Justice Department Sues 5 More States For Refusing To Provide Voter Rolls Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times, The federal government has filed lawsuits against five states—Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia, and New Jersey—accusing local officials of failing to provide full voter registration lists as requested, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a Feb. 26 statement. “The Attorney General is uniquely charged by Congress with broad authority to request election records under the Civil Rights Act of 1960,” the DOJ said. “This Act allows her to demand the production, inspection, and analysis of statewide voter registration lists that can be cross-checked effectively for improper registrations.” However, the states have failed to produce voter rolls requested by the attorney general, according to the complaints. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has now filed complaints against 29 states and the District of Columbia over the issue. The lawsuit against Utah argued that the attorney general sent a letter seeking the state’s computerized statewide voter registration list on July 15. The state did provide the information on July 31, but this was the publicly available redacted version of the list. On Aug. 14, the attorney general sent another letter, demanding that Utah provide a current, unredacted, electronic copy, the lawsuit said. The state subsequently raised privacy concerns related to the demand for federal election records, and has yet to provide the full list as requested. Multiple laws require state officials and election officers to maintain and preserve records relating to voter registrations and related actions. The lawsuit accused Utah’s chief election officer of violating the Civil Rights Act, the complaint said. Similar allegations were made in lawsuits against officials from Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia, and New Jersey. “Accurate, well-maintained voter rolls are a requisite for the election integrity that the Amer...

The stock market ultimately fell for the week, with all the major indexes below their 50-day lines. Nvidia tumbled despite strong earnings.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters in a departure lounge before returning to Washington following meetings with Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders, at Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis, February 25, 2026. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Israel early next week to discuss Iran and other regional issues, the State Department said Friday. The announcement of Rubio's visit comes amid growing concern that the United States will launch attacks on Iran. MS Now reported Friday that Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi will meet Friday with Vice President JD Vance and other American officials in Washington for "previously unreported talks in an effort to stave off war with Iran." Al Busaidi has been acting as a mediator of talks between the U.S. and Iran to defuse tensions over American demands that the Islamic republic curb its nuclear program. Read more CNBC politics coverage Congress takes on Nvidia, White House as it pushes for chip export limits Warren calls Trump’s bluff on affordability after State of the Union House Dems project midterm optimism at annual policy retreat following State of the Union Rubio will visit Israel on Monday and Tuesday, according to State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott. "The Secretary will discuss a range of regional priorities including Iran, Lebanon, and ongoing efforts to implement President Trump's 20-Point Peace Plan for Gaza," Pigott said in a statement.

Apple stock drops as memory-chip ‘tsunami’ hits smartphone outlook; AAPL traders eye March launch week Bez Kabli

Where Do Analysts Stand on AMD Stock? TipRanks

Palantir stock steadies after UBS upgrade, Rosenblatt buy call as AI jitters bite TechStock²

Image source: The Motley Fool. Friday, Feb. 27, 2026 at 10 a.m. ET Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email pr@fool.com Continue reading

Source: Bloomberg, 38:37

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images News Venezuela canceled an auction of assets seized from Halliburton ( HAL ) after the Trump administration intervened to stop the sale, a move that is expected to clear the path for the U.S. company's return to Venezuela, Bloomberg reported Friday. Halliburton ( HAL ) shut down its primary operations in Venezuela in 2020 after the U.S. tightened sanctions on the Maduro regime; in December, a Venezuelan court ordered the sale of the company's equipment, which was followed days later by a company lawsuit against the country filed at the World Bank's international arbitration court. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright traveled to Venezuela earlier this month and met acting President Delcy Rodriguez; in the same week, a Halliburton ( HAL ) team visited facilities in the country where it holds assets still under their control, according to the report. Halliburton ( HAL ) CEO Jeff Miller said last month that the company was ready to quickly restart work in Venezuela once it obtained U.S. government approval and some sort of payment protections. More on Halliburton Halliburton: Keeping An Eye On Venezuela, But Maintaining Our Previous Rating - Hold Halliburton: Why This Stock Deserves P/E 25 Halliburton: Expect Short-Term Pain

In early trading on Friday, shares of Netflix topped the list of the day's best performing components of the Nasdaq 100 index, trading up 8.3%. Year to date, Netflix has lost about 2.3% of its value. And the worst performing Nasdaq 100 component thus far on the day is Zscaler,

