Ag Retailers Association expects insecticide strategy to be workable The Ag Retailers Association says EPA’s recently released final insecticide strategy will be more flexible for the agricultural industry Richard Gupton tells Brownfield modifications show the agency is listening to stakeholders “ARA has worked with other ag stakeholders to inform them that the proposals that have been put out were not manageable and not workable and not economically feasible for the farmer,” he shares “It looks like they are taking steps to make it more manageable and make sure these products are still available in the marketplace.” He says conservation participation is better recognized as well as the use of technologies that reduce spray drift “Our goal is to protect endangered species but also make sure these products can still be utilized,” he says Gupton says how the EPA moves forward with pesticide labels under the new guidance will provide a better understanding of how commercial operators and farmers will need to adapt EPA received more than 26,000 comments following the release of its draft guidance last July Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Subscribe for our newsletter today and receive relevant news straight to your inbox Strategy acquired an additional 1,895 bitcoin for $180.3 million last week as the business intelligence firm continues its aggressive accumulation strategy while expanding its capital-raising programs According to a Monday SEC filing Strategy purchased the bitcoin at an average price of $95,167 per coin between April 28 and May 4 The acquisition brings the company’s total holdings to 555,450 BTC acquired for approximately $38.08 billion at an average price of $68,550 per bitcoin The latest purchase was funded through a combination of common stock and preferred stock sales, with $128.5 million raised through Strategy’s common stock ATM program and $51.8 million through sales of STRK preferred shares The transaction notably exhausts Strategy’s previous $21 billion ATM offering launched last year BREAKING: 🇺🇸 STRATEGY BUYS ANOTHER 1895 #BITCOIN FOR $180 MILLION pic.twitter.com/0YDTUHK0M3 Last week, Strategy announced plans to double its capital raising capacity introducing a new $21 billion ATM offering and expanding its debt purchase program to $42 billion The expanded programs signal the company’s intent to continue its bitcoin accumulation strategy Strategy remains the largest corporate holder of bitcoin with its holdings representing approximately 2.64% of Bitcoin’s maximum supply the company’s bitcoin stack is valued at over $52 billion The purchase comes amid strong institutional demand for Bitcoin through regulated vehicles, with BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) recording massive inflows in the last 2 weeks Strategy shares were down 2.7% in Monday’s pre-market trading after gaining over 3% last Thursday Bitcoin Magazine is the oldest and most established source of trustworthy news information and thought leadership on Bitcoin Marketers have now accepted that artificial intelligence is as much a basic need as electricity and are negotiating the tension of how much to delegate working through emerging ethical and operational issues.  AI is now “table stakes” for marketing organizations is forcing marketers into a more philosophical discussion of where the technology can help according to speakers at the Brand Innovators AI & Marketing Summit.   “You have a business strategy and AI supports that strategy.” He compared the rush into AI with previous mobile and internet rushes and warned the technology needs to be thought through in the context of each enterprise’s goals.  digital and direct-to-consumer marketing and media strategy at Church & Dwight The rise of AI has led marketers into me-too thinking where every platform and every vendor boasts that they are using AI often without perfecting the thinking or quality behind it digital and direct-to-consumer marketing and media strategy at CPG company Church & Dwight.  A business that believes merely using AI is a differentiator is about as outdated as one that believes electrical power serves that purpose The biggest opportunities and threats emerging from AI don’t necessarily come from making today’s businesses more effective the former Chief Strategist of Publicis Groupe But many marketers are rethinking operations in the wake of AI’s pervasiveness director of marketing excellence & brand building at Bayer noted the pharma company had missed first-mover advantages in previous marketing evolutions “We realized that we need to get ahead of it because if we don’t we’re going to be so far behind.” whether it’s content creation or brand strategy and positioning This has allowed the company to build content at a rapid speed sometimes 400 to 500 pieces of content per day for some brands far ahead of what it could do only a year ago While still in the early phases of AI adoption “We really have to trust the process,” said Nevoso.  consumers are faced with a slew of content but its quality and impact are up for discussion Sharma asked for a show of hands of how many people have seen so much AI-generated creative they can spot it on sight said people are fed up with AI content.  “We’re all inundated with content,” said Bryce Adams SVP of partnerships at the influencer marketing agency Open Influence.  “Copying and pasting the work of other brands is easier than ever,” said Julia Knight This raises the bar for brands to make their work unique and also increases the need for ethical oversight The public-safety app is one of the largest investors of policy and fire radio content so being truthful and ethical is important The technology is increasing pressure on in-house creative teams to make better more relevant content: “Not just more for more The growth of agentic AI is forcing marketers to rethink the customer journey and how they engage consumers and focusing on those bots and chat agents many speakers noted that search advertising volume is dropping sharply as AI agents take over many functions.  When marketers at pharma company Boehringer Ingelheim found out a few years ago that bots were involved in healthcare “we were appalled,” said Katherine Freeley But the company has accepted that patient education based on searching and clicking on links “will be gone” as consumers increasingly use agents to enter their symptoms and ask about medical conditions “There will be no world with link-based search soon,” said Freeley.  “We keep thinking we’re going to have agents as marketers but me as a person is also going to have an agent,” said Tobaccowala And agents will be connecting with each other Parsing data at scale and speed can lead to a more predictive way of working.  global brand strategy & innovation at Mastercard which has been using AI for over 10 years in fraud protection and other risk management tasks has found a number of marketing uses for generative AI recently,  said Cheryl Guerin global brand strategy & innovation at the company It created an insights engine to assist its 10-person research team which had been overwhelmed with thousands of questions across the organization it can give insights in real time about questions such as “How does Gen Z feel about sustainability?” and even generate presentation slides By enabling this across the marketing organization it has relieved the team and stopped a lot of duplicative research She also noted MasterCard created a paid-media tool to monitor social media “micro trends” around passions such as e-sports and entertainment and connected it with media buying to respond with messages to consumers within 15 minutes The tool can predict trends that can happen in coming weeks and have content ready to reach the right person with the right message Many speakers noted the real promise of AI is not to create content at volume but help marketers make choices between creative executions “We’re building power tools for people who make creative content,” said John Elder Co-founder & CEO of AI tech company Supergood.  Marketers are also reimagining social listening with AI and now brands can be smarter about using it Brands can test content and understand better the next steps available a valuable help when dealing with user-generated content “That tool set and that knowledge will enable us to make better bets,” he said he noted Snapchat is building a tool that can boost content if someone is talking about a brand online whether they are a signed influencer or not.  “I feel we’re like accountants that just started using Excel in the early 80’s,” said Elder,  but added “it’s really just a tool that helps you make things faster.” especially in a highly-regulated industry such as financial services Bank worked with Supergood on an AI-assisted research project that was able to identify quickly how its heritage brand was being undervalued and helped unlock value of its assets “Having a data strategy is critical,” said Elder “It’s just improving the inputs to your decision-making abilities.” Bank’s brand team validate their insights quickly and “allows us to punch above our weight” by moving forward fast with confidence That gives the company an early-mover advantage “so you can move with the market in real time.”  Marketers’ biggest AI challenge right now is trying to keep up “It feels like every three weeks there is a new AI tool,” said Knight.  She recommended marketers stay curious about AI development professionals need to give up trying to stay ahead of it and just maintain flexibility so they can adapt to new tools and uses she said: “You have to start preparing yourself for what the future is going to be.” Semler bag 2K Bitcoin as price edged toward $100K last week Michael Saylor’s Strategy slowed Bitcoin buying last week as BTC neared $100,000 while Semler Scientific ramped up its crypto investments News COINTELEGRAPH IN YOUR SOCIAL FEEDMichael Saylor’s Strategy one of the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin investors slowed its BTC purchases last week as the cryptocurrency briefly surged above $97,000 Strategy’s latest Bitcoin purchase is one of the smallest made by the company this year, alongside a comparatively meagre 130 BTC purchase in March The latest buy is 87% less than the previous purchase of 15,355 BTC announced last Monday While Saylor’s Strategy cooled its Bitcoin buying spree last week Semler Scientific, a publicly traded US healthtech firm, bought 167 Bitcoin for $16.2 million in the period from April 30 to May 2 at an average purchase price of $97,093 BTC Announced on May 5, the purchase by Semler was up at least 50% from the previous 111 BTC purchase by the firm announced on April 25 acquired for an aggregate of $322.3 million at an average purchase price of $88,668 per BTC Semler’s Bitcoin holdings are considerably smaller than Strategy’s The new Bitcoin purchase by Strategy came shortly after the company announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2025 on May 1 According to the update, Strategy achieved a 13.7% BTC yield, an indicator representing the percentage change of the ratio between its BTC holdings and assumed diluted shares. The yield is close to the 15% yield targeted by Strategy in 2025 Strategy’s gains on its Bitcoin investments also reached $5.8 billion in line with its annual target of $10 billion Saylor said that the company has doubled its capital plan to $42 billion in equity and $42 billion in fixed income to purchase more Bitcoin Magazine: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight We deliver! Get curated industry news straight to your inbox. Subscribe to Adweek newsletters Starcom U.S has welcomed back two of its former leaders to helm key roles recently left vacant by prior executives Preeti Nadgar returns to Starcom as chief strategy officer after nearly a decade away—marking her third stint at the agency She joined Starcom for the first time in 2004 and returned in 2012 working her way up to vp level before leaving for other agencies she served as CSO at GroupM media agency EssenceMediacom She succeeds Kim Einan who was Starcom’s CSO from 2022 until early 2025 when she left to join Omnicom Media group agency OMD in the same role “Starcom’s legacy of leadership and limitless reinvention [has] pulled me back for a third time,” Nadgar told ADWEEK “I look forward to solving clients’ business challenges building diverse