We spill the tea on the supermarket bags worth your cuppa – and which should be left to stew • The best (and worst) supermarket coffee My grandma would turn in her grave if she knew I tested these teabags by brewing them in a cup, but that’s how I drink tea mostly. Or at least I did until I met tea specialist Matt Writson , who helped me test today’s teas with the industry-standard cupping process and, afterwards, introduced me to some mind-blowing whole-leaf teas. We studied the appearance and aroma of the wet leaves in an observation bowl, then the colour and clarity of the tea itself, before supping it from small bowls and aerating the tea to maximise its surface area. The bags I tested ranged from 2p to 34p a pop, but when you think about the quality and sourcing of the higher-priced teas, even they are incredible value. We scored them on flavour, structure and balance, plus certification, trading standards and sourcing. I also awarded points to plastic-free bags – it seems the industry is finally responding to the uproar against microplastics, though some producers need to catch up and work without the polypropylene glue that’s still often used to seal teabags. Continue reading...

The much-loved football sticker album is to be discontinued after 2030. Guardian writers recall their thrills and frustrations With this summer’s World Cup already mired in controversy over politicisation , potential travel bans and rows over ticket prices , fans were dealt another piece of sad news this week: the tournament’s much-loved Panini sticker album will be discontinued after 2030. Guardian writers recall their Panini memories from years gone by. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Tim Grattan-Kane says similar crimes still happening with rise of drink spiking in overstretched system as ITV releases drama on case The police officer in charge of solving the case of the “black-cab rapist” John Worboys says similar crimes could still be happening today as the criminal justice system is “close to exploding”. Tim Grattan-Kane was the senior investigating officer of the team who arrested Worboys in 2008 after they pieced together the accounts of numerous women who had reported being given drugged champagne by a London taxi driver, who then assaulted them. Continue reading...

Soaring oil prices have left many Americans with higher costs and fewer options for travel amid the Iran war Tell us: have your holiday plans changed in light of recent world events? Chelsea Blackmore saves up every year for an annual vacation with her 58-year-old mother. This year, after landing an especially good deal, they made plans to embark on a Disney cruise from Orlando. To keep costs low, she bought the least expensive plane tickets she could find: a $500 round trip fare on Spirit Airlines. Continue reading...

Nvidia and Boeing lead five Dow stocks to watch near buy points this week. Nvidia stock and its peers have rallied in a soaring stock market, with earnings out of the way for some of these names but not for others. Walmart, Goldman Sachs and UnitedHealth also make the cut.

On a recent episode of We Study Billionaires (TIP813), host Trey Lockerbie laid out a bull case for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s GitHub acquisition. “$7.5 billion for the world’s most dominant coding platform, and which is also now the world’s most adopted AI coding tool, and then also the primary channel through which Microsoft acquires developers who ... How Microsoft Pulled off ‘One of the Best Tech Acquisitions of the Last Decade’

內地一線城市上月二手樓市場交投活躍，其中上海二手樓成交量創十年來同期新高。 在剛過去的「五一」假期，上海不少地產中介都忙於帶客人參觀二手樓盤。有放盤的業主稱，希望改善生活空間，於是賣樓。 一名業主表示：「現在我們主要是置換吧，把現在的賣了，再買我們需要的，因為我們年紀大了，最好換一個有電梯的房。」 4月份，上海二手樓成交量超過2.8萬套，按年升兩成二，創近十年來同期最高，單日最高成交宗數亦達到1,600多宗，當中以細價樓最受歡迎。 上海地產代理高永衛稱：「目前基本上在一個月左右，稍微有性價比的房子都能夠成交掉，200萬元到300萬元這樣的老房子，或者是小兩房，成交得更多一點，因為大多數都是剛需，純剛需客戶來買。」 北京的二手樓市場同樣活躍，上月成交量達到近1.8萬宗，創下近五年來同期最高。 有學者認為，近期一線城市二手樓成交熾熱，反映市場向好發展，又指上一季度經濟數據有良好表現，穩定市場預期，在眾多利好消息下，今個月樓市表現有望繼續向好。

