Business
Would a 5th Ring With the 76ers Finally Settle the LeBron vs. Kobe GOAT Debate This Season For Good?
LeBron James’ decision to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers this offseason has reignited one of basketball’s most persistent arguments: whether a fifth championship, matching the career total of the late Kobe Bryant, would finally settle the long-running debate over which player deserves to rank above the other in NBA history.
James, now 41 and entering his 24th NBA season, currently holds four championships, four Finals MVP awards and four regular-season MVP awards across stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant, who died in a 2020 helicopter crash, won five titles and two Finals MVPs across a 20-year career spent entirely with the Lakers. Should James capture a title in Philadelphia, he would match Bryant’s championship count for the first time, a milestone that has already prompted speculation about whether the numbers alone would be enough to shift public opinion.
The Case That Rings Alone Won’t Decide It
Several prominent voices in basketball have argued that championship totals, while significant, have never been the sole determining factor in how fans and analysts rank the sport’s greatest players. Former NBA guard Stephen Jackson, who played against both Bryant and James during their careers, has pointed instead to the intangible sense of fear Bryant instilled in opponents. “When you play against Kobe, it’s a fear. He is really trying to embarrass you,” Jackson said, describing an intensity he suggested set Bryant apart regardless of raw statistical comparisons.
Former NBA champion Stephen Johnson made a similar argument more directly tied to the ring count, saying that James falls short of Bryant specifically because of a difference in competitive temperament rather than accomplishment. “If LeBron had the Mamba Mentality, he would be the best ever,” Johnson said, adding, “LeBron would be in that conversation even more, but without that competitive fire, that Mamba Mentality, and without always dominating when he has the chance, he falls short. Playing to the level of your competition? That’s something Kobe never did.”
Why Some Analysts Say Bryant Is Overrated in the Discussion
Not everyone agrees that Bryant should automatically rank above James, ring count aside. Fox Sports analyst Nick Wright has argued that Bryant’s stylistic similarity to Michael Jordan has artificially inflated his standing in GOAT conversations, suggesting the debate has become less about identifying the greatest player objectively and more about identifying whoever most closely resembles Jordan. “It’s why Kobe is probably a touch, historically overrated, because he is the most similar to Michael Jordan,” Wright said, drawing a comparison to Tim Duncan, who also won five championships but with an additional Finals MVP and regular-season MVP compared with Bryant, yet rarely receives the same GOAT-conversation attention.
Basketball Hall of Famer Reggie Miller offered his own stack ranking of the three most commonly discussed players when asked directly on the “Dan Patrick Show,” placing Jordan first, Bryant second, and James third. “If we’re going stack-for-stack player – to me: MJ, Kobe, and then LeBron,” Miller said, while acknowledging the exercise remains inherently subjective.
The Statistical Case for James
James’ supporters typically point to a different set of measures entirely. He currently holds the NBA’s all-time career scoring record, with more than 40,000 points across over 1,500 games, a total that surpassed both Bryant and Jordan during his career. Shaquille O’Neal, who played alongside Bryant for years in Los Angeles, has acknowledged James’ statistical dominance directly, saying, “He already passed Kobe and Jordan in points… he’s gonna be creeping on Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] too,” while separately suggesting James could ultimately surpass Jordan in the broader GOAT conversation depending on how his career continues to unfold.
Former NBA forward Carlos Boozer has taken a somewhat different angle, arguing that Bryant’s exclusion from many modern GOAT conversations, which have increasingly narrowed to a binary choice between Jordan and James, represents its own form of disrespect to Bryant’s legacy. “Everybody right now is trying to pick between Michael and LeBron as who the best player ever is, but Kobe was an animal,” Boozer said. “It’s hard to not include him in that conversation because he won five championships.”
Even Jordan and Bryant Weighed In Themselves
The debate has not been confined to outside commentators. Bryant himself addressed the comparison directly in a 2013 interview, acknowledging James’ dominance at the time even while maintaining his own place in the conversation. Jordan, for his part, has generally avoided direct rankings of his own but once remarked, “In terms of the dominance of the game of basketball, at this stage it’s LeBron,” a comment often cited by James’ supporters as evidence that even Jordan recognized James’ impact on the sport during his prime years.
