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Vessels have been largely unable to pass through the Strait of Hormuz for months, disrupting key supply chains. View More

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he departs the White House on May 1, 2026 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images President Donald Trump said Sunday that the U.S. will attempt to "free" stranded cargo ships that have been trapped by the Strait of Hormuz closure since the war with Iran began. The effort, which Trump in a Truth Social post dubbed "Project Freedom," is set to begin on Monday. The president said the effort is focused solely on getting civilian ships that are flagged in countries not affiliated with the conflict out of the contested waterway so they can "freely and ably get on with their business.""I have told my Representatives to inform them that we will use best efforts to get their Ships and Crews safely out of the Strait," Trump said. "In all cases, they said they will not be returning until the area becomes safe for navigation, and everything else."Trump provided no details on how the U.S. would attempt to conduct such an operation, nor how U.S. military forces would be involved. It is also unclear whether Iran will allow the U.S. to conduct the operation without interference amid the ongoing conflict, and when the strait will reopen for regular transit.The White House did not immediately respond to requests for more information.The strait has been largely impassable since the war broke out, stranding cargo vessels and choking off a key supply chain. About 20% of the world's crude oil transits the strait, leading to soaring oil prices and higher gasoline prices in the U.S. Read more CNBC politics coveragePirro reveals new Trump attack evidence; Cole Allen challenges 'suicide precautions'Bard President Botstein retiring after Jeffrey Epstein ties detailedTrump tells Congress hostilities in Iran 'have terminated' at war powers deadlineLutnick gets grilling on Nvidia chip sales to China in Sen. Chris Coons letter The new effort to free ships does not appear to be aimed at restoring freedom of navigation to the channel, but rather allowing ships that have been stranded to exit safely. Iran has blocked transit by firing on ships attempting to pass and laying mines in the waterway. "The Ship movement is merely meant to free up people, companies, and Countries that have done absolutely nothing wrong — They are victims of circumstance," Trump said in the post. "This is a Humanitarian gesture on behalf of the United States, Middle Eastern Countries but, in particular, the Country of Iran."The Department of Defense later directed CNBC to a social media post from U.S. Central Command that detailed the operation and laid out a broader goal: to "restore freedom of navigation for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.""The mission, directed by the President, will support merchant vessels seeking to freely transit through the essential international trade corridor," the post reads. "A quarter of the world's oil trade at sea and significant volumes of fuel and fertilizer products are transported through the strait."CENTCOM said U.S. forces involved in the operation will include guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms and 15,000 service members.The U.S. and Iran have been in a fragile ceasefire for over two weeks as the war stretches into its second month. Washington and Tehran have been negotiating to end the war, but talks have not yet yielded a deal. Trump earlier in the week said he was "not satisfied" with a recent offer from Iran. On Friday, Trump told Congress that hostilities with Iran "have terminated." Trump's claim came on what would have been a deadline under the War Powers Resolution of 1973 for him to ask congressional lawmakers to officially declare war against Iran or authorize the use of military force against it.Trump suggested in the Truth Social post announcing the rescue effort that Iran allowing stranded ships to leave would be helpful in the peace talks. But the president warned that interference would be met with force. "I am fully aware that my Representatives are having very positive discussions with the Country of Iran, and that these discussions could lead to something very positive for all," he said. "I think it would go a long way in showing Goodwill on behalf of all of those who have been fighting so strenuously over the last number of months. If, in any way, this Humanitarian process is interfered with, that interference will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully." Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Asia markets were set to open mixed Monday as investors assess news of President Donald Trump's plan to "free" ships stranded in the Strait of Hormuz. View More

A screen displays the Nikkei 225 Stock Average figure on the trading floor at the Nomura Securities Co. headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on Jan. 11, 2024. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Asia-Pacific markets were set to open mixed Monday as investors assess President Donald Trump's plan to "free" ships stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, amid lingering tensions between Iran and the U.S. The U.S. would attempt to "free" stranded ships affected by the Strait of Hormuz closure since the start of the Iran war, Trump said in his Truth Social post Sunday.Dubbed "Project Freedom," the effort is set to begin on Monday, Middle East time and will focus mainly on getting civilian ships flagged in countries not affiliated with the conflict out of the contested waterway so they can "freely and ably get on with their business.""U.S. military support to Project Freedom will include guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms, and 15,000 service members," the U.S. Central Command said shortly after Trump's announcement. Oil prices fell following the announcement of "Project Freedom". West Texas Intermediate futures for July delivery fell 0.59% to $101.34 per barrel as of 7:38 p.m. ET. Brent crude futures were 0.27% lower at $107.88 per barrel.Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures were at 25,992, compared with the index's last close of 25,776.53.In Australia, futures last traded at 8,727, while the S&P/ASX 200's closed at 8,729.80.Markets in Japan and China are closed for a public holiday. Stock Chart IconStock chart icon U.S. stock futures traded close to the flatline Sunday night. S&P 500 futures added 0.1% and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.1%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 100 points, or 0.2%.On Friday, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose to new all-time intraday and closing highs. The broad market index rose 0.29%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.89%. The Dow bucked the trend, however, slipping 152.87 points, or 0.31%.— CNBC's Lisa Kailai Han and Garrett Downs contributed to this report. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

