Fed’s hawkish echo crushes markets: S&P -1.51%, VIX +11%, 200-DMA breached for first time in 214 sessions. Semis rout: INTC -5%, MU -4.81%, NVDA -3.28% on post-GTC sell-the-news. SMCI co-founder arrested for smuggling $2.5B in Nvidia chips to China (SMCI -28%). 10Y yields spike +10 bps to 4.384%. Iran targets Gulf energy — WTI hits $98. FedEx surges +9% after blockbuster beat-and-raise.
MIB: Arrested, Crashed, and Breached — SMCI Co-Founder Busted, Semis Collapse, and S&P Falls Below Its 200-Day
MIB: Stagflation Confirmed — 92K Jobs Vanish, WTI Hits $88, and Trump Demands Iran’s Unconditional Surrender
Feb payrolls -92K (S&P -1.3%), worst miss in years — unemployment jumped to 4.4%. Trump demands Iran ‘unconditional surrender’; WTI surged to $88 as Hormuz stays shut (Day 7). GDPNow crashed to 2.1% from 3.0% in four days. MRVL +23.2% on AI data center blowout. Fed cuts repriced to July; markets now price two 2026 cuts.
MIB: Iran Missile Strike Sends Oil to $81, Airlines Crater, and Broadcom’s $100B AI Target Holds the Nasdaq Floor
Iran fires missile at US oil tanker; WTI surges 8% to $81, sending the Dow down 784 points. Airlines crash — UAL -6%, DAL -5% — as fuel shock materializes. Energy sector breaks to 52-week highs on oil windfall. AVGO +4.8% validated AI supercycle with CEO targeting $100B chip revenue by 2027. VIX spikes 19% to 25.26. February NFP jobs report Friday — the week’s defining moment.
MIB: US-Israeli Strikes Kill Iran’s Khamenei, Qatar LNG Halted, Oil Surges 8% — Dell’s AI Blowout and the Stagflation Trap
US-Israeli “Operation Roaring Lion” kills Khamenei; Iran drones shut Qatar’s LNG plant. Oil surges 8.3% to $72.57 as Hormuz fears grip markets. S&P 500 cut intraday losses to close flat; VIX +12% to 22.40. Airlines cratered: AAL -7.4%, CCL -10%. Energy and defense surged: XOM +4.7%, PLTR +6.6%. Dell soared 22% Friday on AI server blowout ($43B backlog). ISM Manufacturing beat at 52.4 — but Prices Paid hit 70.5, an inflation alarm.