Why a Fifth Ring May Not Fully Resolve the Question
Based on the range of arguments already circulating among former players, analysts and fans, a fifth championship for James in Philadelphia would likely shift the statistical comparison in his favor without necessarily ending the broader debate. Voices like Johnson and Jackson have grounded their preference for Bryant in intangible qualities, competitive temperament, perceived killer instinct, and stylistic resemblance to Jordan, factors that a fifth ring alone would not directly address. Meanwhile, analysts like Wright and O’Neal have suggested the numbers, scoring records, longevity and continued production well into his 40s, already favor James regardless of whether he adds another championship.
Should James help lead the 76ers to a championship this season, alongside teammates including Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown, the moment would undoubtedly reignite the Bryant comparison in earnest, given the symbolic weight of James matching a number so closely associated with Bryant’s own legacy. Whether that milestone shifts public consensus meaningfully, however, will likely depend less on the ring count itself and more on how the broader basketball community continues weighing intangible qualities against measurable statistics, a balancing act that has defined the GOAT debate for years and shows no clear sign of resolving even as James’ career total continues to climb.
Business
3 Surprising IPO Winners in 2026 That Aren’t SpaceX or SK Hynix Stock Investors Should Know About
While SpaceX and SK Hynix have dominated headlines as the year’s marquee initial public offerings, both raising tens of billions of dollars and reshaping expectations for what a mega-IPO can look like, a handful of smaller, less-publicized debuts have quietly delivered strong returns of their own in 2026, offering investors alternative ways to gain exposure to some of the year’s biggest market themes without paying the premium valuations attached to the headline names.
The Backdrop: A Banner Year for New Listings
The broader IPO market has performed unusually well in 2026, with the Renaissance IPO Index, a benchmark tracking newly public companies, up roughly 28% for the year, according to Renaissance Capital director of research Nick Einhorn, compared with roughly 11% for the broader U.S. stock market over the same period. Einhorn has pointed to the SpaceX offering as a catalyst for the broader wave of new listings that followed, saying, “This is coming on the heels of the SpaceX IPO. It’s not a coincidence that we’re seeing another large deal, since that was getting a lot of interest and trading well.” That renewed enthusiasm has created an unusually favorable environment for smaller companies to test public markets, even those with far less name recognition than SpaceX or SK Hynix.
Lime: A Scooter Company’s Unlikely Comeback
Perhaps the most striking example of a smaller company thriving amid this year’s IPO wave is Lime, the Uber-backed electric scooter and bike rental company formally known as Neutron Holdings. Lime’s path to going public was anything but smooth. The company’s private valuation collapsed from $2.4 billion in 2019 to roughly $510 million in 2020 as the pandemic emptied city streets and scooter demand cratered, a decline that at the time looked like it might mark the end of Lime as a viable standalone business.
Instead, Lime rebuilt steadily in the years that followed, growing revenue from $522 million in 2023 to $686.6 million in 2024 and $886.7 million in 2025, a 29% year-over-year increase, while achieving free cash flow positivity for multiple consecutive years, a rare feat in the historically cash-burning micromobility sector. Lime priced its IPO at $25 per share on June 30, raising $167 million and valuing the company at approximately $1.66 billion, before shares began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker LIME and jumped roughly 9% within the first hour of trading, opening at $27 a share.
Uber, which owns more than 10% of Lime’s shares and helped the company absorb Uber’s own former e-bike unit, Jump, acted as an anchor investor in the offering, agreeing to purchase up to $20 million of stock at the IPO price. Lime CEO Wayne Ting has previously described the company’s operational turnaround in strong terms, crediting the business with record profits and expanded global reach even as competitors in the space struggled or folded entirely, saying at one point that the company grew profits faster than revenue while serving more than 24 million riders worldwide.
CoreWeave: An Undersubscribed IPO That Became an AI Darling
Another example of a smaller offering outperforming despite a rocky start is CoreWeave, the AI cloud computing company that went public in March 2025. According to the Motley Fool, CoreWeave’s IPO arrived at an inopportune moment, as concerns about tariffs, weakening consumer sentiment and a potential slowdown in AI spending weighed on investor appetite at the time. The offering was undersubscribed and ultimately priced below its target range, requiring Nvidia, one of CoreWeave’s major customers, to buy into the offering to help it get done.
