Shares of Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ: IBKR) popped 18.5% in April, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence . The global stock brokerage and trading platform posted earnings in the month and is benefiting from a strong rebound in stock trading after the late March and early April panic among equity traders. The company is gaining a ton of market share by acquiring new brokerage custo...
Shares of Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ: IBKR) popped 18.5% in April, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence . The global stock brokerage and trading platform posted earnings in the month and is benefiting from a strong rebound in stock trading after the late March and early April panic among equity traders. The company is gaining a ton of market share by acquiring new brokerage customers, and is up 367% in the last five years. Here's why Interactive Brokers' stock was rising in April, and whether you should get in on the action right now. Interactive Brokers is a platform that lets you trade stocks, options, bonds, cryptocurrencies , and other financial assets. Unlike other brokerages, it allows users worldwide to trade assets from around the world, including the recently added South Korean market. This differentiation has enabled the business to gain tremendous market share over the last few years. Continue reading
Robert Way/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Fiscal 2H Commodity Price Increases Leave Itochu Behind ITOCHU Corporation ( ITOCY )( ITOCF ) stock has had a rough 6 months since the Buy upgrade in my last article . It has barely moved while the other 4 major Japanese trading companies returned around 40%. Seeking Alpha The thesis in that last article was that ITOCHU's lower concentration in commodit...
Robert Way/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Fiscal 2H Commodity Price Increases Leave Itochu Behind ITOCHU Corporation ( ITOCY )( ITOCF ) stock has had a rough 6 months since the Buy upgrade in my last article . It has barely moved while the other 4 major Japanese trading companies returned around 40%. Seeking Alpha The thesis in that last article was that ITOCHU's lower concentration in commodity-based resource businesses would be an advantage in a weaker commodity price environment. We got the opposite of that with war breaking out in the Middle East in March, although the other trading companies already started outperforming after Fiscal Q3 results came out in February. Despite ITOCHU's lower commodity exposure, the company still managed to post full-year results that were at the median of the peer group, with profit up 2% from the prior year. Two trading companies reported lower profits, while two others were up mid-single digits. The forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2027 has ITOCHU as one of three companies with mid-single-digit profit growth, while two others are expecting higher growth. Author Spreadsheet It is hard to justify the big disconnect between average company performance and massive stock underperformance. It is possible the market expects continued strong commodity pricing, which would leave ITOCHU at a disadvantage. It is also possible the market is skeptical that ITOCHU's plan to leverage up for higher investment spending can really deliver growth. Commodity pricing is more of a cyclical issue. ITOCHU aims for more stable performance through the cycle, which can occasionally leave it out of favor. Company President and COO Keita Ishii stated in an interview , Compared with companies that concentrate assets in a few areas and rotate them aggressively, ITOCHU invests across a very broad range. Our earnings are also relatively balanced across segments and businesses. That is what people call stable earnings, and maintaining that stability ...
petra012015/iStock via Getty Images The last time I spoke about Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated ( CORT ), it was with a Seeking Alpha article entitled " Corcept Therapeutics: New PROC SOC Treatment Option With Relacorilant Data Release ." With respect to this article, I noted that the company had achieved positive results from its pivotal phase 3 ROSELLA trial using its selective glucocorticoid ...
petra012015/iStock via Getty Images The last time I spoke about Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated ( CORT ), it was with a Seeking Alpha article entitled " Corcept Therapeutics: New PROC SOC Treatment Option With Relacorilant Data Release ." With respect to this article, I noted that the company had achieved positive results from its pivotal phase 3 ROSELLA trial using its selective glucocorticoid receptor [GR] antagonist relacorilant in combination with nab-paclitaxel to treat patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer [PROC]. Specifically, the primary endpoint of progression-free survival as assessed by Blinded Independent Central Review [PFS-BICR] was met in a statistically significant manner . This allowed the company to be able to file a New Drug Application [NDA] of relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel for the treatment of these PROC patients on September 10, 2025. The FDA not only accepted this NDA submission but also set a Prescription Drug User Fee Act [PDUFA] target action date of July 11, 2026. I had set a Strong Buy rating on this stock the last time around, and I'm going to maintain this rating. The first reason is because the FDA did indeed approve Lyforli [relacorilant] plus nab-paclitaxel to treat PROC patients. It approved this drug for this specific group of PROC patients a lot earlier than expected on March 25, 2026 , which came as a huge surprise. The bullishness of this program is that there are several expansion opportunities. The first of which is that the company already filed a marketing authorization application [MAA] of this drug for the same group of PROC patients to the European Medicines Agency [EMA], with a decision with potential approval expected by the end of this year. Secondly, the company is already in the process of evaluating a triple combination of relacorilant + nab-paclitaxel + Avastin [bevacizumab] to treat these PROC patients in Part A of the BELLA study, with data expected by the end of this year. Along with Parts B and C...
The US Justice Department has asked a federal judge to throw out his ruling that blocked prosecutors from using grand jury subpoenas during their investigation into building-cost overruns by the Federal Reserve . US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a court filing Monday that the ruling is no longer necessary because she has closed the investigation into the cost overruns and testimony given about th...
The US Justice Department has asked a federal judge to throw out his ruling that blocked prosecutors from using grand jury subpoenas during their investigation into building-cost overruns by the Federal Reserve . US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a court filing Monday that the ruling is no longer necessary because she has closed the investigation into the cost overruns and testimony given about the matter by Chair Jerome Powell . Pirro shut down her investigation last month in favor of having the Federal Reserve Inspector General review the cost overruns. She hasn’t ruled out resuming the investigation if the inspector general finds potential criminal wrongdoing. On Monday, Pirro asked US District Chief Judge James Boasberg to vacate his ruling to quash two subpoenas her office issued during the investigation, saying the ruling is now moot because the probe has ended. “The United States Attorney’s decision to close the grand-jury investigation has precipitated the mootness concerns in this case,” Pirro wrote. “Courts may decline to vacate an opinion when mootness has resulted due to the deliberate action of the non-prevailing party.” Pirro, who is the US attorney for the District of Columbia, and other Justice Department officials have said the ruling would undercut a key investigative tool used by prosecutors in the early stages of an investigation if allowed to stand. “Should the United States Attorney open a new grand-jury investigation, the issuance of any future subpoenas would be based on a different record, one that would presumably include any information generated by the inspector general’s analysis,” Pirro said. The original investigation had the backing of President Donald Trump . But it was shut down following intense pressure from critics, including a Republican senator who said he wouldn’t vote to confirm Trump’s pick to be the next chairman of the Fed, Kevin Warsh , until the case was dropped. After Pirro shut down the investigation, that senator, Rep...
Tony Anderson/DigitalVision via Getty Images In early January of this year, I decided to take a fresh look at Hamilton Beach Brands ( HBB ), a rather small business with a market capitalization of $283.5 million that focuses on designing, marketing, and distributing brand-name small electric household and specialty housewares appliances, not to mention commercial products that are used by restaura...
Tony Anderson/DigitalVision via Getty Images In early January of this year, I decided to take a fresh look at Hamilton Beach Brands ( HBB ), a rather small business with a market capitalization of $283.5 million that focuses on designing, marketing, and distributing brand-name small electric household and specialty housewares appliances, not to mention commercial products that are used by restaurants, bars, hotels, and more. It even has a smaller unit dedicated to providing connected devices and software for home health care management, which is evidence that while this is largely an appliance-oriented firm, it does have a burgeoning healthcare segment. In that article, I talked about how the stock had meaningfully outperformed the market since I had previously reaffirmed it as a "Buy" candidate. Even though shares had risen nicely, I argued that further upside was on the table. At the end of the day, this led me to reaffirm it yet again as a "Buy," even though certain financial performance figures had been worsening. Since then, the market has pushed the stock up even more, with shares trading 29.1% above what they were previously, while the market is up only 5%. Even though I am a bit concerned about some of the fundamental data provided by management, the company has a solid balance sheet and remains attractively priced on both an absolute basis and relative to other similar companies. Because of this, I believe that reaffirming it as a "Buy" candidate once again makes sense here. This is not to imply that my opinion cannot or will not change as new data comes in. It just so happens that, on May 6, management will be announcing financial results covering the first quarter of the company’s 2026 fiscal year. Because of how small the company is, analysts don't provide any estimates regarding revenue and profitability. So we don't really have any expectations to compare it to. However, I do think that, in light of those results coming out soon, it would be wise to at...
Digital trading of municipal bonds hit a record in the first quarter of 2026, an encouraging development for an asset class that has been slower than others in adopting electronic venues. Electronic trading platforms accounted for roughly 21% of muni bond volume in the first quarter of the year, surpassing the all-time high of roughly 20% in 2023, according to a research note from Crisil Coalition...
Digital trading of municipal bonds hit a record in the first quarter of 2026, an encouraging development for an asset class that has been slower than others in adopting electronic venues. Electronic trading platforms accounted for roughly 21% of muni bond volume in the first quarter of the year, surpassing the all-time high of roughly 20% in 2023, according to a research note from Crisil Coalition Greenwich. The growth comes after overall municipal bond trading volume surged to a record in 2025, thanks to robust issuance by state and local governments. Investors are keeping up a strong pace this year, with the number of trades surpassing 4 million in the first quarter, up about 2.5% from the same period in 2025, data from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board show. Read more: Munis’ ‘Frenetic’ Trading Pace Smashes Record After Supply Surge Proponents of electronic trading have cited a number of benefits , including more market transparency, improved price discovery for clients and lower transaction costs. Roughly 14% of buy-side muni traders don’t use electronic trading, down from 35% five years earlier, according to 2025 data from Crisil Coalition Greenwich. “It is largely indisputable that e-trading improves market liquidity in the long run,” the researchers wrote.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) was among the stocks on Jim Cramer’s radar on Mad Money as he discussed the upcoming earnings. Cramer started his game plan with the stock and stated: Let’s check the game plan. Alright, usually I start with Monday’s business, right? But we have a special on Saturday about Berkshire Hathaway in […]
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) was among the stocks on Jim Cramer’s radar on Mad Money as he discussed the upcoming earnings. Cramer started his game plan with the stock and stated: Let’s check the game plan. Alright, usually I start with Monday’s business, right? But we have a special on Saturday about Berkshire Hathaway in […]