Iran’s restrictive Hormuz draft blew up the reopening trade — Brent +4.72% to $83.20, Energy the lone sector gainer. Banks dragged the Dow down 464 points; Goldman and Citi each off more than 2.5%. Q2 unit labour costs came in at 1.3% against 2.1% expected and claims held below 200K for a third week — yields rose anyway. SpaceX doubled its float and still closed up 6.14%. Williams says AI isn’t a bubble; tech steadied, Microsoft +2.54%. July payrolls Friday, 80K expected.
Tag Archives | John Williams
MIB Daily: Oil Just Took the Fed’s Steering Wheel — Brent +4.72% Overrides Soft Labor Costs While GS -2.62% and C -2.78% Drag the Dow, Williams Waves Off an AI Bubble, and Crude Sparks a Rotation Ahead of Friday’s Payrolls
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MIB Daily: Oil Did the Fed’s Job Today — WTI’s 5.52% Crash Funds a Record Dow and a $3T Amazon, But Chips and Transports Aren’t Buying the Truce
Trump called off strikes on Iran and crude cratered — WTI -5.52% to $80 — but Tehran denies talking to Washington and Hormuz stays shut. The Dow closed at a record 53,178.41, and this time breadth came along: 8 of 11 sectors green, Russell +1.72%. ISM manufacturing hit a post-2022 high and GDPNow leapt to 6.2%; bonds rallied anyway. Williams says the Fed hikes if inflation stalls. AstraZeneca-Bristol Myers weighed a $400bn merger; AZN fell 9%. Amazon topped $3 trillion.
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MIB Daily: A Divided Fed, Cracking Chips (Micron -8%), and Iran’s Widening Risk — Rotation Wins Into a September Reckoning
Cooler June PPI fueled a rate-cut rally — S&P 500 +0.38%, Apple (+4%) hit a record high on China’s AI approval. Chip stocks reversed hard: Micron -8%, Dell -9.8%, on fresh Chinese memory-competition fears. Stripe and Advent lobbed a $53B bid for PayPal, sending shares up 16-17%. The Fed split publicly — Williams says inflation “has peaked,” Cook is “prepared to act.” Iran’s conflict widened as US strikes resumed, pushing Brent toward $86. European gas jumped 4% on a Qatari LNG halt.
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MIB Daily: AI’s Boom Is Now the Fed’s Inflation Fear — S&P +0.81%, Hike Odds to 59%, Iran Priced as Contained, Semis Up as Premium Names Sold Ahead of July 14 CPI
Markets shrugged off a second day of US-Iran strikes as the S&P 500 gained 0.81% and Nasdaq 100 surged 1.62% on an AI-chip rally ahead of SK Hynix’s record $29B Nasdaq debut. NY Fed’s Williams named AI demand his top inflation fear, sending 2026 hike odds to 59% from 48%. Costco (COST) tumbled 4.2% on decelerating comps while oil fell 2.3% despite fresh strikes. State AGs moved to block the $110B Paramount-WBD merger while a 30-year auction drew record demand.
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MIB Daily: Micron’s AI Windfall Is Apple’s Cost Crisis — PCE 3.4% Signals a Hike as RUT Hits All-Time High
Micron (MU +15.74%) posted $41.5B in Q3 revenue — quadruple year-over-year — lifting semiconductors while Apple (-6.12%) and Microsoft (-3.46%) fell on AI memory-driven hardware price hikes. Core PCE hit 3.4% YoY, highest since Oct 2023; Williams and Goolsbee hawkish, September hike window rising. Q1 GDP revised to 2.1% but consumer spending +0.5%, weakest since 2022; GDPNow cut Q2 to 2.5%. Russell 2000 closed at an all-time record as capital fled mega-cap tech. Bitcoin breached $60K, now 50% off its 2026 peak.
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MIB Daily: Record Day Six, Worst Profit Quarter in Six — PLTR +8.17%, ORCL +6.67%; PCE 3.8% Locks the Fed; Own Government AI, Fade the Grid
S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at all-time records for a sixth straight session — PLTR +8.17%, ORCL +6.67% on JPMorgan’s ‘fourth hyperscaler’ call, AMD +4.55% — while Q1 GDP was revised to 1.6% and corporate profits collapsed -0.4% vs. +5.7% consensus. April PCE held at 3.8% with personal income flat, widening the consumer spending gap. LLY +4.05%: CVS Caremark restored Zepbound and approved oral GLP-1 Foundayo. Anthropic closed $65B at $965B. FOMC split: Williams holds; Musalem warns AI can’t rescue the Fed.
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MIB: Stagflation Flush — Oil $105, DJTA –4.82%, Spirit Liquidated, Williams Kills 2026 Cuts
Iran escalated Monday — UAE activated missile defenses, Trump rejected Tehran’s 14-point proposal — driving WTI to $105/bbl and a 10-of-11-sector S&P selloff. Amazon’s Supply Chain Services launch cratered UPS –10% and FedEx –9%, applying the AWS playbook to logistics. Spirit Airlines liquidated — first major US carrier collapse in 25 years — after $4.51/gallon jet fuel killed a $500M federal rescue. NY Fed’s Williams raised 2026 inflation to 3%, signaling no cuts; the SLOOS confirmed C&I tightening across all firm sizes.
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MIB: Ceasefire Rip — Record Close, AI Chips Ignite, and a 10-Day Clock Starts Ticking
Israel-Lebanon 10-day ceasefire triggers global risk-on rally, erasing Iran war equity losses worldwide. AMD surged +7.80% as TSMC’s 58% profit surge and 30%-plus AI chip demand guidance lit up the semiconductor sector. NFLX crushed Q1 EPS (+62%) but Q2 guidance disappointed and Reed Hastings stepped down as chairman. PLD beat by 30% as data centers now represent 40% of its development pipeline. US claims fell to 207K; industrial production missed badly at -0.5%.
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MIB: Kharg Island — Iran Strike Risk, Oil at $114, and the Market Held Its Breath
Trump’s Iran 8pm deadline looms as US strikes Kharg Island — WTI hit $114 intraday before settling at $110. CMS finalized Medicare Advantage +2.48% rates (UNH +9.37%, HUM +12%). NY Fed gas price expectations hit 4-year high of 9.4%. Trump restructured Section 232 metal tariffs to 50%/25% tiers. AVGO +6.21% on Google AI chip deal through 2031. DXY slid below 100 as gold hit $4,732.
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MIB: $111 Oil, Drug Tariffs, and a Tesla Gut-Punch — Markets Stare Down the Iran Abyss
WTI surges +11.6% to $111.69 as Trump vows 2-3 more weeks of Iran war with no Hormuz off-ramp; gasoline $4.08 nationally. S&P 500 recovered from -1.5% to close +0.11% after Iran/Oman signaled a Hormuz monitoring protocol. Trump unveiled 100% tariffs on patented drugs (120-day phase-in). Tesla deliveries 358K missed by 12K (TSLA -5.42%). Oracle confirms 30,000 layoffs to fund AI expansion. March NFP tomorrow — markets react Monday.
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MIB: Hormuz Crisis Day 3 — Oil +15%, Stagflation Signal Flashes, Fed Pulls Back on Rate Cuts
US-Iran war enters Day 3 — gold hit $5,417 record Monday, oil +15% this week. S&P 500 -0.94%, trimmed from intraday -2.5% loss after Trump’s Navy escort announcement. Fed’s Williams and Kashkari pull back from 2026 cut forecasts as 10Y yields rise on stagflation fears. UAL -4.09%, DAL -5% on fuel shock. Target (TGT) +7.5% on earnings beat. CrowdStrike beats after the bell.
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