and dynamic teams with meaningful work.” following the mid-2024 departure of Maureen Glure who joined GroupM agency Wavemaker as chief operations officer CEO Shelby Saville and chief investment officer Kristen Haarlow in the agency’s C-suite “We need leaders who understand the business pressures clients are under but also what’s going on in the consumer mind—so we can create breakthrough media that drives real results,” Saville told ADWEEK “It’s about building a leadership team that can both accelerate and transform our work while being strong thought partners to clients.” OMD Taps Publicis Execs As Chief Investment Officer Kelly Metz Exits Saville emphasized that Nadgar’s expertise in tying strategy to human behavior alongside DuBois’ performance-led approach will help the agency deliver both agility and clarity for clients She also noted that Starcom has long been a place where talent is built—and rebuilt “Many people get their start here or spend a formative part of their careers with us,” she said “It’s a place where you develop strong strategy and client management skills that stick with you.” always a Starcommer,” she said of the returning leaders “It’s exciting to welcome them back for this next chapter.” Audrey Kemp is a staff reporter for Adweek based in New York City Adweek is the leading source of news and insight serving the brand marketing ecosystem Trump has been significantly more aggressive with tariffs than during his first term, which has drawn criticism for the possible added costs they may be putting on consumers Bessent said Trump wants to strengthen “both the shop floor and the trading floor” in three steps: a renegotiation of global trade deals a permanent 2017 tax cuts plan for Americans with new additions such as no tax on tips “How do you reunite a country divided by trade How do you ensure all Americans can succeed going forward These questions are top of mind for the new administration Our economic agenda seeks to answer them,” Bessent said Trump intends to usher in the most prosperous decade in American history — but not at the cost of the spiritual degradation of the working class,” he added The first part of the plan was Trump’s tariffs which he began implementing in early April on “Liberation Day.” “Economic security is national security,” and the tariffs “can increase our industrial capacity and strengthen our national security by reshoring supply” while raising money Trump issued a 10% flat tariff on most U.S trade partners with an additional “reciprocal” tariff based on what those countries tax the United States the administration wants to make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent and implement Trump’s campaign promise to end taxes on tips “Advancing these reforms and making the 2017 tax cuts permanent will provide individuals and businesses with certainty and build economic momentum,” Bessent said Bessent cited estimates that failing to extend the tax cuts “would cost a median-income family with two children more than $4,000 in take-home pay.” Congressional Republicans are grappling with how to pass Trump’s tax priorities Bessent said he believes “America must build again” to boost the nation’s industrial capacity and embrace “an ambitious deregulation agenda.” “Removing harmful regulations will allay the national debt and result in savings for individuals and businesses,” he added Bessent said a large part of that objective is achieving the administration’s energy goals “Energy will fuel our manufacturing renaissance The president has declared a national energy emergency opened 1.53 million acres in Alaska for energy development and lifted the Biden administration’s pause on liquefied natural gas terminals The average price of gasoline is 50 cents lower than a year ago,” he said US AND UKRAINE SIGN MINERALS DEAL TO FORGE A ‘HISTORIC ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP’ Bessent also said he believes the public will see the economy boom later in the year The American people should expect to hear the engine humming during the second half of 2025,” Bessent concluded Strategy buys more bitcoin (Nikhilesh De) What to know: Strategy acquired an additional 1,895 bitcoin last week for $180.3 million.The average purchase price for this latest buy was $95,167; the average purchase price for the company stack rose to $68,550.Strategy now holds 555,450 bitcoin acquired for more than $38 billion.Led by Executive Chairman Michael Saylor Strategy (MSTR) added modestly to its bitcoin holdings last week The company purchased 1,895 BTC for $180.3 million, or an average price of $95,167 each, according to a Monday morning SEC filing Strategy now holds 555,450 bitcoin purchased for $38.08 billion, or an average price of $68,550 each. At bitcoin's current price around $94,000, the holdings are worth north of $52 billion. MSTR is lower by 2.7% in premarket action. Stephen is CoinDesk's managing editor for Markets. He previously served as managing editor at Seeking Alpha. A native of suburban Washington, D.C., Stephen went to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, majoring in finance. He holds BTC above CoinDesk’s disclosure threshold of $1,000. Bitcoin proxy Strategy continues to scale up its BTC exposure The company said Monday it had acquired another 1,895 BTC between April 28 and May 4 According to a new SEC filing the purchase was funded through the sale of Strategy’s Class A common stock (MSTR) and Series A preferred stock (STRK) the company sold 353,825 MSTR shares and 575,392 million STRK shares generating net proceeds of approximately $180 million This latest purchase marks the fourth consecutive week Strategy has added more Bitcoin to its portfolio. Last Monday, the firm revealed it had bought $1.4 billion worth of BTC during the week ending April 27 Bitcoin is currently trading at around $94,000, down 1.5% in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap Prices may face more volatility as markets turn their attention to the upcoming FOMC meeting where the Fed is expected to announce its latest interest rate decision While President Trump has repeatedly urged the Federal Reserve to reduce interest rates the central bank has shown no signs of shifting course No rate cut is expected at this week’s policy meeting Strategy’s BTC holdings still reflect about $14 billion in unrealized gains The company has also made it clear that it has no intention of backing off its aggressive accumulation strategy Last week, the Michael Saylor-led firm reported a $4.2 billion net loss for the first quarter of 2025 primarily due to a $5.9 billion unrealized markdown under the new fair value accounting rules the company announced plans to raise another $21 billion to continue expanding its Bitcoin acquisition strategy It also aims to boost its BTC yield target to 25% and its BTC dollar gain target to $15 billion Don’t have an account? Create one Already have an account? Sign In Sign In ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " Get quick access to your favorite articles Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers Make your voice heard with article commenting he denied that there was any inertia in decision-making When it became apparent Hamilton couldn't make any further inroads into the Italian after cutting the gap down by a couple of seconds he ran out of time to challenge the Bologna-born teen Both Ferrari drivers admitted to displeasure around the tactics, with Hamilton reckoning that the decisions were made too slowly and Leclerc feeling uneasy with the situation given the proximity of Williams rival Carlos Sainz Vasseur said that the call was made with team policy in mind and that Ferrari was trying to understand if the respective trailing driver was genuinely quicker or just helped by DRS assistance "We have a general policy and we follow the policy," Vasseur explained "The question is not to swap and to swap back if you don't get the guy who is in front of you "The issue at this stage of the race is to understand if the car behind is faster than the car in front "[After the race] I had a discussion with Lewis and I can perfectly understand the frustration We are asking them to let their team-mates go "And I didn't see another team do it today That is why we took the responsibility to do it because it's the policy of the team we can argue that it would have been better to do it half a lap before or half a lap later But when you are on the pitwall and you have to understand if the car that's behind is faster than the car in front [just because of] DRS or not It's always much easier to do it two hours later We had a discussion [afterwards] and it was much more relaxed." Vasseur denied that the decision to swap drivers was too slow stating that Ferrari was simply attempting to dissect the information in front of the engineers to make a definitive call He also suggested that the delays in team radio broadcasts painted a slightly worse picture of the scenario and that the discussions were interspersed with other information we have to understand that it's FOM that is managing the delay It means that sometimes we are asking them something and you have it live half a lap later or one lap later I already had the case in the past," the Frenchman added "And then we have tons of information that we are discussing with them about the set-up of the car and so on And it's not always easy to ask them to do it before Turn 11 or Turn 17 "You can always argue that it would have been better to do it half a lap before or half a lap later From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport In order to keep delivering our expert journalism we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker The Trump administration is continuing its campaign strategy of trying to focus on new media. In the first 100 days, the administration told Semafor, its White House account on X (the social media platform conveniently owned by President Donald Trump’s top special government employee) saw more than 2 billion impressions. Add that data to the 40 affiliate accounts and the number grows to 6 billion impressions. On Facebook, Trump’s White House says it had a net gain of 2 million new followers in the first 100 days and reached 86.2 million accounts. Trump’s social media team is also focusing on Instagram (804 million views since taking office, they said) and YouTube, where they saw 366,400 new subscribers added and 35 million views added up on White House videos. Trump officials see these platforms now much like they did on the campaign trail: as key to bypassing traditional media and reaching new, oftentimes younger audiences. Transparent news, distilled views, and global perspectives. Sign up for Semafor .css-w8sqnb{text-transform:capitalize;}media Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved The General Services Administration unveiled a new initiative Tuesday that it says is aimed at helping agencies gain easier access to IT tools and shifting how the federal government approaches procurement The OneGov Strategy is meant to modernize how the government buys goods and services and calls for more direct engagement with Original Equipment Manufacturers The GSA said in a press release that OEMs “will benefit from a more direct and predictable engagement model.”  more secure federal IT enterprise” under the strategy the GSA believes this approach prioritizes direct relationships for enhanced outcomes called the OneGov Strategy “a bold step forward” in GSA’s “mission to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars It’s about acting as one — aligning to our scale standards and security to meet the needs of today’s government while prepping for the future.”  is meant to evolve over time to include hardware will be focused on giving agencies more access to IT tools with standardized terms and pricing.  