Just days after the UAE hinted at a growing dollar shortage in the Gulf nation by requesting swap lines with the Fed, Bloomberg reports that as Iran's struggling neighbors scramble to build cash buffers to deal with any potential economic fallout from the Iran war, one large buyer has stepped in: the world's largest bond manager, Pacific Investment Management Co.
Since the start of the Iran war, Pimco has lent more than $10 billion to state-backed and government borrowers in the Gulf via so-called private placements. The $2.27 trillion asset manager has been a significant buyer of privately placed bonds issued by the governments of Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Kuwait, as well as by Qatar National Bank. Pimco also participated alongside other investors in several placements that boosted the size of existing Abu Dhabi bonds by a combined $2.5 billion.
In total, regional borrowers raised $13.8 billion from Feb. 28 to April 23, in privately placed bonds denominated in hard currency, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, with Pimco accounting for a majority of that lending.
Private placements offer trade-offs for issuers rushing to get to market: they can be more expensive than public debt (and thus soffer higher returns for buyers such as Pimco). In return, sellers are able to borrow faster, with more privacy and greater flexibility on deal terms.
The coupon on Qatar’s privately placed bond was 4.8%. That was about 0.3% higher than implied by the yield curve for the country’s public traded bonds, according to Bloomberg calculations. The actual yield for bondholders depends on the price at which they bought it from the issuer, which wasn’t disclosed.
“Not all countries have the option of borrowing at reasonable interest rates at a time of geopolitical uncertainty. It’s notable that the three Gulf nations with the strongest balance sheets are the ones tapping the market,” said Ziad Daoud, chief emerging markets economist at Bloomberg Economics. “And they’re resorting to private borrowing instead of public issuance. The latter probably requires more disclosure and higher transparency.”
To Pimco, which has been invested heavily in emerging market bonds, the Gulf scramble to find buyers for its bonds has been a boon. The Newport Beach-based fund opened an office in Dubai last year, joining a rush of investment companies seeking to deepen their presence in a region flush with sovereign wealth. Pimco said this move built on over 20 years of managing assets for investors in the Middle East.
Pimco intends to hold the bonds over the long term, a Bloomberg source said. Earlier this month, Pimco - which is rapidly emerging as a lender of last resort - bought all of a $400 million bond issued by a Blue Owl Capital, in an important vote of confidence for the private credit specialist.
Gulf bond markets have been among the busiest globally in recent years, with regional borrowers selling about $50 billion of public debt in the first two months of this year. But those markets have effectively shut since the conflict began.
Before a ceasefire between the US and Iran was agreed in early April, Gulf Arab states contended with thousands of missiles and drones over several weeks, intercepting the vast majority. The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupted energy exports — a key source of government revenue — prompting the International Monetary Fund to cut growth forecasts across the region.
Over the weekend, the WSJ reported that the UAE informally inquired about a currency swap, if the economic and financial impact of the war worsens. The Emirati ambassador to Washington signaled the country had no need for external financing, and Bloomberg Economics’ Daoud described the inquiry as “a call for confidence, not a call for help.”
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that many Persian Gulf allies had requested foreign exchange swap lines with the US, a day after President Donald Trump said an arrangement with the UAE is under consideration.
Tyler Durden Thu, 04/23/2026 - 18:15
Authored by Victoria Friedman via The Epoch Times,
The U.S. Air Force said on April 20 that it would extend the life of the A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft—commonly referred to as the “Warthog”—for another four years beyond its previously stated retirement deadline of 2026.
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink wrote on X that following consultation with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, the Air Force “will EXTEND the A-10 ‘Warthog’ platform to 2030,” adding that this decision “preserves combat power as the Defense Industrial Base works to increase combat aircraft production.”
The A-10 is being deployed in operations in Iran, according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which said in a March 25 post on X that it had been used to strike Iranian naval vessels during Operation Epic Fury.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine previously revealed at a March 19 Pentagon news conference that the craft was “now in the fight across the southern flank and is hunting and killing fast-attack watercraft in the Strait of Hormuz.”
According to an Air Force fact sheet, the Warthog was the first Air Force aircraft designed specifically to provide air support for ground forces. It can fly near combat areas for extended periods of time, and be used as an attack aircraft against ground targets, “including tanks and other armored vehicles.”
Former F-16 Thunderbird fighter pilot Ryan Bodenheimer, who runs the YouTube channel “Max Afterburner,” described A-10 in a March 15 video as “America’s flying tank.” He said it could be used to take down Shahed drones, as well as some of the fast-attack boats Iran still had in service at the time.
The Warthog is resilient, able to survive hits from armor-piercing and high-explosive projectiles up to 23mm, according to the Air Force.
However, they’re not invulnerable. On April 3, a pilot ejected from an A-10 after it was hit, with Iranian forces taking credit. The pilot parachuted to safety in Kuwait before the Warthog crashed.
Attempts to Retire the A-10Some in the Air Force said that the A-10, which first flew in 1976, is too old, too slow, and too expensive to maintain, prompting calls for its retirement to free up funds to develop modern defense solutions such as hypersonic weapons. But those opposed to the retirement say that cutting the fleet before there is a suitable replacement could leave ground troops without adequate air support.
