BUSINESS

Bitcoin is up about 7% from the Sunday lows, even as equities and gold tread water. Analysts point to seller exhaustion, shifting gold correlation and improving ETF flows.

The Iran conflict has sparked tumult in global equity markets, with major indexes in some markets, including South Korea, falling into correction territory.

Mark and Gwenn Snider wanted to reimagine family travel.

Stop buying tools. Start building systems.

TheStreet aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.Why we love this dealAs much as I love a canvas tote bag, some are super flimsy and prone to breaking and ripping, which is the last thing you want in a bag that you plan on using all the time. I use totes for everything from groceries to estate sales, so durability is high up on the must-have list, with style at a close second. I spotted a corduroy tote bag at Walmart that looks durable and sturdy with a double lining and cool, trendy look, and it’s on sale now for as low as $9.During a Walmart Flash deal, the Ayieyill Corduroy Tote Bag is on sale for just $9 — that’s 70% off its regular price of $30. Available in 21 colors, you can choose solid hues, spring-ready florals, and playful patterns that cater to minimalists, maximalists, and everyone in between.Ayieyill Corduroy Tote Bag, From $9 (was $30) at Walmart

Courtesy of

Why do shoppers love it?Canvas tote bags are universally loved, but a corduroy tote bag? Now, that’s how you elevate a classic. The tote bag’s corduroy fabric has a soft and stylish texture that takes a simple accessory up a notch without complicating its design. Some canvas totes can be on the flimsy side, but the corduroy makes it extra durable, and there’s cotton lining that makes it even more sturdy.With a spacious design that measures 14.5 inches long by 4.3 inches wide by 13.5 inches high, you’d be surprised by how much you can fit in this tote bag. Shoppers say it’s the “perfect size,” whether you’re using it to carry a laptop to school or work, travel essentials for a weekend getaway, or crafts, reading materials, and other screen-free activities as an affordable analog bag. It even has two slip pockets to store smaller items, like keys, a phone, and lip balm. The tote also has snap button closures to keep your belongings secure, which is a feature a lot of other tote bags in this price range don’t have.Last but not least, the tote bag is available in 21 colors, with sale prices ranging from $9 to $10. There are so many patterns to choose from, including a classic solid black color, colorful or retro florals, checkered print, animal prints, and more. At just $9 each, you can get a few without breaking the bank.Related: Coach’s viral Brooklyn bag is on sale for 40% off in the icy blue color that’s everywhere this springDetails to knowDimensions: 14.5 inches long by 4.3 inches wide by 13.5 inches high.Shoulder strap drop: 11.5 inches.Colors: 21 options.Walmart shoppers adore this shoulder bag, saying it’s spacious and great to have on hand for various occasions. One reviewer said they prefer it over a purse, saying the closures work well and the fabric is nice quality. Another shopper even used it as a two-in-one gift bag for a baby shower. Not only was a floral pattern on theme with the party and perfect for storing a gift, but it’s also handy to use afterwards for groceries, shopping, and everyday outings.Shop more dealsGocvo Canvas Tote Bag, $17 (was $30) at WalmartBagsmart Tote Bag, $20 (was $23) at WalmartGocvo Corduroy Tote Bag, $10 (was $24) at WalmartIf you need an everyday bag that’s convenient, stylish, and durable, the Ayieyill Corduroy Tote Bag is just what you need, and it’s on sale for as low as $9 during a limited-time Flash deal.