內地一線城市上月二手樓市場交投活躍，其中上海二手樓成交量創十年來同期新高。 在剛過去的「五一」假期，上海不少地產中介都忙於帶客人參觀二手樓盤。有放盤的業主稱，希望改善生活空間，於是賣樓。 一名業主表示：「現在我們主要是置換吧，把現在的賣了，再買我們需要的，因為我們年紀大了，最好換一個有電梯的房。」 4月份，上海二手樓成交量超過2.8萬套，按年升兩成二，創近十年來同期最高，單日最高成交宗數亦達到1,600多宗，當中以細價樓最受歡迎。 上海地產代理高永衛稱：「目前基本上在一個月左右，稍微有性價比的房子都能夠成交掉，200萬元到300萬元這樣的老房子，或者是小兩房，成交得更多一點，因為大多數都是剛需，純剛需客戶來買。」 北京的二手樓市場同樣活躍，上月成交量達到近1.8萬宗，創下近五年來同期最高。 有學者認為，近期一線城市二手樓成交熾熱，反映市場向好發展，又指上一季度經濟數據有良好表現，穩定市場預期，在眾多利好消息下，今個月樓市表現有望繼續向好。

On Animal Spirits Podcast Episode 463, Michael Batnick zeroed in on something more revealing than the doom-laden statistics a hedge fund manager had just rolled out. The manager cited stock market cap to GDP at 252% versus 65% in 1929 and 170% in 2000, and warned that “the 10-year forward return is negative when you ... Hedge Fund Manager Admits, “My Personality Won’t Allow Me” to Invest Like Buffett

The AI semiconductor trade has a passport, and lately it has been stamped more often in Seoul than in San Jose. On a recent Reuters Morning Bid podcast segment titled Chip stock boom, the host pushed back on the assumption that the chip rally is a Wall Street phenomenon, pointing to Korea’s market surge as ... This Asian Stock Market Is up 75% This Year: ‘The Chip Boom Isn’t a Wall Street Story’

The UK will deploy one of its warships to the Middle East as part of planning for a European-led mission to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz once there’s a stable ceasefire. HMS Dragon, a Type-45 warship capable of destroying guided missiles, is likely to form part of the UK’s offer for the defensive naval mission, designed to reassure commercial ships attempting to pass through the waterway. Such a mission will only begin once sustained ceasefire or peace deal is agreed to. “The pre-positioning of HMS Dragon is part of prudent planning that will ensure that the UK is ready, as part of a multinational coalition jointly led by the UK and France, to secure the Strait, when conditions allow,” a spokesperson for the UK Ministry of Defence said. The move comes as Iran weighs a new proposal from the US to end the war, which has been going on for 10 weeks. The ship has just completed weapons system testing off the coast of Crete and was deployed to help defend Cyprus at the start of the conflict. More than 40 nations are participating in planning for the UK-France military mission, with another meeting due next week. A number of the countries are expected to offer de-mining, escorting and air policing capabilities. France recently announced it had moved its Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Red Sea in a move aimed at signaling that the coalition stood ready to secure the strait. US Awaits Iranian Response After Hormuz Clashes Strain Ceasefire Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically flows, after the war erupted with US and Israeli strikes in late February. The US has since imposed a naval blockade. Despite a ceasefire between the pair, there have been clashes this week in the strait, with US forces carrying out air strikes on two empty Iranian oil tankers. They were trying to break the blockade and enter one of the country’s ports, US Central Command said on Friday.

China is sending a new kind of explorer to the moon – with a humanoid upper body and four wheels. The lunar rover, developed by a team led by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), is designed to act as an AI-powered porter for the Chang’e-8 mission, scheduled for 2029. The 100kg (220lbs) robot will transport, deploy and install instruments and sensors at their designated lunar locations after the Chang’e-8 probe lands. It is also tasked with collecting samples of the moon’s...

In this article COF Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Used cars are offered for sale at a dealership on July 11, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson | Getty Images The head of one of the nation's largest auto finance lenders isn't overly concerned about rising consumer automotive debt and inflated used car prices leading to longer loans on vehicle purchases. His main reasoning? The percentage of income consumers are spending on their vehicles has remained relatively flat compared with 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic led to inflated pricing as demand surged but inventories stayed low. "If I just told you, 'Car prices going up, interest rates going up, insurance prices going up,' you would say, 'You know what, consumers must be paying more as a ratio to the income,'" Capital One Auto President Sanjiv Yajnik told CNBC. "However, if you look at every quintile of salary and earnings of people, the payment-to-income ratio has remained fairly flat." While Capital One reports median monthly car ownership payments have jumped from $390 to $525 since 2019, data provided exclusively to CNBC from its automotive unit suggest that vehicle costs have stayed relatively stable compared with income. That's because, overall, the payment-to-income ratio has remained flat at approximately 10% since 2019, according to the automotive arm of the American bank. Capital One Auto found 80% of car purchasers who finance a vehicle are below the generally recognized payment to income threshold of 15%. "The consumer is being cautious. They're being responsible. This is a much healthier way to do things than the alternative, because it's not a discretionary spend," said Yajnik, referring to consumers prioritizing vehicle payments for transportation, including work. To get to that goal, however, more consumers are taking on longer loans to keep payments affordable. The auto finance veteran's view contrasts with others in the industry who view the longer term loans as a detrim...

