rawintanpin/iStock via Getty Images Market Overview The US Convertible market advanced 1.97% in the fourth quarter as measured by the ICE BofA All US Convertible Index, capping off a strong 2025 calendar year (+17.98%). During the quarter, convertibles captured most of the equity market's upside, with the S&P 500 Index returning 2.66%. The convertible and equity markets displayed resilience despit...
rawintanpin/iStock via Getty Images Market Overview The US Convertible market advanced 1.97% in the fourth quarter as measured by the ICE BofA All US Convertible Index, capping off a strong 2025 calendar year (+17.98%). During the quarter, convertibles captured most of the equity market's upside, with the S&P 500 Index returning 2.66%. The convertible and equity markets displayed resilience despite a record-long government shutdown, supported by enthusiasm over Artificial Intelligence, strong quarterly earnings, 2.8% reported GDP growth, declining inflation, and the Federal Reserve's two rate cuts. Global convertible issuance remained strong in the fourth quarter, with $40.6 billion coming to market, including $36.2 billion issued in the United States. This brought the year-to-date total to $166.5 billion—with $118.8 billion raised in the US, marking the highest annual US convertible issuance on record. This continued strength in issuance reflects companies' strategic use of convertibles as a cost-effective way to fund growth initiatives and refinance existing debt. We expect this favorable issuance environment to continue. Against this backdrop, convertibles with the most equity sensitivity (+9.9%) outperformed those with the most bond sensitivity (+0.1%) and those with total-return attributes (-1.9%). At the end of the quarter, convertibles with total-return attributes (38% of the market) and convertibles with the most bond sensitivity (38%) exceeded those with equity-sensitive attributes (23%). Results across economic sectors were mixed in the US convertible index during the fourth quarter. The leading sectors included industrials (+11.4%), consumer staples (+8.6%), and materials (+8.6%). The sectors that lagged the index included energy (-4.3%), financials (-3.5%), and consumer discretionary (-3.5%). Speculative-grade convertibles (+11.0%) outperformed unrated issues (+2.0%) and investment-grade issues (+0.7%). On average, roughly 74% of the US convertible marke...
Key Points Stanley Druckenmiller has been a big investor in AI, previously holding shares of leaders including Nvidia and Palantir. The billionaire has a long history of delivering gains to investors in his fund. 10 stocks we like better than Meta Platforms › Billionaires have been active in the artificial intelligence (AI) space as it's been a proven wealth-builder in recent years. AI offers comp...
Key Points Stanley Druckenmiller has been a big investor in AI, previously holding shares of leaders including Nvidia and Palantir. The billionaire has a long history of delivering gains to investors in his fund. 10 stocks we like better than Meta Platforms › Billionaires have been active in the artificial intelligence (AI) space as it's been a proven wealth-builder in recent years. AI offers companies the potential to streamline operations, become more innovative, and achieve their goals faster -- and all of this should drive earnings growth and stock performance in the years to come. These savvy investors recognized the opportunity early on and have picked up shares of key players. Stanley Druckenmiller, head of the Duquesne family office, is one of these billionaires betting on AI's future. In recent years, he's owned shares of some of the biggest names in the industry, including Nvidia and Palantir Technologies -- he's since sold both, but clearly gained from the investments. These players soared 1,300% and more than 500%, respectively, over the past five years. 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 » In the recent quarter, Druckenmiller made fresh AI moves, closing his position in a company known for its aggressive AI spending and adding to positions in two other AI players that already generate billion-dollar revenue from the technology. Let's check out the details. A source of investment ideas First, a quick note about why we should pay attention to the moves of billionaires: They've demonstrated their investing expertise, so they may be a great source of investment ideas. That said, it's important to remember that their goals and risk tolerance may be somewhat different from ours -- so we shouldn't follow every decision. Instead, it's a better idea to consider their moves one by on...
A woman in Hong Kong has been arrested on suspicion of neglect after allegedly leaving her four-year-old son home alone, during which time he threw objects from a window, damaging a parked car below. Police said on Wednesday that they received a report in the early hours concerning a boy suspected of throwing plastic bottles and other items from a residential unit on Tai Nan Street in Sham Shui Po...
A woman in Hong Kong has been arrested on suspicion of neglect after allegedly leaving her four-year-old son home alone, during which time he threw objects from a window, damaging a parked car below. Police said on Wednesday that they received a report in the early hours concerning a boy suspected of throwing plastic bottles and other items from a residential unit on Tai Nan Street in Sham Shui Po. A video widely shared online shows an object being thrown from the building’s fifth floor, hitting a BMW parked by the roadside and smashing its rear windscreen. Advertisement Online photos also showed a yellow toy, along with other items, that had hit the car’s rear windscreen. Objects - including broken toys, plastic bottles and a pillow - were scattered across the road beside the vehicle. Police received a report in the early hours of Wednesday concerning a boy suspected of throwing objects from a residential unit on Tai Nan Street in Sham Shui Po. Photo: Threads/ wantsunsing Officers were deployed to the scene, and a preliminary investigation found that a 29-year-old woman was suspected of leaving her child alone in the flat.
