Microsoft is working on a bunch of new features for Windows 11, including a new network speed test that you can access from your taskbar. The tool is bundled in an update rolling out to Windows 11 Insiders in the Release Preview Channel, allowing you to right-click the network icon in the system tray to access a speed test option that opens in your default browser. From there, you can check how fast your connection is over Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or cellular data. Microsoft first started testing this feature last year , and it could offer a convenient alternative to checking your connection speed by navigating to third-party websites. There's also … Read the full story at The Verge.

A list of all the ways AI will decimate jobs went viral. The truth is much more boring, Bloomberg Opinion columnist Parmy Olson says. (Source: Bloomberg)

March WTI crude oil (CLH26 ) today is up +2.06 (+3.30%), and March RBOB gasoline (RBH26 ) is up +0.0438 (+2.29%). Crude oil and gasoline prices are sharply higher today on geopolitical risks. The likelihood of the Russian-Ukrainian war continuing will keep restrictions on Russian crude and limit global oil...

Getty Images Introduction Per my December article , Alphabet Inc., aka Google ( GOOG , GOOGL ), changed from a Buy to a Hold at the time when the GOOGL share price was $315.81. We now have the Q4 '25 numbers, and Google did a nice job closing out the year. My thesis is that Google is doing well under CEO Sundar Pichai. The Numbers An August 2015 8-K filing from Alphabet announced structural changes, including Sundar Pichai becoming the new CEO of Google. Technically, Google is part of Alphabet, but almost all of Alphabet’s economics come from Google, so CEO Pichai has been in control for a little more than a decade. In a December 2019 8-K filing , co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin chose to transition from their roles as CEO and President, respectively, of Alphabet. As such, Google CEO Pichai became CEO of Alphabet as well. In his entire tenure at the helm of Google, CEO Pichai has been focused on AI, and shareholders have been rewarded as a result. Coming from the Chrome browser team, CEO Pichai has a deep understanding of the importance of AI with respect to digital advertising in search and YouTube. Once promoted to CEO, it didn’t take him long to talk about AI and ML. In the Q4 '25 call , he talked about ML making products like Gmail better: Machine learning is making our products smarter and more useful for people every day. It powers Smart Reply, in Inbox by Gmail, which suggests short responses that are relevant to an incoming email. People absolutely love this feature. In fact, in just a few months, Smart Reply already makes up 10% of all mobile responses in Inbox. In April 2016, he wrote about moving from a mobile-first to an AI-first world (emphasis added): Looking to the future, the next big step will be for the very concept of the “device” to fade away. Over time, the computer itself - whatever its form factor - will be an intelligent assistant helping you through your day. We will move from mobile first to an AI first world . Under the leadership of...

Alphabet Is Doing Well Under CEO Sundar Pichai (NASDAQ:GOOG) Seeking Alpha

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The partnership will see the two companies exploring how World Labs’ models can work alongside Autodesk’s tools, and vice versa, starting with a focus on entertainment use cases.

Both AWS and the Amazon retail business have big opportunities to reap the financial benefits of AI.

Douglas Rissing Shares of ICON Public Limited ( ICLR ) gained on Wednesday after TD Cowen upgraded the contract research organization to Buy from Hold, noting a compelling risk-reward setup following its recent selloff. Ireland-based ICON ( ICLR ) lost nearly 40% of its market value on Thursday after pulling its 2025 outlook in reaction to an ongoing investigation into some of its accounting practices. The company also said that its 2023 and 2024 revenue figures may have been overstated by less than 2% due to potential “material weaknesses” in certain internal controls. “We believe share reaction to ICLR’s investigation into accounting practices overstates the anticipated impact to earnings,” TD Cowen analyst Charles Rhyee wrote. He added that while risks related to the ongoing probe and AI concerns remain, "we find risk/reward compelling.” Rhyee also pointed out that ICON ( ICLR ) continues to generate meaningful free cash flow and said that the company’s decision to withdraw its outlook is overdone and doesn’t reflect the projected impact on earnings. However, the analyst cut his price target on the stock to $120 from $183 per share, implying an approximately 35% upside to ICLR’s closing price on Tuesday. More on Icon ICON Public Limited Company (ICLR) Presents at Jefferies London Healthcare Conference 2025 Transcript ICON rebounds as Kerrisdale Capital invests after selloff ICON plunges amid probe into accounting practices (update) Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Icon Historical earnings data for Icon

