When President Donald Trump launched the “Gold Card” visa program last December, the official website promised U.S. residency in “record time.” A new court filing, however, suggests that applicants who pay $1 million for a Gold Card won’t get faster visas.
The Gold Card, touted as a new kind of investment visa that would raise revenue and attract tens of thousands of overseas millionaires and billionaires to the U.S., has been dogged by delays and legal questions. In December, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick predicted that the government would issue 80,000 Gold Cards and raise more than $100 billion in revenue.
Yet the Department of Homeland Security revealed in a legal filing last week that only 338 people have so far submitted requests for a Gold Card. Only 165 people have paid the $15,000 visa processing fee.
The court filing also contradicted the government’s previous statements on processing time. A key selling point for the Gold Card is rapid approval. The website promised visas in “record time” and “a matter of weeks.” The court filing said Gold Card applicants will not get special treatment or more rapid approval times than applicants for traditional visas.
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“Gold Card applicants will not necessarily have their petitions adjudicated faster than any non-Gold-Card applicant,” DHS said in the filing.
Craig Becker, managing counsel for the Affirmative Litigation Democracy Defenders Fund, who is litigating a lawsuit against the Gold Card’s legality, said the contradiction stems from the program’s precarious legal standing. To attract interest, the White House had to promise a fast-track process. Yet to oppose the lawsuit, which claims the Gold Card displaces applicants for the government’s existing EB-1 and EB-2 programs, DHS contended that Gold Card applicants don’t get priority or any special treatment.
“We just don’t know what the real answer is because there is no transparency,” Becker said.
The Commerce Department and DHS declined to comment. Immigration attorneys said the program is still in its early days and could eventually become successful if it’s approved by Congress and builds a track record of approvals.
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Yet the court filing is the latest challenge to a program that promised to cash in on the fast-growing business of investment visas for the world’s wealthy. More millionaires and billionaires are on the move than ever before. The number of millionaires expected to move to another country in 2026 reached 165,000, according to Henley & Partners. Geopolitical turmoil, tax hikes on the wealthy and political discord have driven more wealthy to seek backup plans and residency in other countries.
America remains a sought-after destination for the global elite. Its existing investment visa program, the EB-5, often has long waiting lists and backlogs. Trump sought to raise money from the demand by creating a new program, offering residency for a $1 million nonrefundable gift to the government.
Because only Congress can set immigration law, Trump created the Gold Card through executive order. It uses the existing visa categories, the EB-1 and EB-2, which are reserved for people with extraordinary abilities or of national interest. Under the Gold Card, the $1 million automatically qualifies an applicant as having a special or extraordinary ability.
The lawsuit from the American Association of University Professors claimed that since Congress limits number of EB-1 and EB-2 visas each year, the Gold Card program will crowd out EB-1 and EB-2 applicants and “result in qualified, merits-based applicants not being awarded visas.”
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“The program is clearly unlawful,” Becker said.
In its response, DHS said the Gold Card program has no impact on EB-1 and EB-2 applicants, since there are more than enough visas and the Gold Card has its own dedicated processing staff.
The legal battle is one reason the overseas wealthy remain wary of the program. Immigration attorneys who specialize in investment visas said their high-net-worth clients don’t want to risk $1 million until the Gold Card is tested in the courts or approved by Congress. Confusion over the wait times will only add to their skepticism, they said.
“Without expedited processing, the Gold Card is unlikely to be attractive to individuals from countries with backlogs,” said Reaz Jafri, CEO of Dasein Advisors, a New York-based immigration consultancy. “With expedited processing, it would have been very attractive to all and a game changer.”
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Attorneys said the troubled Gold Card program has only added to interest in the existing investment visa program, the EB-5, which has seen a surge in applications. The program provides U.S. residency in exchange for an investment of $800,000 to $1 million that creates at least 10 full-time jobs.
“International businesspeople can already access the U.S. through nonimmigrant visas that do not automatically expose their global wealth to U.S. tax,” said David Lesperance of Lesperance & Associates. “Those who are willing to become taxpayers can already gain green card status through the EB-5 program, which requires an investment rather than the donation.”
NEW YORK — The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 115.01 points, or 0.23%, to close at 49,711.98 on Thursday, extending its recent winning streak as robust corporate earnings and sustained enthusiasm for artificial intelligence continued to support investor sentiment on Wall Street. The blue-chip index has now advanced for four consecutive sessions, reclaiming ground lost during earlier volatility tied to geopolitical developments and interest rate uncertainty.
