Mizuho Financial Group Inc. plans to trim its stake in Orient Corp. , after an activist investor urged it to either consolidate or sell its holding in the credit card company. Japan’s third-largest lender will sell a 15% stake in Orico, Mizuho said in a statement on Friday. That will reduce its holding to about 33.8% from more than 48% currently. Activist fund Strategic Capital Inc. , which owns a...
Mizuho Financial Group Inc. plans to trim its stake in Orient Corp. , after an activist investor urged it to either consolidate or sell its holding in the credit card company. Japan’s third-largest lender will sell a 15% stake in Orico, Mizuho said in a statement on Friday. That will reduce its holding to about 33.8% from more than 48% currently. Activist fund Strategic Capital Inc. , which owns a small stake in Mizuho, had urged the bank to raise its stake in Orico and make it a wholly owned subsidiary, or alternatively divest completely. The fund owns almost 12% of Orico. Read More: Activist Calls on Mizuho to Make Orico a Wholly Owned Unit Strategic Capital has argued that Mizuho hasn’t been fully transparent about its role in relation to Tokyo-listed Orico. The bank has been acting as if it’s the parent of the consumer credit firm, such as by installing executives as presidents, which hurts shareholders’ interests, according to the activist fund.
Good morning . Keir Starmer braces for a UK leadership battle with Andy Burnham. Donald Trump and Xi Jinping hold their second day of talks. Russia presses university students to fill the ranks of drone pilots. Listen to the day’s top stories . Andy Burnham secured a path to challenge Keir Starmer for the UK prime minister’s job after the MP in Makerfield said he would step aside to make way for t...
Good morning . Keir Starmer braces for a UK leadership battle with Andy Burnham. Donald Trump and Xi Jinping hold their second day of talks. Russia presses university students to fill the ranks of drone pilots. Listen to the day’s top stories . Andy Burnham secured a path to challenge Keir Starmer for the UK prime minister’s job after the MP in Makerfield said he would step aside to make way for the Greater Manchester mayor. The pound tumbled . Read more about Burnham, dubbed by local media as “ King of the North ” and the favorite to unseat Starmer, and check out our Markets Today live blog for all the latest news and analysis relevant to UK assets. Donald Trump said he made “fantastic trade deals” with Xi Jinping as the US and Chinese leaders held a second day of talks in Beijing, though few concrete agreements emerged. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said he anticipates that China would commit to billions in American agricultural purchases. Trump told Fox News that Xi offered to help on Iran. Beijing urged the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Follow the latest developments in our live blog . Stocks tumbled and the Treasury two-year yield climbed to the highest level in 14 months as surging oil prices intensified fears of resurgent inflation , while investors began questioning whether the AI-fueled rally in equities has run too far. Tech roundup: Apple’s partnership with OpenAI has become so strained that the startup is preparing possible legal action, people familiar said. California proposed a new software tax that would affect vendors like Microsoft, Salesforce and Oracle. And a rally in Nvidia shares is vaulting the firm’s market capitalization toward $6 trillion, a valuation no company has ever reached . How the US Can Break China’s Rare Earths Grip Rare earths are the backbone of modern tech, and China has cornered the global market for them. As it uses that dominance as geopolitical leverage, can other countries break its grip? Watch the video Hung...
Before he even entered the race, Andy Burnham was the favourite to unseat Keir Starmer as Britain’s prime minister. The mayor of Greater Manchester led opinion polls and was the front runner among bookmakers and Polymarket. Late Thursday, the biggest obstacle fell away: Labour MP Josh Simons quit the House of Commons, clearing the way for Burnham to win a seat in Parliament, a requirement for the ...
Before he even entered the race, Andy Burnham was the favourite to unseat Keir Starmer as Britain’s prime minister. The mayor of Greater Manchester led opinion polls and was the front runner among bookmakers and Polymarket. Late Thursday, the biggest obstacle fell away: Labour MP Josh Simons quit the House of Commons, clearing the way for Burnham to win a seat in Parliament, a requirement for the top job. Arriving in London this week as Starmer’s government wobbled, Burnham has kept a low...
