July payrolls contracted 23,000 against +83,000 expected — and the S&P 500 closed at a record 7,757.46 anyway, capping its best week since April. September hike odds collapsed from above 50% to 40%. Gold ripped 2.31% to $4,398.87; copper fell 1.87%. Energy was the only sector down more than 1% as crude surrendered Thursday’s Hormuz spike. Trump’s polysilicon tariff sent First Solar up 9%. And the White House restarted its bid to remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook.
Tag Archives | MIB
MIB Daily: Wall Street Bet a 23K Payrolls Miss Was Dovish as GDPNow Tracks 5.8% — S&P Hits a Record 7,757, Hike Odds Fall to 40%, and Washington Moves to Remove Fed Governor Cook; Favor Small-Caps, Utilities Over Energy
Read full story · Comments are closed
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
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.
Read full story · Comments are closed
MIB Daily: Dow’s Record Close Hid an AI Reckoning — NVIDIA +3.43% Outguns Alphabet’s Retreat as Soft ADP Data Puts Friday’s Payrolls on Recession Watch
The Dow closed at a record 54,349 — and almost nothing else did. Private payrolls added just 44,000, ISM services employment fell into contraction, and September hike odds slid to 57% even as Kashkari and Cook publicly pushed for tightening. Alphabet dropped 4.03% after losing its chief scientist and DeepMind CEO in one day. Gold surged 3.71% to $4,306. Tower REITs fell 6% each as SpaceX aimed Starlink at the carriers. AI infrastructure sold off on no news; NVIDIA rose 3.43%.
Read full story · Comments are closed
MIB Daily: A Record Built on an Unsigned Hormuz Deal — Tech Carries It, AMD Tests It, Macro Waits Its Turn
Records everywhere: Dow tops 54,000 for the first time, S&P 500 hits 7,736.49. Brent collapses 6.08% to $78.68 as Bessent floats a Hormuz deal “today or tomorrow” — but June’s signed deal already failed on the same question. Tech rips 4.25%; Intel and SanDisk both +10.84%. AMD beats on everything and falls 8% after hours anyway. Bezos files to sell $4.07B of Amazon. JOLTS and factory orders both miss — nobody cared. Philadelphia Fed’s Paulson keeps a rate hike alive.
Read full story · Comments are closed
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.
Read full story · Comments are closed
MIB Daily: Amazon’s 15.32% Surge Fuels a $720B Capex Bet — But 4.716% Yields and Falling Real Wages Say Own the Suppliers, Not the Rally
Amazon exploded 15.32% on a 37% AWS quarter; Apple sank 7.35% on tariff-driven chip costs. The four hyperscalers now commit $720-745B to 2026 capex, up 77% from last year. Yet the S&P’s 0.70% gain hid eight red sectors, a falling Russell 2000 and Technology down 0.49%. The 10-year closed at 4.716%, highest since January 2025, as Barkin urged reversing 2025’s cuts. Brent capped a 23% July after Iran halted Hormuz traffic. Warsh may halve the FOMC calendar to four meetings.
Read full story · Comments are closed
MIB Daily: Wall Street Sold the Fear, Not the Risk — Chips Reload on AI Capex as Defensives Fund the Trade and GDP’s 6.3% Price Index Keeps the Question Open
Wall Street erased Wednesday’s Fed-day rout: Nasdaq 100 +3.36%, S&P 500 +1.67%, VIX -17.33%. Microsoft surged 15.5% on 43% Azure growth; Meta sank 7.95%. Semis went vertical — Micron +18%, Lam +18%, AMAT +15%, AMD +13%. But Q2 GDP undershot at 1.5% with the price index spiking to 6.3%, and Dow Transports fell 1.74%. June core PCE cooled to 3.3%; jobless claims held at 197K. US strikes hit Iran overnight, yet crude closed lower and the dollar broke below 100.
Read full story · Comments are closed
MIB Daily: The Fed Put Just Got Cheaper — 19-Year Bond Yields and a Trillion-Dollar Chip Wipeout Leave Thursday’s Core PCE to Decide Stagflation, Favoring Macro Hedges Over Tech and Industrials
The Fed held at 3.50%-3.75% but three members dissented for a hike — the first three-way hawkish split since 2016 — and the Dow fell 2.18%, its worst day since April 2025. The 30-year hit a 19-year high at 5.21%. Iran struck a US base in Jordan and rejected Oman’s Hormuz plan; WTI jumped 6.74%. SK Hynix’s miss tipped the Nasdaq 100 into correction, erasing $1 trillion of global chip value. Caterpillar sank 6.91% on data-centre permitting risk.
