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PCE Rises by 0.40%, to a 3.4% YOY rate.
Inflation continued to hit consumer wallets in April, likely keeping the Federal Reserve on the sidelines until the current wave subsides, fresh pricing data released Thursday showed. The personal consumption expenditures price index increased seasonally adjusted 0.4% for the month, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 3.8%, the Commerce Department reported. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for respective readings of 0.5% and 3.8%.
Weekly Jobless Claims Jump,
up 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 215,000 for the week ended May 23, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 211,000 claims for the latest week. Claims have been tucked in a 190,000-230,000 range this year.
Snowflake (SNOW) Soars 30% on Great Guidance
and signed a $6 billion multiyear agreement to use Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud services and chips. Product revenue will increase about 31% to $5.84 billion in the fiscal year ending in January 2027, topping analysts’ average estimate of $5.68 billion. Buy (SNOW) on dips.
Mortgage Interest Rates Hit Nine-Month High.
Mortgage applications fall 8.5%, refinancing drops, application volumes near yearly low. Housing supply remains tight as homeowners with low rates stay put, worsening affordability. Average 30-year mortgage rate hits 6.65%, highest since August 2025, MBA reports.
US first-quarter GDP growth revised lower to 1.6% pace.
U.S. economic growth was not as strong as initially thought in the first quarter, and momentum is set to slow this quarter, with the war with Iran stoking inflation and squeezing households' finances. The economy grew at a 0.5% pace in the fourth quarter. The downgrade to the first-quarter GDP estimate reflected downward revisions to inventory investment and consumer spending. Overall economic activity is mostly being driven by artificial intelligence-related spending.
Strait to Remain Closed for Months.
Piper Sandler isn't buying the talk that an Iran deal is nearing, telling clients that the Strait of Hormuz will largely stay closed and oil will hit new highs. Piper Sandler said it has very little confidence that the commercial traffic through the Strait would return to even 50% of its pre-crisis levels, either next week or next month. The U.S. has been unwilling to press the fight because the scale of Iran's retaliation could have broader implications for its neighbors and may further disrupt global supply chains.
Zscaler Gets Skinned.
Shares tumbled 16% after the cloud security company guided for current-quarter revenue of between $875 million and $878 million, falling short of the $879 million analysts were seeking, per LSEG. However, the company’s fiscal third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.08 per share beat forecasts of $1.01 per share, while its $850 million revenue also exceeded the $835 million consensus estimate. Shares of Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike both shed 2% in sympathy.
Will Apple Continue its Historic Run?
The mega cap’s shares are up 63% since the summer. The iPhone maker’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) kicks off on June 8, offering another chance to impress Wall Street with its rather uneven artificial intelligence execution. The event comes during a year of change for Apple as long-time CEO Tim Cook prepares to hand over the reins in September and a big AI partnership with Alphabet’s Google gets underway. The question is: Can Apple finally deliver on a truly conversational Siri? My bet is yes.
Starlink Raised Prices 5X During Iran War.
When U.S. kamikaze drones guided by Elon Musk’s Starlink network began to make visible gains in the war against Iran, senior SpaceX officials reached a conclusion: The Pentagon should be paying more for access to their satellite Wi-Fi network. Within weeks of the United States launching its bombing campaign, SpaceX executives met Pentagon officials and argued the military had been paying about $5,000 for a connection per terminal while effectively using a higher tier of service worth closer to $25,000.
Bill Koch to Sell Aspen Estate for $99 Million,
up from his $26.5 million cost 20 years ago. Koch, an avid wine and art collector who has had success auctioning other assets, is now betting that the ranch will attract a bidding war that will push the final sale above the opening price. Concierge Auctions, a real estate auction house that’s sold luxury properties in 35 countries, will oversee the sale, which will take place over the course of 10 days on the firm's online marketplace. Bill Koch is the younger brother of Charles Koch and the late David Koch, who are the billionaire businessmen famous for funding conservative political causes.
Mind-Blowing Growth Is About to Propel Anthropic Into Its First Profitable Quarter.
Anthropic’s revenue is set to more than double to $10.9 billion in the second quarter, an explosive rate of growth that will help it turn an operating profit for the first time. Anthropic generated $4.8 billion in sales in the first quarter. Its quarterly revenue is now growing faster than Zoom did during the pandemic, and Google and Facebook in the run-up to their initial public offerings. It is set to turn an operating profit of $559 million in the June quarter. It’s a great setup for the next hot AI IPO.
