UPS (NYSE:UPS) is facing a legal challenge from the Teamsters over its new Driver Choice Program, with the union seeking a preliminary injunction. The Teamsters allege the program violates the national master agreement, weakens union rights, and involves direct dealing with drivers. UPS has also announced plans to close 22 union staffed facilities across 18 states and cut up to 30,000 positions ti...
UPS (NYSE:UPS) is facing a legal challenge from the Teamsters over its new Driver Choice Program, with the union seeking a preliminary injunction. The Teamsters allege the program violates the national master agreement, weakens union rights, and involves direct dealing with drivers. UPS has also announced plans to close 22 union staffed facilities across 18 states and cut up to 30,000 positions tied to reduced Amazon related business. For a company as central to global parcel and freight...
Lemon_tm/iStock via Getty Images Market Environment Japanese equities rose during the quarter due to a confluence of factors including the Bank of Japan (BoJ) raising interest rates to 0.75%, corporate governance reforms and continued enthusiasm around the global AI boom. The BoJ's interest rate hike puts it at its highest level in 30 years and it signaled that further increases are on the horizon...
Lemon_tm/iStock via Getty Images Market Environment Japanese equities rose during the quarter due to a confluence of factors including the Bank of Japan (BoJ) raising interest rates to 0.75%, corporate governance reforms and continued enthusiasm around the global AI boom. The BoJ's interest rate hike puts it at its highest level in 30 years and it signaled that further increases are on the horizon as it closely monitors wage growth and inflation. Although we are not macro experts, we retain our view that Japan has exited its multi-decade period of deflation, and interest rates will normalize over the medium term. Portfolio Performance The portfolio's return was 0.69% ( NET ) for the reporting period. This compares to the MSCI Japan Index ( NET ) that returned 3.23% for the same period. Performance highlights Contributors Fujitsu ( FJTSF ) SMC ( SMCAY ) Sumitomo Mitsui Financial ( SMFG ) Detractors Asahi Group Holdings ( ASBRF ) OMRON ( OMRNY ) Komatsu ( KMTUY ) Top contributors: Fujitsu was a contributor during the quarter. The Japan-headquartered technology equipment and solutions company's stock price rose after it posted earnings that beat consensus expectations and announced an expanded collaboration with Nvidia to build a full-stack AI infrastructure. Operating Profit was a highlight of the earnings, and investors were also excited to hear about Fujitsu's acquisition of a majority stake in Brainpad, which should deliver meaningful synergies and enable it to leverage the company's expertise for its own customer base. We appreciate management's focus on improving its return on equity and believe shareholder returns could improve over time. SMC was a contributor during the quarter. The Japan-headquartered industrial machinery and supplies company's stock price rose as it reported in-line earnings. Management reduced guidance, but the stock still rose, as the numbers had been ambitious and some investors were expecting a larger cut. Positively, order trends are imp...
Who Exactly Is Going To Be Earning More With AI? By Michael Every of Rabobank May The Warsh Be With You After having written about AI for two days in a row, it wasn’t the intention to do so again today. However, developments on the ground are accelerating while those responsible for dealing with the fallout are failing to understand what the immediate implications are. Two short movies were just m...
Who Exactly Is Going To Be Earning More With AI? By Michael Every of Rabobank May The Warsh Be With You After having written about AI for two days in a row, it wasn’t the intention to do so again today. However, developments on the ground are accelerating while those responsible for dealing with the fallout are failing to understand what the immediate implications are. Two short movies were just made with AI for pennies, in hours, both more entertaining than anything Hollywood has splurged onto our screens in some time. ( The latest trailer for ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ underlines Hollywood no longer understands movie- and myth-making, or even The Force behind fonts .) Indeed, Warner Brothers, Paramount, and Netflix are standing in a circle like the gunfighters at the end of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (which IS a great movie),… as a giant T-Rex in sunglasses parachutes in to a heavy metal soundtrack to eat them. Another video showed Chinese robots doing acrobatic kung fu, when their Russian equivalent fell off the stage at its launch as if after too much vodka. Robots like that can do almost any job, 24/7, faster and better than humans. That includes soldiery. With AI, they can learn from us then teach themselves. That’s as serious as a giant T-Rex in sunglasses is trivial. The Fed’s Barr and Daley addressed AI yesterday. The headline, written by Bloomberg AI , is that neither think this potential revolution makes the case for lower rates. That places them in stark opposition to Fed Chair nominee Warsh even before he gets appointed, and even before other areas of controversy arise within the FOMC, which they will. Barr’s main argument is that AI means the demand for capital would rise because of strong business investment, while “household savings could fall due to expectations of stronger real wage growth and thus higher lifetime earnings.” Daley noted higher growth would dictate a higher neutral rate in “the standard model” because “the demand for investmen...
