中東多地民眾受戰火影響，伊朗有反美和反以色列示威。而在加沙垃圾堆積，有民眾擔心伊朗戰事持續，讓他們被世界遺忘。 在伊朗首都德黑蘭，周五有大批民眾集會，譴責美國和以色列攻擊伊朗。 有伊朗民眾稱：「我們永不罷休，直到把美國趕出伊朗和中東，只有那時，人民才能真正鬆一口氣。」 另一名伊朗民眾說：「談判甚麼都是笑話，伊朗已經舉行了兩輪談判，但伊朗兩次遭到襲擊，都是在談判進行到一半時。我們應該把談判拋到腦後，服從最高領袖的一切指示。」 而在黎巴嫩南部沿海城市賽達，有建築物遭到以色列襲擊，冒出濃煙，數人死亡。美聯社報道，黎巴嫩有逾80萬民眾，相當於七分一人口因戰亂流離失所，有無力承擔酒店的居民，住在首都貝魯特的體育館。 一名黎巴嫩民眾指出：「我無法照顧好自己，沒有水，想上廁所都得走很遠，有時候連洗手的水都沒有，更別提洗澡了，一切都很困難。他們給我們送的食物不夠，一罐沙丁魚、一些麵包或一加侖水，這些不夠，晚上12點以後就沒電了，他們只給了我們一盞小燈。」 以色列一個接近黎巴嫩的社區早前遇襲，數十人受傷，有民居被毀。 一名以色列民眾表示：「我當時正乘車離開叔叔家，導彈擊中了這棟房子和下面那棟，我感覺車頂塌了下來，砸在了我身上。」 有以色列民眾說：「我當時在家，房子裡的一切都被毀了、所有東西都被毀了。」 而伊朗戰事持續之際，在加沙市，由於當地政府和聯合國相關資源力量有限，街道上垃圾遍地無人清理，當地有巴勒斯坦人擔心，伊朗戰事持續，令他們被世界遺忘。 一名加沙民眾指出：「垃圾到處都是，街上、帳篷旁邊，無論你往哪裡看，都能看到垃圾。加沙地帶以前地上沒有垃圾，現在人們卻睡在微生物、細菌、疾病和病毒旁邊，如今，每個人都在受苦。」 垃圾帶來健康風險，尤其是兒童。 另一名加沙民眾指出：「這影響並傷害了所有孩子，蚊子、蒼蠅、煙霧和氣味，讓我們無法入睡，這要了我們的命。這裡以前是個熱鬧的地方，很多人都來這裡，但現在卻被毀了，變成了一個垃圾場，垃圾堆積如山，足足有五層樓高。」 巴勒斯坦武裝組織哈馬斯表示，強烈譴責美國和以色列侵略伊朗，哈馬斯指這違反了國際法和國際人道主義法，威脅地區同世界和平與安全，亦呼籲伊朗不要襲擊鄰國。

Palestinian actor Motaz Malhees said a travel ban imposed by Donald Trump is preventing him from attending Sunday’s Academy Awards, whose nominees include a movie in which he has a starring role. The Voice of Hind Rajab, a film about a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in 2024, has been nominated for best international feature film. Malhees, who plays the role of a call center operator attempting to help the girl, said he cannot attend the Academy Awards show, known as the Oscars, because he has been barred from entering the US. “I am not allowed to enter the United States because of my Palestinian citizenship,” Malhees said on Instagram, adding “it hurts” he would not attend the Oscars. In a December proclamation restricting entry of foreign nationals, Trump said as president he had “determined to fully restrict and limit the entry of individuals using travel documents issued or endorsed by the Palestinian Authority”. The proclamation restricting entry of people from some countries cited security reasons and went into effect on 1 January, according to the US state department’s website. The state department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The movie was spurred by an incident in which five of Rajab’s family members and two ambulance workers who went to save her were also killed by Israeli fire. Israel says the incident is under review. Malhees says the film’s other Palestinian cast members have citizenship that allows US travel – but he only holds a Palestinian passport. Trump has also attempted to deport foreign pro-Palestinian voices from the United States. On Friday, an immigration judge ordered the release of Leqaa Kordia, who lost more than 170 family members in Gaza and has been detained for a year. Two previous orders have not led to her release.

