Israel Acknowledges Use of Laser Weapons to Intercept Drones
The systems were described as a less powerful 'prototype' of the 100-kilowatt Iron Beam laser interceptor that will be operational in Israel by the end of the year. The Defense Ministry also released footage of what it said were the lasers intercepting fixed-wing drones in the sky.
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Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Stocks kick off July with surprising twist
Stocks kick off July with surprising twist originally appeared on TheStreet. It's been all about technology lately. After stocks found their footing in early April when President Donald Trump paused most reciprocal tariffs, clearing the way for trade deals, technology stocks have surged. The SPDR Technology ETF () gained 23% from April 9 through the end of the second quarter, handily out-pacing other sectors and the S&P 500, which returned 10.5% over the same period. 💵💰💰💵 The tech stock stars during the rally have been familiar names. For instance, AI darlings Nvidia and Palantir have skyrocketed a jaw-dropping 46% and 62%, respectively, after gaining 171% and 340% in 2024. The move has been impressive, but stocks don't rise or fall in a straight line forever. The third quarter has kicked off with a surprising list of stocks taking the baton from technology—at least for now. The rise in these down-and-outers could be fleeting, but after lagging technology stocks for a while, the recent action may make them intriguing, especially given technology stock valuations are arguably stratospheric. The stock market rally followed a massive sell-off that was fast and steep enough to cause most investor sentiment measures to flash deeply 'oversold.' Plenty of risks were behind the drop, including sticky inflation, growing joblessness, and uncertainty over how newly enacted tariffs may impact household and business combination of a weakening economy and cash-strapped consumers led many to think stagflation or recession is in the cards. The risk of such an economic reckoning isn't off the table. But the stock market is forward-looking, and investors appear to think most of the risk was priced into stocks at the early April lows. The trade deals announced so far with the UK and China aren't overly comprehensive, but they provide a blueprint that suggests tariffs might stay at current levels, providing much-needed clarity. If so, inflation caused by tariffs may be – dare I say it… transitory. A slight increase in inflation because of tariffs could prove manageable as long as it doesn't derail the likelihood of a friendly Fed. After cutting the Fed Funds Rate by 1% last year to stimulate the job market, the Fed has remained on the sidelines this year, awaiting clarity on how import taxes will impact inflation. However, most, including the Fed itself, expect rate cuts at some point this year. The Fed's dot-plot in June suggested its monetary policy will send interest rates a half-point lower by the end of 2025. () reduce rates by 1% () , while Morgan Stanley projects seven rate cuts. The prospect of lower rates driving economic growth, corporate revenue, and profit has reignited investors' animal spirits. Investors have also begun to model in potentially higher forward earnings estimates in the wake of a significant drop in the US Dollar. This helps financial results for companies that get sizable revenue from overseas, such as technology stocks. As a result, the S&P 500's forward price-to-earnings ratio has increased to nearly 22, an arguably rich valuation given historical returns tend to be middling once the stock market's P/E ratio exceeds 20. A return of optimism has caused some signals to flash overbought, suggesting that the stock rally may pause. For example, the S&P 500's relative strength index eclipsed 70 last week, a level that can foretell weakness. While concerning, not all stocks have to fall to work off that overbought condition. More Experts: Legendary fund manager sends blunt 9-word message on stock market tumble Major analyst unveils surprising gold price forecast for 2026 Jim Cramer sends strong message on Nvidia stock at all-time highs Many stocks have lagged technology stocks since April, and they may hold up or gain ground if high-flyers backfill some of their recent gains. We may already be seeing early signs of that happening. 'Underneath the surface, there's massive rotation underway,' wrote Bespoke in a note to clients. 'Q2's biggest winners are getting pummeled, while Q2's losers are soaring.' Bespoke crunched data on the Russell 2000, breaking stocks into ten baskets based on performance in the second quarter. On July 1, the stocks that were in the worst-performing basket last quarter jumped 3.3%, according to Bespoke. The best performers? Well, those stocks dropped an average of 2.3%. The 5.6% relative outperformance of the worst to best performers is pretty intriguing, but one day doesn't equal a trend. It's possible that much of the gains by the worst performers are tied to the calendar flip, as money managers waited until July 1 to lock in profits on some of their best performers and rebalance weights toward the laggards. "Tuesday felt like a lot of big upsets in the market as the 'seeded' players (the index movers) got rocked and the down-and-outers emerged," wrote veteran technical analyst Helene Meisler on TheStreet Pro. "Can the rally last this time? I think it has more than a day in it." Meisler thinks the rotation to the laggards may continue, but don't get too excited. We similarly saw the down-and-out stocks jump about one month ago, and they still wound up underperforming by the end of the month. Overall, Meisler thinks rotation may only help these stocks for a few weeks. She recommends that investors keep an eye on how the equal-weighted S&P 500 () performs relative to the more closely watched market-cap weighted S&P 500 () , which everyone uses as their benchmark, for kick off July with surprising twist first appeared on TheStreet on Jul 2, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jul 2, 2025, where it first appeared. 擷取數據時發生錯誤 登入存取你的投資組合 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
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Veteran analyst sets eye-popping S&P 500 target
