Sjo/E+ via Getty Images I concluded a May 7, 2025, Seeking Alpha article on the VanEck Agribusiness ETF ( MOO ) with the following: Feeding a growing world is critical, and addressing climate change will only increase agricultural commodity demand over the coming years. MOO is a pick-and-shovel agricultural ETF that will benefit from the fundamentals equation’s expanding demand side. MOO was tradi...
Sjo/E+ via Getty Images I concluded a May 7, 2025, Seeking Alpha article on the VanEck Agribusiness ETF ( MOO ) with the following: Feeding a growing world is critical, and addressing climate change will only increase agricultural commodity demand over the coming years. MOO is a pick-and-shovel agricultural ETF that will benefit from the fundamentals equation’s expanding demand side. MOO was trading at $69.16 per share on May 7, 2025. At over $84 on March 18, 2026, MOO has moved steadily higher and could be on a path to challenge the April 2022 all-time high. Agribusiness is the pick-and-shovel infrastructure supporting agricultural commodity production Agribusiness focuses on the total value chain that moves food, fiber, and biofuel from producers to consumers. Therefore, it is the integrated system of all activities required for the production, processing, and distribution of agricultural products. Agribusiness starts with farming and production inputs, including equipment and heavy machinery, seeds, fertilizers, and livestock feed. Production includes farming and ranching, which involve cultivating crops and raising livestock. Processing and manufacturing transform the raw agricultural products into finished products for consumer markets. Marketing and distribution stores, transport, and sell the products through wholesalers and supermarkets. Finally, the service sector finances, insures, consults, and provides research for the agriculture-related businesses. The bottom line is that agribusiness involves the pick-and-shovel companies that support crop production and processing. Agribusiness is in the spotlight in March 2026 for two compelling reasons Two significant factors have made agribusiness critical in March 2026: In a March 10, 2026, Seeking Alpha article , I highlighted why the war in the Middle East and issues surrounding the Strait of Hormuz have dramatically impacted fertilizer supplies. Fertilizers are a critical input in agricultural production, with...
In an age of attention-grabbing algorithms and amplified outrage on social media, politicians have few incentives to make arguments at any length. That makes Rachel Reeves’s Mais lecture earlier this week refreshing as a detailed exposition of the chancellor’s thinking. Ms Reeves returned to an argument she first made in opposition, about the growing need for government intervention to mitigate pu...
In an age of attention-grabbing algorithms and amplified outrage on social media, politicians have few incentives to make arguments at any length. That makes Rachel Reeves’s Mais lecture earlier this week refreshing as a detailed exposition of the chancellor’s thinking. Ms Reeves returned to an argument she first made in opposition, about the growing need for government intervention to mitigate public anxiety and destabilising volatility in a dangerous world. She calls this “securonomics” and it is intended as a rebuttal to the laissez-faire, small-state theories that, as applied by Conservative governments, starved Britain of investment, amplified regional inequalities and created the fallacious case for Brexit. To boost growth, the chancellor calls for an activist government, not necessarily a bigger one; partnering with the private sector, but also cutting regulation and devolving economic power to regional leaders. In a welcome break from Treasury orthodoxy, Ms Reeves is considering giving devolved institutions control over major tax revenues that have traditionally been hoarded in Whitehall. She also made a forthright case for Britain’s realignment with the European single market. While much of the speech restated existing government policy, the pro-EU tilt was discernibly new. It was made more prominent by the unusual absence of any passages celebrating relations with the US. Both the chancellor and the prime minister have been nudging the rhetorical dial in this direction for many months, referring now quite regularly to the demonstrable harm that Brexit has inflicted on the economy and sounding more ambitious about the scope of future partnership with continental neighbours. Ms Reeves took that a step further this week, noting the “strategic imperative for deeper integration between the UK and EU” and observing that “no trade deal with any individual nation can outweigh our relationship with a bloc with which we share a land border … and that accounts for al...
In an age of demagogues and big tech, the work of one of Germany’s greatest scholars points the way to a new politics of the human In his later years, Jürgen Habermas was sometimes described as “the last European” – a reference to his passionate commitment to the ideals of the European Union (although not always its modern reality ). The great German philosopher was also the last surviving exempla...