Read full story · Comments are closed
MIB Daily: China Cracks the Chip Chokepoint, Semis Sink 20% — Equal-Weight S&P Hits a Record as a De-Hedged Market Rotates Into Value Ahead of the Fed
China cracked the last chip chokepoint — domestic lithography in mass production — and the semiconductor index fell a fourth straight day, now 20% off its high. Yet the equal-weight S&P 500 closed at a record: rotation, not retreat. Oil broke below $80 on a Gulf-backed Hormuz plan. Consumer confidence missed a third month; hiring slowed a fifth week. J&J settled talc for $5.5B and closed at a record. Apple touched $5 trillion, then let it go — Fed decides tomorrow.
Read full story · Comments are closed
MIB Daily: Nvidia’s $250B OpenAI Backstop Makes AI a Credit Trade — Oil’s 8% Drop and Cracked Rate Hedges Put Utilities at Risk Into Wednesday’s Fed
Oil cratered 8.25% as US-Iran strikes paused a second day, flipping Energy (-2.41%) from best sector to worst. Hike odds for Wednesday’s FOMC slid to one-in-three, yet VIX rose to 18.67 — nobody is de-risking. Durable goods rose 0.3% versus 2.5% expected. Nvidia fell 4.99% on reports it may backstop $250B of OpenAI’s data-center financing; chips shed five percent. Apple retook the most-valuable crown at $4.94T. The Dow gained 0.51% but transports fell 1.83% — a Dow Theory non-confirmation.
Read full story · Comments are closed
MIB Daily: Intel Fell 7.89% on a Blowout Quarter as Semis Shed 4.4% and Apple Rose 3.53% — a 12.5% Tariff Floor Now Covers 99.4% of Imports, and a Split FOMC Meets Wednesday
Section 301 forced-labor tariffs of 10-12.5% hit 60 economies covering 99.4% of US imports — a durable levy replacing the struck-down IEEPA regime. An AI capex scare gutted chips: Intel -7.89% after a blowout quarter, SanDisk -10.79%, Micron -6.99%. Apple +3.53% and IBM +3.65% won the rotation. Crude reversed hard, Brent -2.50% to $98, on a China-brokered Iran overture. July PMI hit an eight-month high of 53.6. A third of the rates market now prices a Wednesday hike.
Read full story · Comments are closed
MIB Daily: GOOGL -7.13%, TSLA -14.52% as AI Spending Meets Its Reckoning — Brent’s Run to $100 Leaves the Fed No Room, Energy Alone Gains
Alphabet and Tesla cratered — GOOGL -7.13%, TSLA -14.52% — after both guided capex well above expectations, dragging the Nasdaq 100 down 1.87%. Brent crude topped $100/bbl as Houthi strikes hit Saudi tankers, opening a second Red Sea front alongside the Hormuz standoff. Rate markets threw a tantrum — July hike odds near 47%, September at 82% — as jobless claims hit a 1969 low leave the Fed with zero cover on oil-driven inflation. Oracle slid despite nearing a $20B Meta deal.
Read full story · Comments are closed
MIB Daily: Oil’s Surge to $86 and 5.16% Yields Hand the Fed Its Excuse — Energy Leads as Alphabet, Tesla Defend $489B in AI Debt
Oil hit six-week highs — WTI +2.73%, Brent +3.32% — as an 11th night of US strikes on Iran, a Houthi Red Sea blockade threat, and a Caspian Pipeline attack compound at once, dragging gold to $4,140 while stocks slipped (S&P -0.14%, Nasdaq 100 -0.54%). Deutsche Bank and BofA now see 2-3 more Fed hikes after a weak 20-year auction pushed yields to 5.16%. Dell +9.32%, GE Vernova -8.69%, Palantir -6.10%. Alphabet and Tesla report after the bell.
Read full story · Comments are closed
MIB Daily: MU +12%, SNDK +14% Rally as Fed Zeroes Out 2026 Cuts — Can AI Survive a Hawkish FOMC and Friday’s Tariff Deadline?