Agencies’ relationships with OEMs are meant to be deeper streamlined acquisition and improved cybersecurity protections,” the press release notes GSA has made headlines recently for criticizing top-10 consulting firms as part of a waste-reduction exercise. The agency had asked the firms to self-identify contracts that could be terminated to save the government money commissioner of the GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service said “the efforts to propose meaningful cost savings were wholly insufficient Gruenbaum said in the OneGov Strategy release that the initiative “is a big win for both government and industry scalable and efficient way to buy technology — one that benefits agencies We expect this approach to have similar success and benefits across other categories.” Miami’s temporary circuit around the Hard Rock Stadium is divisive but the sharp end of the grid for the 2025 grand prix offers tantalising possibilities for an exciting race which have left them out of position (albeit only slightly) on the grid This track has three DRS zones and the second one which leads along the curving section of sector two towards Turn 11 this hasn’t been hugely significant in terms of generating overtaking opportunities Qualifying was a fascinatingly close affair in which less than two tenths of a second covered the first five cars, and the gap between the top three was measured in hundredths rather than tenths. Indeed, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff reckoned Andrea Kimi Antonelli could have been on pole but for a small mistake at Turn 1 on his Q3 lap For Verstappen it’s going to be a question of staying ahead of the McLarens at the start – and if he can tick that box Not as straightforward a task as it was in Suzuka but maintaining track position is the most powerful weapon in his armoury against the MCL39’s well-documented ability to be gentle on its rear tyres Here we have another element previously unseen in a grand prix this year Antonelli is a fast learner and has banked the experience of losing pole advantage at Turn 1 in the sprint His third place on the grid for the grand prix means he is also likely to play a role at Turn 1 on Sunday – plus he will be eager to make amends for being bullied out of the way on Saturday by Piastri This injects a fresh dynamic into the possibilities on the opening lap expect the race to settle quickly into a tyre-management exercise The likelihood remains that this will be a one-stop race even though Pirelli has brought compounds a step softer than last year – so the C4 “Here it's all about thermal degradation and overheating,” said Pirelli motorsport director Mario Isola “So keeping the tyres in the right working range not overstressing the tyres means that you can keep a good performance “It will be interesting to see which is the race pace they will decide “Last year we had only one driver that did a soft-medium strategy [Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu who started on mediums and changed to softs on lap 28 of 57] and he was able to do all the race Isola reckoned that the performance differential between the two likely race compounds was very small in the region of two to three tenths of a second The majority of the grid have been able to save two sets of hard tyres, just as a precaution against Safety Car deployments – which are highly likely in Miami, given the prevalence of corners laid out as ‘mistake generators’. All except sixth-place starter Carlos Sainz and Alonso have at least one new medium-compound set to use Last year only five drivers chose not to start on mediums, and just one of those – Lewis Hamilton – was on the front half of the grid it’s reasonable to expect the 2025 event to play out similarly with medium the de facto choice up front while some in the second half of the grid go for an alternative The Sunday forecast gave a 40% chance of rain around the time of the grand prix which could add another dimension to race strategy In the sprint the intermediates were almost cooked by the time the lap count entered double digits as a dry line began to form “What is interesting is that with a drying track – and the track was drying quite quickly or at least we had a dry line quite quickly – the wear on the front-right was quite high,” said Isola the track was drying but the lap times were still the same was because of the high wear on the front-right tyre that was generating understeer And so drivers were not able to improve the lap time “When they decided they weren’t far from the crossover [the point at which the slick tyre is faster than wet/intermediate] that was the right moment [to change to slicks] because with the intermediate tyre they weren’t able to extract any additional performance And that happened after 10-12 laps so that's an important indication “If we have a drying track but still a chance of rain obviously they have to consider an additional pitstop to fit another set of intermediate tyres.” Stay up to speed with the latest F1 Miami Grand Prix news, expert analysis, photos and videos. Join us for Sunday's watch along on Race Center Live by signing up here Audi announce organisational restructure ahead of F1 arrival in 2026 5 Winners and 5 Losers from Miami – Who excelled in the Sunshine State Tsunoda concedes he ‘made life much more difficult’ with five-second penalty in Miami after battling for final point Antonelli taking plenty of positives from Miami weekend despite struggles on way to P6 in the Grand Prix ‘We took the tough decision’ – Vasseur defends Ferrari team orders situation in Miami as he acknowledges Hamilton’s frustration Oranje rather than papaya took top honours in the Sunshine State on Saturday afternoon when we got our second pole position driver of the weekend Max Verstappen put a dismal Sprint result behind him to deliver a mighty lap when it mattered edging out Lando Norris by a matter of hundredths of a second having bested drivers’ championship leader and team mate Oscar Piastri There was only a tenth between the two McLarens but that was sufficient space for Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli to crowbar his way in delivering his second impressive qualifying performance of the weekend VideoRACE START: Verstappen narrowly holds onto the lead in thrilling start to Miami GP ‘We made it count when it mattered’ – Russell satisfied with recovery to podium after troublesome Miami weekend Piastri full of praise for McLaren after ‘unbelievable’ and ‘impressive’ victory in Miami Norris concedes he 'paid the price' as he reflects on Lap 1 battle with Verstappen in Miami © 2003-2025 Formula One World Championship Limited The General Services Administration launched its latest effort to overhaul the federal government technology acquisition process Tuesday with the announcement of its new OneGov Strategy As part of the agency’s updated mission to modernize federal agency purchasing, the OneGov Strategy is a multi-phase plan, the first iteration of which intends to provide agencies with access to IT tools with standardized terms and pricing. According to a GSA press release the agency aims to foster a direct relationship between government procurers and original equipment manufacturers rather than how agencies “historically purchased software through resellers.” “The OneGov Strategy is a bold step forward for President Trump’s GSA and our mission to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars,” GSA Acting Administrator Stephen Ehikian said in the press release “It’s about acting as one — aligning to our scale and security to meet the needs of today’s government while preparing for the future.” Later phases of OneGov Strategy are expected to assist with the purchasing of goods like hardware machinery cybersecurity services and other categories GSA said it will continue collaborating with agency and industry stakeholders to help guide strategy implementation “This is a big win for both government and industry,” Josh Gruenbaum commissioner of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service said and efficient way to buy technology — one that benefits agencies We expect this approach to have similar success and benefits across other categories.” In the press release, GSA also touted the agreement it came to with Google earlier this month to offer the entire federal government reduced pricing on the company’s Workspace software suite That release did not provide detail on how GSA is one of the many agencies to undergo changes to its internal organization and mission under the second Trump administration. Following a March executive order GSA was assigned more control over federal procurement as a means to reduce government spending on multiple procurement processes officials said that these steps intend to make GSA “the governmentwide hub for shared IT services.” The agency also made major changes to its Multiple Award Schedules program last month Despite the intent to centralize much of the government’s procurement within the agency, hundreds of staff at GSA have been terminated across its IT finance and public buildings offices in recent months through reduction-in-force measures Help us tailor content specifically for you: Thank you for subscribing! Please check out our other newsletter offerings on our Newsletter page. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Writes about the intersection of corporate oil and climate policy. Has reported on politics, economics, migration, nuclear diplomacy and business from Cairo, Vienna and elsewhere. Please press and hold the button until it turns completely green If you believe this is an error, please contact our support team 147.45.197.102 : 9eaabafc-8a95-4657-a528-12adeb6f An XRP community commentator recently shared what he believes is a good exit strategy for XRP holders when the price hits certain price targets Despite XRP’s recent range-bound movement with prices hovering around $2.20 for the past few weeks This optimism largely comes from bullish forecasts made by prominent analysts each predicting massive growth for the asset citing the formation of a double bottom pattern a structure that typically indicates a potential bullish reversal While these forecasts have triggered renewed interest in XRP Many investors may find themselves unprepared to act when prices spike leading to missed profit-taking opportunities or impulsive decisions As a result, an XRP community figure known as “XRP Investing” recently sought to address this challenge he shared a staged exit strategy that could help holders make informed decisions as XRP approaches its price milestones XRP Investing noted that investors should have a predefined game plan He argued that emotions can cloud judgment when the market enters a euphoric phase Without clear guidelines on when and how much to sell investors risk either holding for too long and missing the top or selling prematurely and limiting gains XRP Investing provided a simulated exit strategy using a $10,000 initial investment at the $2.20 mark This move could yield a profit margin between 60% and 80% this stage might come due to regulatory breakthroughs or speculation surrounding XRP ETFs 3️⃣ Stage 1: $3.50–$4.00 (Secure Early Gains) 💡 Rationale: ~60–80% profit from $2.20; near historical resistance Action idea: Rotate into stablecoins to reduce exposure — All Things XRP (@XRP_investing) May 4, 2025 The second stage targets the $5.00 to $6.00 range This level could align with bullish projections for 2025 and might coincide with institutional adoption or the approval of XRP-based ETFs Meanwhile, the third stage proposes a 30% sell-off when XRP hits between $10.00 and $12.00 with expected returns ranging from 350% to 440% and he recommends securing profits and reducing risk exposure The final stage covers speculative highs above $20.00, where investors could sell the remaining 15% to 20% of their holdings. At this level, potential gains may exceed 800%, especially if XRP cements its role as a leading cross-border payment solution Funds taken out at this point could be redirected into fiat currencies Stages 3 and 4 would produce respective yields of $14,993 and $13,640 XRP Investing pointed out that following this plan could realize $38,500 in profits with 455 XRP retained for further upside potential Remaining 10%: 455 XRP = $9K–$13K+ potential — All Things XRP (@XRP_investing) May 4, 2025 he stressed that this strategy is merely a guide he encouraged investors to customize their approach based on individual goals and risk profiles DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses Copyright ©The Crypto Basic The company increased its capital deployment plan to $84 billion but now split into equity and fixed income instruments for the purpose of buying more Bitcoin. Additionally they raised their BTC yield target to 25% and Bitcoin gain target to $15 billion Strategy executed a monumental $21 billion stock offering which enabled it to add over 301,000 BTC to its balance sheet.  