由人工智能先锋李飞飞创立的初创公司World Labs在新一轮融资中募集了10亿美元，该公司正在探索一种全新的人工智能（AI）开发路径。 作为本轮融资的一部分，欧特克向World Labs投资了2亿美元。World Labs在周三的一篇博客文章中表示，其他参投者还包括Andreessen Horowitz、英伟达以及AMD。 责任编辑：丁文武

格隆汇2月19日｜美联储理事鲍曼：仍对劳动力市场感到担忧。

Earnings Call Insights: Liberty Global (LBTYA) Q4 2025 Management View Michael Fries, Vice Chairman, President, CEO & Chairman of the Board, highlighted two major new transactions: the acquisition of Vodafone's 50% stake in VodafoneZiggo and the intention to list and spin off the new Ziggo Group, combining Dutch and Belgian operations. Fries stated, “We announced 2 significant transactions earlier today...this is exactly what we said we would do on our call last year and the year before.” Fries reported that Liberty Telecom’s four national FMC champions generated $22 billion of revenue and $8 billion of EBITDA on an aggregate basis. He also noted a 75% reduction in net corporate spend over the last 12 months. Fries commented on operational momentum, especially in the second half of the year, with “all of our 3 large OpCos hit their guidance targets last year.” He emphasized continued capital allocation discipline, referencing a reduction in share buybacks from 10% to 5% and current opportunistic stances. Charles Bracken, Executive VP & CFO, stated, “Our operating companies in the U.K., the Netherlands and Belgium delivered on their full year guidance metrics despite challenging market conditions.” Bracken further explained, “We have fully refinanced all 2028 maturities following successful term loan refinancings, senior secured note issuances and private taps within these credit silos.” Bracken announced the introduction of a 1.5% annual management fee of assets under management paid by Liberty Growth to Liberty Services starting January 2026, funded by distributions from the growth portfolio. Outlook For Virgin Media O2 (VMO2), revenue guidance for 2026 is a 3% to 5% decline in total service revenues, with adjusted EBITDA also expected to decline by 3% to 5%. “Adjusted free cash flow of around GBP 200 million for the year, supporting cash distributions to shareholders of the same amount,” stated Bracken. VodafoneZiggo guidance indicates a stable to low single-digit...

Earnings Call Insights: Clean Harbors, Inc. (CLH) Q4 2025 Management View Eric Gerstenberg, Co-CEO, reported "We are pleased to report another outstanding year where in addition to a strong safety record. We also delivered record levels of revenue, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted free cash flow and saw our adjusted EBITDA margin increased by 40 basis points." He emphasized the Environmental Services (ES) segment's 15th straight quarter of year-over-year growth and margin expansion, crediting "disciplined pricing, cost management, workforce productivity and network efficiency." Gerstenberg highlighted surpassing $6 billion in revenues for the first time, with ES segment adjusted EBITDA up 6% and margin up 60 basis points. Notable operational milestones included successful ramp-up of the Kimball incinerator, creation of the Phoenix hub, nearly 22,000 emergency response events handled, and a 3-year $110 million PFAS filtration contract at Pearl Harbor. Gerstenberg stated, "The guidance that Eric will share with you only assumes a 20% growth rate for our PFAS business in 2026 and which is consistent with the past several years." Michael Battles, Co-CEO, noted segment adjusted EBITDA in Safety-Kleen Sustainable Solutions (SKSS) was $30 million for Q4, up 22% year over year. He announced a $50 million targeted expansion of the vacuum truck fleet and the purchase agreement to acquire DCI environmental businesses for $130 million, expected to generate $40 million in annual revenue and $11 million in annual adjusted EBITDA. Battles explained, "We bought back a record number of shares this year, and we recently received Board approval to expand our existing authorization by $350 million, providing a total of $600 million of remaining capacity." CFO Eric Dugas reported, "Total Q4 revenue increased 5% to $1.5 billion. As Eric highlighted, we surpassed $6 billion in annual revenue for the first time in the company's history in just 3 years after surpassing the $5 billion mark in 2022....

