In this article NVDA Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT China is focusing on large language models in the artificial intelligence space. Blackdovfx | Istock | Getty Images China's rapid advancement in AI is threatening to shake up U.S. dominance in the market, with one analyst warning of a tech shock that is just getting started. Rory Green, TS Lombard's chief China economist and head...
In this article NVDA Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT China is focusing on large language models in the artificial intelligence space. Blackdovfx | Istock | Getty Images China's rapid advancement in AI is threatening to shake up U.S. dominance in the market, with one analyst warning of a tech shock that is just getting started. Rory Green, TS Lombard's chief China economist and head of Asia research, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Monday that America's "perceived monopoly" on tech and AI has been broken by China. "I think the China tech shock is just getting started. It's not just AI, DeepSeek, and electric vehicles. China is moving up the value chain very rapidly... It's the first time in history that an emerging market economy is at the forefront of science and technology," Green said in a conversation with CNBC's Steve Sedgewick and Ben Boulos. China is pairing dominant-market level tech with emerging-market production costs, backed by its massive supply chain, Green said. He added that with Xi Jinping being like a "tech bro" that is chucking money into these sectors, it makes for a powerful mix that is really rapidly accelerating the China tech story. Indeed, Beijing quietly launched a 60.06 billion yuan ($8.69 billion) national AI fund last year, and has an initiative called "AI+" which will see the tech integrated across its economy, industries, and society. watch now VIDEO 9:47 09:47 'Xi Jinping is a tech bro': Analyst says China's rally has room to run Squawk Box Europe China is quickly catching up to the U.S. in the AI arms race , developing highly advanced models powered by homegrown chips, particularly through massive Huawei chip clusters and abundant low-cost energy. While U.S. chip giant Nvidia is viewed as the gold standard for semiconductors used to train AI models, Huawei is narrowing the gap by deploying larger volumes of chips and leveraging cheaper power to scale compute. TS Lombard's Green explained that a "China tech sphere" c...
georgeclerk/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images As a dividend growth investor, I'm not solely focused on a stock's starting yield. This is because, at 28 years old, I (Kody) presumably have plenty of time to compound. In other words, I'm more focused on the trajectory of the underlying company and its payout over time. One key requirement for prospective investments is reliable earnings growth over...
georgeclerk/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images As a dividend growth investor, I'm not solely focused on a stock's starting yield. This is because, at 28 years old, I (Kody) presumably have plenty of time to compound. In other words, I'm more focused on the trajectory of the underlying company and its payout over time. One key requirement for prospective investments is reliable earnings growth over 10 or 20 years (and decent forward-looking growth prospects). Combined with industry-safe payout ratios and investment-grade balance sheets, this can often fuel more dividend growth down the road. That brings me to BlackRock ( BLK ), which will be the topic of today. When I last covered BlackRock with a Buy rating in December , I thought its outsized net inflows in Q3 2025 were a positive. The company's significant net cash and cash equivalents/investment balance was another. Relative to my fair value estimate, shares were also marginally undervalued at the time. Two months later, I'm reaffirming my buy rating. BlackRock closed out 2025 with another quarter of impressive net inflows. This looks poised to continue as well. What's more, BlackRock could soon benefit from private equity/credit access being granted to 401(k) plans. That could provide a meaningful boost to its profitability. BlackRock's interest coverage ratio in 2025 was exceptionally strong. Shares are also a slightly better value now than they were in my prior article. Continued Net Inflows And 401(k) Private Equity/Credit Are Major Growth Catalysts For BlackRock BlackRock Q4 2025 Earnings Press Release On January 15th, BlackRock released its financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31st, 2025. The company's total revenue surged 23.4% higher over the year-ago period to $7.01 billion in the quarter. Put into context, this surpassed Seeking Alpha's analyst consensus during the quarter by $330 million . What was behind BlackRock's topline growth for the fourth quarter? As has been the case in past...
Social Security replaces only 40% of preretirement income, so you'll need something to supplement it. This could be money from your retirement plans if you have plenty invested. However, some people also want money from a paycheck coming in while they collect Social Security. If you're thinking about working while you receive your benefits, there are three key rules you need to know. Here's what t...
