Nucor (NUE 1.10%) is one of the largest steelmakers in North America, but that’s not what separates it from the pack. The big story here is the fact that Nucor is a Dividend King. And right now, the stock appears to still be in Wall Street’s doghouse, which could be a buying opportunity for investors whose holding period is forever. Here’s what you need to know.

What does Nucor do?

Nucor makes steel, but this is only part of the story. The other piece is that it uses electric arc mini-mills in the process. This technology tends to be more flexible than blast furnaces that make primary steel. Thus, the company can ramp production up and down based on demand more easily. That allows it to support its profit margins through the industry’s cycles.

Image source: Getty Images.

The steelmaking cycle is worth considering. Demand and pricing often rise and fall along with economic activity. Given the industrial importance of steel, that makes sense. However, it also means that the business is a bit volatile and the stock is prone to wide price swings.

Right now, the stock is down around 30% from the peaks it achieved in 2024. That sounds like a huge decline, but it is actually an improvement from the more than 40% it had been down before a rally.

Declines of 40% or more occurred in 2020 and 2022. So essentially, this is really just a normal swing. But that doesn’t mean you should ignore the opportunity here.

NUE data by YCharts.

Nucor is a Dividend King

Despite the inherent volatility of the steel sector, Nucor has managed to increase its dividend every single year for over 50 consecutive years. A company doesn’t achieve Dividend King status by accident; it requires a strong business model that is well executed in both good markets and bad.

In fact, management’s goal is generally to produce higher highs and higher lows for its business. It does this with a capital investment plan that focuses on upgrading technology; expanding product offerings; and broadening out to include new, higher margin products.

As the company’s business grows so, too, does its capacity to generate revenue and earnings. And that leads to higher highs and higher lows on the earnings front over time.

With roughly $3 billion in capital spending on tap in 2025, more growth seems likely for the business and the dividend. That said, it is important to highlight one thing: The dividend yield is only 1.7%. This isn’t a stock you buy because you need income. It is a stock you buy because you want long-term exposure to the steel sector, and you want to get that exposure via the industry’s most reliable dividend stock.

You buy Nucor when Wall Street is putting it on sale

As a cyclical stock, the best time to buy Nucor isn’t when investors are enamored with it. The time to step aboard is when the stock is out of favor, which remains the case today.

Would it have been better to buy when the stock was down over 40%? Sure, but 30% is still a material drawdown, and if you are intending to own Nucor for the long term, the price remains attractive. The key to the story, however, is that this Dividend King has proved that its business model can survive just about anything the market and the economy throws at it.

DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach says that the trend of American exceptionalism has come to an abrupt end.

In a new CNBC interview, the billionaire “Bond King” says that foreign investors have been happily investing in US assets over the last two decades, leading to massive capital inflows to the tune of tens of trillions of dollars.

But now, Gundlach says he’s seeing signs that foreign investors are yanking capital out of US markets in favor of the euro and European equities. According to the hedge fund chief executive, the reversal in flows tells him that investors are now crowning a new market leader.

“Foreigners have been very willing – downright enthusiastic, almost euphoric – about buying dollar assets over the past 18 years or so. Over $25 trillion has been invested in US financial markets, more than the US has invested in foreign markets. 

That’s a massive increase. It went from $3 trillion to $28 trillion by one measure. That may be reversing, and this is part of the underpinning for why I think that the trend of US outperformance is over. And I mean over for real…

I’ve been recommending Europe in European currency for dollar-based investors. The [European] index has outperformed the US index by a decent amount, but if you had the currency side of it, if you own it in euros and you get the currency translation, you are just printing money right now. 

And that trade, I believe, is just getting started.”

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Billionaire Jeffrey Gundlach is warning that the US dollar is very close to triggering a collapse amid its sustained weakness this year.

In a new video update, the DoubleLine Capital CEO says he’s keeping a close watch on the US dollar index (DXY), which tracks the performance of the USD against a basket of foreign currencies.

