(RTTNews) - European stocks failed to hold early gains and settled lower on Wednesday, as investors switched their focus to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement due later in the day. Stocks moved higher earlier in the day as oil prices slipped amid easing concerns about supplies but turned weak after the commodity pared early losses and moved notably higher amid fresh strikes on Iran...
(RTTNews) - European stocks failed to hold early gains and settled lower on Wednesday, as investors switched their focus to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement due later in the day. Stocks moved higher earlier in the day as oil prices slipped amid easing concerns about supplies but turned weak after the commodity pared early losses and moved notably higher amid fresh strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure. Data showing a 3.4% increase in U.S. producer prices in the month of February weighed on sentiment. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold rates. The central bank's accompanying statement is eyed for clues about future monetary policy moves. The European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank are scheduled to make their monetary policy announcements on Thursday. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.75%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed lower by 0.94% and Germany's DAX drifted down 0.96%, while France's CAC 40 edged down 0.06%. Switzerland's SMI lost 1.52%. Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and Türkiye closed weak. Austria, Czech Republic, Ireland, Norway and Spain ended higher. In the UK market, Diploma soared 18%. Shares of the specialist distributor of industrial controls, seals and life sciences products, surged following the company lifting its FY26 guidance. For fiscal 2026, the Group now projects organic revenue growth of 9%, revised from prior guidance of 6%. Operating margin is now expected at approximately 25%, updated form previous guidance of approximately 22.5%. Standard Chartered moved up 1.65%. Barclays gained about 1.5% after it announced a new strategic partnership with Sage Group. Weir Group climbed more than 2%. Babcock International, Halma, Spirax Group, IMI, Burberry Group, Easyjet, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Berkeley Group Holdings and Smiths Group also ended notably higher. Compass Group, 3i Group, Endeavour...
Health-care costs are outpacing wages and most Americans aren’t ready for a medical emergency. HealthEquity CEO Scott Cutler says the solution could lie in health savings accounts, which are changing how people spend and plan for care. HealthEquity is the nations largest HSA provider. But even with strong growth, investor fears around AI and the job market are dragging the sector down. So innovati...
Health-care costs are outpacing wages and most Americans aren’t ready for a medical emergency. HealthEquity CEO Scott Cutler says the solution could lie in health savings accounts, which are changing how people spend and plan for care. HealthEquity is the nations largest HSA provider. But even with strong growth, investor fears around AI and the job market are dragging the sector down. So innovation is now at the center of fixing America’s health-care affordability crisis. (Source: Bloomberg)
Micron Earnings Face High Expectations as Its Stock Keeps Rising Yahoo Finance Micron rides memory price spike into earnings with stock up 62%, drubbing its tech peers CNBC Here's How Much Micron Stock Is Expected to Move After Earnings Investopedia Micron's Stock May Plunge Following Earnings Results (NASDAQ:MU) Seeking Alpha Up 81% in 6 Months, This Glorious Growth Stock Should Soar Higher After...
Micron Earnings Face High Expectations as Its Stock Keeps Rising Yahoo Finance Micron rides memory price spike into earnings with stock up 62%, drubbing its tech peers CNBC Here's How Much Micron Stock Is Expected to Move After Earnings Investopedia Micron's Stock May Plunge Following Earnings Results (NASDAQ:MU) Seeking Alpha Up 81% in 6 Months, This Glorious Growth Stock Should Soar Higher After March 18 (Hint: It's Not Micron Technology) The Motley Fool Is Micron Technology (MU) a 'Buy' Ahead of Its Upcoming Earnings Announcement? Zacks Investment Research Micron’s stock gains officially carry the company into an exclusive club MarketWatch Micron Nears A Buy Point. Will Earnings Be The Catalyst To Break Out? Investor's Business Daily Mark Your Calendar: RBC Analyst Sees Massive 23% Upside Ahead for Micron (MU) Stock TipRanks
With both Donald Trump and Angela Rayner on his case, the prime minister is under a lot of fire — the philippics from the US president are getting increasingly irate and overnight, there was a fresh assault from Rayner . The very generous defence of our PM from Irish Taoiseach Michael Martin in the Oval Office yesterday must have felt like refreshing sweet rain falling in the harsh desert that is ...