New CEO Greg Abel did most of the talking at his first Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting, but Warren Buffett was still a major presence. View More

In this articleBRK.BBRK.BFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT (This is the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, news and analysis on all things Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You can sign up here to receive it every Friday evening in your inbox.) It wasn't his show but there was still plenty of Buffett New CEO Greg Abel did most of the talking at his first Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting, but Warren Buffett was still a major presence as chairman of the board, even as he sat on the arena floor with his fellow directors. Warren Buffett speaks during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, NE on May 2, 2026.CNBC Six minutes after the meeting began, a Buffett "jersey" with a large 60, reflecting his 60 years as Berkshire CEO, was raised to the rafters of the CHI Health Center arena.That was followed by a three-minute video produced by Berkshire showing videos and photos from those six decades.Buffett then spoke from his seat on the floor saying, "This is not my show today, but there are two anniversaries that we are kind of celebrating today."It's been about one year since the board approved Abel as CEO in the wake of Buffett's surprise announcement that he would be stepping down, and "you couldn't have made a better decision.""That's been a hundred percent successful. Greg is doing everything I did and then some, and he's doing it better in all cases. He's the right person."It's also been roughly 10 years since Berkshire bought $35 billion of Apple shares. Buffett said that's turned into roughly $185 billion, "and I didn't have to do a damned thing."He praised outgoing CEO Tim Cook for making that investment so successful.The first Q&A session began with a "deepfake" video version of "Warren from Ohama" asking Abel why Berkshire shareholders should hold on to their stock for the long term.In his reply, Abel highlighted the company's now almost $400 billion in cash, saying it "creates a unique opportunity" for investment.If there is a "strong value proposition," Berkshire "will be prepared to act decisively and with significant capital. That's what it's there for."And then, during the lunch break, viewers of the CNBC.com live stream and attendees in the arena saw a live interview of Buffett by CNBC's Becky Quick.Asked why it's not a good environment for Berkshire to invest right now, Buffett said, "We've never had people in a more gambling mood that now [in the financial markets] but that doesn't mean that investing is terrible."It does mean that prices for an awful lot of things will look very silly."He also repeated his long-held practice of only investing in companies that he understands, and "I understand fewer of the businesses as a percentage of the whole than I did ten years ago. I've not learned new industries for some years."The entire 25-minute interview appears below. Abel stresses continuity The theme of the meeting was "The Legacy Continues," and Abel assured shareholders the company's culture will be maintained even as he keeps a closer eye on the subsidiaries than Buffett did. The Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting kicks off in Omaha, NE on May 1, 2026.Yun Li | CNBC Asked, "Is there a point where it doesn't make sense for Berkshire to be a conglomerate, where you would break up the company?" Abel replied, "Absolutely not.""We see our conglomerate structure working without the bureaucracy and bloated costs."We do not see ourselves divesting subsidiaries for that reason or ever breaking off a group."Abel and insurance chief Ajit Jain recalled the interplay between Buffett and Charlie Munger in past years when Jain was asked if Berkshire would insure ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz."The short answer is, it depends on the price," which prompted laughter from the audience and praise from Abel. "I like your Charlie answer." Operating profits and cash pile increase in first quarter Before the meeting began, Berkshire reported an 18% increase in operating profit in the first quarter, with insurance underwriting up more than 28%.The company was a net seller of stocks, with around $24 billion in sales vs. $16 billion in purchases.That helped boost its cash to a record $397.4 billion as of March 31, up 6.5% from the end of the fourth quarter.Excluding BNSF's cash and subtracting T-bills payable, which is Berkshire's preferred metric, the total was $380.2 billion, up 3.0%. Berkshire resumed buybacks, but it's not buying back all that much In what it called a one-time announcement two months ago, Berkshire said it had resumed stock buybacks on March 4 after an almost two-year pause. The SEC filing didn't include any details.A week later, however, Berkshire filed a definitive proxy statement ahead of its annual meeting that included a count of the company's outstanding shares as of March 4, the meeting's record date.As we reported at the time, a comparison to a share count in late January revealed Berkshire had bought back the equivalent of 309 Class A shares, or roughly $226 million worth, on that day.Some investors hoped it would be the start of some aggressive repurchasing.It hasn't happened, at least so far.The company's first quarter 10-Q released Saturday says Berkshire bought back $234 million of stock in all of March, only $8 million more than the March 4 amount, even though the shares slipped lower through the end of the month.And the share count as of April 14 listed in that 10-Q indicates there weren't any significant repurchases in the first two weeks of last month, either. Attendance slips with Buffett not on the stage Greg Abel would likely admit himself that he isn't as much of a draw as Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger were.The AP reports that "attendance is down significantly this year with the [18-975-seat] arena only a little over half full," but adds that even with the empty seats, "No other corporate meeting can come close to matching the crowds at Berkshire's Woodstock for Capitalists." Lines are seen at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, NE on May 2, 2026.Yun Li | CNBC CNBC.com's Yun Li wrote there was "a bit more breathing room this year" in the exhibit hall where Berkshire-themed merchandise is sold."Unlike past years, lines were shorter and the crowds noticeably thinner." Signage for Marmon Holdings on display at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, NE on May 1, 2026.Sarah Min | CNBC Even more clips Greg Abel on Berkshire tech innovation: 'We're not going to do AI for the sake of AI'AI won't be able to tell us which stocks to buy or sell, says Ajit JainWarren Buffett on deepfakes, artificial intelligence: 'We don't know what's going to happen'Greg Abel sees big growth for utilities on data center buildoutsGreg Abel: One of our greatest strengths is patience in allocating capitalGreg Abel on company operation strategy, splitting time between subsidiaries and equity portfolioGreg Abel on succession plans for Ajit Jain and himselfGreg Abel: Very comfortable with the risks and our understanding of the portfolioGreg Abel on how the Middle East conflict has impacted Berkshire's subsidiariesHigh energy prices weigh on consumer demand, [NetJets CEO] Adam Johnson says[BNSF CEO] Katie Farmer: Our customers have adapted and adjusted to the tariffs CNBC's full interview with Warren Buffett Paul Tudor Jones publicly apologizes to Buffett for 'railing on him' Legendary trader Paul Tudor Jones now says he's sorry he downplayed Warren Buffett's investing successes over the years, by saying "he just happened to be in the right place at the right time," catching a bull market for U.S. stocks.Appearing on the Invest Like the Best podcast with Patrick O'Shaughnessy, CEO of Positive Sum, Jones now acknowledges Buffett is a "flipping genius" for understanding the power of compound interest when he was just 9 years old and staying calm when facing stock losses."Warren, if you happen to hear this, deeply apologetic. You are the OG of compound interest, and I wish I was one-tenth as smart as you are."Here's the section in which Jones talks about Buffett and trading vs. investing: Charity lunch auction expands to signed collectibles The charity auction of "A Seat at the Table" for lunch with Warren Buffett, Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry and his wife, lifestyle entrepreneur Ayesha Curry, is being expanded to include a series of weekly, limited, timed online auctions offering signed collectibles.Among the items to be sold: a Warriors jersey signed by Stephen Curry and a $1 bill sign by Buffett.The auctions will run from April 29 through May 15 at  ebay.com/glide_eatlearnplay. The lunch auction starts on May 7 and ends on May 14 at A Seat at the Table.Proceeds will be split between San Francisco's Glide Foundation and the Currys' Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation that is "working to transform the school experience for a generation of Oakland students." BUFFETT & BERKSHIRE AROUND THE INTERNET Some links may require a subscription:Bloomberg on Yahoo Finance: Berkshire Hathaway's Cash Surges in Abel's First Quarter as CEOReuters: CEO Greg Abel moves to assure Berkshire shareholders in a post-Buffett world, with record cashAssociated Press: Crowd shrinks as Berkshire Hathaway's new CEO leads the annual meeting for the first time SaturdayWall Street Journal on MSN: Berkshire CEO Greg Abel takes the stage, making a case for the post-Buffett eraInsurance Business: Berkshire Hathaway units score win in $535M asbestos-talc bankruptcy rulingBarron's on MSN: Berkshire's Domino's holding is another loser among its smaller stock investmentsReuters: Berkshire's Duracell must face BASF lawsuit over battery secrets, US judge rules BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH Four weeks Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwards Twelve months Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwards BRK.A stock price: $710,300.00BRK.B stock price: $473.01BRK.B P/E (TTM): 15.24Berkshire market capitalization: $1,020,622,694,116Berkshire Cash as of March 31: $397.4 billion (Up 6.5% from Dec. 31)Excluding Rail Cash and Subtracting T-Bills Payable: $380.2 billion (Up 3.0% from Dec. 31)Berkshire resumed stock repurchases on March 4, 2026. BERKSHIRE'S TOP EQUITY HOLDINGS - May 1, 2026 Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwards Berkshire's top holdings of disclosed publicly traded stocks in the U.S. and Japan, by market value, based on the latest closing prices.Holdings are as of December 31, 2025, as reported in Berkshire Hathaway's 13F filing on February 17, 2026, except for:Mitsubishi, which is as of August 28, 2025Mitsui, which is as of September 30, 2025The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS Please send any questions or comments about the newsletter to me at alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, but we don't forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.)If you aren't already subscribed to this newsletter, you can sign up here.Also, Buffett's annual letters to shareholders are highly recommended reading. There are collected here on Berkshire's website.-- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

It's obvious from this quarter that the bubble talk has been proven wrong. View More