In this article CRWV Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Nvidia founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, speaks during the 29th annual Milken Institute Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on May 4, 2026. Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images Nvidia stepped on the gas last year, putting cash into companies up and down the AI infrastructure stack and helping to fund businesses that could turn around and buy the chipmaker's technology. It's been a lucrative endeavor, as the company's $5 billion bet on Intel is now worth over $25 billion, a historic return in a matter of months. In 2026, the pace of deals has kicked into overdrive, with Nvidia already topping $40 billion in commitments and expanding its portfolio to include more public equities. This week alone Nvidia forged an agreement with data center operator IREN , giving it the right to invest up to $2.1 billion in the company, a day after Nvidia struck a pact with Corning , allowing it to invest up to $3.2 billion in the 175-year-old glass maker. Shares of IREN and Corning popped on the announcements. Nvidia has been the biggest winner of the artificial intelligence boom, producing the graphics processing units required to train AI models and run large workloads. The global scramble to secure GPUs has lifted Nvidia's stock by more than 11-fold in four years, propelling the company to a roughly $5.2 trillion market cap and making it the most valuable business in the world. To help the company grow its dominance beyond chips, Nvidia is financing the entire AI supply chain, ensuring it runs on Nvidia hardware and that there's sufficient capacity to meet demand. But there's growing concern in some corners of AI that Nvidia — like cloud providers Google and Amazon — is investing in other companies as a way to fuel its own growth. Nvidia, which generated $97 billion in free cash flow last fiscal year, is backing some of the very companies that buy its chips and, in some cases, is lea...

Sundry Photography/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Co-authored by Kody's Dividends How often do you shop sales? For some, they are amazing at finding goods on sale or at discounted prices. I rarely have the willingness to wait for a sale if I have a product that I want and have plans for. My wife, on the other hand, who co-owns and co-runs our Seeking Alpha Investment Group Dividend Kings, has this ability and skill locked down. Somehow, she always gets exactly what she's looking for on sale. I'm always amazed at her ability. When it comes to the market, investors are routinely reminded to "buy low and sell high." Yet if we're honest with ourselves, rarely is this done. When one recommends exiting an overpriced position, investors will decline due to having a low cost basis, for example, and accept poor returns in the name of not selling. Likewise, investors will flock to an investment that has risen dramatically due to FOMO (fear of missing out), and while they provide additional returns to the original buyers, they rarely see any for themselves. Other investors don't care about the value of a holding so long as it pays a high enough yield and that yield is fully covered. It can lead to poor capital returns in the hunt for income, yet they are happy in the midst of their dividends. I can respect those investors for holding to what matters to them in the end, even if it means accepting sub-par returns on the capital side of the equation. A company that's "on sale" is given the side eye because something must be wrong when, at times, the market is simply inefficient in the short term. Today, I want to look at a great company that is on sale. Let's dive in! Core Franchises Plus Exact Sciences = Vigorous Growth Potential ABT Q1 2026 Earnings Infographic Leading the way for Abbott Laboratories ( ABT ) is its Medical Devices segment, followed by its Diagnostics segment (now shored up even further by the acquisition of Exact Sciences in March ), Nutrition segment, and E...

