NVDA posted 85% revenue growth and MSFT's Azure crossed $100B annually, but Emanuel says what has peaked is the growth rate itself, not earnings.
Widening investment-grade tech spreads, driven by Microsoft's $175B CapEx and massive AI borrowing, are the clearest signal the buildout is straining balance sheets.
Act now: the ****** yst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Microsoft didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Julian Emanuel, Evercore ISI's chief equity derivatives and quantitative strategist, said on CNBC this week that megacap tech results this quarter were "breathtaking" and then said, "the other side of breathtaking is it is likely to be as good as it gets." In the same breath, he told viewers to stay long on technology into 2027.
The tension resolves once you separate two ideas that usually get mashed together. Peak growth rate refers to the second derivative, meaning the rate of improvement.

#rate #Tech #azure #widening

Azure crossed $100B in annual revenue with 43% growth, while Google Cloud surged 82%, leaving every other hyperscaler well behind.
Microsoft generated $20B in free cash flow despite $36B in capex, while Alphabet went FCF-negative and suspended buybacks to fund AI buildout.
Microsoft's $678B contracted backlog makes it the steadier compounder, while Alphabet carries 27% modeled upside for investors willing to absorb more risk.
Act now: the ***** yst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Microsoft didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) both closed their latest quarters with cloud growth that dwarfed the rest of the hyperscaler field. Microsoft posted $90.01 billion in fiscal Q4 revenue, while Alphabet delivered $119.80 billion in its Q2. Both are pouring cash into AI infrastructure at a scale no rival can match, and their results just showed why the gap is widening.

#NASDAQ

The most recent direct lending data shows a boost in the deal count and estimated volume in the European market, including the first direct-lending takeout of a broadly syndicated loan since the third quarter of 2025, as well as renewed support for lending to the software sector.
The data is also beginning to indicate some spread widening and a migration of borrowers to the broadly syndicated loan market, with BSL refinancing activity jumping to the second-highest quarterly reading since LCD began tracking this data, according to the latest European Private Credit Monitor.
The direct lending deal count rose to 35 in the last three months to the end of July, while the estimated volume increased to €9.8 billion — from 32 and €8.5 billion in the second quarter, respectively. Meanwhile, PE-backed estimated direct lending volume grew to the highest level since the end of 2025 on the three-month measure.
However, the estimated volume and count for direct lending deals in the year to end-July still lag the rate tracked in 2025, with these measures trailing by 29% and 19%, respectively. The trend is the same for sponsor-backed deals, which are running 24% lower for estimated volume and 19% lower by number of transactions.
Along with the general recent uptick in activity, interactions between the BSL and DL markets have seen a boost over the past three months, with the direct lending market demonstrating support for software companies despite general market nervousness over this sector.

#european

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hundreds of people have been killed in the year since the U.S. military began bombing boats it accused of ferrying drugs off Latin America's Caribbean and Pacific coasts. Now, the Trump administration says it is seeking to extend that lethal campaign to land, pursuing deals that would put U.S. forces on the ground in allied nations across the region.
President Donald Trump's defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, announced last week during a visit to Panama that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil, following Ecuador, which launched similar missions with the U.S. in March. Guatemala, however, has denied reaching such an agreement.
It will be "like you saw with the strikes on the drug boats," Hegseth said during a military drill in the jungle in Panama. "Same effect on land. And so we're working with Ecuador. We're working with Colombia. We're working with partners to bring the fight to the (designated terrorist organizations) on land."
The expansion marks a new phase in the Trump administration's campaign to pressure governments across Latin America to align with its security priorities and ******* ert what it calls "American dominance over the Western Hemisphere."
Voters across the region are increasingly embracing Trump-aligned leaders, giving Washington more willing partners. But critics warn that the widening U.S. military campaign risks civilian casualties and a backlash against the U.S. that could outlast the Republican administration.