Since then, as broader confidence in the AI infrastructure buildout has strengthened, CoreWeave’s stock has climbed sharply, supported by revenue growth of 112% in the company’s most recent quarter, reflecting surging demand for the AI computing power it provides to customers. The company remains deeply unprofitable on a standard accounting basis and carries substantial debt tied to its capital-intensive business model of purchasing GPUs to rent out as computing capacity, risks that have kept some analysts cautious even as the stock’s performance has impressed investors willing to accept that volatility.
Why Smaller IPOs Can Sometimes Outperform the Headliners
Market analysts have noted that the largest, most heavily anticipated IPOs of any given year do not always deliver the strongest returns for investors who buy in after the debut. SK Hynix’s own U.S. listing illustrates this dynamic directly: after pricing at $149 per share and briefly touching an intraday high of $177, the stock’s early momentum faded quickly, with shares falling below their IPO price on the very first day of trading, a much faster reversal than SpaceX experienced following its own record-breaking debut. Interactive Brokers strategist Steve Sosnick has cautioned that continued volatility in high-profile IPOs like SK Hynix could carry broader implications for market sentiment beyond the individual stocks involved, saying any sustained tumble could send ripples through the market larger than a typical sector rotation.
That pattern, in which the most hyped offerings sometimes struggle to sustain their initial pricing while smaller, less closely watched companies quietly deliver steadier gains, has become a recurring theme across this year’s unusually active IPO market.
A Reminder About IPO Investing Broadly
Despite these individual success stories, market researchers caution that IPO investing generally remains a difficult way to consistently beat the broader market. Roughly two-thirds of IPOs underperform the broader market within three years of going public, according to data compiled by Simply Wall St, with about 64% lagging the market by more than 10%. At the same time, the same research shows that when IPOs do outperform, the gains can be substantial, with the best-performing 10% of new listings delivering average market-adjusted returns exceeding 300% over a three-year period, underscoring why investors continue chasing new listings despite the poor odds facing any individual offering.
With additional high-profile IPOs still anticipated before the end of the year, including continued speculation around a potential OpenAI listing, investors are likely to keep weighing the tradeoffs between chasing headline-grabbing mega-offerings like SpaceX and SK Hynix versus smaller, less-hyped companies like Lime and CoreWeave that have managed to deliver strong returns of their own, often with considerably less initial fanfare and, in some cases, a far lower entry valuation for investors buying in after the public debut.
Business
Sony: Spider-Man Lights Up Q2, But Digital Gaming Transition Is The Real Story (NYSE:SONY)
Monte Independent Investment Research: Michael Del Monte is a buy-side equity analyst with expertise in the technology, energy, industrials, and materials sectors. Prior to working in the investment management industry, Michael spent over a decade in professional services working across industries that include O&G, OFS, Midstream, Industrials, Information Technology, EPC Services, and consumer discretionary.
Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
Business
Explained: How BSE traded fewer contracts after CAS but premiums rose 75% in first week
Nuvama said the first week of CAS implementation appears to have curbed last-minute swings, fuelling flows into deep out-of-the-money options. This resulted in a sharp decline in the average number of contracts traded, even as premiums rebounded.
BSE’s average daily contracts traded fell 30.6% week-on-week to 90 million, compared with a 20.4% decline for the industry. The figure stood at 150 million in July 2026 and 156 million in the first quarter of FY27.
Also read: CAS chaos splits Sensex and Nifty: How long will this last?
Despite the drop in contracts, the premium generated per contract surged 74.8% week-on-week to Rs 2,605. This compares with Rs 1,688 in July 2026 and Rs 1,902 in Q1 FY27.
The increase in premium per contract helped BSE’s average daily premium turnover value rise 21.3% week-on-week to Rs 23,500 crore, significantly ahead of the 9.5% growth recorded by the industry. The figure was also above Nuvama’s remaining FY27E ADPTV estimate of Rs 21,800 crore. As a result, BSE’s ADPTV market share rose to 37.1%, an increase of 362 basis points week-on-week.
