Maersk CEO Warns Iran War Is A "New Wake-Up Call" For Global Trade It is becoming increasingly clear that reopening the Strait of Hormuz has become a top U.S. priority (really a global priority) , as oil executives and industry insiders warn that the clock is ticking toward an energy and global trade shock if the maritime chokepoint remains closed for another month. Frederic Lasserre, head of rese...
Maersk CEO Warns Iran War Is A "New Wake-Up Call" For Global Trade It is becoming increasingly clear that reopening the Strait of Hormuz has become a top U.S. priority (really a global priority) , as oil executives and industry insiders warn that the clock is ticking toward an energy and global trade shock if the maritime chokepoint remains closed for another month. Frederic Lasserre, head of research at Gunvor, one of the world's largest oil traders, warned earlier this week: "The tipping point is clearly June. This is the point at which something has to give ." JPMorgan analysts warned that the world is spiraling toward a catastrophic cliff-edge shortage of crude oil if the maritime chokepoint is blocked for another four weeks. Speaking to CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" earlier this morning, Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc warned that a " new wake-up call " has emerged beyond energy markets and that if the Hormuz chokepoint remains shuttered, it could severely impact global trade in the coming months. Clerc was speaking to CNBC after Maersk reported a plunge in profitability and kept its guidance unchanged, but warned that the US-Iran war and the resulting Gulf energy shock are "dominant forces shaping the macroeconomic outlook, as well as the trade and logistics environment." Maersk wrote in its earnings report that the Iran war had introduced an "additional layer of uncertainty." "Currently, fragile ceasefires are in place in both Iran and Lebanon, negotiations proceed slowly, and traffic at the Strait of Hormuz remains at a near-standstill. The conflict has already weighed on sentiment. Consumer confidence deteriorated," the shipper said. Maersk warned that crude oil prices in the $90 to $100 per barrel range and continued Hormuz chokepoint disruption would soon begin hitting global container demand, which is still expected to grow between 2% and 4%. It noted that the balance of risks is "on the downside and more adverse outcomes cannot be ruled out." "Energy and shipping...
The Schwab U.S. Broad Market ETF (NYSEMKT:SCHB) and State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 1500 Composite Stock Market ETF (NYSEMKT:SPTM) both provide ultra-low-cost, diversified exposure to the United States equity market with nearly identical long-term performance. These two exchange-traded funds serve as foundational building blocks for long-term investors. Both offer a one-stop solution for capturing...
The Schwab U.S. Broad Market ETF (NYSEMKT:SCHB) and State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 1500 Composite Stock Market ETF (NYSEMKT:SPTM) both provide ultra-low-cost, diversified exposure to the United States equity market with nearly identical long-term performance. These two exchange-traded funds serve as foundational building blocks for long-term investors. Both offer a one-stop solution for capturing the performance of large-, mid-, and small-cap stocks. Investors often choose between these funds when seeking a core holding that captures the growth of Silicon Valley giants alongside the stability of established industrial firms. Beta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year monthly returns. The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months. Dividend yield is the trailing-12-month distribution yield. Continue reading
In this article DIS UBER Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT A woman walks past a "Now Hiring" sign in front of a store on January 13, 2022 in Arlington, Virginia. Olivier Douliery | AFP | Getty Images Retailers are ramping up hiring this year, defying economic concerns as consumers keep shopping. The retail trades added nearly 22,000 jobs in April, accounting for almost one-fifth of t...