格隆汇3月14日｜据以色列《国土报》，以色列和黎巴嫩预计将在近日举行直接会谈。

JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images What's next for Qualcomm ( QCOM ) as it faces increased competition in the smartphone chip market? Seeking Alpha analysts APAC Investment News and Bay Area Ideas weigh in. APAC Investment News : The management team clearly felt the competition in the smartphone space closing in, and they’ve already been pivoting into automotive, edge AI, and other pioneering opportunities. There’s no guarantee these moves will work out, of course, but the smartphone space, from Qualcomm's perspective, is dying. Apple ( AAPL ) continues to gain market share vs. Google's ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) Android, Samsung ( SSNLF ) is shifting in-house, and Chinese companies are going domestic. It's pivot or suffer a slow death, in my opinion, but Qualcomm's leadership’s proactive approach has me feeling confident. Bay Area Ideas : Qualcomm ( QCOM ) is indeed facing stiff competition on multiple fronts. In the smartphone space, they have to deal with in-house chips and new competitors in the Chinese market. In areas like automotive and AI, they have to compete with the likes of Nvidia ( NVDA ). The stock is clearly pricing in these competitive pressures, but I believe the market may be overlooking that opportunities have also increased significantly in recent years. Looking forward, despite some memory headwinds, there's a looming AI PC upgrade cycle that wouldn't be happening if it wasn't for the AI revolution. Snapdragon X2 Plus is a competitive product that's well positioned for this wave. Another opportunity that I highlighted in my recent article was robotics. At this point, physical AI is one of the leading frontiers that holds the most promise. Dragonwing IQ10 is a state-of-the-art chip, and their recent collaboration with NEURA Robotics shows that adoption is starting off well. Lastly, there are opportunities like their role in 6G. To conclude, I would say that while they're seeing as much competition as ever, they're also seeing opportunities that ...

Two years into an emotionally draining mission to get pregnant, with no sign of a positive result, Idaho couple Darby and Jesse Nubbe were feeling desperate. “We were $16,000 (£12,000) out of pocket, with weekly blood work, invasive ultrasounds, sperm quality testing, genetic testing, eating well, exercising, daily cold plunging, expensive vitamins, excessive pregnancy testing and more tears than I would like to remember,” Darby tells me. “We were at a loss, with an official diagnosis of ‘unexplained infertility’.” It hadn’t crossed the couple’s minds that the problem might be the everyday products inside their home, from water bottles to clothes. Then Dr Shanna Swan entered their lives. Darby and Jesse were one of six couples facing unexplained fertility challenges who signed up for Swan’s three-month study. The couples, some of whom had been trying to conceive for 10 years, were helped to dramatically lower their daily exposure to plastic-related chemicals in the hope of getting pregnant. “I feel it’s a basic human right of every person to have a child if they choose to,” says Swan, a reproductive epidemiologist. “Chemicals in our homes or the environment should not interfere with that.” The project is the focus of The Plastic Detox, an eye-opening new documentary. Plastics contain toxic chemicals, derived from petrochemicals, known as “endocrine disrupters”, such as phthalates, which make plastic soft and flexible, and bisphenols (BPAs), which make plastics harder and durable. As Swan explains in the film, they’re ubiquitous. “We ingest them, we absorb them through our skin, we inhale them. Every which way that they can get into our bodies, they do. And as they pass through our bodies, they wreak all sorts of havoc.” View image in fullscreen Detoxing from plastic is no easy feat. Photograph: Courtesy of Netflix Numerous studies – including ones by the US government National Institutes of Health (NIH) – have found that this “havoc” applies to male fertility, as en...

Welcome to The Brink . It’s Giovanna Bellotti Azevedo and Rachel Gamarski , reporting from Sao Paulo, where we looked at a pair of corporate restructurings that have thrust corporate Brazil back into the spotlight. We also have news on Jefferies, Banca Progetto and a Canadian subprime lender. Follow this link to subscribe . Send us feedback and tips at debtnews@bloomberg.net . More Drama Brazilian companies have once again grabbed the attention of credit investors after two major firms announced plans this week to restructure a combined $13.5 billion of debt outside of court. Sugar and ethanol producer Raízen has reached an agreement to rework about 65 billion reais ($12.6 billion) of debt, while Brazilian supermarket chain GPA struck a deal covering about 4.5 billion reais in obligations. Raízen’s debt pile is far larger and more globally dispersed than GPA’s, but the two cases coming in quick succession have put a spotlight back on Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy. Borrowing costs in the country are near their highest levels in two decades, economic growth has slowed and inflation has proven sticky, squeezing both corporate margins and household purchasing power. Companies that loaded up on cheap debt during the post-pandemic liquidity boom are now facing a much pricier refinancing environment. GPA’s deal came weeks after it cast significant doubt on its ability to continue as a going concern following a dire earnings report. The company, which had substantial amounts of debt maturing this year, has struggled to revive its core food business amid double-digit interest rates. The balance-sheet overhaul at Raízen — controlled by Shell and conglomerate Cosan — gives the company breathing room to pursue a more comprehensive revamp after coping with mounting financial pressure for months. Its credit rating plunged from investment-grade to deep-junk within a day, raising investors’ concerns about how quickly stress can escalate in Brazil’s corporate debt market. ...

