Latest news with #Digest
Business Insider
08-08-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Are Semiconductors a 'Sell' After Trump Tariffs?
Trump's 100% tariff on semis and what it means… what McDonald's earnings say about the U.S. consumer… checking in on Jonathan Rose's NioCorp trade… a laundry list of winners VIEW IN BROWSER In yesterday's Digest, we reported on President Trump's plan to unveil new tariffs on semiconductor companies 'within the next week or so.' Well, that 'week or so' turned into about an hour. Shortly after that Digest hit your inbox, Trump confirmed plans for a 100% tariff on imported semiconductors, with one big caveat – companies that manufacture chips in the U.S., or commit to doing so, will be exempt. Apple's CEO Tim Cook stood by Trump during the announcement after Apple pledged an additional $100 billion in U.S. investment (bringing its total domestic commitment to about $600 billion) and received that exemption. So, what does this mean? And what's the investment step? The headline '100% chip tariff' is dramatic. But the actual policy functions more like a policy lever than a full‑blown blockade. This isn't a death knell to the overall AI/semiconductor story or AI profits (which is why the tech sector isn't plummeting as I write Thursday). But neither is it a nothingburger. As to how to respond, here are three guidelines: Prioritize companies investing in U.S. manufacturing – firms such as TSMC, Samsung, Nvidia, and GlobalFoundries are expanding their U.S. operations and are in a good position to benefit from exemptions Maintain your core AI holdings – the new tariffs don't undermine long-term demand for semiconductors. Hold your top-tier AI plays Look past the headlines for long-term opportunity – if more drama and downward volatility is ahead of us, look for favorable entry points on AI/semi leaders selling off in sympathy Bottom line: Though the headlines sound frightening, this is ultimately bullish for well‑positioned AI players. Yesterday, McDonald's beat earnings expectations, but… While Wall Street applauded the numbers, the company's tone was cautious for one main reason… Weakness among low-income consumers. From CEO Chris Kempczinski: Reengaging the low-income consumer is critical, as they typically visit our restaurants more frequently than middle- and high-income consumers. This bifurcated consumer base is why we remain cautious about the overall near-term health of the U.S. consumer. Longtime Digest readers will recognize this 'bifurcated consumer base' and recall the term we've used within this broader conversation: the 'Technochasm.' There's a growing divide today between the 'haves' and 'have nots' – both in the market and in our society. One of the most influential factors driving this growing divide is wealth generated from investments in cutting-edge technology and artificial intelligence, something our experts have coined, 'The Technochasm.' This bifurcation – strength from higher earners, fragility among lower-income households – is becoming a recurring theme in earnings reports across industries. And it's a valuable clue into the true health of the U.S. consumer. This is especially important in the wake of last Friday's jobs report – the weakest in over a year – and Tuesday's ISM data, which caused legendary investor Louis Navellier to say: We are teetering on a recession here, folks, and I don't like to use that R word, but that's what's happening. Can high-income earners spend us out of a recession? I've been a part of some interesting conversations with InvestorPlace analysts that tackle whether higher-income consumers can spend enough to offset the tightening we're seeing from lower-income households. There's some evidence suggesting this has been happening. For example, earlier this year, credit card data showed that upper-income households were spending regularly, particularly on experiences like travel, fine dining, and entertainment. Here's CNBC from the spring: Lower-income earners are reining in their transactions to focus on essentials, while the wealthy continue to spend freely on perks including dining out and luxury travel, according to first-quarter results from U.S. credit card lenders… For instance, at Synchrony, which provides store cards for retail brands including Lowe's and T.J. Maxx, spending fell 4% in the first three months of the year… That compares to a 6% spending jump at American Express and a similar rise at JPMorgan Chase, both of which cater to wealthier users with higher credit scores than Synchrony. AmEx said its customers spent 7% more on dining and 11% more on first class and business class airfare than a year earlier. These consumers are benefiting from rising asset values, higher interest income, and – thanks to the AI boom – significant gains in tech-heavy investment portfolios. But we're starting