Japan Bond Futures Drop After BOJ Plans Slower Bond Buying Cuts
Japanese bond futures dropped after the central bank held rates steady and said it would slow its tapering of government bond buying from the start of the next fiscal year.
The yen rose slightly against the dollar to 144.72 as 12:36 p.m. Tokyo time, while JGB futures dropped 0.1%. The BOJ eased the tempo at which it will decrease its monthly bond purchases from next fiscal year to a quarterly reduction of ¥200 billion ($1.4 billion), from the current pace of ¥400 billion.
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19 minutes ago
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Prediction: Soaring Palantir Stock Will Continue to Defy Analysts' Expectations Through 2026
Palantir's revenue and profits are soaring, but its valuation is out of hand. The company's AI platform is a must-have for government and commercial clients. Wall Street is divided on the stock, but I think the future is clear. 10 stocks we like better than Palantir Technologies › Is there a more compelling -- or polarizing -- stock on U.S. indexes right now than Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR)? On the one hand, the company is showing ridiculous growth, sending shares up 85% so far in 2025 and 440% over the past 12 months. But the company, which is evolving from a government contractor to a powerhouse that uses artificial intelligence to help both government and commercial clients make real-time decisions, has a stock valuation that would make even the most stout-hearted investor wince. And there's emerging concern that some of Palantir's newest deals with the U.S. government are walking (or blurring) a line separating government needs and personal privacy. Analysts are all over the map when forecasting Palantir's future, but most of those tracked by Yahoo! Finance rate the stock a hold, and the group has an average price target of $101 as I write this, while the stock trades at about $140 per share. But I think Palantir is going to continue to outperform -- and confound -- Wall Street at least through 2026. Long-term investors should buckle in for the ride. Palantir delivered its first-quarter 2025 earnings report in early May. Revenue grew 39% year over year, with U.S. commercial sales up 71% and U.S. government sales up 45%. That's along with a 39% increase in total customer count year over year, and an 8% quarter-to-quarter gain. The company is landing huge deals, too, including 139 deals in Q1 worth more than $1 million, 51 deals worth more than $5 million, and 31 deals worth more than $10 million. The stock's market capitalization, which was just $56.4 billion a year ago, is now $331 billion. While Palantir is best known for its military and intelligence use cases (the company first rose to public prominence in its role helping the government find and kill Osama bin Laden), it's got its fingers in plenty of other pies, including healthcare, factory modernization, and helping financial institutions make real-time, AI-powered decisions. Palantir recently announced partnerships with Italian paper manufacturer Fedrigoni, healthcare organization The Joint Commission, Elon Musk's xAI, and investment firm TWG Global, as well as six industrial firms. All of this shows Palantir's commercial business is just getting started. Any conversation about Palantir's valuation has to start with those gaudy price-to-earnings numbers. The forward P/E based on estimated earnings is 256, and the trailing P/E is an outrageous 600. Wall Street's consensus price target for PLTR is $101, with a high of $155. One analyst has a price target of $40. That reflects how wildly divided analysts are on what Palantir's true value is. But if you can't stop thinking about the P/E, keep this in mind: Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) had a P/E in 2013 of over 1,000 with a market cap of only $120 billion. It was primarily known as an e-commerce company as its Amazon Web Services was only 7 years old. But AWS has since helped Amazon revolutionize cloud computing, allowing companies to rent computing power instead of investing in expensive data centers. It created a new revenue stream for Amazon and forever changed the company's business model. Today, AWS provides billions in annual revenue and provides Amazon a key role in the future of technology. That's a major reason why Amazon's market cap exploded to reach more than $2 trillion today -- the market finally recognized its true value. So, sometimes great companies trade at incredible valuations before the world understands their real potential. And I think that's where we are with Palantir. As the world gets more complicated -- war in Ukraine and the Middle East, tensions between Washington and Beijing, and the massive changes happening in the U.S. government -- Palantir's government contracts are just going to grow. The demand for AI-driven intelligence tools is rising. Not everyone is comfortable with that. There are published reports that Palantir is expanding its role with the Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Health and Human Services. And it's also reportedly