Microsoft (MSFT) is a diversified technology giant that has transitioned into an "AI-first" powerhouse, leading the charge in cloud computing and enterprise software. Best known for the Windows operating system and the Office productivity suite, the company now centers its growth on the Microsoft Cloud and its integration of generative AI through Copilot across its entire ecosystem. Microsoft operates a massive global enterprise with a presence in over 190 countries, supported by a planet-scale network of data centers that power its Azure services. Founded in 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is now headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Microsoft Stock Moves Forward Microsoft has maintained a steady upward trajectory, reflecting its dominance in the AI revolution. The stock reflects a 4.9% gain over the last 52 weeks and is rebounding from a one-year low of $344.79. While the stock faced some volatility with a 22% decline over the last six months due to high capital expenditure concerns, it has shown only a marginal decline over the last month. Microsoft Results Beat Estimates For the second quarter of fiscal 2026, Microsoft delivered an "earnings beat," reporting revenue of $81.3 billion, a 17% increase that surpassed the $80.27 billion consensus estimate. The company achieved a non-GAAP EPS of $4.14, comfortably beating analyst projections of $3.97. This growth was fueled by a historic milestone: Microsoft Cloud revenue crossed $50 billion for the first time, up 26% year-over-year (YOY), as demand for Azure AI services and Copilot integrations accelerated across its enterprise customer base. The company's financial health remains exceptional, characterized by a robust operating margin of 47%. Microsoft returned $12.7 billion to shareholders during the quarter through dividends and buybacks, a 32% increase from the previous year. Despite a $37.5 billion capital expenditure on AI infrastructure, the firm maintains significant ...

watch now VIDEO 13:45 13:45 Is the ‘crypto winter’ thawing? ETF managers weigh in. ETF Edge A bitcoin comeback may be underway. Just as the cryptocurrency was kicking off its latest winning week, ProShares' Simeon Hyman was emphasizing a bullish bitcoin trend on CNBC's "ETF Edge ." "If you look at bitcoin, it's up a little bit and equities are down [since the Iran war began,]" the firm's global investment strategist said on Monday." "So, I think the diversification story really holds in in this current environment." As of Friday's market close, bitcoin gained 5% this week — with most of the gains coming over a 24-hour period. Plus, it's up roughly 8% since the Iran war started on Feb. 28. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and gold are down more 3% since the war with Iran began, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq is off more than 2%. ProShares is active in the cryptocurrency space — operating more than a dozen cryptocurrency ETFs. It launched the ProShares CoinDesk 20 Crypto ETF (KRYP) last month. It's up nearly 5% since the Iran war began, but the fund is off about 7% since its early February debut. Despite bitcoin's recent strength, it's still down more than 40 % from its record high of $126,198 reached last October. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon Bitcoin's volatile year Main Management founding partner and CEO Kim Arthur thinks bitcoin is in a classic crypto winter — a so-called phenomenon that tends to happen every four years. According to Arthur, it's in the bottoming stage. "Bitcoin was trading at $125,000 five months ago. So, it was down 50-plus percent when this conflict erupted," he said in the same interview. "I do like the fact that it's outperformed a lot of other asset classes [since the war,] but... you have to widen the lens a little bit on that." Arthur, who has exposure to bitcoin, indicates he's taking a passive investing approach to the cryptocurrency right now. "For myself as an asset allocator and a portfolio manager... I look at bitcoin as my benchmark, and then...

is a reviewer covering laptops and the occasional gadget. He spent over 15 years in the photography industry before joining The Verge as a deals writer in 2021. Not much has changed in the new MacBook Air for 2026: It now has the M5 chip, Wi-Fi 7, and faster storage starting at 512GB instead of 256GB. It’s just as outstanding a computer as last year’s model, even if it’s a shame it’s $100 more expensive. The bigger change has happened to the Air. The MacBook Neo now exists, and it’s an awesome little computer for $500 less than the base 13-inch Air. The Neo’s existence doesn’t invalidate the Air or make it pointless, and I doubt the Neo will cannibalize too much of the Air’s sales. The Air is a more capable, faster, and sleeker machine. Having the Neo sit beneath it does paint it in a new light, though. It’s now the step-up upgrade from the Neo that still cedes plenty of room to the beefier MacBook Pros above it. But is the Air now an awkward middle child or the perfect middle ground? I have good news on that front. Everything from my review of the 13- and 15-inch M4 MacBook Airs rings true in the new M5 model. (This time I only have the 15-inch, but the changes are the same across both sizes.) The screen is bright, colorful, and accurate enough for some color-sensitive work. The keyboard is solid. The 12-megapixel Center Stage camera is the best built-in webcam around. The battery easily lasts a full work / school day and much more. (I easily got 13 to 14 hours on a full charge while web browsing, messaging, and streaming a bit of music and video with minimal sleeping and brightness between 50 to 100 percent.) And the six-speaker setup on the 15-inch model still gets loud as hell for such a thin laptop. Component report card Screen: B Webcam: A Keyboard: B Trackpad: A Port selection: C Speakers: A Number of ugly stickers to remove: 0 The biggest changes for the new MacBook Air are all about speed, taking an already well-performing laptop and making it just a bit fa...