With both Donald Trump and Angela Rayner on his case, the prime minister is under a lot of fire — the philippics from the US president are getting increasingly irate and overnight, there was a fresh assault from Rayner . The very generous defence of our PM from Irish Taoiseach Michael Martin in the Oval Office yesterday must have felt like refreshing sweet rain falling in the harsh desert that is political life. Pretty classy from Martin, it’s worth a read. In many ways the comments from Rayner are more damaging. Though the president’s words are vitriolic, we all know he is capable of returning to the fold quickly and there is some public benefit in being attacked by someone as unpopular in this country as Trump. Even Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has had to take Starmer’s side on this, calling Trump’s insults “childish.” It’s Rayner’s words that are strategic, calculated and designed to maim. Labour is “running out of time” she said . And earlier this month, she joined a call organised by BNP Paribas, picked up by the Financial Times , to reassure investors that Labour would stick to its manifesto and not resort to a “borrowing blitz.” This kind of overt messaging to the City that it shouldn’t be scared of a Rayner premiership is fairly remarkable. But the image that interested me most this week was that of the PM and his wife welcoming to Downing Street the Canadian first couple, Mark and Diana Carney. It looks like a pretty warm friendship, no? So I suspect there was plenty to discuss at their middle power meet up. But I hope once they got down to business they discussed defence spending, 2026 style. The Canadian Defence Industrial Strategy was launched last month and tied the handing out of sizeable defence contracts to demonstrating how a bid helps Canada become more resilient in other ways — in essence, forcing massive multinationals to transfer industrial capacity to Canadian territory as the price of access to a sovereign contract. “Military procurement must now...
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) drew renewed support from Bank of America, which maintained its Buy rating and $300 price target following an analyst session at the company's GTC conference. The note highlighted additional opportunities tied to data center expansion and emerging product lines. Analyst Vivek Arya said projected data center sales of $1 trillion from 20...
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) drew renewed support from Bank of America, which maintained its Buy rating and $300 price target following an analyst session at the company's GTC conference. The note highlighted additional opportunities tied to data center expansion and emerging product lines. Analyst Vivek Arya said projected data center sales of $1 trillion from 2025 through 2027 exclude several components, including certain CPUs and rack systems, which could expand the overall opportunity. He also pointed to upcoming technology transitions, including co-packaged optics, which may begin scaling in future GPU generations. Arya added that the company's new LPX platform could address a subset of low-latency AI workloads with higher profitability potential. He noted improving cost metrics per AI token, which may support margins over time. Separately, Chief Executive Jensen Huang said Nvidia has received purchase orders from customers in China and is restarting related manufacturing. He also described an AI project called OpenClaw as a notable development in generative artificial intelligence applications.
peterschreiber.media/iStock via Getty Images Small-cap outperformance has narrowed over the last couple of weeks as investor caution increased, with volatility and geopolitical risk weighing on risk appetite and narrowing the performance gap vs. large caps. In light of this, below is a list of the top 10 small-cap stocks ranked based on their lowest forward price-to-earnings ratio. The list is top...
peterschreiber.media/iStock via Getty Images Small-cap outperformance has narrowed over the last couple of weeks as investor caution increased, with volatility and geopolitical risk weighing on risk appetite and narrowing the performance gap vs. large caps. In light of this, below is a list of the top 10 small-cap stocks ranked based on their lowest forward price-to-earnings ratio. The list is topped by Organon & Co. ( OGN ), with a ratio of 1.84. XPLR Infrastructure ( XIFR ) and Alight, Inc. ( ALIT ) are next, with Ironwood Pharmaceuticals ( IRWD ) and Cable One, Inc. ( CABO ) rounding out the rest of the top five. Embecta Corp. ( EMBC ), Contango Ore ( CTGO ), and Pagaya Technologies ( PGY ) are among the other stocks on the list as well. The ratios on this list range from 1.84 to 3.89, representing a variety of small-cap companies across different industries. Most stocks on the list carry strong valuation grades of A or A+, with Contango Ore being a notable exception with a C+ grade. P/E FWD (forward price-to-earnings ratio) is a valuation multiple that compares a stock’s current share price to expected (forward-looking) earnings per share, typically based on analysts’ consensus estimates for the upcoming year. Here is the list: Organon & Co. ( OGN ), P/E fwd ratio: 1.84, Valuation grade: A XPLR Infrastructure, LP Common Units ( XIFR ), P/E fwd ratio: 2.01, Valuation grade: A+ Alight, Inc. ( ALIT ), P/E fwd ratio: 2.21, Valuation grade: A+ Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ( IRWD ), P/E fwd ratio: 2.41, Valuation grade: A Cable One, Inc. ( CABO ), P/E fwd ratio: 2.58, Valuation grade: A+ Embecta Corp. ( EMBC ), P/E fwd ratio: 3.17, Valuation grade: A+ Contango Ore, Inc. ( CTGO ), P/E fwd ratio: 3.23, Valuation grade: C+ Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc. ( IVR ), P/E fwd ratio: 3.61, Valuation grade: Not Covered Pagaya Technologies Ltd. ( PGY ), P/E fwd ratio: 3.86, Valuation grade: A+ Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation ( IART ), P/E fwd ratio: 3.89, Valuation gra...
