Confidence among Hong Kong’s exporters fell at its steepest rate in two years amid global trade turbulence even as demand was expected to remain stable over the long term. The Trade Development Council (TDC) on Tuesday said its Exporters Confidence Index for the first quarter of 2026 showed that traders remained “cautious”, though trade diversification strategies have them “well prepared” for any ...
Confidence among Hong Kong’s exporters fell at its steepest rate in two years amid global trade turbulence even as demand was expected to remain stable over the long term. The Trade Development Council (TDC) on Tuesday said its Exporters Confidence Index for the first quarter of 2026 showed that traders remained “cautious”, though trade diversification strategies have them “well prepared” for any further market disruptions. The index surveys over 500 traders from six major industries on a...
Oracle Federal Forum -- Oracle Cloud Federal Financials, a purpose-built, industry-specific solution in Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) has been added to the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Quality Service Management Office (FM QSMO) Marketplace. With Oracle Federal Financials, federal agencies can automate finance processes and leverage embedded AI to...
Oracle Federal Forum -- Oracle Cloud Federal Financials, a purpose-built, industry-specific solution in Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) has been added to the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Quality Service Management Office (FM QSMO) Marketplace. With Oracle Federal Financials, federal agencies can automate finance processes and leverage embedded AI to help increase productivity, reduce costs, improve transparency and auditability, and enhance the qu
Leading quantum investors join to fuel efforts enabling scalability, modularity, and commercial deployment of quantum computing Leading quantum investors join to fuel efforts enabling scalability, modularity, and commercial deployment of quantum computing
Leading quantum investors join to fuel efforts enabling scalability, modularity, and commercial deployment of quantum computing Leading quantum investors join to fuel efforts enabling scalability, modularity, and commercial deployment of quantum computing
Douglas Rissing The Pentagon is expected to release detailed spending plans for fiscal 2027 on April 21, including budget breakdowns for each branch of the military, Bloomberg News reported late Monday, citing a defense official familiar with the timeline. This comes roughly three weeks after the Trump administration unveils its broader proposal on April 3, which includes a record-setting $1.5 tri...
Douglas Rissing The Pentagon is expected to release detailed spending plans for fiscal 2027 on April 21, including budget breakdowns for each branch of the military, Bloomberg News reported late Monday, citing a defense official familiar with the timeline. This comes roughly three weeks after the Trump administration unveils its broader proposal on April 3, which includes a record-setting $1.5 trillion defense budget. In the weeks that follow, senior Pentagon officials and service leaders will present more granular requests, along with five-year projections and program-level documents known as Budget Justification Books, or J-Books. Typically, the White House Office of Management and Budget coordinates a single release day for federal spending, followed shortly by Pentagon briefings and supporting materials. This year’s rollout appears more staggered. Much of the focus will center on the proposed $1.5 trillion topline figure, though it remains unclear whether that number applies strictly to the Pentagon or to total national security spending, the vast majority of which falls under the Defense Department. Separately, a supplemental funding request that could approach $200 billion is still under review and is unlikely to be sent to Congress in the immediate term, another official said. The administration previously sought just over $1 trillion for the current fiscal year, representing a double-digit increase from 2025 levels. That request combined standard Pentagon funding with additional allocations tied to separate legislation. Delays tied to a potential government shutdown, the unfinished 2026 budget and ongoing supplemental discussions have pushed back the release of detailed materials. A former Pentagon budget official said the extended timeline reflects the need to align supporting documents before publication. More on Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF, State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF, etc. War In Iran: Why Europe Could Be The Next Escalation Front M...
Our specialists weigh in on the sauce’s best uses, suggesting dressings, dips and more My wife adores roast lamb with mint sauce. However, a fter an online purchasing blunder, my larder now contains six jars . How can I make use of them apart from serving roast lamb every Sunday from now until the crack of doom? John, by email As is so often the case, it all starts with a shift in mindset. “When y...
