markets

Luke Kawa5/19/25

China “demands” that the US “correct its mistakes” on semiconductor restrictions

Last week started with a massive rally in US stocks thanks to a trade truce with China.

This week begins on more of a negative note amid news that this aforementioned detente might be taking a bit of a turn for the worse.

While it’s certainly not the cause of the down morning for US stocks, China’s commerce ministry is taking exception with its counterparts in America who last week said that the use of Huawei’s AI chips “anywhere in the world” violates US export restrictions.

“The US’s actions seriously undermined the consensus reached at the China-US Geneva high-level talks and demanded that the US correct its mistakes,” per a translation of remarks from a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce. “If the US insists on its own way and continues to substantially damage China’s interests, China will take resolute measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.”

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF is off about 0.4% as of 11:40 a.m. ET, well off its lows of the morning and above levels seen prior to these comments hitting the wires premarket.

The AI data center trade has played a critical role in the S&P 500’s comeback from its April 8 trough, thanks in part to the easing of export restrictions that allowed last week’s massive deals between Saudi Arabia and the likes of Nvidia as well as Super Micro to take shape.

But China is a much bigger market than Saudi Arabia for semiconductors, and where the dust settles after any regulatory revamp by the Trump administration is an open question. China’s concern is clearly that the direction of travel isn’t as friendly as it would have suspected given the recent broad thawing of trade tensions between the two nations.

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General Fusion CEO Greg Twinney spoke with Sherwood News from the Nasdaq during the stock’s first day of trading.

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markets

J. Edward Moreno7/7/26

SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

US job growth falls far short of estimates in June; unemployment rate unexpectedly dips to 4.2%

Job growth was 57,000. Analysts foresaw job growth of 113,000; prediction markets were more optimistic, looking for job growth above 125,000 but below 150,000.

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Meta surges on report it’s starting a cloud business to sell excess AI compute

The story of the hyperscalers in 2026 has largely been “the beatings will continue until the cash flow outlook improves;” this could help change the story for Meta. Or not.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg visits U.S. Capitol for Senate meetings

markets

Paige Oamek6/30/26

Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).
Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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