Key Points Geopolitical risks in the Persian Gulf are impacting energy and fertilizer markets. LNG and fertilizer supply chains are vulnerable to disruptions and also could see potentially long-term damage to the energy infrastructure that produces them. 10 stocks we like better than CF Industries › With the Strait of Hormuz currently closed and the threat of ongoing attacks on energy infrastructu...
Key Points Geopolitical risks in the Persian Gulf are impacting energy and fertilizer markets. LNG and fertilizer supply chains are vulnerable to disruptions and also could see potentially long-term damage to the energy infrastructure that produces them. 10 stocks we like better than CF Industries › With the Strait of Hormuz currently closed and the threat of ongoing attacks on energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and the price of oil almost $100 a barrel at the time of writing, investors have inevitably started looking at which energy-related stocks might help protect a portfolio from headline risk. I have two ideas. Headline risk is rising It's important to pause for a few seconds and consider the bigger picture. For example, the obvious way to invest in such an environment is to buy U.S. oil producers that will benefit from higher prices without facing supply issues. Moving beyond that, there's also the potential for structural damage to energy infrastructure in the Gulf and the instability's impact on the willingness or cost of investing in energy assets in the region. 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 » Oil captures the headlines, and understandably so, because according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), 34% of global crude oil trade went through the Strait in 2025. Still, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), 20% of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows through the Strait , and LNG flowing through the Strait accounts for 27% of Asia's LNG imports. It gets worse. Natural gas is the primary raw material used to make fertilizers such as urea and ammonium nitrate, and fertilizer prices have soared this year. Countries like India, China, and Australia are highly reliant on fertilizers or materials (sulfur) used to make fer...
John Roberts Calls For Restraint After Years Of Judicial Overreach Authored by David Manney via PJMedia.com, Chief Justice John Roberts, the person in charge of the Supreme Court of the United States, recently stepped forward with a familiar appeal, urging Americans to dial back personal attacks on judges and to show respect for the judiciary. The message landed with a tone of concern , almost pat...
John Roberts Calls For Restraint After Years Of Judicial Overreach Authored by David Manney via PJMedia.com, Chief Justice John Roberts, the person in charge of the Supreme Court of the United States, recently stepped forward with a familiar appeal, urging Americans to dial back personal attacks on judges and to show respect for the judiciary. The message landed with a tone of concern , almost paternal, as if the country had suddenly lost its bearings and needed a reminder about decorum. Roberts framed the issue as one of civic responsibility, arguing that the rule of law depends on public confidence in the courts, which sounds right on its face. Courts don't have armies; they rely on legitimacy, and when that legitimacy weakens, the system strains. But we didn't just fall off the bus deciding to turn on the judiciary. That frustration has been building for years, and it didn't come from nowhere. For nearly a decade, a steady stream of rulings from lower federal courts has blocked, delayed, or reshaped executive actions tied to President Donald Trump. Judges like James Boasberg, chief judge of the U.S. District Court, and Tanya Chutkan, U.S. district judge, both for the District of Columbia, have played central roles in high-profile cases involving Trump-era policies. Their decisions have drawn sharp reactions, not because people suddenly dislike judges, but because the rulings often carry clear political consequences. Roberts has spent much of his tenure trying to protect the idea that judges operate above politics, saying more than once that there are no “Obama judges” or “Trump judges,” only independent jurists applying the law . That's a noble-sounding principle, but Americans aren't blind; when rulings repeatedly align with the predictable political outcomes, people begin to question the claim. The perception of neutrality weakens, not because the public suddenly turned cynical, but because patterns became too hard to ignore. The frustration cuts both ways; pro...
