Golub-Backed Saudi Firm Starts AI Fund to Drive US-Mideast Ties
A Saudi Arabia-based venture capital firm that's backed by the family office of US billionaire Lawrence Golub is launching a $50 million fund to invest in artificial intelligence startups across the Middle East and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Wyld VC plans to focus on early-stage companies, with a view toward driving deeper ties between Gulf nations and the US that can help accelerate AI development, according to founder Tala Hasan Al Jabri.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Everyone should keep an eye on this Persian Gulf island
Everyone should keep an eye on this Persian Gulf island originally appeared on TheStreet. Kharg Island is a small island in the Persian Gulf. It lies 16 miles off the northwest coast of Iran. It's 451 miles from Tehran, Iran's capital — roughly the distance from Detroit to New York City. It is just five miles long, about 40% the size of New York's Manhattan Island. And 125 from Iran's border with Iraq. 💵💰💰💵 It is also unique in the Persian Gulf. The island's limestone foundation allows it the luxury of fresh water reserves. Most importantly it also is the key port that exports Iranian crude oil. About 90% of Iran's oil exports flow through Kharg's terminal complex. And about a third of those exports go to could prove to be one of two key strategic places if the Israeli-Iran War (let's call it that for now) spins out of control. The other is the Strait of Hormuz, 21 miles wide at its narrowest, same as the English Channel. About a third of the world's liquified natural gas and 25% of its crude oil must pass through the strait to pass from the 615-mile Persian Gulf to reach buyers in Europe, Asia and elsewhere. Giant oil tankers with oil and natural gas from Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Oman and Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Bahrain flow though the strait Iran is the northern side of the strait, Oman on the southern. For years, whenever there's a conflict involving Iran, there are fears the country might block the strait. The importance of Kharg and the Strait of Hormuz helps explain why crude oil prices shot up as much as 14% late Thursday on the very first reports of Israel's attack on Iranian military and nuclear West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark U.S. crude closed Friday up 7% to $71.29, and Brent, the benchmark global crude, was up the same amount to $74.23. If the worst of the conflict scenarios come to pass — Kharg's terminals and the strait are shut down, all bets are off on oil prices and, by extension, natural gas and gasoline prices. Kharg's terminal were blown up during the Iraq-Iran War of 1980-1988. And the shooting between Israel and Iran (via drones and missiles) continued off and on Saturday and into Sunday. In the event of a Kharg shutdown and strait closed, Reuters reported, some analysts were suggesting crude prices could top $120 a barrel or higher, which would send gasoline prices much higher, maybe up to the top U.S. average price of $5.22 a gallon in May 2022. Global economies would be disrupted, and inflation would almost certainly jump. AAA's daily U.S. average gasoline price was up a penny to $3.133 a gallon on Saturday. The price is up just 3.1% so far in 2025. U.S. oil and gas stocks jumped on the Israeli-Iran news Friday. The Energy Sector of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was alone among the 11 sectors of the index to post a gain for the Energy Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund () , which matches the index's Energy Sector, was up 1.7%. Oil services giant Halliburton () was up 5.5%. APA Corp. () , parent of oil-and-gas producer Apache, was up 5.3%. The S&P 500 was down 1.13%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, down as many as 887 points in the afternoon, finished with a 700-point loss, or 1.8%, to 42,198. The major stock indexes — Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, Nasdaq-100 and Russell 2000 — all finished lower on the week. More Economic Analysis: Hedge-fund manager sees U.S. becoming Greece A critical industry is slamming the economy Reports may show whether the economy is toughing out the tariffs That said, many analysts do not believe things will get that out of hand. Similar worries about Kharg and the Strait of Hormuz have generated similar worries and price projections. But, in a note on Friday, Amarpreet Singh, an analyst with Barclay's, said "cool heads have prevailed." Moreover, as Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, a consulting firm that watches matters like these, thinks Iran has few cards to play in this conflict. Israeli intelligence capabilities are just too capable, he said on a podcast, and Iran's military capacity has been diminished substantially by the attacks this week. Still, attention must be paid. Most should keep an eye on this Persian Gulf island first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 14, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 14, 2025, where it first appeared. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Wedbush Reiterates $270 Target on Apple (AAPL), Citing Hopes for AI Execution
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is one of the 10 best tech stocks to buy according to billionaires right now. On June 10, following Apple's keynote at the 2025 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives reaffirmed his Outperform rating on the stock, along with a $270 price target. In his post-event note, Ives noted that while the presentation outlined Apple's vision for the developer ecosystem, it offered limited new detail on the company's artificial intelligence initiatives, an area where Apple appears to be moving cautiously, likely in response to last year's strategic missteps. A wide view of an Apple store, showing the range of products the company offers. Notably, at the WWDC 2024, the company had given an ambitious roadmap to its Apple Intelligence and a transformation for smart AI assistant, Siri. However, the execution over these plans has lagged and the company's AI strategy has been under scrutiny. Fast forwarding to now, Ives believes Apple's measured approach is understandable, but 2025 could be a critical year for the company to begin monetizing its AI efforts more visibly. He suggested that if internal development does not accelerate, the company may need to explore larger-scale AI acquisitions to strengthen its positioning in the space. Although Apple may be seen as entering the AI race later than peers, Ives acknowledged that the company has begun laying the groundwork for a longer-term strategy. In his view, WWDC marked the start of Apple's multi-year AI roadmap, with initial steps that could shape its direction through 2026 and beyond. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) designs, manufactures, and markets innovative products, including the iPhone, iPad, Mac computers, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. The company also offers a range of software and services, such as the iOS and macOS operating systems, iCloud, advertising, payment services, Apple Music, and the App Store. While we acknowledge the potential of AAPL as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: The Best and Worst Dow Stocks for the Next 12 Months and 10 Unstoppable Stocks That Could Double Your Money. Disclosure: None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why strategists are boosting their S&P 500 year-end targets