Dilok Klaisataporn/iStock via Getty Images By Eric Winograd With inflation rising, consumers are feeling the pinch and the Fed is weighing its options. The conflict in Iran choked the Strait of Hormuz, causing a widespread surge in energy prices. Now, several months after hostilities started, costlier energy is starting to show up in US inflation data. We expect price levels to heat up further, pu...
Dilok Klaisataporn/iStock via Getty Images By Eric Winograd With inflation rising, consumers are feeling the pinch and the Fed is weighing its options. The conflict in Iran choked the Strait of Hormuz, causing a widespread surge in energy prices. Now, several months after hostilities started, costlier energy is starting to show up in US inflation data. We expect price levels to heat up further, putting further strain on household budgets and complicating the Federal Reserve’s policy options. Based on the latest readings, US inflation is rising at the headline level and in other key components ( Display ). The year-over-year rate of change in the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) has risen from 2.4% in February to 3.8% in April, accelerating by almost 1.5 percentage points. Unless oil prices fall sharply—and soon—we expect headline inflation to continue rising. Core CPI, which omits volatile food and energy prices, has accelerated by roughly 0.3 percentage points. It tends to move more slowly than headline inflation but is more persistent. We think there’s more to come here. US Inflation Rates Have Started to Rise Consumer Price Index and Core CPI, Year-over-Year Percent Change Historical analysis does not guarantee future results. Through April 30, 2026 (Source: Bloomberg and AllianceBernstein (AB)) The Ripple Effects of Higher Energy Prices on Consumers Households are starting to feel the pinch of higher price levels, and the risks of slower economic growth are mounting. Every dollar a family pumps into its gas tank is a dollar not spent on something with a higher multiplier effect on the rest of the US economy. A purchase with this bigger ripple effect, whether it’s a trip to a restaurant or a home-improvement job, helps magnify economic activity. With inflation eroding the purchasing power of income, many households may feel the need to pull back on spending in the months ahead. We don’t expect enough of a retreat to cause a recession, but the consumer is still...
da-kuk/iStock via Getty Images To Our Partners Tourlite Fund, LP returned 16.9% for the First Quarter of 2026. Since inception, the Fund has delivered annualized returns of 11.9%, compared to 11.2% for the S&P 500 and 6.3% for the Russell 2000. ¹,² Our historical correlation to the indexes are -20% and -12%, respectively. Q1 2026 Annualized Return ³ Tourlite 16.9% 11.9% S&P 500 (4.4%) 11.2% Russel...
da-kuk/iStock via Getty Images To Our Partners Tourlite Fund, LP returned 16.9% for the First Quarter of 2026. Since inception, the Fund has delivered annualized returns of 11.9%, compared to 11.2% for the S&P 500 and 6.3% for the Russell 2000. ¹,² Our historical correlation to the indexes are -20% and -12%, respectively. Q1 2026 Annualized Return ³ Tourlite 16.9% 11.9% S&P 500 (4.4%) 11.2% Russell 2000 0.9% 6.3% Click to enlarge Gross Contribution & Average Portfolio Exposures Q1 2026 Gross P&LQ1 2026 Avg. DollarExposure Avg. Beta-Adj.Exposure Longs 13.7% 137% 156% Shorts 9.5% (102%) (113%) Indexes / Hedges ⁴ (1.3%) (2%) (1%) Gross Contribution 21.9% Gross: 242% Gross: 270% Net: 33% Net: 43% Click to enlarge ¹ Any net returns presented herein reflect the returns of the Fund assuming an investor “since inception”, with no subsequent capital contributions or withdrawals. These returns are not necessarily indicative of your net returns in the Fund, and you should follow-up with Tourlite if you have any questions about the returns presented herein ² Bloomberg Total Return ³ Annualized Return from Fund inception in April 2022 ⁴ Includes currency hedges and other trading costs. Borrow cost included in short return Click to enlarge Performance Commentary March concluded our fourth full year since launching in April 2022. At the fund's inception, we defined our primary objective: achieve above market, risk-adjusted returns over the course of a cycle and doing so with low correlation to equity markets and economic cycles. Since then, the fund generated an annualized net return of 11.9%, slightly outperforming the S&P 500 and nearly doubling the return of the Russell 2000. Critically, we achieved this performance with negative beta and negative correlation to both benchmarks. As illustrated in the following chart, the fund has demonstrated resilience and capital preservation during periods of market volatility. As we enter our fifth year, we remain excited for the opportunit...
Wendy's (NASDAQ: WEN) is hoping a strategic move into China will reignite the brand that has struggled mightily in the U.S. in recent years. The Dublin, Ohio-based burger chain announced its first-quarter results on May 8, and the numbers were not good. Global sales fell 5.5% in the first quarter, largely driven by weak U.S. restaurant performance, which was down 7.8%. This is an acceleration of t...
Wendy's (NASDAQ: WEN) is hoping a strategic move into China will reignite the brand that has struggled mightily in the U.S. in recent years. The Dublin, Ohio-based burger chain announced its first-quarter results on May 8, and the numbers were not good. Global sales fell 5.5% in the first quarter, largely driven by weak U.S. restaurant performance, which was down 7.8%. This is an acceleration of the brand's weakening sales performance compared to the same period last year. Wendy's has closed more than 200 locations in the U.S. in the past year. However bad it may be at home, Wendy's recently signed a new agreement with China to open up to 1,000 restaurants over the next decade. This is a bold move for the company, but it isn't unheard of, as competitors such as McDonald's and Starbucks already have established footprints in China. Continue reading
Torsten Asmus/iStock via Getty Images My last thesis was on HomesToLife Ltd. ( HTLM ) pointed at an unattractive business, which I suggested was a Strong Sell. Since then, annual financial statements have been released, a strategic investment has been made, and changes have transpired in the operating environment. These shifts warrant a revisit of the investment analysis. The company is a global f...
Torsten Asmus/iStock via Getty Images My last thesis was on HomesToLife Ltd. ( HTLM ) pointed at an unattractive business, which I suggested was a Strong Sell. Since then, annual financial statements have been released, a strategic investment has been made, and changes have transpired in the operating environment. These shifts warrant a revisit of the investment analysis. The company is a global furniture exporter and retailer subdivided into three key divisions, namely export, leather trading and consumer retail. I have previously noted that key acquisitions in HTL Marketing strengthened some aspects of the business. In the past financial year, these acquisitions have proved impactful, with some positive changes made to total annual revenues and turnover. Despite all of it, the case for a Strong Sell has only grown more coherent. Financials show very encouraging signs The financial highlights reveal exports as HTLM’s revenue earner , contributing 93% of revenue; leather contributes 5.5%, and retail contributes the balance. For the 2025 financial year, much of the sales are drawn from Europe (59.7%), followed by Asia Pacific (26.9%) and lastly North America (13.4%). Source: Form 20-F filing The positive returns in income and profit are further supported by improvements noted in free cash flow. As of December 31, 2025, free cash flow (FCF) amounted to $22.76 million , which is a substantial increase from the same period in 2024, when it amounted to -$0.24 million. This marks a meaningful operational inflection and not just marginal improvement. The significance lies less in the headline figure than in what it implies about the business's underlying cash conversion. For a company operating in a pressured consumer and housing-linked environment, positive FCF at this scale points to improved inventory discipline, better working-capital management, and a healthier relationship between reported earnings and actual cash realisation. It also reduces dependence on external f...
赶在Google I/O大会前，谷歌于5月13日凌晨召开了Android 17的预热会。出乎意料的是，这场活动上谷歌毫无征兆地公布了全新产品系列——安卓电脑。不同于Chromebook，安卓电脑的定位偏高端，并且把生产力作为了核心卖点。谷歌已经不满足于入门市场，要在上网本之外的PC领域抢占更多的地盘。 AI PC的概念最近几年很火，无数PC芯片和终端厂商都在强调自家产品的AI特性，不厌其烦地一遍又...
"Bloomberg: The Asia Trade" brings you everything you need to know to get ahead as the trading day begins in Asia. Bloomberg TV is live from Beijing and Tokyo with Haidi Stroud-Watts and Shery Ahn, getting insight and analysis from newsmakers and industry leaders on the biggest stories shaping global markets. (Source: Bloomberg)
"Bloomberg: The Asia Trade" brings you everything you need to know to get ahead as the trading day begins in Asia. Bloomberg TV is live from Beijing and Tokyo with Haidi Stroud-Watts and Shery Ahn, getting insight and analysis from newsmakers and industry leaders on the biggest stories shaping global markets. (Source: Bloomberg)