Gundlach points out that the DXY has been in a macro downtrend, and he expects the US dollar index to melt down if it loses a diagonal trendline that has held as support since 2011.

“The dollar has been in a pattern of lower highs going back to 1985 and lower lows, with the exception of 2020, perhaps. But I think the dollar is going to continue to go down. 

I know I am not alone in this view… If it breaks down, if you can mentally draw a trendline between that low in 2011 (DXY at 72) and the low back in 2021 (DXY at 89), if we break down below that trendline, I think it’s truly a dollar bear market. 

Should that happen, I would expect it to take out the low on this chart, so down below the level of around 72 or whatever. Now this is surreal.”  

Based on Gundlach’s diagonal trendline, the DXY needs to stay above 97 to avoid a 25% crash toward 72. At time of writing, the DXY is hovering at 98.24.

Last week, the billionaire Bond King said that the stock market, the dollar and the Treasury market are not behaving as usual, hinting at deeper concerns that are unsettling investors in US assets. According to Gundlach, foreign investors holding trillions in US assets may begin pulling out of American markets as concerns mount over the government’s unsustainable fiscal path.

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DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach is warning that investors holding trillions of dollars in US assets could soon reallocate capital overseas.

In a new interview with Bloomberg, Gundlach says recent behavior in the stock market, the dollar and the Treasury market appears “strange” to him, hinting at deeper concerns that are unsettling investors in US assets.

According to Gundlach, investors are beginning to sniff out the looming risks tied to the US government’s unsustainable fiscal trajectory.

“In the last 15 years, there has been a number of corrections on the S&P 500, and in every single one of them, when the S&P goes down by more than 10%, the trade-weighted dollar index goes up. This time, the dollar went down when the S&P 500 went down by almost 20%. That’s strange, things are behaving differently. 

Usually when the Fed starts cutting interest rates, rates across the yield curve go down. The 10-year Treasury almost always goes up [in price] immediately following the first Fed rate cut, and then it keeps rallying for a while. This time, the 10-year yield went up, and the yield curve is steepening. 

So I think what we have is recognition that the interest expense for the United States is untenable – if we continue running a $2.1 trillion budget deficit and we continue to have sticky interest rates.” 

The Bond King zeroes in on foreign investors, noting that they hold tens of trillions of dollars in US assets. Gundlach says it is now within the realm of possibility for the investor cohort to start exiting US markets.

“There’s a net investment position; foreigners were investing more in the US than the US was investing outside the country to the tune of $3 trillion. That was about 15 or 17 years ago. It’s now over $25 trillion is the net investment position, and the dollar is falling. It’s not inconceivable that some of that $25 trillion that came in not even two decades could go out.”

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Author

Simon Chandler

Author

Simon Chandler

About Author

Simon Chandler is a Brighton-based writer and journalist with over ten years of experience writing about crypto, technology, politics and culture. He has written for Cryptonews.com since late 2017,…

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May 26, 2025

The Fartcoin price has climbed by 3% in the past 24 hours, with its jump to $1.42 coming as the crypto market as a whole slips by 0.2% today.

This increase puts Fartcoin up by 18% in a week and by 41% in a month, with the token outperforming TRUMP by a wide margin, which is flat in a week and down by 15% in the last 30 days.

Another flattering contrast is that Fartcoin is only 42% down from its January ATH of $2.48, while TRUMP is down from its own ATH by a whopping 82%.

This stark contrast testifies to the greater decentralization of Fartcoin in comparison to TRUMP, with this decentralization putting it in a much better position to rally in the coming months.

Is Fartcoin the New King of Meme Coins? While TRUMP Tanks, FART Just Keeps Rising (Fartcoin Price Prediction)

Looking at the Fartcoin price and its chart today, we see that it has just begun another bounce that could lead to further gains in the next few days.

After dropping as low 40 yesterday, the alt’s relative strength index (purple) has risen back above 50 and could continue towards 70, as it did in previous weeks.

