Iran rejects a U.S. proposal to end the war and counters with a different peace plan. And, a jury finds Meta and Google negligent in a trial over social media's harms. (Image credit: Abbas Fakih)
Iran rejects a U.S. proposal to end the war and counters with a different peace plan. And, a jury finds Meta and Google negligent in a trial over social media's harms. (Image credit: Abbas Fakih)
Kathrin Ziegler/DigitalVision via Getty Images One of the advantages of living a bit everywhere in the world, with extended stays in tropical places, is the access to farm-fresh fruit of the exotic variety. For the past 2 years, I have been eating more mango, pineapple, papaya, passion fruit, jackfruit, and various other fruits that in most areas in the Western World only exist as what I would con...
Kathrin Ziegler/DigitalVision via Getty Images One of the advantages of living a bit everywhere in the world, with extended stays in tropical places, is the access to farm-fresh fruit of the exotic variety. For the past 2 years, I have been eating more mango, pineapple, papaya, passion fruit, jackfruit, and various other fruits that in most areas in the Western World only exist as what I would consider pale imitations (unripe, different in taste, smaller) or preserved. Now, in order to get the taste when I am in northern climes, I'm left with the canned/preserved variety. Because I like these fruits so much now, I'm left in turn with the best quality of such options. That was actually one of the reasons I started covering Dole PLC ( DOLE ) about a year ago, in an article you can find here. Since that time, Dole has exhibited a fair bit of volatility but has overall performed as I expected it to. It has not generated alpha to its investors (lest you did targeted buying at lower prices more in line with my original PT), and its current RoR to my article sits at about negative 1%, slightly positive if you were to include dividends. Seeking Alpha Dole RoR Dole PLC is essentially a play on fruit and, in some cases, vegetables. Since 2021, its formation by the combination of Total and Dole, it has remained one of the largest companies that handles the products of bananas and pineapples, but also more easily obtained produce such as berries and salads. Its market-leading position in both NA and Europe for key tropical fruits that have become staples to consumers makes for an interesting investment opportunity at the right price. Dole is not a company that grocery stores or major grocers can easily go without. It controls the critical infrastructure from the point of farming to the shelf, and the scale, where it actually operates its own shipping services (10+ vessels) and distribution facilities means that it can compete at a level that is nigh impossible for retailers to ...
tadamichi/iStock via Getty Images My active income is very risky. I run a small investment research business, which I know will eventually get disrupted by AI, as it breaks barriers to entry and will ultimately lead to much greater competition. Already now, the majority of content online is AI-generated, and it likely won't be long before this content is as good as human-generated and all over the...
tadamichi/iStock via Getty Images My active income is very risky. I run a small investment research business, which I know will eventually get disrupted by AI, as it breaks barriers to entry and will ultimately lead to much greater competition. Already now, the majority of content online is AI-generated, and it likely won't be long before this content is as good as human-generated and all over the place. If, before AI, there were 5 articles posted each day on REITs, in the future, there will be 50 or 500, making it very hard for independent analysts to really stand out. Knowing this, I am very conservative with how I invest my retirement funds, preparing already now for an eventual downfall of my small business. This means that I generally stay away from risky equities like tech stocks, SaaS businesses, biotech, startups, crypto-related equities, and anything else that I think could get disrupted by AI over time. Unfortunately, as I have explained in a separate article , I fear that most businesses and their stocks will eventually suffer from this. At the same time, since my investment horizon is multi-decade-long and I worry about inflation, I don't invest much in fixed income either. Even with a 4-5% yield from long-term Treasuries ( IEF ), there is not much left, if anything, after inflation and taxes, especially if we face a few more black swan-like events like the pandemic, requiring more money-printing down the line. The AI revolution could be that event if it leads to a difficult transition period with significant labor market disruption, as I expect. Gold ( GLD ) and silver ( SLV ), while performing well lately, are not the solution for me either, as I will need to generate passive income to replace my active income in retirement. Precious metals have gone through very long periods of negative returns in the past, making them too unpredictable for a large allocation in retirement for me. So where do I invest the bulk of my retirement funds then? The answer i...
Las Vegas is considered a strong favorite to be awarded the 2029 Super Bowl, which could be a high-value tourism event for the city and the Strip. The 2029 Super Bowl host city is expected to be announced at the NFL owners' meeting next week, from March 29 to April 1. The 2027 Super Bowl will be in Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium, and the 2028 game will be in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Super Bo...
Las Vegas is considered a strong favorite to be awarded the 2029 Super Bowl, which could be a high-value tourism event for the city and the Strip. The 2029 Super Bowl host city is expected to be announced at the NFL owners' meeting next week, from March 29 to April 1. The 2027 Super Bowl will be in Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium, and the 2028 game will be in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas in 2024 was a clear positive for Las Vegas Strip operators, and a 2029 return would provide even more excitement for a multi-year recovery in Strip traffic. For 2024, the biggest benefit to MGM Resorts ( MGM ), Caesars Entertainment ( CZR ), Wynn Resorts ( WYNN ), and peers came from record visitor spending amounts and room pricing power across the Strip. Las Vegas saw roughly 330,000 visitors and about $606 million in net visitor spending tied to the game, driving around $1B in total economic impact for the destination. That translated into exceptionally strong hotel demand, with average nightly rates around the game approaching four figures at major resorts and record or near-record ADR and RevPAR for the weekend. Notably, executives at MGM ( MGM ) and Caesars ( CZR ) flagged the Super Bowl as a growth driver, and MGM’s CEO later highlighted that the event delivered three of the top five room-revenue days in company history and “near-record” event gaming volume. High-end table games such as baccarat also recorded strong volume during Super Bowl week. Another major benefit was incremental gaming and non-gaming monetization on property, magnified by Las Vegas’s role as both host city and national party hub. Nevada sportsbooks handled a record roughly $185.6M in bets on the game, much of it running through Strip operators’ retail books and digital apps, while high-end guests also spent heavily on tables, nightlife, dining, entertainment, and packaged viewing experiences. More on casino stocks MGM Resorts International (MGM) Presents at J.P. Morgan Gamin...
Wei Li, global chief investment strategist at BlackRock, says the firm has “flattened equity directional exposure to neutral” and is leaning into thematic investing in response to the war in Iran. (Source: Bloomberg)
Wei Li, global chief investment strategist at BlackRock, says the firm has “flattened equity directional exposure to neutral” and is leaning into thematic investing in response to the war in Iran. (Source: Bloomberg)
Europe’s bonds will struggle to bounce back from a sharp selloff triggered by the war in the Middle East, even if the conflict comes to a swift conclusion, according to market players. While bonds have staged intermittent rallies on optimism that hostilities might ease, the sector remains highly volatile. Sovereign debt across Europe fell again Thursday, with scant signs of progress in de-escalati...
Europe’s bonds will struggle to bounce back from a sharp selloff triggered by the war in the Middle East, even if the conflict comes to a swift conclusion, according to market players. While bonds have staged intermittent rallies on optimism that hostilities might ease, the sector remains highly volatile. Sovereign debt across Europe fell again Thursday, with scant signs of progress in de-escalating the conflict and fears of a ground invasion by US troops. While strategists reckon the selloff, particularly in shorter-dated securities, has been overdone, they’re warning that yields may settle at higher levels compared to where they were before the war broke out on Feb. 28. “There are plenty of reasons to expect bond yields to stay in higher ranges from now on — and possibly re-test the upside,” said Laurence Mutkin , head of EMEA rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets. He points to a range of factors: inflation and government debt piles that are already high and still rising, yields that remain below historic averages, and the threat that positive carry will collapse if central banks hike and drive up repo rates. Carry is the difference between the yield income and the cost of financing the position via repo markets. Read more: Italian Bonds Emerge as Europe’s Weak Spot on Carry Trade Unwind “We find considerable merit in the counter-argument to the consensus view that bonds must be cheap at present levels,” Mutkin said. Germany’s 10-year yield, considered a haven benchmark for the region, is trading above 3%, about 40 basis points higher this month. The two-year yield — which closely tracks interest-rate expectations — has surged even more, rising nearly 70 basis points to 2.67%. The UK’s gilt market moves are even more significant. Europe’s bonds have been hit particularly hard because the region is reliant on energy imports, so soaring oil and gas prices will push up inflation. That will dim the appeal of holding bonds, even if the economy starts to slow. Read more...
Lock Stock/DigitalVision via Getty Images Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals ( ARWR ) received its first approval for plozasiran in November 2025, an siRNA therapy for Familial Chylomicronemia Syndrome (FCS) in adults. With this, Arrowhead, with one of the longest-tailed pipelines in the pre-commercial stage, has now finally crossed the regulatory hurdle. It has yet to start properly commercializing, but i...
Lock Stock/DigitalVision via Getty Images Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals ( ARWR ) received its first approval for plozasiran in November 2025, an siRNA therapy for Familial Chylomicronemia Syndrome (FCS) in adults. With this, Arrowhead, with one of the longest-tailed pipelines in the pre-commercial stage, has now finally crossed the regulatory hurdle. It has yet to start properly commercializing, but it is no longer a “show-me” stock so far as the pipeline is concerned. Now they have to show sustained revenue generation capacity. Their latest revenue figure shows a 100x rise from $2.2 million last year in the same quarter to $264 million; however, coming from milestones and royalties, these are lump, non-recurring, and not entirely dependable. True, as a scientific platform company with market-leading expertise in RNAi therapeutics, Arrowhead does have multiple partnerships with Amgen ( AMGN ), Sarepta ( SRPT ), and so on. These produce milestone payments and will eventually produce low double-digit royalties. However, until its commercial pipeline scales up, Arrowhead will not arrive at its full potential. Looking at this from a bullish angle, despite its 3-4x rise in the last year, Arrowhead is still a few years behind achieving its full commercial potential. It has three revenue-generation drivers - milestones, royalties, and product pipeline—where the product pipeline is supported by a pipeline candidate list with over 20 programs. So the question is no longer whether the platform works, but how much of this transition is reflected in the current valuation. Pipeline: From Broad Platform to Structured Franchise Arrowhead is a leader in RNA interference (RNAi), where small interfering RNA are used to selectively silence pathologic genes by degrading messenger RNA or mRNA. Apart from the mechanism itself, its targeted delivery system is also part of its core strength. The delivery is particularly important for the liver, which can target many cardiometabolic and hepatic...
HANOI, Vietnam, March 26, 2026--FPT AI Factory announced the buildout of its next-generation AI infrastructure, accelerated by NVIDIA HGX B300 systems. This marks a significant milestone in empowering AI developers and enterprises to advance AI innovation across the region with reasoning and agentic capabilities.
HANOI, Vietnam, March 26, 2026--FPT AI Factory announced the buildout of its next-generation AI infrastructure, accelerated by NVIDIA HGX B300 systems. This marks a significant milestone in empowering AI developers and enterprises to advance AI innovation across the region with reasoning and agentic capabilities.