Hi there, it’s Matt Day in Seattle. Amazon’s satellite business, in purgatory between beta testing and a full rollout of its broadband-from-space service, notched two milestones last week. But first... Three things you need to know today: • SpaceX said to weigh dual-class IPO shares to empower Musk. • Pentagon contest for drone technology includes SpaceX, xAI. • Phantom Space’s Jim Cantrell discus...
Hi there, it’s Matt Day in Seattle. Amazon’s satellite business, in purgatory between beta testing and a full rollout of its broadband-from-space service, notched two milestones last week. But first... Three things you need to know today: • SpaceX said to weigh dual-class IPO shares to empower Musk. • Pentagon contest for drone technology includes SpaceX, xAI. • Phantom Space’s Jim Cantrell discusses orbital data centers . LEO’s laggard makes its moves Amazon last Thursday launched 32 of its low-Earth orbit communication satellites into space, taking the Amazon Leo fleet to more than 200 spacecraft. And the company won a federal regulator’s blessing to send up about 4,500 more satellites than previously planned, which will allow Leo (formerly known as Project Kuiper) to extend its broadcast range to polar regions and deploy more advanced satellites. That is, if the scheduled rockets materialize. That’s a recurring issue that has hindered the retail and cloud-computing company’s effort to build an alternative to SpaceX’s Starlink, which has more than 9,600 satellites in orbit and more than 10 million active users. Four years after Amazon hired veterans of Elon Musk’s SpaceX to establish its own satellite internet initiative , Amazon booked history’s largest rocket reservation, announcing billions of dollars in commitments to United Launch Alliance, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Arianespace. Those companies were all in the process of rolling out new, untested launch vehicles. As is custom in the space business, all were delayed. The Ariane 6 rocket that took off from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana on Thursday made its inaugural flight in 2024, years behind schedule, and is still not at its full launch cadence. Amazon is counting on Ariane 6 as well as new rockets from ULA and Blue Origin — which also have suffered through many delays — to amp up, but just in case Amazon late last year quietly scooped up an additional 10 launches with Musk’s SpaceX, t...
As Ramadan begins, traditional lanterns called fawanees brighten Cairo. They have become a symbol of Ramadan and are an almost-mandatory home decoration for the holy month in Egypt.
As Ramadan begins, traditional lanterns called fawanees brighten Cairo. They have become a symbol of Ramadan and are an almost-mandatory home decoration for the holy month in Egypt.
Liberty Global press release ( LBTYK ): Q4 Adjusted EBITDA of £965.4 million, -2.4% YoY on a reported and rebased basis. Revenue of $1.23B (+9.8% Y/Y) beats by $30M . Broadband net losses of 16,700, a sequential improvement despite continued intense competition Postpaid net losses of 164,800, primarily driven by elevated churn during the 30-day exit window following the October price rise announce...
Liberty Global press release ( LBTYK ): Q4 Adjusted EBITDA of £965.4 million, -2.4% YoY on a reported and rebased basis. Revenue of $1.23B (+9.8% Y/Y) beats by $30M . Broadband net losses of 16,700, a sequential improvement despite continued intense competition Postpaid net losses of 164,800, primarily driven by elevated churn during the 30-day exit window following the October price rise announcement Fixed ARPU declined by 0.8% YoY due to pricing pressure, in particular during the Black Friday period More on Liberty Global Liberty Global Ltd. 2025 Q4 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation Liberty snaps up Vodafone's Dutch JV stake, buys UK fiber provider with consortium Liberty Global Class B shares spike in heavy volume Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Liberty Global Historical earnings data for Liberty Global
Kristy Sparow/Getty Images Entertainment Disney ( DIS ) finally named a new Chief Executive Officer...Josh D'Amaro. He previously ran the Mouse's theme parks and experiences segment. In addition, Dana Walden, was named CCO, Chief Creative Officer, for the company. This succession choice is a classic case in media: two executives who complement each other, with D'Amaro leading the business decision...
