The United States on Friday sanctioned multiple entities and individuals it said were involved in trading Iranian petroleum and petroleum products, including a China-based oil terminal operator and a Chinese national. The State Department said the operator, Qingdao Haiye Oil Terminal Co., Ltd, “imported tens of millions of barrels of sanctioned Iranian crude oil”. Also on the sanctions list is Li ...
The United States on Friday sanctioned multiple entities and individuals it said were involved in trading Iranian petroleum and petroleum products, including a China-based oil terminal operator and a Chinese national. The State Department said the operator, Qingdao Haiye Oil Terminal Co., Ltd, “imported tens of millions of barrels of sanctioned Iranian crude oil”. Also on the sanctions list is Li Xinchun, a Chinese national who is president of the China-based oil terminal, as well as a Hong...
U.S. households are increasingly skeptical that interest rates will fall anytime soon, according to new data from Deutsche Bank. The bank’s analysis of this week’s Conference Board survey found that 62.8% of respondents expect rates to rise over the next year—the highest share since August 2023. Meanwhile, only 13.6% anticipate lower rates, the smallest proportion since October 2023. The roughly 5...
U.S. households are increasingly skeptical that interest rates will fall anytime soon, according to new data from Deutsche Bank. The bank’s analysis of this week’s Conference Board survey found that 62.8% of respondents expect rates to rise over the next year—the highest share since August 2023. Meanwhile, only 13.6% anticipate lower rates, the smallest proportion since October 2023. The roughly 50-point gap between those expecting higher rates and those expecting lower rates reflects how dramatically the rate-cut narrative has weakened among everyday consumers. Higher energy prices from the Middle East war are significantly weighing on consumers' purchasing power. Neil Sethi More on the U.S. Economy Inflation Alarms Starting To Ring In The Bond Market Wall Street Lunch Fed Special: Powell Doesn't Go Gently Into That Good Night Middle East Turmoil Fuels Inflation Fears, Testing Fed's Patience Recession odds drop below 20% amid U.S.-Iran peace hopes 30-year Treasury yield nears 5% 'maginot line' as risk of breakout looms
Winnie Cisar, global head of strategy at CreditSights, joins Scarlet Fu on "Bloomberg Real Yield." After a $300 billion AI debt binge that spanned every corner of the credit market, investors are starting to show some signs of fatigue. (Source: Bloomberg)
Winnie Cisar, global head of strategy at CreditSights, joins Scarlet Fu on "Bloomberg Real Yield." After a $300 billion AI debt binge that spanned every corner of the credit market, investors are starting to show some signs of fatigue. (Source: Bloomberg)
tumsasedgars/iStock via Getty Images By its most generic description, the 2x Bitcoin Strategy ETF ( BITX ) is a leveraged product that tries to give you twice the daily price action of Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ). Chasing the price of Bitcoin in a leveraged way for more than a day can lead to a complete loss of your investment, so that's the first thing you need to know about this and other leveraged ETFs...
tumsasedgars/iStock via Getty Images By its most generic description, the 2x Bitcoin Strategy ETF ( BITX ) is a leveraged product that tries to give you twice the daily price action of Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ). Chasing the price of Bitcoin in a leveraged way for more than a day can lead to a complete loss of your investment, so that's the first thing you need to know about this and other leveraged ETFs. Inside BITX Incepted by Volatility Shares on June 27, 2023, BITX is not a Bitcoin holder, so there's no direct or indirect exposure as such. The exposure comes from futures contracts on Bitcoin. Using cash, treasuries, repo agreements, etc. for collateral, the fund buys monthly rolling contracts that are one and two months out, and these contracts are rolled over before expiration. To illustrate this, this is what their annual report showed as of February 28, 2026. BITX website Since it's now May at the time of writing, these contracts would have been rolled over to April and May, then May and June, and eventually to June and July futures later this month when July contracts are available. Let's see how that's going. CME Group What's happening here is that the Bitcoin futures contract values show us where the market thinks the Bitcoin USD ( BTC-USD ) price will go over whatever period the contracts cover. When the market is bullish, longer-expiration contracts are more expensive, like in the screenshot above. Because of that, rolling over to the next month's contracts is a net loss exercise for the ETF. The bet they're making is that BTC prices will rise by the time they sell the older-month contracts so the net loss can be rolled over into a net gain position. There's a problem associated with this approach. Since the ETF is on the buy side of these contracts, these oscillations between net gain and net loss are amplified 2x and can lead to volatility drag. Here's the example the fund gives in its prospectus. ...if Bitcoin futures were to rise 10% on day one, fall 5% on ...
patty_c/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Floor & Decor Holdings, Inc. ( FND ) is a home improvement retailer that has robust unit growth and offers building products primarily for large renovation projects. It has just reported earnings, and the company missed estimates on the bottom line, recording an earnings decline of nearly 18% y/y. The housing market has not yet turned in the company's fav...
