porcorex/iStock via Getty Images President Trump came into office wanting a "weak" U.S. dollar. This was a part of his effort to make America great! For the first part of his second administration, he achieved his goal. U.S. Dollar Index (Wall Street Journal) Notice the "peak" in this series above Jan 25. Trump took office on January 20, 2025. The value of the U.S. dollar declined from there. Howe...
porcorex/iStock via Getty Images President Trump came into office wanting a "weak" U.S. dollar. This was a part of his effort to make America great! For the first part of his second administration, he achieved his goal. U.S. Dollar Index (Wall Street Journal) Notice the "peak" in this series above Jan 25. Trump took office on January 20, 2025. The value of the U.S. dollar declined from there. However, as can be seen from the chart...but can be seen even better from this next chart... U.S. Dollar Index (Wall Street Journal) The turning point? Well, on February 28th of 2026, Trump declared "war" on Iran. The value of the U.S. dollar has risen since then. Since the "war" with Iran has been going on, the value of the U.S. dollar has risen. The reason? My answer to this question at this time is that market participants have taken the decision to start the "war" coupled with the fact that there was relatively little change in the U.S. monetary policy at the time, led to an increase in inflationary expectations. Market participants expect that inflation will become more rapid in the United States. Yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury (Federal Reserve) The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury security rose over this short period of time because "inflationary expectations" changed in the marketplace...the real yield on U.S. Treasuries did not change. This has created a dilemma for the marketplace, however, because market participants had been waiting for further reductions in the Fed's policy rate of interest...the Federal Funds rate! Now, the market is showing mixed signs. As these inflationary expectations found their way into the marketplace, and market participants saw the rising longer-term yields...some market participants saw reason to expect that maybe the Fed's policy rate of interest should be rising...rather than falling. This has introduced confusion into the marketplace. This has produced a stronger dollar in the marketplace. This was certainly not what Trump was hoping...
Earnings Call Insights: Spruce Power Holding Corporation (SPRU) Q4 2025 Management View Christopher Hayes, President, CEO & Chairman, highlighted, “2025 was a breakout year for Spruce and our fourth quarter capped it with exceptional momentum across the business.” He emphasized strong revenue growth, expanded margins, improved efficiency, and enhanced scalability. Hayes reported that for Q4, reven...
Earnings Call Insights: Spruce Power Holding Corporation (SPRU) Q4 2025 Management View Christopher Hayes, President, CEO & Chairman, highlighted, “2025 was a breakout year for Spruce and our fourth quarter capped it with exceptional momentum across the business.” He emphasized strong revenue growth, expanded margins, improved efficiency, and enhanced scalability. Hayes reported that for Q4, revenue was approximately $24 million, up 19% year-over-year, and operating EBITDA exceeded $17 million. For the full year, revenue increased 36% compared to 2024, driven by both organic growth and the impact of the NJR acquisition. He noted, “Importantly, this growth was accompanied by substantial operating leverage,” with significant declines in O&M and SG&A expenses, reflecting ongoing cost optimization. The CEO also addressed a going concern disclosure, stating, “It is not reflective of our operating performance or lender engagement.” Hayes described the extension of the SP1 facility to create flexibility for a broader refinancing transaction, targeting alignment with the company’s scaled platform. Hayes outlined three key growth drivers: acquiring installed residential solar portfolios, expanding programmatic partnerships with developers and originators, and scaling the capital-light Spruce Pro servicing platform. Thomas Cimino, Chief Financial Officer, stated, “For the fourth quarter 2025, revenue totaled $24 million compared to $20.2 million in the fourth quarter 2024. The increase was again primarily attributable to the residential solar portfolio acquired from NJR...as well as higher solar renewable energy credit revenue.” Cimino further emphasized, “Total operating expense was $21.8 million for the quarter compared to $26.7 million in the year earlier period.” He highlighted ongoing cost improvements and detailed the extension of the SP1 facility, which now runs through January 30, 2027, and requires a term sheet by October 30, 2026. Outlook Management aims to build on...
Earnings Call Insights: Intellinetics, Inc. (INLX) Q4 2025 Management View Alison Forsythe, President & CEO, highlighted her recent transition into the CEO role and her initial focus on getting close to the business, assessing operations, and identifying improvement opportunities. She stated, "What I see is a company with strong foundational assets and established SaaS customer base, differentiate...