#Trump

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hundreds of people have been killed in the year since the U.S. military began bombing boats it accused of ferrying drugs off Latin America's Caribbean and Pacific coasts. Now, the Trump administration says it is seeking to extend that lethal campaign to land, pursuing deals that would put U.S. forces on the ground in allied nations across the region.
President Donald Trump's defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, announced last week during a visit to Panama that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil, following Ecuador, which launched similar missions with the U.S. in March. Guatemala, however, has denied reaching such an agreement.
It will be "like you saw with the strikes on the drug boats," Hegseth said during a military drill in the jungle in Panama. "Same effect on land. And so we're working with Ecuador. We're working with Colombia. We're working with partners to bring the fight to the (designated terrorist organizations) on land."
The expansion marks a new phase in the Trump administration's campaign to pressure governments across Latin America to align with its security priorities and ****** ert what it calls "American dominance over the Western Hemisphere."
Voters across the region are increasingly embracing Trump-aligned leaders, giving Washington more willing partners. But critics warn that the widening U.S. military campaign risks civilian casualties and a backlash against the U.S. that could outlast the Republican administration.

#Trump #latin

A sea of humanity surrounded the tee box on No. 1, as Scottie Scheffler prepared to start his third round on Saturday. It roared on contact, widening the eyes of at least one veteran FedEx St. Jude Championship volunteer hole marshal.
The day began with Scheffler leading the field by three strokes thanks to his virtuosic, course record-tying, second-round 61 at TPC Southwind. By the time Scheffler headed back to the clubhouse Saturday, he was still perched atop the leaderboard, leading Sam Burns and Sungjae Im each by two strokes.
Is this the year? Will the string of pulse-pounding, adrenaline-fueled finishes that have become reliably commonplace at Memphis' annual golf tournament finally snap? Can Scheffler leave the few still within striking distance comfortably in the dust?
On behalf of everyone planning to brave the brutally hot conditions: Nooooooo!!
Thrilling, edge-of-your-golf-stool Sundays have made the FedEx St. Jude Championship (and the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational before it) even more special than the elevated status already made them.

#saturday #round

Warren Buffett spent 60 years building one of the greatest investing records in history, not by chasing whatever was popular, but by finding businesses he never wanted to sell.
He said it himself in his 1988 shareholder letter, the year he first bought Coca-Cola: "Our favorite holding period is forever."
That line was not just about one stock. It was a philosophy that shaped every major decision Berkshire Hathaway made under his leadership.
Three companies sit at the core of that philosophy today. Apple, Coca-Cola, and Alphabet each reflect something different about what Buffett means when he talks about compounders. Each one has earned its place in the portfolio through a different kind of durable advantage, and each one keeps widening that advantage as time passes.
Apple is Berkshire's largest holding, accounting for roughly 22% of the portfolio as of the first quarter of 2026. Buffett first bought the stock in 2016, which was unusual for him, given his historical reluctance to invest in technology companies. He has since called it one of the best businesses he has ever seen.

#coca #businesses

Brown Advisory, an investment management company, released its "Brown Advisory Global Leaders Strategy" for the second quarter of 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Brown Advisory's Global Leaders Strategy delivered a net return of 4.6% in the second quarter of 2026, underperforming its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI Net Index, which returned 14.9%. The relative weakness was driven mainly by underexposure to semiconductors and technology hardware, while software, cloud services, and financial holdings also weighed on performance. The strategy benefited from holdings in areas tied to AI infrastructure, with semiconductor exposure and AI-related investments gaining from strong demand. Looking ahead, Brown Advisory sees an attractive environment for active stock-picking, with its ready-to-buy list at its highest level since the COVID-19 period and an estimated 12%-13% average five-year base-case IRR, while maintaining a focus on quality, valuation discipline, and long-term cash-flow generation. In addition, please check the Fund's top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Brown Advisory Global Leaders Strategy Fund highlighted stocks like Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK). Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) develops design and engineering software used by professionals across architecture, construction, manufacturing, and media industries. The one-month return of Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) was 17.37% while its shares traded between $185.50 and $329.09 over the last 52 weeks. On August 7, 2026, Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) stock closed at approximately $242.47 per share, with a market capitalization of about $52.59 billion.
Brown Advisory Global Leaders Strategy Fund stated the following regarding Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
We exited Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) in June. Since our first-quarter drawdown review, we have continued our research and discussions around substitution risk for Autodesk, with a particular focus on the potential impact of world models replacing large parts of the 3D creation stack. At the same time, we have seen physical-AI startups, such as Jeff Bezos' Prometheus, investing heavily in developing engineering-grade physical models. (Prometheus closed a successful funding round in June, valuing the company at a level broadly comparable to Autodesk's market capitalization.) The competitive environment for Autodesk is intensifying. As we see substitution risk increasing and the range of outcomes for software companies widening, we have decided to allocate capital elsewhere, funding our initiations in Nvidia and Progressive Corporation.

