Author: arthursheikin@gmail.com

[ad_1] Buffer ETFs are continuing to rake in cash from investors, and fund issuers have been rushing to create more variations to capitalize on the boom. The category had its biggest month of inflows ever in March and now has more than $70 billion in assets, according to data from ETF Action compiled by Strategas. Through June, the category was outpacing last year’s flows and on track for another record year, even with a recent slowdown amid the stock market comeback. The basic version of a buffer fund looks like this: a fund gains exposure to a broad index, like…

[ad_1] The massive AI deal between the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is reportedly on hold before it can be finalized due to national security reasons. The deal, which gives the green light to the UAE to buy billions of dollars worth of AI chips from Nvidia and other semiconductor companies, is on hold due to concerns in the U.S. that these AI chips could end up in China, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing anonymous sources. This potential chip smuggling was a concern when the deal was initially formed, according to the Wall Street Journal, but officials…

[ad_1] CNN  —  A top oversight Democrat sent a letter on Thursday to Fox Corp chairman Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott demanding answers about Fox’s editing of a Donald Trump interview from June 2024 concerning Jeffrey Epstein — an edit they say both misled the public and distorted his position. The letter from the ranking Democratic member on the House Oversight Committee, obtained first by CNN, accuses Fox of omitting key qualifiers in Trump’s response to a question about whether he would release Epstein-related documents. The letter requests Fox’s internal records about the interview and any…

[ad_1] Here are Thursday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Citi reiterates First Solar as buy Citi said First Solar is well positioned heading into earnings on July 31. “We expect investors to focus on: 1) impact of lower tariffs on guidance, 2) bookings in 2Q vs buyside expectations for ~0.5GW, 3) Asia capacity utilization, 4) potential International de-bookings…” Barclays reiterates Tesla as equal weight Barclays said it’s “confused” ahead of Tesla earnings next week. “The set-up for Tesla into 2Q EPS is confusing – similar to 1Q. However, net net we see potential for the stock to outperform.” Citi upgrades…

[ad_1] Fast-growing Swedish AI vibe coding startup Lovable has become Europe’s latest unicorn. Only eight months since its launch, the startup has raised a $200 million Series A round led by Accel at a $1.8 billion valuation. Like Cursor and other platforms that help developers write code and build apps by harnessing the coding and reasoning abilities of large language models, Stockholm-based Lovable helps people use natural language to create websites and apps. The startup’s trajectory so far has charted straight towards the sky, with the company claiming it now has more than 2.3 million active users. Those users are…

[ad_1] Investors should dump Starbucks , according to Jefferies. The research firm downgraded the coffee chain to underperform from hold. Analyst Andy Barish’s $76 price target also signals downside of 18% from Wednesday’s close. Shares have rallied more than 13% over the past three months, a move which Barish thinks is disconnected from the company’s reality. “We think expectations have once again settled too far ahead of reality: no strong evidence yet (in comps or margins) of meaningful and lasting fundamental improvements to the business, significant investments needed near-and medium-term into people & tech that could weigh on margins/earnings, and…

[ad_1] Cars.com will benefit more than rivals as the auto sales environment improves and tariff concerns ease, according to JPMorgan. The bank upgraded Cars.com to overweight from neutral and reiterated a $14 per share price target. Its forecast calls for about 14% upside from Wednesday’s close. “Overall, we favor CARS over [CarGurus] in the near term, given anticipated cyclical tailwinds to franchise dealer and OEM [original equipment manufacturer] spending from rising new vehicle inventory,” analyst Rajat Gupta wrote on Thursday. The analyst noted that business-to-consumer marketplace stocks like Cars.com have significantly underperformed shares of franchise dealers in 2025 due to…

[ad_1] Reuters  —  Mark Zuckerberg and current and former directors and officers of Meta Platforms agreed on Thursday to settle claims seeking $8 billion for the damage they allegedly caused the company by allowing repeated violations of Facebook users’ privacy, a lawyer for the shareholders told a Delaware judge on Thursday. The parties did not disclose details of the settlement and defense lawyers did not address the judge, Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery. McCormick adjourned the trial just as it was to enter its second day and she congratulated the parties. The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Sam Closic, said…

[ad_1] At Robinhood, nearly all of the engineers are vibe coders.That’s according to Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, who said on the 20VC podcast that the company’s human-written code was hard to distinguish from AI-generated code. Among the company’s engineers, “close to 100%” are using AI code editors, he said.When asked what percentage of Robinhood’s new code is AI-generated, Tenev said that it was around 50%. That’s a higher percentage than what Microsoft and Google have previously said, with CEOs Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai estimating around 30%.Tenev acknowledged that the 50% metric was imprecise, thanks to the upgrowth of “agentic”…

[ad_1] As gig workers’ incomes have dropped, some Uber and Lyft drivers are turning to apps like GigU, Maxymo, and Mystro to help them work smarter — and dodge the lowest-paying rides.”They weed out the garbage offers that they’re sending you,” said Sergio Avedian, a driver and senior contributor to the Rideshare Guy, a gig driver advocacy blog and YouTube channel. “The cherry-pickers always make more money.”Some of the apps have recently encountered roadblocks in the form of rideshare giants Uber and Lyft, which argue that using the third-party apps runs afoul of their terms of service.Doug Feigelson, the CEO…