Getty Images The Tough Decision For The Trump Administration The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Trump exceeded his powers and struck down all tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the majority opinion, while Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh delivered dissenting opinions. Therefore, by 6 votes to 3, th...
Getty Images The Tough Decision For The Trump Administration The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Trump exceeded his powers and struck down all tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the majority opinion, while Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh delivered dissenting opinions. Therefore, by 6 votes to 3, the Court concluded that the terms of IEEPA do not give the Trump administration the power to impose tariffs and highlighted that the Constitution gives Congress the necessary competence. Additionally, the majority noted that no other president had used the law to impose any tariffs, much less of this magnitude and scope. It is worth remembering that tariffs on imported products reached more than 100 countries. The court's announcement covers only the so-called reciprocal tariffs imposed by President Trump on what became known as Liberation Day. Other tariffs, such as the one applied to steel and aluminum , are not included in the suspension. Impacts On The Stock Market It is worth noting that the decision did not inform whether the fees collected will have to be refunded. Until now, tariffs represented around 5% of the American Government's revenues. For reference, around $30 billion in fees are collected every month, and the total amount exceeded $280 billion last year. Therefore, one effect of this decision is a series of legal actions demanding the return of fees paid. US Customs Duties (Creative Planning) The impact on the financial market was not as strong as the headlines, as the decision was already awaited. The big point is what strategy will be used by the Trump administration to promote the desired fundamentals in the economy? Tariff Policy Was The Core Of The Strategy For The Economy As I said in other articles, Secretary Scott Bessent himself stated that a strong dollar is a priority for the United States. The Trump administration's objective was for companies to...
Club’s relegation could be sealed at Bramall Lane on Sunday but long-term future is of most concern to supporters When crisis intrudes into everyday lives, personal worlds shrink and important events are reduced to near irrelevance. Sheffield Wednesday supporters understand that better than most. They have endured so much misery for so long that even Sunday’s potential relegation-sealing Steel Cit...
Club’s relegation could be sealed at Bramall Lane on Sunday but long-term future is of most concern to supporters When crisis intrudes into everyday lives, personal worlds shrink and important events are reduced to near irrelevance. Sheffield Wednesday supporters understand that better than most. They have endured so much misery for so long that even Sunday’s potential relegation-sealing Steel City derby has lost some of its old significance. “If you win it’ll be like kicking a cat,” Dan Fudge, host of the Wednesday Week podcast and YouTube channel says to Nick Wylie from the Sheffield United Way in this week’s broadcast. “We’ve got bigger things to worry about than bragging rights.” Continue reading...
Hi everyone. Today we’re diving into the story behind one of the year’s most beautiful games, but first... This week’s top gaming news: Sony Group Corp. is shutting down Bluepoint Games , the studio behind well-regarded remakes like Demon’s Souls for PlayStation 5. It’s a shocking move that I’ll talk about more in the future. Saudi Arabia’s Scopely Inc. has bought a majority stake in Turkish studi...
Hi everyone. Today we’re diving into the story behind one of the year’s most beautiful games, but first... This week’s top gaming news: Sony Group Corp. is shutting down Bluepoint Games , the studio behind well-regarded remakes like Demon’s Souls for PlayStation 5. It’s a shocking move that I’ll talk about more in the future. Saudi Arabia’s Scopely Inc. has bought a majority stake in Turkish studio Loom Games for as much as $1 billion Mining for Goldman The Eternal Life of Goldman , a new video game scheduled for release later this year, is striking because of its gorgeous 2D art and hand-drawn animations. The demo, which went up on Steam this week , showcases some slick platforming, pogo-stick gameplay inspired by the old Duck Tales games and some of the most beautiful animations ever produced in gaming. It’s also striking for another reason: The Eternal Life of Goldman stars an old man with a yarmulke, a rare and welcome choice of protagonist, especially during a time of rising antisemitism worldwide . Put another way, there’s finally a game for people like me: aging Jews with back problems. “We wanted to do something fresh,” Ilya Yanovich, the game’s creative director, said in a recent interview. I’d told him that it was refreshing to see a game delving into Jewish lore and characters, which aren’t often explored in video games. He said the fundamental question of the game, which features the titular Goldman on an adventure through a fantastical land as he hunts for treasure and battles ancient curses, is whether “a life full of disappointments and suffering is worth living” — just about the most Jewish thing I’ve ever heard. “When you deal with questions of life and death, it’s natural to imply some religious materials into that as a mythology,” Yanovich said. “We explored that a little bit more, and we were fascinated by one single piece of Jewish mythology. I’m afraid mentioning what it is exactly would be a major spoiler.” Yanovich, who lives in Belarus, runs...