Veteran strategist Tom Lee believes the stock market can still rally sharply, despite the risk of a major drawdown in the back half of the year.The Fundstrat co-founder believes the recent market choppiness has already cut away much of the speculation that usually precedes a market peak, he said in a recent CNBC interview. That reset paves the way for the S&P 500 to jump toward 7,300 later this year, even though Lee warns that a 20% drop in markets is likely, triggering a bear market.At the time of writing, the S&P 500 index was trading at 6,781.48, per Yahoo Finance’s delayed quote data, last updated on March 10, 2026.Nevertheless, the index is still up more than 22% over the past year, but in the near term, gains have slowed. The S&P 500 is up just 0.9% year to date and about 1.7% over the past three months, according to historical data from Yahoo Finance.Put simply, the path ahead is unlikely to be linear.“We’ve already had a bear market in several areas,” Lee said, underscoring the steep pullbacks in software stocks, mega-cap tech names, and cryptocurrency.For perspective, the S&P 500 has struggled to carve out a clear path in recent weeks amid multiple headwinds, including rising oil prices, geopolitical hiccups, and growing uncertainty around inflation and interest rates.In fact, amid the Iran conflict, I covered Goldman Sachs’ stark view that sustained high oil prices will push CPI higher, pointing to a rocky road ahead if there’s no clarity in the near term.Speaking of inflation, the latest CPI report was released today, March 11, showing prices rose just 0.3% sequentially in February, while core CPI increased 0.2% month over month (2.5% year over year). Stock market investors welcomed the softer reading, with markets opening in the green. Nevertheless, Lee believes that with much of the speculative froth now cleared out, a temporary window of opportunity may open as stocks bounce before a broader downturn takes shape.

Veteran strategist Tom Lee shares new views on market risks, growth stocks, and shifting investor sentiment.Santiago/Getty Images

Who is Tom Lee?Tom Lee isn’t your regular TV market bull. In fact, he has built a powerful reputation for marching to the beat of his own drum when it comes to stock market calls.With more than 25 years of equity research experience, he currently serves as managing partner and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors.To add even more weight to his credentials, his firm reports that he has been ranked by Institutional Investor every year since 1998.More Wall StreetBillionaire Dalio sends 2-words on Fed pick WarshTop analyst bets these stocks will boost your portfolio in 2026Bank of America sends quiet warning to stock market investorsBefore launching his Wall Street shop in 2014, Lee served as J.P. Morgan’s chief equity strategist from 2007 to 2014, giving him the Wall Street pedigree to which investors typically pay close attention.Over the years, Lee has made multiple prescient calls that left his fans laughing all the way to the bank.For instance, The Wall Street Journal notes that he correctly urged investors to buy the dip during the Covid-driven market meltdown in 2020.Lee’s 2023 S&P 500 target also came within touching distance of his actual year-end call, Business Insider reported.Additionally, he has built a name in the crypto world, becoming one of the first major Wall Street strategists to publish formal bitcoin research.Lee predicts a market bounce before a deeper selloffLee’s view on the stock market is far more nuanced than many people assume.Contrary to the gloomy scenario often pushed by Wall Street pundits, he believes the market isn’t ready for a true bearish leg just yet.A lot of that is because we’ve already seen a ton of damage being dished out across other speculative corners of the market. So, before the broader index breaks, Lee feels the market usually pre-cleanses through steep corrections in high-beta areas. That sets the stage for the S&P to efficiently recover before we have the “real” breakdown.He lays out the roadmap, saying that the stock market might “pause it for March” and possibly “hit 7300 later in the year.” Only then, he says, “a bear market might show itself.”Higher oil can actually help U.S. stocksPerhaps the most provocative part of the interview was when Lee was quizzed about his bullishness over higher oil prices. In response, he doubled down, saying that “we think higher oil prices are actually good for the U.S. stock market.”For perspective, oil markets have seen tremendous volatility since the Iran conflict began. Brent crude surged from nearly $73 in late February to as high as $119.50 intraday on March 9 before pulling back, Reuters reported.Related: 5-star analyst revamps Micron stock price target before earningsLee argues, however, that the U.S. exports oil, so as an economy, it’s likely to benefit overall. That doesn’t mean the little guy gets squashed in the process, but compared to oil-importing economies, the U.S. is better insulated. That also makes U.S. growth stocks feel much more attractive relative to the market.“When growth is scarce, people buy growth stocks,” he added. “The U.S. stock market is a growth index.”Considering the S&P 500 isn’t the economy, Lee argues that it’s more of a growth-heavy equity machine, which is usually where investors run when the rest of the world looks shaky. Software and bitcoin have gone through their purgeLee says software stocks and crypto bellwether bitcoin have already taken their licks, the sort of sell-off that often comes before markets stabilize.“I think software has bottomed,” Lee said, with his reasoning centering on valuation compression. For example, the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV), a proxy for software stocks, has been taken to the cleaners of late. For some context, here are the returns for two representative ETFs and bitcoin across multiple time horizons.MAGS ETF: YTD -6.11%; 6-month +0.42%; 3-month -6.47%IGV ETF: YTD -18.5%; 6-month -22.1%; 3-month -21.7%Bitcoin: YTD -19.13%; 6-month -39.99%; 3-month -25.14%
Source: Slickcharts, Bloomberg
Nonetheless, many software giants have pretty durable business models, backed by recurring sales and healthy margins, so the reset now offers an attractive entry point for investors.Lee sees the same pattern forming in bitcoin.In his words, the cryptocurrency has endured what he calls the largest deleveraging event in its history, underscoring a steep market break last October that wiped out speculative leverage.“We’ve gone through a winter where a lot of the speculation and the leverage is gone,” Lee said.Taken collectively, both areas represent excellent opportunities for buy-the-dip investors looking to effectively cash in on the market’s current sentiment.Related: Bank of America drops shock message on the stock market

