Bitcoin and other digital assets fell sharply after Israel said it launched a preemptive strike on Iran on Saturday. Bitcoin dropped as much as 3.8% to $63,038, while Ether, the second-largest token, slid 4.5% to $1,835. Roughly $128 billion in market value was erased across digital-assets in the immediate aftermath of the news, according to data from CoinGecko. Three large explosions were heard i...
Bitcoin and other digital assets fell sharply after Israel said it launched a preemptive strike on Iran on Saturday. Bitcoin dropped as much as 3.8% to $63,038, while Ether, the second-largest token, slid 4.5% to $1,835. Roughly $128 billion in market value was erased across digital-assets in the immediate aftermath of the news, according to data from CoinGecko. Three large explosions were heard in central Tehran, Fars news said, adding that several missiles likely hit the capital. Thick smoke was seen rising in parts of the capital, Iranian state television reported. The Associated Press said one of the strikes took place near the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. Read more: Israel Launches Attack on Iran as Explosions Reported in Tehran Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared a state of emergency as he announced the strike, and said the country expects to come under drone and missile attack. For Bitcoin, the losses extend a months-long selloff in crypto markets, beginning shortly after Bitcoin peaked at over $126,000 in October. Read more: US Is Participating in Israeli Strikes on Iran, AP Reports
izusek/iStock via Getty Images In 2025, private equity investment in Europe's aerospace and defense sectors reached its highest total value since 2022, the year Russia's invasion of Ukraine spurred European defense spending. The value of private equity and venture capital aerospace and defense deals in Europe and the UK rose about 4.8 times year-over-year to $658.8 million in 2025, according to S&...
izusek/iStock via Getty Images In 2025, private equity investment in Europe's aerospace and defense sectors reached its highest total value since 2022, the year Russia's invasion of Ukraine spurred European defense spending. The value of private equity and venture capital aerospace and defense deals in Europe and the UK rose about 4.8 times year-over-year to $658.8 million in 2025, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. This growth stood out even as the value of global aerospace and defense deals more than doubled to $10.63 billion in 2025 from $4.88 billion in 2024. In the UK, where fund rules and regulations have prevented some private equity funds from investing in defense, new funds are being launched to take advantage of the opportunity, said Dafydd Evans, a London-based managing director in Kroll LLC's investment banking practice. US managers will not be left behind. Alongside healthcare and infrastructure, the defense sector was a top target in 2025 as the value of US-based private equity and venture capital firms' investments in Europe rose to a four-year high. Chart Of The Week: Take-Private Deal Value Hits 4-Year High The value of take-private deals backed with private equity and venture capital increased 46.1% year-over-year to $238.15 billion in 2025, according to Market Intelligence data. Powering the rise was the largest sponsor-backed take-private in history: the pending $55 billion acquisition of video game company Electronic Arts Inc. ( EA ) by Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake Technology Management LLC and A Fin Management LLC, announced in September 2025. Abundant private equity dry powder, public market volatility and, notably, the availability of private credit are all factoring into the surge in take-private value. Top Deals – An investor group including private equity firms Blackstone Inc. ( BX ), General Atlantic Service Co. LP and Liberty 77 Capital LP agreed to acquire a 24% stake in Mexico-based bank Grupo Financiero Banamex S...
The State of Israel has launched a preemptive strike against Iran to remove threats to the State of Israel,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said. Katz says he declared an “immediate state of emergency throughout the entire country.” The attack followed after the third round of talks failed between US and Iran. Ahead of the discussions, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran’s reluctance to ta...
The State of Israel has launched a preemptive strike against Iran to remove threats to the State of Israel,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said. Katz says he declared an “immediate state of emergency throughout the entire country.” The attack followed after the third round of talks failed between US and Iran. Ahead of the discussions, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran’s reluctance to talk about its ballistic missile development program, alongside its nuclear program, was a “big, big problem.” Iran had said it was willing to compromise when it came to its nuclear program, but had repeatedly said Tehran’s missile program had never been part of the talks’ agenda. President Donald Trump warned earlier in February that “really bad things” would happen unless Tehran agreed to a deal over the future of its nuclear program. The attack, which comes after a significant build up of military assets in the oil-rich Middle East region. More on U.S. Markets Markets Weekly Outlook: Credit Crunch Fears To Conclude A Temperamental Month; NFP Incoming Dow Jones And U.S. Index Outlook: U.S. Stocks Rebound After Gap Down; Month-End Flows Incoming This Week's Market Wrap: Tariffs, AI, And A Market On Edge 3 things to watch for Monday SA Analyst sees a signal in the noise as stocks retreat on sticky PPI
The average one-year price target for Brockhaus Technologies (XTRA:BKHT) has been revised to 40,80 € / share. This is an increase of 15.38% from the prior estimate of 35,36 € dated February 1, 2026. The price target is an average of many targets provided by an
The average one-year price target for Brockhaus Technologies (XTRA:BKHT) has been revised to 40,80 € / share. This is an increase of 15.38% from the prior estimate of 35,36 € dated February 1, 2026. The price target is an average of many targets provided by an
Klaus Vedfelt/DigitalVision via Getty Images Introduction Ashland Inc. ( ASH ) is a specialty chemicals company that over time has realigned its business away from commodity chemicals in order to focus more on specialised products to serve a wide range of pharmaceutical, personal care, and additives markets. These tend to be higher-value products, often with patent protection, where performance is...
Klaus Vedfelt/DigitalVision via Getty Images Introduction Ashland Inc. ( ASH ) is a specialty chemicals company that over time has realigned its business away from commodity chemicals in order to focus more on specialised products to serve a wide range of pharmaceutical, personal care, and additives markets. These tend to be higher-value products, often with patent protection, where performance is more important to customers than price alone and any cyclicality is much less pronounced. While Ashland still retains some exposure to such end markets, following the spin-off of Valvoline in 2017, company-level EBIT margins have improved from under 7% in FY17 (the year to September 2017) to over 9% in FY25. I believe that despite a recent jump in the shares following the news that an activist investor has taken a stake, the shares still present an investment opportunity given an apparent discount valuation, despite the undoubted remaining volatility in certain markets. Where the company is now With a significant amount of portfolio right-sizing and reconfiguration, Ashland has changed significantly even within the last five years, although the most recent major disposal was nearly a year ago, with the March 2025 sale of underperforming Avoca (fragrance fixatives and botanical extracts). The company currently reports results under the following four divisions: Life sciences (around 36% of sales at 1Q26 and 42% of pre-corporate cost EBITDA). This supplies excipients and tablet coating systems to the pharmaceutical and nutrition industries, as well as a variety of crop care and agricultural products. The following slide from the May 2025 Innovation Day gives a snapshot: Ashland Innovation Day presentation Personal Care (32% of sales at 1q26, 36% of EBITDA). Supplies ingredients and solutions for oral, hair, skin, and sun care, including cosmetics and products with personal cleaning and fragrance applications: Ashland Innovation Day presentation Specialty Additives (26% of sa...