Markets
Luke Kawa

US stocks jump as drama-free session spurs rebound

A day largely bereft of immediate tariff threats was music to traders’ ears, with the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 all booking strong gains on Tuesday.

Energy was the best-performing S&P 500 sector ETF, as the lack of immediate supply distributions from Canada buoyed the group despite a downdraft in the price of crude oil. Tech and consumer discretionary were also up more than 1%, while the defensive consumer staples and utilities sectors suffered declines and were at the bottom of the sector leaderboard.

Palantir skyrocketed on the heels of blowout revenue growth and guidance that suggests more of the same is in the offing. Some bears are admitting the error of their ways, while bulls rejoice and look for further gains.

Nvidia rebounded from Monday’s tumble as traders showed persistent demand to buy the dip, and Bank of America doubled down on the stock as its top pick in the industry.

Embattled server company Super Micro Computer surged after saying it would provide a “business update” next week, which has spurred hopes that the company will get its corporate filings in order in time to avoid delisting from the Nasdaq.

Fox jumped on top- and bottom-line results that surpassed every analysts’ expectation and plans to launch its first streaming service this year.

Merck got slammed after pausing shipments of one of its key drugs to China on poor demand.

PayPal had its worst day since February 2022 as analysts fret that the payments company is losing market share.

North America has not been kind to PepsiCo, with its lackluster results for the region prompting a large retreat in the stock.

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Trump’s “impossible trinity” on AI and energy

Everyone loves a good trilemma.

In economics, the most famous of the genre was developed by Fleming and Mundell, which posits that you can only successfully achieve two of the following three objectives: the free flow of capital, a fixed exchange rate, and independent sovereign monetary policy.

George Pollack, senior US policy analyst at Signum Global Advisors, proposed a trilemma of his own to describe the Trump administration’s competing policy aims as a red-hot AI boom devours power and leaves households miffed by rising electricity bills.

He wrote:

“This note flags what we believe to be a simple reality whose salience will continue growing in US politics in coming months: the Trump administration, in its remaining three years will face a trilemma as the nation waits for its energy bet to play out — proving able to achieve two, but not all three, of the following objectives:

-Fulfill AI’s energy-appetite.
-Keep repressing renewable sources of energy.
-Appease American electricity consumers.”

Trump AI trilemma

As for evidence that the Trump administration is taking a fossil fuels-first approach while stunting renewables, Pollack pointed to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which shrinks access to tax credits for green energy, as well as the end to the federal pause on liquefied natural gas export permits. However, it would be “inaccurate and unfair” to blame President Trump’s policies for surging electricity prices in recent months, he added.

While the government has pursued the expansion of nuclear power as a way to solve this trilemma, the long lead times involved are incongruent with a short-term fix.

Palantir reports Q3 earnings results

Palantir climbs toward a fresh record high ahead of earnings report

Traders and Wall Street are waiting to see whether Palantir’s latest numbers after market close today will continue to beat expectations.

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