Memory chips ignite a broad market rally — Micron +12%, SanDisk +14% — pushing the Nasdaq 1.93% higher on 9-of-11 green sectors. But the backdrop turned hostile: Fed officials’ hawkish pre-blackout chorus erased 2026 rate-cut odds to zero and priced in 47% hike odds ahead of next week’s FOMC. Oil jumped to a five-week high on a tanker strike near the Strait of Hormuz. Trump also slapped 50% tariffs on Canada, with a global tariff overhaul looming as Friday’s stopgap expires.
Read full story · Comments are closed
MIB Daily: Twin Gulf Chokepoints Push Gas Past $4 as the Fed Holds the Line — AMD (+5%) Pulls Away From Oracle’s Cost Overruns (-4%)
Iran’s IRGC torched two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and declared it sealed — then Yemen’s Houthis opened a second front, blockading Saudi Arabia’s export lifeline. Gasoline just crossed $4/gallon, landing days before Fed Chair Warsh’s “no tolerance” inflation stance faces its July 28-29 test. A judge blocked Paramount Skydance’s $110B Warner Bros. Discovery deal. AMD surged 5% on a new Azure AI mega-deal; Oracle sank another 4% on data-center cost overruns. Stocks fell a third day, though chips rebounded.
Read full story · Comments are closed
MIB Daily: Kimi K3 Cracks the AI-Capex Story as Oil Hits a 4-Week High and the Fed Turns Hawkish — Energy Wins as Chips Lose Into FOMC
Chip stocks cratered into a bear market as China’s Moonshot unveiled Kimi K3, an AI model rivaling US systems — erasing $3.3T in sector value since June. Oil hit a four-week high on a sixth night of US Iran strikes and a hit on Kuwait’s desalination plant. Cleveland Fed’s Hammack turned hawkish as China import prices posted their steepest jump since 2008. FAA restored Boeing’s MAX/787 self-certify authority. Coca-Cola’s fairlife halted output after a ransomware hit; SpaceX scrubbed Starship Flight 13.
Read full story · Comments are closed
MIB Daily: Wall Street Punished TSM’s Beat-and-Raise (-4.6%, Nasdaq 100 -1.62%) as Yields Climb and Housing’s 15th Warning Sign Tests the Fed’s July 28-29 Call
Chipmakers cratered after TSMC’s (TSM) capex hike to $60-64B revived AI-spending fears, dragging the Nasdaq 100 down 1.62% as the S&P 500 held to -0.51%. Philly Fed manufacturing tripled estimates to a five-year high and claims hit a 10-week low, pushing yields up as Dallas Fed’s Logan pushed for “modestly higher” rates. The US struck Iran a fifth night and revoked its oil waiver, yet Brent eased on bearish inventories. Pending home sales sank 5.4% as mortgage rates hit 6.64%.
Read full story · Comments are closed
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.
Read full story · Comments are closed
MIB Daily: IBM’s Worst Day Since 1987 Confirms the AI-to-Cybersecurity Rotation — CPI Cools to 3.5%, But Wednesday’s PPI Decides If the Fed Agrees
June CPI cooled sharply to 3.5% y/y, crushing July Fed hike odds to 17% from 42%, as Chair Warsh’s first House testimony struck a hawkish note. Markets rallied broadly (S&P +0.39%, Nasdaq +1.10%) despite IBM’s historic 25% crash, its worst day since 1987, as enterprise clients pivot spend toward AI hardware — hammering software (Oracle -2.7%) while cybersecurity soared (CrowdStrike +12%). Goldman Sachs surged 9.16% on record trading. Oil jumped over 2% as Trump narrowed the Hormuz blockade to Iran-linked shipping.
Read full story · Comments are closed
MIB Daily: WTI +9%, Oracle’s 52-Week Low, and a Hawkish Fed — Tuesday’s CPI Decides Whether to Rotate Into Energy or Stay Defensive
Trump reinstated a Strait of Hormuz blockade on Iran, sending WTI up 9%, S&P 500 down 0.79%, Nasdaq 1.88%, and VIX up 14%. Fed’s Waller reopened rate-hike odds ahead of Tuesday’s CPI, lifting 10Y yields to 4.626%. Oracle (-6.47%) hit a 52-week low on a credit downgrade over OpenAI concentration risk, while SK Hynix cratered 15% in Seoul and SanDisk (-12.63%) led a NAND selloff. Gold fell 2.55% despite the escalation, dollar strength overriding safe-haven demand.
Read full story · Comments are closed