I am growing tired of the endless bubble talk about all of the data center spending. It's obvious from this quarter that the bubble talk has been proven wrong; try getting someone to say that, though. So, who do I think I am to go there? Just an observer. One who believes that this was the quarter where we realized that if you didn't spend, you were already behind the 8-ball. This quarter, so far, we have seen the results of five large companies that are often discussed as creating the bubble: Club names Alphabet (parent company of Google), Amazon , Apple , Microsoft , and Meta Platforms (parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Threads, WhatsApp). Those are five of the "Magnificent Seven" stocks. (No. 6 is Nvidia , which we also own; it reports on May 20. Tesla is the seventh, but we don't own it.) All so far have spent a huge amount to build out their sites. All have much more building to do. Let's look at how much the companies estimated their capital expenditures to be this year and how their stocks did this week before and after earnings. Alphabet, data center spend, $180 billion to $190 billion, stock price: $349 to $385 for a 12% weekly gain. Amazon, data center spend, $200 billion, stock price: $260 to $268 for a 1.6% weekly gain. Apple, data center spend: $13 billion, stock price: $271 per share (April 24 close) to $280 (Friday close) for a 3.4% weekly gain. Microsoft, data center spend, $190 billion, stock $429 to $414 for a 2.4% weekly loss. Meta, data center spend, $125 bilion to $145 billion, stock price: $670 to $605 for a 9.8% weekly loss. Consider what they used that spending on: Alphabet: Google Cloud, tensor processing units (TPUs are custom chips co-designed by Club name Broadcom ), and graphics processing units (GPUs) Amazon: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Anthropic cloud capacity; custom Trainium, Graviton, and Inferentia semiconductors Apple: private cloud Microsoft: Azure companion, OpenAI compute needs Meta: Internal training, recommendation engines These are the broad-brush spend numbers, and we can learn a lot about the bang for the buck now that we are a quarter in full artificial intelligence motion. Here are some conclusions. Alphabet and Amazon have had some excellent post-earnings reactions. Why? I think that Alphabet's stock is reacting to the incredible growth of Google Cloud and the perfect steerage of Thomas Kurian, who runs the cloud business. Google Cloud is the fastest-growing at 63% with an annual revenue run rate of over $80 billion. This quarter, it had $20 billion in revenue. Google also uses its spend to bolster the seamless transition from Google Search to Gemini. Amazon's stock rallied because Amazon Web Services is now growing at 28% with an annualized revenue run rate of $150 billion and a quarter where it did $37.6 billion in revenue. That's the fastest growth in 15 quarters, a huge deal when you consider the base. It wasn't that long ago when AWS was growing in the low double digits. This growth shocked everyone and led, in part, to the great performance of the stock. Apple has the least amount of spend and it has a free-riding business off of Google. Apple may not have wanted that; in fact, it backed into it. But because Apple has a worldwide installed base of 2.5 billion devices, it earned the right to get Google's Gemini for a low cost — some would say no cost when you add in how much Google pays for Google to be embedded in the Apple iPhone on the search side. Google can dominate because of Apple and not vice versa. Microsoft's stock fell, I think, in part because while Azure is growing at 40% with an annualized revenue run rate of $90 billion to $95 billion and a quarter of $22 billion to $24 billion in sales, those numbers include compute demand from OpenAI. Again, we don't know the breakdown, but the street isn't giving it any credit for Azure's acceleration from the 36% the Street expected. There's also no certainty to their capex numbers; they could be higher. Microsoft is very vulnerable as a company because while it has a hybrid model of consumption and software as a service, the latter has gone from being a premium business to a business in search of the appropriate discount rate. Plus, unlike Google with Gemini, Copilot is not considered up to snuff, even with 20 million paid users. Unlike Amazon, with its web service and retail businesses as well as its advertising business, Azure hasn't monetized its cloud business enough, and a lot of it is derived from OpenAI. Unlike Google, there's, yes, Bing. Meta doesn't have a cloud business at all, so it can't monetize what it has as well as the other companies. Plus, it actually decided to increase data center spending by $10 billion. In other words, not only was its spending viewed as profligate to begin with, given that it doesn't have a cloud, it actually is spending more with a very uncertain return, especially given that its Meta AI isn't wowing anyone. So now let's zoom out to see what the stocks are saying about the so-called spending bubble. Alphabet's spend makes a ton of sense. Just as Google Search beat everyone, including Microsoft, it looks like it is happening again with Gemini. The spend is also worth it because of its giant YouTube business. It's being appropriately rewarded. Amazon's spend also seems totally justified and then some, given that AWS, its most lucrative division, is accelerating. The market's wising up to the luck (and greatness) of Apple. Given its leverage on its newfound accelerated growth rate of 17% (from 9% previously), it deserves the high multiple it's been given: twice its growth rate at $280. If Apple's services revenue keeps growing at its 16% pace, the stock should go higher, given the incredible gross margin on that business of 77%. It prints money as it grows its business by offering multiple services for subscription that you can't live without. The people who believe that all of this spend leads to a bubble do not understand the power of being No. 1. Google Gemini is No. 1 in search of the publicly traded companies. Amazon is No. 1 in shopping, advertising, and enterprise cloud. Apple is No. 1 in phones. Meta is No. 1 in the still fast-growing social media business, but it is ad-supported — and if we go into a slowdown, it is vulnerable and may not make the numbers. It has the most cyclicality. Microsoft holds the top spot in enterprise software. That was a terrific advantage for ages, but it has a huge "per seat" business, and that business could be disrupted by AI. It is considered very vulnerable. Plus, we may be at the high watermark for all of its enterprise software products, given what we know about OpenAI and Anthropic's Claude. That makes us want to pay less for its stock as there might be fewer Microsoft users. So, now let's simplify: Amazon and Alphabet are getting the most for their dollars and are unlikely to be disrupted by AI. Their spend is worth every penny. Microsoft may have to spend even more than it has to come up with better products that can keep its enterprise software dominance. The market is saying right now that it can't. Meta is in trouble and needs to make some sort of move to bring out shareholder value — or else, I am prepared to sell it for the Club portfolio. So far the "Trust in Mark Zuckerberg" view is not paying