Yiwen Lu10/1/24

US stocks take a hit on escalating Middle East combat

The S&P 500 closed Tuesday down 0.9%, falling from its record close on Monday.

Escalating conflict in the Middle East sent traders to the sidelines. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 was down 1.4%, while Russell 2000, which tracks small caps, retreated 1.5%.

Prices of oil jumped more than 5% on Tuesday early afternoon on the news that Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel, briefly topping $71 per barrel. The West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery settled up 2.4%, while the global benchmark, December Brent crude, jumped 2.6%. However, crude oil futures were still nearly 20% below their 2024 peaks.

Among other commodities, gold and gas prices also rose.

The energy sector ETF gained 2.3%, the most among all 11 major sectors. Oil and gas company APA Corporation was the second-best S&P 500 performer on Tuesday, up 4.9%. Defense stocks advanced, as the iShares US Aerospace & Defense ETF climbed to a record high. Utilities also rose.

The tech sector was Tuesday’s biggest laggard, as the sector ETF suffered a 2.4% loss. It was dragged down by Apple, which fell 2.9%, and Nvidia, which lost 3.7%.

The dollar gained, while Treasury yields retreated.

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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.

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

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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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