IBM Lands $1 Billion Quantitative Computing Subsidy,
taking the stock up 20%. The Trump administration is awarding $2 billion in grants to nine quantitative computing companies in deals that include U.S. government equity stakes, the Commerce Department said. The move accelerates the administration’s plans to boost the nascent industry, which has attracted a wave of investment from investors and businesses in recent months.
US Consumer Sentiment Hits New All-Time Low,
falling in May due to the Iran war. Consumers expect prices to rise an annualized 3.9% over the next five to 10 years, up from 3.5% in April. The cost of living continues to be a concern, with 57% of consumers mentioning that high prices were eroding their personal finances. Are they only asking the bottom half of the country, or students who have lost their scholarships?
Weekly Jobless Claims Drop 3,000 to 209,000.
The broader 4-week moving average also declined to 202,500, continuing to reflect a highly stable and resilient labor market.
FDA Deregulates Flavored Vapes.
Lung disease is about to explode. Expect at least 100,000 young people a year to die. Great idea! We have too many young people. They don’t respect old people at all!
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It Out of Hardware, into Software Now,
with ballistic moves in Palo Alto Networks (PANW) and CrowdStrike (CRWD). Shares of several U.S. software stocks gained on Tuesday, as the industry attempts a comeback after being battered for much of the year on fears of disruption from artificial intelligence. The beleaguered sector's rebound coincided with a slide in chipmakers, which began to cool off following a blistering rally that took the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index (SOXX).
Goldman Sachs Gets SpaceX IPO Lead, certain to be the largest in history, with record fees. The stock jumped $32 on the news. The reusable rocket company could make its prospectus public as soon as Wednesday, after confidentially filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month. The offering is expected to bring in a record sum as SpaceX was most recently valued at $1.25 trillion by Musk, when he merged the company with xAI, his artificial intelligence startup, in February.
FOMC Minutes. Fed policymakers see rising inflation risks, with a rate hike possible. The April meeting saw four dissents, most since 1992, over policy direction. Economists’ expectations shift toward no rate cuts.
Financial markets price in rate hike as Fed's next move. The minutes for each regularly scheduled meeting of the Committee are generally published three weeks after the day of the policy decision. The descriptions of economic and financial conditions contained in these minutes are based solely on the information that was available to the Committee at the time of the meeting.
SpaceX (SPCX) and OpenAI Announce IPOs on the Same Day,
and the day after, a court ruled in favor of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Combined, the two new issues will take $3 trillion out of the market. (SPCX) is targeting June, while OpenAI is aiming for September. Both are rushing to raise money from the market before it crashes. This is like watching a movie, a financial thriller.
Bonds Yields Hit 20-Year High,
threatening to crash the stock market. The yield on 30-year Treasuries was higher by two basis points in early Tuesday trading in New York at 5.14% — just shy of their highest levels in almost two decades. Two-year and 10-year yields were up three basis points to 4.08% and 4.61%, respectively. Gigantic government budget deficits are the cause.
Commodities are the Big AI Play Here,
not AI stocks. The world is in the early stages of a commodity super cycle that may last another decade or more as the artificial intelligence buildout collides with chronic underinvestment in energy and materials capacity. The energy sector presents the biggest asymmetric trade in modern finance because oil companies are returning a 15.5% free cash flow yield while hyperscalers have none.
Home Depot Comes in Weak,
held back by a lackluster housing market. Home Depot’s business has been hit by elevated interest rates and high housing prices, which have sparked a pullback in home purchases and upgrade projects over the past three years. Instead of extensive remodels that require financing and large amounts of tools and materials, Americans are taking on smaller projects such as painting and gardening.
Markets are Looking at an Interest Rates Rise by July,
or so says the Fed funds futures market. That may have to be the first move by the new Fed governor, Kevin Warsh. If the government wants to take the National Debt to record highs, it is going to have to pay more for the privilege. In the meantime, America’s credit rating is sliding, thanks to the Iran War, which has scared off foreign buyers,
Pending Home Sales Rose 3.2% YOY,
and 1.4% in April on a signed contract basis. Sales only fell in the South. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage just hit a one-year high at 6.75%. With inflation soaring, don’t expect any interest rate cuts soon. The monthly average payment for a new home loan has risen by $167 since the start of the war.