toddarbini/E+ via Getty Images Background I have followed US refiners for several years with published analyses on the industry's earnings and outlook , top refiners on relative value , and a hold recommendation on HF Sinclair Corporation ( DINO ). For some reason that I can't explain and by way a a perfectly good metaphor, I associate oil refineries with hayfields and baling hay. I grew up in Ups...
toddarbini/E+ via Getty Images Background I have followed US refiners for several years with published analyses on the industry's earnings and outlook , top refiners on relative value , and a hold recommendation on HF Sinclair Corporation ( DINO ). For some reason that I can't explain and by way a a perfectly good metaphor, I associate oil refineries with hayfields and baling hay. I grew up in Upstate New York when cutting hay was still a community event and a kid could make a few bucks helping neighbors bale hay. Not all hay harvests are equal; an exceptionally productive harvest requires lots of rain and sunny days followed by three to four clear days to cut, dry, and bale the hay. Oil refining is equally fickle; refining is most profitable when oil prices are elevated, gasoline demand remains robust, and crack spreads are high. Crack Spread Explained and Recent Trends A refiner's margin is largely dependent on its crack spread; the difference between the cost of crude oil on the input side of a refiner's catalytic cracker versus the price of gasoline and diesel on the output side of the cracker. A simplified approach is the 3-2-1 crack spread model with input of three barrels of oil and output of two barrels of gasoline and one barrel of diesel. The crack spread or margin is the difference between the value of the gasoline and diesel produced and the cost of crude oil. Author Assuming WTI crude and NY Harbor spot fuel prices, the 3-2-1 crack spread has nearly doubled from $82.30 on January 1st to 159.70 per three barrels of oil on March 27th. This equates to $0.65 versus $1.65 per gallon of fuel. As crude oil prices drive crack spread, crack spread drive refiners' margins and share prices. Broader Trends Historic trailing twelve month revenues and share prices of the three largest US refiners Valero Energy Corporation ( VLO ), Phillips 66 ( PSX ), and Marathon Petroleum Corporation ( MPC ) are plotted above WTI Crude ( CL1:COM ) below. Peak crude oil, peak revenu...
Apple Stock (AAPL) Gets a Rare ‘Sell’ Rating from 5-Star Barclays Analyst, Says ‘iPhone Unit Trends Remain Soft’ & ‘Valuation Remains at the High End’ TipRanks
Apple Stock (AAPL) Gets a Rare ‘Sell’ Rating from 5-Star Barclays Analyst, Says ‘iPhone Unit Trends Remain Soft’ & ‘Valuation Remains at the High End’ TipRanks
Apple Stock (AAPL) Gets a Rare ‘Sell’ Rating from 5-Star Barclays Analyst, Says ‘iPhone Unit Trends Remain Soft’ & ‘Valuation Remains at the High End’ tipranks.com
Apple Stock (AAPL) Gets a Rare ‘Sell’ Rating from 5-Star Barclays Analyst, Says ‘iPhone Unit Trends Remain Soft’ & ‘Valuation Remains at the High End’ tipranks.com
SlavkoSereda/iStock via Getty Images Portfolio Changes in February Net investment activity in February came in at $877 and has decelerated further as the war on Iran is progressing. It is a catastrophic development for the global economy and its repercussions are only beginning to get felt around the world. Fuel shortages in South East Asia, plants slowing down production in India due to fertilize...
SlavkoSereda/iStock via Getty Images Portfolio Changes in February Net investment activity in February came in at $877 and has decelerated further as the war on Iran is progressing. It is a catastrophic development for the global economy and its repercussions are only beginning to get felt around the world. Fuel shortages in South East Asia, plants slowing down production in India due to fertilizer shortage or the semi industry warning about shortages in Helium may only be the beginning as the Strait of Hormuz is now currently controlled by Iran. This is a pretty bad investment climate, obviously and unless negotiations actually happen and succeed, the impact may be very long-term and lead to much higher inflation. I am a long-term investor so I believe I will ride it out but in the short-to-medium term this could trigger a massive market pullback. Despite retreating 10% from all-time highs, the current reacion feels more like the calm before the storm. The only possive for me as a European holding US stocks is that the stronger dollar leads to higher dividend income in EUR. Against this background I focused my purchases more or less exclusively on BDCs which have been badly beaten this on fears of a collapsing software sector driven by AI. My main picks this month were Ares Capital Corporation ( ARCC ), Owl Rock Capital ( OBDC ) and Hercules Capital ( HTGC ). Altogether, my February purchases only added $65 in annual net dividend income continuing the trend of missing my informal goal of boosting monthly income by around $100. I’m still aiming to make up for it in 2026 - hopefully but I remain highly skeptical of that. Overall, the average yield on cost of my new investments in February came in at around 7.5%. All these purchases break down as follows: Added Dividend Income - February 2026 (Designed by author) All net purchases in February can be found below: Net Purchases February (Designed by author) Dividend Income in February 2026 Yearly Dividend Overview (Desi...
