BUSINESS

Virtually every major asset class has been stung by volatility over the past week as the combined U.S. and Israeli assault on Iran caused one of the most rapid spikes in crude-oil prices on record.

Small and mid-sized businesses often feel like underdogs when competing with big companies for top talent. But with the right benefits strategy, size doesn’t have to be a disadvantage.

If your business is under financial stress, pushing for more revenue could actually make things worse. Here’s why.

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 dealHeadphones used to be something that people used on occasion. Now, they’re often used multiple times a day, practically every day of the week. With that in mind, we think it’s important to find the right set of noise-canceling earbuds for your specific needs. At the moment, Walmart is selling a pair that has a pretty special feature, and we think it will speak to a lot of people. It’s also available at an impressive discount, so there’s good news all around!The Aptkdoe Noise-Canceling Sleep Earbuds are on sale for only $25, which is an unbelievable 81% off the original price of $130. If you were ever going to invest in a new pair of earbuds, this is definitely the time to do it. Aptkdoe Noise-Canceling Sleep Earbuds, $25 (was $130) at Walmart

Courtesy of Walmart

Why do shoppers love it?While there are plenty of benefits to describe here, we think it’s best to start with the one that truly sets this product apart from the rest. Who among us hasn’t fallen asleep at least once with our earbuds in? Whether you’ve dozed off on a plane or have fallen asleep listening to your favorite music or podcasts, sleeping with earbuds in is far from rare. Most earbuds aren’t designed to handle this, leading to sore ears and drained batteries. Thanks to Walmart and Aptkdoe, these problems are no more. The noise-canceling sleep earbuds have a flat design that’s catered to those who sleep with their wireless headphones or earbuds. It allows you to lay your head flat, or rest it on a pillow if sitting upright and it won’t put undue pressure on your ear thanks to the low profile and lightweight construction. What’s more, they also have a sleep mode, which you can set with your personal specifications. It will turn off the audio when you set the timer, and it also disables the touch controls, so tossing and turning won’t skip a song or change the volume.While all of these features are fun, they say nothing of the sound quality. Luckily, there’s plenty to brag about in that department as well. The dual precision 13-millimeter drivers give you high-fidelity audio in a small but mighty package. The earbuds also offer a powerful low bass profile that creates a balanced sound to everything you listen to. They also have ENC noise-canceling capabilities, which is especially useful when making a phone call. The noise-canceling microphone weeds out unnecessary ambient sounds and ensures that whoever is on the other end of the line hears everything you say with crystal clear accuracy. Related: Walmart is selling a Timex Indiglo chronograph for $134Details to knowDrivers: 13-millimeter precision drivers.Design: Low-profile sleep earbuds.Special modes: Sleep mode that turns off touch controls.Walmart shoppers were thrilled with these earbuds. One called them “totally awesome,” adding, “These totally exceeded my expectations, and I highly recommend them to anyone.”Shop more deals Xinwld Wireless Earbuds, $18 (was $160) at WalmartSupbs Open-Ear Earbuds, $23 (was $60) at WalmartIkt Noise-Canceling Headphones, $26 (was $100) at WalmartIf you want earbuds that fit like a dream, even when you’re dreaming, then the Aptkdoe Noise-Canceling Earbuds are a great buy. They’re only $25, which sounds absolutely amazing to us.

Samsung (SSNLF) did not necessarily want or need a flawless Galaxy S26.But it needed one that was compelling.Prior to the current cycle, the discussion around Samsung’s latest flagship phones was quite straightforward. The enhancements were not groundbreaking but more incremental in nature. The smartphone market is getting more saturated because of multiple launches, and it is getting harder and harder to excite new customers, and artificial intelligence, the industry’s new favorite sales pitch, still has to demonstrate its ability to drive actual hardware demand.Samsung is now firing the first shot.The tech giant said that betweenFeb. 27 and March 5, 1.35 million Galaxy S26 phones were preordered in South Korea, surpassing the previous record of about 1.3 million Galaxy S-series handsets established by the Galaxy S25 range. That is not the striking part. That part is that 70% of preorders were for the Ultra model. That is not just healthy demand; it’s premium demand.That is important to investors since this launch was not supposed to be easy.Samsung launched the S26 series into a market where customers are being asked to spend more money on phones whose biggest headline features are increasingly software-based, innovation is becoming more difficult to emphasize, and component prices are growing. Samsung increased the base Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus prices in the United States to $899 and $1,099, respectively, while keeping the Ultra at the same price. The base model’s price increased by 8.6% in South Korea.In light of this, the pre-order numbers are a clear signal. It implies that Samsung could be doing something that investors are interested in: maintaining pricing power over premium smartphones while also encouraging consumers to choose the high-end model, which is often the most important for mix, profits, and brand image. The Ultra’s dominance in the preorder split further validates this.Why the preorder record is importantThere is more to this story than simply phone enthusiasts rushing to buy the latest gadget, satisfying the urge to satisfy the latest craving. 

