Choosing between iShares Gold Trust (NYSEMKT:IAU) and SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEMKT:GLD) involves weighing the lower management fees of IAU against the superior trading liquidity and institutional presence of GLD. Both funds are designed to track the spot price of gold bullion by holding physical bars in secure vaults, providing investors with a way to own the metal without the logistical hurdles of s...
Choosing between iShares Gold Trust (NYSEMKT:IAU) and SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEMKT:GLD) involves weighing the lower management fees of IAU against the superior trading liquidity and institutional presence of GLD. Both funds are designed to track the spot price of gold bullion by holding physical bars in secure vaults, providing investors with a way to own the metal without the logistical hurdles of storage and insurance. While they offer nearly identical exposure to the precious metal, their differing fee structures and trading volumes make each better suited for specific types of investors. 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. The dividend yield represents the trailing-12-month distribution yield. Continue reading
JTKPHOTOz/iStock via Getty Images Income strategy overview Income investing is the strategy that I have chosen for achieving financial independence and the option to venture into stress-free retirement. Since a very critical precondition for my income-based retirement is income stability and smooth compounding which doesn't come at the expense of NAV decay, "too good to be true" yields are not an ...
JTKPHOTOz/iStock via Getty Images Income strategy overview Income investing is the strategy that I have chosen for achieving financial independence and the option to venture into stress-free retirement. Since a very critical precondition for my income-based retirement is income stability and smooth compounding which doesn't come at the expense of NAV decay, "too good to be true" yields are not an option. In this category I would include single stock covered call ETFs ( NVDY ), equity CLOs ( OXLC ), thin margin of safety BDCs ( HRZN ), leveraged option income ETFs ( XQQI ) and so on. In essence, almost everything that combines high leverage with subpar quality fundamentals falls out of my investable scope. At the same time, dividend yielders that deliver something much less than, say, 3% are what I also tend to avoid. I just don't view this yield lever as optimal in the context of my overall objectives - i.e., to hit a specific amount of portfolio cash flow as fast as possible without burning my nerves (and, importantly, without losing money). So, the next strategic choice that has to be made is in which category to lean into: Low yields, high-income growth. Medium yields, some organic income growth. High yields, no income growth. The first one is where we sacrifice high incremental income impact from the get-go in order to access stronger organic income growth compounding. The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF ( SCHD ) represents this space very well. It yields 3.3% and has a 10-year dividend CAGR of ~10%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. ( BIP ) is a bit more balanced choice with a 4.9% yield and a 10-year dividend CAGR of ~7%. The second is about material dividend yields from the start which come with "inflation-level" organic income growth. Here the risks start to increase as we move away from blue-chip growth businesses (first category) to already mature and potentially declining businesses. So, doing individual deep dives to scoop up the right picks is qui...
Alex Cristi /iStock via Getty Images Summary During the first quarter of 2026, the Polen 5Perspectives Small Growth Composite Portfolio returned 3.3% gross and 3.0% net of fees, respectively, compared to the -2.8% return of the Russell 2000 Growth Index. The top contributors to relative performance in the period were Powell Industries ( POWL ), Argan ( AGX ), and Bloom Energy ( BE ). The most sign...
