Pawn Shop Loans Spike as High Gas Prices Weigh on Americans
Pawn shop owners across the US say they’ve seen an increase in demand for loans in the past month or so, a sign of just how punishing higher gas prices are for some Americans. “We’re making a lot more loans,” said Tim Cassidy, the fourth generation in his family to...
Saudi Arabia Maintains Oil Exports From Key Red Sea Port for Now
Saudi Arabia’s oil exports via the Red Sea are holding steady for now, as the impact of a drone attack on its vital cross-country pipeline has yet to filter through. The strike on Wednesday — hours after a ceasefire was declared in the Iran war — damaged one of 11...
BofA’s Hartnett Sees the Surge in Commodities Lasting for Years
Investors should flock into commodities for the next few years as they benefit from global geopolitical and macroeconomic turmoil, according to Bank of America’s Michael Hartnett. Stocks would be replaced by commodities as the biggest winners of the “anything but...
Stocks Are Grinding Lower and Gapping Higher Under Trump
The market moves triggered by President Donald Trump’s foreign policy pronouncements are helping to shake up a long-established pattern in equities. Traders are used to stock markets grinding higher during bull-runs, which are typically interspersed with sharp gaps...
Reliance Caps Fuel Sales to $11 a Visit as Shortages Deepen
Reliance Industries Ltd. has capped fuel purchases across its retail outlets — limiting customers to about $11 worth of gasoline or diesel — as the Middle East crisis continues to choke off supplies despite a tentative ceasefire. The country’s largest private-sector...
US Consumer Spending Barely Rose, Inflation Lingered Pre-War
US consumer spending barely rose in February against a backdrop of persistent inflation that’s set to accelerate due to the Iran war. Inflation-adjusted consumer spending increased 0.1% after stagnating in January, continuing an extended period of lackluster demand, a...
Chevron Says Iran War Reduced Production, Impacted Earnings
Chevron Corp. said its production fell as much as 6% in the first quarter due in part to the Iran war, echoing a similar disclosure from arch rival Exxon Mobil Corp. earlier this week. Chevron’s production was between 3.8 million and 3.9 million net oil-equivalent...
Private Credit Exodus Turns Moody’s BDC Outlook to Negative
A swelling wave of redemptions has driven Moody’s Ratings to revise its outlook for private credit investment vehicles to negative, after holding the line at stable for over two years. The ongoing exodus from nontraded vehicles, which make up 60% of the sector’s...
The dividend yield on the S&P 500 is now at 50-year lows. Here’s the biggest problem.
Can we get a dividend check in here, Big Tech? The dividend yield on the S&P 500 (^GSPC) is nearing 50-year lows at a paltry 1.24%, Trivariate Research founder Adam Parker pointed out in a new note on Tuesday. The only lower moment for dividend yields dates back...
Is SpaceX Worth $2 Trillion? Key Questions for Musk’s Big IPO
In the seven and a half years since Apple Inc.’s market capitalization broke through the $1 trillion mark, investors have become accustomed to seeing big tech companies command 13-digit valuations in public markets. There are more on the way. SpaceX, the space...
Blue Owl Stock Closes at a Record Low Amid Private Credit Exodus
Shares of Blue Owl Capital Inc. closed at a record low on Monday, capping weeks of declines fueled by mounting concerns over the health of the $1.8 trillion private credit market. The stock fell 1.4% to close at $8.45, which is below its previous nadir set in late...
Goldman Sachs Private Credit Fund Dodges Exodus With 4.999% Redemptions
A Goldman Sachs Group Inc. private credit fund said investors sought to pull just under 5% of their cash in the first quarter, narrowly escaping a broader exodus that has forced peers to cap withdrawals. The $15.7 billion Goldman Sachs Private Credit Corp., which...
Abu Dhabi Petrochemicals Plant Halts as Attack Sparks Fires
A huge petrochemicals plant at Ruwais in the United Arab Emirates was halted after an attack sparked multiple fires, Abu Dhabi’s government media office said Sunday. The fires were caused by falling debris from air-defense interception, the office said in a post on X....
Ukraine Says It Hit Nitrogen Nutrient Plant in Russia’s Tolyatti
Ukraine said it hit a nitrogen fertilizer plant in Russia overnight while Kremlin’s forces targeted several Ukrainian regions, including a deadly strike in Dnipropetrovsk, as the war shows no signs of slowing down. UAVs struck the KuibyshevAzot facility in Tolyatti,...