to see signs of fatigue Let's jump to Fortune from last week: More than half (58%) of six-figure earners no longer feel financially successful, according to a recent report from Clarify Capital… More than seven in 10 of these high earners are now being forced to shop at discount grocery chains to save cash. Around 74% also say they're cutting back on dining out, 54% are skimping out on entertainment, 51% are getting thrifty with buying clothes, 49% are scaling back their subscriptions, and 49% are spending less on travel… About 85% of six-figure workers say they feel stressed and anxious due to increased living costs. Fortune goes on to report that the delinquency rate among high-income borrowers has surged 130% over the last two years. As to the investment implications, there are many ways we can take this Let's briefly walk through four options. Invest in the companies at the forefront of the technologies that will continue to explode the Technochasm Clearly, that's AI. But as we've been profiling here in the Digest, the latest evolution is 'Physical AI' (think robots/humanoids). On Monday through Wednesday, we brought you interviews from Louis Navellier, Eric Fry, and Luke Lango detailing this opportunity. And they just released a new portfolio of Physical AI leaders in their AI Revolution Portfolio investment service. Regardless of how you do it, giving your portfolio at least some exposure to cutting-edge AI is imperative. Focus on fundamentally superior companies that are growing their earnings, despite a broader consumer slowdown This has been the cornerstone of Louis' market approach for decades. Earlier this week, in the same Flash Alert market update in which Louis warned of a potential recession, he also congratulated his Growth Investor subscribers on three earnings wins from earlier this week. Here's how those stocks have performed since Tuesday: AXON: +13% KGC: +11% PLTR: +9% As Louis loves to say: 'earnings are working.' Trade companies successfully catering to lower-income Americans Lower-income shoppers are still buying from certain retailers, causing Wall Street to push up prices. Our hypergrowth expert Luke Lango is in one such retailer in Breakout Trader – Dollar Tree (DLTR). After opening the trade in late-April, they're sitting on 31% gains. These lower-income trades aren't necessarily 'hold forever' stocks, but for however long cost-conscious shoppers help drive their prices higher, stick with bullish momentum. Refresh yourself on the valuations of every stock you own If even higher-income consumers are beginning to pull back, earnings are likely to be next. And when earnings fall, eventually, stock prices do too – especially those priced for perfection. So, refamiliarize yourself with the valuation of each stock you hold. Make sure you're comfortable. (If you missed Eric's recent free research report on which expensive AI stocks he's selling today – and which stocks he's recommending to replace them – you can check it out right here.) Coming full circle to McDonald's… Its earnings report is a snapshot of the Technochasm in action. Yes, certain consumers are still spending. But for many – especially at the lower end of the income spectrum – the strain is becoming undeniable. Bottom line: When McDonald's says it's having to 'reengage' its most loyal customers through cheaper meals, we should take notice. That's a macro warning. Checking in on Jonathan Rose's NioCorp trade Back in July, we put a new speculative trade on your radar – NioCorp Developments (NB) – thanks to a heads-up from veteran trader Jonathan Rose. Jonathan had just closed a 700% win on rare earth play MP Materials. And he had recently recommended a trade on NB as another early-stage name riding the same wave: U.S. demand for critical minerals tied to defense, energy, and the AI boom. At the time, we emphasized caution. As with any speculative trade, risk mitigation is key because volatility was likely. To that end, Jonathan had recommended a defined-risk trade. Well, the very next day, NB traded sharpy lower. Jonathan explained that the selloff was driven by a capital raise – standard behavior for small-cap names funding their growth. He wasn't concerned for the trade. If you took advantage of that selloff, congrats Fast-forward to today, and NB is soaring, rapidly approaching its pre-capital-raise high. It's up 54% from its late-July low, so if you bought on that weakness, congrats, you're likely sitting on double-digit gains. Better still, even higher prices appear on the way… A major new catalyst for growth On Tuesday, we learned that the U.S. Department of Defense has awarded up to $10 million to NioCorp's Elk Creek Resources unit to support its domestic production of scandium – a rare earth metal critical for advance defense and aerospace systems. This is a big deal. Virtually the entire global scandium