Our specialists weigh in on the sauce’s best uses, suggesting dressings, dips and more My wife adores roast lamb with mint sauce. However, a fter an online purchasing blunder, my larder now contains six jars . How can I make use of them apart from serving roast lamb every Sunday from now until the crack of doom? John, by email As is so often the case, it all starts with a shift in mindset. “When you see a jar of sauce, there’s a real tendency to think, ‘I must use this as a sauce,’” says Kate Young, author of Dinner at Mine? Start treating that surplus mint sauce as an ingredient instead, however, and your life will be a whole lot easier. “If John is planning on using chopped fresh mint with, say, meat, cheese or veg, then consider how you might use mint sauce in its place,” Young adds. Case in point: pea and mint soup, says Sally Abé of the recently opened Teal by Sally Abé in east London. “Stir in the mint sauce at the end of the cooking, then blitz with the peas.” Obvious, maybe, but it’s also worth pointing out that mint sauce has a decent shelf life, so John can be nice and relaxed in how he chooses to use the fruits of his shopping blunder. That said, sausage rolls are always a good idea, especially if you’re feeding a gang over Easter. Young says: “Put some finely chopped onion through lamb mince, then add big spoonfuls of the sauce.” Fry a bit of the mix before nestling it in pastry, mind: “You want to be sure the mint is really coming through.” (Likewise, any lamb meatball will be greatly improved by the addition of the green stuff.) Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com Continue reading...
In 2003, the US claimed its Iraq incursion would be brief. Now there’s competition for the title of worst-planned war in American history The US-Israel war on Iran is a colossal blunder of world historical proportions. As clear an act of aggression as one can imagine, the war is blatantly illegal, continuing the death blow to international law and norms that began (most recently) with Israel’s gen...
In 2003, the US claimed its Iraq incursion would be brief. Now there’s competition for the title of worst-planned war in American history The US-Israel war on Iran is a colossal blunder of world historical proportions. As clear an act of aggression as one can imagine, the war is blatantly illegal, continuing the death blow to international law and norms that began (most recently) with Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza. The war has also been launched with magnificently poor planning , as the United States seems shocked by and unprepared for how Iran uses every means at its disposal to restrict shipping in the strait of Hormuz. And with the massive disruption to the international supply of energy and certain necessary commodities, the global economy is teetering on collapse, with the United States and Israel mortgaging the futures of many poorer nations around the world – especially in Asia and Africa – for their own imperial adventurism. Continue reading...
Critics say president is locking into 20th century energy systems even as his ‘bet’ on oil and gas ‘isn’t going so well’ By attacking Iran and threatening to seize its oil while taking extraordinary measures to block clean energy back in the US, Donald Trump has inadvertently highlighted the dangerous volatility of the fossil fuel era, critics say. The US and Israel’s bombardment of Iran and south...
Critics say president is locking into 20th century energy systems even as his ‘bet’ on oil and gas ‘isn’t going so well’ By attacking Iran and threatening to seize its oil while taking extraordinary measures to block clean energy back in the US, Donald Trump has inadvertently highlighted the dangerous volatility of the fossil fuel era, critics say. The US and Israel’s bombardment of Iran and southern Lebanon has caused a humanitarian and environmental toll , with threats of further escalation set to add to these casualties as well as add more planet-heating emissions and destroy drinking water supplies. Continue reading...
Freight brokerage remains under pressure, but structural changes may be tightening capacity. In this episode of the Talking Transports podcast, Freight Caviar founder and CEO Paul Jaroslawski joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s Lee Klaskow to discuss how regulatory enforcement around non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses and fraud are reducing supply and lifting spot rates despite weak demand. Jar...
Freight brokerage remains under pressure, but structural changes may be tightening capacity. In this episode of the Talking Transports podcast, Freight Caviar founder and CEO Paul Jaroslawski joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s Lee Klaskow to discuss how regulatory enforcement around non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses and fraud are reducing supply and lifting spot rates despite weak demand. Jaroslawski shares Freight Caviar’s evolution from memes to magazines and his unique perspective on the
Huawei Technologies maintained “steady” recovery momentum in 2025, with its profit rising 8.6 per cent, as the Chinese telecommunications gear maker doubled down on chip development and smartphones in defiance of US sanctions. Net profit came in at 68 billion yuan (US$9.8 billion) last year, compared with 62.6 billion yuan a year earlier, according to the Shenzhen-based company’s annual report rel...
Huawei Technologies maintained “steady” recovery momentum in 2025, with its profit rising 8.6 per cent, as the Chinese telecommunications gear maker doubled down on chip development and smartphones in defiance of US sanctions. Net profit came in at 68 billion yuan (US$9.8 billion) last year, compared with 62.6 billion yuan a year earlier, according to the Shenzhen-based company’s annual report released on Tuesday. Total revenue in 2025 reached 880.9 billion yuan, up 2.2 per cent from 862.1...