Although Bitcoin fell to around $82,445 at quarter end (creating a temporary paper loss), the company asserts that prices have fully recovered to $97,000 and if true, this would yield a potential unrealized gain for Q2 of $8 billion, reads the report.  Despite a quarterly loss due to temporary valuation shifts Strategy’s cash position strengthened to $60.3 million Strategy's total revenue was $111.1 million—slightly lower than the prior year's $114.6 million—attributable to lower sales of product support.  The good news is that subscription services revenue was up 61.6%, meaning that even with a laser focus on Bitcoin strength in the software business remains.  the company benefited from recently developed fair value accounting which allows Bitcoin market price to be reflected more accurately in earnings they added $12.7 billion to retained earnings With more than 70 publicly traded companies now implementing comparable treasury strategies CEO Phong Le stated that Strategy is honored to spearhead the corporate Bitcoin movement Strategy was expected to lose $0.11 per share but instead reported a much larger loss of $16.53 due to Bitcoin revaluation. At press time, MSTR, Strategy's stock price is trading at $381.60 Lewis Hamilton addressed comments he made over team radio during the Miami Grand Prix, where he tried to convince his Ferrari Formula 1 team to grant him a switch with Charles Leclerc suggesting "people might not like them" and brushed them off as just "sarcastic.” Reflecting on his race, Hamilton noted that he felt pent up behind Leclerc while on the medium tyres, and was of the opinion that he could catch Andrea Kimi Antonelli had the Ferrari pit wall taken action sooner Ferrari eventually acquiesced and Hamilton made up ground on the Mercedes driver but progress appeared to stall out and the Scuderia decided to enact a switch-back to give Leclerc the chance to catch Antonelli Although Hamilton admitted being frustrated while stuck behind Leclerc he seemed generally enthused by his race and stated that he was optimistic of making progress before tucking up behind his team-mate's rear wing I generally enjoyed the race – I think this weekend whilst we're not as quick as we want to be I feel like I had a better weekend in general," Hamilton said but starting 12th it was very hard to overtake here I got onto the medium tyre and I felt the car really come alive and I felt super optimistic in that moment "All I could see is a Mercedes ahead and I was thinking maybe we can get up to sixth or something but we lost a lot of time in those laps [behind Leclerc] and I didn't think the decision came quick enough I have no problems with either team or with Charles Hamilton accepted that the team had a difficult job in trying to ensure it treated both drivers equally but he was of the view that the team should prioritise the faster car and switch back if the move couldn’t be made His main issue was in the team's insistence that it would "come back to him" over his radio calls and he asked for snappier decisions from the team I could have said way worse things on the radio like some of the things that other people have said in the past You've got to understand that we're under a huge amount of pressure within the cars You're never going get the most peaceful messages come through in the heat of battle it wasn't like I was effing and blinding – just make a decision Reporting directly to Provost Peggy Agouris the main focus of the position is expanding student access optimizing financial aid and leveraging data analytics to attract and retain the university’s exceptional student population As the vice provost for enrollment strategy Keegan will unify the strategic capabilities of William & Mary admission engagement and success at Bucknell University has been selected as the inaugural vice provost for enrollment strategy at William & Mary Keegan will unify the strategic capabilities of William & Mary admission The main focus of the position is expanding student access “I am honored to join the William & Mary community and am excited to contribute to the important work underway to support current and future students as well as the broader Commonwealth of Virginia,” Keegan said Keegan will lead initiatives that highlight areas of competitive advantage for William & Mary she’ll explore new pathways to enhance undergraduate-to-graduate enrollment all while working in close collaboration with the chief marketing officer the executive vice president for finance & administration and other university leaders to ensure strategies align with institutional goals.  “Lisa brings not only a wealth of enrollment expertise but also a passion for student experience and academic excellence that is a perfect match for William & Mary,” said Agouris “Her strong commitment to data-driven innovation is apparent throughout her impressive career and I’m confident that she will play a pivotal role in William & Mary’s future successes.” Keegan was drawn to William & Mary after hearing about its Vision 2026 strategic plan which includes the core initiatives of Data “I look forward to working alongside colleagues and partners to advance the mission of the nation’s second-oldest institution of higher education,” she said Keegan has an extensive track record of enhancing enrollment She started at Elon University in 2008 as the chief of staff/senior assistant to the president and the secretary to the Board of Trustees She later acted as the interim dean of admissions where she directed the management of application processing and evaluation of nearly 10,000 applications while meeting target enrollment goals She went on to serve as the assistant vice president and dean of undergraduate admissions from 2013 to 2020 before taking her current position at Bucknell in 2020 she has led initiatives that resulted in the largest classes in the university’s history Her strategies to increase student access led to a 38% increase in Pell-eligible student enrollment a 14% increase in first-generation representation and a record enrollment for students of color Keegan established the Center for Access & Success at Bucknell which houses signature and national pathway scholarship programs that have strengthened both retention and student engagement Keegan also has a strong background in using data analysis to improve enrollment she conducted a comprehensive market analysis to evaluate primary recruitment regions with the goal of aligning strategy with projected demographic shifts The approach resulted in increased geographic diversity especially from southern and western regions.  Keegan also utilized data to triple international student enrollment after seeing data predict declines from high school graduates in key markets she spearheaded efforts to reach emerging markets like California leading to year-over-year increases in undergraduate enrollment.  Keegan has also improved financial aid access for students When Bucknell launched the Gateway Scholars Program in fall 2022 for first-generation students Keegan partnered with advancement to raise funds to support enrollment initiatives The first need-based financial transparency initiative at Bucknell the program exceeded its goal of enrolling 20 students by nearly double Keegan also helped launch a college-based merit program for the Class of 2029 at Bucknell in close partnership with the College of Engineering the Freeman College of Management and the College of Arts & Sciences where she played a vital role in securing an endowment to support the Arts & Sciences program Keegan earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration at Elon University followed by her law degree from Stetson University College of Law She will be relocating to Williamsburg with her husband 2025 Strategy touts 14% YTD Bitcoin yield in Q1 earnings print misses estimates Strategy missed Wall Street estimates on its top and bottom line for the first quarter of 2025 but reported it made a yield of 13.7% on its vast Bitcoin holdings News COINTELEGRAPH IN YOUR SOCIAL FEEDUpdate (May 1 11:35 pm UTC): This article has been updated to add Strategy’s revenue Michael Saylor's Bitcoin-buying firm Strategy has reported earning a year-to-date yield of 13.7% on its Bitcoin holdings as it missed Wall Street's first-quarter estimates The company said in its May 1 earnings statement that its year-to-date Bitcoin (BTC) yield equates to a gain of more than 61,000 BTC Bitcoin yield and gain are unofficial accounting metrics Strategy uses to benchmark the success of its BTC buys said it would increase its Bitcoin yield target for this year to 25% and its Bitcoin gain target to $15 billion It comes as Strategy missed top and bottom line analyst estimates The firm reported revenues of $111.1 million down 3.6% from the year-ago quarter and missing analyst estimates by around 5% Strategy also posted a net loss of $4.2 billion against analyst estimates of an 11 cents per share loss and a rise from a $53.1 million in the first quarter of 2024 The company’s Q1 operating expenses jumped by nearly 2,000% year-on-year to $6 billion largely due to a $5.9 billion unrealized loss on its Bitcoin holdings The company announced it would offer an additional $21 billion worth of stock to finance future Bitcoin buys Related: Bitcoin, showing 'signs of resilience', beats stocks, gold as equities fold — Binance Shares in Strategy (MSTR) closed May 1 trading up 0.39% to $381.60, falling slightly after hours to $378.50, according to Google Finance but is still trading below its November high of more than $470 per share Since starting its Bitcoin buying spree in 2020 Strategy has accumulated a total of more than 550,000 BTC The purchases equate to an average price of approximately $68,500 per Bitcoin Strategy’s treasury is worth more than $53 billion Industry executives say institutional Bitcoin buying — including from corporate buyers such as Strategy — could eventually price retail investors out of the market Strategy has the largest Bitcoin holdings of a public company. In total, public firms hold upward of $73 billion worth of Bitcoin in aggregate, while Bitcoin funds and other institutional funds hold another roughly $128 billion, according to data from BitcoinTreasuries.NET Magazine: Pokémon on Sui rumors, Polymarket bets on Filipino Pope: Asia Express Strategy’s bold Bitcoin accumulation hits 550,000 BTC positioning MSTR as a high-beta proxy with potential to outshine BTC in 2025 As Bitcoin continues to show signs of sustained strength it’s worth zooming in on one of the most highly leveraged plays on BTC’s long-term thesis: MicroStrategy (MSTR) recently rebranded as “Strategy.” In this article we’ll assess the scale of Strategy’s accumulation and explore whether this equity proxy could be primed for a period of outperformance versus Bitcoin itself With multiple indicators converging and capital rotation possibly underway this may be a critical inflection point for investors It is clear from our Treasury Company Analytics data that the pace of Bitcoin accumulation by Strategy over recent months has been nothing short of remarkable Starting the year with approximately 386,700 BTC a staggering increase that suggests a clear and deliberate strategy to front-run a potential breakout event Led by Michael Saylor, this acquisition campaign has been methodical, with regular weekly purchases that now total billions of dollars in dollar-cost-averaged BTC. The company’s average acquisition cost sits near $68,500, translating to a current mark-to-market profit of close to $15 billion. With their total spend now around $37.9 billion, Strategy has become the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin by a wide margin positioning themselves not just as a participant in this cycle Instead of only comparing both assets against the U.S a more revealing analysis comes from pricing BTC directly in Strategy stock This ratio provides insight into which of the two assets is relatively outperforming or lagging the BTC/MSTR ratio is sitting at a key historical support level matching the lows set during the 2018–2019 bear market bottom it may indicate that Strategy is on the verge of a sustained period of relative strength versus BTC itself a bounce from this support would suggest Bitcoin could resume dominance and offer the better short- to mid-term risk/reward This chart