Is Anthrophic's loss Palantir's gain? The ongoing and public dispute between Anthropic and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) under Secretary Pete Hegseth centers on Anthropic's refusal to remove safeguards from its AI model, Claude, for unrestricted military use. As Palantir might obtain more government contracts, I want to use options to own this high beta stock in PLTR. PLTR YTD mountain PLTR year to date With Anthropic potentially out, the DoD is reportedly negotiating with alternatives like OpenAI and Google to fill the gap on classified networks. Palantir could integrate these models into its platforms, expanding its role as the core infrastructure provider for the U.S. government. The deadline hasn't passed yet, and negotiations could still resolve this very public dispute. However, Palantir's future growth is driven more by commercial expansion than government contracts alone — but a win here would reinforce its crown as King of defense AI. Palantir CEO Alex Karp has long emphasized unwavering support for U.S. military applications which contrasts with Anthropic's stance, positioning Palantir as a buying opportunity. I want to use a multi-legged debit spread to define my risk as the AI repricing may not be over. PLTR is also currently in a drawdown and seemingly on sale. I want to initially sell a put spread as I have to define the downside exposure if everything AI continues its massive repricing and soured sentiment. An investor will collect premium on that put spread sale which will help finance some of the premium need to buy an upside call in PLTR. There are three legs to this spread. The trade Sold the 3/20/2026 $130 PLTR put for $4.50 Bought the 3/20/2026 $120 PLTR put for $2.00 Bought the 3/20/2026 $140 PLTR call for $6.00 This trade will cost an investor $3.50 or $350 per one spread. Downside risk is defined and upside capture is unlimited above $143.50 in PLTR. PLTR was trading around $136.50 when this trade was executed. DISCLOSURES: Kilburg own...

3D_generator/iStock via Getty Images This article updates my review of November 2024 in light of recent performance and current holdings. IUSG strategy iShares Core S&P US Growth ETF ( IUSG ) was launched on 07/24/2000 and tracks the S&P 900 Growth Index. IUSG has a portfolio of 381 stocks, a 30-day SEC yield of 0.50%, and an expense ratio of 0.04%. The investing universe is the S&P 900 index, which combines the S&P 500 and the S&P MidCap 400. As described by S&P Dow Jones Indices , stocks are ranked and classified in the value and growth styles using six metrics: Book value to price, earnings to price, and sales to price for valuation. Sales growth, earnings growth, and momentum for growth. By definition, 33% of the parent index constituents exclusively belong to one style, and 34% belong to both styles. The growth style subset defines the S&P 900 Growth Index and is reconstituted annually. The index is capital-weighted, with an adjustment for constituents belonging to both styles. For example, a company with a growth rank better than its value rank gets a larger weight in the Growth Index than in the Value Index. The fund’s turnover rate was 21% in the most recent fiscal year and 31% in the previous year. I will use as a benchmark the Russell 1000 index, represented by iShares Russell 1000 ETF ( IWB ). Portfolio The fund is overweight in mega-cap companies (65% of asset value) and information technology (47%), with also notable exposure in communication services (15.7%). Other sectors are below 10%. Compared to IWB, IUSG overweights technology and communication and downplays all other sectors. IUSG sector breakdown, % of assets (Chart: author; data: iShares) The portfolio is very concentrated, with significant company-specific risk. The top 10 issuers, listed in the next table, represent 59.5% of asset value, and the top three companies (Nvidia, Alphabet, and Microsoft) weigh between 9% and 15%. In IWB, the top 10 issuers weigh 35.7%, and the same top name is at 7...

Companies that burn cash at a rapid pace can run into serious trouble if they fail to secure funding. Without a clear path to profitability, these businesses risk dilution, mounting debt, or even bankruptcy.