However, it’s also worth noting that the token’s 30-period average (orange) has remained above the 200-period average (blue) since early April, implying that a small correction could be coming for the Fartcoin price.

One other positive detail is that the coin’s 24-hour trading volume is about 176% higher than it was three months ago, pointing to elevated demand.

Indeed, whales have continued buying Fartcoin in the past few weeks, including one large investor who purchased $4.4 million in the token on Friday.

Such data suggests that the Fartcoin market remains very healthy, which we can’t necessarily say for one of its rivals, TRUMP.

TRUMP’s trading volume is currently higher than Fartcoin’s, yet as noted above it has underperformed the latter on pretty much every timeframe.

It’s arguable that this is because TRUMP’s market is more centralized and more manipulated, with the coin falling in the days following a 220-person dinner for the biggest holders of the meme token.

Because Fartcoin is an AI coin, it’s arguably more decentralized than TRUMP, with 80% of the latter’s total supply held by the two Trump-owned entities which created it.

This greater decentralization potentially gives the market more faith in Fartcoin, with the Fartcoin price on track to reach $2 in the next couple of months, and $3 by Q4.

New Altcoins with Stronger Fundamentals and Stronger Potential

If Fartcoin is too much of a meme token for some traders, they may prefer to invest in new alts with more utility and more solid fundamentals.

Of course, finding promising alts with potential before they explode can be tricky, but one route to doing this is to look for big presales.

The popularity and size of presales can be an indicator that a coin will do well once it goes live, with some of the biggest sales leading to big rallies.

And probably the biggest presale happening right now is Solaxy (SOLX), a layer-two token that has raised an incredible $40.7 million in its ICO.

Solaxy’s sale will end in 20 days, with the platform launching its layer-two network for Solana soon after.

As an L2 for Solana, Solaxy will provide users with low transaction fees and fast confirmation times, removing much of the friction that can come with using Solana.

It will help traders to avoid delays and congestion, while it will also enable instant bridging between itself and its parent chain.

This will help Solaxy to grow in size quickly, with the platform aiming to become a major hub for meme tokens and DeFi.

Because users will have to pay transaction fees in SOLX, the token could experience massive demand as Solaxy grows in size.

Newcomers can still join its sale at the Solaxy website, where SOLX costs $0.001736.

Given the success of its sale, it could rise well beyond this price once it lists in three weeks.

Bitcoin is headed towards its largest option expiry of 2025 at around $13.8B on May 30. Just a week earlier, the OG crypto crossed its previous high of $109K and made a new all-time high.

However, over the past week, the prices have corrected by around 3%, meaning $BTC is now trading at around $108K.

The battle between the bulls and the bears has gotten intense, and we expect a great tussle between the two to keep $BTC prices above $109K.

In this article, we’ll provide a complete breakdown of the current Bitcoin option expiry scenario. We’ll also suggest the best crypto to buy now to benefit from $BTC’s potential rally.

$109K Is a Crucial Level for $BTC

Option data shows that the $109K level is the most crucial level for Bitcoin option traders. Out of the total options, $6.5B are put options. However, 95% of put options are below $109K.

So, if $BTC stays above this level, 95% of these options will expire worthless, meaning they’ll lead to a loss for bears. Short sellers were already caught off guard by Bitcoin’s 25% rally in the last 30 days.

Conversely, there are around $3.8B worth of call options up to $109K. This means that bulls will earn massive profit if $BTC holds above this level.

Institutional data shows that there was a net flow of $1.9B Bitcoin ETFs between May 20 and May 22. This proves that corporations are still buying BTC above $105K.

The only hope for bears at this point is a macroeconomic shock or news that could see Bitcoin tumble to a certain extent.

It’s worth noting that there’s also an open interest of $79B in the Bitcoin futures market with a lot of short positions. This indicates that bears are trying their best to ensure Bitcoin doesn’t sustain the $109K mark come May 30.

