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Financeoil pricesenergy stockscrude oil

Market Watch: Oil Prices Stuck Below $70 While Energy Stocks Hit 52-Week Highs — What's Driving the Disconnect?

Something unusual is happening in energy markets. WTI crude oil has spent most of February trading between $63 and $67 per barrel — well below the $80+ levels seen a year ago — while the three largest U.S. energy companies are trading at or near their 52-week highs. ExxonMobil has surged 56% from its 52-week low, Chevron is within striking distance of its all-time high, and ConocoPhillips just printed a fresh 52-week high at $113.80. The divergence raises a fundamental question for investors: are energy stocks pricing in a rebound that hasn't materialized in crude, or have the majors evolved into something fundamentally different from pure oil plays? The answer likely involves a combination of capital discipline, shareholder return programs, and a structural shift in how the market values integrated energy companies in an era of declining interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty. Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Information Administration's latest outlook projects WTI averaging just $53.42 per barrel in 2026 — roughly 20% below current spot prices — adding another layer of complexity for investors trying to navigate the sector.

February 28, 2026Read Analysis
NewsPakistanAfghanistanTaliban

Developing: Pakistan Declares 'Open War' on Afghanistan as Airstrikes Hit Kabul and Taliban Launch Cross-Border Offensive

Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif declared the country is in 'open war' with Afghanistan on February 27, 2026, following a dramatic escalation of cross-border hostilities that has seen Pakistani airstrikes hit the Afghan capital Kabul and at least 21 other locations across the country. The declaration came hours after Taliban forces launched what they described as 'extensive preemptive operations' against Pakistani military positions along the 2,611-kilometer Durand Line. 'Our cup of patience has overflowed. Now it is open war between us and you,' Asif stated, accusing the Taliban government of harboring the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group responsible for a wave of deadly attacks inside Pakistan. The Pakistani military said it struck 22 locations across Afghanistan, including targets in Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, Jalalabad, Khost, Paktika, and Laghman provinces. The escalation marks the most serious military confrontation between the two nuclear-armed neighbors since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, and has drawn urgent calls for a ceasefire from the United Nations, China, Russia, Turkey, and Qatar. Casualty figures remain heavily disputed, with both sides claiming significant enemy losses while the full civilian toll remains unclear.

February 28, 2026Read Analysis
NewsNASAArtemis programmoon landing

News: NASA Overhauls Artemis Moon Program — First Landing Pushed to 2028 as Agency Confronts 'Skills Atrophy'

NASA has announced a sweeping overhaul of its Artemis program, scrapping plans for a crewed moon landing on the Artemis III mission and instead targeting Artemis IV as the first human return to the lunar surface in over half a century. The restructuring, announced on February 27, 2026, represents the most significant reconfiguration of America's lunar ambitions since the program's inception. Under the revised timeline, Artemis III — originally planned as the historic first moon landing — will instead serve as a technology demonstration mission in low-Earth orbit, practicing rendezvous and docking maneuvers with the lunar landing system. The actual landing has been pushed to Artemis IV, now targeted for 2028. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman described the changes as a necessary 'course correction' after more than three years elapsed between the program's first and second flights. The overhaul comes amid persistent technical problems that have plagued the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, including recurring hydrogen fuel leaks and helium pressurization issues that have delayed the Artemis II crewed flyby mission — now targeted for at least April 2026. The restructuring has received support from both SpaceX and Blue Origin, the two companies developing competing lunar landers for the program.

February 28, 2026Read Analysis
Financeenterprise SaaSCRMServiceNow

Sector Watch: CRM vs NOW vs WDAY — Which Enterprise SaaS Giant Offers the Best Value After the AI Selloff?

Enterprise software stocks are in the midst of their worst correction since the 2022 rate-shock rout, and the carnage is indiscriminate. Salesforce (CRM) is down 36% from its 52-week high. ServiceNow (NOW) has been cut nearly in half, falling 49% from its peak. And Workday (WDAY) — once a darling of the cloud HR revolution — has been slashed by a staggering 52%, trading at levels not seen in years. The collective damage across these three SaaS titans alone represents over $200 billion in destroyed market capitalization. The catalyst is familiar by now: fear that generative AI will upend the enterprise software business model. If AI agents can automate workflows, configure systems, and replace manual processes, do companies still need to pay premium SaaS subscriptions? The market is pricing in a world where AI disrupts the disruptors — where the very companies that built their empires on cloud transformation become victims of the next wave. It is a compelling narrative, but the financial data tells a more nuanced story. All three companies continue to grow revenue, generate substantial free cash flow, and are actively integrating AI into their platforms rather than being displaced by it. With [Salesforce](/article/crm-analysis-salesforce-hits-52-week-low-ahead-of-earnings-is-the-ai-disruption-sell-off-overdone) trading at a P/E of just 26, [ServiceNow](/article/now-analysis-servicenows-109-billion-saas-empire-is-down-51-from-its-high-why-the-ai-panic-selloff-ignores-46-billion-in-free-cash-flow) commanding a premium P/E of 65 but generating best-in-class operating cash flow, and Workday sitting at its most attractive valuation in years, this three-way comparison could reveal which battered SaaS stock is the smartest buy for different investor profiles. Let us dig into the numbers.

February 28, 2026Read Analysis
Financedefense stocksaerospaceBA

Sector Watch: BA vs LMT vs RTX — Which Defense Giant Offers the Best Risk-Reward as Global Rearmament Accelerates

The United States and Israel launched joint military strikes on Iran on February 28, 2026 — an escalation that sent defense stocks surging and forced investors to reassess the sector's long-term trajectory. Boeing (BA), Lockheed Martin (LMT), and RTX Corporation (RTX) — the three largest U.S. defense contractors — each rallied on the news, but the question facing investors is no longer whether defense spending will grow, but which of these three giants offers the best combination of upside, profitability, and risk management in a world that is rapidly rearming. The macro backdrop is unambiguous. NATO allies are increasing defense spending to 2% or more of GDP, the UK just approved a £1 billion defense helicopter deal, and the geopolitical environment — from the Middle East to Eastern Europe to the Indo-Pacific — has never looked more favorable for defense contractors since the Cold War. All three stocks are trading near or at 52-week highs, with RTX leading the pack as the [largest by market cap at $272 billion](/article/sector-watch-why-defense-stocks-are-surging-geopolitical-catalysts-nato-spending-and-the-sectors-investors-are-watching). But these are very different businesses with very different risk profiles. Boeing is a turnaround story with a [negative tangible book value and massive debt](/article/ba-analysis-boeings-182-billion-turnaround-bet-why-the-aerospace-giant-still-loses-money-operationally-despite-90-billion-in-revenue). Lockheed Martin is a pure-play defense compounder [trading near its 52-week high of $669.75](/article/lmt-analysis-lockheed-martin-touches-a-52-week-high-as-global-rearmament-reshapes-the-defense-sector-is-the-rally-priced-in). RTX is a diversified powerhouse straddling both commercial aerospace and defense. Understanding these differences is critical before deploying capital into the sector.

February 28, 2026Read Analysis
Financeearnings vs profitearnings per sharenet income

Earnings vs Profit Explained — What's the Difference and Why It Matters for Investors

If you have ever read a quarterly earnings report and wondered whether "earnings" and "profit" mean the same thing, you are not alone. These terms are often used interchangeably in financial media, but they carry distinct meanings depending on context. Revenue, profit, earnings, net income, EPS — the vocabulary of corporate finance can feel like a maze, and misunderstanding any one term can lead to poor investment decisions. The good news is that the underlying logic is straightforward once you see how the numbers flow through a company's income statement. In this guide, we will walk through each term step by step, using real financial data from Apple Inc. (AAPL) — one of the most widely followed stocks in the world — to illustrate exactly how revenue becomes gross profit, then operating profit, and finally net income. By the end, you will be able to read any earnings report with confidence and know which profit metric matters most for the decision you are trying to make. Whether you are evaluating a stock for the first time or sharpening your analytical toolkit, understanding the hierarchy of profitability metrics is foundational. Let us start with the basics and work our way up.

February 28, 2026Read Analysis