In an age of demagogues and big tech, the work of one of Germany’s greatest scholars points the way to a new politics of the human In his later years, Jürgen Habermas was sometimes described as “the last European” – a reference to his passionate commitment to the ideals of the European Union (although not always its modern reality ). The great German philosopher was also the last surviving exemplar of a generation of postwar intellectuals formed by the experience of the second world war. Like Jean-Paul Sartre in France, Habermas was as at home in the public square as the seminar room, debating the future of a continent that needed to be rebuilt ethically as well as physically. In the new age of unreason, where brute exercise of power is explicitly prized above the force of moral argument, the loss of any such figure is to be mourned. But Habermas’s death at the age of 96, as the US and Israel wage an illegal war of choice, and the far right is in the ascendant in France and Germany, feels particularly poignant. A member of the Hitler Youth as a boy, Habermas then made it his life’s work to philosophically ground the democratic values which are now under threat again. Continue reading...
Bim/E+ via Getty Images FMC Corp. ( FMC ) shares rose as much as 5.5% on Wednesday after executives said multiple parties are evaluating potential deals involving the company, according to comments at the JPMorgan Industrials Conference. Takeover interest draws attention Chief Executive Pierre Brondeau said banks are in discussions with a range of potential buyers, estimating that roughly five to ...
Bim/E+ via Getty Images FMC Corp. ( FMC ) shares rose as much as 5.5% on Wednesday after executives said multiple parties are evaluating potential deals involving the company, according to comments at the JPMorgan Industrials Conference. Takeover interest draws attention Chief Executive Pierre Brondeau said banks are in discussions with a range of potential buyers, estimating that roughly five to 10 parties are involved at different stages. He indicated interest spans both strategic buyers and private equity firms, with some potential combinations involving both. Brondeau suggested that much of the attention is focused on FMC’s ( FMC ) pipeline of new crop protection technologies rather than concerns about older products facing generic competition. Pipeline seen as key value driver Executives said prospective buyers are placing significant weight on FMC’s ( FMC ) upcoming products, including several new molecules and fungicides expected to reach the market later this decade. The company believes its portfolio will shift over time toward a more balanced mix of herbicides, fungicides and biological products. That outlook appears to be shaping how potential acquirers assess the business, with management noting that discussions have centered more on future growth than on legacy products nearing patent expiration. Strategic options still open Brondeau said FMC ( FMC ) continues to pursue a dual-track approach, balancing efforts to improve performance as a standalone company while also exploring strategic alternatives such as a sale or merger. He added that shareholder views on a potential deal vary, with some investors likely to favor a near-term sale while others expect greater value if the company executes on its long-term growth plans. The comments appeared to boost investor sentiment, as the stock moved higher on expectations that takeover interest could support valuation. More on FMC FMC Corporation (FMC) Presents at JPMorgan Industrials Conference 2026 Transcript F...
Jensen Huang took the stage at Nvidia’s (NVDA) GTC event in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, clad in his usual leather jacket, to provide the world with an update about what the world’s most valuable company has been cooking up over the last few months. Huang was as indefatigable as ever as he ran through his roughly two-and-a-half-hour keynote in front of some 30,000 attendees. But what’s come to be ...