Samsung just flipped the script with Galaxy S26Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images

It concerns whether Samsung is still able to use a flagship launch as a wider demonstration of its mobile strategy.A few things are noteworthy:Despite increasing prices, the record was set. In South Korea and the United States, Samsungincreased the price of important S26 models, increasing the demand read-through compared to a flat-pricing cycle.The Ultra drove the story. The Galaxy S26 Ultra accounted for 70% of preorders, which is precisely the kind of mix that investors like to see in a high-end product cycle.There was a shorter preorder window. Despite having a four-day shorter preorder period than the Galaxy S25 series, Samsung managed to surpass last year’s record.Keep the last point in mind.A shorter timeframe often makes breaking a record more difficult rather than easier. Therefore, the Korea outcome does not seem to be a technical victory brought about by a lengthy booking window. It seems to reflect real launch momentum.Samsung wants AI to do more of the sellingHere comes the part which most investors will take an outsized interest in. Samsung is relying more than ever on AI as a justification for upgrades, which makes this Galaxy cycle important.More Tech Stocks:Morgan Stanley sets jaw-dropping Micron price target after eventNvidia’s China chip problem isn’t what most investors thinkQuantum Computing makes $110 million move nobody saw comingThe new phones reportedly come equipped with Google’s Gemini, an improved Bixby, and Perplexity features. This reflects a larger reality in smartphones today: although hardware advancements are still important, the focus of marketing is moving from the device’s internal components to what it can do for you.Related: Apple’s latest product is a game-changerAs a result, the S26 launch serves as an early gauge of customer willingness to reward that kind of approach from businesses. And Samsung seems to have cleared the first obstacle, at least in Korea.The outcome does not imply that demand was driven only by AI. Promotions were obviously helpful. Over 30% of consumers who placed preorders on Samsung.com became members of Samsung’s New Galaxy AI Subscription Club, which offers a one-year return guarantee of 50% of the base price of the 512GB model. Additionally, during the preorder period, the company upgraded 256GB customers to 512GB with a Double Storage incentive.If I put it simply, Samsung is selling more than ambition; it’s decreased upgrade friction and offered financing and value.Investors shouldn’t ignore that, as it is a very real aspect of the flagship phone market today. Clever commercial execution might be almost as important in a mature industry as innovative headline products.Samsung’s larger business narrativeSamsung is more than just its mobile division.In fact, if you dig deep, you realize it’s not even the most significant portion of the narrative.Related: Amazon’s AWS shocker overseas sends a warning to U.S. investorsThe need for AI infrastructure is a significant tailwind for Samsung’s profits, which are still mostly driven by semiconductors. However, this does not negate the importance of mobile, far from it.Samsung reported KRW 93.8 trillion in sales and KRW 20.1 trillion in operating profit for the fourth quarter of 2025. Within that, the Mobile eXperience and Networks divisions reported KRW 29.3 trillion in sales and KRW 1.9 trillion in operating profit. Smartphone sales fell in the fourth quarter as the effects of previous launches normalized, which is why signs of a stronger S26 cycle now matter to investors.Additionally, Samsung presented the S26 launch as strategically significant in its guidance.The MX division intends to increase its leadership in AI smartphones in the first quarter through the Galaxy S26 launch. It also seeks to pursue long-term profitability by increasing flagship sales, optimizing resources, and bolstering supply stability. The message is clear. Samsung wants this launch to do more than just generate attention; it wants to generate profits through the move. The competitive backdrop is getting tougher, not easierThe smartphone market is still expanding, but not by much.Counterpoint Research said global smartphone shipments rose 2% in 2025, with Apple leading the market at 20% share and Samsung close behind at 19%. The figures indicate the race is close enough to stay competitive but tight enough to keep pressure on every flagship cycle.Related: Samsung shocks Apple in smartphone warSamsung lost smartphone leadership last year to Apple, which makes the S26 launch more than a routine annual refresh. It is part of a larger effort to keep the Galaxy brand relevant at the top end of the market while Apple and Chinese rivals keep crowding the premium conversation.That is why this preorder figure deserves more attention than a typical launch-week stat.It does not prove Samsung has a global blockbuster on its hands. Korea is Samsung’s