Get ahead of the market by subscribing to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Week Ahead, a preview of key events scheduled for the coming week. The newsletter keeps you informed of the biggest stories set to make headlines, including upcoming IPOs, investor days, earnings reports, and conference presentations. Wall Street's major indexes moved lower on Friday as investors digested a fresh batch of economic data, highlighted by the latest PCE inflation and GDP reports. On the economic front, core PCE inflation rose 3.1% Y/Y in January, a touch hotter than expected. Furthermore, the U.S. GDP growth estimate was revised lower to +0.7% in Q4. As the earnings season fades, the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision is expected to take center stage next week. It will be out on Wednesday along with February's PPI and crude oil inventory numbers. The FOMC will hold its press conference on Thursday. Initial jobless claims and new home sales data for March are also scheduled for the day. Fed's chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak on Saturday. Micron ( MU ), Tencent ( TCEHY ), and Alibaba ( BABA ) are among the companies reporting their results next week. _______________________________________________________________ Earnings spotlight: Monday: Dollar Tree ( DLTR ). See the full earnings calendar . Earnings spotlight: Tuesday: Lululemon ( LULU ). See the full earnings calendar . Earnings spotlight: Wednesday: Tencent, Micron. See the full earnings calendar . Earnings spotlight: Thursday: Alibaba, FedEx ( FDX ). See the full earnings calendar . Earnings spotlight: Friday: XPeng ( XPEV ). See the full earnings calendar . Volatility watch: Flutter Entertainment ( FLUT ) and AXT ( AXTI ) are set up for a volatile week of trading based on options volume. The most overbought stocks per their 14-day relative strength index include Itafos ( ITFS ), Alto Ingredients ( ALTO ), and Cabral Gold ( CBGZF ). The most oversold stocks per their 14-day Relative Strength Index include Cion Inve...

GEEKOM is back with another AMD Mini PC that first came out in 2023 but has since seen a refresh last year, and now a third revision and a new CPU, which they are calling the "2026 Edition". Anyway, since they offered it for review, I decided to put it through its paces. With that out of the way, first a disclaimer: GEEKOM provided this sample without any editorial input or review pre-approval. Now some specifications: GEEKOM A5 Pro 2026 Edition Dimensions 117 × 112 × 38.6 mm Weight 652 g CPU AMD Ryzen™ 5 7530U (6C, 12T, 16 MB Cache, 2.0 GHz ~ 4.5 GHz) Graphics AMD Radeon Graphics (Vega 7) @ 2000MHz 448 shading units/stream processors (12 CUs), 8 ROPs NPU No Memory 2x8GB Dual-channel DDR4 3200 MT/s Kingston SODIMM Storage 1 x M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4x4, Wodposit 1 TB (Up to 2 TB) 1 × M.2 2242 SATA 3.0 SSD, up to 1 TB Operating System Windows 11 Pro 25H2 Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.2 Ethernet 1x Realtek Gaming 2.5GbE Controller Wireless LAN Realtek 8852BE M.2 Wi-Fi 6 LAN card Rear I/O ports 1 x Ethernet RJ45 2.5 Gbit/s 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A (10 Gbps) 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (10 Gbps) 1 x USB 2.0 Type-A (480 Mbps) 2 x HDMI 2.0 1 x DC-In Front I/O ports 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A (10 Gbps) 1 x 3.5 mm headphone jack 1 x Power Button (Bio) Security No SD Card slot Yes Kensington Lock No Power 19V/3.42A, (65W External PSU) Warranty: 3 years MSRP $669 (discount price at the end of the review) Introduction The A5 Pro is powered by the in Q1 2023-released AMD Ryzen 5 7530U using the Zen 4 (Phoenix) architecture. Targeted at gaming (up to 720p) and productivity laptops but widely used in mini-PCs, too, the 7530U features 6 cores (12 threads thanks to SMT support) running at up to 4.5 GHz. On the graphics front, the 7530U includes the even older Vega integrated GPU with a max GPU frequency of 2000 MHz across 7 cores. You'll be lucky if you can game at 720p on low settings here, as you'll see in our benchmarks later on. Other highlights include DDR4 memory at 3200 MT/s, WiFi 6, 2.5GbE E...

If it feels like the euphoria once surrounding the artificial intelligence (AI) industry's stocks has shifted into something a little more discerning, you're not imagining things. Investors and analysts alike are finally starting to ask when -- or even if -- the payoffs on big investments in AI are coming. If there's no clear good answer, the market's moving on to more promising prospects. As investment research outfit Goldman Sachs described it, we're seeing a "flight to quality." Plenty of companies offer adequate quality, of course, turning demand for artificial intelligence into real revenue and real profits. There's one company, however, that arguably brings the best balance of risk and reward and reliability to the table. That's DigitalOcean (NYSE: DOCN) . It's clearly not the household name that Nvidia , Palantir Technologies , or a handful of other artificial intelligence powerhouses are. In fact, there's a good chance you've never even heard of it. There 's also a good chance, however, you've benefited from its service without even realizing it. Continue reading