Earnings Call Insights: Intellinetics, Inc. (INLX) Q4 2025 Management View Alison Forsythe, President & CEO, highlighted her recent transition into the CEO role and her initial focus on getting close to the business, assessing operations, and identifying improvement opportunities. She stated, "What I see is a company with strong foundational assets and established SaaS customer base, differentiated technology and meaningful opportunities in vertical markets where secure document and workflow automation remain critical." Forsythe reported continued SaaS revenue growth and an important contractual win with the company's largest customer, noting that SaaS now represents an increasing share of the overall business. Forsythe emphasized, "Our software platform is the core of the business and the primary driver of growth and long-term value creation." Strategic priorities were cited as improving execution, sharpening the go-to-market approach, and accelerating SaaS revenue, while aiming for greater consistency in the document management business. Joseph Spain, CFO & COO, provided, "Total revenue for the quarter increased a net 1% to $4.3 million, with growth in SaaS revenues covering decreases in other revenue lines." Spain highlighted, "SaaS, including hosting revenue, increased 8.4% to $1.6 million for the quarter from $1.5 million for the same period last year." He also noted, "Gross margin increased 184 basis points to 66.6% for Q4 compared to 64.8% last year," attributing the improvement to a greater proportion of higher-margin SaaS revenue and price increases. Outlook Forsythe and Spain signaled a continued focus on SaaS expansion, with Spain stating, "Based on our current plans and assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties we described in our filings and this call, we expect that we will grow SaaS revenues on a year-over-year basis for fiscal year 2026." Management did not provide specific revenue or EPS guidance figures. The emphasis remains on SaaS revenu...
Sakorn Sukkasemsakorn/iStock via Getty Images Written by Nick Ackerman As income-focused investors, we tend to get categorized more heavily as those who seek high yields. However, that isn't always the case. There are those of us, like myself, who view ourselves as income-focused investors but also want dividend growth. To achieve that, my portfolio tends to be split between those sorts of positio...
Sakorn Sukkasemsakorn/iStock via Getty Images Written by Nick Ackerman As income-focused investors, we tend to get categorized more heavily as those who seek high yields. However, that isn't always the case. There are those of us, like myself, who view ourselves as income-focused investors but also want dividend growth. To achieve that, my portfolio tends to be split between those sorts of positions that provide relatively higher yields and those that focus more specifically on growth prospects. Dividend growth provides what I believe are two key advantages for investors. First, it can help to combat the negative headwinds of inflation over the long term, which reduces the overall buying power. Second, I believe it also helps to combat the dividend cutters that one may have in their portfolio. When incorporating higher-yielding instruments, it generally is a matter of "when" and not "if" you'll see a cut. Balancing dividend growers into an income portfolio helps to see cash flow moving higher over the long term. Though one can also reinvest, which can further help to boost the overall cash flow growth passively as well. Today, we are going to touch on 2 of those names that have been able to provide significant dividend growth. Not only that, but these are names that I also suspect are able to continue to deliver that sort of meaningful growth as well. Supported by management's own target and expectations moving forward on the back of earnings growth. #1 Microsoft ( MSFT ): 10%+ Dividend Growth, and That Can Continue To start off, we can start with the most well-known, MSFT. The share price has been under incredible pressure as the technology sector as a whole takes a breather on the back of some AI skepticism. However, that has only made this a more interesting name to consider now, as a lot of the froth in the valuation has been removed, in my opinion. Shares are now trading well under their longer-term average forward earnings multiple level. MSFT Forward P/E vs. ...
In the days after the United States and Israel tipped the Middle East into a new and catastrophic crisis with their attacks on Iran, European leaders were all over the map. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz both voiced support for regime change in Iran soon after the strikes started more than four weeks ago. Each of them also questioned the con...
In the days after the United States and Israel tipped the Middle East into a new and catastrophic crisis with their attacks on Iran, European leaders were all over the map. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz both voiced support for regime change in Iran soon after the strikes started more than four weeks ago. Each of them also questioned the continued utility of the international rules-based order, while Merz’s foreign minister Johann Wadephul...
Major earnings expected before the bell on Tuesday include: Constellation Energy Corporation ( CEG ) McCormick & Company, Incorporated ( MKC ) Bitfarms Ltd. ( BITF ) Charlotte's Web Holdings ( CWBHF ) FactSet Research Systems ( FDS ) Other earnings slated for release before Tuesday's open include: AIRO , FRMM , IMNN , JILL , NVVE , PRPL , SNX , TE , TONX For Seeking Alpha's full earnings season ca...
Major earnings expected before the bell on Tuesday include: Constellation Energy Corporation ( CEG ) McCormick & Company, Incorporated ( MKC ) Bitfarms Ltd. ( BITF ) Charlotte's Web Holdings ( CWBHF ) FactSet Research Systems ( FDS ) Other earnings slated for release before Tuesday's open include: AIRO , FRMM , IMNN , JILL , NVVE , PRPL , SNX , TE , TONX For Seeking Alpha's full earnings season calendar, click here .
The S&P 500 is down more than 7% to start 2026, as investors worry about a prolonged downturn in the market this year due to geopolitical issues and the possibility that inflation spikes due to rising oil prices. Rather than loading up on the same growth stocks that have dominated headlines in recent years, investors find themselves pivoting to safer investments. If you're looking for a way to red...
The S&P 500 is down more than 7% to start 2026, as investors worry about a prolonged downturn in the market this year due to geopolitical issues and the possibility that inflation spikes due to rising oil prices. Rather than loading up on the same growth stocks that have dominated headlines in recent years, investors find themselves pivoting to safer investments. If you're looking for a way to reduce some of your risk in the stock market today, a good exchange-traded fund (ETF) to consider is the Vanguard Utilities ETF (NYSEMKT: VPU) . While it won't completely eliminate risk, here's why it can be a good option if you want a quality investment that you don't have to worry about. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading