Verizon (VZ 2.03%) is a dividend stock with an ultra-high 5.5% yield. The dividend has been increased annually for decades. And the business generates reliable income from sticky telecommunications subscriptions. Before you buy the stock, however, you'll want to know a few important facts. Verizon operates in a competitive industry Perhaps the most important thing to understand about Verizon's bus...
Verizon (VZ 2.03%) is a dividend stock with an ultra-high 5.5% yield. The dividend has been increased annually for decades. And the business generates reliable income from sticky telecommunications subscriptions. Before you buy the stock, however, you'll want to know a few important facts. Verizon operates in a competitive industry Perhaps the most important thing to understand about Verizon's business is that it faces material competition. Cell phone service and internet connections are largely commodities today. And despite its vast size, Verizon has to compete for its customers with other cellphone companies and cable companies. It has no choice but to offer high-quality services at attractive prices, or it will lose customers. In other words, pricing power is limited and capital spending needs are high. That's not bad, per se, but neither is it good. And, notably, Verizon already carries a material amount of debt. To be fair, T-Mobile (TMUS 3.13%) is more leveraged, but AT&T (T 1.63%) is less. You'll need to keep close tabs on Verizon's balance sheet if you buy it. Verizon is not a great dividend growth stock While Verizon's long record of annual dividend increases is nice, investors need to temper their enthusiasm. Over the past decade the dividend has increased at an annualized rate of just 2% or so. That's below the historical inflation rate, which means the dividend's buying power has been shrinking over time. That's not good if you are trying to live off the income your portfolio generates. Expand NYSE : VZ Verizon Communications Today's Change ( -2.03 %) $ -1.02 Current Price $ 49.49 Key Data Points Market Cap $213B Day's Range $ 49.38 - $ 50.42 52wk Range $ 38.39 - $ 51.66 Volume 994K Avg Vol 31M Gross Margin 45.79 % Dividend Yield 5.41 % That said, Verizon is trying to address its anemic growth. The big move was the board of directors bringing in a new CEO. However, that only occurred in late 2025, so there's still no clear sign that Verizon's growth wil...
Key Points Verizon is one of the world's largest telecom companies. Verizon has significant debt, substantial capital investment requirements, and a new CEO. 10 stocks we like better than Verizon Communications › Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is a dividend stock with an ultra-high 5.5% yield. The dividend has been increased annually for decades. And the business generates reliable income from sticky telecomm...
Key Points Verizon is one of the world's largest telecom companies. Verizon has significant debt, substantial capital investment requirements, and a new CEO. 10 stocks we like better than Verizon Communications › Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is a dividend stock with an ultra-high 5.5% yield. The dividend has been increased annually for decades. And the business generates reliable income from sticky telecommunications subscriptions. Before you buy the stock, however, you'll want to know a few important facts. Verizon operates in a competitive industry Perhaps the most important thing to understand about Verizon's business is that it faces material competition. Cell phone service and internet connections are largely commodities today. And despite its vast size, Verizon has to compete for its customers with other cellphone companies and cable companies. It has no choice but to offer high-quality services at attractive prices, or it will lose customers. 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 » In other words, pricing power is limited and capital spending needs are high. That's not bad, per se, but neither is it good. And, notably, Verizon already carries a material amount of debt. To be fair, T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) is more leveraged, but AT&T (NYSE: T) is less. You'll need to keep close tabs on Verizon's balance sheet if you buy it. Verizon is not a great dividend growth stock While Verizon's long record of annual dividend increases is nice, investors need to temper their enthusiasm. Over the past decade the dividend has increased at an annualized rate of just 2% or so. That's below the historical inflation rate, which means the dividend's buying power has been shrinking over time. That's not good if you are trying to live off the income your portfolio generates. That said, Verizon is trying to address ...
"Fully Stretched": Some US Airports Face Possible Closure If Government Shutdown Prolongs Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Some U.S. airports may be forced to close down if lawmakers fail to reach a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and end the partial government shutdown , a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) official said on March 17. ...