John Scott/DigitalVision via Getty Images Against some of my own expectations , First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. ( FWRG ) managed to put up another quarter with positive same-store sales and a bit of margin expansion. Fair enough. I've got to give them credit for that. The macro backdrop wasn’t nearly as rough as I thought it would be back when I wrote my last piece in February either. Funny enough, Q4 FY 2025 ended up being the tougher stretch compared to Q1 FY 2026, even with a weak January and March and higher fuel prices hanging around. And you know what’s probably the most interesting part? Consumer Confidence actually picked up in April, with Millennials and Zoomers boosting it. The Conference Board Of course, with the Strait of Hormuz closed longer, the average American's budget will be tighter, and money will be cut from discretionary occasions like restaurants. That’s why I still see some macro pressure building over the medium term. And even though First Watch has a more upscale customer base compared to most casual dining chains, the thesis here still has a few weak spots: First Watch's same-store sales growth is bulk check-driven. In an environment where casual dining chains like BJ's Restaurants ( BJRI ), Chili's ( EAT ), and even Applebee's ( DIN ) are offering prix fixe promotions, remaining premium-focused is a double-edged sword. The P/E ratio has fallen from ~100x to just over 50x. It's still quite expensive for fast-growing restaurant chains in a somewhat slow macro backdrop. So, I suspect the market has already priced in the growth story (especially the double-digit opening growth). I still find the day-only model extremely difficult to scale, and it hinders the return on investment for the units in a way. I know it's their identity, but operationally speaking, limiting demand to only the first half of the day seems suboptimal to me. Breakfast and brunch are, and always have been, occasions that can be skipped and are most affected when discret...

janiecbros/iStock via Getty Images In 2026, shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. ( ASTS ) have barely rewarded investors. The stock is up by under 1.0% at the time of writing this article. That flat return hid the trading range for ASTS stock, which traded in the low $60s to over $120 at the start of this year. Ahead of its quarterly earnings report on Monday, May 11 , ASTS stock gained over 10% on Friday. What are the space-based cellular broadband network provider’s prospects ahead of the results? AST’s Temporary Stock Slump Explained On April 20, AST shares fell by around 15%. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket did not place its satellite into its intended orbit . Its payload failed to reach its planned orbit . Blue Origin said that it entered an off-nominal orbit. That meant that the flight path deviated from the planned trajectory. Since the AST BlueBird 7 satellite entered a lower-than-planned orbit, the company’s satellite needed to de-orbit. In my last report posted last October, I identified a delayed launch as a risk factor . The off-nominal orbit is an event whose risk factor played out. That resulted in shares returning 10.54%, barely beating the S&P 500’s ( SP500 ) return of 10.16%. Opportunities Stock markets priced in the setback from AST using Blue Origin’s New Glenn for the delivery. When the company reports quarterly results, executives might discuss the impact of the development. It is using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 in mid-2026 . Costs, future scheduling, and mission success probabilities are some of the things that investors will focus on. AST has 32 next-generation satellites that it plans to launch this year. Any confirmation that the schedule will continue as planned would give shares a lift. On April 22, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) approved AST’s request to change its license . It may launch and run its non-geostationary orbit satellite system in low Earth orbit. EPS surprise chart (AST) In the slide above from AST’s presentation deck are t...

Getty Images Purpose I look at the high frequency weekly indicators because while they can be very noisy, they provide a good nowcast of the economy, and will telegraph the maintenance or change in the economy well before monthly or quarterly data is available. They are also an excellent way to "mark your beliefs to market." In general, I go in order of long leading indicators, then short leading indicators, then coincident indicators. A Note on Methodology Data is presented in a "just the facts, ma'am" format with a minimum of commentary so that bias is minimized. Where relevant, I include 12-month highs and lows in the data in parentheses to the right. All data taken from St. Louis FRED unless otherwise linked. A few items (e.g., Financial Conditions indexes, regional Fed indexes, stock prices, the yield curve) have their own metrics based on long-term studies of their behavior. Where data is seasonally adjusted, generally it is scored positively if it is within the top 1/3 of that range, negative in the bottom 1/3, and neutral in between. Where it is not seasonally adjusted, and there are seasonal issues, waiting for the YoY change to change sign will lag the turning point. Thus I make use of a convention: data is scored neutral if it is less than 1/2 as positive/negative as at its 12-month extreme. With long leading indicators, which by definition turn at least 12 months before a turning point in the economy as a whole, there is an additional rule: data is automatically negative if, during an expansion, it has not made a new peak in the past year, with the sole exception that it is scored neutral if it is moving in the right direction and is close to making a new high. For all series where a graph is available, I have provided a link to where the relevant graph can be found. Recap of Monthly Reports April data included a mixed but generally positive employment report, as the number of jobs increased, the unemployment rate remained steady, but underemployment and...