Social Security replaces only 40% of preretirement income, so you'll need something to supplement it. This could be money from your retirement plans if you have plenty invested. However, some people also want money from a paycheck coming in while they collect Social Security. If you're thinking about working while you receive your benefits, there are three key rules you need to know. Here's what they are. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
Torsten Asmus/iStock via Getty Images The State Street SPDR Portfolio Short Trm Treasury ETF ( SPTS ) is probably not a bad bet right now. The moderate duration we pointed out as a weakness in our previous coverage is in a different context now, where rate cuts have happened and more may be in store. We think limited inflation threats and job creation threats from AI justify the downward shifts in...
Torsten Asmus/iStock via Getty Images The State Street SPDR Portfolio Short Trm Treasury ETF ( SPTS ) is probably not a bad bet right now. The moderate duration we pointed out as a weakness in our previous coverage is in a different context now, where rate cuts have happened and more may be in store. We think limited inflation threats and job creation threats from AI justify the downward shifts in the yield curve. Despite some speculation that rate cuts won't come anymore in the remaining Powell tenure, we still think there is a cutting rationale that should see cuts start again more confidently under Warsh in a couple of months and warrant bets that give some duration sensitivity while also having maturities that are influenced by short-term rate decisions, since we wouldn't want to take bets that could be influenced by long-term structural considerations, including the USD reserve currency status. SPTS Breakdown The 1.85-year duration and average maturity just below 2 years mean that SPTS is influenced by the upcoming Fed rate decisions and not just factors influencing long-term desired returns on US fixed income. While markets seem to believe that under Powell further rate cuts aren't particularly likely, also because of the FOMC voting patterns, the door was still left open for rate cuts under certain circumstances: The question around the growth mandate centres on some renewed layoffs happening and overall limited job growth creation . The culprit here is largely considered to be the fact that a low-hire-and-fire environment has been brought on by the advent of LLMs and AI that threaten the white-collar worker. In addition to the actual labour market dynamics and employment levels, questions around emergent technology have likely influenced the marginal propensity to save as a result of general anxiety. This might be a little offset by positive wealth effects from a strong equity market, but in general this would be one of the economic threats that may warrant ...
BING-JHEN HONG/iStock Editorial via Getty Images The Fidelity Enhanced Large Cap Core ETF ( FELC ) is a large-cap-focused ETF following the US market. In other words, exposure is going to be towards some of the biggest US index movers, namely the megacap tech stocks highly leveraged and in a position to preside over the expansion of AI, particularly LLMs for the moment, in developed economies (e.g...
BING-JHEN HONG/iStock Editorial via Getty Images The Fidelity Enhanced Large Cap Core ETF ( FELC ) is a large-cap-focused ETF following the US market. In other words, exposure is going to be towards some of the biggest US index movers, namely the megacap tech stocks highly leveraged and in a position to preside over the expansion of AI, particularly LLMs for the moment, in developed economies (e.g., 8.04% ( NVDA ) allocation versus 7.6% of NVDA in the ( IVV )). The markets are going sideways lately, and we believe it's an initial reflection of an evolving and unfavorable market dynamic, which is that the US market right now has two types of stocks: those that could be at risk of AI disruption or become perceived to be at risk and those that are overvalued and potentially part of an AI bubble. With the circular investments concentrated among the large-cap stocks, FELC is probably more indexed towards the latter risk than the former, but we'd avoid these bets in any case, as ultimately there is a very strong correlation between FELC and the US market index ETFs anyway. Correlations 2020 onwards (VTS) FELC Breakdown Data by YCharts There's definitely been a slowing of momentum in the markets, where FELC, despite its large-cap tilt, mimics market index ETFs closely, though with a 0.18% expense ratio against the IVV's 0.03% as an example . The primary headlines have been centered around certain industries suddenly getting hit by jitters on account of structural threats from AI, specifically from LLMs. A whole bucket of financial stocks, plenty without too much exposure to AI and with private, informal, and human capital-intensive ways of doing business that make them quite resistant to the AI threat, saw a significant hit to values despite an otherwise great season, particularly for capital market-exposed stocks . Logistics companies also took a hit just now. The commonality has been private, small ventures that have come out with compelling, ostensibly LLM-based technol...