美国已对印度太阳能电池和组件征收高达126%的初步关税。 此次关税源于美国制造商提出的补贴投诉，实际上将印度排除在其最大的出口市场之外，并引发印度主要太阳能公司股价大幅下跌。 关税对印度打击正值其脆弱时刻，因为在莫迪的生产挂钩激励计划下，自2022年以来，印度对美国的出口激增了近十倍。 美国商务部已对印度太阳能电池和组件征收126%的初步反补贴税，这实际上关闭了利润丰厚的美国市场，并加剧了印度蓬勃发展的太阳能行业面临的产能过剩问题。 此次征税源于美国太阳能制造贸易联盟提出的申诉，该联盟声称印度公司从政府补贴中不公平受益。AASMT是一个包括美国的First Solar和Mission Solar等在内的联盟，于2025年7月提交请愿书，指控从印度、印度尼西亚和老挝进口的太阳能产品受益于不公平的政府补贴。 更具体地说，AASMT声称印度太阳能公司通过多种计划获得国家支持，包括预授权计划、退税计划和出口促进资本货物计划。消息公布后，包括阿达尼绿色能源、Waaree Energies、Premier Energies和维克拉姆太阳能在内的印度主要太阳能股票价格暴跌。 特朗普关税对印度太阳能行业的打击正值最糟糕的时刻：印度对美国的太阳能出口在过去几年迅猛增长，从2022年的8400万美元增长到2024年的近7.93亿美元，这在很大程度上要归功于印度总理莫迪的旗舰项目——生产挂钩激励计划。该计划于2020年4月启动，为在印度境内生产商品的公司提供财政激励（通常为基准年2020年基础上增量销售额的4%至6%），以鼓励工业产值增长。 该计划主要针对可再生能源、汽车、电子和制药等战略行业。与预先补贴不同，这些激励措施只有在公司达到特定的、预先设定的年度增产和销售门槛后才会支付。财政收益通常在三至六年内支付。这些补贴旨在帮助印度减少对太阳能进口的依赖，因为印度正努力实现到2030年至少安装500吉瓦可再生能源容量的目标。 责任编辑：张俊 SF065

In trading on Friday, shares of the SPDR Portfolio High Yield Bond ETF (Symbol: SPHY) crossed below their 200 day moving average of $23.69, changing hands as low as $23.68 per share. SPDR Portfolio High Yield Bond shares are currently trading off about 0.2% on the day. The cha

In trading on Friday, shares of HF Sinclair Corp (Symbol: DINO) crossed below their 200 day moving average of $47.98, changing hands as low as $47.00 per share. HF Sinclair Corp shares are currently trading off about 4.9% on the day. The chart below shows the one year performa

In trading on Friday, shares of the Janus Short Duration Income ETF (Symbol: VNLA) crossed below their 200 day moving average of $49.17, changing hands as low as $49.14 per share. Janus Short Duration Income shares are currently trading down about 0.3% on the day. The chart be

In trading on Friday, shares of the Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF (Symbol: VRP) crossed below their 200 day moving average of $24.50, changing hands as low as $24.48 per share. Invesco Variable Rate Preferred shares are currently trading off about 0.2% on the day. The ch

Rhun ap Iorwerth tells party conference Labour and Tories ‘slipping away’ and Reform UK is main threat The leader of Plaid Cymru has claimed the Welsh parliament elections in May will be a straight fight between his party and Reform UK, which he billed as a choice between “culture or ignorance, humanity or indifference”. Speaking at the party’s biggest ever conference, Rhun ap Iorwerth, the clear favourite to be the next Welsh first minister, said the Gorton and Denton byelection showed Labour and the Tories were “slipping away”, and he promised Plaid had a radical plan to boost Wales’ fortunes. Continue reading...

Arsenal and Liverpool will fancy their chance of making the quarter-finals, while Manchester City and Newcastle face tougher routes The Club World Cup final victory over Paris Saint-Germain last summer was probably Enzo Maresca’s finest hour as Chelsea manager. He devised a gameplan, pinging balls over Nuno Mendes for Cole Palmer to chase, backed up by Malo Gusto, that tore the European champions apart in the first half. Liam Rosenior may try to exploit the same vulnerability, but this is a Chelsea that look weary, their exertions in the US perhaps having left them fatigued. Continue reading...

@media (max-width: 768px) { .image-container { width: 100% !important; float: none !important; margin: 0 0 1rem 0 !important; } } Image source: The Mo

Ahead of inauguration of Micron’s ATMP plant, PM Modi outlines India's semiconductor push Moneycontrol.com

