Maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — a vital route for exports of oil, gas and other commodities from the Persian Gulf — remains at a near-standstill weeks after the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran. Iran sits above the strategic waterway and has effectively closed it to all but approved vessels. Oil and gas prices have surged amid the collapse in Hormuz transits, attacks on ...
Maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — a vital route for exports of oil, gas and other commodities from the Persian Gulf — remains at a near-standstill weeks after the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran. Iran sits above the strategic waterway and has effectively closed it to all but approved vessels. Oil and gas prices have surged amid the collapse in Hormuz transits, attacks on Middle Eastern energy infrastructure, and cuts to Gulf crude production as storage tanks fill up. The US is considering naval escorts to try to restore shipping activity. President Donald Trump has tried to recruit partners in Europe and Asia to help reopen the waterway, but allies are wary of being dragged into the wider war. What’s the significance of the Strait of Hormuz? Situated between Iran to its north and the United Arab Emirates and Oman to its south, the Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean. It’s around 100 miles (161 kilometers) long and 24 miles wide at its narrowest point. The shipping lanes in each direction are just two miles wide. The strait is an essential passage for the oil market, handling about a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil trade. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE all ship crude through Hormuz and the majority of their cargoes go to Asia. Gulf countries are also home to refineries that produce large volumes of diesel, naphtha — used to make plastics and gasoline — and other petroleum products that are exported globally via the strait. The waterway is crucial for the liquefied natural gas market, too. Around a fifth of the world’s LNG supply — mostly from Qatar — passed through this channel last year. Asian countries buy most of the super-chilled fuel shipped from the Middle East. Beyond energy, the Strait of Hormuz is a choke point for products including aluminum and fertilizer . Explainer: How the Iran War Is Disrupting Global Oil and Gas Supply Hormuz Reopening Looks Unlikely Without a Truce...
US auto safety regulators escalated an investigation of Tesla Inc. ’s partially automated driving system marketed as “Full-Self Driving,” citing additional crashes pointing to potential flaws in the technology’s ability to handle driving conditions with reduced visibility. A review of the incidents raised concern that the system fails to detect and warn drivers appropriately when the visibility of...
US auto safety regulators escalated an investigation of Tesla Inc. ’s partially automated driving system marketed as “Full-Self Driving,” citing additional crashes pointing to potential flaws in the technology’s ability to handle driving conditions with reduced visibility. A review of the incidents raised concern that the system fails to detect and warn drivers appropriately when the visibility of the vehicle’s cameras is degraded, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a memo posted to its website. The agency this week upgraded its probe, started in 2024 , to what it calls an engineering analysis. Read More: Fatal Tesla Crash Shows Dangers of Full Self-Driving Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Bloomberg News. The move, which could provide the basis for NHTSA to eventually seek a recall, heightens scrutiny of technology that underpins Tesla’s future ambitions around autonomous driving and robotaxi operations. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has said the automaker’s ability to develop autonomous-vehicle technology ultimately will determine whether the company is worth lots of money, or “ basically zero .” The new NHTSA memo disclosing the probe identified nine crashes involving the automated system, up from four when it first began investigating in 2024. In crashes the agency reviewed, “the FSD system did not detect common roadway conditions that impaired its visibility and/or provide alerts when camera performance had deteriorated until immediately before the crash occurred.” NHTSA also said Tesla cited company “data and labeling limitations” when seeking to identify additional similar incidents, which the agency said could have led to an under-reporting of crashes during some time periods.
Grammy-nominated rapper Afroman won a defamation lawsuit filed by seven Ohio sheriff’s deputies who sued him over music videos in which he used home security footage to mock their raid of his home. “We did it, America! Yeah, we did it! Freedom of speech! Right on! Right on!” the 51-year-old rapper, born Joseph Foreman, shouted outside the courthouse after the Wednesday evening verdict. He later po...
Grammy-nominated rapper Afroman won a defamation lawsuit filed by seven Ohio sheriff’s deputies who sued him over music videos in which he used home security footage to mock their raid of his home. “We did it, America! Yeah, we did it! Freedom of speech! Right on! Right on!” the 51-year-old rapper, born Joseph Foreman, shouted outside the courthouse after the Wednesday evening verdict. He later posted the clip to social media. The case tested the limits of parody and the license artists can take in social commentary directed at public figures. The deputies, collectively, sought nearly US$4 million in damages. Advertisement “No reasonable person would expect a police officer not to be criticised. They’ve been called names before,” defence lawyer David Osborne said in closing arguments for the rapper and comedian, known for his breakout 2000 hit “Because I Got High”. A screengrab from CCTV footage shows deputies raiding Joseph Foreman’s home in 2022. Photo: Afroman The Adams County deputies said they were publicly harassed over the viral videos, which were viewed more than 3 million times on YouTube.