Earnings Call Insights: Quad/Graphics, Inc. (QUAD) Q4 2025 Management View J. Joel Quadracci, Chairman & CEO, reported that "in 2025, we achieved our full year financial guidance. Despite a planned reduction in reported sales, we generated strong cash flow, enabling us to make targeted investments that support long-term growth, reduce debt and provide strong shareholder returns." Quadracci highlighted progress in revenue diversification, with targeted print categories, including packaging and in-store marketing, experiencing net sales growth and direct mail performing above expectations. He underscored the successful expansion of agency work, noting recent high-profile campaigns and partnerships with brands such as Aldi, CLR, Gallo, Scandinavia Designs, Valvoline Instant Oil Change, and Gorilla Glue Company. Quadracci announced a 33% increase in the quarterly dividend to $0.10 per share, or $0.40 per share annualized, citing a focus on long-term shareholder value. He also discussed continued investments in AI-powered automation, which is improving productivity and enhancing client marketing efficiency. He described the completed integration of Enru's co-mail volume and high-density capabilities as expanding savings for clients amid high postal costs. The company promoted Dave Honan to President in addition to COO, with Quadracci stating, "Dave and I have worked closely together for 17 years, developing a trusted, highly effective partnership grounded in a shared vision and strategy for Quad." Julie Currie was also appointed as Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer, aligning marketing and sales under one leader. Anthony Staniak, CFO & Treasurer, stated, "Net sales were $631 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, a decrease of 5.7% compared to the fourth quarter of 2024 when excluding the divestiture of our European operations." Staniak noted full year net sales of $2.4 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $196 million. He highlighted share repurchases, a $0.36...

格隆汇2月19日｜美联储理事鲍曼：最新就业报告有点奇怪，大多数其他指标并未显示出如此强劲的劳动力市场。

格隆汇2月19日｜美国政府官员：美国国立卫生研究院院长将临时接管疾控中心。

格隆汇2月19日｜美国20年期国债收益率在拍卖后延续涨势，日内涨3.2个基点，至4.661%。

AI giant Palantir moves its headquarters to Florida as tech company exodus continues AOL.com

Alphabet Inc．旗下谷歌与苹果公司正将音乐类生成式人工智能功能引入其核心消费者应用，此举凸显了先进的AI工具在步入主流使用。 谷歌周三在博客文章中表示，Gemini人工智能助手现可基于用户上传的文本、照片或视频，利用Google DeepMind最新的Lyria 3模型生成30秒的音乐曲目。该功能可生成定制歌词或纯音乐音频，将向18岁以上用户开放，并支持多种语言。谷歌表示，新功能将在Gemini桌面版率先推出，并将在未来几天登陆移动应用。 谷歌还表示，其广受欢迎的图像生成模型Nano Banana将为音乐作品生成定制封面，在用户分享曲目链接时添加视觉效果。 在移动应用中加入音频创作工具有望加强谷歌相对OpenAI旗下ChatGPT的竞争力。谷歌去年11月发布的Gemini 3模型获得投资者和用户的广泛好评，促使OpenAI首席执行官Sam Altman拉响“红色警报”，推动加快ChatGPT研发。 与此同时，苹果本周表示，用户很快可以利用人工智能在Apple Music创建播放列表。这一名为“Playlist Playground”的功能通过Apple Intelligence将文本提示转化为包含封面图、描述及25首歌曲的播放列表。该功能包含在周一发布测试版的iOS 26.4中，并将于今年春季更广泛推出。Apple Music的新功能将与Spotify Technology SA的类似产品展开竞争。 谷歌旗下Gemini AI助手可以根据用户提供的文本提示生成自定义音乐曲目 责任编辑：丁文武