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) has been making so many deals and investments that it’s getting harder to keep up. Whether you’re a bull or a bear over every new AI-related deal that Nvidia and Jensen Huang strike, the moves don’t seem to be as much of a mover of the stock anymore. In many ways, it seems ... Why NVIDIA’s Thinking Machines Investment Might Be its Most Exciting Deal of the Year
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) has been making so many deals and investments that it’s getting harder to keep up. Whether you’re a bull or a bear over every new AI-related deal that Nvidia and Jensen Huang strike, the moves don’t seem to be as much of a mover of the stock anymore. In many ways, it seems ... Why NVIDIA’s Thinking Machines Investment Might Be its Most Exciting Deal of the Year
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Micron (NASDAQ:MU) is going into earnings with options markets bracing for a big move, and if anything, leaning slightly to the upside. The numbers tell the story. The stock closed at $461.69 and has already moved closer to $473 premarket, while options are pricing in an 8% to 9% swing by the end of the week. That puts the expected range roughly between $4...
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Micron (NASDAQ:MU) is going into earnings with options markets bracing for a big move, and if anything, leaning slightly to the upside. The numbers tell the story. The stock closed at $461.69 and has already moved closer to $473 premarket, while options are pricing in an 8% to 9% swing by the end of the week. That puts the expected range roughly between $430 and $510. This comes from at the money straddles around the $470 strike, where combined premiums are near $41, essentially reflecting how much movement traders are expecting right after earnings. What stands out is where traders are placing their bets. The $500 call is the most active strike, with over 16K contracts traded and close to 13K in open interest. For that to pay off, Micron would need to push above about $507, which is another meaningful move from already elevated levels. There is also steady buildup across $430, $450, and $460 calls, suggesting this is not just a one day trade but a broader bullish positioning. There is activity on the downside too, but it looks more like protection than conviction. The pricing also leans that way, with puts costing more than equivalent upside calls. The setup is pretty clear. The market is optimistic, but not blindly so. that means Micron likely needs more than just a solid quarter. It may come down to guidance and whether the AI memory story still has room to surprise.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Meta (META, Financials) failed to prevent more than 1,000 illegal financial advertisements from appearing on its platforms in Britain during a one-week period, according to a review by the country's Financial Conduct Authority. The regulator found 1,052 adverts for high-risk financial products, such as foreign currency trading and contracts for difference,...
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Meta (META, Financials) failed to prevent more than 1,000 illegal financial advertisements from appearing on its platforms in Britain during a one-week period, according to a review by the country's Financial Conduct Authority. The regulator found 1,052 adverts for high-risk financial products, such as foreign currency trading and contracts for difference, that were posted by advertisers who weren't allowed to do business in the UK. More than half of the advertisements came from companies that Meta has already identified. The results show that it is still hard to stop scams and fake financial ads on social media. Regulators have said that more and more fraud is happening online, and a lot of it is happening on Meta's platforms. Meta noted that it takes action on most of the reported frauds within days and is always working to make its enforcement mechanisms better. The study, on the other hand, says that there hasn't been much progress even though the company is still working with authorities. The problem is made worse by the fact that UK regulators don't have the capacity to punish platforms for sponsored scam ads right now. It is not likely that stronger rules will go into force until at least 2027. Regulatory reforms and possible policy changes that affect online financial advertising rules will be the next big thing.
spawns Oil ( CL1:COM ), ( CO1:COM ) is fundamentally mispriced at $100 per barrel as paper markets—derivatives such as futures, options, and swaps—have become entirely disconnected from physical market realities, according to Jeff Currie, chief strategy officer at Carlyle Energy Pathways. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Currie pointed to crude delivered into Asia trading between $130 an...