J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images Investment Thesis In my last piece on AppLovin Corporation ( APP ), I wrote that "APP was minting cash while it was growing faster than anyone else in the space." Well, that line has aged well. Only now the numbers are bigger, the margins are fatter, and the market mood is strangely worse. In 4Q 2025, revenue came in at $1.66 billion, which represents a 66%...
J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images Investment Thesis In my last piece on AppLovin Corporation ( APP ), I wrote that "APP was minting cash while it was growing faster than anyone else in the space." Well, that line has aged well. Only now the numbers are bigger, the margins are fatter, and the market mood is strangely worse. In 4Q 2025, revenue came in at $1.66 billion, which represents a 66% y/y increase. Additionally, adjusted EBITDA reached $1.4 billion with an 84% margin, and free cash flow (FCF) hit $1.31 billion. It is also important to mention that management guided 1Q 2026 to another 5% to 7% sequential revenue increase with EBITDA margins holding around 84%. I would say that this is the sort of print that makes most software companies look like they forgot how a P&L works. Adam Foroughi, the CEO, framed the disconnect well when he said that there is "...a real disconnect between market sentiment and the reality of our business..." I agree, and this is why I am reiterating a Strong Buy rating. The fresh part of my thesis is not that Axon exists. I already argued in the previous article that AXON is not a buzzword. And I still believe that. The fresh part is that self-serve is now live and the onboarding funnel is being tested in the real world. And yet, paid marketing against Axon is already showing attractive early economics. And management is learning exactly where the friction points still sit. Now, this matters because it takes the APP story from "the next decade could be big" to "the next phase is starting to become measurable." During the 4Q 2025 earnings report, management said that the self-service platform remains on track for a first-half 2026 broader launch. Also, current customers saw material spend increases, and the newer referral cohort is showing trends that are strong enough to get them excited even before it moves the consolidated numbers in a huge way. To me, this means that the market is debating hypothetical threats while the compan...
Andreswd | E+ | Getty Images Because of the extremely high interest rates , credit cards are one of the most expensive ways to borrow money. Even so, at least one-third of credit card users carry a balance from one month to the next, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. However, a new paper published by the Boston Fed found that when credit card interest rates change, cardholders adjus...
Andreswd | E+ | Getty Images Because of the extremely high interest rates , credit cards are one of the most expensive ways to borrow money. Even so, at least one-third of credit card users carry a balance from one month to the next, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. However, a new paper published by the Boston Fed found that when credit card interest rates change, cardholders adjust their spending accordingly. On average, a 1 percentage point increase in the annual percentage rate, or APR, on a credit card leads to a roughly 9% drop in credit card spending the following month — which is an "economically meaningful response," the researchers found. When borrowing becomes more expensive and consumers spend less on their cards, they also reduce their debt burden, the report found. Read more CNBC personal finance coverage Boston Fed: Credit card APRs have 'economically meaningful' impact on spending Retirement saver protection rule has died — for the second time More than 7 million student loan borrowers face deadline to leave SAVE plan Department of Labor proposes rules for including alternative assets in 401(k)s 31.5% of car buyers underwater on trade-ins; analyst says amount owed 'troubling' Why your tax refund may look different this year, and what's actually driving it Expecting to fight about money with your partner? You might be wrong: study Belle Burden's 'Strangers' highlights key financial red flags for women Average IRS tax refund is up 10.9%, latest filing data shows 1.4 million filers face tax refund delays amid IRS paper check phaseout Family caregivers now provide $1 trillion worth of care annually, AARP finds Higher gas prices from Iran war could offset Trump's bigger tax refunds Single women see homeownership as 'a wealth-building tool,' economist says Amid March Madness, NY Fed highlights sports betting toll on credit health Social Security benefits can top $100,000 a year for some couples CNBC's Financial Advisor 100: Best financial ad...
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, March 31, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Syntec Optics Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPTX) (“Syntec Optics” or the “Company”), a leading provider of technology products to defense, biomedical, communications, and consumer end-market leaders, today announced it will host a conference call to discuss its financial results and provide a business update on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, at 5:00 p....