The International Energy Agency (IEA) made itself a prime time slot just after the market opening this morning, declaring that its members would release 400 million barrels amid the ongoing conflict in Iran.The proposed release would be the largest ever, larger than the 362 million+ barrel relief that the IEA (180 million) and the U.S. (182 million) jointly delivered in 2022 as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent price shock. Prices promptly surpassed $125/bbl.But despite the announcement, oil prices barely budged. So what’s 400 million barrels really? That depends on how quickly the conflict can end.What is the IEA’s release?The proposed 400 million barrel release by the IEA is the largest ever, underscoring the seriousness of the situation. It aims to arrest rising oil prices as shipping corridors like the Strait of Hormuz remain shut and the regional conflict ensnares Gulf-era oil producers.At first, the announcement seemed to achieve the desired effect, even without specifics about when the barrels would arrive on the market. Instead, a statement simply read: “The IEA Secretariat will provide further details of how this collective action will be implemented in due course.”The release follows Japan’s release of 80 million barrels, or 15 days of its oil consumption, from its own strategic reserves, an effort that will begin next week amid the ongoing conflict. More countries are expected to follow with releases of their own.But as soon as it was priced in, the impact of the IEA’s 400 million barrel announcement quickly faded, replaced by renewed fears of rising prices and a prolonged conflict in the region. This afternoon, Brent Crude Oil is up 4.81% to $92. Across the pond, U.S. Crude Oil is up 4.73% to $87.40. Both are back above their pre-announcement levels, raising the question: Why isn’t the announcement of the largest-ever barrel release holding oil prices in check?Why isn’t it moving prices?Even if the conflict ended today, it could take weeks or months to restore order, affecting markets long after missiles or drones stop flying.President Donald Trump initially ignited excitement in the market by saying that the operation in Iran was “very complete, pretty much” on Friday, but most of that excitement has faded as the President’s comments have been interpreted to mean at least three more weeks of fighting. And short of a diplomatic offramp, even staffers admit that there’s no clear timeline for restoring the region’s stability.Related: Will investors fall for anything? As Iran War declared “complete,” it threatens to continue, with asterisksWith that, nearly a fifth of global oil supplies, at least a third of fertilizer ingredients, and other important industrial compounds remain stuck in place. So, what’s 400 million barrels, really?The IEA’s strategic release might be seen as a bridge for oil markets, but if the bridge isn’t long enough to outlast the ongoing conflict, additional action might be necessary.400 million barrels is approximately four days of global oil supply. Spread out over time, it could help settle the market, but the market will always price based on expectations. Right now, with prices on the rise, it appears that investors are betting on more turbulence.This doesn’t just impact the energy markets, though. Many industrial chemicals and compounds are also stuck in the region, including some used in semiconductor fabrication and fertilizer production. The impact on the latter in particular has already been felt in the market.Related: It’s not just rising oil prices you’ll have to worry about if Iran conflict continuesAt this juncture, only a cessation of fighting could return the region to normalcy and stability — and reducing volatility in oil prices and other markets.

