CNA Financial: Q2 Earnings Snapshot
The Chicago-based company said it had net income of $1.10 per share. Earnings, adjusted for investment costs, came to $1.23 per share.
The insurance holding company posted revenue of $3.72 billion in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $3.37 billion.
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Newsweek
7 minutes ago
- Newsweek
U.S. Clean Tech Leadership at Risk Due to Trump Policies, Investors Warn
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Daniel Weiss is the co-founder and managing partner of Angeleno Group, a Los Angeles-based venture capital and growth equity investment firm founded in 2001 to seek out opportunities in what was then called "alternative energy." Not quite a quarter of a century later, solar and wind power have gone from alternative to mainstream. "The basic economics of clean energy have transformed in the last 20 years," Weiss told Newsweek. "A big part of the reason for that is that it's simply more cost effective." The combinations of solar or wind with battery storage have become the cheapest and fastest ways to add power capacity and they provided more than 90 percent of the new electricity sources added to the U.S. grid last year. The rest of the world is "stealing a march" on the U.S. by encouraging clean energy while the Trump administration turns away from renewable sources, veteran clean tech investor Rob Day said. The rest of the world is "stealing a march" on the U.S. by encouraging clean energy while the Trump administration turns away from renewable sources, veteran clean tech investor Rob Day said. Newsweek Illustration/Canva/Getty With the current surge in demand for power, market forces should be driving clean energy and climate-friendly technology companies to new heights. But the Trump administration's hostile posture toward renewable energy and climate policy has brought volatility and slower growth. Weiss said the best way to make sense of this moment is to "zoom in and zoom out. Zoom in to the past 8 months in the U.S. and you'll find a "steady drum beat of bad news" for the sector. "Investment has slowed in certain parts of the space," Weiss said. Zoom out to a global perspective long-term view, however, and a very different picture emerges. "One might even make the case that this is one of the most compelling moments to be deploying capital, at least since we founded our firm 20 plus years ago," Weiss said. Newsweek's Better Planet has been talking with clean tech investors about how they are navigating these extraordinary times for a series called "Climate Investing in a Volatile Climate." In this installment, we hear from two veteran investors in the sector, Weiss and Rob Day, co-founder and partner at Spring Lane Capital. Both pointed to the sharp contrast between current U.S. policy and economic reality, and both predicted that market forces will overcome ideology. President Donald Trump has eliminated most of his predecessor's supportive policies for clean energy, pulled the U.S. out of the global Paris Climate Agreement and is seeking to do away with the legal basis for regulating greenhouse gas emissions altogether. "It's a pretty rocky road ahead in the near term, and there's a lot of disruption," Weiss said. In May, former U.S. Treasury Secretary and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen joined Angeleno Group's Board of Advisors to offer strategic guidance. Weiss said "global tailwinds are largely intact" for clean tech, with most other countries still committed to net-zero pledges. Late last month, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on countries to make more ambitious climate goals to take advantage of a "new energy era" of cheap, clean power. "Nearly 80 percent of the world has sent a signal to capital markets, to investors that we're on a long-term trajectory moving from a low efficiency, high carbon world to a higher efficiency, low carbon world," he said. The "universe of investment possibility" in clean tech today is much greater, he said, even though valuation for some companies is lower. "So, deal flow is up, valuations are down," he said, a combination that recalls legendary investor Warren Buffett's advice to "be greedy only when others are fearful." The Clean Tech Hype Cycle On the opposite coast in a downtown Boston office, Spring Lane Capital co-founder Rob Day said he sees the sector going through a phase similar to that identified in the Gartner hype cycle. In that model, emerging technologies eventually reach a period of realistic but robust growth. But first, there is a peak of inflated expectations, followed by what's called a "trough of disillusionment," which is where some clean tech companies find themselves now, Day said. "I think for EVs in the U.S., in particular, we're in the trough of disillusionment right now," Day told Newsweek. Trump's "One Big Beautiful" bill passed by Congressional Republicans last month phases out tax credits for EVs, and the maker of the best-selling EV model, Tesla, suffered blowback due to its controversial CEO. But look beyond the headlines, Day said, and there are signs that EVs will soon pull out of the disillusionment trough. "If you look at the underlying market numbers, adoption has continued to grow," he said, as the lower total cost of ownership for EVs is still a compelling selling point. Day said a similar dynamic is playing out for other clean technologies as the gloomy headlines about the demise of supportive federal policy drive away some recent arrivers who jumped into a "frothy" market. The rate of growth has changed, he said, but clean tech is, by and large, still on a growth trajectory. Day's resume includes a consultant position at Bain & Company and a role with the World Resources Institute's Sustainable Enterprise Program, and his Cleantech Investing column was required reading for many people in the sector through the Bush and Obama years. Over that period, he has seen the sector adjust as federal subsidies and policy support waxed and waned. "We've learned how to operate within that kind of an environment before," Day said. His advice to investors in the sector: think more broadly about sustainability than just solar and wind—think about circular economy solutions, waste reduction and efficiency. Look to investment potential in states that have either supportive policies or basic needs for sustainability, such as a lack of landfill space or rising power demand. Also, he said, investors should look abroad. Just as Weiss pointed out the continued global support for climate action, Day said other countries are now taking greater advantage of the clean tech opportunities. "The rest of the world is just absolutely stealing a march on us, and the U.S. is absolutely going to lose its leadership position on all of these technologies and solutions of tomorrow," Day said. "And it's a crying shame."