"Fully Stretched": Some US Airports Face Possible Closure If Government Shutdown Prolongs Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Some U.S. airports may be forced to close down if lawmakers fail to reach a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and end the partial government shutdown , a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) official said on March 17. Passengers move through one of the terminals as multiple flights have been canceled and delayed at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va., on March 16, 2026. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl told Fox News that the TSA has “fully depleted” its available workforce from the National Deployment Office to cover staffing shortages at airports. “ So at this point, we’re fully stretched . Frankly, there’s not much else we can do,” he told the news outlet. “As the weeks continue, if this continues, it’s not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports, particularly smaller ones.” Stahl said the government shutdown has placed financial strain on TSA workers living paycheck to paycheck, with some sleeping in their cars and drawing blood to pay for expenses. “ If there’s not action taken, particularly from Senate Democrats, this is going to get worse ,” he said. “It’s not going to get better, and there will be significant pain for passengers as well. Three [to] four-hour wait time at select airports.” Funding for DHS lapsed last month after Congress failed to strike a deal on immigration reforms sought by Democrats following the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents during operations in Minnesota earlier this year. The partial shutdown has left about 50,000 TSA officers working without pay. More than 300 officers have quit from the agency during the shutdown , according to DHS. The department said that just over 10 percent of TSA officers were absent from work on March 1...
Australian unemployment stayed relatively low in February as job gains continued, reinforcing the Reserve Bank’s view that the economy remains resilient enough to withstand tighter monetary policy. Employment advanced by 48,900, driven completely by part-time roles, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday. The jobless rate climbed to 4.3%, higher than a forecast 4.1%, as more...
Australian unemployment stayed relatively low in February as job gains continued, reinforcing the Reserve Bank’s view that the economy remains resilient enough to withstand tighter monetary policy. Employment advanced by 48,900, driven completely by part-time roles, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday. The jobless rate climbed to 4.3%, higher than a forecast 4.1%, as more people sought work. Read more: RBA’s Rate-Hike Split Raises Questions Over Timing of Tightening “This month we saw fewer people who were unemployed and waiting to start a job in January move into employment in February, compared to recent Februarys,” said Sean Crick, ABS head of labor statistics. “We also saw more people remaining unemployed this month compared to recent Februarys.” The Australian dollar held gains after the data. The data come two days after the RBA delivered its second consecutive interest-rate hike, pointing to a strong inflationary impulse across the economy even before the US-Israeli war in Iran erupted. The employment report is a crucial piece of data for Australian policymakers as they plot a path to return inflation to their 2-3% target while trying to maintain a healthy labor market, a balancing act the central bank says is still appropriate. Listen and follow The Bloomberg Australia Podcast on Apple , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. Economists and traders are somewhat at odds over whether the RBA will deliver another rate increase in May or wait longer to observe the fallout from the Iran war. Money markets are wagering about a 70% chance of a hike in May and fully priced in August. Between now and the RBA’s next meeting in May, the monetary policy board will receive another employment report as well as consumer spending readings. The most crucial piece of data will be first-quarter inflation in late April, which together with updated RBA staff forecasts will be key factors in the May decision. The RBA undertook a brief easin...
At its March 2026 GTC conference, NVIDIA unveiled the Vera Rubin and Vera CPU platforms, expanded its AI systems and software stack, and projected at least US$1 trillion in cumulative AI chip orders through 2027. The breadth of new products and partnerships, from autonomous vehicles and physical AI to AI factories and edge inference, shows NVIDIA pushing deeper into end‑to‑end AI infrastructure ra...
At its March 2026 GTC conference, NVIDIA unveiled the Vera Rubin and Vera CPU platforms, expanded its AI systems and software stack, and projected at least US$1 trillion in cumulative AI chip orders through 2027. The breadth of new products and partnerships, from autonomous vehicles and physical AI to AI factories and edge inference, shows NVIDIA pushing deeper into end‑to‑end AI infrastructure rather than remaining just a GPU supplier. We’ll now examine how this expanded full‑stack AI role and US$1 trillion demand outlook could reshape NVIDIA’s existing investment narrative. Invest in the nuclear renaissance through our list of powering the global AI revolution. Advertisement NVIDIA Investment Narrative Recap NVIDIA’s investment case still rests on belief that AI “factories” and full‑stack platforms can support high double‑digit revenue and earnings growth. The GTC 2026 wave of Vera Rubin, Vera CPU and Dynamo announcements reinforces that narrative and, if NVIDIA executes, could support the near‑term catalyst of sustaining hyperscaler and sovereign AI orders, while intensifying competition and export‑control risk remain the biggest overhangs. This latest news directly addresses scale, efficiency and networking, but doesn’t remove those policy and customer‑concentration risks. Among the many GTC updates, the Vera Rubin DSX AI Factory reference design and Omniverse DSX Blueprint look especially relevant. They aim to standardize how large customers plan, simulate and operate gigawatt‑scale AI factories, potentially deepening NVIDIA’s role beyond chips into power, cooling, storage and networking blueprints. If widely adopted, that could support the existing catalyst of recurring, multi‑year infrastructure cycles tied to Blackwell and Rubin, while also tying NVIDIA’s fortunes even more tightly to hyperscaler capex and energy availability. Yet while this growth story is compelling, investors should also understand how export controls or faster customer shifts to in‑house...
