Europe will consider all retaliatory options should US President Donald Trump follow through on his threat to raise tariffs on cars and trucks from the European Union to 25%, the bloc’s finance ministers said. But, if possible, it would like to stick with an existing US-EU trade deal. “Our path is clear, we don’t want an escalation, we want a joint solution with the Americans,” said German Finance...
Europe will consider all retaliatory options should US President Donald Trump follow through on his threat to raise tariffs on cars and trucks from the European Union to 25%, the bloc’s finance ministers said. But, if possible, it would like to stick with an existing US-EU trade deal. “Our path is clear, we don’t want an escalation, we want a joint solution with the Americans,” said German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil , who is also vice-chancellor. However, he added, “we would be prepared if an escalation were to occur.” The spat has added to tensions over a much-delayed transatlantic trade pact. The two sides initially reached an agreement last July, but EU lawmakers have yet to ratify the pact as they seek further amendments. Trump claimed on Friday that the EU had failed to fully comply with a trade pact. Read More: Trump Vows 25% Tariff on European Autos in Escalating Trade Rift Officials — commenting ahead of a meeting of euro-area finance chiefs in Brussels — refuted that on Monday, arguing the bloc was simply going through its legislative process and still wanted to adopt the deal. “Any other option is on the table if need be,” said French Finance Minister Roland Lescure . “But we want to focus on the deal we signed and to make sure that deal and only that deal is implemented.” Several ministers stressed the need to not overreact to any individual Trump threat, arguing it would only put further strain on the transatlantic trade relationship. “It’s very important to keep a cool head,” said Dutch Finance Minister Eelco Heinen . He emphasized that the US-EU trade agreement is vital for the bloc, a sentiment echoed by his Belgian counterpart, Vincent Van Peteghem . Still, Lithuanian Finance Minister Kristupas Vaitiekunas cautioned that Europe must be prepared, given Trump has years left in office. “Pressure from both sides will be constant during this administration,” he said. “We will be in this game for the whole term of President Trump and we have to find c...
Earnings season gathered pace this week, with a busy stretch that saw 32 companies out of 79 in the S&P 500’s industrials sector ( XLI ) report quarterly results, with the majority delivering earnings beats driven by strength in infrastructure, aerospace, and electrification demand. Year to date, XLI has gained just 12.42%, outperforming the broader S&P 500 index's 5.31% gains over the same period...
Earnings season gathered pace this week, with a busy stretch that saw 32 companies out of 79 in the S&P 500’s industrials sector ( XLI ) report quarterly results, with the majority delivering earnings beats driven by strength in infrastructure, aerospace, and electrification demand. Year to date, XLI has gained just 12.42%, outperforming the broader S&P 500 index's 5.31% gains over the same period. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund has pulled back roughly 9–10% from its recent highs, as investor sentiment toward the industrials sector weakened amid rising concerns over trade policy uncertainty, elevated valuations, and broader macroeconomic risks. Out of 32 industrial companies analyzed, 26 beat both earnings and revenue estimates, underscoring solid demand across key segments. Only one missed on both metrics, while a few delivered mixed results, including three that missed earnings but beat revenue. Just one company reported in-line earnings, reflecting limited neutral outcomes in an otherwise strong quarter. 24 of the 32 S&P 500 industrial companies reported both year-over-year earnings per share and revenue growth. Below are the latest quarterly reports from five key companies in the industrials sector this week: United Parcel Service ( UPS ) reported mixed but better-than-expected first-quarter results, with EPS of $1.07, beating estimates by $0.05. Revenue came in at $21.55B, ahead of expectations by about $228M, though earnings declined from $1.49 a year ago. The performance reflects resilient shipping demand and pricing discipline, even as margins remained under pressure. Caterpillar ( CAT ) posted standout results, reporting EPS of $5.54, beating estimates by $0.90 and up from $4.25 last year. Revenue climbed to $17.42B, compared with $14.25B a year ago, exceeding expectations by $977M. The upside was fueled by strength across construction industries and energy & transportation segments. Waste Management ( WM ) reported mixed first-quarter results, with...
‘The man is the establishment, I suppose, the military industrial complex. A few year later, when we played it live, we added a loop of Bill Hicks saying: “All governments are liars and murderers”’ Gruff was the first person I ever met who could just churn out songs – good, catchy ones. I joined his band Ffa Coffi Pawb, but by 1992 they’d split and Gruff and I were living in Cardiff, as were Bunf,...