San Francisco Chronicle
37 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Air Lease: Q2 Earnings Snapshot
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Air Lease Corp. (AL) on Monday reported second-quarter earnings of $385.2 million. The Los Angeles-based company said it had profit of $3.33 per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to $1.40 per share. The company that leases planes to airlines posted revenue of $731.7 million in the period. Air Lease shares have climbed 14% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Monday, shares hit $55.15, an increase of 34% in the last 12 months. _____
San Francisco Chronicle
37 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
North Carolina DMV audit recommends reforms to reverse customer wait times, worker morale
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Customers at North Carolina's Division of Motor Vehicles are waiting longer in lines that are often far away from home, while agency staffing fails to keep pace with the state's surging population, according to agency reviews that also recommend major reforms. Elected Republican Auditor Dave Boliek on Monday released two audits totaling nearly 600 pages that scrutinize the DMV — the bane of motorists in many states. But long lines and frustrations are acute in the ninth-largest state. 'Our DMV affects the economy. It affects people having to take off of work unnecessarily. It takes our students out of the classroom,' Boliek told reporters. 'This has to be fixed and it has to be a top priority.' Constituent complaints, REAL ID brings problems to fore Boliek promised during last year's campaign to conduct a top-to-bottom review of the DMV if elected. Elected leaders' constituents have complained about the inability to book appointments online close to home and the struggles for their teenagers to complete driving tests. It's not unusual for customers to camp outside driver's license offices in the wee hours hoping to get seen later that day. Problems continued as federal REAL ID license security standards took effect in May. Erin Van Dorn of Holly Springs said at Boliek's news conference it took her and her teenage son four trips to the DMV — the last time 130 miles (209 kilometers) away in Mount Airy — to obtain his license. Information technology and staffing shortages were to blame. 'My son has missed a total of four days of school,' Van Horn said. 'It's just been a very big ordeal for us.' New Democratic Gov. Josh Stein's administration brought in former state legislator Paul Tine as the new Division of Motor Vehicles commissioner and has pledged a turnaround. Longer waits, continued examiner shortages A DMV performance audit Monday said average wait times for customers at the state's driver's license locations increased by over 15% since 2019 to 1 hour and 15 minutes. And close to 14% of the wait times lasted over 2 hours and 30 minutes — a 79% increase from 2019. And nearly half of all transactions by customers aren't happening at the license office closest to where they live. 'The employee experience has diminished as well,' Boliek said. The audit said there were 160 vacant license examiner positions as of April. And while the state's population has grown by 29% over the last 20 years, the number of examiner positions has grown by just 10%. Boliek's staff heard DMV employee complaints about burnout, security and low pay — average examiner position salaries were well below $50,000 last year. The audit attributes many problems to DMV's relationship to the Cabinet-level state Department of Transportation that oversees the agency. The auditor said DMV has undersized influence within DOT when it comes to decision-making and getting budget requests approved by the legislature. Agency independence among recommendations Boliek's most significant recommendation is for policymakers to consider turning DMV into an autonomous agency separate from DOT. Boliek said the recommendation is no slight upon Tine and current Teansportation Secretary Joey Hopkins, whom he said are taking steps toward reform. But he said a permanent change is needed to address situations where the commissioner and secretary don't cooperate as well. Other recommendations include creating a public online dashboard measuring keys performance goals and initiating nonconventional initiatives to reduce wait times and backlogs. Boliek said outside driving school instructors could administer road tests required of new drivers. The DMV could open 'pop-up' license offices at a vacant mall anchor store or create 'fast-pass' options for customers who pay extra to reach the front of the line. 'We can't keep doing things the same old way," he said. DMV, DOT chiefs back most recommendations In a written response to the audits, Tine and Hopkins agreed with nearly all of the recommendations and said many already getting carried out. But they opposed the recommendation to separate DMV, saying the agency's core functions align with the Transportation Department's mission to improve highway safety. 'We know that with the right leadership and follow-through, we will get results -– getting people out of lines and empowering our hard-working DMV employees," Stein spokesperson Morgan Hopkins said. The GOP-controlled General Assembly could still attempt to implement the change. A stopgap budget measure on Stein's desk provides funds to hire over 60 license examiners. And a new state law has established a temporary moratorium on renewing standard licenses, allowing them to remain valid within North Carolina for up to two years beyond the expiration date.