HOUSTON and LONDON, Feb. 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LyondellBasell (NYSE: LYB), a leader in the global chemical industry, today announced that Agustin Izquierdo, executive vice president and chief financial officer, will participate in a fireside chat at the 2026 Bank of America Global Agriculture and Materials Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Thursday, February 26, 2026, at 9:45 a.m. EST...
HOUSTON and LONDON, Feb. 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LyondellBasell (NYSE: LYB), a leader in the global chemical industry, today announced that Agustin Izquierdo, executive vice president and chief financial officer, will participate in a fireside chat at the 2026 Bank of America Global Agriculture and Materials Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Thursday, February 26, 2026, at 9:45 a.m. EST.
"We Saw It. We Passed": Blue Owl Fails To Secure Third Party Funding For $4 Billion Data Center As we discussed extensively yesterday , Blue Owl already has huge headaches with its software exposure, being forced to dump a substantial amount of its SaaS-linked loans (to related parties among others) as it gates retail investors in its private credit fund amid a tsunami of redemption requests. We n...
"We Saw It. We Passed": Blue Owl Fails To Secure Third Party Funding For $4 Billion Data Center As we discussed extensively yesterday , Blue Owl already has huge headaches with its software exposure, being forced to dump a substantial amount of its SaaS-linked loans (to related parties among others) as it gates retail investors in its private credit fund amid a tsunami of redemption requests. We now learn that the massive private credit asset manager is also facing major hardware challenges too. According to Insider , Blue Owl - which is also a leading investor in the data center boom funding countless projects with private loans - was unable to arrange financing for a $4 billion data center it is co-developing in Pennsylvania after pitching lenders to help bankroll the project in recent months. The facility, located in Lancaster county 80 miles west of Philadelphia, will be occupied by CoreWeave, a junk-rated provider of cloud computing services that has become a closely watched name in the AI race for its rapid expansion due to the massive debt load it took on to fund that expansion which has sent its credit default swaps to record wides. CoreWeave's Lancater data center: Photo: Bloomberg/Getty Images An executive who arranges debt for major data center deals told Insider that the lack of interest in the Lancaster project was due to growing caution among lenders and investors about taking on sizable exposures to AI players with less-than-sterling credit. CoreWeave has a junk rating of B1/B+, according to S&P and Moodys "We saw it. We passed," a senior executive at a large specialty lender told Insider. A Blue Owl spokesman said that the company had "considered" third-party financing for the Lancaster project "as we would with any transaction as we explore alternatives before choosing the most attractive path forward." This suggests that not only was Blue Owl unwilling to fund the project internally, but when it tried to syndicate the private loan, the phone calls ...
It's been a struggle to hold Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) over the past five years. The electric vehicle stock has lost almost all of its value -- 98% to be precise -- since it started trading in 2021. But the company has strong financial backing from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, and will begin manufacturing vehicles there this year. Lucid is also hosting an investor day in just a few weeks...
It's been a struggle to hold Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) over the past five years. The electric vehicle stock has lost almost all of its value -- 98% to be precise -- since it started trading in 2021. But the company has strong financial backing from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, and will begin manufacturing vehicles there this year. Lucid is also hosting an investor day in just a few weeks, where management will present updates on the company's technology and its upcoming mid-size vehicle model. Is now finally the time to invest in Lucid stock ? Continue reading
Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! So much for the glory game, for daring to do. For Tottenham Hotspur, this season’s highest aspiration – beyond an unlikely Bigger Cup triumph – now rests on That Lot From Down The Road/Woolwich FC (delete as applicable according to historical pettiness) blowing their title challenge again. Following Wednesday’s events at Wolves , the north London...
Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! So much for the glory game, for daring to do. For Tottenham Hotspur, this season’s highest aspiration – beyond an unlikely Bigger Cup triumph – now rests on That Lot From Down The Road/Woolwich FC (delete as applicable according to historical pettiness) blowing their title challenge again. Following Wednesday’s events at Wolves , the north London derby has now become AN EVEN BIGGER GAME. Igor Tudor, Tottenham’s new interim manager , has an instant chance to write himself into Spurs history. Or perhaps infamy. Winning the derby would be a dream holiday in other people’s misery, to misquote lifelong Gooner John Lydon. Arsenal’s collective collywobbles have permeated to their fans, a collective now wracked by anguish. A bit like the regulars in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, actually. This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions . Continue reading...