As the Strait of Hormuz crisis roils world energy markets, China and the US still have strong potential to work together to find solutions, according to a researcher with a Chinese think tank. Wang Lining – who heads the oil market department at the Economics and Technology Research Institute under state-run China National Petroleum Corporation – also said Washington’s change in direction on energ...
As the Strait of Hormuz crisis roils world energy markets, China and the US still have strong potential to work together to find solutions, according to a researcher with a Chinese think tank. Wang Lining – who heads the oil market department at the Economics and Technology Research Institute under state-run China National Petroleum Corporation – also said Washington’s change in direction on energy diplomacy was a “reminder” that Beijing could play a bigger role in global governance. Wang made...
Tenex.ai, an artificial intelligence cybersecurity startup, has raised $250 million in funding at a more than $1 billion valuation, the latest sign of investor demand for companies that use AI to combat cyber attacks. Crosspoint Capital led the financing, with participation from Shield Capital and DeepWork Capital, Tenex is set to announce on Tuesday. The Sarasota, Florida-based startup has previo...
Tenex.ai, an artificial intelligence cybersecurity startup, has raised $250 million in funding at a more than $1 billion valuation, the latest sign of investor demand for companies that use AI to combat cyber attacks. Crosspoint Capital led the financing, with participation from Shield Capital and DeepWork Capital, Tenex is set to announce on Tuesday. The Sarasota, Florida-based startup has previously raised capital from Andreessen Horowitz. The new funding coincides with a flurry of activity in the market for firms that use AI to defend against malicious actors, including those who may seize on artificial intelligence to automate their own attacks. Earlier this month, OpenAI agreed to buy Promptfoo, a company that enables large businesses to find and fix security issues in AI models. OpenAI and Anthropic PBC have also unveiled AI agents meant to help security teams spot and patch vulnerabilities in large databases. Tenex, made up of former chief information security officers and financial services professionals, is selling an AI-enabled managed detection and response service that finds, tracks and responds to security threats. The product uses AI automation and agents, blended with expertise and oversight from real people. The company has also partnered with the biggest cloud computing providers, including Alphabet Inc. ’s Google, Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. , to deliver those companies’ security products. “We basically believe that the market is going towards the hyperscalers as the security platform winners,” said Tenex Chief Executive Officer Eric Foster, referring to the large cloud providers. “We believe we are best positioned to be the services partner and especially the AI services partner to them.” While some AI security startups focus on customers testing and “attacking” their own code to find flaws before bad actors do, Tenex’s technology is aimed at helping firms find and kick out actual attackers. “The AI security space has become a gold rush,” ...
In this article OPEN Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Courtesy: Opendoor A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Property Play newsletter with Diana Olick. Property Play covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, from individuals to venture capitalists, private equity funds, family offices, institutional investors and large public companies. Sig...
In this article OPEN Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Courtesy: Opendoor A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Property Play newsletter with Diana Olick. Property Play covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, from individuals to venture capitalists, private equity funds, family offices, institutional investors and large public companies. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. Refinancing a home loan has long been a complicated and pricey process. The costs can be so high that most experts suggest if a borrower can't shave at least 75 basis points off their current mortgage interest rate, the refinance isn't even worth it. Now two property tech leaders are joining forces to lower those costs. Opendoor , which buys homes directly from sellers and has a title and escrow business, is acquiring part of Doma, a property technology company that automates title searches, the companies told CNBC exclusively. Doma says it uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to make real estate closings — specifically title, escrow and underwriting — faster and more affordable. "We're in the process of completely rebuilding and automating, like most of the other pieces of technology that Opendoor is working on ... to eliminate time and money for customers," said Lucas Matheson, president of Opendoor. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Since 2024, Doma's technology has been used in a Fannie Mae pilot program designed to reduce title insurance costs on eligible refinance transactions. It was just extended through 2027. Under the program, certain refinance transactions determined by Doma to have low title risk may be sold to Fannie Mae without needing a lender's title insurance policy or an attorney opinion letter. So far, that has been about 80% of the refinance candidates, according to Doma. The title insurance, however, is only one component of the refinancing process. Closing costs include other ser...