For FY27 so far, BSE’s average daily premium turnover value stands at around Rs 28,200 crore, while its ADPTV market share is around 35.2%. Its premium-to-notional turnover value ratio stands at around 12.6 basis points, compared with 17.6 basis points for the industry.
What is CAS?
Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) introduced the Closing Auction Session (CAS) for eligible Futures & Options (F&O) stocks which started on August 3. The new framework changes how closing prices are determined for these stocks and extends equity derivatives trading by 10 minutes.
For investors, the biggest change is this: the closing price of eligible F&O stocks will no longer be calculated using trades executed during the final 30 minutes of the trading session. Instead, it will be discovered through a dedicated auction held after continuous trading ends.
Simply put, CAS is a 20-minute auction that begins after continuous trading ends. Instead of executing every trade instantly as it happens during the trading day, all buy and sell orders are pooled together and matched at one common price. That single price becomes the stock’s official closing price.
Timing chronology starting 3:15 p.m.
The process begins before the auction starts. Between 3 p.m. and 3:15 p.m., exchanges will calculate the volume weighted average price (VWAP) of trades in every eligible stock. At 3:15 p.m., continuous trading in eligible stocks ends, and the market shifts into CAS.
For the next five minutes, until 3:20 p.m., no fresh orders can be placed as the market transitions into the auction. From 3:20 p.m. to 3:25 p.m., investors can place both market and limit orders.
Read more: CAS sparks trader backlash as losses mount, Sebi holds firm
From 3:20 p.m. to 3:25 p.m., investors can place both market and limit orders. Between 3:25 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., only limit orders can be entered. Market orders placed earlier cannot be modified or cancelled during this phase. To prevent a flurry of last-second orders, the order entry window will not close at a fixed time. Instead, it will shut randomly between 3:28 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Once the order entry window closes, exchanges will stop accepting orders and begin matching buy and sell orders between 3:30 p.m. and 3:35 p.m. All successful trades will be executed at a single equilibrium price, which will become the stock’s official closing price.
The objective is to make the closing price more representative of overall market demand and supply. By bringing together all buy and sell orders at the close, the auction is designed to improve liquidity, help execute large orders more efficiently and arrive at a more robust closing price.
The framework is also intended to make it harder for large trades placed in the final minutes of the session to disproportionately influence stock and index closing levels.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
Business
Dodge Unveils 600-Horsepower 2027 Charger Super Bee to Mark Charger’s 60th Anniversary in Detroit
Dodge revived one of its most storied performance nameplates Thursday, unveiling the 2027 Charger Super Bee Launch Edition, a 600-horsepower version of its twin-turbocharged six-cylinder muscle car that the automaker says is the most powerful and quickest Super Bee ever built.
The announcement came as part of celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the Dodge Charger nameplate, giving the brand a symbolic moment to reintroduce the Super Bee badge after a three-year absence. The Super Bee had last appeared on a Charger in 2023, when it was powered by Dodge’s 6.4-liter V8 rather than the turbocharged six-cylinder engine underpinning the new model.
A SAE-Certified 600 Horsepower
The new Super Bee produces a Society of Automotive Engineers-certified 600 horsepower and 531 pound-feet of torque from a revised, higher-output version of Dodge’s twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter Hurricane inline-six engine, the same base engine family used across the current Charger lineup. That figure surpasses the standard High Output version of the engine, found in the Charger Sixpack Scat Pack, by 50 horsepower, and tops the outgoing 2023 Super Bee’s V8-derived output of 485 horsepower by more than 100 horsepower, despite running with two fewer cylinders.

Dodge achieved the power increase primarily through larger 56-millimeter Garrett turbochargers capable of producing up to 30 pounds per square inch of boost, alongside a modified intake system, reworked intercoolers and a revised powertrain calibration. Engineers also reinforced the vehicle’s half-shafts to be nearly 10% stronger to reliably handle the additional power, according to Dodge.