off. Apple's got nothing but upside, no matter what happens. Or, to put it another way, he who spends the most and spends it well, wins. On Alphabet's post-earnings call, CEO Sundar Pichai said, "Our cloud revenue would have been higher if we had more compute." Everyone is compute-constrained and can't get enough Nvidia. It fits right into what Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has been saying for years: "Anthropic and OpenAI are highly compute-constrained. Doubling their compute capacity could increase revenue fourfold. Compute equals revenues." With training, Jensen also correctly said, "The more you buy, the more you save." With inference, it's now, "the more you buy, the more you make," Jensen concluded. Tell me how that spend isn't incredibly important and justified, especially in a world where OpenAI could be worth a trillion, Anthropic maybe more than a trillion. Both are looking to become publicly traded companies, maybe as soon as late this year. Those two have an element of free riding, too, as their businesses are fast-growing and are therefore boosted by companies that want to sell something. The bubble talk only works if you don't care about a company's dominance or its stock price. I care about both. I want to make money. Not just talk about bubbles. As a lot of potential gains flow from these determinations, these companies are spending to have the best AI agents. These agents — software programs that can take instructions, think, plan, act, and learn — need massive amounts of central processing units (CPUs), which are made by the skyrockets that are Advanced Micro Devices , Intel , and our newest Club name Arm Holdings . AI agents are often used as virtual personal assistants, in call centers, and even for computer coding. Spending underlies the fiber buildout and connectivity companies like Lumentum , Coherent , and portfolio holding Corning. It helps the networking companies, Ciena , Cisco Systems , and Arista Networks (of which I like Arista best and wished I had bought when we exited Cisco). It bolsters the fancy GPUs from Nvidia, of which all but Apple still use; they just don't talk about it much. For all of its bluster about Trainium and Graviton, Amazon is buying one million chips by the end of 2027. It means the world to chip partners Broadcom, which partners with Google, Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic — and Marvell Technology , which collaborates with Amazon and Microsoft. These two companies— Broadcom and Marvell — help wean the big hyperscalers off a part of Nvidia and have hurt Nvidia's stock the most, especially given that Anthropic runs mostly on Amazon's chips; hence the big business there. It's incredibly important to those involved in the building of the data centers, the improvement of the grid, and the cooling process: We're talking about Quanta , Oracle , Vertiv , Nebius , and CoreWeave, as well as Club names GE Vernova and Eaton . It's great business for back-up power generators like Cummins , Caterpillar , and Generac . And, of course, it is the lifeblood of memory companies Micron , SanDisk , Seagate , and Western Digital . The bubble callers would say that each one of these stocks is inflated. I come back and say that it is existential to those companies that don't spend enough. The bubble callers say all of these stocks have run too much. I say that if they settle in here and work off their parabolic status, many of these could still be bought. The bubble callers think that this is 1999-2000 when the dotcom boom unraveled. Let's just refresh my standing: I was a hedge fund manager who created a company that at one point was worth more than a billion, and not that long after was worth $70 million (in enterprise value) — and, simultaneously, had his best years in the hedge fund business in 1999 and 2000, with the latter gaining 36% almost all on the short side. In other words, been there, done that, twice. Here are the key differences. In 2000, Google was private and could outspend everyone and won in search and video. That's how it got to its exalted status. Amazon was spending a fortune to knock everyone out of online spending and then out of the web business; when it was done, its dominance in Prime. Apple hadn't created the iPhone yet. Microsoft was prosecuted by the government for being so powerful. Meta hadn't started yet. The spend then was worth it. Now on the vendor side then, not so good. This is where the bubble was. Instead of building out the power network, we built out the fiber network. Big mistake. We weren't there yet with video. We only had dial-up. So, we didn't need so much fiber. That was the bubble on the hardware side. On the software side were countless companies that competed with each other in all sorts of verticals that ultimately produced only one or two winners in each segment. Most were traffic winners. Those that could monetize on a subscription basis were winners. So were those who could attract enough eyeballs. What we didn't realize was that the brick-and-mortar businesses after initially stumbling came roaring back to crush the online-only companies with only a handful of Amazon-like companies surviving. Were there bubbles? Absolutely. How were they formed so easily? Because the syndicate desks didn't see the rise of the individual trader, chiefly via E-trade and Ameritrade, and Schwab . It was so easy to put orders in, and there was so much money being made that the venture capitalists threw money at anything, and then it came public with very little vetting. It was such a ridiculous time that the accounts that did the most business and the friends and family accounts got stock and then could flip it when the retail buyers came in with market orders. The syndicate desks engineered the pop by only offering a sliver of stock. In six months' time, if they were still in business, the companies did giant secondaries that included huge insider selling and small amounts of money to help the business. Then the businesses went under. More than 300 of them. Fast-forward to now, do you see a lot of businesses coming public so far that look like the unprofitable losers of that dotcom bubble-bursting era? Many thought that CoreWeave looked like that, but CoreWeave is creating a business of tremendous value as a buyer of Nvidia chips, which more than hold their value. Could there be circular deals? Another canard. I was approached by a company that was later prosecuted for the Lazy Susan deals it was