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation authorizing the state to lend $590 million to keep major public-transit operators around San Francisco running as post-pandemic travel patterns continue to strain their finances. The funds, which officials called an “emergency loan,” are aimed at agencies such as Bay Area Rapid Transit that are still recovering from fare revenue lost to remote wo...
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation authorizing the state to lend $590 million to keep major public-transit operators around San Francisco running as post-pandemic travel patterns continue to strain their finances. The funds, which officials called an “emergency loan,” are aimed at agencies such as Bay Area Rapid Transit that are still recovering from fare revenue lost to remote work and weaker ridership roughly six years after the Covid outbreak. With one-time federal aid largely exhausted, several operators are staring at budget holes large enough to force deep service cuts — a scenario local officials say would push more commuters onto roads and undercut the region’s economic rebound. “This loan will avert a traffic catastrophe,” state Senator Scott Wiener said in a statement issued along with Newsom and other officials. Read more: BART Plans $930 Million Muni Bond Sale as Budget Deficits Loom Across the US, transit systems from New York and Chicago to Washington, DC, and Seattle are confronting a post-pandemic “fiscal cliff” as ridership and fare revenue trail pre-2020 norms and federal relief dries up. As a result, agencies are scrambling for short-term fixes to avert punishing service cuts. The California bill structures the assistance as short-term operating loans rather than a grant. The money — drawn from the state’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program — must be repaid quarterly over 12 years. For the first two years, agencies would pay interest only, with the rate tied to the state’s Surplus Money Investment Fund. Repayment is ultimately backstopped by state transit-assistance revenue. Supporters describe the loan as a bridge while officials pursue a more durable funding solution, including a potential sales-tax proposal that could go before voters in November. Read more: US Public Transit Systems See Ratings Hit as Fiscal Woes Mount
HeliRy/E+ via Getty Images DHT Holdings ( DHT ) +0.9% in Friday's trading, reaching as high as $17.14 for the tanker company's best intraday level in nearly 15 years, after locking in its second high-paying time charter this week. DHT ( DHT ) said late Thursday it has entered into a one-year time charter agreement with an unnamed global energy company at $94K/day for the very large crude carrier D...
HeliRy/E+ via Getty Images DHT Holdings ( DHT ) +0.9% in Friday's trading, reaching as high as $17.14 for the tanker company's best intraday level in nearly 15 years, after locking in its second high-paying time charter this week. DHT ( DHT ) said late Thursday it has entered into a one-year time charter agreement with an unnamed global energy company at $94K/day for the very large crude carrier DHT Taiga , expected to begin in March. The rate comes in higher than the $90K/day deal announced earlier this week with another unnamed company for the VLCC DHT Opal , expected to begin this month; both vessels were built in 2012. The latest deal also edged past a recently reported fixture by Okeanis Eco Tankers ( ECO ), which fixed the 2016-built VLCC Nissos Nikouria at $91,140/day for one year, according to Splash247.com. More on DHT Holdings DHT Holdings Q4 2025 Earnings Call Presentation DHT Holdings Surges As U.S. Takes Control Of Venezuelan Oil Exports DHT Holdings: Strategic Fleet Composition Helps Capitalize On Surging Spot Rates
sefa ozel/iStock via Getty Images I concluded a December 18, 2025, Seeking Alpha article on the VanEck Oil Services ETF ( OIH ) with the following: I believe OIH will eventually head toward the critical technical resistance level around $365 per share in 2025, as demand for oil services increases due to U.S. energy policy. Crude oil prices could fall and stabilize, but oil services demand will lik...