supply comes from China, Russia, and Ukraine. The U.S. hasn't mined scandium since 1969 – until now. NioCorp's Elk Creek project is also sitting on high-value niobium and titanium, both essential for hypersonic missiles and other military applications. The company already has binding long-term deals in place for 75% of its planned niobium output, and it just inked its largest scandium deal ever. From CEO Mark Smith: This is a grant, not an investment. It shows strong U.S. government backing and how critical niobium and scandium are for defense. In short, this is no longer just a speculative story; it's becoming big business, with real government backing. We'll repeat ourselves from our July 16 Digest: If you're looking for what could be the market's next major overnight winner, consider yourself in the loop. Before we sign off, a quick 'congratulations' to Jonathan's Advanced Notice subscribers They're on a roll right now. Since March, here are their closed trade results: 18 trades: 14 winners, 4 losers 113.73% average return across all closed positions 169.91% average return across the winning positions 77.8%-win rate Average trade hold period: 36 days As we've said many times, Jonathan is one of the best traders in the biz. To get a better sense for how and why, join him for his free Masters in Trading Live broadcasts at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time every day the market is open. They're a great way to deepen your understanding of trading – and to see firsthand the strategies Jonathan uses to capture triple-digit gains, sometimes in just days.
The Verge
28-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Coyote vs. Acme has a release date, but you're not gonna like it.
Posted Jul 28, 2025 at 10:22 AM UTC Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates. Dominic Preston Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Dominic Preston Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Entertainment Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Film
Business Insider
24-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Stocks Surge Today and How to Trade Tomorrow
A Middle East ceasefire juices stocks… diving into the details of how to trade… what do to about the pullback in oil/gold… keep an eye on the tumbling dollar VIEW IN BROWSER Stocks are surging Tuesday on hopes that a ceasefire between Israel and Iran – announced last night by President Trump – will hold this time. 'This time' is a reference to how the fragile peace has already stumbled. The ceasefire was supposed to be effective as of midnight, but in the hours since, both sides have accused the other of violating the agreement. Earlier today, an exasperated President Trump said that both sides 'don't know what the **** they're doing.' Let's go to legendary investor Louis Navellier for more. From this morning's Flash Alert in Growth Investor: A little confusion going on with the situation between Israel and Iran. Trump announced a preliminary ceasefire within 24 hours. Iran fired some missiles. Israel was still sending planes. President Trump told Israel to turn them around – don't drop the bombs… President Trump is on his way to The Hague for the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) meeting… It's still up, up and away folks. Stocks that have the best earnings are poised to prosper. Like Louis, Wall Street is looking beyond this stop/start, seeing the end of the conflict. As I write, all three major indexes are up 1%+. Meanwhile, safe-haven assets oil and gold are tumbling. This is unsurprising. In last Wednesday's Digest, I wrote, 'If the Israel/Iran conflict remains contained and supply remains uninterrupted, prices should drift back toward pre-conflict levels in the $60s.' It appears that's where we're headed. Longer-term investors should consider taking advantage. Top-tier oil stocks are already selling at low valuations. Meanwhile, the global supply/demand looks increasingly attractive as we look farther out. Let's rewind to our 9/20/24 Digest. We'll pick up quoting CNBC: The oil market will face a supply shortage by the end of 2025 as the world fails to replace current crude reserves fast enough, Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub told CNBC on Monday. About 97% of the oil produced today was discovered in the 20th century, she said. The world has replaced less than 50% of the crude produced over the last decade, Hollub added. 'We're in a situation now where in a couple of years' time we're going to be very short on supply,' she told CNBC's Tyler Mathisen… For now, the market is oversupplied, which has held oil prices down… But the supply and demand outlook will flip by the end of 2025, Hollub said. As for gold, we'll circle back momentarily. First, let's switch gears… The overlooked answer to some of today's most urgent financial challenges Consider these all-too-common investing issues: 'I started investing late – I don't have 30 years to compound slow gains at 6.5%.' Understood. Learn how to trade. 