doing all over the place. It wanted to give me a $10 million investment that I was immediately going to flip back to buy services the company was buying. I wish I were wearing a wire. I knew not to take that deal. We thought that Nvidia was doing circular deals all over the place. Now, what we see is just a series of incredible investments. The only miss was not giving Anthropic $10 billion when it first needed it. No Lazy Susans. Notice no one even talks about circular anymore? It is too absurd. So, let's sum it all up. This quarter's earnings reports amount to nothing short of a Judgment Day for AI. The companies that spent well are now the winners and are beginning to get the kinds of returns we once thought possible, with the exception of Apple, which got the return by free-riding off Google. If Apple hadn't spent as much as it has to establish cellphone dominance, it wouldn't be a winner. The companies that didn't spend enough or didn't spend wisely are now faced with a shrinking multiple and an uncertain future. Microsoft has a big installed base; it might be able to produce something important to justify the spend. Meta, too. But make no mistake about it, I am worried about both right now. It's too bad that there were so many who didn't believe or people who thought, "who cares, I am in an index fund." Let me tell you something, as someone who can only own an S & P 500 index fund personally (because of my role as a financial journalist), I care. I don't think you would have gotten to the end of this piece if you didn't care, too. Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of paid Copilot users. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long AAPL, AMZN, GOOGL, MSFT, META, NVDA, AVGO, ETN, GEV. See here for a full list of the stocks.) 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The government says it wants to reduce the likelihood of last-minute flight cancelations over the summer amid uncertainty over the Iran war. View More

Stock picture of a British Airways plane taking off from London Heathrow Airport.Stefan Rousseau - Pa Images | Pa Images | Getty Images The U.K. government said on Sunday it plans to temporarily allow airlines to consolidate passengers onto fewer planes over the summer holiday season, a move aimed at preventing last-minute flight cancellations as jet fuel costs remain elevated amid uncertainties over the Iran war.The plan would also allow carriers to give back some of their take-off and landing slots without losing them the following season, the U.K. said."These temporary measures would allow airlines to, for example, consolidate schedules on routes where there are multiple flights to the same destination on the same day," the government said in a statement.The loss of Middle Eastern jet fuel because of the Iran war is quickly becoming an acute logistics problem for Europe, according to analysts at Societe Generale.Jet fuel prices have surged since the critical Strait of Hormuz was blockaded after the war in the Middle East began on Feb. 28.The average price of jet fuel surged to $179 per barrel for the week ending April 24, according to the International Air Travel Association's Jet Fuel Price Monitor, far higher than the average before the war.Speaking to CNBC on Thursday, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said that his airline was protected because it had hedged 80% of its fuel but predicted "real failures" for other airlines if the price of jet fuel did not fall. watch nowVIDEO4:2104:21Ryanair CEO warns of European airline failures if jet fuel price stays highSquawk Box Europe U.S. budget carrier Spirit Airlines shut down on Saturday after failing to secure an agreement with bondholders on an 11th-hour bailout from the Trump administration. Soaring costs, including for fuel, added to a list of problems the airline faced for years as it struggled to stay aloft."The contingency preparations are designed to give families greater confidence when travelling this summer by enabling airlines to plan realistically and lock in schedules earlier so that people are less likely to be affected by short‑notice changes at the airport," the U.K. government said.Airlines would be allowed to move passengers onto "similar services much earlier, helping avoid stressful delays at the airport," the government said.The plan would also prevent carriers running flights which have not sold a "significant proportion of tickets" and "reduce wasted fuel from flying near-empty planes"."Since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the government has been monitoring jet fuel supplies daily and working with airlines, airports and fuel suppliers to stay ahead of any problems," U.K. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said, adding that "there are no immediate supply issues".The head of the trade body for U.K.-registered airlines welcomed the proposal."U.K. airlines continue to operate normally and are not experiencing issues with jet fuel supply," Tim Alderslade, CEO of Airlines UK was quoted as saying in the statement. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

With more affordable electric vehicles hitting used-car lots, buyers should be aware of some ownership costs that may differ from those that come with gas cars. View More

Cavan Images / Gabriel Sean Photography | Cavan | Getty Images Consumers shopping used-car lots may notice that electric vehicles are increasingly sporting more affordable price tags.Even as purchases of new electric vehicles have faltered, used EV sales jumped 27.7% in March from a year earlier and were 53.9% higher than in February, according to the latest EV Monitor from Cox Automotive, a services and software company for the automotive industry. While it's hard to tease out how much of the surge in sales is due to consumers shifting to EVs amid higher gas prices, at least one contributing factor is the influx of used EVs hitting dealer lots as leases end this year, giving buyers a greater selection of models. Read more CNBC personal finance coverageTreasury announces new Series I bond rate of 4.26% for the next six monthsSocial Security benefits can be reduced for retirees who work. How that may changeFed keeps interest rates unchanged in April: What that means for youWealth, millionaire tax push spreads to more states, but trend presents a 'challenge': ExpertCNBC's Financial Advisor 100: Best financial advisors, top firms ranked "Where we had the highest concentration of leasing happen was between the tail end of 2022 and all the way through 2023, and since most leases are three years long, all those cars … are coming back to dealer lots in droves," said Joseph Yoon, a consumer insights analyst at Edmunds, an auto research site.The share of EVs accounting for lease returns is expected to jump to 8% in 2026, up from 2% in 2025, according to Edmunds data.In March, 44% of used EVs sold for under $25,000, said Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights for Cox Automotive. In December, that share was 39%.  