(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, advancing more than 1,000 points or 3 percent in that span. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 34,350-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Thursday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down...
(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, advancing more than 1,000 points or 3 percent in that span. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 34,350-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Thursday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion. The TSE finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the technology and plastics companies, although the financial shares were soft. For the day, the index jumped 512.01 points or 1.51 percent to finish at 34,348.58 after trading between 33,929.28 and 34,423.66. Among the actives, Cathay Financial dipped 0.17 percent, while Mega Financial eased 0.13 percent, CTBC Financial collected 0.63 percent, First Financial lost 0.52 percent, Fubon Financial sank 0.33 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company spiked 1.87 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation added 0.66 percent, Hon Hai Precision dropped 0.94 percent, Largan Precision vaulted 1.67 percent, Catcher Technology shed 0.53 percent, Delta Electronics strengthened 1.74 percent, Novatek Microelectronics rose 0.39 percent, Formosa Plastics jumped 1.83 percent, Nan Ya Plastics improved 0.82 percent, Asia Cement fell 0.29 percent and MediaTek and E Sun Financial were unchanged. The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and moved deeper into the red as the day progressed, ending at session lows. The Dow tumbled 768.11 points or 1.63 percent to finish at 46,225.15, while the NASDAQ dropped 327.11 points or 1.46 percent to close at 22,152.42 and the S&P 500 sank 91.39 points or 1.36 percent to end at 6,624.70. The weakness early in the day came following the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in February. Following that early pu...
Key Points FOMC interest rate decisions are among the most anticipated announcements on Wall Street. Although the U.S. economy is chugging along and consumer spending remains resilient, inflation is a wildcard that can upend the Fed's existing monetary policy. A historically divided FOMC is further complicating matters for an expensive stock market. 10 stocks we like better than S&P 500 Index › Fe...
Key Points FOMC interest rate decisions are among the most anticipated announcements on Wall Street. Although the U.S. economy is chugging along and consumer spending remains resilient, inflation is a wildcard that can upend the Fed's existing monetary policy. A historically divided FOMC is further complicating matters for an expensive stock market. 10 stocks we like better than S&P 500 Index › Few announcements put investors on the edge of their seats quite like interest rate decisions from the Federal Reserve. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings occur about every six weeks and shape U.S. monetary policy. While the Fed is often viewed as the bedrock of Wall Street and a calming force for equities, eight words from Fed Chair Jerome Powell following the FOMC's March 18 meeting may have spoiled the party for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI), S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC), and Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC). 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 » Jerome Powell just said the quiet part out loud In many respects, the FOMC's March 2026 meeting went according to plan. The FOMC voted 11-1 to keep the federal funds target rate unchanged at 3.50% to 3.75%, which was the expectation for investors heading into the meeting. Powell's statements also pointed to steady economic growth and "resilient" consumer spending. But in Fed Chair Powell's opening statement at the FOMC press conference, he uttered eight words that ultimately roiled Wall Street and its major stock indexes. In response to U.S. and Israeli military actions against Iran and the subsequent skyrocketing of crude oil prices, Powell proclaimed, "higher energy prices will push up overall inflation." While Jerome Powell and the other members of the FOMC have vowed to adhere to the dual mandate of stabilizing pri...
Two Mexican real estate investment trusts have said they plan to bid for peer Fibra Macquarie , one day after Fibra Prologis shareholders signed off on plans to buy it. Fibra Next, which in November raised $400 million in a share offering as it looks to create Latin America’s biggest industrial real estate trust, said it will make a voluntary offer for 100% of Fibra Macquarie, a filing said. The o...