Dow Jones Surges 115 Points to 49,712 as Strong Earnings and AI Optimism Fuel Market Rally
The modest gain pushed the Dow closer to the psychologically significant 50,000 level, a milestone it briefly flirted with earlier this month. Investors appeared encouraged by another round of mostly positive earnings reports from major companies, particularly in technology, industrials and financial services. The broader S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also finished higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading gains on continued strength in AI-related names.
Earnings Season Delivers Positive Surprises
Several Dow components reported results that exceeded Wall Street expectations. Caterpillar, a key industrial bellwether, posted better-than-forecast earnings and raised guidance, citing resilient global infrastructure spending. Financial giants including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase also delivered solid numbers, reflecting steady loan demand and strong investment banking activity despite higher interest rates.
Technology and AI plays remained standout performers. Nvidia and other semiconductor names extended gains as demand for data center infrastructure showed no signs of slowing. Analysts noted that corporate America’s willingness to invest heavily in AI capabilities continues to underpin market optimism even as some economists warn of potential overheating risks.
Geopolitical and Economic Backdrop
Markets have benefited from signs of de-escalation in the Middle East, with oil prices stabilizing after earlier spikes. Brent crude traded near $78 per barrel, relieving inflationary concerns that had weighed on sentiment in previous weeks. The Federal Reserve’s recent signals of patience on rate cuts have also been interpreted as constructive, with investors pricing in a possible cut later this year if inflation continues moderating.
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The 10-year Treasury yield held steady around 4.35%, providing a relatively benign backdrop for equities. Small-cap stocks lagged somewhat but still posted modest gains, reflecting hopes for broader economic participation beyond mega-cap technology leaders.
Sector Performance and Market Breadth
The day’s advance was relatively broad, with nine of 11 S&P 500 sectors finishing in positive territory. Industrials and financials led the Dow’s gain, while energy stocks provided modest support amid stable commodity prices. Defensive sectors such as consumer staples and utilities underperformed slightly as investors rotated toward cyclical names.
Market breadth was healthy, with advancing issues outnumbering decliners on the New York Stock Exchange by a comfortable margin. Volume was above average, suggesting genuine conviction behind the buying rather than low-volume window dressing.
Analyst and Investor Sentiment
Veteran strategists described the current environment as a “Goldilocks scenario” where economic growth remains solid enough to support corporate profits without triggering aggressive monetary tightening. “Earnings are coming through better than feared, and the AI theme still has plenty of runway,” said one chief investment strategist at a major bank. “The Dow’s push toward 50,000 feels increasingly inevitable in the coming weeks.”
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Retail investors, tracked through platforms and ETF flows, have remained net buyers, drawn by the narrative of technological transformation and resilient consumer spending. Institutional money managers report continued rotation out of some mega-cap names into higher-quality cyclical and value stocks within the Dow.
Risks on the Horizon
Despite the upbeat session, not all signals are green. Some prominent investors continue to caution about elevated valuations in parts of the market and potential slowdowns in AI capital expenditure if returns disappoint. Upcoming economic data, including retail sales and inflation readings, will be closely watched for signs of softening consumer demand.
Geopolitical risks, particularly around energy supplies and trade negotiations, remain capable of introducing sudden volatility. Any renewed escalation in the Middle East could quickly reverse recent commodity price stability.
Historical Perspective
Thursday’s close marks another step in the Dow’s remarkable recovery from pandemic-era lows. The index has more than quadrupled since the 2020 crash, driven by corporate adaptability, technological innovation and accommodative policy. Reaching the 49,000–50,000 zone represents a new chapter in that long bull market, though analysts caution that future returns may be more modest than the explosive gains of the past decade.
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Outlook for Friday and Beyond
Attention now turns to Friday’s economic calendar, which includes more earnings reports and consumer sentiment data. Any positive surprises could help sustain momentum as the Dow attempts to break decisively through 50,000. Longer term, analysts remain constructive, projecting further gains supported by earnings growth and potential monetary easing later in the year.
For individual investors, the message remains one of measured optimism. Diversification across sectors, focus on quality companies with strong balance sheets, and a long-term horizon continue to be sound strategies in the current environment. The Dow’s steady climb underscores the resilience of American enterprise even amid periodic challenges.