sefa ozel/iStock via Getty Images I concluded a December 18, 2025, Seeking Alpha article on the VanEck Oil Services ETF ( OIH ) with the following: I believe OIH will eventually head toward the critical technical resistance level around $365 per share in 2025, as demand for oil services increases due to U.S. energy policy. Crude oil prices could fall and stabilize, but oil services demand will likely continue to deliver profits for OIH’s holdings. OIH was trading at $283.41 per share on December 18, 2025. At over $385 per share on February 20, 2026, OIH has blown through its $365 critical resistance level like a hot knife goes through butter, with the next technical target near $600 per share. I reiterate my buy rating on OIH. Oil Services Stocks continue to rally Crude oil prices have rallied since mid-December. Daily Chart of April NYMEX Crude Oil Futures (Barchart) As the chart shows, March NYMEX crude oil futures have moved 22.2% from the December 16, 2025, low of $54.84 per barrel to the February 20, 2026, high of $67.03 per barrel. Crude oil has rallied amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran. Meanwhile, OIH has done even better on a percentage basis. Daily Chart of the OIH ETF (Barchart) The chart highlights that over the same period, OIH has rallied 39.9% from $281.16 to $393.25 per share. The case for higher highs I highlighted the case for higher highs in oil services stocks on Seeking Alpha in mid-December 2025 when OIH was trading below $285 per share. My reasoning included: U.S. energy policy favors increased U.S. oil and gas production and consumption. Extracting more fossil fuels from the Earth’s crude requires more oil services. U.S. and Saudi cooperation on geopolitical and economic issues. The potential for trade deals between the U.S. and China could boost China’s economy, leading to rising demand for traditional energy. Robust earnings for the leading U.S. oil services companies. My thesis was correct, as OIH took off on the upside and...
HomesToLife Ltd. (HTML) rallied more than 40% on Friday as investors locked in on the company as a clear beneficiary of the Supreme Court striking down the Trump Administration's sweeping tariff policies. The global furniture company has two core divisions. A consumer retail division with direct operations in Singapore and Korea and a wholesale & trade division. HomesToLife (HTML) combines retail,...
HomesToLife Ltd. (HTML) rallied more than 40% on Friday as investors locked in on the company as a clear beneficiary of the Supreme Court striking down the Trump Administration's sweeping tariff policies. The global furniture company has two core divisions. A consumer retail division with direct operations in Singapore and Korea and a wholesale & trade division. HomesToLife (HTML) combines retail, distribution, and sourcing, supported by a diversified manufacturing network across China, Vietnam, and India. Shares of HomesToLife (HTML) rose to as high as $2.58 on Friday after starting the day at $1.83. Last month, HomesToLife ( HTLM ) announced that it is investing $1M for a 10% fully diluted equity stake in Zeica Labs, a Singapore-based spatial-audio technology start-up behind the patented Super X-Fi immersive audio platform. The investment was made via wholly owned subsidiary HTL Marketing and said to position Zeica as HomesToLife's ( HTLM ) core innovation and technology partner. Under the collaboration, Zeica will help integrate patented spatial-audio capabilities into selected upcoming furniture collections, with Singapore as the initial testbed before rolling out to other key markets. HomesToLife frames the deal as a strategic step to build next-generation smart home products and reinforce its positioning as a technology-forward furniture company, rather than as a purely financial investment. More on HomesToLife Transformational Acquisitions Not Enough To Make HomesToLife Attractive HomesToLife skyrockets in a momentum-tied move Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on HomesToLife Financial information for HomesToLife
Leonid Andronov/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Corning ( GLW ) shares rose 6.5% in midday trading on Friday as UBS said it has seen stronger demand signals from the major hyperscalers. “This is driven by recent 30-50% revisions in capex spending by major hyperscalers,” analyst Joshua Spector wrote in a note to clients. “We expect this to mean more fiber deployment within data centers and furthe...
Leonid Andronov/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Corning ( GLW ) shares rose 6.5% in midday trading on Friday as UBS said it has seen stronger demand signals from the major hyperscalers. “This is driven by recent 30-50% revisions in capex spending by major hyperscalers,” analyst Joshua Spector wrote in a note to clients. “We expect this to mean more fiber deployment within data centers and further lift for GLW's Optical sales.” Spector, who has a Buy rating on Corning, upped his price target to $160 from $125 and raised his earnings estimates based on the strong demand. As such, he now expects sales to grow at a compound annual rate of 21% through 2028 and adjusted earnings per share at a 30% clip. “We think there is potential for further revisions up post NVDA update later this week, and we don't think this is the last capex raise for hyperscalers either,” Spector added. “Therefore we believe there is room to see further increases in GLW's fiber sales, which we forecast growing the Optical segment to 55% of GLW's net income by 2028.” Spector also pointed out that there is likely more fiber capacity to come by 2028, as he pointed to the recent $6B deal with Meta ( META ) as a sign the demand is there. He also expects there will be deals with the other hyperscalers, which means Corning could win more market share. “These contracts are giving GLW visibility to longer-term demand growth, but also have the potential to bring in cash earlier to fund investments, in part de-risking investments in new capacity,” Spector explained. Additionally, it's unlikely that 2028 will be the year for peak sales, as there is likely to be higher-than-historical growth for fiber well into the middle of next decade, Spector added. More on Corning Corning Incorporated (GLW) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Corning Incorporated 2025 Q4 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation Corning Q4 Preview: Gen AI Tailwinds Are Real, But I Need Higher Earnings Power AI-related stocks edge higher, led by...