‘The man is the establishment, I suppose, the military industrial complex. A few year later, when we played it live, we added a loop of Bill Hicks saying: “All governments are liars and murderers”’ Gruff was the first person I ever met who could just churn out songs – good, catchy ones. I joined his band Ffa Coffi Pawb, but by 1992 they’d split and Gruff and I were living in Cardiff, as were Bunf, Guto and my brother Cian, the other future Furries. We started out doing techno sets, and I had a little home studio where we demoed ideas for songs. Our first singer, the actor Rhys Ifans, slept on a mattress in the corner. Continue reading...
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) shares have ripped roughly 398.6% over the past year, climbing from $19.98 on May 1, 2025, to $99.62 on May 1, 2026, with the move only accelerating. The stock is up 107.4% in the past month alone and trades within pennies of its 52-week high of $100.45. For a retirement-focused investor who ... Intel Stock Has Quintupled From Lows: Is the Easy Money Already Gone?
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) shares have ripped roughly 398.6% over the past year, climbing from $19.98 on May 1, 2025, to $99.62 on May 1, 2026, with the move only accelerating. The stock is up 107.4% in the past month alone and trades within pennies of its 52-week high of $100.45. For a retirement-focused investor who ... Intel Stock Has Quintupled From Lows: Is the Easy Money Already Gone?
Based on the average brokerage recommendation (ABR), Micron (MU) should be added to one's portfolio. Wall Street analysts' overly optimistic recommendations cast doubt on the effectiveness of this highly sought-after metric. So, is the stock worth buying?
Based on the average brokerage recommendation (ABR), Micron (MU) should be added to one's portfolio. Wall Street analysts' overly optimistic recommendations cast doubt on the effectiveness of this highly sought-after metric. So, is the stock worth buying?
Based on the average brokerage recommendation (ABR), Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) should be added to one's portfolio. Wall Street analysts' overly optimistic recommendations cast doubt on the effectiveness of this highly sought-after metric. So, is the stock worth buying?
Based on the average brokerage recommendation (ABR), Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) should be added to one's portfolio. Wall Street analysts' overly optimistic recommendations cast doubt on the effectiveness of this highly sought-after metric. So, is the stock worth buying?
The average brokerage recommendation (ABR) for JD.com (JD) is equivalent to a Buy. The overly optimistic recommendations of Wall Street analysts make the effectiveness of this highly sought-after metric questionable. So, is it worth buying the stock?
The average brokerage recommendation (ABR) for JD.com (JD) is equivalent to a Buy. The overly optimistic recommendations of Wall Street analysts make the effectiveness of this highly sought-after metric questionable. So, is it worth buying the stock?
Finding strong, market-beating stocks with a positive earnings outlook becomes easier with the Focus List, a top feature of the Zacks Premium portfolio service.
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Joao Luiz Vieira/iStock via Getty Images Introduction As it has been more than six months since I last discussed Bank of Hawaii ( BOH ) and considering the bank has released financial results for three additional quarters now, this would be a good time to revisit my original investment thesis . Back in September, I argued the high-yield preferred stock was attractive. Meanwhile, the common share p...
Joao Luiz Vieira/iStock via Getty Images Introduction As it has been more than six months since I last discussed Bank of Hawaii ( BOH ) and considering the bank has released financial results for three additional quarters now, this would be a good time to revisit my original investment thesis . Back in September, I argued the high-yield preferred stock was attractive. Meanwhile, the common share price has increased by approximately a quarter so I need to check if my ‘buy’ rating from September is still valid. Data by YCharts A robust set of results in the first quarter The bank reported a total interest income of approximately $222.2M in the first quarter of the current financial year, which represents an increase of just under 4% compared to Q1 2025. And as the income statement below shows, the total amount of interest expenses decreased by almost 20%. Combined, this resulted in a 20% net interest income increase . BOH Investor Relations And although the bank could not avoid seeing higher non-interest expenses and a slightly lower non-interest income, the pre-tax income before taking loan loss provisions into account came in at roughly $76M. And that is of course a very substantial increase from the less than $60 million recorded in the first quarter of last year. And there was more good news as the total amount of loan loss provisions decreased by in excess of 40% to just under $1.8M (a surprisingly low amount given the size of the loan book, which currently exceeds $14B). This resulted in a quarterly net income of $57.4M and after deducting the $5.3M in preferred dividends, the net income attributable to the common shareholders of Bank of Hawaii was $52.5M. This represents an EPS of $1.32. And that of course is more than sufficient to cover the quarterly dividend of $0.70 (that quarterly dividend has remained unchanged since 2021 ). And from the perspective of a preferred shareholder it is of course excellent to see that the bank needed just about 10% of its net ...