#NASDAQ #adsk

On August 7, Google Cloud switched on Google Security Operations in its new Taiwan Region, giving local banks, hospitals and chipmakers an AI-powered defense platform they can run without sending sensitive data offshore. It's a small announcement next to Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOGL) roughly $4.6 trillion market value, but it captures why investors are paying attention. Alphabet keeps turning AI into products regulated industries will pay to run on their own terms, and that pattern shows up across the business.
The Taiwan launch fits a broader push. Google Cloud revenue jumped 82% to $24.8 billion last quarter, and the segment's operating margin climbed from 20.7% to 35.6% over the same stretch, proof that scale is finally showing up in profit, not just growth. Part of that strength comes from a business model that doesn't depend on who wins the AI race. Anthropic pays Google Cloud for computing power even while competing against Alphabet's own models, and that kind of recurring usage revenue keeps flowing regardless of which lab's chatbot wins.
Alphabet is also pushing further into chips. The company recently began selling its custom Tensor Processing Units directly to outside customers for use in external data centers, a direct challenge to Nvidia's grip on the roughly $300 billion AI accelerator market. D.A. Davidson's Gil Luria has floated Alphabet capturing 20% of AI infrastructure spending, which would value the chip business near $900 billion, while Morgan Stanley expects custom silicon to reach 24% of accelerator sales by 2030, up from 15% today. The Taiwan security launch shows that same platform reach extending into compliance-heavy sectors like finance and healthcare, widening the base of customers Alphabet can sell to.
None of this comes cheap. Alphabet raised its 2026 capital expenditure guidance to a range of $195 billion to $205 billion, and quarterly capex has climbed for five straight quarters, doubling year-over-year to $44.9 billion last quarter. That spending eventually shows up as depreciation, a charge that grows every year and has to be outrun by profit growth.
The headline numbers also need a closer look. Net income nearly quadrupled to $112.1 billion last quarter, but $6.26 of the $9.11 in EPS came from a $99 billion gain on equity securities that is mostly unrealized. Strip that out and underlying earnings were closer to $2.85 per share, which puts the stock nearer 28x forward earnings than the 19x headline multiple suggests. On the chip side, Nvidia's CUDA software remains a deep moat, since switching a team's pipelines off it is expensive, and TPUs are built for narrower workloads than general-purpose GPUs.

#Google

Interested in Lifecore Biomedical, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better.
Lifecore reaffirmed its 2026 guidance for revenue of $120 million to $125 million and adjusted EBITDA of $20.5 million to $25 million, despite second-quarter revenue falling 6.2% year over year to $34.2 million and the net loss widening to $6.2 million.
Contractually committed fill-finish demand from the company's largest customer is expected to double beginning in 2027 and exceed 2026 levels by more than 200% in 2028. Lifecore also completed a ***** anese regulatory inspection without material issues, potentially expanding market access.
Lifecore added six development programs during the quarter and now has 11 programs that could commercialize by the end of 2028. Management expects stronger second-half results, supported by higher aseptic and development revenue, while targeting roughly $7 million to $10 million in full-year free cash flow.
Lifecore Biomedical (NASDAQ:LFCR) reaffirmed its 2026 revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance while outlining plans to support sharply higher fill-finish demand from its largest customer beginning in 2027.