alone is worth watching closely over the coming weeks we may see significant capital rotation toward Strategy particularly from institutional allocators seeking exposure to a high-beta BTC proxy with public market access Although predicting exact outcomes is impossible we can extrapolate forward from Strategy’s current trajectory and apply plausible Bitcoin cycle assumptions Strategy is on track to end 2025 with between 700,000 and 800,000 BTC and we apply a net asset value premium of 2.5x to 3x (consistent with historical precedents that reached as high as 3.4x) this would yield a projected share price between $1,200 and $1,600 These figures point to a very favorable asymmetric setup this projection assumes sustained bullish conditions But even under more conservative scenarios the math supports the idea that Strategy has a meaningful upside advantage To strengthen this case further, we can compare historical dollar-cost averaging performance between BTC and Strategy. Using the Dollar Cost Average Strategies tool you can see that if you had invested $10 daily into Bitcoin over the past five years outperforming nearly every other asset class which itself has surged to new all-time highs recently The same $10/day strategy applied to Strategy stock since its first BTC purchase in August 2020 would have resulted in an investment of $11,850 That position would now be worth approximately $108,000 significantly outperforming Bitcoin over the same window This shows that while BTC remains the foundational thesis Strategy has offered even more upside for investors willing to stomach the volatility It’s important to recognize that Strategy is effectively a high-beta instrument tied to Bitcoin If Bitcoin were to enter a prolonged retracement Strategy’s stock could drop by significantly more Investors considering it as part of their allocation must be comfortable with higher volatility and the potential for deeper drawdowns during periods of broader BTC weakness is Strategy worth considering as part of a diversified crypto-forward investment portfolio Given its tightly wound relationship with Bitcoin Strategy offers enhanced upside potential through leverage as well as a historically validated return profile that has outpaced BTC itself in recent years But that comes with the trade-off of greater risk The current BTC/MSTR ratio is sitting at a technical pivot A breakdown would signal incoming outperformance from Strategy may reaffirm Bitcoin as the more favorable asset in the near term If this cycle enters a renewed phase of strength expect significant institutional capital to flow into both BTC and its most prominent proxy For more deep-dive research, technical indicators, real-time market alerts, and access to a growing community of analysts, visit BitcoinMagazinePro.com Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice Always do your own research before making any investment decisions The Motley Fool is a financial services company dedicated to making the world smarter The Motley Fool reaches millions of people every month through our premium investing solutions free guidance and market analysis on Fool.com Oil price volatility will always affect Chevron's (CVX -2.09%) financial results That was evident in the first quarter as its earnings fell compared to the year-ago period the decline in crude prices in the current quarter has led the oil company to slow the pace of its share repurchase program However, despite all this, Chevron's strategy is paying off the bulk of which it's returning to shareholders via dividends and buybacks With its cash flow on track to surge over the next year it's in an excellent position to continue growing shareholder value of adjusted earnings during the first quarter While that was down from the year-ago level ($5.4 billion or $2.93 per share) it did exceed analysts' expectations ($2.16 per share) "This quarter reflected continued strong execution and progress on our objective to deliver superior shareholder value," stated CEO Mike Wirth in the earnings press release The company battled several headwinds in the quarter and unfavorable tax and foreign exchange effects Its production was roughly flat in the period as asset sales (including selling its Canadian assets) offset the growth from TCO (Kazakhstan) and the Gulf of Mexico (also known in the U.S Chevron's TCO output jumped 20% as it completed the Future Growth Project production in the Permian increased 12% due to investment and efficiency gains and rose 7% in the Gulf due to the Ballymore and other recently completed projects Chevron produced $7.6 billion of cash flow from operations during the period and $3.7 billion of free cash flow (excluding working capital adjustments) The company used its excess free cash and strong balance sheet to return $6.9 billion to shareholders during the period It paid $3 billion in dividends and repurchased $3.9 billion in shares Chevron also spent $2.2 billion to buy nearly 5% of Hess' (HES -2.53%) outstanding shares, driven by its confidence that it will close that needle-moving acquisition this year. The company ended the period with a 14.4% net leverage ratio which is still well below its 20% to 25% target range and consistent focus on capital and cost discipline position us to deliver industry-leading free cash flow growth by 2026," commented CEO Mike Wirth in the earnings press release Chevron is on track to deliver $9 billion to $10 billion of additional free cash flow by next year assuming Brent oil is in the $60 to $70 a barrel range (the global benchmark was recently in the low $60s) and other catalysts such as its structural cost savings plan That strong free-cash-flow growth puts Chevron in an excellent position to continue returning lots of cash to shareholders given the weakness in crude oil prices this year (Brent has tumbled about $20 a barrel from its peak due to concerns that tariffs will slow the global economy) Chevron believes it's prudent to slow its share repurchase pace for the time being The company expects to buy back $2.5 billion to $3 billion of stock during the second quarter That still has it on track to repurchase shares above the low end of its $10 billion to $20 billion annual target range Chevron's plan doesn't factor in closing its pending $53 billion acquisition of Hess The company is currently engaged in a dispute with ExxonMobil over Hess' stake in the oil giant's world-class Guyana assets The oil companies have agreed to arbitration Chevron is so confident it will win that it capitalized on a decline in Hess' stock to buy nearly 5% of its outstanding shares on the open market which will significantly enhance and extend its ability to grow its production and free cash flow in the coming years Chevron's strategy of investing in projects that will grow its cash flow is paying off Its free cash flow is on track to surge over the next year giving it even more cash to return to shareholders via its lucrative dividend (5% recent yield) and share buybacks While the company is taking a cautious approach to buybacks in the near term it could ramp up its pace as its cash flow rises Add in the upside potential from the prospect of finally closing its Hess deal and Chevron remains an attractive option for investors seeking income and outsized total return potential Matt DiLallo has positions in Chevron. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Chevron. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy *Average returns of all recommendations since inception Cost basis and return based on previous market day close Market data powered by Xignite and Polygon.io Editor's note: Bluster and threats cannot secure economic supremacy Only a cohesive strategy integrating economic Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Strategy's Michael Saylor (Jason Koerner/Getty Images) What to know: Benchmark and TD Cowen both reiterated buy ratings calling the new capital raise strategy ambitious but credible.Strategy now targets a 25% bitcoin yield and $15B in BTC gains by 2025 up from previous projections.The company has already raised $28.3B and aims to bring in another $56.7B over the next 32 months.Wall Street analysts are standing firmly behind Strategy’s (MSTR) aggressive escalation of its bitcoin (BTC) acquisition strategy after the company unveiled plans to double its capital-raising ambitions Though MSTR trades at more than double the value of its bitcoin holdings, Palmer says that level is "attractive" thanks to Executive Chairman Michael Saylor and team's "demonstrated ability to create shareholder value through its treasury operations." Alongside reporting its first quarter results Thursday evening, Strategy announced an expansion of its recent 21/21 plan — raising $42 billion via issuance of common stock and debt (or debt-like securities) — to a total of $84 billion. Both analysts also praised Strategy’s decision to increase its bitcoin-related performance targets, including raising its 2025 BTC Yield target to 25% (from 15%) and BTC $ Gain to $15 billion (from $10 billion). Benchmark's Palmer pointed out that the company has already achieved ~90% of its original BTC Yield target in just four months. MSTR shares are higher by 1.8% to $388 early Friday as bitcoin continues to tread water just below the $97,000 level. “The adoption of the Bitcoin standard by more companies is beneficial, legitimizing bitcoin and attracting more capital," said Saylor on the post-earnings conference call Thursday evening. "As more companies join, it stabilizes and drives up bitcoin's price," he continued. "Each market needs its own BTC companies, and as more join, it accelerates the transition to the bitcoin standard, pressuring others to join.” Addressing concerns over dilution, CEO Fong Li emphasized the accretive nature of the equity raises: “Issuing equity at greater than one times mNAV [the multiple of the company's net asset value] is accretive, not dilutive," said Li. "As mNAV rises, equity issuance becomes more like fixed income, and we aim to make the fixed income market more efficient.” Acknowledging the company's $5.9 billion unrealized loss in the first quarter due to bitcoin’s price decline under newly adopted fair value accounting, CFO Andrew Kang remained unfazed: “Despite the volatility, we believe the transparency is vital… We expect more positive swings over time, aligning with our long-term strategy.” Helene is a New York-based markets reporter at CoinDesk, covering the latest news from Wall Street, the rise of the spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds and updates on crypto markets. She is a graduate of New York University's business and economic reporting program and has appeared on CBS News, YahooFinance and Nasdaq TradeTalks. She holds BTC and ETH. Although this can build brand recognition and develop familiarity among consumers it may also prevent chains from evolving and keeping up with the latest trends This is because most people get bored with seeing the same old things every day and no one wants to be labeled as antiquated or called out for lacking style remodeling an entire company's store fleet takes a significant investment but it's one that can pay off when it reinvigorates a brand Starbucks CEO reveals an upcoming change in some locations Image source: Jeffrey Greenberg/Getty Images Starbucks  (SBUX)  CEO Brian Niccol revealed that over the last quarter he visited multiple stores to meet with partners and customers personally and get a better feel for the daily environment at the cafés.  Starbucks implemented multiple in-store and hospitality changes over the last few months to make cafés feel more like homes (i.e., a "third place" for customers).  baristas are now writing handwritten notes on cups and making personal handoffs to customers Starbucks returned free in-café refills on hot and iced brewed coffee and tea at participating locations for non-Starbucks Rewards members It also brought back ceramic mugs for in-house sipping and reintroduced condiment bars after they were banished during the pandemic Niccol claims these quick changes have already shown improvements in traffic bringing its store traffic decline to 4% compared to the previous quarter's 8% "We’ve seen more customers choose to sit and stay in our cafés, and we continue to receive overwhelmingly positive feedback from customers, demonstrating that small details and hospitality drive satisfaction," said Niccol during an earnings call Most of the changes aimed at improving numbers in the short term have already been implemented the time has come for Starbucks to enact some costlier changes Starbucks begins long-term coffee shop revamps in two key statesStarbucks wants to provide a welcoming space and build a community and has stated that revamping stores is a key improvement the company must invest in to meet customers' standards and deliver an exceptional experience.  Mass renovations can be a financially detrimental move for many companies, especially those that have experienced continuous declines Starbucks believes these changes are essential for the future of the business and has developed a strategy to keep renovation costs down and minimize closure days to prevent it from losing revenue Starbucks announced it will begin a string of store remodeling projects over the next few months and New York and Southern California stores are the first ones on the list "While we still see long-term potential to double our overall U.S we have to improve the health of our portfolio we’re taking a critical look at our current portfolio to ensure every coffeehouse we operate provides a great customer experience," said Niccol Starbucks aims to develop a pipeline that will help it improve its long-term economics as well as fashion houses like LVMH and Kering Want TheStreet’s best daily stock and investing news right in your inbox every weekday Sign up today for our free newsletter and you'll receive an exclusive report explaining hedge fund guru Doug Kass' winning investment style TronWeekly May 5, 2025 by The key to understanding XRP’s prospects starts with its history XRP got started in 2012 and during its first years was priced below one cent as Ripple brought blockchain technology to the banking sector Ripple built trust and demonstrated how the token can lower transaction fees and unlock locked capital amazed at how it allowed for real-time settlement but the increasing acknowledgment that the token had the potential to revolutionize payment globally That increase sent shock through mainstream finance and the regulators as well Ripple’s drive for speed clashed with legacy infrastructure The backlash was immediate: the 2015 fine from FinCEN and which pinned XRP into years of regulatory ambiguity This bottleneck in the law halted the token’s advancement but did not stop Ripple’s progress The system struck backRipple was challenging the status quo:⚡ Lower fees💧 Less trapped liquidity📊 Higher efficiencyNot everyone was happy.🔸 2015: Fined by FinCEN🔸 2020: Lawsuit by the SEC➡️ XRP entered years of regulatory limbo XRP does not float as freely as other currencies It uses instead an orderly release from escrow with the unexpended amount repaid and sold off through private markets This approach reduces volatility and enables Ripple to adjust the price of then token to meet its operating requirements The reasoning is straightforward but potent: since Ripple needs to spend $200 million and does so with 100 million tokens This strategic balance guarantees XRP is effective for global liquidity flows The price at $2.20 is probably reflecting existing institutional demand as opposed to speculative highs It’s not about hype in the market but functional price appraisals the token’s actual growth is all about mass adoption And with more than 20 XRP ETF applications pending review and Ripple’s XRPL innovations such as real-world asset tokenization If institutions are to grow to scale using the token, price stabilization may cease to exist. Projections based on initial institutional research predict an ambitious $6.37 target and the bulls are looking at targets of $30 These are not random figures; these match Ripple’s long-term vision and the functional needs of the asset 2025 Price OutlookInstitutional models suggest:📈 $6.37 (conservative)📈 Up to $30 (optimistic)These aren’t random targets they’re based on fundamentals and early institutional forecasts Related Reading | Best Crypto to Buy Now as BTC Price Predictions Hit $1 Million , opens new tab as CEO of the burrito chain.The company will focus on investing in improving front-end delivery instead of kitchen equipment "The equipment doesn't solve the customer experience that we need to provide."Niccol said Starbucks was improving service speed with the right staffing and deployment and that its refreshed marketing was resonating with customers.Starbucks will also review its U.S store portfolio as it rolls out labor-focused technological changes including a pilot program that allows customers to schedule their mobile orders consumers are growing more cautious as U.S President Donald Trump's erratic trade tariffs have created economic uncertainty and threaten to fuel inflation restaurant visits and spending weakened in February and March.Starbucks' shares fell 6.5% in extended trading which had surged in the months following Niccol's appointment as CEO is down about 7% so far this year.North American same-store sales fell 1% for the fiscal second quarter ended March 30 worse than the 0.24% drop estimated by analysts in an LSEG poll The company said sales in Canada returned to growth in the quarter.TURNAROUND TIMELINEIt may take time for traffic to reaccelerate because changes in stores and reinstating its coffee house roots could take at least another three to six months said Bernstein analyst Danilo Gargiulo.Starbucks is paring down promotions and discounts and relying less on its loyalty program as it invests in broader marketing.The average ticket was up 3% in the second quarter.The company said it will localize and move production as needed to mitigate the impact of U.S tariffs on imports from China.The company's international business improved slightly Starbucks said it was committed to growing business in China long-term.International comparable sales rose 2% compared with estimates of a 1.13% drop.Gross margin fell 590 basis points in the quarter and the company reported adjusted earnings per share of 41 cents missing estimates of 49 cents.Total same-store sales declined 1% in the second quarter compared with analysts' average estimate of a 0.26% fall Comparable sales had declined 4% in the preceding three-month period.Reporting by Juveria Tabassum in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Waylon Cunningham; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Richard Chang while reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with energy production and use: faced with this double challenge we are developing an integrated and balanced multi-energy transition strategy reasserting our ambition of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 everywhere indispensable for living: for food It is also at the heart of the climate challenge as the global energy system still relies 80% on fossil fuels energy demand has increased in line with demographics and rising living standards The global population is set to increase by almost 2 billion inhabitants between 2023 and 2050 This outlook will have significant consequences on the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to improve prosperity and social well-being while protecting the environment and biodiversity There is an urgent need to accelerate the development of a decarbonized energy system while maintaining the current energy system at a high enough level to be able to meet global demand and organize a just orderly and equitable transition of energy systems Our integrated multi-energy strategy is built on two pillars: Oil & Gas – in particular liquefied natural gas (LNG) – and Electricity (Integrated Power) While drastically reducing the emissions of our operations we plan to increase our oil and gas production – primarily LNG which is key to the energy transition – by 3% per year until 2030 Our main responsibility as a producer of hydrocarbons is to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their production This is why the key indicator or our progress in this Oil & Gas pillar is the reduction in Scope 1+2 emissions(1) including nature-based carbon sinks from 2030 We intend to replicate our integrated Oil & Gas model on the electricity value chain We are constructing a competitive portfolio of renewable (solar storage) assets so that we can provide our customers with low-carbon electricity available 24 hours a day We plan to increase our electricity production to more than 100 TWh by 2030 we are also investing in low-carbon molecules: biofuels and biogas as well as hydrogen and its derivatives: e-fuels and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) The key indicator of our progress to measure our transition to low-carbon energy products is the lifecycle carbon intensity of the energy products used by our customers(2) The decrease in this carbon intensity reflects our progression in the implementation of this transition strategy (2) Lifecycle carbon intensity of energy products sold This indicator measures the average GHG emissions of a unit of energy used by the Company’s customers across its lifecycle (i.e. Strategy (MSTR)’s Q1 call revealed 8 capital strategies—from BTC yield to fixed income tools—reshaping how companies run a Bitcoin treasury Strategy (MSTR) just released its Q1 2025 earnings presentation and it was more than a routine update—it was a full blueprint for how to scale a corporate Bitcoin treasury with institutional rigor Strategy (formerly Microstrategy) laid out its evolving capital plans and the financial logic behind every lever it pulls or strategic operator evaluating Bitcoin as a corporate asset this earnings call offered a clear look at how to think about Bitcoin-backed capital structure Strategy now holds 553,555 BTC—the most of any public company on Earth they acquired an additional 106,085 BTC at an average price of ~$93,600 bringing their total market value to approximately $52 billion That equates to 2.6% of the total Bitcoin supply What makes this notable isn’t just the size of the holding—it’s the pace and consistency of accumulation Strategy has added to its Bitcoin position in every single quarter since August 2020 This isn’t opportunistic allocation—it’s a disciplined treasury play 100% of MSTR’s Bitcoin remains unencumbered usable for future fixed income instruments or as a backstop for equity-linked offerings For corporate finance leaders this underscores that Bitcoin can be scaled and managed with the same predictability as any core treasury asset—if the systems and discipline are in place Strategy raised $10 billion through a diversified capital stack: every capital raise is measured against BTC-specific KPIs: yield Each issuance is assessed not by fiat metrics like EPS or EBITDA but by its ability to compound Bitcoin per share That distinction is critical: Strategy (MSTR) isn’t trying to play defense against inflation They’re playing offense—turning capital into Bitcoin this is a roadmap for executing a Bitcoin capital strategy without relying on operating income or waiting for a high-cash-flow quarter Strategy launched the “21/21 Plan” to raise $21B in equity and $21B in fixed income The new target is the “42/42 Plan”: Because it establishes a model for scalable Bitcoin accumulation through structured capital formation Strategy isn’t just holding Bitcoin; they’re building the architecture to do it perpetually This capital plan gives them the runway to scale with market conditions It’s a level of financial engineering that treasury teams should study Strategy raised its internal targets for 2025: Instead of chasing traditional operating metrics, Strategy is laser-focused on how much Bitcoin they can accumulate per share over time. It’s a KPI framework that makes dilution irrelevant—as long as every issuance leads to more Bitcoin per shareholder This reframing of capital efficiency will become increasingly important for all Bitcoin treasury companies as adoption scales One of the more surprising insights from the call: Strategy now tracks the “MSTR Rate”—a 103% annualized yield that traders can earn by selling at-the-money call options on MSTR This metric matters because it helps explain why MSTR stock trades at a premium to its Bitcoin NAV The equity itself has become a financial product: volatile That makes it attractive not just to equity investors This is a real-world example of how Bitcoin exposure when paired with deep capital market access can