spawns/iStock via Getty Images High-yielding, diversified, durable, passive, and monthly-paying income machines are among the most ideal investments for those looking to retire on passive income from dividends. There are several reasons for this. First of all, when you're able to generate a durable high yield, it means that either you need less to be able to retire, you need less principal saved up to be able to retire, or you can enjoy a higher standard of living in retirement, or possibly some combination of the two. Additionally, if it is well diversified, that further helps you to sleep well at night knowing that your holdings are spread across numerous companies, sectors, and geographies, making you less exposed to any single negative macro or microeconomic shock. Finally, if they are passive instruments and they pay monthly, this means that you do not have to spend much time or effort monitoring and maintaining your investment, and the monthly paychecks align nicely with many living expenses in retirement. With this in view, in this article, I detail two funds that check all these boxes and are also positioned to deliver outsized total return performance relative to their underlying sectors moving forward. A 7% Yielding Infrastructure Fund Trading at a Rare Discount The first option I'm going to discuss is the Cohen & Steers Infrastructure Fund ( UTF ). It currently pays out a 7% monthly yield backed by a well-diversified portfolio of infrastructure assets. What makes it especially attractive at the moment is that it trades at around a 7% discount to its NAV, despite only trading at about a 0.84% average discount to NAV over the past year. Thus, in UTF, you're buying a high-quality, actively managed infrastructure portfolio with one of the widest discounts that has been seen in a while. Not only that, but its underlying dividend, which is paid out monthly, was sustained at its current level through the COVID shutdown, proving the resilience of its portfolio an...

Key PointsThis International High Dividend Yield ETF is beating its traditional ex-U.S. counterpart.

Do you need reliable investment income in the near and distant future? Dividend stocks are the way to go. If you pick the right ones, not only will they provide the cash flow you're looking for, but their dividend payments will at least keep pace with inflation (if not exceed it). To this end, here's a closer look at three top dividend stocks you can feel good about buying today and holding onto forever. You probably know Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ: ADP) as a payroll processor, which -- given the ever-growing functionality of artificial intelligence (AI) -- seems like a vulnerability. That's far from all that ADP is anymore though. Its personnel management offerings ranging from benefits administration, employee time card solutions, and recruitment (and more) all require too much hands-on involvement from real people to punt this work to an AI platform. Indeed, Automatic Data Processing is embracing the power of AI specifically with human resources (HR) personnel in mind. Continue reading

Advantech (TWSE: 2395), a global leader in embedded and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, will showcase its latest healthcare AI innovations at the HIMSS 2026 Global Health Conference & Exhibition, March 9–12, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada. At Booth 3056, attendees can experience live demonstrations showing how AI-ready medical platforms enable real-time clinical intelligence and efficient point-of-care workflows.

Denise Sides was selected from hundreds of applicants to take part in the Opalite video.

By mid-February, the S&P 500 energy sector ( XLE ) moved 22% in the upward direction this year supported by a 13% rise in crude oil futures ( CL1:COM ) over potential disruption in global crude supply. Against this backdrop, short interest trends among mid, large and mega-cap energy stocks show a wide divergence. Solaris Energy Infrastructure ( SEI ) was the most shorted stock in mid-February, while MPLX ( MPLX ) was the least shorted stock. Most shorted energy stocks as of mid-February: Solaris Energy Infrastructure ( SEI ) 25.81% Centrus Energy ( LEU ) 24.12% Delek US Holdings ( DK ) 20.25% Northern Oil and Gas ( NOG ) 19.43% PBF Energy ( PBF ) 16.44% Least shorted energy stocks as of mid-February: MPLX ( MPLX ) 0.72%, unchanged from last month. Alliance Resource Partners ( ARLP ) 0.90% Energy Transfer ( ET ) 0.92% Mach Natural Resources ( MNR ) 0.98% Chevron Corp ( CVX ) 1.07% More on State Street® Energy Select Sector SPDR® ETF The Great Commoditization: How To Invest In A Post-AI World XLE: A Fund Whose Time Has Come XLE: Energy Stocks Remain A Strong Buy Long Term (Technical Analysis) Top large-cap energy stocks ranked by lowest RSI Top 10 mid-cap energy stocks ranked based on their lowest RSI