In this article DIS UBER Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT A woman walks past a "Now Hiring" sign in front of a store on January 13, 2022 in Arlington, Virginia. Olivier Douliery | AFP | Getty Images Retailers are ramping up hiring this year, defying economic concerns as consumers keep shopping. The retail trades added nearly 22,000 jobs in April, accounting for almost one-fifth of total job growth, according to preliminary federal data released Friday. Nearly 15.5 million employees now hold retail industry jobs, the most since July 2024. Consumers have kept their wallets open in the face of war in Iran, higher gasoline prices, faster inflation and President Donald Trump 's tariff policy. Lately, a solid consumer has left retailers confident enough to hire more workers to stock shelves or staff cash registers. "This still shows how resilient spending has been, even amid a lot of the uncertainty," said Cory Stahle, senior economist at job search platform Indeed. "It's an encouraging sign for the industry and for the economy more broadly." Rising confidence Warehouse clubs and supercenters were among the retailers driving sector hiring in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Department stores, and sellers of electronics and appliances, saw payrolls shrink. The labor market gained 38,000 courier and messenger jobs in April, representing roughly a third of all positions added in the month. That partly compensated for jobs lost earlier this year due to weather, according to Eugenio Aleman, chief economist at Raymond James. Growth in retail and transportation helped total job growth come in far ahead of economists' expectations for April. Retailers also posted their highest volume of monthly job openings since 2023 in March, a separate report of preliminary government data found. The sector's number of openings spiked 48% from the same month a year ago. Economy wide, the total number of listings fell over the same period. Retail's hiring surge reflect...
In this article BIP FANG FANG EPD BIP Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT In this photo illustration, the Brookfield Infrastructure Partners company logo is seen displayed on a smartphone screen. Piotr Swat | Lightrocket | Getty Images Investors appreciate having dividend stocks in their portfolios as they provide a steady stream of income, even during periods of market volatility. Div...
In this article BIP FANG FANG EPD BIP Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT In this photo illustration, the Brookfield Infrastructure Partners company logo is seen displayed on a smartphone screen. Piotr Swat | Lightrocket | Getty Images Investors appreciate having dividend stocks in their portfolios as they provide a steady stream of income, even during periods of market volatility. Dividend-paying stocks can help cushion downside risk while offering consistent returns. Given the sheer number of stocks offering dividends, identifying the right ones is not always straightforward. Investors can turn to top Wall Street analysts and follow their insights as they pick dividend stocks that are backed by strong cash flows. Here are three dividend-paying stocks that are highlighted by Wall Street's top pros, as tracked by TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. Brookfield Infrastructure owns and operates a diversified portfolio of utilities, transport, midstream and data assets. It recently announced first-quarter earnings and declared a quarterly distribution of about 46 cents per unit, payable on June 30. This distribution represents 6% year-over-year growth. At an annualized distribution per unit of $1.82, BIP offers a yield of about 5%. Following the Q1 2026 print, TD Cowen analyst Cherilyn Radbourne reiterated a buy rating on Brookfield Infrastructure stock with a price target of $57 . The analyst noted that BIP delivered a 10% growth in its Q1 FFOPU, or funds from operations per unit, to 90 cents, in line with the Street's expectations. The five-star analyst added that organic growth reached the high end of BIP's target range of 6% to 9%, supported by inflation-linked pricing, robust midstream utilization, and $1.7 billion of capital expenditure commissioned over the trailing twelve months. Radbourne highlighted that BIP is optimistic about delivering more than 10% growth in FFOPU thi...
Memory chip makers have been riding a wave of surging demand that's boosted pricing power and profit projections in the historically volatile sector. Rather than a one-time shortage in need of a correction, analysts are increasingly talking about this demand as evidence of a "supercycle" in the sector. They think it could last for years, especially if artificial intelligence adoption by big compan...