Performance Numbers to Match a Hellcat Redeye
The added power translates directly into faster acceleration. Dodge quotes a 0-to-60 mph time of 3.6 seconds for the new Super Bee, a 20% improvement over the 2023 model’s 4.5-second run, and a quarter-mile time of 11.8 seconds, shaving six-tenths of a second off the outgoing car’s 12.4-second result. According to Jalopnik, that acceleration puts the new six-cylinder Super Bee roughly on par with the previous-generation Dodge Charger Hellcat Redeye, a V8-powered performance flagship that had represented one of the most powerful and quickest production Chargers Dodge ever built before the brand transitioned away from the Hemi V8 in its current-generation Charger lineup.
Built With Track Driving in Mind
Beyond the raw power increase, Dodge equipped the Super Bee Launch Edition with a substantial package of track-focused hardware. The car rides on 20-by-11-inch forged wheels wrapped in Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3 tires, sized 305/35ZR20, paired with 16-inch vented Brembo brakes at all four corners, marking the first time that brake size has appeared on a Sixpack-powered Charger. The braking hardware includes six-piston front calipers and four-piston rear calipers, both fixed rather than floating, for more consistent stopping performance under repeated hard braking.
The Launch Edition also introduces new Continuous Damping Control adaptive suspension, using dual-valve dampers that Dodge says allow for more precise handling adjustments than the standard Charger’s suspension setup. The car’s cooling system capacity was increased by more than 50%, according to TopSpeed, an upgrade engineers said was necessary to keep the reworked turbocharged engine operating reliably under sustained track use, including a specifically engineered charge-air cooler duct thermal wrap designed to manage heat around the intake system.
Software Tuned for Repeatable Launches
Dodge also gave the Super Bee exclusive software calibration intended to sharpen throttle response, speed up boost buildup and refine the behavior of the car’s launch control system. The vehicle carries over a feature called Torque Reserve from the previous-generation Charger, which allows the engine to build boost pressure before a launch by holding ignition timing steady while the driver keeps the brake pedal depressed, then releases that stored energy the instant the brake is released for a stronger, more consistent start off the line. The Super Bee comes standard with all-wheel drive but includes a driver-selectable rear-wheel-drive mode, allowing all available torque to be routed to the rear wheels alone.
A Limited Production Run
Dodge has confirmed the Super Bee Launch Edition will be built in limited numbers, though the automaker has not yet disclosed exactly how many units it plans to produce or what the vehicle will ultimately cost. According to Edmunds, buyers of the Launch Edition will also receive one day of performance driving instruction at Radford Racing School, part of Dodge’s broader effort to position the car as a genuinely track-capable vehicle rather than simply a straight-line performance model. The car is offered in two exterior color options highlighted in Dodge’s official announcement, a bright shade called Sucker Punch and a more understated Diamond Black.
A Nameplate With Deep Roots
The Super Bee name dates back to 1968, when it first appeared on the Dodge Coronet, before making its way onto the Charger lineup in 1971. The badge saw a brief revival in 2007 before returning again in the more recent V8-powered Charger generation, and now returns once more for 2027 as Dodge’s flagship expression of its turbocharged six-cylinder Charger platform.
Filling the Gap Left by the Hellcat
The new Super Bee arrives at a pivotal moment for Dodge’s performance lineup, following the retirement of the brand’s supercharged Hemi V8 engines and the discontinuation of the Hellcat name from the current-generation Charger. Some coverage of the reveal, including from Jalopnik, has framed the Super Bee’s return as an attempt to help fill what the outlet described as the sizable void left behind by the absence of the Hellcat from Dodge’s current showroom lineup, even as the publication noted that the broader reception to the turbocharged, six-cylinder Charger generation has been more muted among longtime Dodge enthusiasts than the brand had initially hoped.
With pricing and exact production numbers still unannounced, additional details on the 2027 Charger Super Bee Launch Edition are expected to follow as Dodge moves closer to the vehicle’s on-sale date. In the meantime, the reveal adds a high-performance centerpiece to the Charger’s 60th anniversary celebrations, giving Dodge enthusiasts their first real look at how the brand intends to push the limits of its turbocharged six-cylinder platform now that the V8-powered muscle car era at Dodge has come to a close.
Business
How International Students Finance US Study
Studying in the United States offers incredible academic opportunities and personal growth. Navigating higher education costs far from home requires careful financial planning.