That said, the bulls seem to be more in control of the markets as of now. Here’s a table to help you understand.

As you can see, under all four scenarios, it is the bulls that ultimately benefit. The higher Bitcoin goes from here, the more profit bulls take home.

With just seven days left in the month, one can expect a bit of volatility in the Bitcoin market.

However, the bias is largely green, with experts having already predicted that $BTC might cross $200K by the end of the year.

If you want to ride this potentially once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, here are some top altcoins you can invest in right now.

1. BTC Bull Token ($BTCBULL) – Best Crypto to Buy Right Now

BTC Bull Token ($BTCBULL) stands out from other Bitcoin-inspired altcoins because it’s the only one offering free $BTC airdrops to its token holders.

It’s the best crypto to invest in if you want to make the most of Bitcoin’s upcoming rally without having to shell out an eye-watering sum to invest in Bitcoin itself, which is currently priced at over $108K.

Every time Bitcoin pushes through a new landmark, such as $150K, $200K, or $250K, for the first time, $BTCBULL holders will automatically receive their share of free $BTC.

It’s worth noting, though, that you must store your purchased $BTCBULL tokens in Best Wallet.

Additionally, the project will also follow a deflationary approach, meaning a part of the total token supply will be shaved off at regular intervals – every time Bitcoin’s price rises by $25K, to be precise.

A continuously decreasing token supply will ensure the demand continues to increase, which will ultimately boost the token’s trading volume and price.

To join the ‘Bull Army,’ buy $BTCBULL today. Luckily for you, the project is still in presale ($6.2M+ raised), meaning you can grab it for a low price of $0.002525.

2. Solaxy ($SOLX) – First-Ever L2 on Solana with $40M in Presale Funding

Solaxy ($SOLX) is one of the best crypto presales on the market today, and for good reason. After all, it’s set out to resolve Solana’s congestion and scalability issues.

After the successful launches of $TRUMP and $MELANIA, Solana saw an unprecedented increase in investor activity. This overwhelmed the otherwise meme coin-friendly blockchain, resulting in failed transactions.

Solaxy, however, will solve this by building the first-ever Layer 2 scaling protocol on Solana.

It will offload a huge chunk of the transactions from Solana’s mainnet onto a sidechain, thereby reducing the burden on Solana and cranking up its efficiency.

Moreover, the L2 will also execute transactions in batches – rather than one by one – which will improve Solana’s affordability, as the fees required per transaction will go down.

With Solana set to take center stage in the rapidly growing DeFi landscape, Solaxy is going to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of this movement.

Don’t miss out on possibly the next crypto to explode and buy Solaxy now for just $0.001734.

Hurry up, though, because the presale ends in around three weeks, following which $SOLX will be live on all major exchanges.

Our Solaxy price prediction suggests that the token could explode 11,500% and reach $0.20 by 2030.

3. Trump Dinner ($DINNER) – Donald Trump’s Historic ‘Crypto Dinner’ Has a Meme Coin

$DINNER is the newest addition to the list of Trump-inspired meme coins that have taken the market by storm.

As the name suggests, Trump Dinner is based on Donald Trump’s unprecedented move to invite the top holders of the $TRUMP meme coin for an exclusive dinner gala.

As per the announcement on the OFFICIAL TRUMP website, the top 220 holders of $TRUMP will be invited to Donald Trump’s private Virginia golf club.

The ‘crypto dinner,’ which has raised both appreciation and scrutiny from the crowd, is scheduled for tonight, i.e., May 24.

So, in the lead-up to it, $DINNER, a new meme coin based on the event, has painted the town red (green).

$DINNER launched just a couple of days ago and has already gained over 180,000%. It’s up close to 1,000% in the past 24 hours and shows no signs of stopping until, at least, a few days after the dinner.

That’s because, according to the aforementioned announcement, the top 25 $TRUMP holders will be invited to a ‘special tour’ and ‘private VIP reception with the President.’