In-form Southampton ended Coventry’s six-match winning run with a 2-1 victory at the CBS Arena. Flynn Downes pounced on a rebound to open the scoring shortly after half-time before Kuryu Matsuki doubled Southampton’s lead with five minutes remaining. Victor Torp’s stoppage-time penalty gave the leaders hope but they fell to their second home defeat of the season and Southampton extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 12. Southampton stunned the home side three minutes into the second half. Matsuki’s cross evaded Cyle Larin and the goalkeeper, Carl Rushworth, and rebounded off a post, where it was met by Downes who could not miss from inside the six-yard box. Southampton doubled their advantage in fortunate fashion when James Bree’s corner hit the leg of the unmarked Matsuki and rolled past a helpless Rushworth. Torp stepped up in added time to dispatch a penalty he had won after he was fouled by Shea Charles and the inevitable onslaught followed as Coventry desperately searched for an equaliser. Middlesbrough’s faltering promotion push suffered another blow as Adam Randell’s 96th-minute header earned Bristol City a 1-1 draw at the Riverside. Boro thought they were heading for a much-needed victory when the substitute Leo Castledine opened the scoring in the 65th minute. However, after Castledine’s fellow replacement, David Strelec, wasted an excellent chance to double his side’s lead, Randell headed home Tomi Horvat’s corner deep in stoppage time to level the scores. The draw means Boro have now failed to win their past four home games. View image in fullscreen Bristol City show their delight after Adam Randell’s late equaliser. Photograph: Anna Gowthorpe/Shutterstock Charlie Kelman’s added-time penalty earned Charlton a 1-1 draw at the Kassam Stadium to deny Oxford United a fourth straight league win in their battle to beat the drop. Kelman tucked away the spot-kick in the third minute of added time after the goalkeeper Jamie Cumming fouled Lloyd Jones. ...

格隆汇3月14日｜伊朗外长阿拉格奇：如果石油基础设施遭到袭击，伊朗军队将进行报复，打击该地区美国公司或美国持有股份的公司的设施。伊朗将审慎行事，避免袭击人口密集区。霍尔木兹海峡只对“敌对国家及其盟友的油轮和船只”关闭。

美國總統特朗普稱，美軍位於沙特阿拉伯一個基地有五架加油機遇襲，其中四架幾乎無損毀，已經恢復運作，一架輕微受損，但會在短期內復飛。

Taiwan Semiconductor breaks ground on third fab in Arizona as U.S. footprint expands MSN

Anti-government protesters attacked a ⁠Communist party office in northern Cuba early on Saturday, a ⁠state-run newspaper reported, in a rare outburst of public dissent triggered by worsening blackouts that have been exacerbated by a US oil blockade. A rally against power cuts and food shortages appeared to begin peacefully in the city of Moron late on Friday then turned violent in the early hours of Saturday morning, Invasor newspaper said. Videos on social media showed a large fire and ‌people throwing rocks through the windows of a building as voices shouted “liberty” in the background. Advertisement Reuters was unable to confirm the authenticity of videos that posters said showed the unrest in Moron, a city on Cuba’s northern coast about 250 miles (400km) east of the capital Havana near the tourist resort of Cayo Coco. The United States has tightened the screws on Cuba this year since capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro – Cuba’s most important foreign benefactor – in January. A man walks along a street during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, on Friday. Photo: Reuters US President Donald Trump cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba and threatened to slap tariffs ⁠on any country that sells oil to Cuba, piling pressure on the economy already struggling with shortages of food, fuel, electricity and medicine.

格隆汇3月14日｜据财富中文网，根据权威机构健康指标与评估研究所(IHME)发布的《2025年全球疾病负担报告》以及世界卫生组织(WHO)的最新监测，2025年全球总死亡人数估计约为 6100万至6300万。 在数据背后值得关注的3个核心点如下： 1. “新冠”退潮与“慢性病”统治 在2021年的统计中，COVID-19 曾位居全球第二大死因。然而到2025年，新冠已跌出前二十名，其死亡排位已回落至季节性流感相近的水平。与此同时，“非传染性疾病(NCDs)”目前占全球死亡人数的74%左右，人类正式进入了“慢性病时代”。 2. 全球平均死亡年龄的推后 报告指出，全球死亡人口的平均年龄已从1990年的46.8岁提高到了2025年的63.4岁。这意味着大部分死亡发生在老年阶段，这也是痴呆症(第6名)和肾病(第8名)排位持续攀升的主要原因。 3. 风险因素：导致死亡的“幕后黑手” IHME研究指出，2025年超过50%的死亡可归因于以下四大可干预风险： • 高血压：导致中风和心脏病的核心因素(造成了约1000万总死亡)。 • 高血糖：直接关联糖尿病和肾病。 • 高BMI (肥胖)：在全球范围内呈爆炸式增长。 • 空气污染：对肺癌和呼吸道疾病的影响率在东南亚地区显著。