HJBC/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Accenture PLC ( ACN ) is an Irish-American global IT services and consulting firm. Founded in 1951, Accenture is now a $109 billion (by market cap) consulting giant employing nearly 800,000 people. The company reports results across five operating groups: Products, 30% of FY 2025 revenue; Health & Public Service, 21%; Financial Services, 18%; Communications, ...
HJBC/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Accenture PLC ( ACN ) is an Irish-American global IT services and consulting firm. Founded in 1951, Accenture is now a $109 billion (by market cap) consulting giant employing nearly 800,000 people. The company reports results across five operating groups: Products, 30% of FY 2025 revenue; Health & Public Service, 21%; Financial Services, 18%; Communications, Media & Technology, 16%; and Resources, 14%. Accenture can also be thought of as two separate types of work, which both comprise about half of the company’s revenue base: Consulting (short-duration contracts regarding strategies) and Managed Services (long-duration contracts regarding ongoing operations). Sales are roughly split 50/50 between the Americas and the remainder of global markets. As one of the largest IT services companies in the world, Accenture provides a range of consulting, strategy, technology, operational, and outsourcing services to its thousands of clients across 40+ different industries located in 120+ different countries. With enterprise problems being more complex than ever, Accenture’s expertise and services become more valuable than ever. That complexity is no better illustrated than through the development of AI, which has opened up all kinds of new opportunities and challenges for companies and workforces globally. While AI could be seen as a huge hindrance to Accenture’s ability to gain clients, grow, and register billable hours (due to AI’s growing capabilities), it could also be seen as a chance for Accenture to provide even more value by expanding AI-enhanced offerings (which the company is doing through AI-native acquisitions and by pivoting toward agentic services). Additionally, with almost 800,000 employees on payroll (that’s an army’s worth of people), Accenture could likely implement AI internally to run much leaner. With a viable path for more revenue and less expenses opening up, that positions Accenture to quite possibly accelerate it...
Dmitry Vinogradov/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Oppenheimer Holdings ( OPY ) is more or less split right now in terms of income between capital markets and wealth management (WM). Things were pointing in the right direction in our last coverage . With the Iran War's reinflation risks and higher capital costs, also with a March dealmaking slump and bad visibility on capital market activity in e...
Dmitry Vinogradov/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Oppenheimer Holdings ( OPY ) is more or less split right now in terms of income between capital markets and wealth management (WM). Things were pointing in the right direction in our last coverage . With the Iran War's reinflation risks and higher capital costs, also with a March dealmaking slump and bad visibility on capital market activity in equity and debt underwriting—and also bad market performance for a while—we thought we'd have to discuss a poorer quarter, perhaps with some idiosyncratic growth thanks to mid-market exposure and scale. However, despite the March-ended quarter, things were still looking good, and all forward indicators seem to be pointing to continued momentum into Q2. It remains an attractively valued and well-positioned non-bank financial services pick. Developments The quarter was March-ended. Things were not going well in that period. Markets were broadly down, so we would have expected issues in AUM for any manager, including from panic outflows. Perhaps volatility-based transaction volumes would be doing well, though. Less ambiguous would be the hit to the capital markets businesses. When equity markets take a turn for the worse, IPOs get instantly shelved because of how opportunistic and tactical they need to be to be valuable to issuers. Additionally, M&A wouldn't have been doing great from sponsors or strategics given the uncertainties and supply chain risks. But instead there was constructive performance across the board. Signaling indeed some share wins, and the less volatile nature of mid-market, which is more idiosyncratic, more driven by customer-specific needs, and less beholden to broad macro and the vicissitudes of capital costs, and the need for entirely optimal financial optimisation typical in large tickets. WM Segment (8-K) WM was up on higher commission revenue and more advisory fees on a 10% or so increase in AUM. So they benefited from pro-volatility income as well as...