talking to the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration. The fear is that the government will be able to use Palantir's Foundry platform to create a massive government database that keeps track of data like individual bank account numbers, debt, citizenship or immigration status, and medical information. I'm not going to make a value judgment about Palantir, although it's important to acknowledge the elephant in the room. From an investment perspective, though, I'm taking notice about what these developments say about the power and reach of Palantir's software. Palantir helps its customers anticipate threats, track assets, manage resources, and make split-second decisions. The more unpredictable the world becomes, the more essential Palantir's technology becomes, and this will make it more appealing to investors. There's no easy call to make on Palantir stock. On the one hand, revenue and profits are growing, and the software is both unique and necessary. But on the other hand, Palantir's valuation is absurd and the privacy debate won't go away soon. It's no wonder that analysts are all over the place. Here's where I land: Palantir is a future-defining force in AI, doing amazing work not only with the military and the government but also in industries that people use every day. The company beat expectations in 2024 and it's killing it in 2025. I see that continuing throughout the rest of the year and into 2026, even if Wall Street's not on board. Palantir will prove its skeptics wrong. Before you buy stock in Palantir Technologies, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Palantir Technologies wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $659,171!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $891,722!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 995% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025 Patrick Sanders has no positions in any of the stocks mentioned. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Prediction: Soaring Palantir Stock Will Continue to Defy Analysts' Expectations Through 2026 was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
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What Are Savvy Bitcoin and Ether Traders Preparing For as Summer Approaches?
Savvy bitcoin BTC and ether ETH traders are shoring up their defenses as the broader market continues to foresee bullish price action over the summer. That's the message from an options-based strategy called 25-delta risk reversal, which involves the simultaneous purchase of a put option and sale of a call, or vice versa. At the time of writing, risk reversals based on Deribit-listed bitcoin and ether options indicated that investors were positioning for downside volatility over the summer. BTC's 25-delta risk reversals for June, July, and August tenors were negative, indicating a preference for put options, which offer downside protection, over calls or bullish bets, according to data source Amberdata. In ETH's case, puts were pricier out to the July end expiry. Traders typically buy put options to hedge their long positions in the spot and futures markets, protecting themselves from potential price declines. "Risk reversals in both BTC and ETH continue to show a preference for downside protection across June and September tenors. This suggests that long holders are actively hedging spot exposure and preparing for potential drawdowns," Singapore-based QCP Capital said in a market note. The nervousness is evident from the over-the-counter liquidity platform Paradigm, where the top five BTC trades for the week include a put spread and a bearish risk reversal. Meanwhile, in ETH's case, a long position in the $2,450 put crossed the tape alongside a short strangle (volatility) trade. Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market value, has spent over 40 days trading back and forth above $100,000, according to CoinDesk data. According to analysts, profit-taking by long-term holders and miner selling have counteracted the strong uptake for spot ETFs, leaving prices directionless. "Bitcoin has recently tracked sideways, suggesting its current price may be too high for many retail investors. Open interest in BTC options has risen, with a positive and rising 25 delta put-call skew on 30-day contracts, which may imply that market participants are seeking short-term protection through put options," Coinbase Institutional's weekly report noted. On Friday, BTC closed (UTC) below the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) to trade below the key support for the first time since mid-April. The breakdown may lead to more chart-driven selling, potentially resulting in a drop below $100,000. Some observers, however, expect a rally to new record highs. According to market observer Cas Abbé, BTC's on-balance volume continues to indicate strong buying pressure, suggesting that prices could rise to $130,000-$135,000 by the end of the third quarter. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Washington Post
2 hours ago
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Japan and South Korea mark 60 years of ties despite lingering tension and political uncertainty
