Waller put a September hold on the table and hike odds collapsed from 63% to roughly 50% — the S&P jumped 1.06%, the VIX 5.86%. ISM services beat at 55.4 with prices paid at 72.6, and yields fell anyway. NVIDIA confirmed Hugging Face at $12.93 billion. Iran struck Gulf states a second night; WTI hit six-week highs while Energy finished the only red sector. Canadian retaliation lands September 8. Bitcoin added 5.06% and Palantir surged 7.71% on a PwC alliance.
MIB Daily: Waller Cut September Hike Odds From 63.2% to Roughly 50% While ISM Prices Paid Hit 72.6, Gold and Bitcoin Rallied With Equities on One Trade, Industrials Led Into a Tariff Date They Do Not Price
MIB Daily: Yields Fell and Long-Duration Software Was Sold Anyway, Diesel Runs 54% Above Last Year Into a Split FOMC, and Broadcom Guides $21.7B in AI, So Does 4.818% Hold Through Friday’s Payrolls?
Equities snapped a three-day skid as the 10-year touched 4.818%, highest since November 2023, then reversed; S&P +0.46%, Russell 2000 +1.13%, VIX -6.79%. ADP added just 38,000 jobs before Friday’s payrolls. A judge spared Google’s ad exchange from divestiture. Chevron committed $7 billion to Venezuela as Washington widened sanctions relief. Nvidia rose 3.21% on a re-reported $14 billion Hugging Face deal. Uber cut 10% of staff as Delivery Hero backed its bid. Diesel closed 12.8 cents below its all-time high.
MIB Weekly: AI Infrastructure Goes Institutional ($51B Backlog, Contracts Signed) — Market Priced Iran Deal and No Hike; Neither Is Confirmed
Dell’s AI server blowout (+32.8%, $51.3B backlog) drove the Dow above 51,000 for the first time, confirming the AI infrastructure super-cycle as contracted structural demand. Iran’s Hormuz ceasefire sent WTI down 9% for the week — its largest monthly crude loss in six years — with Trump’s final determination still unsigned at Friday’s close. Q1 GDP 1.6%, corporate profits ‑0.4% QoQ, PCE 3.8%, and Bowman’s hawkish Fed pivot escalated June FOMC hike risk from noise to genuine debate.
MIB Daily: Oil Crashed on a “Fabrication,” Cook Still Wants to Hike, SNOW Surged 34% — Stagflation Verdict Thursday
Iran state media’s Hormuz peace framework crashed WTI 4.69% to $89.49 and lifted the Dow to record 50,670; the White House called it a “complete fabrication.” Fed Governor Cook issued 2026’s clearest hike signal — “I am prepared to raise rates” — with April PCE at 3.8% due Thursday. Snowflake surged 34% on record sequential growth and a $6B AWS deal; QCOM shed 6% after a near-30% weekly run. Thursday’s GDP, PCE, and durables are the year’s peak positioning risk.
MIB: AI Sentiment Reset, Gold at Record $5,200, and the $30B Warner Bros. Bidding War
NVDA fell 5.5% despite record Q4 revenue ($68.1B, +73% YoY) — AI trade set to a new standard. Gold hit an all-time record above $5,200 as US-Iran nuclear talks in Geneva approach Trump’s March 6 strike deadline. WBD board calls Paramount Skydance’s $31/share bid “superior” to Netflix, starting a 4-day bidding war. Dell surges 9% after hours on a $22B AI server backlog. Fed Vice Chair Bowman signals broad bank deregulation. Nasdaq -1.2%, Russell +0.5% — sharpest rotation in months.
MIB: PCE Re-Accelerates, Consumer Confidence Craters, and Nvidia Defies the Macro
Nvidia reported Q4 EPS of $1.62 (est. $1.53) with revenue of $68.1B and guided Q1 to $78B — sending shares +6% after-hours on a near-record beat. Markets shrugged off Trump’s SOTU optimism as economists warned the SCOTUS tariff reversal won’t translate to lower consumer prices. December PCE Core re-accelerated to 3.0% YoY — the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge moving in the wrong direction and eliminating any realistic H1 rate cut. Silver surged 3.4% to near $90/oz while First Solar cratered 18% on a brutal guidance miss. S&P 500 +0.81%, Nasdaq +1.26%.