Memory chip makers have been riding a wave of surging demand that's boosted pricing power and profit projections in the historically volatile sector. Rather than a one-time shortage in need of a correction, analysts are increasingly talking about this demand as evidence of a "supercycle" in the sector. They think it could last for years, especially if artificial intelligence adoption by big companies happens more quickly than they currently expect. "Surging demand for AI accelerators and inference hardware can dramatically boost revenue for semiconductor firms. If adoption outpaces forecasts, chipmakers across memory, logic, and networking could see windfall gains," analyst Jay Goldberg at Seaport Research Partners wrote in a Wednesday note. Traders have caught wind of the rising demand for memory chips, sending shares of those companies higher in the past week. Chipmaker Micron Technology surged nearly 38% for its best weekly performance since 2008. MU YTD mountain Micron, YTD The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) , whose constituents include Micron, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, gained more than 30% for the week. DRAM YTD mountain Roundhill Memory ETF, YTD Readying for a boost in production Samsung Electronics, which recently joined the trillion-dollar valuation club , is advancing the construction of a new mega-fab plant by six months as part of the supercycle, which could extend beyond 2027, analysts said. The company is expected to start building the facility, known as P5 Fab 2, in July at its Pyeongtaek semiconductor campus. "Beyond merely responding to current demand, the move reflects an intent to cement market dominance throughout the multi-year AI semiconductor boom," analysts for Roth wrote in a Tuesday commentary. South Korean memory chip maker SK Hynix is fielding offers from big tech firms to invest in specific production pipelines in order to ramp memory chip production, Reuters reported last week. AI processors need high-bandwidth memory like DRAM and ...
felixmizioznikov/iStock via Getty Images (Note: This is a Canadian producer that reports using Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted. Also, it may be better to try to obtain more liquidity when purchasing this stock by trying to use the Toronto Exchange where this company is also listed in Canada when compared to the over-the-counter market in the United States. Limit orders are suggested for a ...
felixmizioznikov/iStock via Getty Images (Note: This is a Canadian producer that reports using Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted. Also, it may be better to try to obtain more liquidity when purchasing this stock by trying to use the Toronto Exchange where this company is also listed in Canada when compared to the over-the-counter market in the United States. Limit orders are suggested for a company this small) After spending about 3 years or so explaining why Yangarra Resources ( YGRAF ) was repeatedly hit with nonrecurring items that some larger companies would have "taken in stride" there is finally something that shows the agility of a smaller company to move quickly to take advantage of rising commodity prices. Frankly it is about time for the luck to change. The last article noted that an experienced person replaced another key person. That experience is being put to good use in the form of a debt increase to take advantage of higher commodity prices combined with a focus on bringing as many Belly River wells as possible because they have the highest return. Belly River Wells The second last article noted two things. The first was a big production improvement that came just in time for these higher commodity prices combined with a relatively new location that had superior profitability. Now the company is doubling down by increasing debt (rather than paying it down) and increasing the effort to bring the best location wells online ASAP. This company could well have an informal goal of outperforming the last high-price time in fiscal year 2022. It will be interesting to see if it happens. Yangarra Resources Summary Of Chambers Belly River Well Profitability Characteristics (Yangarra Resources Corporate Presentation First Quarter 2026) The first consideration is shown above with that wonderful IRR of 143% using a WTI of $70 for oil. With oil prices now above WTI $90 much of the time, this becomes a license to print money before the production improvements a...
Mother’s Day business at many traditional Chinese banquet restaurants in Hong Kong has been weaker than last year, with diners increasingly opting for lunch and afternoon tea celebrations or non-traditional meals such as hotpot, industry representatives have said. Busy areas such as Causeway Bay were bustling with families on Sunday, as residents flocked to restaurants and shopping malls to celebr...
Mother’s Day business at many traditional Chinese banquet restaurants in Hong Kong has been weaker than last year, with diners increasingly opting for lunch and afternoon tea celebrations or non-traditional meals such as hotpot, industry representatives have said. Busy areas such as Causeway Bay were bustling with families on Sunday, as residents flocked to restaurants and shopping malls to celebrate, some carrying flowers and cards. “I did not want to do a very big dinner this year because...
jetcityimage/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Introduction Verizon ( VZ ) recently released its Q1 '26 earnings , and the stock was up 1.6% following EPS beating expectations. Although revenue missed expectations and both consumer and business segments are down, EBITDA beat expectations by 2.1% (highest ever reported), and EPS is up 7.6% YoY. Management reaffirmed most FY2026 guidance. I believe ...