#lifecore

For months, investors questioned whether Palantir Technologies (PLTR) could justify its premium valuation, especially as competition in the artificial intelligence (AI) enterprise software market intensified. Those concerns, however, have largely taken a back seat following the company's blockbuster second-quarter results and significantly stronger-than-expected outlook.
Palantir continues to benefit from surging demand for its AI Platform (AIP), which is driving rapid growth in both revenue and profitability. The latest results suggest that the company is not only maintaining its leadership in the enterprise AI software market but is also widening its competitive advantage through strong customer adoption and execution.
Jeff Bezos Says He's Selling $1 Billion In Amazon Stock Every Year to Fund Blue Origin — 'It's The Most Important Work I'm Doing'
Apple's New CEO Is Bringing a Familiar Face Back From Retirement. The Shift Is Happening.
Nasdaq Futures Climb as Tech Rally Continues on Palantir Boost, U.S. JOLTS Report and ***** eX Earnings on Tap

#back #market #platform

By Mrinalika Roy and Mariam Sunny
Aug 5 (Reuters) - Sales of Eli Lilly's Zepbound and Mounjaro injectable weight-loss and diabetes drugs soared during the second quarter, easily beating Wall Street estimates and widening the gap with Danish rival Novo Nordisk.
The trillion-dollar ‌company also posted better-than-expected quarterly results and raised its full-year revenue forecast, and its shares jumped over 5% in early ‌trading.
The strong results are likely to reassure investors that demand for Lilly's GLP-1 treatments remains resilient despite pricing pressure and intensifying competition from Novo, which launched an oral version of its Wegovy weight-loss drug in the U.S. earlier this year.
Sales of diabetes drug Mounjaro rose 91% to $9.94 billion, beating ****** ysts' estimates, while obesity drug Zepbound brought in $4.93 billion, compared with expectations of $4.73 billion. The two drugs accounted for 64.7% of Lilly's revenue in the latest reported quarter.

#sales #novo #drugs

A project that used to take three weeks now takes one. A report that required a full day gets done before lunch. And employees are being evaluated against that accelerated standard before anyone has agreed it is sustainable, accurate, or fair. The time savings went to the company, but the pressure went to the employee.
Here is the dynamic playing out inside nearly every organization adopting AI right now: efficiency gains from AI are not being returned to employees as breathing room. They are being immediately converted into higher output expectations. The ***** umption is simple and rarely stated out loud: if AI freed up your afternoon, that afternoon now belongs to the next ***** ignment. Workers are not getting time back. They are getting more work, on a faster clock, with the same number of hours in the day.
New research from GoTo and Workplace Intelligence makes the paradox explicit. The Pulse of Work in 2026 study, which surveyed 2,500 employees and IT decision-makers across ten countries, found that employees save more than two hours per day using AI tools. But the same study found that 60% of employees feel pressured to use AI to boost productivity, 50% say they rely on it too much, and 39% say that reliance is making them less intelligent. The productivity gain and the human performance cost are arriving simultaneously. Most organizations are only tracking one of them.
An ActivTrak's ***** ysis of 443 million hours of work activity across more than 1,100 organizations found that AI doubled time spent on email and messaging while focused deep work fell by 9%. A Harvard Business Review study published earlier this year found that after AI adoption, workers operated at a faster pace, took on a broader scope of tasks, and extended work into more hours of the day, often without being asked. The tools are generating more activity while depleting the capacity for the high-quality thinking that makes that activity valuable.
When AI compresses timelines, the most visible change is speed, and speed quickly becomes the proxy for performance because it is the most legible output of AI adoption. Gallup's research finds that 65% of employees say AI has improved their productivity, and frequent AI use among managers has doubled from 15% to 30% since 2023. But that growing adoption is producing a widening gap between who benefits and who absorbs the pressure: leaders report the strongest gains, while individual contributors remain the least likely to receive guidance on how to use AI effectively. And 54% of managers say workplace expectations have directly increased due to AI. The bar is rising and the measurement framework is not keeping pace.