As trading concluded Thursday, the Dow’s advance reflected a market that continues to reward corporate execution and innovation. Whether the index claims the 50,000 level in coming sessions or consolidates first, the underlying momentum suggests investors retain confidence in the durability of the current economic expansion.
SEATTLE — Amazon Web Services faced a significant regional outage Thursday in its busiest US-East-1 region, with overheating in a Northern Virginia data center causing impaired EC2 instances and degraded Amazon Elastic Block Store volumes, disrupting thousands of businesses, websites and applications worldwide.
AWS Suffers Major Outage in US-East-1 as Data Center Overheating Disrupts EC2 and EBS Services
The incident, which began early Thursday morning, quickly escalated as customers reported elevated error rates, failed instance launches and latency issues concentrated in the use1-az4 availability zone. While not a full global outage, the impact rippled across services dependent on the heavily utilized Virginia region, affecting everything from streaming platforms to financial applications and internal enterprise tools.
AWS confirmed the root cause as elevated temperatures within a single data center facility. Engineers are working to restore normal cooling capacity and bring affected racks back online. As of late Thursday afternoon, the company reported steady progress but cautioned that full recovery could take several more hours. No security breach or data loss has been reported.
Widespread Customer Impact
The timing amplified frustration, hitting during peak business hours for many organizations. Companies without robust multi-region architectures activated failover plans, shifted traffic or temporarily reverted to on-premises systems. Smaller businesses and startups were particularly vulnerable, with some reporting complete downtime for hours.
Downdetector and social media platforms showed spikes in reports, with users in the eastern United States most affected. Services built on EC2 and EBS — including databases, websites and container workloads — experienced the heaviest disruptions. Other AWS regions remained largely operational, highlighting the importance of geographic redundancy.
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AWS Response and Mitigation
AWS updated its Service Health Dashboard throughout the day, noting that mitigation efforts remain underway. The company is prioritizing restoration and has been in direct contact with large enterprise customers. Service credits are expected for affected accounts, though formal details have not yet been released.
This marks another notable incident for AWS in 2026, following previous regional disruptions. While the cloud giant maintains strong overall uptime, critics point to concentration risks in key hubs like Northern Virginia, which powers a massive share of global internet workloads.
Broader Implications for Cloud Reliability
The outage reignites debates about single-provider dependency and the need for stronger multi-cloud or hybrid strategies. Many organizations have adopted such approaches precisely to mitigate events like this, yet the convenience and ecosystem advantages of AWS often lead to heavy regional concentration.
Competitors Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud have used the incident in marketing materials to promote their own redundancy features. However, all major providers experience occasional regional issues, underscoring that no single cloud is immune to infrastructure challenges.
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Advice for Affected Customers
Organizations experiencing issues should:
Monitor the AWS Health Dashboard for real-time updates.
Activate multi-AZ or multi-region failover where available.
Review disaster recovery plans and test backups.
Document business impact for potential service credits.
Remain vigilant against phishing attempts claiming to be AWS support.
Individual users facing downstream app or website problems should try alternative services or wait for resolution, as full recovery is expected within hours.
Long-Term Outlook
As AWS works toward full restoration, attention will shift to any post-incident review and potential infrastructure improvements. The company has a strong history of learning from such events to enhance resilience across its global footprint.
For businesses and developers, the Northern Virginia outage serves as a timely reminder of cloud concentration risks in an increasingly digital world. Even localized environmental issues in one data center can create widespread disruption, emphasizing the value of thoughtful architecture and contingency planning.
AWS continues to dominate the cloud market, but incidents like Thursday’s highlight the ongoing challenges of scaling infrastructure to meet exploding demand from AI, streaming and enterprise workloads. Customers will be watching closely as the company pushes for resolution and shares lessons learned from this latest test of its global system.
WASHINGTON: U.S. employment increased more than expected in April while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, pointing to labor market resilience and reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve would leave interest rates unchanged for some time.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 115,000 jobs last month after an upwardly revised 185,000 advance in March, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its closely watched employment report on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls rising by 62,000 jobs after a previously reported 178,000 rebound in March.
Estimates ranged from a loss of 15,000 jobs to a gain of 150,000 positions. Economists said it was too early for the effects of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran to show. The conflict has raised gasoline and diesel prices as well as the cost of other commodities that are shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.
Payrolls have been choppy since mid-2025, alternating between gains and losses. Economists have attributed the swings to an adjustment to the birth-and-death model, which the government uses to estimate how many jobs were gained or lost because of companies opening or closing in a given month. Some said a large turnover in firms created was making it hard for the BLS to estimate job creation associated with new companies.
