markets

Luke Kawa4/23/25

Scott Bessent’s ascendance is the salve for a shaky US stock market

For traders, it’s important to know who has the president’s ear.

Personnel is policy, or so the old saying goes, and the various officials swirling around the Oval Office have different preferences on the best measures to take for the US economy. It’s something that bears close watching as some of the administration’s harsher stances on trade and monetary policy were softened, at least rhetorically, on Tuesday.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the April 9 announcement from President Trump to water down reciprocal tariffs on most nations was in part spurred by a window of opportunity: noted trade hawk Peter Navarro wasn’t around to dissuade the president.

Neil Dutta, head of US economics at Renaissance Macro Research, took this a step further in a morning note to clients, breaking down how the S&P 500 has performed on days when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (a hedge fund chief in his previous life) is mentioned more in news articles than Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick or Navarro.

His findings:

“Since the beginning of March, the S&P 500 has shed a total of 719 points on days Howard Lutnick and Peter Navarro have been the biggest story. By contrast, if Bessent has been the biggest story on the day, the S&P 500 has advanced a total of 52 points. So, Bessent is good for about 1ppt up on the S&P500. By contrast, the others are a drag of about 13.5ppt. Trump’s recent comments around Powell, his soothing words around China, all tell you that Trump is starting to ‘feel the market.’ I’m not sure how long it lasts or when it stops (probably until the next bad hard data point), but it is welcome.”

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Meet the newly public, Bezos-backed company that’s recreating the sun and stars

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

Web Summit Vancouver 2026 - Day Three

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.

Floridians Seek Employment Opportunities At Job Fair In Sunrise

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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