'Retirement's rushing toward me. I can't afford a market crash, but I haven't reached my target yet so I must stay invested.' Millions are Americans are in your shoes. Learn to trade. 'Our budget just got wrecked by surprise bills. How do we recover without sinking deeper into debt?' You've got options – if you'll learn how to trade. 'The way things are going, AI might take my job… and the next one too. How do I protect my income?' Join the club… and learn to trade. But what does 'trading' really mean? If you're like me, you were raised in the school of buy-and-hold. Trading was never taught – mostly warned against as a way that impatient investors lost money fast by targeting overnight riches. So, when I'd hear people discussing their trading wins, I had loads of questions: How do you actually do it? How long does a trade last? A day? A week? Several quarters? What specific indicators inform your entry/exit timing? How accurate are they? Do you focus on a few big winners that offset loads of small losers? Or are tons of small-yet-consistent winners the way to go? Without answers, I mostly stayed on sidelines. And when I tried a few trades – and lost money – retreating to buy-and-hold felt safer. You might have had a similar experience. But as I've highlighted in past Digests, we're not in the same market as decades ago. Today's market isn't built for passive investing alone. Greater volatility is the new norm. AI-based job disruption is real and accelerating. And the cost of living is rising fast. In this environment, trading is becoming more essential than optional. So, over the coming days, we'll take some time in various Digests to look at different types of trading to provide you a starting point for your next step in sharpening this skill. In this first installment, let's begin by hitting the 'easy button' on trading Trading can be time-intensive, especially for beginners. It demands constant monitoring of markets, researching setups, tracking economic news, and managing positions in real time. Unlike passive investing, trading is hands-on – requiring focus, discipline, and swift decision-making. Without a system or structure, it can quickly become a full-time job. But cutting-edge technology can help bypass a lot of this. In recent Digests, we've profiled how our corporate partner TradeSmith just launched a new trading tool. It scans 120 million data points to identify prime trading moments – freeing you from having to do it yourself. The tool then suggests the direction a stock is about to move and shows you the type of trade you can execute to capitalize on it. These 'profit windows' range in duration, specific to the stock. Here's TradeSmith's CEO Keith Kaplan: For example, today, Tesla could have a 6-day window. But Apple could have a 15-day profit window. And Microsoft could have a 10-day window… In backtests, this tool identified time windows where stocks surged so fast, it was like compressing four, eight — even nine — years of market gains into just a few weeks. Bottom line: With this type of 'trading,' you're relying on new technology to do the heavy lifting for you. Critically, what you're not doing is relying on your own interpretation or 'hunches' With this style of trading, you're basically allowing cold, impartial data and complex algorithms to guide your market moves – not your own instincts or gut feel. While do-it-yourselfers may prefer to wield more control, studies on investor returns consistently show that we're our own worst enemies. This is because our emotions trip us up, resulting in suboptimal market choices. When you use technology to guide your trading, you're handing over the reins to data and predictive analytics. You don't have to second-guess your market decisions. Back to Keith: AI doesn't enter a trade because of FOMO… It doesn't bias its decisions based on optimism, pessimism, or any other unhelpful human emotion. And it doesn't get rattled when the market opens red. It simply follows the data. Instead, it constantly scans the markets, analyzing millions of data points, backtesting strategies, and adjusting in real time. Something no human – no matter how skilled – can do with the same level of speed and accuracy. To see this in action, you can join Keith tomorrow at 10 a.m. Eastern. He'll be holding a live demo of how this new trading platform works… what the backtests show about its results… and he's even giving away the names and tickers of three new opportunities for July 1 that could each shoot up 100% or more in days. To register to join immediately with just one click, click here. Tomorrow, we'll profile a trading method Luke Lango uses called 'stage analysis.' One of Luke's trades anchored