Italy is in talks with Algeria to buy more natural gas from the North African nation with the Iran war squeezing energy shipments, according to people familiar with the matter. Italy’s Eni SpA is renegotiating contracts with Algeria’s Sonatrach to try and secure more gas, the people said, asking not to be named as the talks are private. The Algerian firm, however, has asked Italy to buy any extra ...
Italy is in talks with Algeria to buy more natural gas from the North African nation with the Iran war squeezing energy shipments, according to people familiar with the matter. Italy’s Eni SpA is renegotiating contracts with Algeria’s Sonatrach to try and secure more gas, the people said, asking not to be named as the talks are private. The Algerian firm, however, has asked Italy to buy any extra fuel from the spot market, where gas is traded for immediate delivery and prices are currently higher, some of them said. It’s unclear whether Italy would accept those terms, the people said. Italy’s overtures reflect European countries’ mounting anxiety over securing oil and gas supplies, and Algeria’s role as a key alternative supplier. Countries that have pipeline links to the area could start competing to secure additional supplies. Both Italy and Spain are in talks with Algeria, seeking to boost their import of gas from the country. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is set to visit the capital Algiers as soon as next week. The Italian government said Meloni’s trip has been planned for a while and that energy will be discussed as part of a broader set of topics, declining to comment further. Algerian officials weren’t available for comment on Friday, a public holiday. A representative for Eni declined to comment. Europe received around 10% of its gas imports fro North Africa last year, and Algeria was European Union’s fourth largest LNG supplier by mid-2025. Spain is considering buying more gas from the country, Bloomberg News previously reported, and other European countries are similarly inquiring about increasing purchases, the people said. Read More: Spain Weighs Buying More Algerian Gas as War Tightens Supplies Italy previously renegotiated its gas contracts with Algeria after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, depriving Italy of crucial Russian energy supplies. Those contracts are now nearing expiration, and the war in Iran has made negotiations more urgent, some...
Stocks came off 2026 lows and oil prices reversed lower amid Iran war comments from President Trump and Israeli PM Netanyahu. Tesla stock broke key levels.
Stocks came off 2026 lows and oil prices reversed lower amid Iran war comments from President Trump and Israeli PM Netanyahu. Tesla stock broke key levels.
Sergii Zyskо/iStock via Getty Images The market seemed to overreact to the central bank meetings this week. The market heard Fed Chair Powell as more hawkish than the FOMC statement and took the dollar sharply higher. Yesterday, it overreacted to the Bank of England and European Central Banks and sold the greenback aggressively. The swaps market is discounting three rate hikes this year by the ECB...
Sergii Zyskо/iStock via Getty Images The market seemed to overreact to the central bank meetings this week. The market heard Fed Chair Powell as more hawkish than the FOMC statement and took the dollar sharply higher. Yesterday, it overreacted to the Bank of England and European Central Banks and sold the greenback aggressively. The swaps market is discounting three rate hikes this year by the ECB and BOE and about three basis points of tightening by the Federal Reserve. Still, after yesterday’s sell-off, the dollar has bounced back. The fog of war seems to contribute to the desire for short-term market participants not wanting to be short dollars into the weekend. Even though the US and Israel say that they will not strike Iranian oil infrastructure, there is little sign of de-escalation, and yesterday, US Treasury Secretary Bessent made a reference to the possibility that Kharg Island could be taken over by the US. Adding to the mix is today’s “triple-witching” that see a relatively large $5.7 trillion of options on individual stocks, indices and exchange-traded funds expire. This comes amid a further sell-off in stocks and bonds. Prices G10 • After practically no follow-through euro selling yesterday and the sharp drop during Fed Chair Powell’s press conference on Wednesday, the euro rallied strongly yesterday. It reached a six-session high, almost $1.1615. ECB President Lagarde seemed to take a wait-and-see stance and expressed no sense of urgency, but unnamed hawks played up the risk of a hike as early as next month, and today the Bundesbank’s chief made the same point. And it is not just one hike, but now the swaps are pricing in nearly three hikes before the end of the year. However, with the weekend at hand, given the fog of war, the short-term market does not want to be short dollars. The euro has held below $1.16 today and was sold in the $1.1535 area ahead of the North American session. This risks a test on $1.15, where options for 1.5 bln euros expire to...
