Cleveland-Cliffs and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have recently announced multi-year agreements to embed Palantir Technologies’ AI platforms across steel manufacturing and farm program operations, including a US$300 million Blanket Purchase Agreement to support the National Farm Security Action Plan and USDA service modernization. These wins show Palantir’s software moving deeper into missio...
Cleveland-Cliffs and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have recently announced multi-year agreements to embed Palantir Technologies’ AI platforms across steel manufacturing and farm program operations, including a US$300 million Blanket Purchase Agreement to support the National Farm Security Action Plan and USDA service modernization. These wins show Palantir’s software moving deeper into mission-critical industrial and civilian government workflows, extending its reach well beyond its...
Getty Images In July 2025, I published an article on the Vanguard Global ex-U.S. Real estate ETF ( VNQI ) where I recommended it as a good way to add some diversification to a USA-centric portfolio. At that time, we were nearing the end of a higher interest rate cycle. Today, at the end of April 2026, the overall narrative has shifted somewhat. Global real estate investments are expected to recove...
Getty Images In July 2025, I published an article on the Vanguard Global ex-U.S. Real estate ETF ( VNQI ) where I recommended it as a good way to add some diversification to a USA-centric portfolio. At that time, we were nearing the end of a higher interest rate cycle. Today, at the end of April 2026, the overall narrative has shifted somewhat. Global real estate investments are expected to recover in 2026, with transaction volumes expected to rise by over 10% as interest rates stabilize and capital values bottom out. This is the biggest increase since 2022, and VNQI is no longer just a defensive play but may be becoming more of a recovery play. Since my last article, the total return for VNQI has been 7.60%, which has lagged the S&P 500, but has provided decent diversification. After a strong end to 2025, VNQI cooled off in early 2026 as markets priced in the reality of a more neutral rate environment. VNQI Performance From Last Article (Seeking Alpha) The valuation metrics for VNQI still remain attractive for value oriented investors. The P/E ratio of 11.9x compares to ~20x or higher for many U.S. REITs. The P/B ratio of 0.9x VNQI trades at a discount to the net asset value of its underlying holdings. The distribution yield of VNQI has been around 4.6%, but the payment is annual, usually paid near the end of the year. The last payment was $2.1561 on December 23, 2025. In my last article, I discussed the tax treatment of the distributions in more detail: "The tax treatment for the fund is 1099. But a significant portion of the dividends are nonqualified or taxed at the ordinary income tax rate. Since VNQI holds international securities, there is a foreign tax credit available to offset taxes paid to foreign governments. But if you hold VNQI in a tax-advantaged account like an IRA, you may lose this credit. In spite of this, the benefit of avoiding/deferring ordinary income taxes can outweigh this lost credit. If you hold VNQI in a taxable account, you should be pre...
watch now VIDEO 5:04 05:04 Americans drop health care insurance coverage as premiums surge Markets and Politics Digital Original Video Financial experts often tout the three-pronged tax benefits of health savings accounts. In order to maximize those tax benefits, financial advisors often make a recommendation along these lines: Pay out-of-pocket for today's medical bills — rather than tapping the ...
watch now VIDEO 5:04 05:04 Americans drop health care insurance coverage as premiums surge Markets and Politics Digital Original Video Financial experts often tout the three-pronged tax benefits of health savings accounts. In order to maximize those tax benefits, financial advisors often make a recommendation along these lines: Pay out-of-pocket for today's medical bills — rather than tapping the HSA immediately — if you can afford it. Meanwhile, invest your HSA funds in the stock market to build up a potent tax-advantaged war chest . Then use those proceeds decades in the future to cover past out-of-pocket health costs — completely tax-free . They can even be used to pay yourself back for medical expenses incurred years prior. But this advice is somewhat incomplete: To reimburse yourself later, you also need to save your receipts and other documentation for that old medical expense — or risk incurring taxes and penalties from the Internal Revenue Service during an audit, according to financial advisors. It's perhaps the "biggest thing" people overlook when it comes to HSAs, said Ryan Greiser, a certified financial planner and co-founder of Opulus, a financial advisory firm based in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. "People are simply not organized and won't keep detailed records so [that] if the IRS comes knocking, it'll be audit proof for them, for decades," Greiser said. What are HSAs? Maskot | Maskot | Getty Images Health savings accounts are tax-advantaged in three ways: Contributions, account growth and distributions are all tax-free. For distributions to be tax-free, they must be used for a qualified medical expense such as doctor visits, prescriptions or medical equipment, among other things. HSAs are available only to consumers with a high-deductible health plan, which employers have steadily adopted since the early 2000s. About 31% of companies that offer health benefits to workers offered an HSA-qualified high-deductible health plan in 2025 , according to KFF, a ...
felixmizioznikov AutoNation ( AN ) swung lower in early investor reaction to the first-quarter earnings release. Total revenue was 2.1% lower than a year ago at $6.55B. Same-store revenue was down 4% year over year, and same-store profit fell 2%. AutoNation's ( AN ) operating income was down 6% to $314.3M. Non-GAAP EPS of $4.69 for the quarter beat the consensus estimate by $0.08 and was up a penn...
felixmizioznikov AutoNation ( AN ) swung lower in early investor reaction to the first-quarter earnings release. Total revenue was 2.1% lower than a year ago at $6.55B. Same-store revenue was down 4% year over year, and same-store profit fell 2%. AutoNation's ( AN ) operating income was down 6% to $314.3M. Non-GAAP EPS of $4.69 for the quarter beat the consensus estimate by $0.08 and was up a penny from last year's mark.A lower overall share count factored into the EPS improvement. CEO Mike Manley highlighted that AutoNation Finance continued to scale, growing its portfolio to $2.4B while improving profitability, credit performance, and debt funding. "Our diversified earnings profile, flexible cost structure, and strong balance sheet and cash flows continue to support resilient performance and disciplined capital deployment to generate shareholder returns in a dynamic operating environment," he updated. At the end of the quarter, AutoNation ( AN ) had $1.6B of liquidity, including $66M in cash and $1.6B of availability under its revolving credit facility, net of commercial paper borrowings. The company's covenant leverage ratio was 2.57X at quarter end, and the company had $4.1B of non-vehicle debt outstanding. Shares of AutoNation ( AN ) were 1.9% lower in premarket action to $208.26 vs. the 52-week trading range of $173.26 to $228.92. More on AutoNation AutoNation: AI To Disrupt The Dealership's Cash Cow AutoNation: Shifting Gears Toward Higher-Margin Growth AutoNation: Resilience And Buybacks Can Drive Upside (Upgrade) AutoNation Q1 2026 Earnings Preview Wholesale used car prices jump to more than a two-year high in March
Robert Way/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Introduction Pfizer ( PFE ) has been one of my highest conviction bets in the pharmaceutical industry, and I want to take this opportunity to review my thesis and give a preview of what I’m expecting in the upcoming earnings coming on May 5. Current dynamics Oncology, as it has become a cornerstone of Pfizer’s growth strategy, now contributes around 27%...
Robert Way/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Introduction Pfizer ( PFE ) has been one of my highest conviction bets in the pharmaceutical industry, and I want to take this opportunity to review my thesis and give a preview of what I’m expecting in the upcoming earnings coming on May 5. Current dynamics Oncology, as it has become a cornerstone of Pfizer’s growth strategy, now contributes around 27% of total revenues and has demonstrated an 8% growth rate in 2025. BRAFTOVI, which just received full approval in late February, reduces the risk of death by 51%, and the median overall survival has doubled to 30.3 months in BRAF V600E-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer. Atimociclib delivered a positive Phase 2 readout in second-line metastatic breast cancer, and with the upcoming Phase 3 in the first-line setting, the asset could let Pfizer reclaim the breast cancer backbone Ibrance built. HYMPAVZI also got sBLA accepted with priority review for pediatric and adult hemophilia A or B, which is incremental, but that’s the kind of label expansion that quietly compounds. On the obesity side, I believe that it is no longer a hope segment but effectively a platform, which is quite an update since my last analysis. Pfizer’s lead asset, PF’3944 , which was formerly MET-097i, has delivered up to 11% placebo-adjusted weight loss at 28 weeks in Phase 2, on a regimen that transitions from weekly to monthly maintenance dosing after week 12. Though the number trails Zepbound, the strategic point is mainly about the dosing convenience, as it would be a monthly maintenance shot, addressing the single biggest commercial problem in the GLP-1 category. As I said in my earlier analysis on the company, Pfizer will plan to start 20 pivotal trials in 2026 , which is one of the most aggressive Phase 3 footprints PFE has run in years. On the regulatory front, the current administration has issued a proclamation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act , imposing a 100% tariff on imported pate...
The U.S. Department of War has entered into agreements with seven technology companies to use their AI capabilities in classified settings, boosting the Pentagon's efforts to get access to cutting-edge AI. The Department of War, also known as the Department of Defense, inked agreements with ChatGPT maker OpenAI ( OPENAI ) ; Alphabet’s ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) Google; Elon Musk’s SpaceX ( SPACE ), which ...
The U.S. Department of War has entered into agreements with seven technology companies to use their AI capabilities in classified settings, boosting the Pentagon's efforts to get access to cutting-edge AI. The Department of War, also known as the Department of Defense, inked agreements with ChatGPT maker OpenAI ( OPENAI ) ; Alphabet’s ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) Google; Elon Musk’s SpaceX ( SPACE ), which owns xAI ( X.AI ), the maker of AI chatbot Grok; Microsoft ( MSFT ); Amazon's ( AMZN ) Amazon Web Services; Nvidia ( NVDA ); and startup Reflection AI to deploy their advanced AI capabilities on the department's classified networks for lawful operational use. The DoD said that SpaceX, OpenAI, Google, Nvidia, Reflection, Microsoft, and AWS will provide resources to deploy their capabilities for both Impact Level 6 (IL6) and Impact Level 7 (IL7) environments. The agency noted that the effort supports its AI Acceleration Strategy by enabling new capabilities across its three core tenets of warfighting, intelligence, and enterprise operations. GenAI.mil, the department's official AI platform, is already demonstrating the scale and impact of this acceleration. Over 1.3M department personnel have used the platform, according to DoD. "For more than a decade, AWS has been committed to supporting our nation's military and ensuring that our warfighters and defense partners have access to the best technology at the best value. We look forward to continuing to support the Department of War's modernization efforts, building AI solutions that help them accomplish their critical missions," said AWS spokesperson Tim Barrett in an email to Seeking Alpha. The Department of War, SpaceX, OpenAI, Google, Nvidia, Reflection, and Microsoft did not immediately respond to Seeking Alpha's request for comment. The deals show how much of Silicon Valley is agreeing to the DoD's terms in a way that Anthropic ( ANTHRO ) did not. The Claude AI chatbot maker — which is backed by Amazon ( AMZN ) and Google ...
InPlay Oil Corp. ( IPO:CA ) declares CAD 0.09/share monthly dividend , in line with previous. Payable May 29; for shareholders of record May 15; ex-div May 15. See IPO:CA Dividend Scorecard, Yield Chart, & Dividend Growth. More on InPlay Oil Corp. InPlay Oil: Timing Financial Leverage Just Right InPlay Oil: Production Gains Create A 15% Free Cash Flow Yield With Upside Historical earnings data for...
InPlay Oil Corp. ( IPO:CA ) declares CAD 0.09/share monthly dividend , in line with previous. Payable May 29; for shareholders of record May 15; ex-div May 15. See IPO:CA Dividend Scorecard, Yield Chart, & Dividend Growth. More on InPlay Oil Corp. InPlay Oil: Timing Financial Leverage Just Right InPlay Oil: Production Gains Create A 15% Free Cash Flow Yield With Upside Historical earnings data for InPlay Oil Corp. Dividend scorecard for InPlay Oil Corp. Financial information for InPlay Oil Corp.
After a record-smashing advance in April, US equity bulls are facing a bit of a reckoning: There aren’t many investors left to buy. At least that appears to be the case among big-money managers. After billions of dollars thrown into stocks amid the S&P 500 Index’s best run since 2020, the momentum is beginning to fade. Hedge funds and commodity-trading advisers are scaling back their purchases, an...
After a record-smashing advance in April, US equity bulls are facing a bit of a reckoning: There aren’t many investors left to buy. At least that appears to be the case among big-money managers. After billions of dollars thrown into stocks amid the S&P 500 Index’s best run since 2020, the momentum is beginning to fade. Hedge funds and commodity-trading advisers are scaling back their purchases, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s gauge of equity positioning suggests a level of crowdedness that’s barely been exceeded in the past five years. The setup is adding to a sense of uneasiness among market watchers also contending with lingering uncertainty in the Middle East and a mixed earnings season at home. While the cost of missing out looms large in their minds after a month that’s added $6 trillion to US equity values , traders are gauging whether stocks have enough fuel to keep the gains going in what has historically been a challenging period of the year. “We think the market is set to let off steam in the near-term, excising the froth accrued on the rally to all-time highs,” Goldman’s traders including Gail Hafif , Lee Coppersmith and Brian Garrett wrote wrote in a note Wednesday. The S&P 500 jumped 10% last month, clocking its best April since 2020 amid resilient corporate growth, solid economic data and subsiding tensions in Iran. The Nasdaq 100 Index added 16%, chipmakers posted their best month since 2000 and the Magnificent Seven gauge of technology high-flyers advanced 15%. Fear of missing out was clearly on display, with Goldman’s so-called Risk Appetite Indicator jumping to the 99th percentile from the 34th percentile of readings going back five years in a matter of a month. Such an advance suggests stocks may be prone to near-term weakness, the bank’s traders said. A separate gauge of investor exposure tracked by the bank climbed to 1.5 last week, a level that signals crowded positions. Trend following strategies such as commodity trading advisers, or CTAs, are...