Anthropic has upgraded its Claude AI model with new capabilities for Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, marking a strategic move to expand its enterprise footprint and potentially challenging Microsoft’s newly launched Copilot Cowork — which Claude also partially powers. The updated add-ins are available to Mac and Windows users on paid Claude plans starting today, March 11. Anthropic is also expanding how enterprises can deploy the tools. Claude for Excel and Claude for PowerPoint can now be accessed either through a Claude account or through an existing LLM gateway routing to Claude models on Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud Vertex AI or Microsoft Foundry. That gives enterprises more flexibility to use the add-ins within cloud and compliance setups they may already have in place.Shared context across Office appsStarting March 11, paid Claude users on Mac and Windows can access a new beta experience in which Claude for Excel and Claude for PowerPoint share the full context of a user’s conversation with the AI model between the two applications — no need for manually copying and pasting it over.That means Claude can carry information, instructions and task history between an open spreadsheet and an open presentation in a single continuous session. For example, Claude can write formulas to extract data from an Excel workbook and immediately apply it to a stylized PowerPoint slide in the same session.“In practice: a financial analyst can ask Claude to pull comparable company financials from an open workbook, build out a trading comps table in Excel, drop the valuation summary into the pitch deck, and draft the email to the MD—without switching tabs or re-explaining the dataset at each step,” Anthropic said in a press release. This builds on Anthropic’s release of a Claude plugin for Excel back in October 2025.Repeatable workflows inside applications A central feature of this launch is Skills, which allows teams to build and save repeatable workflows directly inside the Excel and PowerPoint sidebars. Rather than re-uploading references or re-prompting instructions, users can save standardized processes—such as specific variance analyses or approved slide templates—as one-click actions available to the entire organization.That could include workflows for recurring financial analysis, preparing presentations in a preferred house style or running common review steps that would otherwise need to be rewritten as prompts each time. Anthropic said every Skill, whether personal or organization-wide, will work inside the add-ins the same way MCP connectors do. “Workflows that previously lived in one person’s head become one-click actions available to the whole organization,” the company said. Anthropic distinguishes these Skills from Instructions, which let users set persistent preferences across the add-ins, such as preferred number formatting in Excel or presentation-writing rules in PowerPoint.Anthropic is also shipping a preloaded starter set of Skills, including:Excel: Auditing models for formula errors, populating DCF and LBO templates, and cleaning messy data ranges.PowerPoint: Building competitive landscape decks and reviewing investment banking materials for narrative alignment.Similarly, Microsoft’s new Copilot Cowork capability introduced on Monday enables enterprise users to deploy agents to complete tasks across Microsoft applications such as Excel and PowerPoint. The software giant openly stated it was built in conjunction with Anthropic, which also released its own stand-alone Claude Cowork application for Mac and Windows earlier this year offering a way for Claude to access, edit, create and move information between files on a user’s computer, autonomously, at the user’s direction. Previously, even with autonomous tools like the standalone Claude Cowork app, users often had to ask the AI to complete tasks in separate steps for each application. Now, Claude maintains a continuous session that reads live data and writes formulas across both apps simultaneously.Battle of the enterprise app agentsEver since the launch of Claude Cowork earlier this year, Anthropic has been making a case to be the chat and productivity platform of choice for enterprises. Competitors like Google, with its close association with Google Workspace, which includes Gmail and Google Docs, and Microsoft, with its continued leadership in the Office suite, can directly bring AI capabilities to users’ workflows. Anthropic did not present the new Skills feature as equivalent to the more autonomous, agentic behavior Microsoft is now emphasizing with its own Copilot Cowork. But the release does show Anthropic steadily expanding beyond chatbot use cases and into more structured, repeatable work inside the applications many business users already rely on.Anthropic, through Claude Cowork, Claude Code and the Claude model family, has seeped into many organizations’ systems, using its high performance in coding benchmarks and general knowledge to navigate a computer better and complete knowledge work rapidly, at scale, with high quality. OpenClaw, the open source AI agent that has taken the developer world by storm, owes much of its existence to Claude Code. The result is another sign that the battle over enterprise AI is no longer just about which model performs best on benchmarks. It is increasingly about what AI tools and systems enterprises trust to get real work done across their existing applications, files, and workflows.

The largest-ever release of oil from the International Energy Agency’s emergency stockpiles lifted prices for the commodity up by nearly 5% on Wednesday.

Prosecutors eventually dropped charges against Noel and another guard on duty the night Epstein died in jail.