Bonjour et Bienvenue to the Paris Edition. I’m Bloomberg Opinion columnist Lionel Laurent . If you haven’t yet, subscribe now to the Paris Edition newsletter . Waning Appeal The boss of Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund, Nicolai Tangen, visited the annual Euronext conference in Paris this week to issue a stark warning to bankers, investors and officials: Europe is losing. Citing the (Swed...
Bonjour et Bienvenue to the Paris Edition. I’m Bloomberg Opinion columnist Lionel Laurent . If you haven’t yet, subscribe now to the Paris Edition newsletter . Waning Appeal The boss of Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund, Nicolai Tangen, visited the annual Euronext conference in Paris this week to issue a stark warning to bankers, investors and officials: Europe is losing. Citing the (Swedish) pop hit “The Winner Takes It All,” he pointed to his own index-tracking fund as an indicator of where global capital has gone over the past decade, with its US allocation rising to 55% from 37% while Europe has halved to 21%. This has real consequences in a time of war, transatlantic tension and energy shocks. Every euro counts when addressing Europe’s huge investment needs, from the data centers powering artificial intelligence to the re-armament drive designed to reduce dependence on the US. Yet while the continent has no shortage of talent or promising startups, Tangen argued fragmented markets and complex rules were chasing them away. Driving home the urgency for Europeans amid the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz and oil prices above $100 a barrel, Tangen also warned in an interview on the sidelines of the conference that the Iran war required gaming out new scenarios for the future that were far from reassuring. A return of inflation would have negative consequences for global markets on balance, as would a continued fragmentation of economic and trade ties. Throw in the risk of a reversal of stretched tech valuations and things could get bumpy. All the more reason to keep up the pressure in Paris and across the region to deliver geopolitical self-help and economic resilience through closer market integration and the unlocking of trillions of Europeans’ savings for future investment. Echoing Tangen’s call, Euronext CEO Stephane Boujnah said a proposal by France, Germany and four other countries for having one regulator for Europe’s big stock exchanges wa...
(RTTNews) - Aumann AG (AAG.DE, AUUMF), a German manufacturer of machinery and equipment, announced Friday its preliminary fiscal 2025 results, reporting lower EBITDA, a key earnings metric, with weak revenues and orders, while EBITDA margin improved from last year. Looking ahead for fiscal 2026, the company projects a decline in revenues and margin. Further, Aumann proposed a dividend of 0.25 euro...
(RTTNews) - Aumann AG (AAG.DE, AUUMF), a German manufacturer of machinery and equipment, announced Friday its preliminary fiscal 2025 results, reporting lower EBITDA, a key earnings metric, with weak revenues and orders, while EBITDA margin improved from last year. Looking ahead for fiscal 2026, the company projects a decline in revenues and margin. Further, Aumann proposed a dividend of 0.25 euros per share. On the XETRA in Germany, the shares were gaining around 5.8 percent to trade at 13.92 euros. In fiscal 2025, EBITDA decreased 21.2 percent to 28.2 million euros from last year's 35.8 million euros. The EBITDA margin, however, improved to 13.8 percent from 11.5 percent last year. Aumann generated annual revenue of 204.0 million euros, down 34.7 percent from previous year's 312.3 million euros. Order intake fell 26.3 percent to 147.5 million euros from 200.1 million euros in the previous year. Order intake in the E-mobility segment fell 44.4 percent to 91.0 million euros in a challenging market environment for the European automotive industry and in the face of continued reluctance to invest. The Next Automation segment's order intake climbed 35.3 percent year-on-year to 56.5 million euros. Across all segments, the order backlog at the end of the year fell by 33.6 percent to 122.2 million euros. Looking ahead for fiscal 2026, the company expects EBITDA margin between 6 percent and 8 percent and revenue of around 160 million euros. Aumann plans to publish full Annual Report 2025 on March 31. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The UK government has promised a different approach to tech procurement following the award of controversial contracts to Palantir. Speaking to MPs, science minister Patrick Vallance said that the government's deals with Palantir – which has large contracts with the NHS and the Ministry of Defence – would be done differently in the future, instead emphasizing investment in UK technology and compan...