home market, and home-market demand can flatter early results. But it does suggest the most bearish version of the S26 story, which includes higher prices, modest hardware changes, and an underwhelming consumer response, is not what is panning out. Three numbers investors should keep in mind1.35 million: Galaxy S26 preorders in South Korea from Feb. 27 to March 5.70%: Share of those preorders that came from the Ultra model.KRW 1.9 trillion: Fourth-quarter operating profit from Samsung’s Mobile eXperience and Networks businesses.These figures do not provide a complete picture.But together, they paint a picture investors can work with: the mobile business is still profitable, the flagship franchise still has pull, and premium buyers may be more resilient than skeptics thought.What investors should watch nextThe next phase matters more than the headline.Investors should be watching for three things as the launch expands beyond Korea:whether strong Ultra demand will persist in other markets,whether promotions helped Samsung preserve or pressure margins,and whether the AI pitch translates into sustained upgrade momentum after the launch burst fades.Samsung said the official domestic release starts March 11, with rollout to about 120 countries including the U.S., the U.K., and India. That is where the real read on the cycle begins.Related: Credo’s blowout quarter hides a huge risk Wall Street can’t ignore

Transcript:CAROLINE WOODSThe stock market is flashing warning signs. Stocks are falling. Oil is surging toward $100 a barrel actually above that. And volatility has been spiking. Here to make sense of it all is Joe Tigay, Portfolio Manager, Rational Equity Armor Fund. Joe, great to have you on.JOE TIGAYYeah it’s good to be here. This is a very interesting time particularly as a long stocks long volatility manager. This is a really interesting time for me. Really you know not wishing this environment of course to be out there. But of course as a trader, it’s something that I look forward to. And having the opportunity to make some moves.CAROLINE WOODSYeah. And we’ll talk about some of those moves that you’re making. But first just kind of set the stage for us. Is this, a short term geopolitical shock, do you think, or the start of something bigger for the market?JOE TIGAYBoy, you know, you have to be ready for bulls. Of course you have to be ready for it to be short term. You have to be ready for it to be something bigger. You know, falling asleep last night, you had oil at 120. That’s that’s the type of, price for oil where if it stays there for a month or, you know, maybe even just a few weeks, it could just cause, this economy to tip over, and it just kind of is, a rolling ball where it spirals out of control.This higher prices just make everything more expensive, which just slows down the economy. And that could lead us to a recession. So it’s something we’re, acutely aware of. The longer prices stay here, the worse it’s going to be. You know, a month ago, we would have said $100 oil, is going to be something that’s going to tip this market over.We’re right there right now. So it’s a question like, is it is it literally just for one second, or is it going to be something that, you know, potentially gets worse from here? Or can we turn this around and get oil back under $80 where the market can, you know, and the economy more specifically can grind on?CAROLINE WOODSJoe, you mentioned the 120 level, I think was 119 overnight. That was very short lived. But we do have oil at around 101 right now. Do you think that $100 oil is the thing that finally breaks this market? Talk to us about how disruptive it is for stocks and for the global economy.JOE TIGAYYeah, absolutely. It has the potential. Like I mentioned though, if it’s just for a blip, it’s just for a week or two when we can get this trade opened and we get oil retreating, it probably will not break the economy. Won’t have any long term damage. But if this is something that sustains for months on end, it is something that can have, disastrous effect on the economy.It is very inflationary. Of course it’s going to make everything a cost more. It’s essentially like a tax hike without the benefit of the government getting any money. It’s just makes everything more expensive for everybody. So it’s not something the economy will like for the long term. That said, you know, off of the 119 level overnight down to 100, there are signs that, things are improving potentially in the street.And there’s also signs that the strategic reserves, the G7 stepped up, and said, we’re going to release all of our, strategic reserves collectively to have a, an impact. But that is something that’s temporary. Again, this is going to bring these prices down for the short term. Really need a long term solution. We know the market does not like uncertainty.CAROLINE WOODSYeah. Certainly not. There’s also a lot of talk about stagflation. Now, as we’ve seen, some of the economic data point to signs of