Wednesday’s 9-3 FOMC hold — three members dissenting for a hike, the first such split since 2016 — knocked 2.18% off the Dow in its worst session since April 2025. Then Microsoft (+21.75% on the week) and Amazon (+17.00%) answered July’s AI-capex scare with $720-745 billion of committed 2026 spending, and the S&P closed up 1.05%. Underneath, the Dow Transports fell all five sessions, Q2 growth undershot at 1.5% and Apple lost 7.35% on memory costs.
MIB Weekly: $720-745B Settled the Capex Question and Paid the Suppliers — But Memory Turned Into a Tax, the Curve Priced Out the Cut, and Transports Fell Five for Five
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.
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.
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.
MIB Weekly: Intel Beat by 100% and Fell 7.89% as Capital Intensity Repriced — Brent Over $100, a Tariff Floor on 99.4% of Imports, Hike Odds at 72%, and Breadth Still Green
Brent topped $100 for the first time in two months and closed the week up 11.39% after Houthi missiles struck two Saudi tankers. The larger repricing was in AI: Alphabet (-7.13%), Tesla (-14.52%) and Intel (-7.89% despite its best growth in fifteen years) were all punished for capital spending, while Apple (+3.53%) and IBM (+3.65%) were bid for having none. Polymarket’s 2026 hike odds jumped 21 points to 72% heading into Wednesday’s FOMC.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
MIB Daily: Oil Kills the Inflation Premium (WTI $69.87, 10Y -9.6 bps) — Banks Cleared for $300B Buybacks, Oracle FCF Implodes, Thursday PCE Decides the Disinflation Trade
Iran’s nuclear deal drove WTI to $69.87 (-4.56%), splitting markets: consumer and defensives gained while ORCL -4.62% (10-K capex shock) and storage names bled pre-Micron. All 32 banks cleared the Fed stress test, unlocking $200–300B in buybacks. The 10-year yield fell 9.6 bps with VIX simultaneously -4.41% — disinflation, not recession. Lockheed won a $35B THAAD contract, bringing 24-hour missile defense awards to $43B. Gold -3.21% ($4,016) as Iran war premium unwound. Thursday: Core PCE, GDP Final, durable goods.
MIB Daily: SOX +6% Record on Apple-Intel, Iran Unwinds Gold and Energy — Warsh Hikes, Housing Cracks, Bond Market Refuses to Celebrate
Trump confirmed Apple will build chips at Intel’s foundry, sending SOX up 6% to a record and INTC +10.6% — AI hardware is now rate-cycle-agnostic as Nasdaq gained 2.48% on the day Warsh signaled a 2026 rate hike. Gold plunged 3.51% and silver 7.05% as Iran MOU execution unwound two risk premiums simultaneously. Accenture collapsed 16-18% on a guidance cut, crystallizing AI’s bifurcation: hardware thrives while IT consulting implodes. Housing starts plunged 15.4% in May; Philly Prices Paid surged to 53.2.
MIB: Yields Won Monday at 4.62% — $66.8B Utility AI Bet, $112 Brent; Rotate Into Energy and Financials, Exit REITs and Long-Tech
NextEra acquires Dominion Energy in a $66.8B deal to lock in AI data center power demand across Northern Virginia (D +9.4%, NEE -4.6%). The 10-year held a 52-week high at 4.623%, driving a 45% probability of a December rate hike with 2026 cuts fully priced out. Trump postponed the Iran strike; Brent surged +2.68% to $112 as Hormuz supply destruction continues. Seagate’s CEO warned AI capacity is years away — MU -6%, AMAT -5.3% as SOX slides pre-NVDA May 20.
MIB: Stagflation Confirmed, $105 Oil, China Stalled — Warsh Has No Good Move; REITs, Chips, & Long-Tech Now Lose
Trump-Xi Day 2: zero binding deals on tariffs, semiconductors, or Taiwan; S&P -1.24%, 10Y +14 bps to 4.60%, stagflation pricing confirmed. WTI +4.26% to $105.48 on Hormuz collapse — ~10% weekly gain compounds the tariff-inflation stack. Warsh sworn in as Fed Chair with >50% 2026 rate-hike odds; June 16 FOMC is his first test. Chip leaders MU, INTC, AMD down 5–7% on NVDA pre-positioning and unresolved China export overhang. Ackman disclosed MSFT at 21x, exited GOOGL; MSFT +3.05% vs. Nasdaq -1.54%.
