, we’ve never seen a closure of the Strait of Hormuz, let alone for any significant period of time,” he noted. The ripple effects are already being felt by consumers worldwide. Heating oil prices are soaring, and gasoline prices at the pump are expected to increase dramatically. Atkinson warned that the aviation industry ( JETS ) will eventually pass higher fuel costs on to passengers, while discretionary oil use—particularly leisure driving—will be among the first areas where consumers cut back. The sustained high prices also raise the specter of “demand destruction,” a concern that weighs heav...
HMS Prince of Wales unlikely to head to the Middle East It comes after defence sources said the crew had been told they must be ready to leave in five days.
HMS Prince of Wales unlikely to head to the Middle East It comes after defence sources said the crew had been told they must be ready to leave in five days.
Anthropic (ANTH.PVT) sued the Department of Defense on Monday to block a ban on the company after the Pentagon labeled it a national security risk. The lawsuit is the latest development in an ongoing clash between the artificial intelligence startup and the Defense Department, following the US government's labeling of Anthropic as a "supply chain risk for national security." In a blog post, Anthro...
Anthropic (ANTH.PVT) sued the Department of Defense on Monday to block a ban on the company after the Pentagon labeled it a national security risk. The lawsuit is the latest development in an ongoing clash between the artificial intelligence startup and the Defense Department, following the US government's labeling of Anthropic as a "supply chain risk for national security." In a blog post, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei vowed to fight the action, which is usually reserved for foreign adversaries, writing that Anthropic has "no choice but to challenge it in court." In the post, Amodei also said he resumed negotiations with the Defense Department to put a military contract back on the table. OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) reached a deal with the government last week, which elicited pushback from employees and users, including the lab's hardware and robotics leader, Caitlin Kalinowski, who resigned over concerns about the deal with the Pentagon. Anthropic and OpenAI were also in focus after Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang's suggestion that the chipmaker's multibillion-dollar investments in the startups could be the last of their kind for a while. Nvidia has also reportedly halted production of China-bound H200 chips, the Financial Times reported, as regulatory efforts in Washington and Beijing have restricted imports to the Chinese market. And earlier this week, tech watchers were also treated to a slew of product announcements from Apple (AAPL). The product release list included a new low-cost MacBook Neo computer, an entry-level iPhone 17e smartphone, two new iPad Airs, and new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops with more powerful M5 chips. Follow along for the latest updates on the tech sector. LIVE 59 updates