OpenAI's ( OPENAI ) announcement that it has raised $110B in new funding should alleviate the concerns about paying its bills and ultimately benefit Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Oracle ( ORCL ), BNP Paribas said. “Broadly, the formal announcement of OpenAI’s $110B fundraise at a reported $730B pre-money valuation ($840B post-money) should be incrementally positive for Microsoft and Oracle, even if it’s been well telegraphed from media reports in recent months,” BNP analyst Stefan Slowinski wrote in a note to clients. “With fresh capital now secured, OpenAI appears well positioned to fund both its $250B compute contract with Microsoft and $300B compute contract with Oracle.” Slowinski added that OpenAI's updated cash burn forecasts imply roughly $180B in funding needs through 2030, which includes the $110B raised from Nvidia ( NVDA ), Amazon ( AMZN ), and SoftBank ( SFTBY ). “As a result, with additional non-strategic investors layering in alongside the initial $110B raise, OpenAI could ultimately be most of the way towards addressing its cumulative cash needs,” Slowinski explained. He has a Buy rating on Microsoft and Oracle and respective price targets of $659 and $290. Beyond the ability to pay its bills, OpenAI's funding round has other implications for Microsoft and Oracle, Slowinski said. For Microsoft, the analyst believes the Satya Nadella-led company will report a “significant gain” in the fiscal third-quarter as its stake in OpenAI is likely to be valued higher. Assuming Microsoft is diluted with this funding round, he believes Microsoft owns roughly $200B worth of OpenAI, or about 7% of Microsoft's market cap. “Removing this from Microsoft’s valuation makes the current multiple that much more attractive,” he explained. For Oracle, Slowinski said the debate now moves on to whether Oracle can actually execute its contracts. “While we would have initially assumed that closing the raise would be viewed positively for Oracle, we worry the debate will simply shift to ...

OpenAI's ( OPENAI ) announcement that it has raised $110B in new funding should alleviate the concerns about paying its bills and ultimately benefit Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Oracle ( ORCL ), BNP Paribas said. “Broadly, the formal announcement of OpenAI’s $110B fundraise at a reported $730B pre-money valuation ($840B post-money) should be incrementally positive for Microsoft and Oracle, even if it’s been well telegraphed from media reports in recent months,” BNP analyst Stefan Slowinski wrote in a note to clients. “With fresh capital now secured, OpenAI appears well positioned to fund both its $250B compute contract with Microsoft and $300B compute contract with Oracle.” Slowinski added that OpenAI's updated cash burn forecasts imply roughly $180B in funding needs through 2030, which includes the $110B raised from Nvidia ( NVDA ), Amazon ( AMZN ), and SoftBank ( SFTBY ). “As a result, with additional non-strategic investors layering in alongside the initial $110B raise, OpenAI could ultimately be most of the way towards addressing its cumulative cash needs,” Slowinski explained. He has a Buy rating on Microsoft and Oracle and respective price targets of $659 and $290. Beyond the ability to pay its bills, OpenAI's funding round has other implications for Microsoft and Oracle, Slowinski said. For Microsoft, the analyst believes the Satya Nadella-led company will report a “significant gain” in the fiscal third-quarter as its stake in OpenAI is likely to be valued higher. Assuming Microsoft is diluted with this funding round, he believes Microsoft owns roughly $200B worth of OpenAI, or about 7% of Microsoft's market cap. “Removing this from Microsoft’s valuation makes the current multiple that much more attractive,” he explained. For Oracle, Slowinski said the debate now moves on to whether Oracle can actually execute its contracts. “While we would have initially assumed that closing the raise would be viewed positively for Oracle, we worry the debate will simply shift to ...

Nigel Farage says his party was victim of ‘cheating’ in Gorton and Denton byelection, although Manchester council says no issues were reported Reform UK and the Conservatives have asked the elections watchdog to investigate allegations of corrupt voting in the Gorton and Denton byelection as Nigel Farage claimed there had been “cheating”, despite limited evidence of wrongdoing. The reports to the Electoral Commission come after an election observers group, Democracy Volunteers, said they had witnessed “concerningly high levels” of so-called family voting, where one family member dictates how others cast their ballot. Continue reading...

One top analyst sees over 50% upside in Arista Networks as accelerating AI data center demand and strong execution might fuel a potential run.