In 2021, then-President Joe Biden wanted to retire dozens of the aircraft to free up resources for modernization, but Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.)—in whose state many of the craft are based—pushed back and secured language in defense legislation that blocked retirements.
Kelly argued that the aircraft should not be taken out of commission until a replacement is available.
That same year, Air Force Lt. Gen. David Nahom told a House of Representatives hearing that if the number of A-10s is not reduced, the Air Force will face a shortage of mechanics for newer planes.
An A-10 Thunderbolt II undergoes pre-flight inspections at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona on March 23, 2006. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jesse Shipps
The Warthog has some enthusiastic defenders outside the Pentagon.
Defense analyst Mike Fredenburg wrote in a March 24 opinion piece in The Epoch Times: “Despite Air Force claims that the A-10 has no place on the modern battlefield, a claim it has been making for decades, the A-10 is once again using its unmatched versatility and loitering capability to destroy fast-attack watercraft, drones, and enemy positions.
“And for the role it is performing in Operation Epic Fury, the Warthog is vastly superior to any F-35, F-15, F-16, or B-2, or even the most advanced drone in the U.S. arsenal.”
Tyler Durden Thu, 04/23/2026 - 17:50Shares of Texas Instruments jumped the most since the Dot-Com bubble era after the chipmaker issued a stronger-than-expected second-quarter forecast, signaling that demand is rebounding across industrial markets and data centers. Goldman analysts told clients the guidance suggests the "analog recovery is continuing."
Revenue guidance of $5 billion to $5.4 billion and profit guidance of $1.77 to $2.05 a share both came in well above the Bloomberg Consensus estimate of estimate $4.85 billion, while first-quarter results also beat expectations.
Here's a snapshot of first-quarter results (courtesy of Bloomberg):
EPS $1.68 vs. $1.28 y/y, estimate $1.38
Revenue $4.83 billion, +19% y/y, estimate $4.53 billion
Operating profit $1.81 billion, +37% y/y, estimate $1.54 billion
Capital expenditure $676.0 million, -40% y/y, estimate $689.9 millio
Free cash flow $1.40 billion, estimate $1.2 billion
R&D expenses $510 million, -1.4% y/y, estimate $530.7 million
Cash and cash equivalents $3.55 billion, +28% y/y, estimate $3.25 billion
CEO Haviv Ilan told analysts on an earlier call that the resurgence in demand for industrial components was broad-based across all geographies and segments. He added that while the company's revenue remains below its previous peak, that's only spurring optimism that upside momentum will continue.
"There is a lot of room to grow," Ilan said. "I saw it across all sectors in industrial."
Institutional commentary from Goldman analyst James Schneider had some very positive takeaways from earnings:
Key stock takeaways: We expect the stock to trade higher following a quarter and guidance that came in well above the Street. We believe expectations were somewhat elevated given management's constructive commentary at recent conferences, and based on our conversations we believe most investors were positioned more constructively ahead of the quarter.
We see the strong recovery in the industrial end market as a particularly encouraging read-across for the sector. Although we continue to see a recovery across the analog sector (including for TI), we believe peers have managed their inventory levels far more proactively — and hence we believe gross margins are likely to recover much faster for peers (along with significant upward earnings revisions) than for TI.
We continue to have a preference for peers (including Microchip, NXP, and Analog Devices) who are likely to see greater upward earnings revisions in the near term, and we retain our relative Sell rating on TXN given the ongoing gross margin headwinds we expect in the coming quarters.
Schneider continued:
Read-through to our coverage: We expect a positive initial reaction for the analog group, with the most direct read-across for MCHP (Buy) and ADI (Buy) given their relatively high industrial exposures.
He raised Goldman's 12-month price target to $200 from the previous $175 and maintained a "sell" rating:
Here's what other institutional desks are saying:
Barclays (raised to equal-weight from underweight, PT to $250 from $175)
Upgrade reflects multiple quarters of growth in the company's Industrial business
While a lot seems baked into the stock, "Industrial exposure is the place to be in Analog today"
BofA Global Research (raised to buy from neutral, PT to $320 from $235)
Upgrades rating after solid 1Q earnings on "industrial strength, data center power content, and US-based manufacturing"
"Pricing has not been a factor, but could offer incremental good news in 2H which we conservatively model below seasonal trends"
Truist Securities (hold, PT $225)
The results show broad-based upside, including "strong cash flow performance"
"Capital allocation was constructive for equity"
The outlook is better than expected
Bloomberg Intelligence
Evercore ISI (outperform, PT to $316 from $270)
Citi (buy, PT to $280 from $235)
Bloomberg Consensus Breakdown:
Traders rewarded Texas Instruments for its upgraded earnings outlook with buying panic mania on Thursday.
Shares in late-afternoon trading were up nearly 20%, the largest intraday move since the 24% gain on October 19, 2000.
Shares are in bluesky breakout territory:
Professional subscribers can read Goldman's TI takeaway here at our new Marketdesk.ai portal
Tyler Durden Thu, 04/23/2026 - 17:25