cooling or worse. And then obviously there’s concern about the inflationary impact, especially from, oil prices. How real of a risk is stagflation. What do you think pricing that in would look like?JOE TIGAYYou know, ironically, I don’t think that declaration is really on my radar. I do think if oil does break the economy, it will be something eventually to become deflationary. Things slow down, things get a little bit cheaper. So that is kind of ironic. It’s inflationary right here. If it’s something that stays here for a long period of time, it’s something that will slow the economy down.And then ultimately prices will come in on these slower economic growth. I don’t see like this oil shock as being stagflation area. I think the oil shock is something that short term raises all the prices short term. So the economy down, ultimately that slow economy brings prices down. So it’s not something that I will see. I look out together where we’re seeing, inflation plus a slowing economy.It’s, you know, I think we will see either growth with higher inflation or, you know, or a recession where inflation is coming in.CAROLINE WOODSOkay. Volatility has also been front and center. Of course. I’ll be asking about how you’re capitalizing on that. But first you know with the VIX surging above 30 it’s historically a panic level. It’s back below that. Now just tell us what is the VIX actually telling us at these levels.JOE TIGAYYeah it’s uncertainty. We don’t know what tomorrow’s move is going to be. It’s specifically saying we were expecting big moves in the indices 30 plus VIX is about a 2% move a day in the S&P 500. That’s a lot for the S&P 500. It’s not very it’s not something I would think of as a great investment to be in something.Hey this could lose to 2% every day or this could be a 2% mover every day. I want to invest in something a little bit more stable. Usually when things are scary, when, things are uncertain. Do you see this higher VIX? Now paradoxically though, the higher the VIX is the better the investment of the market is.So if you look back in time when the VIX is about 30 it’s actually a good time to buy the market. You know when things are when you see blood on the streets, when you see people panicking and people running for the extra, it’s it’s actually a good time to be buying the market. So that’s, the contrarian view of volatility.That said, right now we’re just in a period of unknown. There’s a lot of potential possibilities. The possibility of this war, lasting a long time or ending quickly, I think, are the two big, is the biggest unknown.CAROLINE WOODSOkay. So VIX is at around 27, a little above that right now. Should investors be buying this dip that we’re seeing today.JOE TIGAYYou know it’s very very interesting Mark. And of course if this dip today we also have bonds down today. So it’s really like where do I turn to hedge. You maybe gold or the dollar might be a spot to, to look at money. But for me as a long volatility investor, volatility is something that, needs to be actively managed, very actively traded.You need to be looking at these, spikes up in volatility as opportunities to trim your volatility position. Looking for the dips, of course, too, as an opportunity to buy it back. Last night when I was talking about watching the market, it was an opportunity for me to say, hey, the next is 32. I had it on, I’ve had it on, of course, for this whole experience.But, I’ve had it on from the low teens or the mid teens, of course. And now I can take some off. You’re up at 32. Is fantastic to do. So as it’s pulling back today to the opportunity for me to say, hey, is my position change much from last night? People were panic buying the VIX at 32.I was able to sell some to them now, but it’s a little bit lower. It’s something. Yes I’m looking to buy it back. Having said that initiating a new position here at 27. That’s hard for me to recommend given the fact that this is very elevated levels for VIX.CAROLINE WOODSOkay, I was taking a look. Two of your top stock picks are Alphabet and Palantir. Tell us why those two. And are you looking at those as short term trades or something that you’d hold on more longer term.JOE TIGAYYeah I would say these are longer term trades are core positions in the portfolio, of course. Two, two stocks that. Yes. It’s if the economy does slow down, if the war drags on longer than I’d like to see it drag on, they’re going to, fall under pressure like, a lot the rest of the market, maybe even more so.But there’s two stocks. Of course, if we do get a quick resolution, they could bounce back the two stocks that are well off of their relative highs. Palantir a little over 200. Google three 3340 down 10% from that’s recent high. So they’re there are they are on a discount for me. So they are good stocks to be adding to here.And I just think for Palantir. So looking at this new world of you know we’re know about the AI trade. We know about, the Palantir’s IP. But this new world of warfare, which