Getty Images CEO confidence for the economic outlook has improved, but the Treasury market is still pricing in rate cuts. The Conference Board reports that confidence among CEOs “surged” to the highest level in a year. “CEO Confidence improved significantly in the first quarter of 2026, reflecting restored optimism among leaders of large firms,” said Dana Peterson, chief economist at the consultancy. The rebound in CEO optimism implies that the case for more Fed rate cuts has weakened. The Treasury market, however, has yet to be persuaded. The policy-sensitive 2‑year yield traded down yesterday to 3.44% (Feb. 26), holding near the lowest level in nearly four years and slightly below the current 3.50%–3.75% Fed funds target range. Fed funds futures are still pricing in a pause in rate cuts for the next two policy meetings but anticipate another rate cut in June. Sticky inflation data and a steady, low jobless rate may complicate that forecast for a near-term cut. Markets will pay close attention to next week’s payrolls report for February, looking for new clues on where monetary policy is headed. Another key variable is Kevin Warsh, the incoming Fed chair, who will take over the central bank’s leadership in May. Analysts are debating whether Warsh will tilt dovish to support President Trump’s demands for lower interest rates. A complicating factor is the current nowcast for a rebound in economic growth for the first quarter. The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow model , for example, is currently estimating that GDP will rise 3.1% in the first three months of this year, up sharply from Q4’s sluggish 1.4% increase. The rise of artificial intelligence as an economic input is another variable that’s muddling the outlook. “The question is how is AI going to be inflationary, and maybe the long end of the curve is sniffing all of this out,” said Jack McIntyre, portfolio manager at Brandywine Global Investment Management. “The only inflationary aspect of AI is the building out of data ce...

此举的背景是人们担心美国与伊朗可能爆发的战争升级为一场地区冲突。加拿大、中国、印度和波兰已敦促各自的公民离开伊朗。 耶路撒冷的美国驻以色列使馆周五表示，华盛顿方面已告知非紧急工作人员及其家属可以离开以色列。目前人们担心美国与伊朗之间的潜在战争可能升级为一场地区冲突。 使馆称，此举是出于“安全风险”的考虑，但并未具体说明是什么安全风险。此前，美国已于本周早些时候下令撤离驻黎巴嫩外交使团的非必要工作人员。 使馆的通知还称，美国政府可能会在“不事先通知”的情况下进一步限制工作人员前往以色列的某些地区、被占领的西岸地区以及耶路撒冷旧城。“有关人员或许应该考虑在商业航班仍然运营期间离开以色列，”通知中写道。 成为付费会员，阅读FT独家内容 如您已经是会员， 请点击这里登录 成为会员►

海外：IEEPA关税失效，但不宜过度乐观。在春节假期期间，海外发生的重要变化之一在于美国最高法院判定IEEPA相关一揽子关税无效。从特朗普政府的执政逻辑来看，我们认为，特朗普政府放弃关税这一核心政策工具的可能性较小。更为关键的是，IEEPA关税失效，但并未削弱特朗普政府的贸易施压能力。特朗普政府的关税工具箱中，仍有多个可用工具。我们认为，特朗普政府的关税政策组合大概率是短期依赖急救条款保收入，长期推进常用工具扩覆盖。 国内：假期消费创新高，地产成交创阶段新低。从2026年春节假期高频数据来看，消费市场呈现量增价减的修复特征，春节假期出游人次与消费总规模双双创历史新高，居民出行消费意愿显著提升，但人均花费同比有所回落。与之形成对比的是，地产成交延续低迷，春节假期成交规模创近五年同期新低，反映地产终端需求依旧疲软。地产链的持续低迷不仅成为实体经济复苏的拖累，或也对建材、家电等后周期消费品类形成传导压制与消费市场的修复态势形成反差。 短期内A股或以震荡和结构性机会为主。海外层面，IEEPA关税失效或给国内出口链条带来阶段性利好，但不宜过度乐观，下半年特朗普政府可能通过其他关税工具来填补IEEPA关税失效后的政策空白，实际贸易压力未必会持续减轻。国内层面，消费端量增价减的特征可能决定了消费复苏节奏仍缓慢，消费端的量增与地产链的持续低迷对冲，短期内A股或以震荡和结构性机会为主。 风险因素：国内需求恢复不及预期，全球经济复苏乏力等风险。

ChatGPT开发商正努力从竞争对手Anthropic和谷歌手中夺回AI模型开发领域的领先地位。此轮融资对其估值为7300亿美元。 OpenAI已完成一轮巨额融资，融资总额可能达到1100亿美元——前提是在未来几年满足某些条件。这家初创公司正努力从竞争对手Anthropic和谷歌(Google)手中夺回人工智能(AI)模型开发领域的领先地位。 英伟达(Nvidia)、亚马逊(Amazon)和软银(SoftBank)参与了这一融资轮，此轮融资对这家ChatGPT开发商的估值为7300亿美元（不包括新募集的资金）。 这笔交易是OpenAI迈向首次公开发行(IPO)的铺路石。据知情人士透露，该公司最早有望在今年底上市。 成为付费会员，阅读FT独家内容 如您已经是会员， 请点击这里登录 成为会员►