Dragon Claws/iStock via Getty Images This article updates my review published in February 2025 in light of current holdings and recent performance. IUS Strategy Invesco RAFI Strategic US ETF ( IUS ) was launched on 09/12/2018 and tracks the Invesco Strategic US Index. IUS has a portfolio of 544 stocks, a 30-day SEC yield of 1.37%, and an expense ratio of 0.19%. Dividends are paid quarterly. As des...
Dragon Claws/iStock via Getty Images This article updates my review published in February 2025 in light of current holdings and recent performance. IUS Strategy Invesco RAFI Strategic US ETF ( IUS ) was launched on 09/12/2018 and tracks the Invesco Strategic US Index. IUS has a portfolio of 544 stocks, a 30-day SEC yield of 1.37%, and an expense ratio of 0.19%. Dividends are paid quarterly. As described by Invesco , U.S.-listed companies are assigned a business size score and a quality score. The business size score of the RAFI methodology is based on the equal-weight average of four factors: sales, operating cash flow, total return of capital (dividends and buybacks), and book value. For the real estate sector, operating cash flow is replaced by FFO (funds from operations) and book value by total assets. The quality score is based on the equal-weight average of two factors: the sales-to-assets ratio (trailing 12 months) and its 5-year growth. The underlying index includes companies ranked in the top 90% by business size score and in the top 80% by quality score. Constituents are weighted based on float-adjusted business size scores. The index is reconstituted annually. The portfolio turnover rate was 11% in the most recent fiscal year and 14% in the previous year. This article will use as a benchmark the S&P 500 Index, represented by SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust ( SPY ). IUS Portfolio Large- and mega-cap companies represent about 65% of asset value. Compared to the S&P 500, IUS downplays information technology, and to a lesser extent, financials. It offers a more balanced sector breakdown, as plotted below. Nonetheless, technology remains the heaviest sector, with 20% of assets. IUS sector breakdown (chart: author, data: Invesco, State Street) The portfolio is moderately concentrated, with 27.3% of asset value in the top 10 holdings, listed in the next table. Alphabet and Apple weigh 6.3% and 4.4%, respectively, while other positions are below 3%. Ticker Company % Weight...
The US Federal Aviation Administration ’s oversight of United Airlines Holdings Inc. ’s maintenance practices suffers from a lack of resources, meaning some safety risks remain, a government watchdog said. The agency’s travel budget, inspector staffing levels and workforce planning “are insufficient to oversee safety risks,” the Transportation Department’s Office of Inspector General concluded in ...
The US Federal Aviation Administration ’s oversight of United Airlines Holdings Inc. ’s maintenance practices suffers from a lack of resources, meaning some safety risks remain, a government watchdog said. The agency’s travel budget, inspector staffing levels and workforce planning “are insufficient to oversee safety risks,” the Transportation Department’s Office of Inspector General concluded in a report dated Feb. 18. In addition, the FAA still hasn’t implemented all the recommendations made since 2019 to improve its reviews of airlines’ safety management systems and data. The watchdog opened an audit into the FAA’s oversight of United’s maintenance practices in 2024 after a series of mishaps that included lost wheels , engine failures and emergency landings. The FAA imposed route restrictions and other measures to temporarily curb United’s growth. The regulator also initiated a safety review, which it wrapped up in October 2024 after finding no significant issues. Those mishaps “raised concerns” about FAA oversight practices, according to the inspector general’s report. “Until FAA addresses these key deficiencies in its oversight, data processing, and workforce knowledge, maintenance safety risks within United Airlines remain,” the report said. The watchdog found that the FAA sometimes conducted inspections virtually because of insufficient staff or travel funding. Those checks should have been postponed in accordance with agency requirements. Staff turnover and inspector vacancies contributed to a loss of institutional knowledge within the office that oversees United, the report said. FAA employees also weren’t effectively educated on how to access airline data to help determine the causes of maintenance problems. The inspector general made six recommendations to the FAA, including that it develop an action plan to address staffing shortages and resource constraints. The FAA agreed with five recommendations, according to the report. The regulator “partially conc...