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, March 31, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Syntec Optics Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPTX) (“Syntec Optics” or the “Company”), a leading provider of technology products to defense, biomedical, communications, and consumer end-market leaders, today announced it will host a conference call to discuss its financial results and provide a business update on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).
When the AI race started heating up, I waited patiently to see what Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) would do. Maybe the company's large language model (LLM) would soon debut and surpass its rivals. Or, perhaps exciting new AI features or even devices would launch that would propel the company firmly into the AI era. But then, nothing much happened. Instead, Apple disappointed loyalists (and shareholders like...
When the AI race started heating up, I waited patiently to see what Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) would do. Maybe the company's large language model (LLM) would soon debut and surpass its rivals. Or, perhaps exciting new AI features or even devices would launch that would propel the company firmly into the AI era. But then, nothing much happened. Instead, Apple disappointed loyalists (and shareholders like me) with some promises of new Apple Intelligence features that were eventually delayed. Continue reading
In this episode of Rule Breakers , Motley Fool analysts Emily Flippen and Bill Barker face off with 10 companies, 10 market-cap ranges, and one simple question each round: inside or outside? Play along and keep score as you listen--and see if your intuition can meet or beat our two veteran Foolish analysts. To catch full episodes of all The Motley Fool's free podcasts, check out our podcast center...
In this episode of Rule Breakers , Motley Fool analysts Emily Flippen and Bill Barker face off with 10 companies, 10 market-cap ranges, and one simple question each round: inside or outside? Play along and keep score as you listen--and see if your intuition can meet or beat our two veteran Foolish analysts. To catch full episodes of all The Motley Fool's free podcasts, check out our podcast center . When you're ready to invest, check out this top 10 list of stocks to buy . A full transcript is below. Continue reading
Germany’s second-largest lender warned that private credit is now so big, it poses a major risk to the US economy. The market’s “considerable size” and its “inherent lack of transparency” have turned private credit into “a risk for the financial markets,” DZ Bank said in its annual report published Tuesday. “In the event of another financial crisis in the United States, this risk could trigger a c...
Germany’s second-largest lender warned that private credit is now so big, it poses a major risk to the US economy. The market’s “considerable size” and its “inherent lack of transparency” have turned private credit into “a risk for the financial markets,” DZ Bank said in its annual report published Tuesday. “In the event of another financial crisis in the United States, this risk could trigger a chain reaction with severe negative effects for the US economy.” Private credit — a $1.8 trillion industry — has recently been rattled by concerns about overspending on artificial intelligence, the technology’s disruptive power and lending standards more broadly. Several large private credit providers have limited withdrawals from individual funds as investors have sought to pull money. Read More: Private Credit Gate-Crashers Are Forcing Funds Into Brutal Spot Private credit backs many private equity-owned midsize companies. A pullback would make it tougher for lower-rated businesses to refinance, potentially hitting the real economy. The developments have attracted regulatory scrutiny. The European Central Bank will begin a fresh round of checks on banks that it supervises as concerns intensify over loan quality in the private credit sector, people familiar with the matter have said. Several European lenders including Deutsche Bank AG and Societe Generale SA have touted the quality of their exposures to private credit. While the involved executives acknowledged that the asset class could face a bumpy road, they also said they don’t consider it as a systemic risk. DZ Bank had €661 billion ($760 billion) worth of assets at the end of last year , making it the second-biggest lender headquartered in Germany after Deutsche Bank.
Crown Reserve Acquisition ( CRAQ ) will merge with Carvix in an all-stock transaction valuing Carvix at $1.0B. The SPAC will redomicile to Delaware before closing, with the combined company remaining Nasdaq-listed. Crown Reserve aims to raise at least $80M via PIPE and secure a $20M equity line, with $10M minimum cash required at closing. Carvix shareholders may receive up to 50M earnout shares ov...
Crown Reserve Acquisition ( CRAQ ) will merge with Carvix in an all-stock transaction valuing Carvix at $1.0B. The SPAC will redomicile to Delaware before closing, with the combined company remaining Nasdaq-listed. Crown Reserve aims to raise at least $80M via PIPE and secure a $20M equity line, with $10M minimum cash required at closing. Carvix shareholders may receive up to 50M earnout shares over four years tied to revenue and EBITDA targets. The post-merger board will have five members, with Carvix nominating the majority and management staying in place. More on Cal Redwood Acquisition Corp. Financial information for Cal Redwood Acquisition Corp.