Students from all around the globe construct multi-layered funding strategies before stepping onto campus. Understanding your options makes creating a realistic budget straightforward.
Understanding Higher Education Costs in America
Attending a university in the United States involves several distinct expenses beyond simple tuition fees. Housing, meal plans, textbooks, health insurance, and personal daily expenses add up quickly.
Campus financial aid offices calculate a formal cost of attendance figure for every academic program. Overseas scholars must prove they can cover this total amount before receiving student visa documentation.
Exchange rates between home currencies and the US dollar fluctuate throughout the academic year. Smart planning includes building a buffer for currency shifts to prevent mid-semester budget shortages.
Scholarships and personal funds form the foundation of most foreign educational plans. Combining multiple revenue streams remains the most reliable pathway to completing a degree.
Exploring Merit Scholarships and Institutional Aid
Universities award merit scholarships based on academic achievements, standardized test scores, or artistic talent. These funds do not require repayment, making them highly desirable for applicants.
Finding grants directly through university departments reduces total out-of-pocket tuition expenses. Many students supplement institutional funding by applying for private college student loans designed for international applicants. Academic advisors often share lists of external funding organizations offering criteria-based awards.
Departmental awards sometimes open up after completing your first successful academic term on campus. Maintaining strong grades keeps your eligibility active for recurring annual scholarships.
Grant applications typically carry strict deadlines months before the start of the academic semester. Early preparation guarantees your application receives full consideration from selection committees.
Navigating Private International Student Financing
Private lenders provide tailored funding programs for non-US citizens pursuing higher degrees. Some lenders require a creditworthy co-signer who holds permanent residency or citizenship in the United States.
A report from Scholaro showed that international undergraduates at public research institutions frequently pay two to three times as much tuition as residents for identical instruction. Specialized private lenders attempt to bridge this massive gap with customized repayment terms.
Borrowers must evaluate several core features when comparing private funding options across providers:
- Interest rates offered as fixed or variable percentages
- Co-signer requirements or co-signer release options
- Grace periods allowed before monthly repayments begin
Comparing terms carefully protects your future financial stability during post-graduation job searches. Choosing lenders with clear policies prevents unexpected repayment hurdles later on.
Working on Campus Under Student Visa Rules
F-1 visa regulations allow international students to work on campus up to 20 hours per week during term time. Full-time work on campus becomes permissible during official university vacation periods.
Campus positions include working at university libraries, dining halls, administrative offices, or student centers. Earnings help cover personal spending, transportation, and daily living costs.
Securing on-campus employment requires obtaining a Social Security number through local federal offices. University international student centers guide scholars through the necessary paperwork.
On-campus positions fill up rapidly during the opening weeks of the fall term. Reaching out to campus hiring managers early increases your chances of securing a position.
Utilizing Graduate Assistantships and Fellowships
Graduate programs frequently offer assistantships that combine partial or full tuition waivers with monthly stipends. These positions reward students with practical career experience alongside financial support.
Teaching assistantships involve grading assignments, holding office hours, or leading discussion sections for undergraduate courses. Research assistantships involve working directly on faculty grant projects within your department.
Fellowship awards grant funding without requiring weekly teaching or research duties in return. Academic departments select recipients based on outstanding research proposals or incoming academic records.
Inquiring about graduate funding opportunities during the university application phase is wise. Department chairs can clarify available assistantship positions before you accept an admission offer.
Applying for External Home Country Grants
Government agencies in many nations fund citizens studying abroad to build technical expertise domestically. These national sponsorship programs cover tuition, travel costs, and monthly living allowances.
Private foundations and philanthropic organizations across the globe offer competitive study-abroad grants. Researching national organizations in your home country unlocks potential funding paths.
Sponsorship programs frequently require candidates to fulfill specific return obligations after graduation:
- Returning home to work in designated public sectors
- Sharing research findings with domestic university faculties
- Committing to a multi-year employment period in home industries
Reviewing grant service conditions before accepting money guarantees your career goals align with funder expectations. Clear communication with government sponsors prevents future contractual disputes.
