Housing starts worse than the late 1990s

In theory, high housing prices in the US should be stimulating a ton of new home construction. But it ain’t happening. In fact, just released March numbers showed the biggest monthly drop since Covid hit in 2020.

What’s the deal? Well, housing is a pretty interest-rate sensitive industry. The high rates the Fed put in place to clamp down on inflation have driven up mortgage rates. Housing is also hard to build, with some arguing that exclusionary zoning is a big part of the problem.

The lack of supply, high mortgage costs, and price spike that occurred during the pandemic means housing is the most unaffordable it’s been in decades.

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Tasha Matsumoto

11h

Stocks rebound as tariff fears ease

Stocks clawed back some, but not all, of Friday’s losses after Trump signaled softening in his China stance.

Chicago Bulls Dennis Rodman (91) and Michael Jordan (23) in action, rebounding vs Charlotte Hornets

String of acquisitions fuels biotech optimism

In the past month, the S&P Biotech ETF surpassed March 2020 levels.

J. Edward Moreno14h

Luke Kawa16h

Micron jumps after rare double upgrade by BNP Paribas Exane, which lifts price target to Street high of $270

Micron, the best-performing member of the VanEck Semiconductor ETF this year, is jumping on Monday thanks to converting its biggest doubter on Wall Street into its biggest fan.

BNP Paribas Exane analyst Karl Ackerman went through with a rare double upgrade of the memory chip specialist to “outperform” from “underperform.” In the process, he more than doubled his price target on the stock to $270 — the highest among analysts surveyed by Bloomberg — from $100, which had previously been the lowest price target on the Street.

“We now fully embrace high-bandwidth memory (HBM) as a sustainable, separate growth vector, and we beleive we are in the early innings of a memory supercycle,” he wrote.

Separately, analysts at Evercore ISI also boosted their price target on Micron to $137 from $100.

Luke Kawa17h

IonQ soars after announcing “significant advancement in quantum chemistry simulations”

IonQ is ripping higher in early trading after the quantum computing company announced “a significant advancement in quantum chemistry simulations.”

In particular, this demonstration, performed in collaboration with a major automotive manufacturer, was more accurate than classical computing in calculating “nuclear forces at critical points where big changes occur.”

Knowing how different compounds behave and respond to force has potentially very useful commercial applications because it helps us discern how those materials can best be designed and utilized for different purposes.

“This research demonstrates a clear path for quantum computing to enhance chemical simulations that are foundational to decarbonization technologies,” said Niccolo de Masi, chairman and CEO. “Our work goes beyond academic benchmarks. It demonstrates a practical capability that can be integrated into molecular dynamics workflows used across pharmaceuticals, battery, and chemical industries.”

IonQ is the most commercially advanced pure-play quantum computing company, generating over $52 million in revenues over the past 12 months, well more than D-Wave Quantum, Rigetti Computing, and Quantum Computing combined.

Now, is this the reason why IonQ (and its peers) are on a tear today? Maybe. There’s a big rebound in most speculative pockets of the market after Friday’s tariff threat induced a tumble.

At the very least, this is a useful excuse. Traders have been exceedingly happy to bid up shares of quantum computing companies on their long-term potential, often (ironically) through short-term call options.

Matt Phillips17h

Rocket Lab may be “alternative to SpaceX in the making,” says Morgan Stanley

Rocket Lab surged early Monday after Morgan Stanley analysts lifted their price target on the stock to $68 from $20, making them the high bidder among analysts covering the popular, but still money-losing, commercial space launch company.

The $68 target — right around where the shares are currently trading — is the highest among the 17 analysts tracked by FactSet.

And while Morgan Stanley analysts couldn’t bring themselves to upgrade the stock to a “buy,” leaving their rating at “equal weight,” they gave the stock a pretty bullish review, writing:

“We see a potential alternative to SpaceX in the making. The company is mirroring SpaceX’s footsteps in a number of respects, including scaling up rocket lift capacity, embracing booster reusability, and ultimately moving out on a constellation of its own (ala Starlink). Meanwhile, successive Electron launches and a growing manifest reinforce the company’s already-impressive track record. The market, in our view, is now taking valuation cues for RKLB from SpaceX’s implied valuation, which has grown from a reported ~$100bn at the end of 2021 to ~$400bn today.”

Rocket Lab shares have emerged as a favorite of retail traders this year, thanks to their gain of more than 150%. The stock is up roughly 600% over the last 12 months.

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