格隆汇3月11日｜根据《福布斯》最新的《世界亿万富翁》榜单，特朗普如今身价为65亿美元，比一年前增长了14亿美元。他在全球3428名亿万富翁中排名第645位，较2025年的第700位有所提升。特朗普身价上涨主要归因于其加密货币交易。过去一年中，他通过销售由他和家人于2024年9月创立的加密企业World Liberty Financial发行的加密代币，净赚了约5.5亿美元。
格隆汇3月11日｜根据《福布斯》最新的《世界亿万富翁》榜单，特朗普如今身价为65亿美元，比一年前增长了14亿美元。他在全球3428名亿万富翁中排名第645位，较2025年的第700位有所提升。特朗普身价上涨主要归因于其加密货币交易。过去一年中，他通过销售由他和家人于2024年9月创立的加密企业World Liberty Financial发行的加密代币，净赚了约5.5亿美元。
Nico De Pasquale Photography/DigitalVision via Getty Images The beleaguered US dollar has rallied in response to the conflict in Iran and the surging oil and gasoline prices that followed, potentially blunting some of the impact of the expected rise in inflation and silencing questions of the greenback's safe haven status. The US dollar index, which measures the dollar against a basket of currency...
Nico De Pasquale Photography/DigitalVision via Getty Images The beleaguered US dollar has rallied in response to the conflict in Iran and the surging oil and gasoline prices that followed, potentially blunting some of the impact of the expected rise in inflation and silencing questions of the greenback's safe haven status. The US dollar index, which measures the dollar against a basket of currency peers, traded as high as 99.41 after the US launched strikes against Iran, a 2.1% increase from the end of February. The rise in the dollar, foreign exchange strategists said, could be sustainable and could reverse the dollar's extended downward move. "I think the strong performance of the dollar over the past week has helped settle the argument about whether it is a safe haven currency still," Jane Foley, head of foreign exchange research at Rabobank, said in an interview. "It will therefore likely shake the view that the dollar has entered into a period of structural weakness, which could deter big bets against the dollar in the coming months." The dollar has strengthened as Brent crude oil futures surged above $100 per barrel for the first time since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. While the global oil benchmark settled at $98.96 per barrel on March 9, after climbing to nearly $120 earlier in the day, high oil prices will likely bolster US dollar strength, said Chris Turner, global head of markets at ING. "The longer oil stays up here the more it saps growth in the oil importers of Europe and Asia and weighs on their growth – far more than it weighs on US growth," Turner said. "So, the prior trend of synchronized global growth, European and Asian recoveries and a weaker dollar would be reversed." The rise in the US dollar appears likely to gain momentum as the war in Iran started while the dollar was heavily shorted, and the markets may have overestimated the Federal Reserve's chances of implementing significant rate cuts this year, said Kyle Rodda, a senior financia...
Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are a fantastic way to profit from real estate without needing to go through any of the headaches of being a landlord. By law, they must pay out 90% of their taxable income to shareholders as a dividend. Most REITs own things like apartment buildings or malls. But artificial intelligence (AI), or rather the expenses associated with it, has created a new kind o...
Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are a fantastic way to profit from real estate without needing to go through any of the headaches of being a landlord. By law, they must pay out 90% of their taxable income to shareholders as a dividend. Most REITs own things like apartment buildings or malls. But artificial intelligence (AI), or rather the expenses associated with it, has created a new kind of REIT, one that holds the physical real estate for the digital world. AI needs data centers to run. Unfortunately, data centers are very expensive. EziBlank's estimate puts the price tag of building one at $7 million to $12 million per megawatt of IT load. That adds up quickly if you want to build a big data center, and it doesn't include the power bill or maintenance costs. Both those things will vary based on location, but neither will be cheap. Enter Equinix (EQIX +1.18%), a data center REIT with an interesting secondary revenue stream. Electronic landlord and tollbooth As a REIT, Equinix generates the bulk of its revenue (roughly 70%) from renting space in its 280 data centers around the world to over 10,500 companies, including 60% of the Fortune 500. It operates data centers across every single continent except Antarctica, and its services are available in over 65 global metros. Thanks to its Equinix Fabric Network, all its data centers globally are connected. It also doesn't require any additional hardware on the part of a customer to connect to that network. The revenue from those data centers is growing both quickly and steadily. It was up 5% over 2024 to $9.2 billion for 2025, and the company is projecting upwards of $10 billion in revenue for 2026. In the second half of 2025, Equinix saw a dramatic spike in bookings. Third-quarter 2025's bookings grew 14% over the second quarter. Then, in the fourth quarter, bookings grew 20% over Q3. So, the core of Equinix's business is doing quite well. But the company can leverage its position to generate even more revenue a...
Key Points Equinix owns 280 data centers globally, which connect to all the major cloud networks. It already collects rent from 60% of the Fortune 500, and its revenue is primed for growth driven by AI capex. Despite a high share price, Equinix pays a solid 2% yield. 10 stocks we like better than Equinix › Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are a fantastic way to profit from real estate without...