Luis Alvarez/DigitalVision via Getty Images Overview Business development companies continue to face headwinds in this higher interest rate environment. Unfortunately, PennantPark Investment ( PNNT ) appears to be one of the BDCs hit the hardest. The total return is substantially underperforming against the rest of the market and I worry that there are very little signs of improvement. PNNT recently reported its Q2 earnings so I wanted to revisit the BDC to reassess its performance, outlook, and current valuation. PNNT's discount to NAV valuation has deepened and as much as I would like to start accumulating here, I still believe that the risks outweigh the benefits. Looking at the performance over the last twelve months, we can see that PNNT's share price has declined by about 28.2%. Even when including all distributions that were paid out to investors, the total return sits at a loss of nearly 12.4% over the same time frame. PNNT now offers a dividend yield of about 20%, but this is a bit misleading because it takes supplemental distributions into account. Once these supplementals end, the actual dividend yield will land somewhere around ~10%. Even after the recent dividend cut, the actual coverage is a bit thin. So income investors should still consider there are additional downside risks here. Data by YCharts When I previously covered PNNT, I issued a sell rating due to the poor earnings and distribution coverage. Since then, the share price has fallen by more than 14% and continues to underperform against the S&P 500. Even with the distribution cut, I don't think we will see a reversal in the direction of its NAV anytime soon. PNNT continues to struggle to allocate capital into new investments that can improve its baseline earnings. In a scenario where interest rates remain high, I think this can cause further deterioration within PNNT's portfolio. Q2 Earnings Reveals More Losses According to the latest portfolio overview , PNNT has total assets of $1.2B that a...

LanaStock/iStock via Getty Images The market remains right at all-time highs despite the continued effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. First quarter earnings growth has been more than robust, powered to a large degree by the huge surges of profit and revenue growth at chipmakers like Intel ( INTC ), Micron ( MU ), NVIDIA Corporation ( NVDA ), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. ( AMD ), and T exas Instruments Incorporated ( TXN ) as well as AI-related concerns like Datadog, Inc. ( DDOG ) . SOX Price Chart (Seeking Alpha) Two things should be noted here. First, this rally is extremely top-heavy. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ( SOX ) is up roughly 60% from its March 30th lows. It is important to also note that only one month of the impacts from the latest conflict in the Middle East was included in first quarter results. These negative effects will be much more apparent in Q2 numbers. In this article, I highlight five numbers the markets are largely ignoring at the moment. However, prudent investors should have these concerning trends fully on their radar. #1 - 41% BofA, Bloomberg, Global Financial Data - May 2026 This is the market capitalization of the top ten largest stocks in the current equity market. Outside Walmart ( WMT ) , these companies are all riding the AI Revolution. And this level is comparable to previous concentration peaks in the market just before equity bubbles have popped in the past. StockTitan.Net - May 2025 As mentioned in the opening narrative, revenue and earnings growth in the market is primarily being driven by AI-related names. The huge surge in tech spending to build out AI infrastructure is also the key driver of the U.S. economy, accounting for roughly 70% of Q1's two percent GDP growth. ZeroHedge And this is happening even as free cash flow at the major hyperscalers is dramatically falling even as revenues continue to climb at a solid clip. Due to the drop in free cash flow and other factors, there is an increase in the utilizat...

Welcome to the Wall Street Week newsletter, bringing you stories of capitalism about things you need to know, but even more things you need to think about. I’m David Westin , and this week we told the story behind the former prime minister of New Zealand moving her family to Australia and why stablecoin has become a popular way to transfer money in Asia. If you’re not yet a subscriber, sign up here for this newsletter. Greener Pastures Away From Home Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern got a good deal of attention when she announced earlier this year that she’d be moving her family to Australia. She’s not the only one; record numbers of New Zealanders are leaving the country. And New Zealand isn’t the only nation losing people to emigration, with other countries periodically experiencing “brain drain.” Gillian Tett, provost of King’s College Cambridge and longtime Financial Times columnist, says the free flow of intellectual capital across borders is “absolutely crucial if you want to keep ideas flowing for the benefit of everyone and spark new ones.” But if the flow of intellectual capital tends to go in one direction and lasts over time, it raises questions about the economic attraction of a particular country for the topflight talent it needs. That lack of economic dynamism and opportunity is what some former New Zealanders point to as reason enough for them to leave. The Best Use for Stablecoin Despite all the talk about cryptocurrencies, some have continued to question the use case. What can it do better than the banking system already does? Sopnendu Mohanty, who helped set up the regulatory structure for stablecoins in Singapore, says there’s one particular area of the global financial system that could use the help: “The single biggest unsolved challenge in the world of payment is the cross-border payments. In that particular use case. A stablecoin is a great product.” Stablecoin is becoming an increasingly popular way to transfer money from the ...