#employees #hours #adoption #workers

By Samia Nakhoul
BEIRUT, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Iran is betting it can outlast Washington by turning the Middle East's trade routes, shipping lanes and energy infrastructure into pressure points that steadily raise the cost of confrontation, according to Gulf officials and ***** ysts.
Rather than seeking a decisive military victory, Tehran is pursuing a strategy of calibrated escalation aimed at widening the conflict without triggering full-scale war.
The ‌goal, they say, is to convince the United States and its allies that containing the crisis is more costly than accommodating Iran's demands over the Strait of Hormuz.
The message from Tehran is that unless ‌Washington accepts a new status quo that gives Iran a greater role in Hormuz, the conflict could spread beyond the Gulf.

#hormuz #samia

Our **** ysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here.
Performance was driven by distribution and transmission rate increases and the absence of prior-year customer relief costs, offset by higher credit loss expenses at BGE and increased interest costs.
Management attributes sustained reliability performance to disciplined grid investment, noting that ComEd restored 90% of customers within 48 hours following the most severe storm activity in two decades.
The PJM market is under extreme strain, evidenced by capacity prices clearing at the FERC-approved cap for three consecutive auctions and a widening 6.8-gigawatt reliability shortfall.
Exelon is pivoting toward an 'all-of-the-above' strategy—including transmission, storage, and utility-owned generation—to mitigate scarcity that would have otherwise driven prices to $777 per megawatt-day in ComEd.

#costs #NVIDIA

By Patturaja Murugaboopathy
July 29 (Reuters) - Major U.S. technology companies are borrowing heavily as they ramp up spending on their artificial intelligence buildout, and at steadily higher yields as investors become more selective about absorbing the growing supply.
Amazon, Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Oracle issued about $194 ‌billion of bonds in 2026 through July 7, up 79% from roughly $108 billion in all of 2025, according to a Reuters ******* ysis ‌of LSEG data.
Goldman Sachs expects bond issuance by the five hyperscalers, including Microsoft Corp, to reach roughly $250 billion this year and $400 billion in 2027.
The added supply has led to widening borrowing spreads over risk-free rates for these investment-grade firms across major maturity buckets.

#roughly #murugaboopathy

NFL training camp season has arrived. Prepare for the onslaught of information, rumors and hype pieces. But fantasy football managers shouldn't be wary of the influx of info — Scott Pianowski has you covered with one key nugget to know for every team in each division. Next up is the AFC North.
Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2026 NFL season
Harold Fannin Jr. has a Yahoo ADP in the mid-60s, and it makes sense. He finished as the TE6 last year, and fellow tight end David Njoku was not retained. But Cleveland significantly improved its receiver group this year (widening the passing tree), and the quarterback collection is still suspect. So much of fantasy success is tied to environment, and I'm worried the uber-talented Fannin will have a difficult time overcoming his context this fall. The talent leaps off the screen, but he's not a cheap pick like he was last year.
I often have a soft spot for veteran players who command a boring discount, but I can't quite commit to DK Metcalf this year. He's entering his age-29 season and his yards per target has fallen the last two years. More importantly, the Steelers brought Aaron Rodgers back for his age-43 season – so we have to be muted with our expectations about this team's pace and passing volume. For all of Metcalf's talent, he'll probably miss out on 1,000 yards for the third straight season.
We think of the Bengals as a carnival team (fun offense, leaky defense) and that means it's a blast to invest in the passing game. But save some room for Chase Brown, too. Brown is coming off an RB8 season (despite Joe Burrow missing nine games) and there's little on the depth chart after Brown. And while Brown is a capable runner, his receiving chops (69-437-5 last year) keep him in the field in all packages. Brown makes a lot of sense as a mid-second-round pick.

