Both the VanEck Short Muni ETF (NYSEMKT:SMB) and iShares 1-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (NASDAQ:IGSB) are designed for investors seeking relatively low-duration bond exposure, but their approaches diverge. SMB tracks short-term tax-exempt municipal bonds, while IGSB tracks investment-grade U.S. corporate bonds . The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months. Con...
Both the VanEck Short Muni ETF (NYSEMKT:SMB) and iShares 1-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (NASDAQ:IGSB) are designed for investors seeking relatively low-duration bond exposure, but their approaches diverge. SMB tracks short-term tax-exempt municipal bonds, while IGSB tracks investment-grade U.S. corporate bonds . The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months. Continue reading
Walmart is enjoying a renaissance as shoppers increasingly shift spending from high-cost rivals to its superstores, while a major e-commerce reset challenges Amazon's dominance. New data from Placer.ai shows customer visits are surging, creating a tailwind that is reshaping retail and capturing ...
Walmart is enjoying a renaissance as shoppers increasingly shift spending from high-cost rivals to its superstores, while a major e-commerce reset challenges Amazon's dominance. New data from Placer.ai shows customer visits are surging, creating a tailwind that is reshaping retail and capturing ...
imaginima/iStock via Getty Images My thesis Noah Holdings Limited ( NOAH ), as of the start of 2026, presents itself as an asset management company that very successfully transformed its business model, managing to lower its dependency on China‘s real estate sector and shadow banking products. The main investment thesis is built on the company's strategic shift towards standardized investment prod...
imaginima/iStock via Getty Images My thesis Noah Holdings Limited ( NOAH ), as of the start of 2026, presents itself as an asset management company that very successfully transformed its business model, managing to lower its dependency on China‘s real estate sector and shadow banking products. The main investment thesis is built on the company's strategic shift towards standardized investment products, as well as aggressive international expansion intended to serve the global Chinese-speaking community and high-net-worth individuals. Financially, NOAH stands out with its strong balance sheet. The company has historically had significant amounts of cash and short-term investments, which usually make up a big part of the whole market capitalization, giving fundamental safety guarantees to value investors. Even though geopolitical risks and China‘s fluctuations in domestic consumption lead to historically low valuation ratios, management‘s commitment to return capital through dividends and share buyback programs shows its trust in the business long term. For investors, this is a classic deep value opportunity, where the market has doubt on China‘s macroeconomic situation and is ignoring real cash flows and a growing international segment. Business model and product rotation Noah Holdings bussiness model is undergoing a fundamental transformation whose axis is a strategic turn from traditional local products with fixed yield to global investment solutions and secondary market instruments. Latest Q3 2025 results showed agressive products rotation. The company sucessfully deacreased their dependency on China‘s domestic insurance product distribution, whose revenues are retreating, and reoriented client flows to foreign investment products, especially mutual funds, as well as private capital secondary market products. This diversification is directly reflected in the revenue structure, where foreign market operations now generate almost half of total net revenue. The compa...
Hong Kong’s transport chief has pledged to fully review the ill-fated mandatory seat belt rule for bus passengers, including improving strap designs and examining possible exemptions, before relaunching the policy. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said on Sunday the government would adopt a four-pronged approach to address public concerns over the requirement, starting by working w...
Hong Kong’s transport chief has pledged to fully review the ill-fated mandatory seat belt rule for bus passengers, including improving strap designs and examining possible exemptions, before relaunching the policy. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said on Sunday the government would adopt a four-pronged approach to address public concerns over the requirement, starting by working with franchised bus operators to improve the installation, design and maintenance of seat belts to...
Australian hits out at online trolls who have targeted her appearance Former prodigy to call time on professional career at end of 2026 Australia’s Destanee Aiava has announced her plans to retire from professional tennis in a scathing and expletive-laden statement on social media. The 25-year-old hit out at a tennis culture she said was “racist, misogynistic, homophobic and hostile to anyone who ...
Australian hits out at online trolls who have targeted her appearance Former prodigy to call time on professional career at end of 2026 Australia’s Destanee Aiava has announced her plans to retire from professional tennis in a scathing and expletive-laden statement on social media. The 25-year-old hit out at a tennis culture she said was “racist, misogynistic, homophobic and hostile to anyone who doesn’t fit the mould”, as she revealed plans to call time on her playing career at the end of 2026. Continue reading...