Shares of small-cap tech stocks have outperformed their large-cap peers by an extreme magnitude.

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 127, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, my Scorpion challenges your Sub-Zero to a duel, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage .) This week, I've been reading about Hasan Piker and lines and David Sacks and sleep learning , catching up on Andor (for me) and Young Jedi Adventures (for my toddler), poring over thousands of new Artemis II photos , listening to many hours of possibly the longest YouTube video ever , taking more walks thanks to Pedometer++ 8.0 , losing my mind during every second of every Arsenal match , and spendi … Read the full story at The Verge.

RGB LED technology might be everyone’s focus for TV tech in 2026, but quantum-dot TVs still might be the better choice. | Photo by John Higgins / The Verge At the Los Angeles Convention Center, two 85-inch TVs sat side by side inside the Nanosys meeting room at Display Week - a yearly business-to-business convention focusing on the technology that goes into displays of all types. One TV was a mini-LED panel with super quantum dots, and the other was an RGB LED - this year's hottest TV trend. Both TVs were showing the same content at the same time to highlight the differences between the two technologies - or more specifically, to show the potential failings of RGB LED backlights when compared to super quantum dot (SQD), which uses blue LEDs for the backlight. I should probably mention that Nan … Read the full story at The Verge.

People lined up for blocks and waited for hours to get into the E11even club in Miami on Wednesday night , with several men talking excitedly about the lap dances they planned to get inside. Yet this wasn’t the typical crowd of bachelors normally found at establishments like these. It was the official after-party of Consensus , one of the cryptocurrency industry’s largest conferences. It seems the more things change in crypto, the more they stay the same: This was the same club that hosted an event after another crypto conference in 2018 , triggering a backlash that led to apologies from the gathering’s organizer and main sponsor. “Some have said there was a ‘corporate sheen’ on this year’s Consensus Miami event. But if that sheen is just covering up the speculative, irresponsible, degenerate culture that everyone hoped crypto was maturing out of post-FTX and other catastrophes, then TradFi will happily consume the entire industry,” Amanda Wick , a former federal prosecutor turned crypto consultant, told Bloomberg. “As a gender equality advocate, the event was horrifying.” The celebratory mood inside E11even — where pole dancers gyrated to club music and servers in lingerie attended to guests — marked a stark contrast to the sentiment in the stock market toward the myriad of public companies that had listed shares on Wall Street in hopes of cashing in on the embrace of crypto by the Trump administration. A group of more than 130 digital asset treasuries, which are basically public companies that exist for the purpose of buying crypto tokens, have posted a median decline of 48% over the past year after many previously posted huge gains. Eye-popping valuations commanded by the likes of Coinbase Global Inc. and Bitcoin treasury company Strategy Inc. have dissipated. Circle Internet Group Inc. , the stablecoin company that more than doubled on the first day of trading following its IPO last year, has lost more than 57% from its peak. And that leads to another thing that...

The average Social Security check sits at a record high, but most seniors still aren't happy with what they're getting. Many believe that the program needs larger cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) to help checks better keep pace with inflation, with nearly one-third of seniors asking for a benefit boost of 10% or more, according to The Motley Fool's recent research on beneficiaries' attitudes toward the latest COLA . Unfortunately, benefits might start moving in the wrong direction very soon. A recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report reveals that we're just six years away from a 7% benefit cut, with even greater cuts looming on the horizon. Here's what that means for you if you're on Social Security or hope to claim checks someday. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading

Tesla Inc. stock (US88160R1014): Q1 2026 earnings beat but shares dip on growth concerns AD HOC NEWS