in this approach recently passed the 200%+ milestone. I'll tell you why tomorrow. Returning to gold… A few days ago, our macro expert Eric Fry of Fry's Investment Report told investors that the move higher in gold was a 'rally worth chasing.' Today, gold is pulling back sharply as tensions in the Middle East cool. I suspect Eric's response would be, this is a 'pullback worth buying.' Backing up, Eric has been a gold bull for years. He positioned his subscribers in various gold plays long before the yellow metal's meteoric ascent that began in spring of last year. For example, Eric's Fry's Investment Report subscribers who acted on his official recommendation several years ago were up 201% in Freeport-McMoRan as of yesterday's close. More recently, subscribers are up 51% in Westgold Resources. Let's circle back to Eric's analysis from a few days ago: I rarely suggest 'chasing rallies' like this one, but I suspect this rally is worth chasing. A near-term correction could certainly strike the gold market at any moment, of course, but the long-term outlook for this ultimate portfolio hedge looks compelling. Behind this is what Eric calls the 'twin disorders' of monetary and geopolitical disorder. Even if today's fragile peace in the Middle East holds, we still must contend with monetary disorder. Back to Eric: During the last few months, CD rates – or prices – on U.S. Treasury debt have jumped to all-time highs. That trend suggests that some folks are getting nervous about a looming disaster in the Treasury market. Rising CD rates on U.S. Treasury securities reflect a combination of risks, but the top among them is America's soaring debt load. Back in 2016, U.S. debt-to-GDP crept above 100% for the first time since the end of World War II. Since then, U.S. debt levels have continued ratcheting higher… and now tally nearly 125% of GDP. Although that level of indebtedness is not fatal, it is suboptimal. This is where gold comes in. As I mentioned, gold is a different type of default insurance that has been soaring right along with U.S. debt levels. Right now, dollar bills are the only asset backing U.S. Treasury debt, and the only 'asset' backing dollar bills is the 'full faith and credit' of the United States. But if the dollar's recent performance is any indication, there's not a lot of faith in the U.S. government The U.S. dollar is down about 10% on the year. That's significant, but if we're on the cusp of a real dollar bear market, then your buying power will be headed much lower. Here's Charles-Henry Monchau, CIO at Syz Group: While a dollar bear would be awful for that family vacation to Europe, it would be fantastic for your gold investments. As Eric notes, our politicians seem unable (or unwilling) to curb their spending, which impacts the dollar: As mighty as the greenback remains, it will not retain its might without prudent stewardship of our national finances. Although the U.S. government's debt burden is not yet fatal, it is moving in the wrong direction, which is why Moody's – a company that provides credit ratings, research, and analysis on companies and governments – stripped the U.S. of its Triple A credit rating last month. As Moody's said, 'Successive U.S. administrations and Congress have failed to agree on measures to reverse the trend of large annual fiscal deficits and growing interest costs.' We couldn't agree more. Bottom line: If you're not in gold today, this pullback is a gift. We'll keep you updated here in the Digest. Have a good evening,
Business Wire
24-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
AVOXI Embeds AI into Cloud Voice Platform for Advanced Capabilities
ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AVOXI, a global leader in cloud voice software for contact centers, today announced new capabilities in the AVOXI Cloud Voice Platform that reflect growing customer adoption of AI-powered voice features. As companies become more sophisticated in how they manage and orchestrate global voice infrastructure, AVOXI is expanding its platform with intelligent tools that improve call performance, automate issue detection, and enhance outbound engagement. 'AVOXI is embedding AI directly into the voice layer to deliver smarter call experiences and more reliable worldwide performance,' said Barbara Dondiego, CEO of AVOXI." 'AVOXI is embedding AI directly into the voice layer to deliver smarter call experiences and more reliable worldwide performance,' said Barbara Dondiego, CEO of AVOXI. 