Jensen Huang took the stage at Nvidia’s (NVDA) GTC event in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, clad in his usual leather jacket, to provide the world with an update about what the world’s most valuable company has been cooking up over the last few months. Huang was as indefatigable as ever as he ran through his roughly two-and-a-half-hour keynote in front of some 30,000 attendees. But what’s come to be known as the Super Bowl of AI featured a noticeable shift in Nvidia’s overall AI strategy — a deeper focus on inferencing, or powering AI models, and agents. Nvidia’s chips are traditionally known for their general-purpose use. They can train and run AI models, power robots, and serve as the backbone of self-driving cars. And while Nvidia’s offerings are still the industry standard, upstart chip companies like Cerebras and Groq have begun designing and rolling out processors geared specifically toward running AI models, creating a potential threat to Nvidia’s formidable AI moat. Huang and company answered that at GTC with a slew of announcements meant to prove Nvidia is the inferencing leader to beat, including the debut of its Groq 3 chip and rack system. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang participates in a Q&A at the company's annual GTC developers conference in San Jose, California, on March 17, 2026. (JOSH EDELSON / AFP via Getty Images) · JOSH EDELSON via Getty Images Nvidia didn’t just go further with its inferencing capabilities, though. The company also showed off its addition to the much-hyped world of OpenClaw high-powered AI agents. OpenClaw, which debuted as Clawd in November 2025 before being renamed Moltbot and finally OpenClaw in January, has taken off thanks to its ability to run AI agents powered by different AI models on users’ machines via apps like WhatsApp, Discord, Slack, and others. Now, Nvidia is getting in on the buzz with its NemoClaw platform designed to improve the security and privacy of the agents. “They are evolving in a big way, not only in inference, a...
Gargolas/iStock via Getty Images National Grid ( NGG ) down 2.7% in Wednesday's trading as Jefferies downgraded the British-based multinational electricity firm to Hold from Buy, even as the stock remains a core holding for many investors in the sector, with a recent outlook upgrade providing helpful five-year visibility to 2031. However, Jefferies analyst Ahmed Farman said the regulatory catalyst...
Gargolas/iStock via Getty Images National Grid ( NGG ) down 2.7% in Wednesday's trading as Jefferies downgraded the British-based multinational electricity firm to Hold from Buy, even as the stock remains a core holding for many investors in the sector, with a recent outlook upgrade providing helpful five-year visibility to 2031. However, Jefferies analyst Ahmed Farman said the regulatory catalyst lineup for the rest of the year appears thin, the stock trades at a premium valuation in the sector, and higher real rates are unhelpful for sentiment, meriting the downgrade. Farman said he saw many regulatory updates in 2025, increasing National Grid's ( NGG ) visibility for at least the next two years, and the guidance upgrade that was flagged as a potential catalyst also has played out, but achieving further re-rating gets harder with no major regulatory updates ahead except for the publication before year-end of the initial business plan for ED3 and a rate case filing on KEDNY/LI in the summer. Within Jefferies' valuation benchmark analysis for grid utilities, Farman said National Grid ( NGG ) ranks at the high end in terms of premium to regulated asset base, with the stock trading on a FY27 RAB premium of ~55% compared to the ~30% sector average. More on National Grid National Grid Shareholder/Analyst Call - Slideshow National Grid: Why This One Is Not Attractive In 2026E (Rating Downgrade) National Grid: Superb Returns From Undervaluation
The post Inside the Mind of an Active Trader, and How Direxion Can Help Them Use Leveraged ETFs During Major Market Events. by Benzinga Contributors appeared first on Benzinga . Visit Benzinga to get more great content like this. At the end of November 2025, there was about $160.5 billion invested in leveraged exchange-traded funds and notes (ETFs and ETNs). At that point, fund volumes accounted f...
The post Inside the Mind of an Active Trader, and How Direxion Can Help Them Use Leveraged ETFs During Major Market Events. by Benzinga Contributors appeared first on Benzinga . Visit Benzinga to get more great content like this. At the end of November 2025, there was about $160.5 billion invested in leveraged exchange-traded funds and notes (ETFs and ETNs). At that point, fund volumes accounted for approximately 8% of total trading activity on U.S. stock exchanges. Zoom in on those funds and you’ll see that about 90% of turnover comes from active retail traders. These products have served these traders by democratizing access to institutional-like strategies in products that are readily available. Direxion specializes in providing leveraged ETFs for traders to magnify short term perspectives, utilize bull and bear funds for both sides of the trade, and trade through rapidly changing markets. Below, we’ll dive deeper into how active traders utilized leveraged EFTs during recent major market events. Active Traders And Leveraged Funds During the 2020 COVID Bear Market If you had to mark the exact moment in history where the current retail investment boom started, it’d likely be here. There were plenty of market dislocations and swings to capitalize on, and retail traders did so via leverage. Turnover in leveraged ETFs more than quadrupled during the depths of the COVID selloff, and retail traders flipped between bull and bear positions in long and short* funds, moving increasingly into inverse ETFs as stock prices dropped. Those traders turned bullish at the trough of the selloff, a day when the S&P jumped 9.4%, and traders’ appetites for higher prices were cemented after the benchmark crept within 7% of a record high that July. You’d think traders would feel emboldened in their positions as prices moved. Turns out the opposite was true. Active retail traders moved out of 3X leveraged funds into lower-leveraged products as the selloff progressed. Explore Direxion’s le...