Weather, strikes and government job cuts as well as big changes to the labor force as President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on illegal immigration have also added to volatility, they said. Economists recommended looking at the three-month moving average of payrolls.
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The labor market has been stuck in what economists and policymakers have called a “slow hire, slow fire” zone, a paralysis blamed on trade and immigration policies. Lower immigration and an aging population meant the economy needed to create between zero and 50,000 jobs per month to keep up with growth in the working-age population, economists estimated. With the so-called breakeven level of job growth much lower than in prior years, they did not expect a surge in the unemployment rate, even if employment gains slowed considerably.The report bolstered financial market views that the Fed would leave interest rates unchanged into 2027. The U.S. central bank last week left its benchmark overnight interest rate in the 3.50%-3.75% range, citing inflation worries.
Bank of Baroda (BoB) reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 5,616 crore for the March-ended quarter, up 11.2% from Rs 5,048 crore in the year ago period. The state-lender’s net interest income (NII) rose 9% year-on-year to Rs 12,494 crore in Q4FY26, compared to Rs 11,494 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last financial year.
Meanwhile, non-interest income fell 16% to Rs 3,967 crore in the quarter under review, down from Rs 4,735 crore in Q4FY25.
Deposits
Global deposits jumped 12% from Rs 14.72 lakh crore in Q4FY25 to Rs 16.48 lakh crore in Q4FY26. In this, domestic deposits stood at Rs 14.01 lakh crore, up 13% YoY from Rs 12.42 crore in Q4FY25. Meanwhile, international deposits increased 7.5% to Rs 2.47 lakh crore versus Rs 2.29 lakh crore in the year-ago period. Advances
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PSU lender’s global advances jumped 16% to Rs 14.29 lakh crore versus Rs 12.30 lakh crore in the year-ago period. In this, domestic gross advances increased 15% to Rs 11.69 lakh crore in Q4FY26 versus Rs 10.21 lakh crore in Q4FY25.
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Total business witnessed 14% YoY growth to Rs 30.78 lakh crore. Asset quality Gross NPAs fell 37 bps to 1.89% in Q4FY26 from 2.26% in Q4FY25 while the NET NPA declined 13 bps to 0.45% in Q4FY26 versus 0.58% in Q4FY25. However, Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) fell 137 bps to 15.82% in Q4FY26 from 17.19% in the year ago period.
The operating profit stood at Rs 9,069 crore, up 11.5% from 8,132 crore in the year ago period. Dividend
The company recommended a dividend of Rs 8.50 per equity share for the FY26 subject to the approval at the upcoming 30th Annual General Meeting of the bank. It has fixed record/cut off date as June 5, 2026 for the purpose of dividend payment.
(Disclaimer: The recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)
Sappi Limited (SPPJY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call May 7, 2026 9:00 AM EDT
Company Participants
Stephen Binnie – CEO & Executive Director Michael Haws – Chief Executive Officer of Sappi North America Marco Eikelenboom – Chief Executive Officer of Sappi Europe Glen Pearce – CFO & Executive Director Graeme Wild – CEO of Sappi Southern Africa
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Conference Call Participants
James Twyman – Prescient Securities (Pty) Ltd., Research Division Brian Morgan – Morgan Stanley, Research Division Sean Ungerer – Chronux Research Pty. Ltd Detlef Winckelmann – JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division Saul Casadio – M&G Investment Management Limited
Presentation
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Operator
Good day, and welcome to the Sappi FY 2026 Results Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today’s conference call is being recorded.
I would now like to hand you over to your host today, CEO, Steve Binnie. Please go ahead.
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Stephen Binnie CEO & Executive Director
Thank you, operator, and good day to everybody. Thanks for joining us. As always, I’ll go through the investor [ presentation ], calling out the page numbers as I move along. And to start just on Page 2, just to draw your attention to our comments around forward-looking statements.
Moving to Slide 3, which is a high-level summary of the quarter and the results. And it’s fair to say it’s been a very challenging quarter. And perhaps just focus on some of the larger items that have influenced the performance. And it’s really 2 broad themes. And firstly, it’s selling prices were down across all the regions and linked to the weak market conditions. But more specifically, the DWP price was substantially lower than a year ago market prices, $130 actually lower than a year ago. So that had a substantial impact.
We also — we’ve seen packaging prices globally come under pressure, which has had an impact on our markets even
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