Stocks erase post-Fed losses as Powell explains away hawkish shift as “language clean up”

If you don’t like what a central bank is saying, just wait five minutes. It turns out the Federal Reserve sank stocks briefly today by saying too little.

One seemingly hawkish element in the central bank’s policy statement was the removal of a reference to inflation making progress toward its 2% objective that had been there in December.

During the press conference, Powell said the tweak was not intended to be a signal of anything; monetary policymakers just wanted to shorten the sentence.

That shorter sentence played a role in sending stocks lower, and that explanation helped erase those losses. The SPDR S&P 500 Trust had erased losses from 2 p.m. ET, when the Fed’s communique was released, but then went back down after Powell implied that the central bank would not be looking to lower rates in March.

As I’ve told many an editor, brevity is NOT the soul of wit.

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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.

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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.

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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

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