In this article BABA Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Consumers browse Huawei phones in a shopping mall in Yantai, Shandong Province, China on March 8, 2026. Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images Huawei's push to develop its own artificial intelligence chip has yet to drive the double-digit revenue gains of its peers, as Chinese companies strive to narrow the gap with the U.S. on...
In this article BABA Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Consumers browse Huawei phones in a shopping mall in Yantai, Shandong Province, China on March 8, 2026. Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images Huawei's push to develop its own artificial intelligence chip has yet to drive the double-digit revenue gains of its peers, as Chinese companies strive to narrow the gap with the U.S. on AI. Cloud computing revenue from external customers fell by 3.5% in 2025 to 32.16 billion yuan ($4.6 billion), Huawei said. The company is the second-largest cloud provider in mainland China. While overall cloud revenue including internal customers rose by 4.8% to 72.8 billion yuan, the main ICT infrastructure segment reported revenue growth that slowed to 2.6%, down from 4.9% in 2024. That's the segment that would include Huawei's self-developed Ascend AI chip solutions , meant to rival Nvidia . Huawei's total ICT revenue for 2025 was 375.01 billion yuan. The U.S. has restricted Chinese companies' access to the most advanced Nvidia chips, while Beijing has urged tech self sufficiency at home. watch now VIDEO 6:05 06:05 Rebellions CEO on the future of memory, AI chips Europe Early Edition Huawei's decline in cloud revenue to external customers comes as ByteDance has rapidly grown its AI cloud business in China in the last several months, albeit from a small base. The TikTok owner is reportedly ramping up access to high-end Nvidia chips in a partnership deal with a planned Malaysia data center . ByteDance and Alibaba also plan to place orders of Huawei's new AI chip, Reuters reported last week, citing sources . ByteDance declined to comment. The two other Chinese companies did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment. U.S.-developed AI tools are generally considered the most capable in the world , although some Chinese models have shown an edge in video generation. Not all U.S. AI models are officially accessible in mainland China. Huawei's modest cloud growth ...
Today's Analyst Rating | Citi Cuts Its Price Target Cut on Micron Technology to $425, Daiwa Initiates Coverage on GE Aerospace With Target Price of $301 富途牛牛
Today's Analyst Rating | Citi Cuts Its Price Target Cut on Micron Technology to $425, Daiwa Initiates Coverage on GE Aerospace With Target Price of $301 富途牛牛
Today's Analyst Rating | Citi Cuts Its Price Target Cut on Micron Technology to $425, Daiwa Initiates Coverage on GE Aerospace With Target Price of $301 news.futunn.com
Today's Analyst Rating | Citi Cuts Its Price Target Cut on Micron Technology to $425, Daiwa Initiates Coverage on GE Aerospace With Target Price of $301 news.futunn.com
Umnat Seebuaphan/iStock via Getty Images Introduction The Apollo Global Management, Inc. NT 7.625% 53 ( APOS ) is an issue that I last covered over two years ago ( article link ). While the Note does not mature until 2053, Apollo has the right to Call it every five years starting in 2028. As part of my analysis, I found two other Notes with similar features as I deem that important when deciding i...
Umnat Seebuaphan/iStock via Getty Images Introduction The Apollo Global Management, Inc. NT 7.625% 53 ( APOS ) is an issue that I last covered over two years ago ( article link ). While the Note does not mature until 2053, Apollo has the right to Call it every five years starting in 2028. As part of my analysis, I found two other Notes with similar features as I deem that important when deciding if a single issue is a good investment choice. My rating in 2024 for APOS was a Sell, down from a Buy due to the price jump during that time period. I currently see no risk in terms of payment or bankruptcy concerning APOS as its coverage ratios are excellent, plus backstopped by Apollo Global. With its 7.5% yield, I am again giving it a Buy rating. Apollo Global Management Review Data by YCharts Seeking Alpha describes Apollo Global Management ( APO ) as (edited): Apollo Global Management, Inc. is a private equity firm specializing in investments in credit, private equity, infrastructure, secondaries and real estate markets. The firm prefers to invest in private and public markets. The firm's private equity investments include traditional buyouts, recapitalization, distressed buyouts and debt investments in real estate, corporate partner buyouts, distressed asset, corporate carve-outs, middle market, growth, venture capital, turnaround, bridge, corporate restructuring, special situation, acquisition, and industry consolidation transactions. For credit strategies, the firm focuses to invest in multi-sector credit, semi-liquid credit, direct lending, first lien, unitranche, whole loans and private credit. The firm launches and manages hedge funds for its clients. It also manages real estate funds and private equity funds for its clients. The firm invests in the fixed income and alternative investment markets across the globe. The firm conducts in-house research to create its investment portfolio. Apollo Global Management, Inc. was founded in 1990. This is how Apollo Global Ma...