Managing Curricular and Optional Practical Training
Curricular Practical Training allows students to take off-campus paid internships directly tied to their academic majors. Practical work experience generates income while expanding professional networks in the United States.
Optional Practical Training grants up to 12 months of off-campus work authorization following graduation. Graduates in science, technology, engineering, and math fields can extend this training period significantly.
Earnings from postgraduate practical training help offset accumulated educational debts or rebuild personal savings. Employers offer competitive compensation packages to skilled international graduates in specialized technical fields.
Applying for work authorization requires strict adherence to federal application deadlines. Designated school officials assist with submitting paperwork to immigration services accurately.
Lowering Expenses Through Smart Daily Budgeting
Managing daily living expenses directly reduces the total funding required for a US degree. Choosing off-campus shared housing often lowers monthly rent costs compared to university residence halls.
Purchasing used textbooks, renting digital books, or utilizing campus library reserves saves hundreds of dollars each semester. Cooking meals at home offers substantial savings over campus dining plans.
Public transportation discounts available through university partnerships decrease monthly travel expenditures. Utilizing student discounts for technology software and retail purchases further stretches personal budgets.
Tracking monthly spending habits using digital apps keeps scholars aligned with their total financial plans. Small lifestyle adjustments accumulate significant long-term savings across four years of study.
Financing a degree in the United States demands proactive planning and a clear understanding of resources. Combining scholarships, campus work, and structured financing creates a sustainable path toward academic success.
Taking time to explore every available opportunity empowers international scholars to achieve their dreams. Thorough preparation guarantees your focus remains where it belongs – on your education.
Business
SoFi Stock: Growth Is Not The Problem, Earnings Quality Is (NASDAQ:SOFI)
I write about broader financial markets and individual publicly traded companies, with a particular emphasis on translating complex market developments into practical investment conclusions. My work combines global macroeconomic analysis, fundamental equity research, valuation, quantitative methods, technical analysis, and portfolio risk assessment. My investing background includes experience as a junior trader at an investment advisory firm, where I was involved in market monitoring, trade execution, and middle- and back-office processes. I have also worked within the banking sector in monitoring and analytics, with exposure to non-performing exposures, securitizations, structured transactions, credit risk, and portfolio performance. These experiences have shaped my approach to investing by reinforcing the importance of understanding not only a company’s earnings potential, but also its balance sheet, financing structure, liquidity, market positioning, and sensitivity to the broader economic environment. I hold a Master’s degree in Finance and Banking from the University of Piraeus and an undergraduate degree in Economics. My academic and professional background has provided me with a strong foundation in corporate finance, capital markets, economics, statistics, banking, risk management, and quantitative analysis. I regularly use tools such as Python, R, MATLAB, Excel, and Power BI to analyse financial data, test investment hypotheses, evaluate market regimes, and develop systematic research frameworks. On Seeking Alpha, I intend to write about both broader markets and specific stocks. My macro coverage may include US equities, interest rates, credit markets, currencies, commodities, liquidity conditions, central-bank policy, economic growth, inflation, market positioning, volatility, and cross-asset signals. At the company level, I am particularly interested in technology, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, cloud infrastructure, data centres, digital advertising, enterprise software, financial institutions, storage, and other industries undergoing significant structural change. However, I do not limit my research to a single sector when an attractive opportunity or important market development emerges elsewhere. My investment approach is institutional and evidence-driven. I begin by asking what has happened historically, what is happening now, and what is likely to happen next. I then examine how business fundamentals, industry conditions, management execution, competitive advantages, valuation, technical structure, positioning, market expectations, and macroeconomic conditions interact. I do not believe that valuation alone determines the direction of a stock. An expensive company can continue to outperform when earnings expectations, capital flows, sector momentum, and narrative remain supportive. Similarly, a statistically cheap stock can continue to decline when its fundamentals, balance sheet, industry structure, or investor expectations are deteriorating. My analysis therefore focuses on expected returns rather than simple labels such as “cheap” or “expensive.” I use scenario analysis, peer comparisons, historical valuation ranges, discounted cash flow analysis where appropriate, earnings sensitivity analysis, catalysts, risk factors, and clearly defined thesis-confirmation and thesis-invalidation indicators. I also place significant emphasis on distinguishing reported facts, management guidance, market expectations, analyst estimates, assumptions, and my own inferences. My track record is primarily in institutional-style research, market analysis, quantitative model development, and investment framework construction rather than an audited public portfolio. I believe transparency about methodology, assumptions, uncertainty, and risks is more valuable than presenting isolated successful calls. Any views expressed on Seeking Alpha are my own and do not represent the views of any current or former employer or professional organization. My purpose in writing on Seeking Alpha is to contribute research that helps investors understand why markets and securities are moving, what expectations are already reflected in prices, and where the market may be underestimating risks or opportunities. I aim to provide analysis that is detailed enough for experienced investors while remaining structured and understandable for readers who want to improve their investment decision-making. Most importantly, I want my work to encourage disciplined debate, challenge prevailing narratives, and help readers make more informed decisions under uncertainty.