create new types of yield for shareholders without sacrificing Bitcoin custody Strategy launched two new preferred instruments: These are powerful tools for scaling BTC acquisition without compromising on shareholder value or control they may create a new fixed-income market anchored in Bitcoin—a development that could pull large capital allocators into the ecosystem Strategy proposed an entirely new way to evaluate corporate credit instruments: using BTC as collateral Strategy (MSTR) argues that its convertible notes and preferreds are significantly over-collateralized and should be considered investment grade—even though the market currently treats them as distressed debt Encourage rating agencies to adopt BTC-backed credit frameworks this could legitimize a brand new fixed-income category: Bitcoin-backed investment grade corporate debt One of the most overlooked insights from the earnings call was how Strategy calculates and supports its premium to Bitcoin NAV (“MNAV”) Saylor outlined three key drivers of MNAV: By using instruments like Strife (which generates 19 basis points of BTC yield without dilution) Strategy can drive massive shareholder value while retaining downside protection Their model shows that raising capital at 2x NAV and deploying it into BTC generates more long-term value than simply holding this reframes equity issuance not as dilution but as a levered mechanism for Bitcoin compounding Strategy (MSTR) isn’t simply holding Bitcoin—they’re monetizing the volatility and creating a new asset class in the process If you’re a public company CFO or board member evaluating Bitcoin there is no longer any question of whether it can be done responsibly The question is: do you understand how to make it accretive Because the companies that do will unlock a capital advantage that others simply won’t be able to match Disclaimer: This content was written on behalf of Bitcoin For Corporations. This article is intended solely for informational purposes and should not be interpreted as an invitation or solicitation to acquire How the Atlanta Falcons nailed the 2025 NFL draft: full draft class review | Atlanta Falcons Podcast — This Falcons front office has never been in the market of doing things the conventional way Since Terry Fontenot took over as general manager in 2021 the Falcons have zagged when everyone else zigged when it comes to draft strategy conventional wisdom went further out the door "The Falcons had a tough choice here: Invest in the long-term future and draft a quarterback, or go for the gusto in 2021 and give soon-to-be-36-year-old signal-caller Matt Ryan another talented pass-catching weapon," The Ringer’s Danny Kelly wrote in 2021 Drake London wasn't the top-rated wide receiver in his draft class by some draft analyst "London is a big receiver, but he doesn't run that well. This is a team that needed to add more speed. I would have taken Garrett Wilson in this spot. He would have given them more of an immediate impact," CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco wrote in 2022 The Athletic’s Sheil Kapadia: "I'm not there with London "This could be one that makes me look foolish down the road but I would have preferred Jameson Williams or Garrett Wilson here if the Falcons wanted to go wide receiver." No one would dare take a running back in the top 10; not at their valuation and short expected longevity The Falcons — along with the Lions and Jahmyr Gibbs and the Eagles and Saquon Barkley — usher in a running back renaissance "This is way too high for a back, even if he's a really good player. Backs don't decide Super Bowls. … History isn't kind to this type of move. I don't like it because of position value," Prisco, again in 2023. "Good player The Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer: "Robinson has great potential as an explosive feature workhorse and was first-round worthy but the bottom line is Atlanta isn't a team that could afford to use such high capital on an already good rushing attack." there's the shock of the draft: Atlanta drafts Michael Penix Jr 8 overall pick after picking up Kirk Cousins in free agency The Athletic: "His arm talent is outstanding and it's hard to bet against his perseverance SB Nation: "This is confusing CBS Sports: "Like the player Bleacher Report: "Taking Penix at No It went completely against conventional wisdom If the Falcons reach the postseason in 2025 the Falcons' young core seem to be trending where Atlanta wants and needs them to In fact, the trio of Robinson, London and Penix made NFL history in the Falcons' season finale last year a 175-yard receiver and a 150-yard rusher in a single game who were all under 25 years old This group did so against the Carolina Panthers in January it stands to reason we should expect the relatively unexpected when it comes to the Falcons and the draft What's interesting is the Falcons actually did what was expected… and then went right back to switching it up Arguably the best player available at the time who just so happens to play within a position of need Moving back up into the first round to grab James Pearce Jr. giving up a 2026 first-round pick in the process What's different about the Falcons in the last two years is they've actually gone with an approach that puts their biggest needs in the brightest spotlight despite notably not doing so with the Pitts the biggest hole the Falcons had to fill was at the quarterback position They did so for their present (Cousins) and their future (Penix) but the intent was there and sound at the time No one can say the Falcons didn't do what they needed to in order to strengthen a position that had been a game of musical chairs for three seasons in the wake of Matt Ryan's departure the Falcons addressed their biggest need — pass rush — not once the double-dipping decision to get Walker and Pearce was met with a mixed bag of reactions from national media they continued to use the same words to galvanize their decision: Conviction and belief The same words Fontenot has used for each pick of Pitts "At some point you have to look at who the player is and what's he going to be what are we really getting and is it worth it?" Fontenot said after the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft concluded "When you have that kind of conviction and belief in the player then that's when you're willing to do it and we did "It's not just about the actual drafting of players it's about getting them in the right environment and developing the right way it's not just believing in the players and the skill sets that we brought in here today that's everyone in this building and believing we're going to surround these guys and make the absolute best of them I think there's a lot of belief and conviction in the players and also what we have here." It gets you to the point of putting a player on the field Conventional wisdom will also tell you that you don't draft a tight end at No 8 when you already have a 13-year veteran on the roster Nor does it tell you to use a future first-round pick on a player some have deemed a major question mark This Falcons regime has never been one for conventional wisdom they've thrown every resource they have at problem areas the last two offseasons individual player performance has been there With two first-round picks now highlighting the defense perhaps the scale tips and the 2025 season is the year to find out if the Falcons' unconventional drafting strategy of the last five years has legs to stand on We take a look at Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr.'s portraits at Atlanta Falcons headquarters in Flowery Branch after the 2025 NFL Draft Stay up to date on everything you need to know about the Falcons in free agency The Falcons drafted four defensive players who could break into the 2025 starting lineup The Falcons picked up the 2022 first-round draft pick's fifth-year option The Falcons' assistant general manager is also confident the team gained four defensive starters through the draft defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich fined $100,000 The 2022 first-round draft pick's near future in Atlanta has been decided A closer look at the five players the Atlanta Falcons selected in the 2025 NFL Draft The Falcons selected five players in the 2025 NFL Draft but they aren't finished adding to their rookie class Lewis Hamilton called Ferrari out for what he considered poor teamwork as he got stuck behind Charles Leclerc during the Miami Grand Prix Hamilton moved through the field and was able to get on the tail of team-mate Leclerc The first hint over team radio that Hamilton was angling to be let through came when he said: “I’m just burning up my tyres behind him.” However the Ferrari pitwall wanted him to stay put behind Leclerc “We want to keep the DRS to Charles,” reported Hamilton’s race engineer Riccardo Adami who had previously had terse exchanges earlier in the season as he retorted: “You want me to sit here for the whole race Leclerc did let Hamilton through for seventh but not before the seven-time world champion hit out once again “In China I got out the way,” and once he had been informed the cars would swap positions he added: “Have a tea break while you’re at it.” It left Leclerc then complaining of being in dirty air all the while the team squabbling over the lower points positions as its rivals proved quicker once again with Hamilton unable to chase down the Mercedes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli in sixth Ferrari made the call to swap the positions back later in the race when told Carlos Sainz was now 1.7 seconds behind in the Williams he chirped back: “Do you want me to let him past as well?” Hamilton finished third in Saturday’s sprint race but the Ferrari pair ended up battling with Williams for much of the grand prix itself Austin’s Homeless Strategy Office is proposing a funding package totaling just under $101 million for homelessness response efforts in the city’s next budget with about one-third allocated toward maintaining existing programs and one-third for initiatives expected to be funded by partner organizations The spending plan laid out in a presentation to a joint meeting of the City Council’s Audit and Finance Committee and Public Health Committee includes approximately $15.65 million to continue support for programs currently funded by soon-to-expire American Rescue Plan Act dollars $7.3 million in other existing one-time initiatives that would need ongoing support and roughly $33 million in new investments to expand services and shelter capacity Additional contributions from outside funders totaling about $16.2 million are also being sought The proposed investments broadly break down as follows: The presentation emphasized that maintaining the city’s homelessness response at current service levels would require about $22.9 million in addition to new funds to replace expiring federal dollars City budget officials confirmed that closing that gap on top of addressing a projected $33 million budget shortfall would likely require seeking additional tax revenue through a voter-approved tax rate election that could take place later this year director of the city’s Homeless Strategy Office said that if the city and its partners can secure the proposed funding the community should expect “a measurable reduction in the prevalence of homelessness,” with faster response times to service requests and more positive housing outcomes for shelter and outreach clients the majority of those folks will remain housed they will not touch our system again,” he said It’s like a 15-passenger aircraft trying to support 500 people and that’s where the additional investment consideration from the city is being set forth.” Gray also outlined a series of planned and launched initiatives that are aimed at strengthening Austin’s homelessness response system. Among the efforts already underway is a new partnership with Housing Connector which has helped secure more than 2,300 housing units for at-risk and formerly homeless individuals Participating landlords have agreed to lower screening barriers for people who might otherwise be excluded because of criminal histories or other challenges HSO is also looking at repurposing underutilized city properties for use as engagement hubs or small-capacity micro shelters typically serving 15 to 20 people per site While other cities have implemented