ABDERRAHIM ELOUIHSSANI/iStock via Getty Images The ability to recognize a problem and transform yourself into something new is uncommon. Many companies will ignore the future or even present problems to maintain the status quo that they feel comfortable in. There's a famous meeting in 2000 where the founders of Netflix ( NFLX ) pitched their company to the CEO of Blockbuster. The opportunity was t...
ABDERRAHIM ELOUIHSSANI/iStock via Getty Images The ability to recognize a problem and transform yourself into something new is uncommon. Many companies will ignore the future or even present problems to maintain the status quo that they feel comfortable in. There's a famous meeting in 2000 where the founders of Netflix ( NFLX ) pitched their company to the CEO of Blockbuster. The opportunity was to buy 49% of Netflix for $50 million. At that time, Netflix was simply a DVD rental service where you could send off to get DVDs in the mail and then return them to get more. Blockbuster at that time was a massive rental movie and video game store chain. They didn't see Netflix as a potential competitor at all. Fast forward, Blockbuster no longer exists as a major company, and Netflix is a powerhouse in the media sphere as a massive streaming company. Blockbuster became a relic of the past because of its inability to see the future and adapt to it. This can also happen within the fund space. Portfolio managers of different closed-end funds (CEFs) can be very focused on what they think is important and fail to adapt to retail investors' interests or demands. This can lead a fund to suffer and languish with poor returns and poor investor sentiment. Some funds focus on exciting investors through their yield alone, which can bring in new investment because of high yields and not because of the underlying portfolio success. What happens when a fund is failing? It's very rare for a fund to completely close up shop out of the blue. Some funds will be rolled or merged into other ones, as PIMCO or Invesco have done in the past. They'll take smaller, lagging funds and merge them with larger, more successful funds to keep that capital in-house and the fees from managing that capital rolling in. Today, I want to look at a fund that didn't have a sister fund to roll it into and instead was bought out by a different portfolio manager. The prior manager was replaced with a new one, and th...
Leila Melhado/iStock Editorial via Getty Images MercadoLibre Price: $1,757.58 (2/27/26) Market Capitalization: $89.1B Enterprise Value: $94.2B What the Company Does MercadoLibre ( MELI ) operates the largest e-commerce marketplace in Latin America connecting over 100 million active buyers across 18 countries in the region. About 90% of the gross merchandise value (GMV) sold on MELI’s commerce plat...
Leila Melhado/iStock Editorial via Getty Images MercadoLibre Price: $1,757.58 (2/27/26) Market Capitalization: $89.1B Enterprise Value: $94.2B What the Company Does MercadoLibre ( MELI ) operates the largest e-commerce marketplace in Latin America connecting over 100 million active buyers across 18 countries in the region. About 90% of the gross merchandise value (GMV) sold on MELI’s commerce platform comes from third-party sellers, while MELI steps in to buy and re-sell the remaining 10% of GMV where there are gaps in sellers’ competitiveness. MELI’s logistics arm handles delivery of ~95% of marketplace items, with about half of those volumes stored and fulfilled through MELI-operated fulfillment centers, enabling 75% of orders to be delivered within 48 hours. MELI’s fintech platform capitalizes on the data-rich insights from MELI’s marketplace, offering consumers digital wallets, debit/credit cards, while also providing merchants with payment infrastructure, point-of-sale solutions, and working-capital financing. MELI’s advertising platform effectively monetizes merchants competing for the demand already created by MELI’s commerce platform. In 2025, ~53% of revenue came from Brazil, ~24% from Mexico, ~21% from Argentina, and ~4% from other countries. Why We Own It MELI serves as the de facto commerce and financial infrastructure provider for a region of >500MM people (~45% more than US) with GDP of $5.5T that has long lacked the banking access, credit infrastructure, and logistics reliability required for small and midsize businesses ( SMBS ) to scale efficiently. MELI has essentially transformed those structural bottlenecks into a self-reinforcing flywheel by embedding a fintech/payments platform to reduce friction and encourage repeat spending, extending credit to unlock liquidity for merchants and consumers, and building a scaled logistics network to ensure fast, reliable fulfillment. As a result, MELI is attractively positioned at the center of a massive and g...
Magdalena Wygralak/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Since I last checked on the British pharmaceuticals' stock GSK ( GSK ) in December last year, its price has risen by 12%. Interestingly, this is despite the stock having lost 11% of its value since the highs of January, exacerbated by the US-Iran war that has affected markets as such. This alone is a reflection of the stock's strength. And its r...
Magdalena Wygralak/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Since I last checked on the British pharmaceuticals' stock GSK ( GSK ) in December last year, its price has risen by 12%. Interestingly, this is despite the stock having lost 11% of its value since the highs of January, exacerbated by the US-Iran war that has affected markets as such. This alone is a reflection of the stock's strength. And its recent drug approvals, particularly in China along with its full-year 2025 results further confirm that the company is in a solid place. It's not without risks, for sure, but the positives do raise the question, is GSK one to Buy even now? The answer is yes, but maybe not for short-term investors. China market gains momentum A cursory look at GSK's press releases for 2026 clearly shows recent headway in the China market. The latest of these is the approval of Exdensur, the treatment for severe asthma, following a go-ahead from the US in December and the EU in February. This is the second approval from China under the company's Respiratory, Immunology & Inflammation (RI&I) sub-segment in 2026, which in turn, comes under the specialty medicines category. The other one is for Nucala , which treats patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD]. Nucala is already the fourth biggest revenue generating treatment for GSK, bringing in over 6% of total sales in 2025. Besides these approvals, a few other treatments are under review, which can further strengthen GSK's portfolio if and when approved. One of these is the hepatitis drug Bepirovirsen and Linerixibat, which treats a rare autoimmune disease of the liver. The vaccine Arexvy, which addresses lower respiratory tract disease, is also under review for patients over 60 years of age. These developments are key for two reasons: #1. RI&I's significant growth contribution The significance of GSK's specialty medicines segment can't be emphasised enough. Accounting for over 41% of the company's sales in 2025, it wa...
Donny DBM/iStock via Getty Images Growing with your country: Thoughts from a long-term optimist Every year, I write this letter as a distillation of a year's worth of conversations with clients and employees, world leaders, CEOs—and people investing for their retirement. Lately, no matter who is speaking, they're saying the same thing: We're not sure how to navigate this moment. It's understandabl...
Donny DBM/iStock via Getty Images Growing with your country: Thoughts from a long-term optimist Every year, I write this letter as a distillation of a year's worth of conversations with clients and employees, world leaders, CEOs—and people investing for their retirement. Lately, no matter who is speaking, they're saying the same thing: We're not sure how to navigate this moment. It's understandable. We are living through a period where things that would've defined a decade have become routine: wars with global repercussions, trillion-dollar companies, a fundamental reordering of international trade, and the advent of the most significant technology since, at least, the computer. Too often, this gets filtered through a short-term lens. Daily market moves are treated as signals of lasting change, and complex economic or technological transitions are compressed into headlines. We live in a world where information moves instantly, and reactions follow just as fast. At times, it can feel dopamine-driven—where constant input rewards short-term impulses. But speed can distort perspective, crowding out long-term thinking. To be fair, in financial markets all this short-term activity serves a purpose. It's how new information is absorbed, risks are priced, and capital is allocated. But over time, staying invested has mattered far more than getting the timing right. Over the past two decades, every dollar invested in the S&P 500 grew more than eightfold. Miss just the ten best days, and you would have earned less than half. 1 And some of the market's strongest days came amid the most unsettling headlines. The danger is that we focus so much on the noise that we forget what actually matters. The forces behind today's headlines have been building for a long time. The old model of global capitalism is fracturing. Countries are spending enormous sums to become self-reliant—in energy, in defense, in technology. Meanwhile, the vast majority of wealth has flowed to people who owned ...
Getty Images Key Takeaways Markets: US equities collectively delivered solid gains during the fourth quarter of 2025, maintaining their upward trajectory against a backdrop of generally robust corporate earnings, despite some mixed economic signals and investor concerns about stretched technology valuations. Continued monetary easing by the US Federal Reserve (Fed), along with a constructive shift...
Getty Images Key Takeaways Markets: US equities collectively delivered solid gains during the fourth quarter of 2025, maintaining their upward trajectory against a backdrop of generally robust corporate earnings, despite some mixed economic signals and investor concerns about stretched technology valuations. Continued monetary easing by the US Federal Reserve (Fed), along with a constructive shift in US-China relations, supported investor sentiment. Contributors: Allocations to both the fixed income and equity sides of the portfolio contributed to the fund's absolute returns, while selection assisted relative results. Detractors: Underweight equity positioning and an overweight fixed income allocation slightly detracted from relative returns. Outlook: We believe fixed income yields remain historically attractive, and we are constructive on equity markets despite volatility within certain sectors. Broad diversification and a high degree of flexibility underpin our approach to navigating the year ahead. Our diversified portfolio is designed to pursue income stability while selectively participating in secular growth themes using tools like equity-linked notes. Performance Review Franklin Income Fund (Advisor Class shares without sales charges) outperformed its benchmark , the Blended 50% MSCI USA High Dividend Yield Index + 25% Bloomberg High Yield Very Liquid Index + 25% Bloomberg US Aggregate Index, for the quarter ended December 31, 2025. Over the course of the quarter, the fund increased its fixed income allocation while keeping equity exposure relatively unchanged . Fixed income allocations to the health care and consumer discretionary sectors, as well as securitized products, had a positive effect on absolute fund performance. Meanwhile, energy hindered fixed income returns during the period. On an individual issuer basis, Community Health Systems ( CYH ), Tronox Holdings ( TROX ) and Freddie Mac were the top performers within the fund's fixed income positioning...
Belkin makes some of the best zip-up cases for the Nintendo Switch 2. Full stop. The company’s aptly titled Charging Case , which includes a 10,000mAh battery to keep your console charged while it’s protected, is particularly novel, although tough to justify at its usual asking price of $69.99. How about for around $45 instead? Now we’re talking. Right now, you can grab the battery-equipped case f...
Belkin makes some of the best zip-up cases for the Nintendo Switch 2. Full stop. The company’s aptly titled Charging Case , which includes a 10,000mAh battery to keep your console charged while it’s protected, is particularly novel, although tough to justify at its usual asking price of $69.99. How about for around $45 instead? Now we’re talking. Right now, you can grab the battery-equipped case from Belkin with free shipping for about $25 off when you use promo code VERGE35 at checkout, which drops the price to $45.49 for a limited time. If you want some deal context, Amazon recently knocked the price down to $59.49 as part of its ongoing Big Spring Sale , which was its lowest price to date before Belkin’s discount arrived. Belkin Charging Case for Nintendo Switch 2 Where to Buy: $69.99 $45.49 at Belkin (with code VERGE35) $69.99 $59.49 at Amazon $69.99 $59.49 at Best Buy Belkin’s case holds the console, 12 cartridges, plus whatever accessories you can stow in its mesh pocket (there’s also a discreet sleeve for sliding in an AirTag). It also includes a USB-C cable with a right-angle connector, allowing you to charge your console while the case is zipped up. The company claims that the battery strapped inside can top off a Switch 2 nearly twice, and it supports up to 20W charging speeds. And it’s easy to tell how much juice is left in the battery thanks to its LCD screen. If you were considering a case and a portable battery for your Switch 2, this is a solid — and now quite affordable — accessory that I recommend picking up.
This is part of our package about Apple's 50th anniversary, read more here . It's a famous story on its way to becoming legendary: Apple cofounder Steve Jobs was pushed out of Apple in 1985, spent more than a decade in the wilderness, and then returned to Apple in 1997 to save it from bankruptcy and transform it into one of the world's most valuable companies. That's true, so far as it goes, but t...
This is part of our package about Apple's 50th anniversary, read more here . It's a famous story on its way to becoming legendary: Apple cofounder Steve Jobs was pushed out of Apple in 1985, spent more than a decade in the wilderness, and then returned to Apple in 1997 to save it from bankruptcy and transform it into one of the world's most valuable companies. That's true, so far as it goes, but this interregnum is too often simplified as when Apple CEO John Sculley got rid of Steve and ruined the company. And that's really not true. Not only was the Jobs who was ejected from Apple completely unprepared to run the company (as his disastrous … Read the full story at The Verge.