Several Wall Street analysts are turning bullish on US stocks, boosting their year-end targets for the S&P 500 (^GSPC). Keith Lerner, Truist co–chief investment officer and chief market strategist, joins Morning Brief with Madison Mills and Brad Smith to explain why he, too, has boosted his S&P 500 year-end target. He also notes that the technology sector and artificial intelligence (AI) are "back in the forefront" of investors' minds. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Morning Brief here. It's time now for today's strategy session. Analysts across Wall Street are turning bullish on US stocks. Multiple strategists boosting their year-end 2025 targets on the S&P 500 after stocks recovered from their tariff induced sell-off. Joining us now, we've got one of the strategists boosting his target, Keith Lerner, Truist co-chief investment officer and chief market strategist and good friend of the show. Keith, good to see you here. Just take us into the thesis behind why you're now raising your targets as well. Yeah, great to be with you all. Maybe I'll take take a step back for some context. Back in February, we were around all-time highs. We downgraded equities, and then as towards the lows, we told our clients to rebalance, that you should start thinking about upside risk. On the initial rebound, when we had the rebound, we actually modestly took some off the table in hindsight somewhat prematurely, but at that time our work was suggesting that recession risk was still relatively high. After that, China kind of walked back. So, now as we kind of reset and say, okay, where are we at right now in the way of the evidence in our work suggests at least more of a neutral posture overall. And as we look at things, one, the rebound off of this low is actually a positive sign when you look off six months later. Instead of recession, you know, being say 50%, I think our our base case is more of a muddle through. And something that's changed in since February when we first downgraded stocks was earnings forward earning estimates for the S&P. Back in February was starting to move down. That's part of the reason why we downgraded stocks. Now they have inflected higher. A lot of that is being driven by tech and communications, and that's the final point. We had all this tariff uncertainty, right? The big T was tariffs. I think what the market has found over the last few months is the other T technology and AI, which has been the dominant theme of this bull market, is back in the forefront. Yeah, Keith, really excited to get your thoughts on the tech sector specifically, which as you mentioned you did upgrade as part of this. To what degree do we continue to learn the lesson from investors that you can rest on your laurels of the MAG 7 stocks, those big tech stocks, regardless of the broader market activity, and how how bullish does that make you? Sure. Well, the first thing I will say, we've been overweight communication services, which is kind of also an AI play all year long. We added to tech, and I think what's also important with tech, I know a lot of times we're looking at how much we've moved from the lows for the market and tech, but if you look at the S&P technology sector since last July, we're flat. And you spoke about Nvidia earlier, that's also only up modestly since last July as well. So, if you look at the big picture for the overall market, the S&P, we were flat for seven months for the technology sector flat for almost a year. So I think as we test these kind of technical levels and you I think eventually we will break above that, there's probably some pain trade. That's why I just want to be clear too, I mean, we are starting with higher valuations for the overall market, so I think there could be a squeeze higher, but I don't know that we're off to the races. I certainly expect there'll be some bumps along the way, especially in the summer where we see some illiquidity along the way, but I think in general, the underlying trend is still positive and we want to stick with that underlying trend. Okay, you started to answer my question, which was around valuation, so I'll tap more into that illiquidity. Does that mean low volume during the summer means more volatility in this interim period of time? Yeah, well, I think what could happen is, well, I'm hoping for the some some adult drums, right? After what we've seen the first half, like some boring trade would be actually probably good. But I think what can happen is if you get some unexpected headlines, a lot of people on vacation, there's less liquidity, that I think you can see moves exacerbated as well. And there's an old saying, sell in May and go go away, but that's actually incorrect. What happens really, the market tends to do well until July, and then that's when you start to see more seasonal weakness as you get into August and September. So, I think that's something to be kind of on on the lookout for. Um and again, for the economy, we expect more of a muddle through, so this isn't to our view, like, hey, this is time to be on all offense, but again, I think for investors and even like, you know, people watching the show today, I think we'd be more aligned with long-term talking equity allocations, again, not overly, you know, on offense or defense, but the underlying trend again, I think we have to respect it. Right, don't fight the tape, it sounds like, is what you're saying, Keith. But I wonder to what extent you feel that investors are somewhat post-tariff, and instead focused on the moves of the Federal Reserve, especially given that we are seeing such a strong market reaction to that cooler than expected inflation print this morning. Does today's market action show that the Trump that the market is moving from being Trump driven to Fed driven? You know, I would almost say neither. I mean, they're both important, but I think I think the way I think about it is for some period of time, tariffs were the only thing that mattered. And I think we're finding out today, a lot of other factors matter. So tariffs still matter, just not the same degree. The Fed still matters, but not the same degree. And I think the thing with the Fed right now, the reason why I say it matters, but it's, you know, even if you look at the Fed funds futures, what the market is pricing in, the first rate cut is September. So think about where we are today, we're still in June. There's a lot of time between now and September where the Fed really comes back into play in a meaningful way. I think this is a step in the right direction, showing CPI coming down. I think there's still some lingering questions, are we going to see some changes in the inflation data as some of the tariff impact comes in? I think that's an open question as well. So in the interim, I do think, you know, I mean, I do think the economic data matters a lot, meaning there was a lot of concern about recession earlier on. Are we going to see some air pockets over the couple next couple months? Is it going to still show some resiliency? So like, it looks like the weekly jobless claims are going to be important, the employment picture is going to be important, the inflation trends and the Fed. So again, I think all these things matter, but I don't think it's as as just specific, like this is the main thing that the market is now focusing on. And again, going back broader picture, back to the conversation, tech matters and what what happens on the technical side as well. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