Rackspace and Palantir Technologies Launch Strategic AI Deployment Partnership MLQ.ai

Nurphoto | Getty Images Anthropic is at odds with the Department of Defense over how its artificial intelligence models should be used, and its work with the agency is "under review," a Pentagon spokesperson told CNBC. The five-year-old startup was awarded a $200 million contract with the DoD last year. As of February, Anthropic is the only AI company that has deployed its models on the agency's classified networks and provided customized models to national security customers. But negotiations about "going forward" terms of use have hit a snag, Emil Michael, the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering, said at a defense summit in Florida on Tuesday. Anthropic wants assurance that its models will not be used for autonomous weapons or to "spy on Americans en masse," according to a report from Axios. The DoD, by contrast, wants to use Anthropic's models "for all lawful use cases" without limitation. "If any one company doesn't want to accommodate that, that's a problem for us," Michael said. "It could create a dynamic where we start using them and get used to how those models work, and when it comes that we need to use it in an urgent situation, we're prevented from using it." It's the latest wrinkle in Anthropic's increasingly fraught relationship with the Trump administration, which has publicly criticized the company in recent months. David Sacks , the venture capitalist serving as the administration's AI and crypto czar, has accused Anthropic of supporting "woke AI" because of its stance on regulation. Read more CNBC tech news Snap to launch creator subscriptions in push to diversify revenue Alibaba unveils Qwen3.5 as China's chatbot race shifts to AI agents ByteDance says it will add safeguards to Seedance 2.0 following Hollywood backlash Anthropic got an 11% user boost from its OpenAI-bashing Super Bowl ad, data shows An Anthropic spokesperson said the company is having "productive conversations, in good faith" with the DoD about how to "get these com...

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker proposed an approximately $56 billion budget for the coming year as the state faces higher costs and more uncertainty around federal funding under President Donald Trump. Pritzker on Wednesday laid out a revenue proposal that counts on rising individual income tax collections and a proposed new fee on social media tech companies to help cover increasing costs for items including pensions, public safety and education. The Democrat warned about potential funding cuts by the federal government, which he has underscored since Trump came back to the White House in early 2025. More recently, his budget office noted “ unprecedented ” budgetary pressures as the federal government shifts more costs to states. “Over the last year, there have been nearly weekly threats to cut federal funding to state and local government partners, which have led to court challenges and uncertainty,” according to the fiscal 2027 budget presentation on Wednesday. Still, Pritzker’s budget expects about $4.1 billion from the federal government for the state’s general funds in the coming year, little changed from this year, according to budget documents. Meanwhile, there’s the risk of a potential impact of federal actions on Illinois reaching $1.7 billion including policy changes and funding freezes that are currently in court. Illinois is already expecting $587 million less in revenue for the year through June 30, due to some provisions in Trump’s signature tax-cut legislation that largely mean less collections from corporations, according to the update to its economic and fiscal policy report initially issued in October. The administration identified about $481.6 million in savings during the year through June 30 to put into reserves from various state agencies to provide budget stability amid the risk of federal cuts. The loss of federal funding for any key program is likely to be a big hit for Illinois, especially given large costs for its underfunded pensions. Spe...

Novelist George RR Martin says RSC is ‘obvious choice’ to put on new play The Mad King, which will open after spring A new prequel to George RR Martin’s blockbuster fantasy saga Game of Thrones is to be staged this summer by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. The bestselling author, whose novels have been turned into a juggernaut TV franchise, said the RSC was the “obvious choice” to put on the play, Game of Thrones: The Mad King, because Shakespeare had been a constant source of inspiration to him. “Not only that, he faced similar challenges in how to put a battle on stage,” added Martin. “So we are in good company.” Continue reading...