DYOR Before Investing in the Best Crypto to Buy

Despite $BTC’s confidence-inspiring form, it’s worth remembering that the crypto market is rife with volatile news events and, therefore, uncertainty.

Invest carefully and ideally only an amount you’re comfortable losing. Also, kindly do your own research. This article isn’t a substitute for professional financial advice.

Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure

Bitcoin continues to dominate the digital asset space, maintaining its position as the most established and widely adopted cryptocurrency. However, according to Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise Asset Management, investors should consider broadening their exposure to include a variety of crypto assets, especially as blockchains evolve beyond just currency use cases.

Hougan recently commented on Ethereum’s significant price recovery, noting a 53% rebound from its April lows and a 37% increase within a single week.

This performance comes after months of underperformance and coincides with recent blockchain upgrades and a wider shift toward risk-on market conditions. In light of this, Hougan addressed the increasingly common question among investors: is it time to look beyond Bitcoin?

Crypto as a General Purpose Technology

In drawing comparisons between today’s blockchain market and early internet adoption, Hougan pointed to how investment strategies from the early 2000s offer a relevant historical lesson. He referenced the example of 2004, when Google led the search engine industry and appeared to be the dominant bet on the internet’s future.

While Google became a highly successful investment, Hougan emphasized that other sectors, such as e-commerce (Amazon), video streaming (Netflix), and software-as-a-service (Salesforce), also generated substantial long-term returns.

Applying the same thinking to crypto, Hougan suggested that while Bitcoin may serve as a decentralized monetary system or “digital gold,” other blockchains are designed for broader utility.

Ethereum enables programmable smart contracts, Solana and Avalanche focus on high-throughput performance for decentralized applications, and middleware solutions like Chainlink support infrastructure across multiple networks. Hougan’s view is that these differing purposes present differentiated return profiles, rather than just direct competition.

He also noted that investors do not need to commit to a single crypto thesis. While some may favor Bitcoin solely as a hedge against fiat debasement, others who believe blockchains will transform asset transfer, application deployment, or financial infrastructure may benefit from holding a mix of assets.

This basket approach, he argued, is well-aligned with how general purpose technologies historically produce a range of winners across verticals.

Passive Exposure May Outperform Active Picks

To reinforce his perspective, Hougan pointed to performance data over the last five years for assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Chainlink—each demonstrating different periods of outperformance. Predicting which will lead through 2030 remains uncertain, and that uncertainty is exactly why he advocates diversification.

He concluded by citing a compelling statistic: over the past two decades, 97% of actively managed equity funds underperformed their benchmarks. For an industry as dynamic and unpredictable as crypto, the implication is that trying to identify individual long-term winners could be more difficult than many expect.

In summary, while Bitcoin remains the cornerstone of most crypto portfolios, Hougan believes that blockchain’s versatility as a technology calls for broader exposure. His advice to investors: focus less on picking the next breakout asset and more on positioning for the entire crypto ecosystem’s potential.

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Billionaire “Bond King” Jeffrey Gundlach says the US will likely witness one crisis this year that would force the Fed to resume a rate-cutting cycle.

In a new CNBC interview, the founder and CEO of investment firm DoubleLine Capital says he sees the Fed cutting rates this year, but it won’t be related to the Fed’s dual mandate of achieving maximum employment and an average of 2% annual inflation.

“I do think they’ll cut rates, but I don’t think it’s going to be because of much better inflation data because I don’t think it’s going to get much better. I doubt the unemployment rate is going to be a shocker in the near term, like in the next few months.

But I do think they’ll cut rates because some liquidity problems may come up. So I do think they’ll probably cut rates by year end, and I still think it’s probably less than the market thinks, but I’m closer to the market now because I’ve stayed at two and the market has gone from five or six down to two and a half [cuts].”

According to Gundlach, some institutions are starting to witness liquidity problems. Gundlach uses Harvard’s recent bond sale to show that US-based entities are in need of cash, but says other institutions are having the same issue.