we’re entering into, I think, Palantir oh, for better or for worse, is at the frontline of that and is proving to be effective and be proving to be something that the government is not going to be living without anytime soon, and in fact, increasing their budget for them.I’d love to see Pelletier expanding out into the corporate, into the private sector. But their government, business is only going to grow.CAROLINE WOODSOkay. So both notably tech stocks, does that mean you think that the rotation out of tech that we’ve been seeing really all year so far will be short lived and we’ll see money start rotating back into tech?JOE TIGAYI’m just a firm believer specifically in those two names. I do think we are still, we’re not at the end of the AI boom cycle. We are still in the in a, expansionary period now where this is a period where there is lots of risks. There are companies taking big shots, right now in the AI cycle.They’re not necessarily necessarily going to pay off in the end of the day. But these are two companies which I feel like they have a very solid moat. I do not think that they’re going into massive debt, to take these shots. So I do think that they’re going to be around one way or another. I’m in them for, I’m with these two names for the long haul.CAROLINE WOODSOkay. Can you give us an example of a name that you think is taking a big shot that might not pay off?JOE TIGAYOh, well, in the private space, there is, of course, open AI. They are spending a lot of money. They’re not exactly, making as much money as, as some of their peers. But they’re spending a lot of money. They have a lot of deals. They’re expanding, expecting to be, one of the biggest companies in the world one day.And and if they’re right, they’re doing exactly the right thing. And I, you know, I wouldn’t suggest them to do anything else. But having said that, there they are. They are biting off a lot. Just remains to be seen. Will they be able to continue to chew that much?CAROLINE WOODSIf OpenAI was public right now, would you invest in it here?JOE TIGAYIt depends on the valuation, of course. I’d have to see if it’s, if it’s over a trillion, be very hard for me to, to do to, to say that I’ve just I probably would not I’d want to see a couple quarters of what their financials look like, how their growth is going. So I would probably sit out the IPO and kind of just watch it from the sideline.CAROLINE WOODSOkay. And just to kind of wrap things up, I know a lot of it probably hinges on what oil is going to do. But overall geopolitical shocks tend to rattle the markets in the short term. But we see them often fade pretty quickly. Do you think this one will follow that pattern, or could this be different?JOE TIGAYOh, I’d love to see it fade pretty quickly. I’d love to see a V-shaped recovery in these stocks. I’m not banking on it completely, though. This absolutely could be different. This could be something which lasts for a while. You know, this oil shocks. Yes. A lot of times they are very quickly recovers.But oil shocks that linger are potential, reasons for recession. So, something that I’m watching very closely, acutely aware that bulls are possible. I am, you know, cognizant of of previous oil shocks which have led to recessions, of course, you know, 1991, in the 70s or it’s it’s absolutely a possibility, where this could lead to something that, drives us, drives economic growth slower in a quick and a quick way.CAROLINE WOODSOkay. So stagflation is not on your radar, but a recession is.JOE TIGAYYes. Recession. Absolutely. It could be something, that could, could happen. And it’s coming from higher oil prices, higher oil prices, slower, slows the economy down, a slower economy. That, of course, ultimately drives prices down.CAROLINE WOODSOkay. All right. I think this is a great segue into our rapid fire this or that round. Are you ready to play?JOE TIGAYAll right, let’s do it.CAROLINE WOODSAll right. Here we go. Us-iran war. Short term shock or long term problem?JOE TIGAYWhat is a short term shock.CAROLINE WOODSMarket right now? Panic or opportunity?JOE TIGAYWow. It’s it’s interesting. Usually I think of panic as an opportunity. So I’m going to just say it’s an opportunity.CAROLINE WOODSAll right. Both. Oil at 100. Temporary spike or new normal.JOE TIGAYTemporary spike.CAROLINE WOODSBecause volatility. Peak fear or just getting started.JOE TIGAYWe certainly can see higher VIX. So maybe this is just getting started.CAROLINE WOODSSo volatility threat or opportunity.JOE TIGAYWell I always view it as opportunities very tradable back and forth of course. So I’m going to say opportunity.CAROLINE WOODSThat was a soft spot. Safer haven gold or oil. Gold energy stocks or tech stocks.JOE TIGAYTech stocks I think energy had a great brief run. But it’s very it’s very tied to the price of oil.CAROLINE WOODSBig tech or the rest of the market.JOE TIGAYI’m gonna go with big tech. They’re, behind lately, but they have plenty of room to catch up.CAROLINE