The Weekend Rip
Happy Weekend!
Markets rallied early in the week on rate cut hopes and blockbuster deals, including SpaceX’s $17B spectrum buy and Oracle’s $300B OpenAI cloud contract. Apple unveiled its ultra-thin iPhone Air, Klarna and Gemini surged on IPO debuts, and software stocks soared as AI momentum shifted to cloud infrastructure. By Friday, sentiment cooled on weak consumer data and vaccine stock pressure, but major indexes still closed at record highs.
Let's recap and prep you for the week ahead.
◀️ Markets climbed Monday as traders eyed inflation data that could trigger a 50-point rate cut next week, despite JPMorgan warning it might be a sell-the-news event. SpaceX struck a $17B deal to buy wireless spectrum from EchoStar, aiming to expand Starlink’s direct-to-cell service. Robinhood and AppLovin jumped after joining the S&P 500, Klarna and Gemini prepped for IPOs, and Apple teased its ultra-thin iPhone Air ahead of Tuesday’s launch event.
🌏️ Markets climbed Tuesday despite a brutal labor data revision showing 911k fewer jobs added over the past year—marking the steepest downgrade in over two decades. Rate cut bets surged, pushing equities to record closes, while Apple unveiled its ultra-thin iPhone Air and iOS 26 “liquid glass” design. After the bell, Oracle soared 22% on a half-trillion-dollar order book, GameStop rallied on strong earnings and a warrant dividend, and the Murdoch family finalized its real-life Succession drama with Lachlan taking control.
⚡️ Markets hit fresh highs Wednesday as Oracle’s blowout earnings and $300B OpenAI cloud deal crowned software the new AI darling. Larry Ellison became the world’s richest man, Oracle projected $144B in cloud revenue by 2030, and Broadcom, Nvidia, and ARM climbed on chip optimism. Klarna popped 14% on its Nasdaq debut, Gemini raised its IPO range, and SonicStrategy secured a $40M blockchain investment. Meanwhile, PPI inflation cooled, boosting rate cut hopes, and GameStop surged 10% on a Q2 beat and warrant dividend.
🐂 Markets climbed Thursday as CPI data showed prices rising nearly 3% YoY, but falling mortgage rates and rate cut expectations kept bulls in charge. Opendoor surged after naming Shopify’s Kaz Nejatian CEO, Adobe beat earnings with $6B in revenue, and Paramount Skydance eyed a Warner Bros buyout. Figure debuted on Nasdaq with a 40% pop, touting blockchain-based lending, while Robinhood jumped on its new social platform and Microsoft expanded Copilot AI across enterprise verticals.
😢 Markets cooled Friday after a record-setting week, with consumer sentiment slipping and traders bracing for next week’s Fed decision. Vaccine stocks fell on reports of a CDC panel linking COVID treatments to child deaths, while Gemini and Black Rock Coffee Bar surged on their Nasdaq debuts. Morgan Stanley now sees four rate cuts this year, including a possible 50-point move Wednesday, as mortgage rates hit their lowest since October.
🤩 This week's Stocks Top 25 showed outperformance vs. the indexes.
Here are the closing prices:
S&P 500 | 6,584 | +1.59% |
Nasdaq | 22,141 | +2.03% |
Russell 2000 | 2,397 | +0.25% |
Dow Jones | 45,834 | +0.95% |
THE BRIEF
Need a concise summary of what's going on this week? Look no further. Here’s a rundown of this week’s earnings and economic data.
Earnings This Week
Earnings season is chugging along, with just 34 stocks reporting this week.
Above is a quick summary. Check out the full Stocktwits earnings calendar for the other names reporting this week.
Economic Calendar
It’s a busy week of economic data, with investors focused on the biggest FOMC meeting this year.
In addition to the above, check out this week's complete list of economic releases.