Alex Cristi /iStock via Getty Images Summary During the first quarter of 2026, the Polen 5Perspectives Small Growth Composite Portfolio returned 3.3% gross and 3.0% net of fees, respectively, compared to the -2.8% return of the Russell 2000 Growth Index. The top contributors to relative performance in the period were Powell Industries ( POWL ), Argan ( AGX ), and Bloom Energy ( BE ). The most significant detractors from the Portfolio's relative performance in the quarter were GeneDx ( WGS ), Figure Technology ( FIGR ), and Alphatec Holdings ( ATEC ). Volatility was a defining feature of the first quarter, with rapidly shifting narratives. Over the quarter, the wall of worry emerged starting with AI related disruption in software and the related "HALO" trade, mounting private credit concerns, and in the final month of the quarter, geopolitical risk given the onset of the war in Iran. The heightened volatility will likely remain a feature of markets for the foreseeable future. If ever having a dynamic process to a constantly changing opportunity set was important, this year has put that on full display. Seeks Growth & Capital Preservation (Performance (%) as of 3-31-2026) As of 3-31-2026, the Polen U.S. Small Cap Growth strategy has been renamed to Polen 5Perspectives Small Growth. Performance shown represents results achieved at prior firms. The Polen 5Perspectives Small Growth strategy ((the "Strategy")) began in November 2000 and was managed by Cupps Capital until October 2016 at which time it was transitioned to Advisory Research Investment Management. In March 2024, it transitioned to Bosun Asset Management, and subsequently in June 2025, it transitioned to Polen Capital. Andrew Cupps has served as the portfolio manager of the Strategy since inception. Mr. Cupps has been supported in his role as portfolio manager by various individuals, including Kevin Leitner and Chris Bush. Mr. Leitner has worked on the Strategy since inception. Mr. Bush began working on the St...
Updates on day four from the latest round of games Read the Spin | Mail Tanya or post BTL With four overs lost. Things are about to sprout into action elsewhere. “Now then, Tanya!” Hell0 there Tim Maitland. Continue reading...
Updates on day four from the latest round of games Read the Spin | Mail Tanya or post BTL With four overs lost. Things are about to sprout into action elsewhere. “Now then, Tanya!” Hell0 there Tim Maitland. Continue reading...
Danske Bank A/S is stepping up its financing of the defense sector, adding newer so-called dual-use technologies to its loan book as any lingering ethical concerns about such exposures evaporate. “I don’t see our position being perceived as controversial or challenged,” Johanna Norberg , head of business customers at the Copenhagen-based bank, said in an interview. “If anything, the opposite.” Wil...
Danske Bank A/S is stepping up its financing of the defense sector, adding newer so-called dual-use technologies to its loan book as any lingering ethical concerns about such exposures evaporate. “I don’t see our position being perceived as controversial or challenged,” Johanna Norberg , head of business customers at the Copenhagen-based bank, said in an interview. “If anything, the opposite.” Willingness to bankroll companies that manufacture weapons and other technologies used in war has been picking up in recent years. In Denmark, one of Ukraine’s largest military backers relative to its GDP, the country’s largest bank says its credit exposure to large corporates and institutional clients has been growing as much as 20% annually over the past five years. That’s faster than the average across other industries, according to Joachim Alpen , Danske’s head of large corporates and institutions. Newer defense technology firms have in the past sometimes struggled to get access to financing, even though they often have solid pipelines with future orders, Alpen said. Now, however, there’s little to suggest that the finance industry represents a “bottleneck” for growth in the sector, he said. Dual-use companies — firms whose products can serve both civilian and military purposes — are an increasingly important part of the defense supply chain and therefore a sector in need of funding, Norberg said. At the same time, more established defense companies are increasingly looking for guarantees and foreign-exchange hedging linked to international contracts, while their basic financing needs have increased more moderately, Alpen said. Danske Bank continues to exclude certain controversial weapons such as anti-personnel mines, cluster munitions, biological and chemical weapons, as well as nuclear weapons outside the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
RoboStrategy ( Nasdaq: BOT ) on Monday said its common stock began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “BOT”. The company said the listing followed Nasdaq approval and marked its debut on a public exchange. RoboStrategy said it is a closed-end investment fund focused on robotics and physical artificial intelligence companies, including private, pre-IPO and publicly traded firms. The fund...
RoboStrategy ( Nasdaq: BOT ) on Monday said its common stock began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “BOT”. The company said the listing followed Nasdaq approval and marked its debut on a public exchange. RoboStrategy said it is a closed-end investment fund focused on robotics and physical artificial intelligence companies, including private, pre-IPO and publicly traded firms. The fund said its portfolio includes companies such as Figure AI, Apptronik, Dyna Robotics, Standard Bots and Dexmate, and aims to provide public market investors exposure to robotics and physical AI investments traditionally associated with venture capital. Source: Press Release More on Robostrategy, Inc. Financial information for Robostrategy, Inc.