Kristy Sparow/Getty Images Entertainment Disney ( DIS ) finally named a new Chief Executive Officer...Josh D'Amaro. He previously ran the Mouse's theme parks and experiences segment. In addition, Dana Walden, was named CCO, Chief Creative Officer, for the company. This succession choice is a classic case in media: two executives who complement each other, with D'Amaro leading the business decisions while Walden will have a lot of influence over the decisions related to movie/episodic greenlights and talent relations (don't underestimate her responsibilities...they will turn out to be very important). In this article, I'd like to briefly cover my thoughts on the new management team, as well as comment on a few aspects of the recent earnings report. I last wrote about Disney stock quite a while back in May 2025 . I am still bullish on the stock long term, but I have become more convinced than ever that price action is going to remain stymied for a while. I also have a similar valuation analysis, except I've ratcheted down my extreme-bull case for price even if earnings are consistently beat. Without a doubt, this is not a momentum trade, and I have a feeling we won't see a true, absolutely confirmed, long-term bullish reversal any time soon (I of course could be wrong on that, I hope!). Valuation may remain compelling, but we all know value stocks may stay valuable for a long time indeed. Will A New CEO/Management Team Change Sentiment? The answer to that question depends...what is the vision of the new CEO and new creative head? There certainly is some investor excitement/curiosity around the appointment, and the concept of new ideas in the offing from a change in leadership. This SA article is an example of such. But so far price action has been muted for the most part. Yes, there is noise from increased volatility as rotation takes place, and there was a recent earnings report to digest; nevertheless, investors are possibly taking a wait-and-see approach to D'Amaro...
Lean hog futures were rallying back on Tuesday, with contracts up $1.02 to 1.30 at the close. Open interest on Tuesday was up 964 contracts, mainly in the June contract. USDA’s national base hog price was reported at $88.23 on Tuesday afternoon, up $2.99 from the day prior. The CME...
Lean hog futures were rallying back on Tuesday, with contracts up $1.02 to 1.30 at the close. Open interest on Tuesday was up 964 contracts, mainly in the June contract. USDA’s national base hog price was reported at $88.23 on Tuesday afternoon, up $2.99 from the day prior. The CME...
Corn price action is up fractionally to 1 ½ cents so far on Wednesday. Futures closed Tuesday with contracts falling 5 to 6 ¼ cents. Open interest was down 788 contracts on Tuesday, as the roll out of March continues, down 30,524 contracts. March options expire on Friday. The CmdtyView...
Corn price action is up fractionally to 1 ½ cents so far on Wednesday. Futures closed Tuesday with contracts falling 5 to 6 ¼ cents. Open interest was down 788 contracts on Tuesday, as the roll out of March continues, down 30,524 contracts. March options expire on Friday. The CmdtyView...
Live cattle futures posted gains of $2.30 to $3.47. Despite the strength open interest was down just 276 contracts, suggesting a rotation of ownership. Cash trade was slow to get kicked off this week, as things settled in at 245-246 in the North and up to $248-249 in the South....
Live cattle futures posted gains of $2.30 to $3.47. Despite the strength open interest was down just 276 contracts, suggesting a rotation of ownership. Cash trade was slow to get kicked off this week, as things settled in at 245-246 in the North and up to $248-249 in the South....
(RTTNews) - A report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed a sharp increase in new residential construction in the U.S. in the month of December.
(RTTNews) - A report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed a sharp increase in new residential construction in the U.S. in the month of December.