“The thing that I feel is starting to get talked about, and I think might be significant in the next market problem is this illiquidity issue that [has] developed and it’s getting some play on the newswires with Harvard and some elite universities where they don’t have any money. 

They’re asset-rich but they’re cash-poor. Harvard has a $53 billion endowment, and they’ve tapped the bond market now twice for basically operating cash. And the reason is – and I’m just using Harvard as a placeholder because this has been in the news and reported with statistics – they report 40% of their endowment in private equity. 

I suspect that another big slug is in private credit, which has been a booming asset class. We’re starting to see stories of some of the faster-moving university endowments saying, ‘We might want to exit some of our commitments…’

I think this is going to be an issue.”

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PepsiCo (PEP -0.27%) kicked off its 2025 reporting year with weak results and cut its full-year guidance — pushing shares down to a new 52-week low. In fact, Pepsi is down over 24% in the past year and is knocking on the door of a five-year low.

The sell-off has pole-vaulted Pepsi’s yield up to 4.1%. And with 53 consecutive years of dividend increases, the beverage and snack giant has an extensive track record of delivering reliable passive income to shareholders.

Here’s why the fizz has evaporated from Pepsi stock and whether the Dividend King is worth buying now.

Image source: Getty Images.

Pepsi’s dividend is intact despite its guidance cut

Pepsi reported a 1.8% decline in revenue and a 4% decline in constant currency earnings per share (EPS). Constant currency adjusts for changes in currency conversions between reporting periods, making it a more accurate way to measure operating results.

The owner of several beverage brands as well as Frito-Lay and Quaker Oats saw flat beverage volume growth and a 3% decline in convenient foods — illustrating strain on consumer demand. The opening quote from CEO Ramon Laguarta in Pepsi’s earnings release was bleak:

Our businesses remained resilient in the midst of increasingly dynamic and complex geopolitical and macroeconomic conditions in the first quarter. As we look ahead, we expect more volatility and uncertainty, particularly related to global trade developments, which we expect will increase our supply chain costs. At the same time, consumer conditions in many markets remain subdued and similarly have an uncertain outlook.

In 2025, Pepsi is now guiding for a low-single-digit organic revenue increase, $7.6 billion in dividends, and $1 billion in buybacks. It expects flat year-over-year core constant currency EPS compared to prior guidance of mid-single-digit growth. Core EPS excludes restructuring, acquisition, and one-time costs. All told, Pepsi expects 2025 core EPS to decline by 3% compared to previous guidance for a slight increase.

Value is top of mind for consumers

Pepsi cited three factors for its guidance cut: tariffs, macroeconomic uncertainty, and consumer weakness. On past earnings calls, Pepsi has discussed balancing quantity and price by offering more chips per bag to drive value and boost demand. However, pressure on consumers has intensified. Laguarta said the following on the call:

What we’re seeing is that consumers are giving a lot of value to absolute dollars now. So clearly, entry price points and absolute outlay of money per unit is a very important relevant metric. And so, we’re putting more emphasis on those entry price points and making sure that we’re not asking for a large amount of money for participating in our brands … that’s why smaller, single-serve, smaller multi-packs, those are all tools for us to keep the consumers in the brand.

In sum, tariffs are far from Pepsi’s only challenge. Consumer demand continues to deteriorate, which is pressuring Pepsi to make changes just to keep buyers engaged. Pepsi’s struggling snack business is relying on single-serve options below the $2 price point. When buyers spend more, they often gravitate toward multipacks. Pepsi has lowered the price of its 10-count multipacks to increase consumer frequency and shift its focus to a price-per-pack mindset.

In other words, if consumers can think of a low cost per pack rather than a higher cost for a larger quantity in a single bag, then it could make the purchase more appealing.