Veteran analyst sets eye-popping S&P 500 target originally appeared on TheStreet. Stocks have rallied sharply since April 9, when President Donald Trump announced he would pause implementing most of the widespread tariffs previously announced on April 2, so-called 'Liberation Day.' The pause was more than welcome given his Liberation Day announcement had caused a massive risk-off move, sending the S&P 500 tumbling nearly into a bear market. The move up has been akin to a lock-out rally driven predominantly by retail investors who stepped in to "buy the dip." Down days have been scarce, and met quickly with buying from those left on the sidelines suffering from FOMO. 💵💰💰💵 The S&P 500 has surged over 20% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq has done even better, rallying more than 30%-- massive moves considering, historically, the S&P 500's annual gain since 1957 is about 10%. The impressive surge likely has many scratching their heads, wondering if markets can continue higher in the face of sticky inflation, job losses, and sagging consumer confidence. As a result, many on Wall Street are updating their outlook, including long-time veteran analyst Dan Ives. Ives, whose career spans over twenty years, is one of the most-watched analysts. His current role as Wedbush Securities' managing director and global head of technology research gives him a unique perspective, given how technology has had an outsize impact on the stock market over the past couple years. In an exclusive interview with TheStreet, he recently offered up his latest thoughts on the S&P 500, and his target may turn heads. The S&P 500 delivered back-to-back 20% plus returns over the past two years, including an impressive 24% return in 2024. Many expected the stock market to continue its winning streak in 2025, however, stocks derailed by unexpectedly high tariffs that forced a friendly Fed away from cutting rates to the sidelines worried over import taxes impact on market also staggered earlier this year from growing concern that the launch of DeepSeek, an AI chatbot reportedly developed by China for only $6 million using prior generation semiconductors, would lead AI spending by businesses to retreat. Those concerns remain, but they've become less of a headwind over the past couple of months. While the Fed remains on pause, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has left the door open to interest rate cuts. The Fed's dot-plot forecast shows Fed officials currently think we'll get two reductions this year, with most targeting the first cut coming in September. Similarly, AI spending growth is less of a worry. While 2026 remains a wild card, hyperscalers like Meta, Google, and Amazon have left their 2025 capital expenditure plans largely intact. In fact, Meta Platforms announced in April that it will spend more this year, not less, because of AI. Meta Platforms' capital expenditures guidance for 2025 alone is $64 billion to $72 billion, up from $60 billion to $65 billion. With friendlier Fed monetary policy looming and AI spending continuing to chug along, technology stocks have been among the stock market's best performers since the early April lows. Among the biggest winners: Nvidia and Palantir. Nvidia is firmly established as the biggest beneficiary of the AI spending boom. Its GPUs are far better suited to training and operating AI chatbots and Agentic AI apps, making it a premier picks-and-shovels style supplier to enterprise and cloud networks. Last year, Nvidia's sales surged 114% to $131 billion. And since OpenAI's ChatGPT stunned the world by becoming the fastest app to 1 million users when launched in 2022, Nvidia's revenue has skyrocketed a whopping 387%.Meanwhile, Palantir is carving out an important niche in AI development. The software company's deep expertise in data security and management, with deep roots to the Defense Department, has made its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) a hit with governments and large enterprises looking to build their own AI solutions. As a result, Palantir's revenue soared 29% to $2.87 billion in 2024, and it's momentum has continued this year. In the first quarter, revenue of $884 million grew 39%. CEO Alex Karp expects sales this year will grow 36%. Technology's contribution to stock market returns over the past couple of years puts Dan Ives in a perfect position to gauge what could happen to the market next. The information technology sector is the largest basket within the S&P 500, accounting for 33%. And the top five holdings in the S&P 500 are all technology players with ties to AI: Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple, Amazon, and Meta Platforms. In fact, those five companies account for over one-quarter of the index. So, in short, as technology stocks go, so goes the index. Fortunately, Ives thinks that technology's run isn't yet over. More Experts: Legendary fund manager sends blunt 9-word message on stock market tumble Major analyst unveils surprising gold price forecast for 2026 Jim Cramer sends strong message on Nvidia stock at all-time highs "The AI revolution is just hitting its next stage of growth from software to consumer to really the rest of the supply chain," said Ives in an interview with TheStreet. "I just believe Street's underestimating numbers potentially for second half of the year." Ives thinks that spending on AI will continue as more companies look to harness its power to shave costs out of their system, using AI agents to increase efficiency and reduce labor costs. "I think numbers go a lot higher because of the spending, and because we're going to see 2 trillion of incremental spend next three years," said Ives. "And that's bullish for NVIDIA. Bullish for Microsoft. Bullish for Palantir." If Ives is correct that spending will remain a big tailwind for companies, including the companies most influential on the S&P 500, then the index will likely enjoy further gains, given that stocks historically follow revenue and earnings growth over time. "This is a fourth Industrial Revolution that we're living in, and we're just in the bottom, first, top, second inning of where AI is going," said Ives. So, how much higher could stocks go from here? "You could be looking at S&P potentially 7,000," forecasts analyst sets eye-popping S&P 500 target first appeared on TheStreet on Jul 2, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jul 2, 2025, where it first appeared.