The UK government has promised a different approach to tech procurement following the award of controversial contracts to Palantir. Speaking to MPs, science minister Patrick Vallance said that the government's deals with Palantir – which has large contracts with the NHS and the Ministry of Defence – would be done differently in the future, instead emphasizing investment in UK technology and companies. Addressing the NHS contract, he said: "The Palantir contract was made under the previous government and it is under a different Department. I cannot comment on the details of that, but I hope I have been clear in describing a very different way of doing contracts: putting British companies there and procuring innovation here." Appearing before the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, Lord Vallance said: "I have described how I want to change things going forward in terms of domestic [policy]; in terms of Palantir, I think that is a matter for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). It is a contract with DHSC, and if there are issues around that, they are the ones that need to look at that. I cannot." However, he was pressed by the committee on whether the government could seek an early break in the contract, according to the terms laid out when it was signed. Committee member and Liberal Democrat MP Martin Wrigley said: "These are existing contracts with break points, so the break points must be exploited to move to UK solutions – sovereign solutions – otherwise we just continue doing the same stuff." Lord Vallance responded: "We are not continuing. We are doing something very different." Palantir began as a spy-tech firm with backing from the CIA and heavily supports the controversial US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. It signed a contract with NHS England in late 2023 under the previous Conservative government. NHS England's public announcement in 2023 said the £330 million investment in the Federated Data Platform...
Luke Littler has made an application with the Intellectual Property Office to trademark his face. It is understood the application will prevent fake products powered by AI using his picture without permission and breaking copyright laws. The teenager, who has won back-to-back World Darts Championship titles, is highly marketable and his face appears on a wide variety of branded products, from his ...
Luke Littler has made an application with the Intellectual Property Office to trademark his face. It is understood the application will prevent fake products powered by AI using his picture without permission and breaking copyright laws. The teenager, who has won back-to-back World Darts Championship titles, is highly marketable and his face appears on a wide variety of branded products, from his own dart board to video games and bags of nuts. Littler has already trademarked his “the Nuke” nickname in the US. The 19-year-old won the night seven of the Premier League in Dublin on Thursday and admitted he is “still learning not to react to the fans” after silencing some boos with an astonishing comeback in the final. Littler, who hit out at hecklers following a win over Rob Cross at the PDC world championship in December, came from 5-0 down in the final to beat the Welshman Gerwyn Price 6-5. After winning his first leg to avoid a whitewash, Littler celebrated sarcastically and then when trailing 5-1 waved goodbye, only for Price to miss three match darts before the world champion produced a remarkable turnaround. “I’ve definitely learnt a lot, especially with the fans,” the teenager told a press conference. “In the first game against [Stephen] Bunting I didn’t give anything to the fans, I didn’t give any reaction and got the job done. “It was the same in the final when I was 5-0 down, everyone doubted me, I definitely doubted myself but I had a little laugh and a joke. I was just having a bit of fun because I knew I was beaten. “I’m still learning not to react to the fans. I didn’t do much then, only for the first leg, and then I can build on it. It is what it is, people want to see new winners but I’ve won again.”
PM Images/DigitalVision via Getty Images When building a portfolio to live off of dividends in retirement, chasing yields seldom works, as it often steers investors into the path of some major landmines that end up blowing up via dividend cuts and major stock price declines. That being said, it is very possible to still build a portfolio of high-dividend stocks that prove to be dependable over tim...