Ripple's stablecoin, RLUSD, just hit a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, up from just $132 million at this time last year. By any measure, the stablecoin has been a smashing success since its launch in December 2024. That's great news for Ripple, the company behind XRP, but it's a problem for the cryptocurrency's investors. RLUSD's threatens XRP's bull case I see why XRP holders might be excited by RLUSD's adoption. Ripple's growth is Ripple's growth, right? More products should mean a bigger ecosystem, and a rising tide lifts all boats. But I think that misunderstands the situation. XRP's core value proposition has always been its role as a "bridge asset," providing liquidity in Ripple's payment product -- formerly known as On-Demand Liquidity (ODL). Before RLUSD, when a bank sent dollars from the U.S. to euros in France, Ripple converted the dollars to XRP and then back to euros. XRP was the middle step -- and it still can be, but so too can RLUSD. And as a dollar-pegged stablecoin, it's exactly that -- stable -- and stability is what banks are after. They tend to avoid dealing with volatile assets as much as possible. This makes RLUSD a no-brainer for most financial institutions that want to use Ripple's liquidity product, and the more institutions that opt for RLUSD, the less opt for XRP. Ripple is all in on RLUSD Ripple knows that banks want stability and has pivoted hard into pushing RLUSD as the premier bridge asset. The company spent $200 million to acquire the stablecoin payments firm RAIL, and its website now prominently features "integrate stablecoin payments into your business" -- not "use XRP for faster transfers." Ripple clearly seems to be building its future around stablecoin infrastructure while XRP is sidelined. Expand CRYPTO : XRP XRP Today's Change ( -2.38 %) $ -0.03 Current Price $ 1.39 Key Data Points Market Cap $85B Day's Range $ 1.39 - $ 1.43 52wk Range $ 1.14 - $ 3.65 Volume 1.8B I've been saying for a while now that the fundamental bu...

iQoncept/iStock via Getty Images As earnings season winds down, investors are shifting focus to updated quant ratings following the latest wave of corporate results. The scores offer a snapshot of how companies rank across key factors such as valuation, growth, profitability, momentum, and estimate revisions after reporting quarterly performance. Of note, the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLV ) which accounts for a substantial 12.12% of the S&P 500, has emerged as a laggard in the current market environment. The XLV has retreated 3.00% year-to-date, outpacing the 2.53% slide seen in the benchmark index. Seeking Alpha’s Quant system rates stocks on a scale from 1 to 5, classifying ratings of 3.5 or above as bullish and 2.5 or below as bearish. Post-earnings quant scorecard: Below is a summary of mid-cap real estate companies with market capitalizations between $2B and $10B ranked by their current factor scores. Top-quant rated stocks: BrightSpring Health Services ( BTSG ), Quant Rating: 4.83, Strong Buy. PACS Group ( PACS ), Quant Rating: 4.78, Strong Buy. Indivior Pharmaceuticals ( INDV ), Quant Rating: 4.76, Strong Buy. Liquidia Corporation ( LQDA ), Quant Rating: 4.46, Buy. Guardian Pharmacy Services ( GRDN ), Quant Rating: 4.29, Buy. Bottom quant rated stocks: Corcept Therapeutics ( CORT ), Quant Rating: 1.04, Strong Sell. Doximity ( DOCS ), Quant Rating: 1.16, Strong Sell. Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited ( TLX ), Quant Rating: 1.18, Strong Sell. Stevanato Group ( STVN ), Quant Rating: 1.20, Strong Sell. Hims & Hers Health ( HIMS ), Quant Rating: 1.26, Strong Sell. More on State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF Sector Rotation: Healthcare XLV Should Be The Next Stop VT: Still The Best Approach To Passive Investing Market Sector Review: Extreme Market Bifurcation Eli Lilly tops growth factor grades among S&P healthcare holdings Energy surges to the top as long-only investors rebalance portfolios: BofA Research

Key Points Recent price action suggests the iShares ETF deserves consideration. This ETF was in the right place at the right time entering this year. Investors should drill down on why this dividend fund is surging. 10 stocks we like better than iShares Trust - iShares Core High Dividend ETF › Following a lengthy run of underperformance against the backdrop of soaring megacap growth stocks, high-dividend equities are back in the spotlight. Investors who need convincing of that fact need not look any further than the iShares Core High Dividend ETF (NYSEMKT: HDV), which is up nearly 12% since the start of the year. That showing, coupled with a current dividend yield of 2.96%, or nearly triple what's found on the S&P 500, would be enough to satisfy many dividend income investors. They might say: Take the 12% gain in just over two months, the dependable dividend stream, be happy, and don't ask questions. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » But savvy investors know there's more to consider. Sure, this exchange-traded fund's stellar start to 2026 warrants attention and potentially purchasing, but with about 10 months remaining in the year, investors may wonder what's gotten the iShares ETF to this point and what factors could support more upside as this year matures. An ETF made for these times Not all low-volatility stocks feature high dividends, and not all high-payout names have favorable volatility traits. Still, there is often an intersection between those characteristics, as this $13.3 billion fund shows. Right now, sector rotation from growth to value appears to be gaining steam -- and that benefits this ETF, which has about 52% of its weighting in consumer staples, healthcare, and utilities stocks. But note that energy is this fund's second-largest sector weight at 26.6%, with the bu...

