Iran doesn’t have to do much to ensure that oil tankers won’t come through the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg Opinion columnist Liam Denning explains. (Source: Bloomberg)
Iran doesn’t have to do much to ensure that oil tankers won’t come through the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg Opinion columnist Liam Denning explains. (Source: Bloomberg)
Investors looking for protection during market volatility often turn to dividend-paying stocks. These days, they are also moving into small- and mid-cap dividend names. The markets have been churning all year, particularly since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28 and rally in the price of crude oil. On Wednesday, stocks moved higher following reports that the United States sent Iran a plan to en...
Investors looking for protection during market volatility often turn to dividend-paying stocks. These days, they are also moving into small- and mid-cap dividend names. The markets have been churning all year, particularly since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28 and rally in the price of crude oil. On Wednesday, stocks moved higher following reports that the United States sent Iran a plan to end the conflict . Still, the S & P 500 is down about 4% year to date. Meanwhile, the small-cap focused Russell 2000 is slightly positive in 2026. Bank of America expects small- and mid-cap stocks, helped by faster earnings growth, to outperform mega caps this year. While the firm has been bullish on small caps since last summer, higher oil is also a modest positive to earnings, said Jill Carey Hall, head of U.S. small- and mid-cap strategy at Bank of America. "If this event plays out and oil stays at elevated levels for longer, small caps do have more exposure to sectors that are beneficiaries of higher oil rather than sectors that are hurt, like consumer," she said in an interview with CNBC's " Squawk Box " Wednesday. Small caps are also negatively correlated with volatility, and the CBOE Volatility Index has jumped from a low of 13 late last year to more than 25 this month, Carey Hall said in a report last week. VIX levels over 20 signal increased investor uncertainty and fear. Mid-caps outperform Mid-cap stocks are faring even better than small caps, with the mid-cap S & P 400 index adding nearly 3% year to date. The companies are usually seen as more stable than small-cap businesses. In addition, they tend to be less expensive than large caps. Dividend stocks are also outperforming the broader market this year as investors seek reliable income to smooth out the bumps. The companies are also generally considered defensive and therefore less volatile than the wider market. Combining dividends with small- and medium-cap stocks could turn into a winning strategy for investor...
Manuel “Makro” Kroiss has told people that he is leaving xAI ( X.AI ), Business Insider reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Kroiss led the company's pretraining efforts and also worked on improving xAI's coding models, the news outlet added . Kroiss is the 10th cofounder of the generative artificial intelligence company to leave, which comes ahead of the highly anticipated initial pu...
Manuel “Makro” Kroiss has told people that he is leaving xAI ( X.AI ), Business Insider reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Kroiss led the company's pretraining efforts and also worked on improving xAI's coding models, the news outlet added . Kroiss is the 10th cofounder of the generative artificial intelligence company to leave, which comes ahead of the highly anticipated initial public offering of parent company SpaceX ( SPACE ). xAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha. On Wednesday, it was reported that SpaceX could raise as much as $75B in its upcoming IPO. The maker of the Grok chatbot was founded in 2023 by Elon Musk and 11 other researchers, including Kroiss, Toby Pohlen, Jimmy Ba, Tony Wu, and Greg Yang. All five men have left the company, as have five others. Following Kroiss' departure, only Ross Nordeen will remain with xAI. Earlier this month, Musk apologized for not building xAI “right” as reports of the departures continued to make headlines. “xAI was not built right first time around, so is being rebuilt from the foundations up,” Musk wrote in his apology. “The same thing happened with Tesla.” Musk followed that up and apologized for the fact that “many talented people over the past few years were declined an offer or even an interview” with the generative artificial intelligence company. He added that he and another xAI executive, Baris Akis, are going through the company's interview history and “reaching back out to promising candidates.” In January, xAI closed a Series E funding round for $20B. The maker of the Grok chatbot did not disclose the valuation at the time, but previous reporting had indicated that the next funding round could value xAI at $230B. Last month, SpaceX announced it was acquiring xAI in a deal that valued the combined company at $1.25T. Tesla ( TSLA ) received clearance from the U.S. government earlier this month that allowed it to convert its investment in xAI into a stake in ...
Cuts to family planning aid are linked to an 11% increase in deaths during pregnancy and childbirth in some countries When Republican presidents win power in the US there is a stark consequence for many pregnant woman around the world – a significant rise in maternal mortality as aid is withdrawn, a new study has found. Global family planning aid typically drops under Republican presidents and the...
Cuts to family planning aid are linked to an 11% increase in deaths during pregnancy and childbirth in some countries When Republican presidents win power in the US there is a stark consequence for many pregnant woman around the world – a significant rise in maternal mortality as aid is withdrawn, a new study has found. Global family planning aid typically drops under Republican presidents and then rises again by 48% once Democratic presidents are elected, the research, published in BMJ Global Health , finds. Continue reading...
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE) is one of the best undervalued stocks under $50 to invest in now. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE) announced on March 17 the HPE AI Grid, which is an end-to-end solution built on the NVIDIA reference architecture aimed at securely connecting and distributing inference clusters across regional and far‑edge sites. […]
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE) is one of the best undervalued stocks under $50 to invest in now. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE) announced on March 17 the HPE AI Grid, which is an end-to-end solution built on the NVIDIA reference architecture aimed at securely connecting and distributing inference clusters across regional and far‑edge sites. […]
Imminent SpaceX IPO Filing Ignites Rally Across Space-Linked Stocks News that SpaceX may file an initial public offering prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week or next sparked a rally across SpaceX-linked names, satellite broadband providers, space transportation firms, and even publicly traded closed-end funds that hold private SpaceX shares. The Information reports that...
Imminent SpaceX IPO Filing Ignites Rally Across Space-Linked Stocks News that SpaceX may file an initial public offering prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week or next sparked a rally across SpaceX-linked names, satellite broadband providers, space transportation firms, and even publicly traded closed-end funds that hold private SpaceX shares. The Information reports that SpaceX is set to file an IPO prospectus with the SEC this week or next, with plans for shares to begin trading on U.S. exchanges sometime in June. Wall Street advisers expect the offering to be the largest ever in the U.S., generating $75 billion for the space company leading the world's rocket race and propelling the U.S. to the number one spot. The company's final valuation and deal size would be set closer to the listing, but as of right now, the total market capitalization is north of $1 trillion. Bankers are expected to pitch the SpaceX IPO to clients around three themes: its rocket-launch business, which has become a revenue driver; its rapidly expanding Starlink satellite internet business; and its prospects as a provider of orbital data centers. Hype around the stock will build as future Moon and Mars missions unfold. 🚨BREAKING: Goldman Sachs projected to lead SpaceX IPO. pic.twitter.com/Hg0y6zRok6 — Polymarket Money (@PolymarketMoney) March 25, 2026 Latest reports: Data Centers In Space Are Coming: Here's How To Profit SpaceX IPO Hype Ignites Blast Off For This Korean Broker Stock Goldman Turns Bullish On Starlink Satellite Parts Supplier As Space Race Accelerates Morningstar released a note earlier this month forecasting that SpaceX will generate nearly $16 billion in revenue in 2025 and $7.5 billion in EBITDA, driven "almost entirely by explosive subscriber growth" from its Starlink satellite internet unit, which had 10 million active customers as of last month. The company forecasts revenue of $150 billion in 2040, with EBITDA of $95 billion. In February, Elon ...
The price of oil is clearly being heavily influenced by speculation about developments in the Persian Gulf, specifically the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic. It's important to remember that this isn't simply a question of the U.S. ceasing attacks on Iran. It's Iran that is refusing to allow traffic through, and the threat to energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf remains, ...
The price of oil is clearly being heavily influenced by speculation about developments in the Persian Gulf, specifically the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic. It's important to remember that this isn't simply a question of the U.S. ceasing attacks on Iran. It's Iran that is refusing to allow traffic through, and the threat to energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf remains, so even if it's reopened, it's unclear when energy flows will return to pre-conflict levels. In this context, here are some ways the closure will affect energy-related companies and how to protect a portfolio against these risks. This is not the place to discuss geopolitics, but it is the place for retail investors to discuss the growing risk posed by recent hostilities and the stocks that can help navigate risk. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
Key PointsRobinhood's board approved a new $1.5 billion share repurchase program this week, adding more than $1.1 billion in incremental buyback capacity to existing authorizations.
Key PointsRobinhood's board approved a new $1.5 billion share repurchase program this week, adding more than $1.1 billion in incremental buyback capacity to existing authorizations.