国务院总理李强5月9日主持召开国务院常务会议，学习贯彻习近平总书记关于当前经济形势和经济工作的重要讲话、在加强基础研究座谈会上的重要讲话精神。 会议指出，要切实把思想和行动统一到党中央对形势的科学判断上来，进一步增强信心，在应对变局中把握机遇，在攻坚克难中推动发展，巩固拓展经济稳中向好势头，努力实现“十五五”良好开局。宏观政策要在用好、用足上下功夫，坚持靠前发力，不断提升实施效能。做强国内大循环要在供需协同、联动升级上求突破，落实和完善服务业扩能提质举措，加强水网、新型电网、算力网、新一代通信网、城市地下管网、物流网等规划建设。民生保障要在稳就业、兜底线上多发力，做好教育、医疗、托育、“三农”等工作。要以更大力度、更实举措加强基础研究，把基础研究工作摆上重要日程，结合国家急迫需要和长远需求，明确主攻方向和重点领域，多措并举加大投入力度，注重营造良好科研生态。要有力有效应对风险挑战，持续推进房地产、地方政府债务、中小金融机构等领域风险化解，紧盯压实各方安全生产责任，坚决遏制重特大事故发生。 会议听取全国综合交通运输体系建设情况汇报。会议指出，要统筹推进交通基础设施建设，坚持一体布局、系统集成，切实用好存量资源、做优增量供给。要提升管理服务水平，围绕人享其行、物畅其流，营造更加便捷的出行环境，促进货运降本提质增效。要深化改革创新，建设统一开放的交通运输市场，积极推动新技术赋能应用，安全有序发展交通运输新业态，培育更多新的增长点。 会议研究推进地方政府债务风险化解有关工作。会议指出，一揽子化债方案部署实施以来，债务风险化解工作取得明显成效。要继续聚焦重点领域和薄弱环节，完善支持化债政策，增强地方自主偿债能力，确保如期完成化债任务。要建立健全长效机制，坚决防范新增隐性债务。 会议审议通过《中华人民共和国矿产资源法实施条例（草案）》。会议指出，要依法加强矿产资源全链条管理，科学确定战略性矿产资源目录，完善资源储备和应急制度，全面提高矿产资源安全保障水平。 会议还研究了其他事项。

4kodiak/E+ via Getty Images Vaalco Energy ( EGY ) had long planned for the current year by obtaining a decent sized borrowing option. This company had long kept a sizable cash balance. But the FPSO project covered in the last article and before required a fair amount of money for repairs and upgrades. Plus, production would not happen until that FPSO returned to the field (which is now happening). But then the company got very lucky. I have often found that good management puts itself to be in a position to be lucky. In this case the drilling campaign in Gabon yielded two good wells so far that will add considerable production to the second quarter. Plus, now the FPSO is back in the field at Côte d'Ivoire. Production from that FPSO is expected to begin before the second quarter ends. This will raise the third quarter production significantly even if no more wells in the drilling campaign are successful. Additionally, the rise in commodity prices makes whatever production is sold more valuable even considering there is a hedging program. What helps here is that management is raising guidance (which likely means the additional barrels are unhedged at a time when commodity prices are high). That extra cash from high commodity prices is extremely helpful at a time when big bills are coming due for the FPSO refurbishment and upgrade. Between this and catching up the Egyptian receivables, there is likely at least $100 million of extra cash flow at a time when the company needed to borrow money to make ends meet. As a result, the company is very likely to come out of this expensive period in much better shape than anticipated. Note that the $100 million extra has a wide range of estimates depending upon who you ask and how it is measured. These projects, including the drilling campaign were justified at lower commodity prices. Higher commodity prices make the whole situation that much more profitable in the long-run. Free Cash Flow The latest calculation of free cash flow ...

据美国广播公司（ABC）、《纽约时报》等媒体报道，根据美国疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）消息，公主邮轮公司旗下的“加勒比公主”号邮轮近日暴发诺如病毒疫情，截至目前已有102名乘客和13名船员，共计115人出现腹泻、呕吐等症状。 美国广播公司称，美国疾病控制与预防中心于5月7日接获通报，当时该邮轮正处于4月28日至5月11日的航程中。根据数据，该游轮共有3116名乘客和1131名船员。 报道称，该邮轮目前位于西北大西洋，正驶往多米尼加共和国的普拉塔港，预计5月11日抵达佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔港。美国疾病控制与预防中心称，为应对此次疫情，船上已加强清洁消毒、隔离病患并采集粪便样本检测。 公主邮轮公司发表声明说：“‘加勒比公主’号将于5月11日抵达卡纳维拉尔港，在展开下一个航程前将进行全面的清洁和消毒。” 美媒称，诺如病毒很常见，尤其是在邮轮上，它与目前在大西洋航行期间的“洪迪厄斯”号邮轮上暴发的汉坦病毒疫情没有任何关联。