PM Images/DigitalVision via Getty Images Overview Market indices continue to retreat from their all time highs due to uncertainty around the technology markets and how AI will impact businesses. While investors that are invested in traditional equities are dealing with this volatility, income investors may see greater success preserving their capital. This is where the First Trust Intermediate Dur...
PM Images/DigitalVision via Getty Images Overview Market indices continue to retreat from their all time highs due to uncertainty around the technology markets and how AI will impact businesses. While investors that are invested in traditional equities are dealing with this volatility, income investors may see greater success preserving their capital. This is where the First Trust Intermediate Duration Preferred ( FPF ) comes in, since I believe it can be a valuable long-term holding for an investor seeking stability. When I previously covered FPF, I issued a hold rating due to its inconsistent dividend coverage. However, the fund has released an updated annual report for 2025, which prompted me to revisit FPF's current value proposition now that we've crossed into the new year. Looking at the performance over the last twelve months, we can see that FPF's share price has increased by about 2.1%. The fund has demonstrated its ability to recover from the prior year's market decline and provide resilience for investors. When including all distributions that were paid out to shareholders, the total return jumps up to about 10.8% over the same time frame. FPF now offers investors a starting dividend yield of 8.7%, while issuing payouts on a monthly basis. Although the fund's earnings can wildly vary, I believe that dividend will remain unchanged for the next twelve months based on the latest annual report. Data by YCharts The latest annual report provides some confidence that the fund's portfolio strategy can remain resilient during a scenario where we see heightened market volatility and uncertainty. Despite the appeal, there are still some flaws and tradeoffs that investors should consider before initiating a position. For instance, FPF isn't structurally capable of participating in market rallies, which is likely to lead to underperformance over a longer holding period. So let's start by taking a look at the underlying strategy that FPF implements to generate its earn...
Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) is facing securities class action lawsuits tied to its disclosures on AI infrastructure spending and its financial impact. At the same time, the company has secured large government work, including an $88 million U.S. Air Force contract and multiple cloud migration deals. Oracle has also launched new healthcare AI products in the UK, expanding its AI related footprint in the sec...
Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) is facing securities class action lawsuits tied to its disclosures on AI infrastructure spending and its financial impact. At the same time, the company has secured large government work, including an $88 million U.S. Air Force contract and multiple cloud migration deals. Oracle has also launched new healthcare AI products in the UK, expanding its AI related footprint in the sector. Oracle operates at the intersection of traditional enterprise software and fast growing...
Lavrov Soberly Acknowledged The Challenges Posed By Trump 2.0 Authored by Andrew Korybko, He calmly acknowledged that it’s now more difficult for Russia to advance its foreign policy goals due to the US’ renewed attempt to dominate the global economy through coercion and force, but he still believes that BRICS will play a pivotal role in furthering the global systemic transition to multipolarity. ...
Lavrov Soberly Acknowledged The Challenges Posed By Trump 2.0 Authored by Andrew Korybko, He calmly acknowledged that it’s now more difficult for Russia to advance its foreign policy goals due to the US’ renewed attempt to dominate the global economy through coercion and force, but he still believes that BRICS will play a pivotal role in furthering the global systemic transition to multipolarity. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently gave an interview to TV BRICS about their namesake organization and its role in the global systemic transition. He began by contextualizing the present moment in history as the interim period between the decline of US-led Western hegemony and the rise of multiple centers of power and influence. These inverse trends have led to friction because “the West is losing its hegemony but keeps on clinging to the institutions set up to secure that hegemony”. The US can no longer fairly compete within the ‘rules-based order’ shaped by none other than itself several generations ago so it’s resorting to “blatantly unfair methods” against its rivals, especially Russia. This includes sanctioning its energy companies, weaponizing sanctions threats against its “major strategic partners” like India (whom Lavrov specified) “to restrict Russia’s trade, investment cooperation, and military-technical ties” with them, and opposing the creation of alternative platforms of any kind. On that last point, Lavrov clarified that “We are not advocating for the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO to cease their existence” and that “President Putin has said on many occasions that we are not the ones refusing to use the dollar . The United States under President Joe Biden did everything to make the dollar a weapon against those who are deemed objectionable. ” BRICS , its proposed economic-financial tools, and other alternative platforms are only meant to complement existing ones and induce reform therein. Russia’s top diplomat soberly acknowledged that “given the...