Ad Gr/iStock via Getty Images Article Thesis Amazon.com, Inc. ( AMZN ) reported good Q1 earnings results this week, showing especially nice growth in its AWS business. While cash flows are under pressure due to the company's hefty AI investments, these could pay off in the long run. Following substantial gains over the last couple of weeks, AMZN isn't cheap, though—which is why I am not overly bul...
Ad Gr/iStock via Getty Images Article Thesis Amazon.com, Inc. ( AMZN ) reported good Q1 earnings results this week, showing especially nice growth in its AWS business. While cash flows are under pressure due to the company's hefty AI investments, these could pay off in the long run. Following substantial gains over the last couple of weeks, AMZN isn't cheap, though—which is why I am not overly bullish at current prices. Past Coverage I have written about Amazon.com here on Seeking Alpha in the past, most recently around three months ago, when I covered AMZN's previous earnings report. I was neither especially bullish nor bearish back then, giving the company a hold rating at the time. Amazon has performed well since then, though, so a buy rating would have worked out better in retrospect. With Amazon reporting its fiscal Q1 earnings results last Wednesday, I want to update my views on the company with this article. What Happened? Amazon's earnings results , announced last Wednesday, looked pretty good: Amazon.com Q1 earnings results (Seeking Alpha) We see that the company delivered a double beat, as did many of its Magnificent 7 peers. This was a better result compared to the previous quarter, when AMZN hit the earnings per share consensus but was not able to surpass it. GAAP earnings per share were distorted by one-time items, though, mainly the Anthropic-related investment gain—when we back that out, AMZN's earnings per share are a lot closer to the consensus estimate. Investors liked what they saw in the report, with AMZN trading up by a couple of percentage points since the Q1 report was released, although broad equity enthusiasm helped as well. Amazon's Q1: All About AWS, Uncertainties Around AI Investments Amazon was able to grow its revenues by around 17% compared to one year earlier, which is a pretty good growth rate, although not on par with Meta Platforms ( META ), Alphabet ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ), etc. Amazon is, however, growing from an even bigger basis—in ...
KanawatTH/iStock via Getty Images The long-term performance outlook for the Global Market Index (GMI) edged higher in April. The current 7%-plus estimate for the benchmark’s annualized return is at the top end of recent forecasts. Relative to the trailing 10-year result, however, GMI is still on track to post substantially softer results in the years ahead. GMI is a market-value-weighted mix of th...
KanawatTH/iStock via Getty Images The long-term performance outlook for the Global Market Index (GMI) edged higher in April. The current 7%-plus estimate for the benchmark’s annualized return is at the top end of recent forecasts. Relative to the trailing 10-year result, however, GMI is still on track to post substantially softer results in the years ahead. GMI is a market-value-weighted mix of the major asset classes (excluding cash) via ETF proxies. Today’s forecast is calculated as the average of three models (defined below). The current 7.4% annualized estimate for GMI ticked up from last month’s estimate but remains well below the trailing 9.7% annualized return that GMI has generated over the past decade. The conflict with Iran has roiled markets over the past two months, but the effects on our ex ante estimates have been slight, which isn’t surprising, given the model design, as explained below. The goal for these projections is to develop a set of first approximations of future long-run returns for the major asset classes and a passive benchmark for a global portfolio. Roughly a third of GMI’s components are projected to generate softer returns relative to their respective results over the past ten years (indicated by the red boxes in the far-right column below). The same subpar performance applies to GMI, which is currently projected to earn a materially weaker return compared with its realized performance for the trailing ten-year window through April. GMI represents a theoretical benchmark for the “optimal” portfolio that’s suited for the average investor with an infinite time horizon. Accordingly, GMI is useful as a starting point for customizing asset allocation and portfolio design to match a particular investor’s expectations, objectives, risk tolerance, etc. GMI’s history suggests that this passive benchmark’s performance will be competitive with most active asset-allocation strategies, especially after adjusting for risk, trading costs and taxes. It...
Ad Gr/iStock via Getty Images Article Thesis Amazon.com, Inc. ( AMZN ) reported good Q1 earnings results this week, showing especially nice growth in its AWS business. While cash flows are under pressure due to the company's hefty AI investments, these could pay off in the long run. Following substantial gains over the last couple of weeks, AMZN isn't cheap, though—which is why I am not overly bul...