jetcityimage/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Introduction Verizon ( VZ ) recently released its Q1 '26 earnings , and the stock was up 1.6% following EPS beating expectations. Although revenue missed expectations and both consumer and business segments are down, EBITDA beat expectations by 2.1% (highest ever reported), and EPS is up 7.6% YoY. Management reaffirmed most FY2026 guidance. I believe that, because the stock is up 20% YTD after different factors like a rally following the FY2025 earnings report, a change of CEO, and the acquisition of Frontier, I think that these factors may have caused the stock to have traded steadily after Q1 results. Seeking Alpha What Actually Happened in Q1 Initially, Q1 '26 results gave me mixed feelings. But CFO went from $7.8B to $8.0B, while FCF increased from $3.6B to $3.8B YoY. For me, profitability outpaced the revenue growth (missed growth, by the way) that the company had, which came from the cost discipline the company had adopted. Verizon Verizon delivered 55K retail postpaid phone net adds in Q1 '26, a +344K improvement compared to the loss in Q1 '25, with management calling it the first positive first quarter since 2013. Broadband added 341K subscribers in the quarter, while retail core prepaid added 115K. The growth of postpaid phones is very important, in my opinion, because the CEO recently mentioned this segment as carrying the highest customer lifetime value. Verizon Also, mobility and broadband service revenue grew 1.6% YoY, while suffering a pressure caused by customer credits related to network outage, so the underlying service revenue was actually meaningfully stronger. This matters because Q1 should mark the weakest point for service revenue growth in 2026, and we may see stronger ARPU in the next quarters. I was also very impressed that, after one quarter leading the company, the new CEO (and management) decided to raise FY2026 adjusted EPS guidance to 5-6% from the 4-5% set in January. Postpaid phone net ad...
Connaught theatre, Worthing Balloons meet the sharper points of competitive parenting over a weekend of back-to-back kids’ parties, in this broad comedy of social manners Some of my most traumatising experiences have come hosting children’s parties: the Wardrobe Ensemble’s new show should come with a trigger warning. This devised play pitches us deep into the parcel-passing, E-number-addled tantru...
Connaught theatre, Worthing Balloons meet the sharper points of competitive parenting over a weekend of back-to-back kids’ parties, in this broad comedy of social manners Some of my most traumatising experiences have come hosting children’s parties: the Wardrobe Ensemble’s new show should come with a trigger warning. This devised play pitches us deep into the parcel-passing, E-number-addled tantrumscape of a weekend shepherding one’s five-year-old to three (three!) tots’ birthday bashes. Such is the burden borne by 34-year-old Xander, recently – and reluctantly – back in Bristol after a temporary escape to London, obliged to reconnect with old friends and painful memories across 48 primary-coloured hours of musical statues, puppet shows and small talk with people whose kids happen to know yours. For much of Party Season’s 95-minute span, we’re in the territory of the sitcom Motherland , a broad comedy of manners about competitive parenting, sleeplessness and ideal-home envy. Co-directed by Helena Seneca and Jesse Jones, the production brings all that to fluid, sometimes expressionist life, as a protective mum (Jesse Meadows) breathes fire, adults become kids and kids become adults – and a mysterious children’s entertainer plays our spectral MC. There are too many sharply observed moments to mention, from party-game soundtracks stymied by dodgy Bluetooth to the spoilt brat of aspirational parents who “gets anxious when there’s no structure”. Continue reading...
Rhun ap Iowerth says he hopes his party’s programme for government will get backing from across the Senedd UK politics live – latest updates The leader of Plaid Cymru is hoping to become Welsh first minister as early as Tuesday after his party won a historic victory in the Senedd elections, soundly beating Labour and holding off Reform UK. Plaid fell short of winning a majority in the Welsh parlia...
Rhun ap Iowerth says he hopes his party’s programme for government will get backing from across the Senedd UK politics live – latest updates The leader of Plaid Cymru is hoping to become Welsh first minister as early as Tuesday after his party won a historic victory in the Senedd elections, soundly beating Labour and holding off Reform UK. Plaid fell short of winning a majority in the Welsh parliament but Rhun ap Iorwerth said on Sunday he hoped other parties would work with him and told UK Labour not to punish Wales over the result. Continue reading...