Clarke press release ( CKI:CA ): Q1 GAAP EPS of $1.07. Revenue of $18.5M. Other comprehensive loss for the three months ended March 31, 2026 of $1.2 million was a result of net remeasurement losses in the Company's pension plans compared to other comprehensive income in the prior period of $5.4 million related to net remeasurement gains related to the pension plan amendment. More on Clarke Histori...
Clarke press release ( CKI:CA ): Q1 GAAP EPS of $1.07. Revenue of $18.5M. Other comprehensive loss for the three months ended March 31, 2026 of $1.2 million was a result of net remeasurement losses in the Company's pension plans compared to other comprehensive income in the prior period of $5.4 million related to net remeasurement gains related to the pension plan amendment. More on Clarke Historical earnings data for Clarke Financial information for Clarke
The ruling Labour Party’s dire results in local and regional elections in the UK late last week had damaged Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s authority and could lead to policy shifts, Chinese experts said. While some in Starmer’s might push for changes in policy towards China, a U-turn on the government’s pro-engagement strategy was unlikely, the observers said, arguing that Britain’s economic positi...
The ruling Labour Party’s dire results in local and regional elections in the UK late last week had damaged Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s authority and could lead to policy shifts, Chinese experts said. While some in Starmer’s might push for changes in policy towards China, a U-turn on the government’s pro-engagement strategy was unlikely, the observers said, arguing that Britain’s economic position would make this move too costly. More than 5,000 seats across 136 English councils and six...
JHVEPhoto AMD ( AMD ), Intel ( INTC ), and Qualcomm ( QCOM ) are likely to be among the big beneficiaries due to the ongoing “server CPU super cycle,” investment firm GF Securities said. “As the orchestration core of AI infrastructure buildouts, the Server CPU has gained significant traction over the past few months,” analysts at the firm wrote in a note to clients. “This is driven by the Agentic ...
JHVEPhoto AMD ( AMD ), Intel ( INTC ), and Qualcomm ( QCOM ) are likely to be among the big beneficiaries due to the ongoing “server CPU super cycle,” investment firm GF Securities said. “As the orchestration core of AI infrastructure buildouts, the Server CPU has gained significant traction over the past few months,” analysts at the firm wrote in a note to clients. “This is driven by the Agentic AI/inference trend, fueled by the breakthrough of OpenClaw and Anthropic’s ARR surging to $44bn in April. For instance, in latest earnings calls, AMD projected a >35% CAGR for Server CPU TAM by 2030, and Intel said the shift toward agentic AI is driving a structural demand for CPUs, where the GPU-to-CPU ratio is tightening from 8:1 in training to 4:1 in inference. Based on our estimates, assuming inference accounts for 90% of AI workloads and GPU-to-CPU ratio for AI servers to reach 2:1 in 2030, we now expect Server CPU TAM to grow 54%/39% in 2026/2027, reaching $135bn by 2030 from $26bn in 2025, with a 5-yr CAGR of 38%. That said, we project incremental Server CPU demand of 6.7m/7.6m/6.3m units in 2026/2027/2028 respectively, bringing total server CPU demand to 30m/38m/44m units over the same period, with a 23% 3-yr CAGR.” Delving deeper, the firm said AMD and Intel are likely to be the main beneficiaries, as x86 CPUs are still the dominant architecture for servers. “Fundamentally, Intel is well supported by ongoing capacity conversion and CPU price hikes in 2Q, as said in our report on April 16th,” the analysts explained. “For AMD, driven by solid product roadmap and portfolio with relatively sufficient capacity, we expect its share gains to continue. Currently, we forecast Intel’s DCAI and AMD’s server CPU business will grow by 39% and 73% in 2026, respectively.” Intel is likely to also gain traction in next-gen AI servers, as its Xeon 6 is working with Nvidia's ( NVDA ) Rubin NVL8 host CPU. Conversely, AMD's Venice CPU is likely to be deployed across its Helios Rack and...