Adjusting to changing consumer preferences

Despite years of challenges and slowing growth, it may come as a surprise that Pepsi has continued to invest in product innovation and acquire new brands. In the last six months, Pepsi has become the sole owner of Sabra and Obela snack and dip products, completed its acquisition of the Mexican-American food brand Siete Foods, and announced its intention to acquire the prebiotic soda brand Poppi.

Together, these acquisitions diversify Pepsi’s convenient food and beverage lineup, making it less centered on chips and high-sugar soda, more adaptable to health-conscious consumers, and featuring ready-to-eat meal replacements.

These deals are too small on their own to move the needle in the near term. However, they reveal an element of self-awareness, suggesting that Pepsi is overly reliant on unhealthy snacks and beverages and recognizes the need to diversify to adapt to shifting consumer preferences.

However, Pepsi has been having some noteworthy successes with its core bands. The Pepsi brand has been gaining market share and focusing on the zero-sugar category. Gatorade and Propel have helped Pepsi maintain its leadership in the sports drink category. Pepsi believes it can improve its value chain by optimizing the processes of making, moving, and selling products, which can drive long-term margin growth.

Pepsi’s valuation has gone from inexpensive to bargain bin

Tariff turmoil adds another layer of complexity to what has already been a challenging few years for Pepsi. However, Pepsi has simply become too cheap to ignore. A 3% decline implies 2025 core EPS of $7.92 — giving Pepsi a price-to-earnings ratio based on its core EPS forecast of just 16.8. That’s a dirt cheap valuation for a high-yield Dividend King stock.

What’s more, Pepsi can continue supporting its capital return program even during this period of slowing growth. The company remains highly profitable, so its challenges are not severe enough to threaten a dividend cut.

However, Pepsi’s acquisition spree, paired with slowing growth, has added debt to its balance sheet. Its leverage ratios remain in decent shape, but investors should monitor Pepsi’s net debt position to see if it can decrease over time as the company leverages its global supply chain, distribution, and marketing to maximize the benefits of its recently acquired brands.

A reliable income stock that’s worth buying and holding

Entering 2025, Pepsi was not at the top of its game. And now that tariffs are expected to add further cost pressure, short-term investors may feel compelled to sell the stock.

Management’s lack of enthusiasm for Pepsi’s 2025 outlook is palpable, but the stock is simply too cheap to ignore. With expectations down, Pepsi doesn’t have to do much to surprise to the upside. In the meantime, the 4.1% dividend yield offers a worthwhile incentive to hold the stock during this period.

Add it all up, and Pepsi stands out as a high-conviction buy for value investors with at least a three to five year investment time horizon to boost their passive income stream.

The founder and CEO of investment firm DoubleLine Capital Jeffrey Gundlach is leaning bearish on the US stock market amid the imposition of import tariffs as high as 50% by the world’s largest economy.

In a new CNBC interview, Gundlach says he sees the S&P 500 stock index falling by around 14% from the current level.

“So I think investors need to stay on defensive mode. We certainly are positioned for that. And the extent to which investors hold cash, I would continue to do that until we get something more of a sustained bottom. As I said earlier, I’m looking for 4,500 on the S&P [500 index].”

According to the billionaire investor who earned the nickname “Bond King” due to his success in the bond market after the 2008 financial crisis, the market uncertainty caused by the imposition of import tariffs in the US is going to persist for the foreseeable future as a quick resolution is unlikely.

“People talked about tariffs [getting] delayed. There is no way that’s going to happen. I think [US President Donald] Trump is going to keep this going.

And I don’t understand exactly how he calculates or the administration calculates this strange formula to set these tariffs. It just doesn’t seem to make much sense to me mathematically. But at least it’s a formula. Whether it’s logical or not, it’s a formula. Otherwise, it’s just going to be totally arbitrary.

But he’s [Trump] keeping people guessing. And he’s not going to back down. I don’t think so. So this is something that’s going to have to play out and we’re going to be dealing with this, I would say certainly for weeks or months and not just days.”

The S&P 500 index is trading at 5,222 at time of writing, down by over 10% since the start of the year.

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