Author: franperez66q@protonmail.com

The government faces tough questions about the ability to defend the UK, writes Jonathan Beale. Source link

Hengli Petrochemical’s refining, petrochemical complex is seen at Changxing island in Dalian, Liaoning province, China July 16, 2018.Aizhu Chen | ReutersThe Trump administration said on Friday it had imposed sanctions on an independent “teapot” refinery in China for buying billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil, as Washington and Tehran head into another round of peace talks over the weekend.The Treasury Department targeted Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery, which it said is one of Iran’s largest customers of crude oil and petroleum products. The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said it also imposed sanctions on about 40 shipping companies and…

Investing.com — Analysts at Goldman Sachs believe the Korean stock market index () looks set to continue to outperform U.S. equity market indices, even as Korea recently announced its policy for Reshoring Investment Accounts, providing a reduction or exemption of capital gains tax on overseas stocks. This led to the total number of accounts rising to 160,000 with total RIA balances worth $706 million. Parallelly as retail investors’ flows were reshored back to Korea, there was a weakening in retail investor flows into the U.S. since February, said the firm. After rising by +76% in 2025 the KOSPI has grown…

Manufacturing smartphones is getting much more expensive. Credit: Counterpoint Research Manufacturing smartphones is getting much more expensive. Credit: Counterpoint Research The good news for Samsung is that while the MX division struggles, its semiconductor division is raking it in. Samsung Semiconductor has smashed records in the first quarter of 2026, earning an estimated $38 billion (KRW 57.2 trillion) in profit. That’s more than seven times its net from Q1 2025. Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix are all accelerating plans to expand memory and storage production lines—Samsung specifically has started spinning down LPDDR4 production to boost the supply of LPDDR5—but Nekkei…

How we vote is changing Wales – here’s what you need to know about the new Senedd constituencies. Source link

Donald Trump’s expected attendance at Saturday’s annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, for the first time as president, will put his administration’s often-contentious relationship with the press on full public display.Trump will be watched closely at the event held by the organization of reporters who cover him and his administration. Past presidents who have attended have generally spoken about the importance of free speech and the First Amendment, adding in some light roasts about individual journalists.The Republican president did not attend during his first term or the first year of his second. He came as a guest in…

Trump bought at least $51 million in bonds in March, disclosure shows Source link

The aerospace and defense trade is taking investors deeper into space and exchange-traded funds want a part of it.VettaFi’s Cinthia Murphy told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” this week that there are now more ETFs tackling the space theme more directly — listing the Procure Space ETF (UFO) and Global X Defense Tech ETF (SHLD) as examples.”They have the cybersecurity element: Satellites, communications, navigation. So, the defense theme is actually a very colorful theme nowadays. It has a lot of interesting names,” the firm’s director of research said. “It really isn’t just about Lockheed Martin and some of the traditional names that…

The Foreign Affairs Committee says Ian Collard will only be giving evidence in writing. Source link

It was another week under the thumb of the Iran war. The S & P 500 and Nasdaq each finished Friday at record closing highs after whipsawing on Middle East developments throughout the week. Oil prices also swung sharply as Iran and the U.S. imposed blockades in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil shipping route. Nevertheless, the record-breaking gains ensured another positive week for the S & P 500 and the Nasdaq, which climbed 0.6% and 1.5%, respectively. The Iran war wasn’t the only focus. Corporate earnings and a split between hardware and software stocks also caught our attention.…