Image source: The Motley Fool. Wednesday, February 18, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. ET Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email pr@fool.com Continue reading
Image source: The Motley Fool. Wednesday, February 18, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. ET Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email pr@fool.com Continue reading
wildpixel/iStock via Getty Images ImmunityBio ( IBRX ) traded higher on Wednesday after the European Commission issued a conditional marketing authorization for its bladder cancer therapy, Anktiva, expanding its use in more than two dozen EU countries. The decision came after an expert panel of the EU drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, endorsed the immunotherapy in December as part of ...
wildpixel/iStock via Getty Images ImmunityBio ( IBRX ) traded higher on Wednesday after the European Commission issued a conditional marketing authorization for its bladder cancer therapy, Anktiva, expanding its use in more than two dozen EU countries. The decision came after an expert panel of the EU drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, endorsed the immunotherapy in December as part of a combination regimen for a type of invasive bladder cancer. Specifically, the authorization allows the company to market Anktiva across 27 countries in combination with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) for adults with BCG-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. As part of the condition approval, which was based on IBRX’s Phase 2/3 QUILT-3.032 study, ImmunityBio ( IBRX ) is required to provide EU regulators with long-term safety and efficacy data related to Anktiva . More on ImmunityBio ImmunityBio: The Story Surrounding Anktiva So Far ImmunityBio: Making Strides, But Beware The Hype (Rating Downgrade) ImmunityBio, Inc. (IBRX) Presents at 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference Transcript ImmunityBio rally causes $492M paper losses for short sellers ImmunityBio extends gains after FDA views on Anktiva label expansion
For the most part, analysts across Wall Street maintained their long-term bullishness on shares of Cadence Design Systems , following its fourth-quarter earnings release, calling threats of artificial intelligence disruption overblown. On Tuesday afternoon, the electronic systems designer reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.99 per share, surpassing the $1.91 analysts polled by FactSet ...
For the most part, analysts across Wall Street maintained their long-term bullishness on shares of Cadence Design Systems , following its fourth-quarter earnings release, calling threats of artificial intelligence disruption overblown. On Tuesday afternoon, the electronic systems designer reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.99 per share, surpassing the $1.91 analysts polled by FactSet had expected. Cadence's $1.44 billion revenue also exceeded the consensus forecast of $1.42 billion. Cadence estimated full-year earnings will also come in higher than anticipated. Revenue for its current quarter should land between $1.42 billion and $1.46 billion, above analysts' expectations of $1.38 billion. Cadence has been swept up in the broader software sell-off this year, with the stock down 9% in 2026. But shares were already rebounding 7% higher as analysts applauded Cadence's protection from AI threats. "While there are general concerns about AI disrupting the software business model, both we and the team believe that chip design software is highly complex and not easily replicated, benefiting from strong technology, a strong customer/ ecosystem network, and a significant data moat. Instead, AI should enable Cadence to unlock better automation capabilities for customers and drive improved monetization," JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur wrote. "Cadence noted agentic AI workflows at customers are increasing the use of its software and is not engaged in customer discussions to reduce [electronic design automation]. Cadence is adding extra tools to automate the [register transfer level] coding process (manual), while noting the chip design process still requires existing tools such as verification, simulation, etc," wrote Wells Fargo analyst Joe Quatrochi. "We would view this positively, and we'll be interested in better understanding Cadence's 'usage / outcome-based' pricing of its AI tools." Bottom line, most analysts maintained their long-term bullish stance, although ...
Treasury spokesperson says disability benefits would also be limited under Reform, but Bank of England would stay independent UK politics live – latest updates Reform UK would restore the two-child benefit cap in full, Robert Jenrick has announced, in a major U-turn for the party that critics said would plunge hundreds of thousands of children into poverty. In his first speech as Reform’s Treasury...
Treasury spokesperson says disability benefits would also be limited under Reform, but Bank of England would stay independent UK politics live – latest updates Reform UK would restore the two-child benefit cap in full, Robert Jenrick has announced, in a major U-turn for the party that critics said would plunge hundreds of thousands of children into poverty. In his first speech as Reform’s Treasury spokesperson, Jenrick said the party had changed tack since Nigel Farage last year said he would scrap the two-child limit and suggested his party wanted to go “much further to encourage people to have children”. Continue reading...