Key PointsArtificial intelligence (AI) is Wall Street's hottest trend, with the stock market's largest publicly traded company, Nvidia, leading the charge.
Key PointsArtificial intelligence (AI) is Wall Street's hottest trend, with the stock market's largest publicly traded company, Nvidia, leading the charge.
Fortress Investment Group is adding an insurer-friendly feature to its latest fund, which will primarily invest in direct corporate loans, according to people familiar with the matter. The alternative asset-manager is adding an unleveraged sleeve to its Fortress Lending Fund V, in a bid to lure insurance companies as well as some other European institutional investors, said the people, who asked n...
Fortress Investment Group is adding an insurer-friendly feature to its latest fund, which will primarily invest in direct corporate loans, according to people familiar with the matter. The alternative asset-manager is adding an unleveraged sleeve to its Fortress Lending Fund V, in a bid to lure insurance companies as well as some other European institutional investors, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the matter is private. The previous vintages of the strategy offered a single version using leverage, the people added. Fortress, which is backed by a consortium led by a unit of Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. , expects to double assets under management to $100 billion by 2029, in part by luring insurance and wealth management firms as investors for their funds. A representative for Fortress declined to comment. Growth in global private credit fundraising cooled in 2025 as investors grew wary of potential debt markdowns in vulnerable sectors, particularly those disrupted by artificial intelligence. Private credit funds closed in 2025 raised $224.3 billion globally as of Dec. 16, S&P Global Market Intelligence said in a note to clients last month. The annual growth rate — of 3.2% — was significantly down on the 9.7% increase seen the previous year. With Fortress Lending Fund V, the firm seeks to raise at least $3 billion, the people said. The leveraged version will primarily invest in a mix of direct corporate loans and asset-based lending, the people said. The unlevered version will be more focused on direct corporate loans, the people said. Recent deals under this strategy include Fortress leading a $500 million private loan to refinance existing debt at military supply-chain company Blue Raven Solutions. Last year, Fortress provided a forward-flow agreement to purchase up to $1.2 billion of consumer loans originated by AI-lending marketplace Upstart. Fortress is targeting a net internal rate of return, or IRR, for the levera...
ATHVisions/E+ via Getty Images Market Summary Technology stocks, particularly AI-related names, remained in the spotlight during the fourth quarter, with much market attention on the rally’s sustainability and the scale of capital expenditures. Investor concerns grew about whether outsized investments in AI would deliver expected returns, prompting some to reduce overweight tech positions, with in...
ATHVisions/E+ via Getty Images Market Summary Technology stocks, particularly AI-related names, remained in the spotlight during the fourth quarter, with much market attention on the rally’s sustainability and the scale of capital expenditures. Investor concerns grew about whether outsized investments in AI would deliver expected returns, prompting some to reduce overweight tech positions, with interest broadening to other areas, including biotech and metals & mining stocks. Despite tech’s prominence, healthcare was the quarter’s top sector in the S&P 500® Index, which tracks 500 of the largest U.S. companies. Across market capitalizations, value stocks were favored over growth stocks, and investors appeared to be positioning for a cyclical upswing, supported by lower interest rates and expectations for accommodative fiscal policy. Fund Performance The Virtus KAR Mid-Cap Core Fund ( VIMCX ) returned -2.44% (Class I) in the quarter, underperforming the Russell Midcap® Index’s 0.16% return. Stock selection in information technology and financials detracted from performance, while stock selection in healthcare and an underweight position in real estate contributed positively to performance. Cooper Companies and Ross Stores were the largest contributors to performance in the quarter. Cooper Companies ( COO ), a global medical device company focused on vision care and women’s health, saw improved organic growth and improved guidance as its new MyDay silicone hydrogel disposable contact lenses rolled out and gained traction. Management also announced it was conducting some strategic review work to improve shareholder returns. Discount retailer Ross Stores ( ROST ) reported improving results, driven by its branded strategy, store refresh initiatives, and new marketing campaigns. The company has provided guidance for comparable sales growth above peers and is benefiting from increased closeout availability and ongoing consumer trade-down. Houlihan Lokey and Pool Corporation...