The US boss of PricewaterhouseCoopers has warned that partners who do not get to grips with AI have no future at the consulting firm. Paul Griggs said senior staff who were not “paranoid about being AI-first” would probably be replaced by others who were ready to embrace the technology. “I don’t think anyone gets a free pass here. Anyone,” Griggs told the Financial Times. An employee who thinks th...
The US boss of PricewaterhouseCoopers has warned that partners who do not get to grips with AI have no future at the consulting firm. Paul Griggs said senior staff who were not “paranoid about being AI-first” would probably be replaced by others who were ready to embrace the technology. “I don’t think anyone gets a free pass here. Anyone,” Griggs told the Financial Times. An employee who thinks they have the “opportunity to opt out” of AI is “not going to be here that long”, Griggs added. Consulting is one of many white-collar industries that experts believe are in the firing line of advances in AI, owing to the technology’s ability to automate work related to such tasks as accounting, research and analysing business problems. However, data also shows that big consulting groups like PwC, Accenture and McKinsey are benefiting from clients seeking help in implementing AI across their businesses. K2 Consulting Research, which monitors the industry, has said global consulting grew 5.5% in 2025, a doubling of the previous year’s growth rate. Griggs said PwC’s employment strategy had changed as AI altered its working practices, but the firm remained “a net acquirer of talent at this point of time”. “Am I recruiting the same number of accountants and traditional consultants vis-a-vis engineers, on a proportionate basis, that I was three years ago? No,” he said. Griggs added that PwC was hiring more data specialists. Last year the firm cut staff numbers by 5,600, taking its number of global employees to fewer than 365,000. Griggs told the FT that PwC would change some tax and consulting services into AI-powered automated tools that could be paid for with an annual subscription. Traditionally, consultancies bill clients based on the number of hours worked on their projects. The new tax and consulting tools could be accessed “without a PwC person in the loop”, Griggs said. PwC is launching “PwC One”, an AI platform that offers six automated services for clients, including an ...
A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Property Play newsletter with Diana Olick. Property Play covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, from individuals to venture capitalists, private equity funds, family offices, institutional investors and large public companies. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. Barely four years after investo...
A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Property Play newsletter with Diana Olick. Property Play covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, from individuals to venture capitalists, private equity funds, family offices, institutional investors and large public companies. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. Barely four years after investors fled commercial real estate funds, due to fast-rising interest rates, some are now piling back in, as they rotate out of the once-hot private credit play . Investments in non-traded, publicly registered REITs went from $33.2 billion in 2022 to $5.7 billion in 2025, but gains in just the last few months are indicative of a turnaround. These REITs raised $593 million from investors in January, an increase from $467 million in December and $416 million in November, according to tracking from Stanger Investment Banking. Additional data from CoStar shows investments in non-traded REITs have seen gains over the third and fourth quarters of last year. Some expect that as more money comes out of private credit, it will end up in real estate. "We believe that will happen," said Kevin Gannon, chairman and CEO of Stanger. "We're starting to see signs of it in the fundraising starting to increase on the real estate side. It's slower, but starting to increase. And the redemptions on the real estate side have subsided, and what's going on now is there's a rotation of capital." When asked recently on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" if investment advisors might be taking clients out of Blackstone Private Credit (BCRED) and putting them into Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT), the company's President and Chief Operating Officer, Jonathan Gray, said, "I don't know if that's happening dollar for dollar, but when they get concerned about something, they may pause. I will tell you, interestingly, here in the first quarter, BREIT had its best inflows since 2022." Commercial real estate...
Keel Holdings has joined the US Navy’s ShipOS initiative, partnering with Palantir Technologies to integrate data and AI tools into maritime production systems. ShipOS is a navy-led effort designed to improve how shipbuilding and related supply chains are managed by introducing a shared digital environment across shipyards and suppliers. Keel is among a group of suppliers selected for the program’...