TOKYO — Japan and South Korea are marking the 60th anniversary of the normalization of their diplomatic relations Sunday. The two Asian powers, rivals and neighbors, have often had little to celebrate, much of their rancor linked to Japan's brutal colonial rule of Korea in the early 20th century. Things have gotten better in recent years, but both nations — each a strong ally of the United States — now face political uncertainty and a growing unease about the future of their ties. Here's a look at one of Northeast Asia's most crucial relationships, from both capitals, by two correspondents from The Associated Press. South Korea's new liberal president, Lee Jae Myung , is determined to break sharply from the policies of his disgraced predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol , who now faces a trial on charges of leading an insurrection over his imposition of martial law in December. Relations with Japan, however, are one area where Lee, who describes himself as a pragmatist in foreign policy, may find himself cautiously building on Yoon's approach. Before his removal from office in April, the conservative former president tried to repair relations with Japan. Yoon wanted to also tighten the countries' three-way security cooperation with Washington to counter North Korean nuclear threats. In 2023, Yoon announced a South Korea-funded compensation plan for colonial-era forced laborers. That decision caused a strong backlash from victims and their supporters, who had demanded direct payments from Japanese companies and a fresh apology from Tokyo. Yoon's outreach boosted tourism and business ties, but there's still lingering resentment in South Korea that Japan failed to reciprocate Seoul's diplomatic concession by addressing historical grievances more sincerely. While advocating for pragmatism and problem-solving in foreign policy, Lee has also long criticized Japan for allegedly clinging to its imperialist past and blamed that for hurting cooperation between the countries. Some experts say the stability of the countries' improved ties could soon be tested, possibly around the Aug. 15 anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II, when Lee is expected to publicly address the nation's painful history with Japan. Some in Seoul want Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to mark the anniversary with a stronger statement of remorse over Japan's wartime past to put bilateral ties on firmer ground. While wartime history will always linger in the background of Seoul-Tokyo relations, Lee and Ishiba may face a more immediate concern: U.S. President Donald Trump's rising tariffs and other America-first trade policies. South Korea's Hankyoreh newspaper in an editorial this week called for South Korea and Japan to 'collaborate immediately' on a joint response to Trump's policies, arguing that the proposed U.S. tariffs on automobiles pose similar threats to both countries' trade-dependent economies. Ishiba, eager to improve ties with Seoul, has acknowledged Japan's wartime aggression and has shown more empathy to Asian victims than his recent predecessors. His first encounter with Lee seemed positive, despite worries in Japan about South Korea's stance under a liberal leader known for attacks on Japan's wartime past. Lee, in that meeting with Ishiba at the G7, likened the two countries to 'neighbors sharing the same front yard' and called for building a future-oriented relationship that moves beyond their 'small differences and disagreements.' Ishiba and Lee agreed to closely communicate and to cooperate on a range of issues, including North Korea's nuclear and missile development. Under a 1965 normalization treaty, Japan provided $500 million in economic assistance to South Korea, saying all wartime compensation issues were settled. However, historical issues including forced labor and sexual abuse of Korean women during the war have disrupted ties over the decades, while South Korea has become an Asian power and a rival to Japan, and while Tokyo, especially during the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 's rule, has promoted revisionist views. Japan has since offered atonement money twice for the so-called 'comfort women,' an earlier semi-private fund and a second one unilaterally dissolved by former South Korean President Moon Jae-in's liberal government. Things have improved in recent years, and Japan is watching to see whether Lee sticks with his conservative predecessor's more conciliatory diplomacy or returns to the confrontation that marked previous liberal governments. Cooperation between the two sides is 'more essential than ever' to overcome their shared problems such as worsening regional security and Trump's tariffs that have shaken free trade systems, Japan's largest-circulation newspaper Yomiuri said in a recent editorial. At a 60th anniversary reception in Tokyo, Ishiba said that he sees 'a bright future' in the relationship. He expressed hope also for cooperation in 'common challenges' such as low birth rates and declining populations. ___ Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea.