'These enhanced capabilities demonstrate how our customers are evolving to leverage advanced voice features to efficiently scale and better serve customers.' NEW: AVOXI's Proactive Service Uses AI to Monitor Call Quality, Maximize Number Uptime AVOXI's new Proactive Service leverages AI to detect and diagnose phone number issues in real time, before they impact customer service and sales operations. This capability automatically monitors voice performance at the number level, identifies potential disruptions, and creates support cases without requiring manual oversight or IT team intervention. A finalist for 'Best of Show' at Enterprise Connect, Proactive Service is in pilot with more than a dozen large organizations. During the pilot, which spans more than 100 countries and actively monitors over 7,500 business critical phone numbers and more than one million calls per month, AVOXI Proactive Service has detected and initiated resolution of 97% of service cases, most often before its customers were even aware of any issues. NEW: Intelligent Caller ID Increases Answer Rates, Simplifies Global Outbound Voice AVOXI's new Intelligent Caller ID feature uses AI to automatically determine the best outbound number to display based on the call recipient's location, regardless of where the call originates. This not only improves answer rates with familiar, localized numbers, but also eliminates the manual effort, and potential for human error, often required to manage caller ID settings across regions or platforms. With centralized configuration through the AVOXI platform, Intelligent Caller ID streamlines workflows for global contact centers, increases agent efficiency, and ensures enterprises reach more customers faster. NEW: AVOXI Digest Sets the Standard for Voice Performance Visibility and Awareness AVOXI Digest is a dynamically customizable report that gives enterprises a full view of global voice operations, offering high-level summaries, granular activity insights, and trend analysis across regions and numbers. Delivered weekly, it allows teams to more easily monitor quality, understand usage patterns, and make smarter decisions about voice infrastructure and routing strategy. SIP Refer and Advanced Messaging Streamline Call Flow Across Platforms As enterprises consolidate voice infrastructure and seek to stream calls to multiple platforms, AVOXI's SIP Refer and Advanced SIP Messaging provide intelligent call routing that reduces cost and complexity, while improving performance. These capabilities enable dynamic call transfers between systems, allowing contact centers to move calls off high-cost platforms like CCaaS, route customers to third-party providers, or shift between agents with full context. By minimizing the number of platforms in the call path, AVOXI helps global organizations lower per-call costs, improve call quality, and embed services like AI apps and fraud detection directly into the call path. The result is a more efficient, secure, and scalable voice orchestration model, tailored to ensure contact centers deliver desired customer experiences. Proactive Service, Intelligent Caller ID, AVOXI Digest and SIP Refer are available via AVOXI Premium Cloud Service and / or Premium AI Cloud Service. Premium and Premium AI Cloud Service serve as advanced market solutions for enterprises that need to deploy and manage voice at global scale. Cloud Service package details can be found on AVOXI's pricing page. Visit to learn more. About AVOXI AVOXI delivers a new generation of international cloud voice solutions to companies with global reach for their contact centers and other mission-critical enterprise communications. AVOXI's software-led approach provides clients with automation, visibility and intelligence, to deliver unmatched global service and virtual numbers, enabling AVOXI's 5,000+ clients to more effectively use voice to serve customers across geographic markets. Visit for more information.
Irish Examiner
03-06-2025
- General
- Irish Examiner
Garden Q&A: What causes holes in lupin leaves, and what's the remedy?
Question My lupin leaves are full of holes, and the plant doesn't look great. What's causing this, and how can I fix it? Answer If your lupin leaves are full of holes at this time of year, it's usually down to slugs or an aphid, such as the lupin aphid — and quite often a combination of both. Slugs tend to feed at night, leaving irregular holes and sometimes a silvery trail behind them, especially in damp conditions. At the same time, lupins are often targeted by a specific aphid, large, pale green to grey in colour, that clusters on the stems and undersides of leaves. Lupinus, commonly known as lupins. File picture While aphids don't eat holes directly, they weaken the plant and open the door to fungal infections and distortion, which can cause further leaf damage. The best approach is to remove any visible pests by hand and spray the affected parts with a hose or some soapy water. Encouraging ladybirds also helps. A well-fed, healthy lupin in full sun will always stand a better chance of fighting off pests naturally. Got a gardening question for Peter Dowdall? Email gardenquestions@ Read More Garden Digest: May and June events for your diary