Keel Holdings has joined the US Navy’s ShipOS initiative, partnering with Palantir Technologies to integrate data and AI tools into maritime production systems. ShipOS is a navy-led effort designed to improve how shipbuilding and related supply chains are managed by introducing a shared digital environment across shipyards and suppliers. Keel is among a group of suppliers selected for the program’s initial rollout, which targets the submarine industrial base. Within this framework, Keel will integrate Palantir’s Foundry and AI platforms with its existing enterprise systems. By integrating Palantir’s AI-enabled ShipOS, the initiative establishes a unified data architecture to support planning, production monitoring, and workflow coordination, aiming to reduce delays in complex manufacturing environments. Operational, logistics, and production data are consolidated into a single platform, enabling participants to track progress in real-time, identify bottlenecks, and better align schedules. “The ability to rapidly deliver ships is essential to our nation’s security and industrial strength,” said Brian Carter, CEO of Keel. “This initiative is about more than technology — it’s about empowering our workforce, accelerating the Navy’s mission, and delivering results for the American people.” The ShipOS program is backed by up to $448 million in authorized funding and is expected to expand across more than 100 companies. As part of the effort, the US Navy plans to scale ShipOS beyond the initial group of suppliers, using early deployments to refine the system before extending it across the broader maritime industrial base. A scaled-size model of the Columbia-class submarine. Photo: Edvin Hernandez/US Navy Expanding Capacity Keel continues to expand its manufacturing capacity as demand from US naval programs increases, scaling both its infrastructure and production capabilities across multiple sites. In 2025, the company announced a $22-million investment in advanced precisi...
Citigroup ( C ) Mark Mason, currently executive vice chair and senior executive advisor to the CEO, will leave the company after almost 25 years at the bank to seek a CEO role, according to a media report. He decided to leave after Citi CEO Jane Fraser also became chair of the company's board, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. That move gave Fraser more cont...
Citigroup ( C ) Mark Mason, currently executive vice chair and senior executive advisor to the CEO, will leave the company after almost 25 years at the bank to seek a CEO role, according to a media report. He decided to leave after Citi CEO Jane Fraser also became chair of the company's board, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. That move gave Fraser more control over the bank's management and signaled that she plans to stay there awhile, the report said. Mason told the WSJ in an interview that he'll stay at Citi to advise Fraser on strategy, but he plans to leave by the end of the year. The executive was the bank's chief financial officer for seven years, moving to his new role earlier this month. Since joining Citi in 2001, he has held a string of leadership roles, including CFO of the Institutional Clients Group, CEO of Citi Private Bank, and CFO and head of strategy and M&A for Wealth Management. " I’m looking for an opportunity to lead and drive growth," he told the newspaper. The plan to leave the company and get a promotion to CEO, known as a double-switch, though, may prove challenging. Peter Crist, chairman of executive-recruitment firm Crist/Kolder Associates, told the WSJ that boards will consider such candidates as untested as a CEO, even if they consider them a great leader. "He’s going to be relegated to going down the food chain in terms of the size of the enterprise to become a CEO, if that is his aspiration," he said. More on Citigroup Citigroup Inc. (C) Presents at RBC Capital Markets Global Financial Institutions Conference 2026 Transcript C.PR.R: A 6.25% Preferred Stock IPO From Citigroup Citigroup Inc. (C) Presents at Bank of America Financial Services Conference 2026 Transcript Banks ramp up Middle East security measures amid Iran conflict - report Citi expects mid-teens growth in Q1 investment banking fees, shares up
There’s a lot to be optimistic about in the Technology sector as 2 analysts just weighed in on Lumentum Holdings (LITE – Research Report) and Nvidia (NVDA – Research Report) with bullish sentiments. Lumentum Holdings (LITE) In a report released today, Michael Genovese from Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a Buy rating on Lumentum Holdings, with a price target of $900.00. The company’s shares close...
There’s a lot to be optimistic about in the Technology sector as 2 analysts just weighed in on Lumentum Holdings (LITE – Research Report) and Nvidia (NVDA – Research Report) with bullish sentiments. Lumentum Holdings (LITE) In a report released today, Michael Genovese from Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a Buy rating on Lumentum Holdings, with a price target of $900.00. The company’s shares closed last Tuesday at $649.56. According to TipRanks.com, Genovese is a 5-star analyst with an average return of 33.6% and a 56.4% success rate. Genovese covers the Technology sector, focusing on stocks such as Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd, Applied Optoelectronics, and Ribbon Communications. ;'> Lumentum Holdings has an analyst consensus of Moderate Buy, with a price target consensus of $642.73, which is a 7.7% upside from current levels. In a report issued on March 3, TipRanks – PerPlexity also upgraded the stock to Buy with a $782.00 price target. See the top stocks recommended by analysts >> Nvidia (NVDA) In a report released today, Sebastien Naji from William Blair maintained a Buy rating on Nvidia. The company’s shares closed last Tuesday at $181.93. According to TipRanks.com, Naji is a 2-star analyst with an average return of 1.7% and a 37.5% success rate. Naji covers the Technology sector, focusing on stocks such as Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd, ARM Holdings PLC ADR, and Astera Labs, Inc. ;'> The word on The Street in general, suggests a Strong Buy analyst consensus rating for Nvidia with a $275.67 average price target, a 49.0% upside from current levels. In a report issued on March 3, Wells Fargo also maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a $265.00 price target. Disclaimer & DisclosureReport an Issue
Yevhenii Khil/iStock via Getty Images AtaiBeckley Inc. ( ATAI ) is a clinical-stage company that develops psychedelic therapies for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD). It was formed after a combination of Atai Life Sciences and Beckley Psytech. ATAI's pipeline includes BPL-003 for TRD, which will enter Phase 3 in Q2 2026 based on the efficacy shown in its recent...