WOODSAI companies or defense contractors.JOE TIGAYOh, this is a tough one. A month ago, I said defense contractors. But where we are today, I’m going to go AI companies.CAROLINE WOODSLarge caps or small caps? Large caps by the pullback or wait for better prices.JOE TIGAYIf I have to, I would say buy it by the pullback.CAROLINE WOODSFed cuts ahead or holding.JOE TIGAYBack cuts ahead.CAROLINE WOODSSo soft landing still possible or off the table.JOE TIGAYAbsolutely. Still possible. The risks are greater today than they were two weeks ago.CAROLINE WOODSSix months from now. Higher market or lower market?JOE TIGAYSix months. And, of course, is tied to the duration of the war. If the war is still going on, it will absolutely be lower. But if it is not higher, I’m fingers crossed that the war will be over.CAROLINE WOODSOkay. And coming from a trader is your best investment strategy for right now.JOE TIGAYYeah. Best investment strategy in a world where stocks today are lower bonds, they are lower long stocks, long volatility, actively managed. That is my go to strategy hasn’t changed. When vol is low and it’s not going to change of course. And volatile and is working very well.CAROLINE WOODSAll right. Well I’ll leave it there Joe Tigay, Portfolio Manager, Rational Equity Armor Fund always a pleasure. Thanks so much.JOE TIGAYThank you for having me.

Anthropic on Monday released Code Review, a multi-agent code review system built into Claude Code that dispatches teams of AI agents to scrutinize every pull request for bugs that human reviewers routinely miss. The feature, now available in research preview for Team and Enterprise customers, arrives on what may be the most consequential day in the company’s history: Anthropic simultaneously filed lawsuits against the Trump administration over a Pentagon blacklisting, while Microsoft announced a new partnership embedding Claude into its Microsoft 365 Copilot platform.The convergence of a major product launch, a federal legal battle, and a landmark distribution deal with the world’s largest software company captures the extraordinary tension defining Anthropic’s current moment. The San Francisco-based AI lab is simultaneously trying to grow a developer tools business approaching $2.5 billion in annualized revenue, defend itself against an unprecedented government designation as a national security threat, and expand its commercial footprint through the very cloud platforms now navigating the fallout.Code Review is Anthropic’s most aggressive bet yet that engineering organizations will pay significantly more — $15 to $25 per review — for AI-assisted code quality assurance that prioritizes thoroughness over speed. It also signals a broader strategic pivot: the company isn’t just building models, it’s building opinionated developer workflows around them.How a team of AI agents reviews your pull requestsCode Review works differently from the lightweight code review tools most developers are accustomed to. When a developer opens a pull request, the system dispatches multiple AI agents that operate in parallel. These agents independently search for bugs, then cross-verify each other’s findings to filter out false positives, and finally rank the remaining issues by severity. The output appears as a single overview comment on the PR along with inline annotations for specific bugs.Anthropic designed the system to scale dynamically with the complexity of the change. Large or intricate pull requests receive more agents and deeper analysis; trivial changes get a lighter pass. The company says the average review takes approximately 20 minutes — far slower than the near-instant feedback of tools like GitHub Copilot’s built-in review, but deliberately so.”We built Code Review based on customer and internal feedback,” an Anthropic spokesperson told VentureBeat. “In our testing, we’ve found it provides high-value feedback and has helped catch bugs that we may have missed otherwise. Developers and engineering teams use a range of tools, and we build for that reality. The goal is to give teams a capable option at every stage of the development process.”The system emerged from Anthropic’s own engineering practices, where the company says code output per engineer has grown 200% over the past year. That surge in AI-assisted code generation created a review bottleneck that the company says it now hears about from customers on a weekly basis. Before Code Review, only 16% of Anthropic’s internal PRs received substantive review comments. That figure has jumped to 54%.Crucially, Code Review does not approve pull requests. That decision remains with human reviewers. Instead, the system functions as a force multiplier, surfacing issues so that human reviewers can focus on architectural decisions and higher-order concerns rather than line-by-line bug hunting.Why Anthropic thinks $20 per review is a bargainThe pricing will draw immediate scrutiny. At $15 to $25 per review, billed on token usage and scaling with PR size, Code