There is no doubt that Micron Technology (MU +5.13%) has been one of the top-performing artificial intelligence (AI) names over the past year. The 318% appreciation in the memory specialist's shares during this period has been well above the gains delivered by other AI pioneers such as Nvidia, Palantir Technologies, and Broadcom. Micron's stunning surge in the past year is well deserved. The memory specialist's revenue and earnings have been supercharged by a phenomenal increase in memory prices, driven primarily by demand from AI data centers that are consuming a significant chunk of the available supply. Investors, however, may be wondering if Micron's catalyst is strong enough to help it sustain its impressive momentum in 2026. That's why I will take a closer look at the memory market's dynamics and help investors determine whether Micron stock can deliver more upside this year. The incredible memory price growth is here to stay in 2026 A closer look at memory-related news shows that Micron will continue to benefit from a favorable pricing environment. UBS, for instance, expects a 62% spike in the price of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) in the first quarter of 2026. NAND flash memory prices are expected to jump by 40% in the current quarter. Micron sells both DRAM and NAND flash chips. DRAM chips, which are used for computing purposes in data centers, smartphones, and computers, move the needle in a bigger way for the company, accounting for almost 80% of its revenue. The rest of Micron's revenue comes from the storage-focused NAND flash chips. The good news for Micron investors is that the DRAM chip shortage is expected to persist for the next 12 to 18 months. Even NAND chips are expected to be in tight supply until the middle of next year. In fact, the shortage of memory chips is so acute due to the robust AI-fueled demand that DRAM prices are expected to surge by a whopping 70% in the second quarter of 2026. Expand NASDAQ : MU Micron Technology Today's Ch...

This interactive model has a limit on the number of drivers that can be modified in a single scenario. When the limit is reached those drivers not yet modified become disabled for modification. Your options are: Create new scenarios to try different combinations of driver modifications Reset one of your driver modifications in this scenario in order to modify another driver

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer evaluated, along with the fragile food market. A caller asked if Cramer thinks it is advisable to start a position in the stock, and he said: Alright, now, this is very interesting because I have, because we own such a big position in NVIDIA, I don’t want to own its biggest competitor, which is AMD. But you know what, if I didn’t own NVIDIA, I most certainly would. It is a dog fight, and Lisa Su is fabulous. Photo by Adam Nowakowski on Unsplash Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) makes processors, graphics cards, and AI chips for computers, servers, and gaming systems. The company’s products include Ryzen, Radeon, and EPYC. White Falcon Capital Management stated the following regarding Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) in its fourth quarter 2025 investor letter: The top 5 positions for the White Falcon portfolio are precious metal royalty companies, AMD, NFI Group, EPAM, and Nu Holdings. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) designs a broad range of digital semiconductors serving PCs, gaming consoles, and data centers, including the rapidly expanding AI market. Under CEO Lisa Su, the company was pulled back from the brink of bankruptcy and reshaped into a high‑performance computing leader. Over the past decade, AMD has steadily taken market share from Intel and emerged as a credible No. 2 in GPUs behind Nvidia. Given AMD’s volatility, we initiated a position in November 2022 and added to it again in April 2025. Management has guided to approximately $10 in Earnings per share (EPS) for FY2027E and more than $20 in EPS by 2030E. If the company delivers on these targets, then it should be a $400+ stock in a few years which is roughly 75% higher than current levels. While we acknowledge the potential of AMD as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also s...

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer evaluated, along with the fragile food market. A caller asked if Cramer thinks it is advisable to start a position in the stock, and he said: Alright, now, this is very interesting because I have, because we own such a big position in NVIDIA, I don’t want to own its biggest competitor, which is AMD. But you know what, if I didn’t own NVIDIA, I most certainly would. It is a dog fight, and Lisa Su is fabulous. Photo by Adam Nowakowski on Unsplash Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) makes processors, graphics cards, and AI chips for computers, servers, and gaming systems. The company’s products include Ryzen, Radeon, and EPYC. White Falcon Capital Management stated the following regarding Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) in its fourth quarter 2025 investor letter: The top 5 positions for the White Falcon portfolio are precious metal royalty companies, AMD, NFI Group, EPAM, and Nu Holdings. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) designs a broad range of digital semiconductors serving PCs, gaming consoles, and data centers, including the rapidly expanding AI market. Under CEO Lisa Su, the company was pulled back from the brink of bankruptcy and reshaped into a high‑performance computing leader. Over the past decade, AMD has steadily taken market share from Intel and emerged as a credible No. 2 in GPUs behind Nvidia. Given AMD’s volatility, we initiated a position in November 2022 and added to it again in April 2025. Management has guided to approximately $10 in Earnings per share (EPS) for FY2027E and more than $20 in EPS by 2030E. If the company delivers on these targets, then it should be a $400+ stock in a few years which is roughly 75% higher than current levels. While we acknowledge the potential of AMD as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also s...