Yevhenii Khil/iStock via Getty Images AtaiBeckley Inc. ( ATAI ) is a clinical-stage company that develops psychedelic therapies for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD). It was formed after a combination of Atai Life Sciences and Beckley Psytech. ATAI's pipeline includes BPL-003 for TRD, which will enter Phase 3 in Q2 2026 based on the efficacy shown in its recent Phase 2 trials. They found that this antidepressant's effect was rapid and lasted for weeks. ATAI's pipeline also includes VLS-01 for TRD in Phase 2 and EMP-01 for SAD in Phase 2a. Hence, I believe their R&D progress and healthy runway justify a reiterated “Buy” at these levels for long-term investors willing to speculate on therapeutic psychedelics. Psychedelic Bet AtaiBeckley Inc. is a clinical-stage biotech company developing mental health treatments, especially psychedelic-inspired therapies for serious psychiatric conditions. It was founded in 2018 as Atai Life Sciences. The company then changed its name to Atai Beckley N.V in November 2025 after merging with Beckley Psytech. But they later renamed the company again to AtaiBeckley Inc. in December 2025 after it redomiciled from the Netherlands to Delaware. ATAI is now headquartered in New York, NY. I also previously covered ATAI last October, but since then, the stock has declined by about 46.9%, so I thought it was worthwhile updating my thesis on this name. Source: Investor Day Presentation. March 2026. At its core, I believe that ATAI's thesis is that existing treatments may help with symptoms of depression and anxiety. However, the current standard of care often requires frequent dosing over long periods and doesn't lead to lasting benefits. Fortunately, ATAI's drug candidates aim to solve this issue. They are psychedelic-based compounds that may offer a rapid onset, more durable effects, need less frequent dosing, and promote neuroplasticity. Additionally, ATAI argues that psychedelic therapies create benefits th...
BrianAJackson Crypto.com has cut ~12% of its global workforce, or about 180 employees, The Straits Times reported , citing an e-mail sent to affected employees on Thursday morning. The layoffs are a part of the Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange's reorganization, as part of which it seeks to integrate enterprise-wide AI , the March 19 report said. Growth and customer relationship management d...
BrianAJackson Crypto.com has cut ~12% of its global workforce, or about 180 employees, The Straits Times reported , citing an e-mail sent to affected employees on Thursday morning. The layoffs are a part of the Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange's reorganization, as part of which it seeks to integrate enterprise-wide AI , the March 19 report said. Growth and customer relationship management departments were reportedly the hardest hit. All affected employees have been notified and are receiving resources to support their transition, according to the Singaporean newspaper. Last month, Crypto.com said it received a conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to charter Foris Dax National Trust Bank, doing business as Crypto.com National Trust Bank. More on Crypto S&P 500 to be offered as 24/7 crypto-linked contract SEC approves Nasdaq plan for tokenized stock trading and settlement
Taysha Gene Therapies press release ( TSHA ): FY GAAP EPS of -$0.34 beats by $0.02 . Revenue of $9.77M (+17.3% Y/Y) beats by $3.47M . More on Taysha Gene Therapies Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Taysha Gene Therapies Historical earnings data for Taysha Gene Therapies Financial information for Taysha Gene Therapies
Taysha Gene Therapies press release ( TSHA ): FY GAAP EPS of -$0.34 beats by $0.02 . Revenue of $9.77M (+17.3% Y/Y) beats by $3.47M . More on Taysha Gene Therapies Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Taysha Gene Therapies Historical earnings data for Taysha Gene Therapies Financial information for Taysha Gene Therapies