Business
Microsoft Corporation: A Buy And Hold Forever Type Of Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT)
I’ve been investing for almost 10 years with a focus on long term wealth creation through value growth investing, value investing, and dividend investing. I’m not a financial advisor or financial planner. I do not have a formal background in finance, I have a B.S. in Biology with a concentration in molecular cell biology. I am an avid reader, studier, and learner and have applied my rigorous undergraduate studies and research to investing. I plan to write articles on companies through the lens of fundamental value investing and attempt to find great companies at fair prices. All articles or comments are based on my personal experience, my own research, books/articles I’ve read, or general ideas about building long term wealth.
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Edelweiss Mutual Fund temporarily suspends SIPs and STPs in its 7 funds
The seven funds are – Edelweiss ASEAN Equity Off-shore Fund, Edelweiss Greater China Equity Off-shore Fund, Edelweiss US Technology Equity Fund of Fund, Edelweiss Emerging Markets Opportunities Equity Offshore Fund, Edelweiss Europe Dynamic Equity Offshore Fund, Edelweiss US Value Equity Off-shore Fund, and Edelweiss MSCI India Domestic & World Healthcare 45 Index Fund.
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Among these seven funds, six are international funds and Edelweiss MSCI India Domestic & World Healthcare 45 Index Fund is a sectoral or thematic fund.
The fund house further said that such suspension shall remain in force until additional headroom becomes available under the applicable overseas investment limit framework, following which the AMC may review and resume such subscriptions at its discretion.
On July 9, the fund house announced that the new subscription i.e fresh monthly Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) and monthly Systematic Transfer Plan (STPs) in these seven funds will be suspended with effect from the close of business hours of July 10, 2026. It also mentioned that existing systematic transactions viz. SIPs/ STPs etc. will remain unaffected.
The fund house further informed that Investors are requested to note that the AMC’s available headroom for overseas investment, as per the mutual fund level limit set on February 1, 2022, is now nearing its threshold.Earlier investors vide notice cum addendum dated October 13, 2025 were informed about the limit of subscriptions in these schemes of Edelweiss Mutual Fund with new systematic transactions viz., monthly Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) and monthly Systematic Transfer Plan (STPs) capped at maximum Rs 5,000 per PAN per day.
Earlier this week, PGIM India Mutual Fund also announced temporary suspension all existing Systematic Investment Plan (SIPs) and Systematic Transfer Plan (STPs) instalments in its three international funds – PGIM India Global Equity Opportunities Fund of Fund, PGIM India Emerging Markets Equity Fund of Fund and PGIM India Global Select Real Estate Securities Fund of Fund with effect from August 7. It became the first fund house to suspend existing SIPs and STPs.
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At present Baroda BNP Paribas Aqua Fund of Fund (FoF) is the only fund which allows lumpsum purchases, additional purchases, switch-ins, fresh registrations of Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) and Systematic Transfer Plans (STPs), and all other eligible transactions.
Baroda BNP Paribas Aqua Fund of Fund (FoF) has resumed acceptance of fresh subscriptions with effect from August 3.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
If you have any mutual fund queries, message on ET Mutual Funds on Facebook/Twitter. We will get it answered by our panel of experts. Do share your questions on ETMFqueries@timesinternet.in alongwith your age, risk profile, and Twitter handle.
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