Review is substantially more expensive than alternatives. GitHub Copilot offers code review natively as part of its existing subscription, and startups like CodeRabbit operate at significantly lower price points. Anthropic’s more basic code review GitHub Action — which remains open source — is itself a lighter-weight and cheaper option.Anthropic frames the cost not as a productivity expense but as an insurance product. “For teams shipping to production, the cost of a shipped bug dwarfs $20/review,” the company’s spokesperson told VentureBeat. “A single production incident — a rollback, a hotfix, an on-call page — can cost more in engineer hours than a month of Code Review. Code Review is an insurance product for code quality, not a productivity tool for churning through PRs faster.”That framing is deliberate and revealing. Rather than competing on speed or price — the dimensions where lightweight tools have an advantage — Anthropic is positioning Code Review as a depth-first tool aimed at engineering leaders who manage production risk. The implicit argument is that the real cost comparison isn’t Code Review versus CodeRabbit, but Code Review versus the fully loaded cost of a production outage, including engineer time, customer impact, and reputational damage.Whether that argument holds up will depend on the data. Anthropic has not yet published external benchmarks comparing Code Review’s bug-detection rates against competitors, and the spokesperson did not provide specific figures on bugs caught per dollar or developer hours saved when asked directly. For engineering leaders evaluating the tool, that gap in publicly available comparative data may slow adoption, even if the theoretical ROI case is compelling.What the internal numbers reveal — and what they don’tAnthropic’s internal usage data provides an early window into the system’s performance characteristics. On large pull requests exceeding 1,000 lines changed, 84% receive findings, averaging 7.5 issues per review. On small PRs under 50 lines, that drops to 31% with an average of 0.5 issues. The company reports that less than 1% of findings are marked incorrect by engineers.That sub-1% figure is the kind of stat that demands careful unpacking. When asked how “marked incorrect” is defined, the Anthropic spokesperson explained that it means “an engineer actively resolving the comment without fixing it. We’ll continue to monitor feedback and engagement while Code Review is in research preview.”The methodology matters. This is an opt-in disagreement metric — an engineer has to take the affirmative step of dismissing a finding. In practice, developers under time pressure may simply ignore irrelevant findings rather than actively marking them as wrong, which would cause false positives to go uncounted. Anthropic acknowledged the limitation implicitly by noting the system is in research preview and that it will continue monitoring engagement data. The company has not yet conducted or published a controlled evaluation comparing agent findings against a ground-truth baseline established by expert human reviewers.The anecdotal evidence is nonetheless striking. Anthropic described a case where a one-line change to a production service — the kind of diff that typically receives a cursory approval — was flagged as critical by Code Review because it would have broken authentication for the service. In another example involving TrueNAS’s open-source middleware, Code Review surfaced a pre-existing bug in adjacent code during a ZFS encryption refactor: a type mismatch that was silently wiping the encryption key cache on every sync. These are precisely the categories of bugs — latent issues in touched-but-unchanged code, and subtle behavioral changes hiding in small diffs — that human reviewers are statistically most likely to miss.A Pentagon lawsuit casts a long shadow over enterprise AIThe Code Review launch does not exist in a vacuum. On the same day, Anthropic filed two lawsuits — one in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and another in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals — challenging the Trump administration’s decision to label the company a supply chain risk to national security, a designation historically reserved for foreign adversaries.The legal confrontation stems from a breakdown in contract negotiations between Anthropic and the Pentagon. As CNN reported, the Defense Department wanted unrestricted access to Claude for “all lawful purposes,” while Anthropic insisted on two redlines: that its AI would not be used for fully autonomous weapons or mass domestic surveillance. When talks collapsed by a Pentagon-set deadline on February 27, President Trump directed all federal agencies to cease using Anthropic’s technology, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth formally designated the company a supply chain risk.According to CNBC, the complaint alleges that these actions are “unprecedented and unlawful” and are “harming Anthropic