In this article Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Juliana Stratton, lieutenant governor of Illinois and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, speaks during a primary election night event in Chicago, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. Christopher Dilts | Bloomberg | Getty Images A major crypto PAC suffered a blow after the Illinois Senate Democratic candidate it spent millions opposing won the Tues...
In this article Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Juliana Stratton, lieutenant governor of Illinois and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, speaks during a primary election night event in Chicago, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. Christopher Dilts | Bloomberg | Getty Images A major crypto PAC suffered a blow after the Illinois Senate Democratic candidate it spent millions opposing won the Tuesday primary and will likely be sworn into office next year. Fairshake, backed by Coinbase , Ripple Labs and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, spent more than $10 million on ads opposing Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton in her Democratic primary race for Senate. Stratton has an "F" rating from Stand With Crypto , and took to social media to denounce the "MAGA-backed crypto bros" who were funding ads opposing her. Stratton is all but guaranteed to become the next Illinois senator in November, as the state leans heavily Democratic. Another candidate opposed by Fairshake, La Shawn Ford, also won his primary to become the Democratic nominee for Illinois' 7th Congressional District. The district heavily leans Democratic, putting Ford on the glide path to Congress. But Fairshake also notched a trio of lower-level wins in Illinois. The group backed Democrats Rep. Nikki Budzinski and Melissa Bean, who won their respective primaries in deep-blue congressional districts. Fairshake also weighed in on Illinois's 2nd Congressional District, opposing Robert Peters who lost to Donna Miller. The results show the limits of pumping money into politics as a means of advancing an industry's agenda. Fairshake is pressing for its favored regulatory structure of the nascent industry. Like Fairshake, an AI industry PAC walked away with some wins in congressional primaries , which may translate to new lawmakers friendly to the regulations — or lack thereof — that crypto and AI companies are seeking. AI PAC Leading the Future also backed Bean's winning campaign. However, the group supported...
SSR Mining (SSRM 8.39%) is a gold-heavy producer, but also produces significant amounts of silver. SSR Mining is the third-largest gold producer in the U.S., and owns the largest silver mine in Argentina. In 2025, its Puna mine in Argentina accounted for 28% of the company's total revenue. SSR Mining's stock price, therefore, is highly sensitive to the volatility in the prices of both the precious...
SSR Mining (SSRM 8.39%) is a gold-heavy producer, but also produces significant amounts of silver. SSR Mining is the third-largest gold producer in the U.S., and owns the largest silver mine in Argentina. In 2025, its Puna mine in Argentina accounted for 28% of the company's total revenue. SSR Mining's stock price, therefore, is highly sensitive to the volatility in the prices of both the precious metals, gold and silver. That pretty much explains why the stock fell today, dropping over 6% as of 1:30 p.m. ET Wednesday. Should you sell SSR Mining stock too? The gold and silver fall Precious metals retreated on Wednesday, with both gold and silver sliding over 2% each. While gold broke the critical $5,000 per ounce mark, silver fell to its lowest level in a month. Precious metals like gold and silver are considered safe-haven assets during economic and geopolitical turmoil. Yet, despite the escalating conflicts in the Middle East, gold and silver prices fell as a surge in February wholesale prices and a 5% spike in Brent crude on March 18 stifled demand. Expand NASDAQ : SSRM SSR Mining Today's Change ( -8.39 %) $ -2.37 Current Price $ 25.89 Key Data Points Market Cap $5.7B Day's Range $ 25.75 - $ 27.27 52wk Range $ 8.65 - $ 33.49 Volume 208K Avg Vol 4M Gross Margin 35.73 % This persistent inflation has fueled investor fears that the Federal Reserve will maintain high interest rates when it announces its latest decision on Wednesday, creating a significant headwind for assets like gold and silver and dragging down precious metal stocks like SSR Mining. What should you do with SSR Mining stock now? Given how rapidly things are moving, it's hard to predict where gold and silver will head next. Shares of SSR Mining have more than doubled over the past year, driven largely by the massive rally in precious metal prices that preceded the recent escalation of conflict in the Middle East. Some investors may be tempted to book profits, but one factor could drive the stock highe...