watch nowVIDEO2:5202:52The longer the Iran war extends, the more compelling EVs become, says DVx Ventures' Jon McNeillSquawk on the Street The average price for a used EV in March was $34,653, down 6.1% from a year earlier, according to Cox. The amount is also just $1,102 higher than the average price of $33,641 for a used gas-powered car. That price gap has been shrinking: A year ago, there was a $3,923 premium on used EVs compared with preowned gas cars."Price parity is getting close," Valdez Streaty said.The rise in sales is coming despite the disappearance of federal tax credits for purchasing new or used EVs created by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and originally scheduled to remain in place through 2032. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law last July 4, ended the tax breaks — which were worth up to $7,500 for new EVs and up to $4,000 for used EVs — effective at the end of September 2025. Price parity is getting close.Stephanie Valdez StreatyDirector of industry insights for Cox Automotive At the state level, however, there may still be a financial benefit. Most states have some sort of incentive in place to benefit EV buyers, including tax credits or rebates, or utility rate reductions, according to a 2023 report from the National Conference of State Legislators, a bipartisan nonprofit group for state legislators and their staff.Of course, the amount paid for any car is only part of the cost of ownership. If you are considering a used EV and would be switching from a gas-powered car, here are some expenses that may differ from what you're used to. Charging at home can be cheapest Even if you wouldn't be paying for gas with an EV, you do have to charge your car's battery. Typically, the least expensive way to do that, per kilowatt, is with a home charger, experts say. The exact rate depends on where you live and the utility's rates.However, installing a charger can be expensive. While the unit itself may cost about $500 for what's called a Level 2 charger (which generally requires a 240-volt circuit), not all homes can have it installed without electrical upgrades, Yoon said. In that case, the installation could cost thousands of dollars, depending on what work needs to be done. watch nowVIDEO0:3100:31How to spend less and save morePersonal Finance Yet if you're able to install a home charger, the cost of electricity "is a fraction of what public charging costs," Yoon said.If you drive about 1,015 miles per month, charging an electric car at home would cost about $59.66 monthly compared with a fast charger at a public charging station, where you'd pay $169 for that energy, according to a report from Kelley Blue Book, an auto research and pricing site. For a gas car getting 30 miles per gallon, the fuel cost would be $147.24 for that monthly mileage. The estimate used a recent average national gas price of $4.09 and average kilowatt-hour costs of 17.65 cents and 50 cents for home use and at public chargers, respectively.Additionally, be sure you know of any local regulations or restrictions on charging an EV at home. For example, some homeowners associations may not allow it, Yoon said.If you wouldn't be charging your EV at home, you may be able to find public charging stations operated by networks that offer discounts if you subscribe, Yoon said. Additionally, your utility or your state may offer a rebate for installing a home EV charger. What to know about maintenance costs There is some maintenance that's required on gas cars that you won't need to worry about with an EV, such as oil changes. Brakes also may last longer on EVs because of what's called regenerative braking, according to Kelley Blue Book. This involves electric motors being used to slow down the car and send the energy back to the battery. Generally, EVs require fewer maintenance costs.However, EVs tend to wear tires' tread faster due to the weight of the car, according to ConsumerReports, a nonprofit group that conducts independent testing of consumer products. "You typically have a certain number [of miles] you expect your tires to last. With an EV, that number is lower because of how heavy the cars are, and the weight contributes to tire degradation," Yoon said. "I think it's something that people should be aware of." Repairs may be more expensive Depending on where you live and what kind of EV you own, it could be tricky to find a qualified repair shop nearby if your car suffers damage in an accident, experts say. Or it could take longer to get a necessary part if there's not strong aftermarket support for that particular car.If you're in a collision and need repairs, the cost is generally higher for EVs than for gas cars. In 2025, fully gas-powered cars that were repaired cost an average of $5,105, according to Mitchell International, which specializes in claims and collision technology. That compares with $6,395 for fully battery-operated cars (i.e., excluding hybrids). Batteries are expensive to replace It's also worth making sure the car's battery is in good health."When you're buying a used EV, you need to know the battery warranty," said Valdez Streaty, of Cox Automotive. Generally, EV batteries come with an eight- or 10-year warranty or $100,000 miles, she said. For the cars coming off three-year leases, "there's still going to be a lot of the warranty left," she said."In most cases, those warranties are transferable," she said, adding that you should ask for a current battery health report for the vehicle.A new battery can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000, according to Consumer Reports. Insurance generally costs more, research shows Insurance for EVs tends to run higher than for comparable gas cars due to the higher repair costs. The average annual cost of insuring an EV is $4,058, compared with the average $2,732 to insure a gas car, according to a 2025 report from insurance website Insurify. However, the actual cost of a policy for an EV can vary widely by model, insurer and where you live, the report shows. And, generally speaking, a used EV will cost less to insure than a new one. Some extra features require a paid subscription Some EV owners pay for subscriptions that provide extra features in their cars, such as self-driving or driver-assist features or internet service. Depending on the car and the feature, these paid options may cost anywhere from $10 or $20 to $100 a month.However, you do not need them to operate the car. "You can choose to have more premium options available to you via the subscriptions," Yoon said. "But you wouldn't need any of the subscriptions to have the car work just fine. I don't think it's something the average consumer needs to worry about."If you purchase a used EV that had subscriptions, you would have to subscribe to get those features to work, Valdez Streaty said. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Concerns around production were amplified further last week with news of the UAE's shock departure. View More

Jonathan Raa | Nurphoto | Getty Images OPEC+ has agreed an increase in oil output of 188,000 barrels per day, the cartel said on Sunday, as it pushes on with production in the first meeting since the loss of its key member, the United Arab Emirates.The group of seven major oil producers announced it would increase June production by slightly less than May's output hike of 206,000 bpd. Sunday's figure excludes the United Arab Emirates share of output, which officially departed OPEC on May 1. The seven countries included Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman."In their collective commitment to support oil market stability, the seven participating countries decided to implement a production adjustment of 188 thousand barrels per day from the additional voluntary adjustments announced in April 2023," OPEC said in its statement.Oil supply has been choked since the Iran war began on February 28, as the Strait of Hormuz – a vital shipping route for global oil and gas supplies – has remained effectively closed. Oil prices fell Friday after Iran sent an updated peace proposal to mediators in Pakistan, raising hopes again that a settlement with the U.S. is still possible.U.S. crude oil futures fell 3% to close at $101.94 per barrel. The international benchmark Brent crude lost nearly 2% to settle at $108.17. Both are nearly 78% higher since the start of 2026. Stock Chart IconStock chart iconBrent crude oil price, year to date. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had been told about the concept of a deal with Iran, but was waiting for the exact wording, while warning there was still the possibility of restarting strikes on the country if Tehran misbehaves.Reuters quoted a senior Iranian official as saying on Saturday that an Iranian proposal so far rejected by Trump would open shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and end the U.S. blockade of Iran while leaving talks on Iran's nuclear program for later.Concerns around production were amplified further on Tuesday with news of the shock departure of the UAE, the cartel's third-largest producer.The Gulf state concluded that exiting the group was in its national interest following a comprehensive review of its production policy and capacity, the Energy Ministry said in a written statement.The UAE had played an influential role in OPEC's decisions over nearly six decades and was the group's third-largest oil producer in February, behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq.– Reuters contributed to this story. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Listed players represented 49% of land deals in FY2026, up from 40% in FY2025 View More

Haryana government, with the support of the Centre, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for one lakh acres of farm land in Tanzania View More

Ceigall India's joint venture, CIL-SAM India, has secured a Rs 918.04-crore project from Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation for Phase-II expansion. The contract involves designing and constructing an 10.8 km elevated viaduct and ten metro stations, with a 34-month execution timeline. This win signifies Ceigall India's diversification into urban mobility projects. View More

New Delhi: Infrastructure company Ceigall India Ltd on Sunday said its joint venture CIL-SAM India has bagged a Rs 918.04-crore project from Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation Ltd for design and construction works. The contract awarded to CIL-SAM involves the design and construction of an elevated viaduct and ten elevated metro stations (excluding architectural finishing) under Jaipur Metro's Phase-II expansion covering 10.8 km, Ceigall India said in a statement. Ceigall India holds a 74 per cent stake in CIL-SAM, while the remaining 26 per cent is owned by SAM India Builtwell Pvt Ltd. The total bid cost of the project stands at Rs 918.04 crore (inclusive of 18 per cent GST), with an execution timeline of 34 months, it stated. The ten stations to be constructed under the package are Prahladpura, Manpura, Bilwa Kalan, Bilwa, Goner Mod, Sitapura, JECC, Kumbha Marg, Haldighati Gate, and Pinjrapole Gaushala. Live Events Ramneek Sehgal, Chairman & Managing Director, Ceigall India, said in the statement, "Winning this Jaipur Metro Phase-II package marks an important milestone for Ceigall as we continue to diversify our infrastructure portfolio beyond roads and highways into urban mobility projects." Ceigall India is an infrastructure engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) company, which has been engaged in the development of highways, expressways, bridges, flyovers, railway overbridges, tunnels, and runways. .Pbanner{display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;background-color:#ec1c40;margin-top:20px;padding:5px 10px;border-radius:4px;color:#fff;line-height:10px;} .Pbannertext{display:flex;align-items:center;font-size:16px;font-weight:600;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannertext img{height:20px;margin:0 6px} .Pbannerbutton a{display:flex;align-items:center;background-color:#fff;color:#ec1c40;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;padding:4px 8px;border-radius:6px;font-size:15px;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannerbutton img{height:20px;margin-right:6px} .Pbannerbutton a:hover{background-color:#f7f7f7} Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)