patty_c/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Floor & Decor Holdings, Inc. ( FND ) is a home improvement retailer that has robust unit growth and offers building products primarily for large renovation projects. It has just reported earnings, and the company missed estimates on the bottom line, recording an earnings decline of nearly 18% y/y. The housing market has not yet turned in the company's favor, and there is nothing to suggest that in the near term this will be the case, and the stock likely has further downside from here. Business Profile Floor & Decor is a home improvement retail chain that operates stores in the United States. The stores primarily sell flooring products like tile, vinyl plank, and stone but also sell adjacent products. In terms of product mix , the company has 25% of sales from laminate and vinyl flooring, 23% from tile, 20% from installation materials and tools, 17% from decorative accessories and wall tile, 7% from wood, 4% from natural stone, and 4% from adjacent and other. This creates a gearing towards large remodeling projects. Floor & Decor is primarily subject to home improvement conditions in the US, for which existing home sales is perhaps the most important barometer for potential sales growth. Rates have been restrictive of new and existing home turnover, which has put a damper on large remodeling projects and new builds. Existing home sales remain at a low, sub-4 million. The issue with this is that they've yet to resurface to 2022 levels, which saw EHS in the 5 million+ range . National Association of Realtors Source: National Association of Realtors. Mortgage rates remain prohibitive of home turnover. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage stands at 6.3% and has been hovering between 6% and 7% for the better part of a few years now. Considering housing turnover has plummeted in this time, this is the key factor holding back positive comparable store sales for the company. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Source: Federal Reserve Bank...
Bank of Montreal is betting on artificial intelligence and quantum computing to help predict earthquakes and respond to wildfires as part of the Canadian bank’s expansion in the US. Kristin Milchanowski, the company’s chief AI and quantum officer, said she has created and received a provisional patent for a quantum algorithm that will eventually help BMO and other scientists predict earthquakes. T...
Bank of Montreal is betting on artificial intelligence and quantum computing to help predict earthquakes and respond to wildfires as part of the Canadian bank’s expansion in the US. Kristin Milchanowski, the company’s chief AI and quantum officer, said she has created and received a provisional patent for a quantum algorithm that will eventually help BMO and other scientists predict earthquakes. The bank is also using AI to help it mobilize mobile banking units to communities impacted by wildfires like the ones Los Angeles experienced last year. The technological advancements are a key part of BMO’s expansion in the US after it acquired California’s Bank of the West for about $16 billion in 2023. While the quantum algorithm to predict earthquakes still need to be tried and tested, BMO is going to integrate the wildfires technology into its emergency response system. “Over 60% of our clients are in a territory where they could be impacted by earthquakes, both in Canada and in the US,” Milchanowski said in an interview at Bloomberg’s office in Chicago. “Down the road, we absolutely can use our own research to better inform our insurance positions, and we can do that even with the wildfire work that we’re doing.” Predicting natural disasters is becoming more important for banks and insurers as climate change increases their occurrence. Last year’s wildfires in Los Angeles killed 31 people, destroyed more than 16,000 structures, forced hundreds of thousands to evacuate and caused as much as $131 billion in economic and property losses. BMO, which has its US headquarters in Chicago, has been investing in research to develop quantum applications. It joined International Business Machines Corp. ’s quantum network in early 2025. Milchanowski, who has worked for a number of financial institutions including Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co. , reiterated IBM’s projection for a usable quantum computer to be achieved by 2029. Quantum Advantage The finance industry is expec...
There is still solid income to be had in bonds these days, but investors may also want to focus on those that are tied to the real economy, according to BlackRock's recent spring outlook. While stocks rose and bond yields held steady on Friday to start the new month and new quarter, the market has been rocked by volatility this year. The Iran war and concerns about inflation, as well as fears over...
There is still solid income to be had in bonds these days, but investors may also want to focus on those that are tied to the real economy, according to BlackRock's recent spring outlook. While stocks rose and bond yields held steady on Friday to start the new month and new quarter, the market has been rocked by volatility this year. The Iran war and concerns about inflation, as well as fears over artificial-intelligence disruption, have weighed on investors. The 10-year Treasury had dipped below 4% just before the start of the Mideast conflict but is now closer to 4.35%. "We see increasing value in 'HALO' assets (Heavy Assets, Low Obsolescence), which favor tangible assets that may be less subject to AI disruption," wrote Gargi Chaudhuri, BlackRock's chief investment and portfolio strategist, Americas. For instance, the concern surrounding energy security has ramped up over the past two months. While it had already been a focus of attention due to AI needs, the jump in oil prices has escalated those worries, Chaudhuri said in a follow up interview with CNBC. West Texas Intermediate oil traded close to $102 per barrel on Friday. Yet HALO is just one component to consider, she noted. "We're not telling you just to own it because of the HALO," Chaudhuri said. "'We're telling you that it's got the components that matter for the real economy right now, as well as the income associated with them in the front end of the curve — which allows them to be a really good, attractive income opportunity in a portfolio." She likes to keep duration in the front end or the belly of the curve, ranging from zero to five or six years right now. The opportunities Those opportunities are in the securitized sector, including commercial mortgage-backed securities, residential MBS and some asset-backed securities , Chaudhuri advised. The MBS products are backed by pools of loans on either residential or commercial properties, such as single asset single borrower — which, as the name implies...
Key PointsSpotify dominates the music streaming business, and it's investing heavily in technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) to cement its position.
Key PointsSpotify dominates the music streaming business, and it's investing heavily in technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) to cement its position.