Randy Paine, president of Key Institutional Bank, Amit Garg, senior partner at McKinsey, and Angela Strange, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, join Dani Burger on "Bloomberg Deals." (Source: Bloomberg)
Randy Paine, president of Key Institutional Bank, Amit Garg, senior partner at McKinsey, and Angela Strange, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, join Dani Burger on "Bloomberg Deals." (Source: Bloomberg)
The US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday as expected, in defiance of President Donald Trump as the world’s largest economy battles stubborn inflation, weak labour demand and an “uncertain” outlook due to the war in Iran. The Fed’s 11-1 vote kept rates steady at a range between 3.50 per cent and 3.75 per cent, with officials flagging one expected rate cut by the end of the ...
The US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday as expected, in defiance of President Donald Trump as the world’s largest economy battles stubborn inflation, weak labour demand and an “uncertain” outlook due to the war in Iran. The Fed’s 11-1 vote kept rates steady at a range between 3.50 per cent and 3.75 per cent, with officials flagging one expected rate cut by the end of the year. “The implications of developments in the Middle East for the US economy are uncertain,” the Fed said in a statement. Advertisement The bank cut rates three consecutive times late last year before holding them steady at its January meeting. It has a dual mandate of maintaining inflation near a long-term target of 2 per cent while ensuring maximum employment. Advertisement With US-Israel war on Iran causing global oil prices to spike, potentially fuelling inflation and curbing growth, analysts say policymakers were always unlikely to make any immediate moves.
Britain has said it remains involved in discussions with the US and European allies over escorting merchant shipping through the strait of Hormuz but the situation remains too dangerous for it to happen soon. Iran is still considered to pose a threat and to have a wide range of weapons available – from cruise missiles to sea drones – despite 19 days of US-led bombing of its navy and coastal sites....
Britain has said it remains involved in discussions with the US and European allies over escorting merchant shipping through the strait of Hormuz but the situation remains too dangerous for it to happen soon. Iran is still considered to pose a threat and to have a wide range of weapons available – from cruise missiles to sea drones – despite 19 days of US-led bombing of its navy and coastal sites. A UK defence official said Tehran had “a very effective kind of disaggregated command and dispersal system”, meaning it could continue to attack even though many of its military and political leaders have been killed. Its mountainous coastline makes surveillance of missiles and drones difficult. The defence official added: “The level of threat is such that I don’t see many nations being willing to put warships into the middle of that threat right now.” Iran has in effect closed the strait with periodic attacks on oil tankers and other shipping. About a fifth of seaborne crude oil traffic passed through the strait before the war, and a dramatic fall in exports has helped push prices above $100 a barrel. Donald Trump has criticised the UK and other Nato members for failing to offer warships to help patrol the strategic waterway. On Truth Social on Tuesday he said the United States “no longer ‘need’ or desire the Nato Countries’ assistance”. However, the UK said contacts continued about the issue at a military level, and additional British planners had been dispatched to liaise with US Central Command (Centcom), which is leading the American military effort against Iran. It is unclear what the UK would contribute to any maritime escort operation, though the Royal Navy could in theory redeploy HMS Dragon, a destroyer currently en route to Cyprus, into the Arabian sea. No other warships are immediately available. On Wednesday, John Healey, the defence secretary, discussed the strait of Hormuz in a call with the defence ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Poland. France has ...