#last #fantasy #passing #Football

Bristol Gate Capital Partners, an investment management company, published its Q2 2026 investor letter for the "US Equity Strategy". A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Strategy lagged the S&P 500 Total Return Index in the quarter in terms of returns, but outperformed in dividend growth. Despite debate over capital cycle returns, AI remained the dominant market theme, expanding from early adoption to broader enterprise adoption. The firm continues to focus on high-dividend-growth companies while maintaining discipline around valuation and earnings durability. In addition, please check the Fund's top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its Q2 2026 investor letter, Bristol US Equity Strategy highlighted W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB). Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) is an insurance holding company operates as a commercial line writer. On July 22, 2026, W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) closed at $72.36 per share, reflecting a market capitalization of $26.85 billion. W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) posted a one-month return of 4.43%, while its shares gained 5.57% over the past 52 weeks.
Bristol US Equity Strategy stated the following regarding W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) in its Q2 2026 investor update:
"W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) is a property-and-casualty insurer with a long record of dividend growth and disciplined value creation, precisely the profile our process is designed to find. The company runs a decentralized model of more than 50 business units, each tailored to its market, with a focus on specialty and excess-and-surplus lines that demands deep underwriting expertise and generates high, durable returns on capital. Berkley has raised its dividend for 25 consecutive years, a five-year compound annual growth rate of roughly 11.6%, and regularly returns excess capital through special dividends when its balance sheet allows. That combination of free-cash-flow generation and shareholder-friendly capital allocation is exactly what our model favors.
Berkley is family-run, with a conservative underwriting culture and balance sheet. Its earnings are relatively insulated from the economic cycle, and we believe the position adds ballast to the portfolio: a more defensive, lower-volatility holding that can help steady returns at a time when AI is widening the range of outcomes across many sectors. With the shares trading at an attractive valuation relative to the quality and returns of the business, we initiated the position."

#corporation

LONDON, July 23 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank kept borrowing costs on hold on Thursday but left room for more tightening in the coming months as a widening conflict in the Middle East pushed up energy prices again.
The ECB kept its deposit rate at 2.25% but said it was "closely monitoring the intensity and duration of the shock, as well as its indirect and second-round effects."
The euro extended its falls and was last down 0.28% at $1.1378.
Interest-rate sensitive two-year bond yields across the euro ‌area held higher on the day, with German two-year bond yields last up around 3 basis points at 2.87%.
Money markets price in a high chance of two more rate increases by year-end.

#year #yields #july

Payward is widening the reach of xStocks beyond U.S. markets through a new partnership with GTN, giving the tokenized-equities platform a path into Asia, Europe and other major financial centers.
The first phase will focus on Hong Kong-listed shares, with the United Kingdom, Europe, South Korea and additional markets expected to follow. Payward also plans to extend xStocks beyond tokenized equities and exchange-traded funds over time, subject to local approvals.
GTN will provide the traditional market infrastructure behind that expansion, including execution, custody, ledgering, record-keeping and sub-accounting. The company connects to more than 90 markets through a single integration, allowing Payward to add international ***** ets without building separate access rails for each region.
More From Cryptoprowl:
MEXC Reports 7.1 Billion USDT in ***** eX Futures Volume as Q2 Closes the Gap to Wall Street

#tokenized #equities #asia #kong

GE Vernova (NYSE:GEV) shares dropped about 6.4% on Wednesday morning after the power equipment maker's wind segment losses widened even as the company posted stronger-than-expected quarterly revenue and record orders.
The company's wind business, its long-standing trouble spot, reported revenue down 10% to $2.03 billion in the second quarter, with the segment's core loss widening to about $275 million on lower onshore equipment deliveries.
GE Vernova said it expects global tariffs to add $100 million to $200 million to costs in 2026.
Second-quarter revenue rose 22% year-over-year to $11.1 billion, topping ***** yst estimates of $10.7 billion.
Orders climbed 88% organically to $24.2 billion, pushing the company's backlog up $13 billion from the prior quarter to $176 billion.