News24
39 minutes ago
- News24
Netanyahu vows to destroy Hamas: ‘It will be no more', as ceasefire talks under way
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to defeat Hamas. At least 47 people were killed in Gaza on Wednesday. Hamas is considering the ceasefire proposal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday vowed to eradicate Hamas, even as the Palestinian militant group said it was discussing new proposals from mediators for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Israeli leader had yet to comment on US President Donald Trump's claim that Israel had backed a plan for a 60-day truce in its offensive against Hamas in the war-ravaged territory. But a week ahead of talks scheduled with Trump in Washington, he vowed to 'destroy' Hamas 'down to their very foundation'. Hamas said it was 'conducting national consultations to discuss' the proposals submitted in negotiations mediated by Qatar and Egypt. Nearly 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has recently expanded its military operations. The civil defence agency said that Israeli forces had killed at least 47 people on Wednesday. Among the dead was Marwan Al-Sultan, director of the Indonesian Hospital, a key clinic in the north of Gaza, Palestinian officials said. Trump on Tuesday urged Hamas to accept a 60-day ceasefire, saying that Israel had agreed to finalise such a deal. Hamas said in a statement that it was studying the latest proposals and aiming 'to reach an agreement that guarantees ending the aggression, achieving the withdrawal (of Israeli forces from Gaza) and urgently aiding our people in the Gaza Strip'. Netanyahu vowed however: 'We will free all our hostages, and we will eliminate Hamas. It will be no more,' in filmed comments in the city of Ashkelon near Gaza's northern border. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar earlier said that he saw 'some positive signs', amid high pressure to bring home the hostages. 'We are serious in our will to reach a hostage deal and a ceasefire,' he said. Our goal is to begin proximity talks as soon as possible. Gideon Saar Out of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants in October 2023, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. A Palestinian source familiar with the mediated negotiations told AFP that 'there are no fundamental changes in the new proposal' under discussion compared to previous terms presented by the US. The source said that the new proposal 'includes a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release half of the living Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip, in exchange for Israel releasing a number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees'. In southern Gaza, civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP that five members of the same family were killed in an Israeli air strike on Wednesday that hit a tent housing displaced people in the Al-Mawasi area. Despite being declared a safe zone by Israel in December 2023, Al-Mawasi has been hit by repeated Israeli strikes. Hani Alshaer/Anadolu via Getty Images AFP footage from the area showed makeshift tents blown apart as Palestinians picked through the wreckage trying to salvage what was left of their belongings. 'They came here thinking it was a safe area and they were killed. What did they do?' said one resident, Maha Abu Rizq, against a backdrop of destruction. AFP footage from nearby Khan Yunis city showed infants covered in blood being rushed into Nasser Hospital. One man carrying a child whose face was smeared with blood screamed: 'Children, children!' Among other fatalities, Bassal later reported five people killed by Israeli army fire near an aid distribution site close to the southern city of Rafah and a further death following Israeli fire near an aid site in the centre of the territory. They were the latest in a string of deadly incidents that have hit people trying to receive food. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it 'is operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities' in line with 'international law, and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm'. It said in a statement that a 19-year-old sergeant in its forces 'fell during combat in the northern Gaza Strip'. The military late on Wednesday issued a fresh evacuation warning to residents for three neighbourhoods of Gaza City, urging them to flee south to the Mawasi area. Doaa Albaz/Anadolu via Getty Images Israeli forces are 'operating with extreme intensity in the area and will attack any location being used to launch missiles toward the State of Israel', Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a message on Telegram. 'The destruction of terrorist organisations will continue and expand into the city centre, encompassing all neighbourhoods of the city,' Avichay wrote. The military earlier said that its air force had intercepted two 'projectiles' that crossed from northern Gaza into Israeli territory. Israel launched its offensive in response to Hamas' 7 October 2023 attack which resulted in the deaths of 1 219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 57 012 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.