similar models successfully Gray said Austin is still working through how best to adapt the approach locally To address the lack a network of homeless navigation centers with Sunrise Navigation Center in South Austin serving as the only full-service facility Gray said the city and homeless services organizations should establish a more distributed network of navigation centers While Sunrise has made significant impacts the location faces challenges because it draws clients from across the city and creates a strain on the surrounding neighborhood The city’s investment in shelter capacity has yielded nearly 1,500 beds across the system but Gray said there is still only one shelter bed for every five unhoused individuals Efforts already underway include an additional 100 beds being added at Camp Esperanza by The Other Ones Foundation 50 new medical respite beds being developed by Central Health and an application jointly submitted with the state that could fund up to 400 additional beds at Camp Esperanza Several Council members praised the plan Gray and his team have drafted which is expected to figure prominently in the city manager’s forthcoming proposed budget Several noted that the prospect of a tax rate election to substantially increase spending related to homelessness would come with high stakes and expectations from voters “Assuming we don’t cut homeless related programs to balance our $33,000,000 deficit that means we need… about $50 million of new money that we would have to come up for with next year’s budget,” Councilmember Ryan Alter said we have to tell them what they’re going to get for that investment And we’re honored you look to us for serious You know a strong community needs local and dedicated watchdog reporting Now will you take the powerful next step and support our nonprofit news organization Chad Swiatecki is a 20-year journalist who relocated to Austin from his home state of Michigan in 2008 He most enjoys covering the intersection of arts Austin American-Statesman and many other regional and national outlets Austin City Council Audit and Finance Committee: A sub-group of the Austin City Council whose members are charged with oversight of city fiscal operations and anything that falls under the purview of the Office of the City Auditor. Reports and documents for the committee can be found here homelessness The Austin Monitor thanks its sponsors. Become one See which district you live in The Austin Monitor is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization We are fully-local and cover the important issues and key decisions at the intersection between the local government and the community Health CareNews PoliticsAnalysis PoliticsNews  SecurityNews  InternationalNews  SocietyCommentary  EducationCommentary   SecurityAnalysis  EconomyCommentary  InternationalCommentary  PoliticsNews  LawNews  LawCommentary  International News International News International Commentary Education Analysis  SecurityAnalysis  PoliticsAnalysis  Economy Commentary InternationalAnalysis Bradley Devlin is politics editor for The Daily Signal. Send an email to Bradley Two days after inking a deal to share future revenues from Ukrainian mineral deposits, the United States is pressuring Ukraine and Russia to come to the negotiating table with more realistic demands of their own to bring an end to the war At a Friday press conference, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said American diplomats will not “fly around the world at the drop of a hat” to mediate in conversations unlikely to yield results.  but we will no longer fly around the world as mediators in meetings,” Bruce reiterated the time has come when they must present and develop concrete ideas on how to end this conflict “This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine over the long term,” Bessent said in a statement “President [Donald] Trump envisioned this partnership between the American people and the Ukrainian people to show both sides’ commitment to lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine.” no state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine,” added the treasury secretary A senior treasury official told The Daily Signal that the minerals deal “is a fully collaborative partnership between our nations.”  “This partnership represents the United States taking an economic stake in securing a free and sovereign future for Ukraine,” the official continued “This agreement will also strengthen the strategic partnership between the United States and Ukraine for long-term reconstruction and modernization in response to the large-scale destruction caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion.” The deal is a massive incentive for both the Ukrainians and Russians to get serious about a peace deal Ukraine has repeatedly brought maximalist demands to the negotiating table demanding the return of large swaths of Ukrainian territory (where large Russian populations already lived before the war) and Western security guarantees All this despite the fact that Ukraine has been functionally a client state of the United States almost since the war began Ukraine would be bankrupt without American aid which Trump made abundantly clear during the infamous Oval Office meeting in February with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy The deal incentivizes the Ukrainians to end the war because the minerals deal is set to really kick in only after a peace agreement is reached Meanwhile, Trump has taken a harsher tone with Russian President Vladimir Putin the past few weeks. In response to Russian strikes on Kyiv last week, the president said in a Truth Social post that he is “not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV Trump recognizes that Putin has spent a sizable amount of political capital in the war While the current status quo would likely result in a Russian victory It appears the minerals deal holds the status quo on the military aid and assistance front control over the deposits to a 50-50 share that simultaneously provides Ukraine future capital and adds a tangible U.S Russia might consider dropping its own unworkable demands the administration has restrained from offering Kyiv security guarantees in the minerals deal And while European powers have suggested they want to set up installations that reassure Ukraine of its security the Americans committed nothing of the sort despite now having “skin in the game and is committed to Ukraine’s long-term success.” Though it may be disheartening to hear that the war will persist the real question is whether this strategy—pushing for direct talks between Ukraine and Russia—offers a quicker path to peace than the two belligerents making insane demands at endless performative diplomatic roundtables in cities like Istanbul Bradley Devlin is politics editor for The Daily Signal. Send an email to Bradley Vici Properties (VICI 0.76%) has grown faster than its peers over the years. The real estate investment trust (REIT) has raised its dividend payment at a 7% compound annual rate since its formation more than seven years ago. That's well above the 2% average annual growth rate of other REITs focused on investing in triple net (NNN) real estate Its focus on establishing strategic partnerships is a key factor driving its ability to deliver above-average growth. That smart strategy continues to provide the REIT with new opportunities to expand its portfolio which allows it to increase its cash flow and dividend Vici Properties focuses on investing in experiential real estate like gaming Vici Properties sees itself as less of a landlord and more of a partner to companies that need capital to expand their businesses The company takes "pride in our ability to build deep relationships with dynamic growth-minded operators that will help to contribute to our long-term growth goals and objectives," commented CEO Edward Pitoniak in the first-quarter earnings press release The REIT has several long-standing partnerships with leading operators of experiences it owns 18 casinos leased to Caesars Entertainment and 13 leased to MGM Resorts It also owns 38 bowling entertainment centers leased to Lucky Strike the company has made real estate-backed loans to Great Wolf Lodge The operating tenants pay rent to use properties owned by Vici Properties that are crucial to their businesses They generate revenue from these facilities while paying the REIT steadily rising rental income Another aspect of these partnerships is that Vici Properties will provide tenants with additional capital to help fund their continued expansion. The capital can come via sale-leaseback transactions or growth capital to fund expansions and other capital projects at existing properties These win-win partnerships provide the REIT with new investment opportunities to grow its businesses while supporting the expansion of its existing tenants the company originated a $250 million mezzanine loan backed by a portfolio of nine Great Wolf Lodge resorts Vici Properties has provided over $720 million of capital to Great Wolf to support its growth The REIT also provided up to $700 million of financing for The Venetian Las Vegas through its partner property growth fund strategy to support hotel room renovations and other projects at that property the REIT will receive more rental income from its investment in that iconic casino Vici Properties is always looking to partner with leading operators of experiences The REIT has established two new strategic relationships this year The first partnership is with Cain International and its affiliate They plan to collaborate to identify and pursue unique experiential real estate investment opportunities The first one will see Vici make a $300 million mezzanine loan investment to help fund the development of One Beverly Hills a landmark luxury mixed-use development featuring an all-suite hotel a carefully curated selection of luxury retail and dining locations its newest partnership is with Red Rock Resorts The REIT has agreed to provide up to $510 million in funding for developing a tribal casino in central California that Red Rock will develop and manage The partnership is Red Rock's first with a REIT and could lead to future investment opportunities for Vici The company's success in adding new partners is driving additional growth this year. That gave Vici Properties the confidence to raise its guidance for adjusted funds from operations (FFO) It now expects its adjusted FFO to rise to a range of $2.33-$2.36 per share (up from its initial forecast of $2.32-$2.35 per share) it now sees its adjusted FFO growing by 4.4% at the high end of its new guidance range Add that to the REIT's 5.5%-yielding dividend and its total return could approach 10% if its stock price rises with its earnings growth rate the company's growing earnings should allow it to continue increasing its dividend at an above-average rate Vici Properties' strategy of partnering with leading operators of experiences continues to pay dividends for investors It steadily provides the company with rising rental income and new investment opportunities Adding new partners enhances its ability to grow its portfolio and shareholder value It's a winning strategy that makes Vici Properties a great stock to buy and hold for a growing stream of passive income Matt DiLallo has positions in Vici Properties. The Motley Fool recommends Red Rock Resorts and Vici Properties. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy BREAKING: Berkshire Shares Slide On News Of Buffett Exit Cryptocurrency prices have trended higher this week with bitcoin recovering to above $97,400 on Thursday bitcoin holder Strategy missed earnings expectations late Thursday but raised its outlook for its bitcoin gain this year Morgan Stanley reportedly aims to add cryptocurrency trading to its E*Trade platform and SoFi announced plans this week to bring back crypto investing Trade war perils are swirling around ocean shippers and the ports that serve them Get instant access to exclusive stock lists expert market analysis and powerful tools with 2 months of IBD Digital for only $20 Learn how you can make more money with IBD's investing tools Real-time quote and/or trade prices are not sourced from all markets Ownership data provided by LSEG and Estimate data provided by FactSet MarketSurge and other marks are trademarks owned by Investor's Business Daily