Two Mexican real estate investment trusts have said they plan to bid for peer Fibra Macquarie , one day after Fibra Prologis shareholders signed off on plans to buy it. Fibra Next, which in November raised $400 million in a share offering as it looks to create Latin America’s biggest industrial real estate trust, said it will make a voluntary offer for 100% of Fibra Macquarie, a filing said. The offer will be a combination of cash and equity; Fibra Next is offering 0.420 shares of Fibra Next for each Fibra Macquarie certificate, a cash portion capped at 11.7 billion pesos ($656.4 million), or a combination of both. Monterrey, Nuevo León-based Fibra MTY, which earlier this month raised about $500 million to expand its industrial portfolio, has also submitted an expression of interest for a tender offer to acquire all of Fibra Macquarie, according to a Thursday filing . The two firms are throwing their hats into the ring after Fibra Prologis shareholders this week approved its plans to buy Fibra Macquarie. The deal is subject to regulatory sign-off from the Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores, a Tuesday filing said. The Fibra Prologis offer will allow Fibra Macquarie shareholders to trade each of their shares for 0.525 Fibra Prologis certificates or 40 pesos in cash, according to an announcement last month. The cash portion is capped at nearly 8 billion pesos. Fibra Macquarie, which focuses on commercial and industrial real estate in Mexico, had 261 properties worth $3.6 billion as of September, according to its website . In a statement, Fibra MTY Chief Executive Officer Jorge Avalos said its new tender offer for Fibra Macquarie is “built on a non-negotiable principle: full alignment with investors.” The structure of the potential offer remains under development and would be subject to corporate and regulatory approvals, Fibra MTY said in the statement. A Fibra Next representative declined additional comment beyond the filing. Emails seeking comment from Fibra Mac...
Animal rights groups have urged Hong Kong authorities to review their culling strategy for wild boars and to install animal bridges and other measures to reduce human-wildlife conflict in urban areas after incidents involving wild boars and a buffalo. They warned that as urban expansion, particularly the Northern Metropolis project, cleared large tracts of land and further eroded wildlife habitat,...
Animal rights groups have urged Hong Kong authorities to review their culling strategy for wild boars and to install animal bridges and other measures to reduce human-wildlife conflict in urban areas after incidents involving wild boars and a buffalo. They warned that as urban expansion, particularly the Northern Metropolis project, cleared large tracts of land and further eroded wildlife habitat, poor city planning would worsen the situation, endangering more animals. On Tuesday, authorities euthanised eight wild boars – two adults and six juveniles – after they wandered into a residential area near Chuk Yuen North Estate in Wong Tai Sin. The next day, a buffalo was struck by a vehicle on a highway in Yuen Long, disrupting traffic for hours, and was later euthanised. Advertisement The death of the boars reignited debate over the government’s culling policy adopted in 2021 to replace the previous “capture, contraception and relocation” strategy. The accident involving the buffalo also highlighted the absence of road infrastructure to prevent wildlife from safely crossing busy roads in rural areas. Advertisement The Hong Kong Wild Boar Concern Group condemned the culling of the eight pigs as “brutal”.
Australia’s central bank said local households and firms are broadly well placed to cope with recent interest-rate increases and surging fuel prices from the escalating Middle East conflict, while highlighting the potential for an unexpected shock as a result of elevated international risk. “The Australian financial system has a good degree of resilience though the risk of a more material adverse ...
Australia’s central bank said local households and firms are broadly well placed to cope with recent interest-rate increases and surging fuel prices from the escalating Middle East conflict, while highlighting the potential for an unexpected shock as a result of elevated international risk. “The Australian financial system has a good degree of resilience though the risk of a more material adverse shock has increased over recent weeks,” the Reserve Bank said in its Financial Stability Review released in Sydney on Thursday. “The strong financial positions of most Australian households and businesses means that they are unlikely to be a source of instability,” the half-yearly review said. “Financing pressures will increase for some if inflation is higher for longer that currently forecast.” In terms of global risks, the RBA highlighted four key areas: Potential for elevated geopolitical tensions to spill over into a severe international shock Potential for a sharp revision for the outlook of AI-related investments Potential for confidence in institutional arrangements to be undermined or regulatory divergence Potential for disruptive crystallization of macro-financial vulnerabilities in China The RBA this week delivered its second straight interest-rate increase as it tries to restrain resurgent inflation pressures that were gaining strength even before the US-Israeli attack on Iran. The resulting surge in oil prices as Iran struck energy-rich Gulf states and closed the Strait of Hormuz in response has exacerbated the threat of sharp price rises across the economy. Still, the central bank said most Australians are in reasonable shape to absorb the fallout because of strong employment and housing markets, as well as pre-payments on home loans that have built up financial buffers. The RBA added though that there’s “early evidence” that some forms of riskier lending have picked up. “High loan-to-valuation ratio lending to first-home buyers” has increased alongside the exp...