#year

Sompo International's wholly owned Brazilian subsidiary, Sompo, has signed an agreement to acquire local peer Fator Seguradora.
The value of the transaction has not been disclosed and the deal remains subject to approval by the relevant regulatory authorities.
According to the translated version of the announcement, the acquisition is part of Sompo's strategy to expand its presence in the corporate insurance market by widening its portfolio of specialised solutions.
The company said the deal will strengthen its position in business lines in which Fator Seguradora has consolidated operations and recognised expertise, particularly property, guarantee and financial lines.
It said completion of the transaction is expected to further reinforce its market position.

#transaction #lines

Mike LaFleur knows that the next six months will be filled with daunting tasks, one after another.
The Arizona Cardinals are coming off a 3-14 season, with an increasingly murky quarterback situation and the most difficult schedule in the NFL. But if the Cardinals have hit on the next great product of the Sean McVay tree — LaFleur spent the past three seasons as McVay’s offensive coordinator — then this season will be a success, even if the record isn’t pretty.
So who is the Cardinals’ new head coach? That’s what The Arizona Republic sought to learn in a sit-down interview on Monday, July 20, a few days before the start of training camp.
Upon learning that this would delve into his personality, LaFleur offered a disclaimer. “Some context for me: This is the stuff I hate the most,” he said, widening his smile.
Oh well. Here we go.

#cardinals #arizona #next

Interested in Oracle Corporation? Here are five stocks we like better.
S&P Global Ratings downgraded Oracle's credit rating to BBB-, citing a widening free cash flow deficit and heavy reliance on OpenAI for revenue.
Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Oracle are all borrowing heavily to fund AI spending, but Oracle has the weakest balance sheet and no rating cushion left.
Oracle's negative free cash flow raises the risk of higher interest costs, fewer buybacks, and difficulty covering debt if AI demand slows.
The past few weeks have seen the bond market start asking a question the stock market has mostly been happy to ignore: Who can actually afford the AI buildout?

#oracle #rating #corporation #global

MOSCOW, July 21 (Reuters) - Online retailer Wildberries, Russia's answer to Amazon, and the merchants who trade through it are grappling with losses in the wake of Ukrainian attacks on warehouses operated by the retailer, the Kremlin said ‌on Tuesday.
Drones targeted two large logistics hubs in the cities of Kotovsk and Elektrostal on Saturday. The strikes killed ‌eight workers, sparked fires and disrupted operations at Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, which can handle over 20 million orders per day.
While the extent of the damage remains unclear, the attacks on a company so central to the consumer economy appear to mark a widening of Kyiv's strategy of using long-range drones to disrupt Russia's war effort and pressure the Kremlin to make peace.
Asked about the attacks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists: "The situation is indeed difficult because of the losses suffered both by the company itself and by representatives of small and medium-sized businesses."
He ‌denied accusations from Ukraine that Wildberries handles military ⁠supplies.

#drones #company

The dollar index (DXY00) is up by +0.17% today. The dollar is moving higher today as escalation of hostilities between the US and Iran is boosting crude oil prices, which raises inflation expectations that could prompt the Fed to tighten monetary policy, a supportive factor for the dollar. The dollar also received some safe-haven support today on signs of widening of the conflict in the Middle East after Houthi rebels said they will impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia in retaliation for what they say is the kingdom's siege on the Yemeni capital. Strength in stocks today has reduced liquidity demand for the dollar, limiting gains in the currency.
Today's US economic news was slightly negative for the dollar after the Jun leading indicators fell -0.2% m/m, weaker than expectations of -0.1% m/m.
Dollar Supported by Higher T-Note Yields and Crude Prices
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The US conducted a ninth straight day of airstrikes on Iran, bombing military targets and communications networks, and Iran retaliated by launching drones and missiles at US bases in Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, and Iraq. The New York Times reported that the US is sending more warplanes to the Middle East, including F-35 and F-16 fighter jets. However, crude prices fell from their highs after Iran said it wouldn't abandon diplomacy and that Qatar and Pakistan had reached out to mediate an end to the conflict and proposed a 10-day cessation of strikes between the US and Iran.