Jim Cramer Says He “Certainly Would” Start a Position in Advanced Micro Devices If He Didn’t Own NVIDIA finance.yahoo.com

Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer evaluated, along with the fragile food market. Cramer noted that the company is a better performer than Coherent, as he said: If you’re looking for groups to buy into weakness as rising oil prices crush the stock market, you can do a lot worse than the data center suppliers. Later this month, two optical companies are joining the S&P 500: Coherent, which we spoke to earlier this week, and Lumentum. Now, both of them are getting $2 billion investment from NVIDIA, but Lumentum’s been the better performer. It’s up nearly 900% over the past 12 months, despite an 8% decline today as part of that broader tech-led sell-off. Stock market data. Photo by Burak The Weekender on Pexels Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE) designs and sells optical and photonic products, including lasers and components, for cloud networking, data centers, and industrial applications. Cramer mentioned the stock during the March 9 episode and commented: Next, a week ago, we learned that NVIDIA was investing $2 billion apiece in a pair of fiber optic plays, Coherent and Lumentum. They both have a lot of exposure to AI infrastructure. Apparently, S&P and NVIDIA have the same style because both those stocks are getting added to the S&P 500… Lumentum is similar, except that stock has been even hotter. It’s up more than 1,300% from its post-Liberation Day lows. The stock’s a lot more expensive than Coherent on a price-to-earnings basis, higher risk, higher reward. But they’re both plays on optical networking equipment for the data center. While we acknowledge the potential of LITE as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 33 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years an...

After a 24% rise last year and a 27% increase in 2024 (as of Dec. 16), the S&P 500 is currently in record territory. While this has worked out extremely well for investors who have already put money to work, it could potentially be discouraging for those who have been on the sidelines. But I don't think there's any reason to worry. Investors can still find compelling opportunities out there. In fact, here's one dominant tech enterprise that looks like the ultimate growth stock to buy with $1,000 right now. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. See the 10 stocks » Finding so many ways to grow Companies that exhibit solid growth prospects usually benefit from having very favorable conditions in the end markets they operate in. But here's where tech juggernaut Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) stands out. This business has multiple secular trends working in its favor, making it a great growth stock. Perhaps there's no segment that draws as much investor attention as Amazon Web Services (AWS), the industry-leading cloud computing platform. Last quarter, AWS saw revenue increase 19% year over year, continuing a streak of solid double-digit gains. The developments taking place in artificial intelligence (AI), and the interest that many businesses have to leverage this technology, is also helping AWS. AWS has various products and services that offer AI-related tools. This makes the platform critical to its customer base, as they all will depend on AWS even more as time passes. Every investor knows that Amazon has long dominated the e-commerce industry. It went from selling only books online to now offering up vehicles on the marketplace. Given that physical retail still represents 84% of commerce in the U.S., there is certainly a long runway in this sector for Amazon to further capture. Investors might not be familiar with the fact that Amazon generated $14.3 billion from ad services in the third qua...

Hardollin/iStock via Getty Images I previously covered Oracle Corporation ( ORCL ) in December 2025, discussing why I had upgraded the stock to a buy then, thanks to the robust cloud-related growth prospects, the discounted valuations compared to its hyperscaler peers thanks to the prior correction, the consequently rich capital appreciation prospects, and the ongoing bottoming as observed in the oversold technical indicators. In this article, I shall discuss why I am reiterating my Buy rating for the ORCL stock here, thanks to the improved risk/reward after the materialization of a trading floor at $136s after the prior AI/SaaSpocalypse meltdown. This is on top of their aggressive cloud expansion already driving accelerated SaaS monetization opportunities and the potential market share gains against the Big Three's current dominance, despite the intermediate-term balance sheet and adj. EPS risks. ORCL's Debt-Ridden AI Ambitions ORCL 1Y Stock Price ( TradingView ) Since my last Buy rating, ORCL has further retraced by double digits to bottom at the $136s by February 05, 2026, thanks to the triple whammy of cooling AI trade , AI debt fears , and SaaSpocalypse fears , as the market notably discounts the former's data center and SaaS capabilities. The same has been observed in ORCL's steep selloff by -55.1% since the 52 weeks high - an unsurprising development, since ORCL has emerged as the "poster child of the shift from mostly equity-funded AI spending to debt." The same has been similarly observed in them "adding debt via off-balance sheet deals. Its most recent 10-Q quarterly financial statement showed a quarter-trillion dollars of lease-payment commitments, substantially all of which are related to data centers and cloud capacity." Therefore, while the recent Q4'25 earnings season has reiterated the insatiable compute demand and the necessarily growing data center-related spending trends entering 2026, I can understand why the market has opted to sell first and as...