irreparably,” with the company stating that contracts are already being cancelled and “hundreds of millions of dollars” in near-term revenue are in jeopardy.”Seeking judicial review does not change our longstanding commitment to harnessing AI to protect our national security,” the Anthropic spokesperson told VentureBeat, “but this is a necessary step to protect our business, our customers, and our partners. We will continue to pursue every path toward resolution, including dialogue with the government.”For enterprise buyers evaluating Code Review and other Claude-based tools, the lawsuit introduces a novel category of vendor risk. The supply chain risk designation doesn’t just affect Anthropic’s government contracts — as CNBC reported, it requires defense contractors to certify they don’t use Claude in their Pentagon-related work. That creates a chilling effect that could extend well beyond the defense sector, even as the company’s commercial momentum accelerates.Microsoft, Google, and Amazon draw a line around Claude’s commercial availabilityThe market’s response to the Pentagon crisis has been notably bifurcated. While the government moved to isolate Anthropic, the company’s three largest cloud distribution partners moved in the opposite direction.Microsoft on Monday announced it is integrating Claude into Microsoft 365 Copilot through a new product called Copilot Cowork, developed in close collaboration with Anthropic. As Yahoo Finance reported, the service enables enterprise users to perform tasks like building presentations, pulling data into Excel spreadsheets, and coordinating meetings — the kind of agentic productivity capabilities that sent shares of SaaS companies like Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Intuit tumbling when Anthropic first debuted its Cowork product on January 30.The timing is not coincidental. As TechCrunch reported last week, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon Web Services all confirmed that Claude remains available to their customers for non-defense workloads. Microsoft’s legal team specifically concluded that “Anthropic products, including Claude, can remain available to our customers — other than the Department of War — through platforms such as M365, GitHub, and Microsoft’s AI Foundry.”That three of the world’s most powerful technology companies publicly reaffirmed their commitment to distributing Anthropic’s models — on the same day the company sued the federal government — tells enterprise customers something important about the market’s assessment of both Claude’s technical value and the legal durability of the supply chain risk designation.Data security and what enterprise buyers need to know nextFor organizations considering Code Review, the data handling question looms especially large. The system necessarily ingests proprietary source code to perform its analysis. Anthropic’s spokesperson addressed this directly: “Anthropic does not train models on our customers’ data. This is part of why customers in highly regulated industries, from Novo Nordisk to Intuit, trust us to deploy AI safely and effectively.”The spokesperson did not detail specific retention policies or compliance certifications when asked, though the company’s reference to pharmaceutical and financial services clients suggests it has undergone the kind of security review those industries require.Administrators get several controls for managing costs and scope, including monthly organization-wide spending caps, repository-level enablement, and an analytics dashboard tracking PRs reviewed, acceptance rates, and total costs. Once enabled, reviews run automatically on new pull requests with no per-developer configuration required.The revenue figure Anthropic confirmed — a $2.5 billion run rate as of February 12 for Claude Code — underscores just how quickly developer tooling has become a material revenue line for the company. The spokesperson pointed to Anthropic’s recent Series G fundraise for additional context but did not break out what share of total company revenue Claude Code now represents.Code Review is available now in research preview for Claude Code Team and Enterprise plans. Whether it can justify its premium in a market already crowded with cheaper alternatives will depend on whether Anthropic can convert anecdotal bug catches and internal usage stats into the kind of rigorous, externally validated evidence that engineering leaders with production budgets require — all while navigating a legal and political environment unlike anything the AI industry has previously faced.

It’s been a historic 24 hours for crude oil, which soared to $120 per barrel overnight on Iran worries, but has plunged back to just above $80.

The price per barrel reached as high as $119.48 shortly after midnight, a high not seen since July 2022.

The proposed regulations explain how to open the accounts, who can request the federal $1,000 pilot contribution, and how the money will end up in your account.