spawns Oil ( CL1:COM ), ( CO1:COM ) is fundamentally mispriced at $100 per barrel as paper markets—derivatives such as futures, options, and swaps—have become entirely disconnected from physical market realities, according to Jeff Currie, chief strategy officer at Carlyle Energy Pathways. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Currie pointed to crude delivered into Asia trading between $130 and $170 per barrel, while Oman crude recently spiked to $173—all while futures markets hover around $100. “The paper markets, they’ve entirely disconnected from the physical markets,” Currie said, noting that product prices are spiraling above $200 per barrel in some regions. He described the situation as “molecular contagion,” with physical shortages spreading from Singapore to Rotterdam, and now reaching Thailand, the Philippines, New Zealand, and Australia. The strategist emphasized that no policy fix exists for these physical constraints. “I think the title of that piece says it all, you can’t print molecules,” Currie said, underscoring that financialization and the ability to print money simply do not apply to physical supply chains. A key factor driving the current market dynamics is the rally in Russian Urals crude, which rose $65 to $70 per barrel after sanctions were adjusted. Currie explained that this closed the price gap between Russian crude—previously the cheap barrel—and higher-cost WTI ( CL1:COM ) and Brent ( CO1:COM ), eliminating spare capacity from the global system. Currie compared the current supply disruption to the demand shock experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The supply shock is almost equal to the demand shock during COVID, and we know what that did to global supply chains,” he said, describing the situation as a regime change toward physical assets. With jet fuel prices spiking to $230 per barrel in Singapore and $220 in Rotterdam, and no spare barrels remaining in the system, Currie concluded that the $100 price point represents a fundame...
Sviatlana Zyhmantovich A fund that acquires consumer and small business loans made by companies including Block ( XYZ ) and Affirm Holdings ( AFRM ) is experiencing a wave of redemption requests, according to a media report on Wednesday. Stone Ridge Asset Management told clients invested in the fund that recent redemption requests rose so high that it would only redeem 11% of the amount they wante...
Sviatlana Zyhmantovich A fund that acquires consumer and small business loans made by companies including Block ( XYZ ) and Affirm Holdings ( AFRM ) is experiencing a wave of redemption requests, according to a media report on Wednesday. Stone Ridge Asset Management told clients invested in the fund that recent redemption requests rose so high that it would only redeem 11% of the amount they wanted back, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing an investor update it viewed. That indicates that investors' fears about private credit are broadening beyond the software sector that has been under pressure in recent weeks. The fund, known as LENDX, buys whole loans and securities backed by loans made by fintech lenders. Those include buy now, pay later loans from Affirm ( AFRM ), personal loans from Upstart ( UPST ) and LendingClub ( LC ), and loans that companies like Stripe ( STRIP ) and Block ( XYZ ) make to merchants using their payment platforms. As an interval fund, LENDX is required to repurchase at least 5% of shares outstanding each quarter. Because the fund isn't publicly traded, investors must submit redemption requests if they want to close out their investment. The latest redemption request window closed on March 6, the WSJ said. The firm didn't say how many redemption requests were made. LENDX owned $2.4B of total assets at the end of November and $1.6B of net assets. More on Affirm, Block, etc. Affirm Holdings, Inc. (AFRM) Discusses Consumer Demand, Credit Trends and Macroeconomic Risks Transcript Affirm's Push Into BNPL For Rent Strikes Me As A Bad Idea In This Economy Affirm's Bottom Is Here - Robust Acquisition Trends At Higher Margins Block trades higher as Truist, Rothschild upgrade stock Upstart inks $1B forward-flow deal with Eltura, Aperture Investors
President Donald Trump said he’s “thrilled” the Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr warned broadcasters to “course correct” on news coverage or risk losing their licenses, slamming media outlets for their portrayal of the Iran war. “I am so thrilled to see Brendan Carr, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), looking at the licenses of some of these Corrupt...
President Donald Trump said he’s “thrilled” the Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr warned broadcasters to “course correct” on news coverage or risk losing their licenses, slamming media outlets for their portrayal of the Iran war. “I am so thrilled to see Brendan Carr, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), looking at the licenses of some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic “News” Organizations,” Trump wrote in a social media post Sunday, accusing media outlets of misrepresenting the latest developments of the war and spreading what he called Iranian disinformation. Bloomberg's Kelcee Griffis discusses her reporting. (Source: Bloomberg)
A veteran value‑style investor digs into quantum‑computing stocks trading at 80 to 100x revenue, spotlighting cash burn, dilution risk from stock‑funded deals, and the "too hard" pile. Watch the video below to see why caution may be warranted. *This video was published on March 9, 2026. Continue reading
A veteran value‑style investor digs into quantum‑computing stocks trading at 80 to 100x revenue, spotlighting cash burn, dilution risk from stock‑funded deals, and the "too hard" pile. Watch the video below to see why caution may be warranted. *This video was published on March 9, 2026. Continue reading