PM Images/DigitalVision via Getty Images When building a portfolio to live off of dividends in retirement, chasing yields seldom works, as it often steers investors into the path of some major landmines that end up blowing up via dividend cuts and major stock price declines. That being said, it is very possible to still build a portfolio of high-dividend stocks that prove to be dependable over time. However, I do not necessarily advise it for everyone, because in order to do this effectively, you really need to be a capable and willing active investor. High-yielding stocks are generally not the type that you buy and hold indefinitely, but instead, you need to actively monitor and actively manage your portfolio of them. Additionally, I only suggest trying to maximize your retirement income through almost exclusively high-dividend stocks if you absolutely need to generate enough income to retire on. If you have a really large portfolio and can easily live on a dividend yield of 3%, 4%, or 5%, I would personally target a more conservative portfolio, especially if you do not want to be an active investor. If you want to be an active investor in high-yield dividend stocks, and you need to feel comfortable evaluating and managing them, by all means, do so, regardless of your portfolio size. If you are instead looking for more of a buy-and-hold approach, I think it would be better to focus on some lower-yielding, more sustainable stocks like Realty Income ( O ), Dividend Kings and Dividend Aristocrats ( REGL ) ( NOBL ) like Coca-Cola ( KO ) and Procter & Gamble ( PG ), as well as broadly diversified low-cost dividend growth ETFs like the Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF ( SCHD ) that has a dividend yield of about 3.5%. However, for those who are pursuing a high-yielding dividend portfolio, I want to provide a few guidelines and individual investment ideas in this article to help you on your journey. Four Pillars of High-Yield Success First and foremost, it is important to app...
Key Points Long-term investors can typically wait out volatility. However, not everyone is a long-term investor, whether they are nearing retirement or take a more active approach to investing. 10 stocks we like better than Select Sector SPDR Trust - State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF › Volatility has become the norm in recent years, and 2026 looks to be no different. Concerns about art...
Key Points Long-term investors can typically wait out volatility. However, not everyone is a long-term investor, whether they are nearing retirement or take a more active approach to investing. 10 stocks we like better than Select Sector SPDR Trust - State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF › Volatility has become the norm in recent years, and 2026 looks to be no different. Concerns about artificial intelligence (AI), private credit, a weakening labor market, and the conflict in Iran have made the market treacherous. While it's hard to know what will happen with the various conflicts in the Middle East, it's clear that concerns about AI's effect, along with broader economic concerns, are likely to linger for some time. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » Long-term investors with a five-year or longer horizon typically don't need to take any action in their portfolios. As history has shown, the longer one holds stocks, the less likely they are to lose money. However, not everyone has the luxury of being a long-term investor. In some cases, investors may worry that their core portfolio holdings are either too aggressive or have seen a fundamental shift that could affect the long-term thesis. For this group, it may make sense to adopt a more defensive stance right now. Here are three exchange-traded funds (ETFs) worth buying as March volatility rolls on. Several ways to be defensive I think there are a few ways investors can position their portfolios defensively right now. One concerns the conflict in Iran. The primary investment-related issue around the conflict is that it threatens safe passage for tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. This is a key route through which one-fifth of the world's oil passes every day, at least under normal circumstances. But with Iran restricting the ...
I think certainly Gerrard for England and for Liverpool. What a leader he was for Liverpool, he became captain at such a young age (23). Roy [Keane], I didn't play with enough to see that - so I couldn't really say. He'd have a go at players, rightly or wrongly. I remember him having a go at Fletch which felt a bit unfair because Roy did the exact opposite to what he asked to do. He asked Fletch a...
I think certainly Gerrard for England and for Liverpool. What a leader he was for Liverpool, he became captain at such a young age (23). Roy [Keane], I didn't play with enough to see that - so I couldn't really say. He'd have a go at players, rightly or wrongly. I remember him having a go at Fletch which felt a bit unfair because Roy did the exact opposite to what he asked to do. He asked Fletch a lot to charge his phone in the dressing room. You shouldn't have your phone in the dressing room, which is fine. But then we came in after training and Roy is taking his phone off charge. That's Roy. I didn't really play with Roy long enough, but you certainly see how much of a leader he was. You're trying to take bits of bit of everyone. Stevie led by example with his actions on the pitch and how he tried to force the game or drag his team back into a game. Ryan Giggs was more taking risks, in terms of sometimes the game's tight and he'd try and play a pass which a lot of players would not try and make. Michael Carrick led with his presence on the pitch. He's a big lad. I don't think people realise how big he is. He had a presence in midfield. Beckham led in different ways. He had an aura, charisma about him and how he played the game. One of the biggest compliments I can give to Beckham is he didn't stop running. He was an example to all the players. Joe Cole comes into the [England] squad and he was more of a flair player. He's got no excuse not to run back if Beckham is running back and doing that and he's the captain. He had this aura about him, both on and off the pitch, but he didn't speak the most.