Ad Gr/iStock via Getty Images Article Thesis Amazon.com, Inc. ( AMZN ) reported good Q1 earnings results this week, showing especially nice growth in its AWS business. While cash flows are under pressure due to the company's hefty AI investments, these could pay off in the long run. Following substantial gains over the last couple of weeks, AMZN isn't cheap, though—which is why I am not overly bullish at current prices. Past Coverage I have written about Amazon.com here on Seeking Alpha in the past, most recently around three months ago, when I covered AMZN's previous earnings report. I was neither especially bullish nor bearish back then, giving the company a hold rating at the time. Amazon has performed well since then, though, so a buy rating would have worked out better in retrospect. With Amazon reporting its fiscal Q1 earnings results last Wednesday, I want to update my views on the company with this article. What Happened? Amazon's earnings results , announced last Wednesday, looked pretty good: Amazon.com Q1 earnings results (Seeking Alpha) We see that the company delivered a double beat, as did many of its Magnificent 7 peers. This was a better result compared to the previous quarter, when AMZN hit the earnings per share consensus but was not able to surpass it. GAAP earnings per share were distorted by one-time items, though, mainly the Anthropic-related investment gain—when we back that out, AMZN's earnings per share are a lot closer to the consensus estimate. Investors liked what they saw in the report, with AMZN trading up by a couple of percentage points since the Q1 report was released, although broad equity enthusiasm helped as well. Amazon's Q1: All About AWS, Uncertainties Around AI Investments Amazon was able to grow its revenues by around 17% compared to one year earlier, which is a pretty good growth rate, although not on par with Meta Platforms ( META ), Alphabet ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ), etc. Amazon is, however, growing from an even bigger basis—in ...
The Iran war has had significant economic effects. Although broad inflation has remained elevated, the first thing consumers have noticed has likely been the spike in gas prices. The nationwide average price of regular gasoline was $4.39 a gallon as of May 1, according to AAA. It was $4.06 a month ago. A year ago, consumers paid $3.19 a gallon. Unfortunately, there's not much consumers can do in t...
The Iran war has had significant economic effects. Although broad inflation has remained elevated, the first thing consumers have noticed has likely been the spike in gas prices. The nationwide average price of regular gasoline was $4.39 a gallon as of May 1, according to AAA. It was $4.06 a month ago. A year ago, consumers paid $3.19 a gallon. Unfortunately, there's not much consumers can do in the short run to conserve gas. And since they're paying a much higher price at the pump, consumers have less to spend on discretionary items. Continue reading
Market Correction Risk: Why Summer 2026 Looks Risky Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, The S&P 500 hit a fresh record high last week. The median stock in the index is sitting 13% below its 52-week peak. That divergence is not a footnote or a curiosity. It’s the loudest warning the market has flashed since the dot-com era, and it’s arriving at the worst possible moment on the c...
Market Correction Risk: Why Summer 2026 Looks Risky Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, The S&P 500 hit a fresh record high last week. The median stock in the index is sitting 13% below its 52-week peak. That divergence is not a footnote or a curiosity. It’s the loudest warning the market has flashed since the dot-com era, and it’s arriving at the worst possible moment on the calendar. Market correction risk is climbing, and this summer it’s stacked on top of three other forces that almost never converge at the same time. After three decades of watching market cycles play out, I’ve learned that the dangerous moments are those in which everything looks fine on the surface and rotten underneath. That’s exactly where we are right now. The market correction risk we’re staring at into the summer isn’t driven by a single bearish data point. It’s driven by four of them showing up together, and ignoring any of them would be a costly mistake. The Breadth Divergence Is As Bad As It Gets The narrowness of the current rally is not opinion. It is arithmetic. The S&P 500 has rallied roughly 14% off its late-March washout to a new high near 7,125. Look under the hood, and you find a market hollowed out. The equal-weight S&P 500 has declined about 1% over the same period. The Magnificent Seven is up roughly 10%. The semiconductor index is up 30%. Everything else is sitting on the curb. That kind of dispersion has only happened a handful of times since 1980. Goldman Sachs’ equity strategy team flagged it directly in a note this week, warning that this level of breadth has historically preceded larger-than-average drawdowns over the following six to twelve months. They’re not the only ones flagging it. Hedge fund net tilt to momentum is sitting near a multi-year high, and gross leverage remains at the upper end of the five-year range. When everyone is positioned the same way and the leadership is two names deep, the unwind is never gentle. While breadth is the hea...