Nia Warfield, Luke Kawa5/19/25

S&P 500 erases big early losses, powering through to sixth straight gain

US Treasury bonds may have been downgraded, but the stock market wasn’t.

The S&P 500 shrugged off the Moody’s decision and some unsettling trade talk out of China, erasing an early loss of 1% to finish up 0.1%, as did the Nasdaq 100. The Russell 2000 brought up the rear with a 0.4% decline. It’s a continuation of a pattern we’ve been seeing recently, where any early dips are aggressively bought.

That marks the sixth straight rise for the benchmark US stock index.

Most S&P sector ETFs moved higher, led by healthcare. Tech, consumer discretionary, and energy all retreated.

UnitedHealth led gains on the day, up 8% as company insiders stepped up with huge buys from the S&P 500’s worst performer. Meanwhile, Solar and climate-tech stocks like First Solar, AES Corp, and Enphase Energy led declines after GOP lawmakers said they plan to axe clean energy tax credits more quickly than planned. Elsewhere…

American vaccine maker Novavax rose nearly 15% after it announced that the Food and Drug Administration fully approved its COVID-19 vaccine, Nuvaxovid. Rival vaccine maker Moderna also popped over 7% on the day.

Dollar General was also a bright spot on the day, jumping nearly 5% with its stock now up nearly 30% so far this year.

Best Buy shares fell 3% even as UBS analysts said the electronics retailer could see continued sales momentum as US-China trade tensions begin to ease.

Walmart shares dipped as much as 2% in early trading before closing the day flat after President Donald Trump criticized the retailer on Saturday for “trying to blame tariffs.”

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POET Technologies tumbles after announcing $150 million direct share offering

POET Technologies is tumbling in early trading Thursday after the optical communications company announced that it’s raising $150 million through the sale of about 20.7 million shares in a registered direct offering.

It’s an opportunity for management to cash in on the stock’s more than 30% rally year to date (as of Wednesday’s close).

“With a substantial base of cash, we plan to accelerate our pursuit of targeted acquisitions, add to our capabilities and talent base, vertically integrate our products with differentiated components, and expand operations to pursue revenue opportunities across the board, in order to bring long-term value to shareholders,” Executive Chairman and CEO Dr. Suresh Venkatesan said.

POET’s last offering came in late October, after which shares nearly halved in less than a month amid a broad drawdown in speculative, volatile stocks beloved by retail traders.

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Oracle gains amid report that the TikTok deal is poised to close this week

Oracle is gaining in premarket trading as Semafor reports that China and the US have signed off on the sale of TikTok’s US operations to a consortium in which the software giant is one of the three leading investors.

The transaction is poised to close this week, per the report, citing people familiar with the situation.

In mid-December, Oracle booked a huge gain after the CEO of TikTok owner ByteDance indicated that he’d signed contracts with Oracle and the other major investors leading this consortium, private equity firm Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-backed tech investment company MGX.

If, as previous reporting suggested, the transaction values TikTok’s US operations at about $14 billion, that would mark a fairly low price tag for a lot of eyeballs and ad dollars. This pact will also afford Oracle’s cloud business an opportunity to deepen its preexisting relationship with TikTok.

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J. Edward Moreno3h

Abbott slumps after reporting sales miss, disappointing Q1 guidance

Abbott Laboratories fell in premarket trading after it reported fourth-quarter sales that missed Wall Street estimates and gave disappointing guidance for the current quarter.

The company said it expects to report first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of between $1.12 and $1.18, below the $1.20 analysts polled by FactSet were expecting. For the full year, it expects to report adjusted earnings per share of $5.55 to $5.80, in line with the $5.67 the Street is penciling in.

Abbott also reported $11.5 billion in sales for the fourth quarter, less than the analyst consensus of $11.8 billion. The sales miss was driven by lower-than-expected sales of its medical devices, its largest segment. Its profits for the quarter hit $1.50 per share, right in line with expectations.

The stock fell more than 5% in premarket trading on Thursday.

GE Aerospace Jet Engines

GE Aerospace posts better-than-expected Q4 results and surprisingly strong full-year profit guidance

GE Aerospace had a strong 2025, rising roughly 85% to outpace both the S&P 500 and industry benchmarks.

Matt Phillips3h

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Goldman hikes year-end gold price forecast to $5,400 per ounce as private investors and central banks compete for the shiny stuff

Goldman Sachs has raised its December 2026 gold price forecast to $5,400 per ounce, up from the previous $4,900 target, citing strong demand from private sector investors using gold as a hedge against global policy risks, according to a note released late Tuesday.

The revised price target reflects a 17% increase from January’s month-to-date average price, with continued central bank buying as the biggest driver of the forecast (accounting for 14 percentage points of the expected appreciation), while ETF inflows add another 3 pp — supported by an assumed Fed rate cut this year.

Central banks have been on a gold-buying spree since 2022, after the freezing of Russia’s foreign reserves, helping push prices up 15% in 2023 and 26% in 2024. But Goldman analysts noted that the rally accelerated in 2025 as competition between central banks and private investors for the limited bullion intensified — driving prices up another 67% last year, with recent tensions over Greenland only adding to the momentum.

That private sector demand now extends well beyond ETF inflows. Goldman said buying is increasingly coming from a new class of investors seeking protection against macro policy risk and currency “debasement,” including purchases from high-net-worth families and call option buying — flows that are “hard to track” but have become a “significant incremental source of demand.”

Goldman assumed these macro-related “sticky” hedges will persist through 2026 — unlike those tied to the 2024 US election, which unwound quickly once the outcome was clear.

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