Key Points Equinix owns 280 data centers globally, which connect to all the major cloud networks. It already collects rent from 60% of the Fortune 500, and its revenue is primed for growth driven by AI capex. Despite a high share price, Equinix pays a solid 2% yield. 10 stocks we like better than Equinix › Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are a fantastic way to profit from real estate without needing to go through any of the headaches of being a landlord. By law, they must pay out 90% of their taxable income to shareholders as a dividend. Most REITs own things like apartment buildings or malls. But artificial intelligence (AI), or rather the expenses associated with it, has created a new kind of REIT, one that holds the physical real estate for the digital world. 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 » AI needs data centers to run. Unfortunately, data centers are very expensive. EziBlank's estimate puts the price tag of building one at $7 million to $12 million per megawatt of IT load. That adds up quickly if you want to build a big data center, and it doesn't include the power bill or maintenance costs. Both those things will vary based on location, but neither will be cheap. Enter Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX), a data center REIT with an interesting secondary revenue stream. Electronic landlord and tollbooth As a REIT, Equinix generates the bulk of its revenue (roughly 70%) from renting space in its 280 data centers around the world to over 10,500 companies, including 60% of the Fortune 500. It operates data centers across every single continent except Antarctica, and its services are available in over 65 global metros. Thanks to its Equinix Fabric Network, all its data centers globally are connected. It also doesn't require any additional hardware on the part of a customer to connect to t...
Thai police have broken up a web of Chinese companies allegedly using Thai fronts to control the kingdom’s coconut supply , squeezing prices to record lows of 2 baht (6 US cents) per fruit and allowing wide profit margins on sales into China. The probe, launched across western agricultural provinces where the nam hom coconut farms are based, reflects broader concerns about the exploitation of Thai...
Thai police have broken up a web of Chinese companies allegedly using Thai fronts to control the kingdom’s coconut supply , squeezing prices to record lows of 2 baht (6 US cents) per fruit and allowing wide profit margins on sales into China. The probe, launched across western agricultural provinces where the nam hom coconut farms are based, reflects broader concerns about the exploitation of Thai fruit farmers by foreign businessmen who set prices and dictate market terms. Raids on eight locations in Ratchaburi province on Tuesday targeted coconut warehouses and processing companies, allegedly at the heart of a “coconut nominee” network, Thailand ’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) said. Advertisement The CIB said those companies had crushed farmgate prices to as low as 2 baht a coconut but “exported them at 35–50 baht per fruit, reaping massive profits”. Nominee businesses are a means for foreigners to illegally circumvent Thai majority ownership laws by installing Thai citizens as shareholders who act as puppets for the real owners. Advertisement The probe was prompted “by abnormally low coconut prices in Ratchaburi and surrounding provinces, which caused severe hardship for local farmers despite high demand in international markets”, the CIB said in a statement on social media on Tuesday. “Investigators found that foreign investors [of Chinese nationality] had interfered with market mechanisms by using Thai citizens as ‘nominees’ to establish front companies and purchasing sheds.”
Bongkod Worakandecha/iStock via Getty Images So far in 2026, two major bearish themes have shaken the stock market: the escalation of tensions in the Middle East and rapid surge in oil prices, and the so-called “SaaSpocalypse” theory that AI will upend much of the current state of play in the tech industry. While I think the SaaSpocalypse narrative is far overblown, it is true that the rapid innov...
Bongkod Worakandecha/iStock via Getty Images So far in 2026, two major bearish themes have shaken the stock market: the escalation of tensions in the Middle East and rapid surge in oil prices, and the so-called “SaaSpocalypse” theory that AI will upend much of the current state of play in the tech industry. While I think the SaaSpocalypse narrative is far overblown, it is true that the rapid innovations in AI are creating a new crop of winners at the expense of many legacy tech companies. Unfortunately, Backblaze ( BLZE ) is looking increasingly like it belongs in the legacy incumbent category. Shares have dropped 20% since January and 30% over the past year, but that fall has also accompanied a meaningful deceleration in what was supposed to be the company’s core growth product. Data by YCharts I last wrote a "Buy" article on Backblaze in December, when the stock was trading closer to $5 per share. Since then, Backblaze has fallen along with other tech companies . However, in this case, I also believe the company’s compression in valuation multiples is commensurate with a much more uncertain demand landscape for this company. We can’t forget that storage is essentially a commoditized service, and it appears that Backblaze is getting left behind. All in all, I’m reducing my rating on Backblaze to "N eutral." At current share prices, I see more of a balanced bull and bear case for Backblaze. On the positive side for the company: Upmarket push and “neocloud” opportunity. Backblaze is attempting to migrate away from smaller clients. Its latest focus is on selling storage to “neocloud” customers who offer GPU-as-a-service rentals to AI developers. This new client segment could unlock new growth for the company. Backblaze still enjoys high gross margins. The company’s pro forma gross margins are still clinging to the low/mid 60%s, while many storage companies that need to build out data center capacity are being squeezed by higher NAND memory prices. Backblaze’s margin p...