#crude

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States announced another death of a service member as it launched more airstrikes at Iran on Sunday in response to the killing of U.S. troops, and Iran fired missiles toward Jordan that risked widening the conflict into neighboring Israel.
Step by step, the U.S. and Iran have returned closer to all-out war as last month's interim deal meant to permanently end the fighting has crumbled and shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has largely stalled. Both sides have targeted civilian infrastructure relied on by millions of people.
The U.S. military said the service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday during the "controlled detonation" of a downed Iranian drone.
Earlier, the military said its strikes targeted Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard to retaliate for Friday's killing of troops in Jordan. One service member was missing after that attack, and the military's new statement said "unidentified remains" were found Sunday and were being examined. Since the war began, 17 U.S. service members have been killed.
The renewed exchanges of fire, now in their second week, have seen the U.S. target bridges, water desalination plants and electrical facilities in Iran. Tehran has hit U.S.-allied countries throughout the Middle East.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military launched airstrikes Sunday targeting Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard to retaliate for the killing of American troops in Jordan, further widening crossfire between the nations as an interim deal seeking an end to their war has collapsed.
The strikes are part of a weeklong campaign that began with a struggle over control of the Strait of Hormuz and has seen Iran strike U.S.-allied countries across the Middle East.
The U.S. has targeted bridges, electrical facilities and other targets in Iran, and Tehran has retaliated by hitting power and desalination plants in Kuwait, threatening daily life in that small, oil-rich desert nation. Iran also has stepped up its threats to further expand the strikes, drawing a warning overnight from the United Arab Emirates.
Kuwait and Bahrain again activated air defenses Sunday morning as they warned of incoming Iranian drones and missiles.
The U.S. military's Central Command in its statement also said it hit "Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defense facilities, maritime capabilities and missile and drone storage sites." It also said for the first time it specifically targeting the Guard, a key power base in Iran's theocracy that controls its ballistic missile **** nal.

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European PE sponsors are striking new deals faster than they can exit old ones, and the gap is widening.
According to PitchBook's Q2 2026 European PE Breakdown, the continent's deals-to-exit ratio widened from 2.4x in 2025 to 2.9x in the first half of this year, the highest level in at least a decade. Around 1,556 deals were struck in the first six months of 2026, while only 537 ****** ets were realized.
The backlog continues to build despite a 29.7% quarter-over-quarter surge in exit value to €98.8 billion (about $113.3 billion), the best quarter in three years. However, exit count remained flat, showing that exits are concentrated in a small number of very large realizations.
In fact, 22 mega-exits accounted for 65.8% of all exit value, compared with an average of 43.6% over the past decade. It's a top-of-market clearing event that's lifting a select group of sponsors holding marquee ****** ets, while the rest of the market remains largely stalled beneath it, according to the report.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services is seeing heightened interest for its intermodal and dedicated services, given a steady exodus of non-compliant drivers and following the Supreme Court's ruling widening liability exposure for brokers. The changing landscape is forcing shippers to seek "safe, secure and reliable capacity," the company said Wednesday in conjunction with its second-quarter report, which was significantly better than ***** ysts expected.
The Lowell, Arkansas-based company's second quarter marked a record for intermodal volumes. It reported a 10% year-over-year increase in loads, outpacing 8% y/y growth in total intermodal carloads on the U.S. Class I railroads. (North American containers were up 5% y/y).
"[Intermodal] conversion activity is at levels we have not seen in more than a decade," said Darren Field, president of intermodal, on a Wednesday evening conference call with ***** ysts.
The company's dedicated truckload pipeline ended the period at an all-time high.
J.B. Hunt's (NASDAQ: JBHT) operating leverage was again evident in the period. It grew operating income 32% y/y to $259 million on a 19% increase in revenue. The company has removed $135 million in structural costs over the past year through AI-led and other automation initiatives.