US agencies are struggling to find the best method to fund additional software for millions of Iranian civilians to get around their government’s strict internet censors, amid a surge in demand over weeks of domestic unrest. The State Department, US senators from both parties, and other US agencies have advocated for funding virtual private networks and anticensorship technology programmes that wo...
US agencies are struggling to find the best method to fund additional software for millions of Iranian civilians to get around their government’s strict internet censors, amid a surge in demand over weeks of domestic unrest. The State Department, US senators from both parties, and other US agencies have advocated for funding virtual private networks and anticensorship technology programmes that would allow about a quarter of the people in Iran to access the internet without the Islamic...
Wall Street expected there to be a significant step-up in spending by the biggest hyperscalers this year. Computing needs for large language model training and inference are only growing larger as models expand and usage increases. But few analysts predicted the five biggest spenders budgeting over $700 billion in 2026. Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) , Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) , Microsoft (N...
Wall Street expected there to be a significant step-up in spending by the biggest hyperscalers this year. Computing needs for large language model training and inference are only growing larger as models expand and usage increases. But few analysts predicted the five biggest spenders budgeting over $700 billion in 2026. Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) , Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) , Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) , and Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) are all facing growing backlogs of compute demand for their cloud services. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) sees enormous potential in developing its own leading AI capabilities, and it's investing as much as it can to get there. While several companies could be big beneficiaries of big tech's massive budgets, there's one stock that looks particularly appealing right now. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
Germany's Elites Demand "Location Patriotism" As Green Industrial Policy Unravels Submitted by Thomas Kolbe As social glue and as a bond tying the individual to a higher purpose of existence, patriotism has acquired a dubious reputation in Germany after decades of culture war. The United Left has succeeded in amalgamating this binding and integrating cultural ferment with the historical catastroph...
Germany's Elites Demand "Location Patriotism" As Green Industrial Policy Unravels Submitted by Thomas Kolbe As social glue and as a bond tying the individual to a higher purpose of existence, patriotism has acquired a dubious reputation in Germany after decades of culture war. The United Left has succeeded in amalgamating this binding and integrating cultural ferment with the historical catastrophes of National Socialism, imperialism, and chauvinism, ultimately banishing it from the nation’s self-understanding. Today, the patriot is regarded as a social outsider, a contrarian, an intolerant antagonist of humanistic values. The mills of that socialist cultural revolution set in motion in the late 1960s have ground with care. A cartel of radical ideologues, opportunistic politicians, a proliferating academic establishment, and the media sector has managed to inject a sufficient dose of poison into the root system of tradition, religion, family, and the bourgeois order. The modern patriot renders himself deeply suspect if he rejects the blessings of cultural relativism and the woke nihilism of our age. And yet conservatives are the true heroes of stability and continuity, who—like human breakwaters in today’s social storms—attempt to fend off the worst flowing toward us from the murky sources of cultural Marxism. It was not least the work of German politicians to carry out this civilizational turn: away from the Social Market Economy and a bourgeois-centered society toward a green climate socialism. Nowhere does the anti-bourgeois reflex flourish more luxuriantly than in Germany’s NGO complex and in the shrill academic flank warfare surrounding Cancel Culture, Wokeism, and the cleansing of language —precisely targeting those terms that would open the door to a culture-affirming, tradition-confirming education. How beautiful words like “fatherland,” “patriotism,” and “love of homeland” now sound. Naturally, a significant portion of the political class would vehemently d...
When you're in the process of building retirement wealth, it's important to choose a home for your savings carefully. And that may mean choosing between a traditional retirement account versus a Roth. The upside of traditional IRAs and 401(k)s is that your money is contributed on a pre-tax basis, allowing you to shield income from the IRS. Roth IRAs and 401(k)s, on the other hand, are funded on an...
When you're in the process of building retirement wealth, it's important to choose a home for your savings carefully. And that may mean choosing between a traditional retirement account versus a Roth. The upside of traditional IRAs and 401(k)s is that your money is contributed on a pre-tax basis, allowing you to shield income from the IRS. Roth IRAs and 401(k)s, on the other hand, are funded on an after-tax basis, so there's no immediate IRS benefit to enjoy. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading