CWS Market Review – May 22, 2026
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on May 22nd, 2026 at 7:08 am

“In a roaring bull market, knowledge is superfluous and experience is a handicap.” – Benjamin Graham

On Thursday, the S&P 500 came very close to falling for the fourth time in the last five days, but a late-day rally staved off the decline. In the grand scheme of things, the market’s recent hit is barely a flesh wound. The market is still up a good 17% since late March.

What’s notable about the downturn is that it’s been led by growth stocks. That’s something new. For the last several weeks, growth stocks have pulverized value. Every day, it seemed, tech stocks led and defensive stocks lagged. But now, the market could be turning.

A good example is healthcare stocks. Historically, this has been a great sector for investors, but healthcare has gone nowhere in 2026. That is, until a few weeks ago. Now healthcare is finally out in front.

Healthcare isn’t alone. On our Buy List, stocks like FactSet and FICO are finally showing some strength. In the last week, FICO is up 14%.

Could this be the start of a large-scale rotation? Eh, I’m not so sure. The major concern on Wall Street at the moment is finding out how badly higher oil prices are hurting consumer spending. Higher prices at the pump act like a tax on consumers.

This week, Walmart reported same-store sales growth, excluding fuel, of 4.1%. That’s pretty good, and it beat expectations. The problem was that guidance was sluggish. Walmart said that its customers are buying less gasoline. In Thursday’s trading, Walmart had its largest drop in nearly three years.

Earlier this week, the Federal Reserve released the minutes from its most recent meeting. The minutes showed that the Fed is beginning to consider raising interest rates. The idea of rate cuts seems to be off the table.

That’s not a big surprise. The important metric to watch is the yield on the two-year Treasury, which is often a tell for what the Fed may do. The yield on the two-year has been on the way up, and it recently broke above 4.1%, which is well above where the Fed currently has rates.

The key is inflation. The problem for the Fed is that it’s not just about oil prices. The price for fuel finds itself buried inside the price for nearly everything. The next CPI report will be out on June 10, and the Fed’s next meeting will be on June 16-17.

If there is movement on interest rates, it may not happen for some time. The futures market currently sees the Fed raising rates, but not until December.

Decisions within the Fed may soon get interesting. Mr. Warsh has just taken over, and the last policy statement had four dissenting votes, three of which didn’t want to include language regarding an easing bias.

I should explain. The Fed’s minutes are a study in the use of indefinite pronouns. Fed watchers carefully try to parse what exactly “some said this” and “a few said that” truly mean. In this case, “many” said they also didn’t want an easing bias. This could signal that there are more votes for higher rates. But how many is “many”? I don’t know, but we may soon find out.

What’s changed recently is that interest rates have moved higher. The yield on the 30-year Treasury recently got to 5.18%, which is a 19-year high (see chart above). For comparison, during the initial Covid panic, the yield got down to 0.99%. The 10-year yield has risen from 4% in February to as high as 4.67% this week. This impacts everything from mortgages to corporate mergers.

For the immediate future, I expect to see growth stocks continue to lag, but it will probably be in a zigzag fashion. Many tech stocks are due for a reckoning.

In this week’s issue, we’ll look at Thursday’s earnings report from Intuit. The company beat expectations and raised guidance, but got hit hard after it said it will lay off 17% of its workforce. I’ll have the details in a bit.

I’ll also preview next week’s earnings report from Heico. I also have some Buy List updates for you. First, though, let’s look at what Intuit had to say.

Intuit Falls after Earnings Beat

After the closing bell on Wednesday, Intuit (INTU) said its global revenues rose 10% to $8.6 billion, and its earnings rose 10% to $12.80 per share. Wall Street had been expecting earnings of $12.57 per share. Intuit is the company behind TurboTax and QuickBooks and Credit Karma.

Intuit’s consumer revenue grew 8% to $5.3 billion. TurboTax revenue was up 7% to $4.4 billion, and Credit Karma revenue grew 15% to $631 million.

Global Business Solutions revenue was up 15% to $3.3 billion. Excluding Mailchimp, Global Business Solutions revenue grew 17%, and Online Ecosystem revenue grew 22%.

Intuit’s CEO, Sandeep Aujla, said, “We delivered a strong third quarter of fiscal 2026, reflecting our operational focus and scaling of our growth engines across the business. As a result, we are raising our full-year revenue guidance for fiscal 2026.”

During Q3, Intuit bought back $1.6 billion worth of stock, and the board approved a new $8 billion buyback authorization. Inuit also increased its dividend by 15% to $1.20 per share.

The biggest news is that Intuit said it will reduce its full-time workforce by 17% in order to “simplify its organizational structure and become a faster, leaner, more focused company.” Intuit estimates that it will incur restructuring charges of $300 to $340 million that will be recognized in Q4.

For its Q4, which ends on July 31, Inuit expects revenue growth of 11% to 12% and earnings between $3.56 and $3.62 per share. For the entire year, Intuit sees revenue growth of 13% to 14%. That’s up from the prior guidance of 12% to 13%.

For earnings, Intuit sees a range of $23.80 to $23.85 per share. That’s an increase from the previous range of $22.98 to $23.18 per share. Despite the earnings beat and higher guidance, traders focused on the job cuts. By the closing bell, Intuit traded down 20% to $307 per share. I’m lowering our Buy Below on Intuit to $320 per share.

Preview for Heico’s Earnings Next Week

Heico (HEI) is due to report its fiscal-Q2 earnings after the closing bell on May 27. The stock has started off slow for us this year, but I still like this company. The shares have improved some in recent weeks. The stock is on pace for a 15% gain this month.

In February, Heico reported fiscal-Q1 earnings of $1.35 per share. That’s up 13% over last year, and it topped Wall Street’s consensus by six cents per share. Quarterly sales were up 14% to $1.179 billion, and Heico’s operating margin increased a little bit to 22.1%.

Heico has two operating segments, the Flight Support Group and the Electronic Technologies Group. For Q1, Flight Support reported sales growth of 15% and operating-income growth of 21%. Electronic Technologies had quarterly sales growth of 12%, but its operating income fell 4% to $73.2 million.

Heico said the decrease in operating income was due to “a less-favorable product mix of defense products and the previously mentioned decrease in net sales of space products.”

The weakness in Electronic Technologies upset the market, and shares of HEI fell after the report. I’m not worried about Heico at all. This is a very good company. For next week, the consensus on Wall Street is for Heico to report earnings of $1.33 per share.

Buy List Updates

Shares of FactSet (FDS) and FICO (FICO) have become popular in recent days. Over the last month, FICO is up by 25%. This week, I’m raising our Buy Below on FICO to $1,300 per share.

The Motley Fool had nice things to say about Comfort Systems USA (FIX). The stock still isn’t well known, but it’s been a very big winner for us.

Barron’s recently profiled Casey’s General Stores (CASY). The shares have been on a nice run this year. The company is also having success with its new chicken wings.

Barron’s writes:

Gas prices show no signs of retreating from north of $4.50 a gallon on average in the U.S., crimping household budgets, and though convenience stores benefit from price volatility, consistently high levels are a headwind for the group.

Consensus calls for Casey’s earnings per share to climb 26.7% to $3.33, while a majority of the 19 analysts tracked by FactSet have raised their estimates for the quarter in the past three months.

Nonetheless, even if there is an understandable post-earnings dip, it would be wrong to assume that Casey’s run is done.

The stock was added to the S&P 500 last month. The next earnings report is due out on June 9. Casey’s remains a buy up to $900 per share.

That’s all for now. The stock market will be closed on Monday in honor of Memorial Day. There are a few important economic reports to look out for. On Tuesday, we’ll get the report on consumer confidence. Thursday is new-home sales, orders for durable goods and initial jobless claims. On Friday, the government will revise its report on Q1 GDP growth. The initial report said that the U.S. grew in real annualized terms of 2.0%. I’ll have more market analysis for you in the next issue of CWS Market Review!

– Eddy

Morning News: May 22, 2026
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on May 22nd, 2026 at 7:02 am

$50 Trillion Safe-Haven Debt Market Upended by Iran War Inflation

Thousands of Miles From the Iran War, Asia’s Currencies Feel the Strain

Oil Prices Jump on Impasse Over Reopening the Strait of Hormuz

What the War Is Costing You

Free Speech Shouldn’t Be Just For the Party In the White House

Audit Immunity for Trump Family Puts I.R.S. in a Bind

Trump Picked Warsh to Cut Rates. Markets Are Bracing for the Opposite

With Deals Booming and Regulations Lightened, Bankers Are Back on Top

Buyout Bankers Go Big on Debt Pre-Sales to Thwart Fickle Markets

JPMorgan Looks to Offload Exposure To $4 Billion In Private Equity-Linked Loans, FT Reports

Mortgage Rates Hit a Nine-Month High in Blow to Prime Buying Season

The Trump Administration Should Deny Brightline’s Bailout Request

U.S. Plans to Invest $2 Billion and Take Stake in Quantum Firms

Walmart Sees Signs at Gas Pump That Consumers Are Stressed

People Hate the Idea of Losing Their Job Even More Than High Gas Prices

Giving Workers a Stake in A.I. Gains Traction

Salesforce Touts AI Promise Over Reality in SaaSpocalypse Fight

Investors Look Beyond TSMC as AI Boom Spreads to New Winners

The Bigger, Paradoxically Compassionate Meaning In Meta’s Layoffs

How SpaceX’s IPO Cements Elon Musk’s Grip on the Company

Musk’s Latest Venture Gives Space Stocks Their Own Tesla Surge

SpaceX Makes the Giant Rockets—But Starlink Is Making All the Money

Oura Could Be the AI David Among the Goliath IPOs

The Desperation of AI Titans Is an Ominous Sign

Here’s How Regulations Accidentally Killed Small Trucks in America

Wall Street Banks Boost Warner Bros Loan to Over $10 Billion Ahead of Paramount Merger

The FDA’s About-Face on Flavored Vapes Will Prove Deadly for Kids

The Meteoric Rise of the WNBA

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Morning News: May 21, 2025
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on May 21st, 2026 at 7:15 am

China’s Hormuz Workaround Is Making India Jealous

Trump’s Ceasefires Have Little Ceasing and Much Firing

Fertilizer Crunch in Brazil Raises Risks for Farm Economy

A Simple Chart Explains Mexico’s Desperate Need for Investment

Bond Markets Are Bullying the U.K. and Japan. One Has the Right Defenses.

The Dangerous Brew That’s Rattling Bond Markets

Ignore This Bond Market Slump at Your Own Peril

Repeat After Me, Stocks Are Not an Effective Inflation Hedge

Fed Minutes Show More Policymakers Open to a Rate Hike

My Retirement Accounts Fail In the World I Actually Live In

Why Is Everyone So Sure That More “Housing Supply” Is the Solution?

AI Should Support the IRS, Not Completely Control It

U.S. to Award Quantum-Computing Firms $2 Billion and Take Equity Stakes

Dimon Says JPMorgan Will Hire More for AI, Fewer Bankers

The A.I. Race to Go Public

The Banks That Won a Piece of SpaceX’s Colossal I.P.O.

SpaceX IPO Requires Leap of Faith in AI, Mars and Musk’s Vision

Who Runs xAI?

Why SpaceX’s Mega IPO May Not Signal a Broader Rebound in Listings

Ted Turner Was Elon Musk Before Elon Musk Was Elon Musk

Trump Approved a Nvidia Chip for Sale in China. Beijing Doesn’t Want It.

Nvidia Tells Skeptical Investors AI Is Ready to Go Mainstream

Samsung Averts a Walkout With Big Bonuses, but Discord Over A.I. Profits Brews

Stellantis Plots $70 Billion Turnaround Sidelining Chrysler

China’s NIO Back in Red Despite Robust EV Sales

ICE Raids Did Lasting Damage to American Businesses

Walmart, Target and TJ Maxx Attract Shoppers Squeezed by Energy Prices

Walmart Flags Higher Fuel Costs Eroding Retailer’s Earnings

Experimental Drug Yields Dramatic Weight Loss

JPMorgan Fights Over Millions of Comic Books Locked in a Mississippi Warehouse

Blame YouTube, Not Just Trump, for the End of Colbert’s Late Show

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Morning News: May 20, 2026
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on May 20th, 2026 at 7:08 am

Hormuz Must Function As Infrastructure, Not Leverage

Been Sanctioned by the US Government? There’s a Guy for That

The ‘No Headline’ China-US Summit Was Very Revealing

China Confirms It Will Buy 200 Boeing Planes

EU Reaches Agreement to Move Forward on U.S. Trade Deal

JPMorgan’s Digital Retail Bank in Germany Open for Business

Bond Yields Hit Highest Level Since 2007 as Inflation Fears Set In

Is the Bond Market Signaling Danger or Opportunity? Or Both?

Trump’s Stock Trades Raise Eyebrows. The Family Says He Keeps His Hands Off.

Social Security Was Always Just An Extra Tax. That’s Why It’s Not “Broken”

Is a Standard Tax Deduction for Renters Really That Crazy?

US Mortgage Rates Rose Last Week to an Almost Two-Month High

Wall Street Takes Its Cut of $34 Trillion in US Homeowner Wealth

See How SpaceX Is About to Eclipse Every Other Blockbuster IPO

Goldman Sachs to Lead SpaceX’s Mega-IPO Bank Lineup

Nvidia Earnings Are Set to Make or Break the Chip Stock Rally

A Simple Way to Avoid Messes Like the Anthropic Shares Shock

High Bond Yields Are What America Needs in the AI Era

SoftBank Founder’s Starstruck Bet on OpenAI Raises Concern

Don’t Fight AI, HSBC CEO Tells Staff as Banks Begin Job Cuts

CEO Walks Back Comment About Replacing ‘Lower-Value Human Capital’ With AI

The AI Boom Is Rewarding Stanford’s Worst Instincts

Courts Are Swamped With AI-Powered Do-It-Yourself Lawsuits

Lowe’s Reports Modest Sales Gain, Affirms Full-Year Forecast

Target’s Biggest Sales Gain in Four Years Signals Turnaround Under New CEO

Video Adoption Propels Global Podcast Sales to Record High of $9.2 Billion

The Ice-Cold Civil War Between Diet Coke and Coke Zero Drinkers

He Helped Start a Cosmetics Empire, Then Gave It Up to Be a Priest

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CWS Market Review – May 19, 2026
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on May 19th, 2026 at 6:13 pm

(This is the free version of CWS Market Review. If you like what you see, then please sign up for the premium newsletter for $20 per month or $200 for the whole year. If you sign up today, you can see our two reports, “Your Handy Guide to Stock Orders” and “How Not to Get Screwed on Your Mortgage.”)

For the third day in a row, the Nasdaq closed lower than where it had been the day before. Also, for the third day in a row, the Nasdaq trailed the overall market.

Normally, this is a fairly benign event. This time, however, it’s notable because the tech sector has been phenomenally strong for so long that any weakness, even minor stuff, gets my attention.

There’s a growing chorus on Wall Street that’s eager to declare this market a bubble. Maybe, but that’s a game I try to avoid. However, I will concede that if there were a bubble, this is pretty much how I’d expect it to begin.

What do I mean by that? Let’s start with the bond market. Historically, the bond market leads the stock market by a few months—usually around six months, sometimes more, sometimes less, but almost always, it’s first.

Lately, the bond market hasn’t looked so good. You can tell when investors run screaming from safe assets and plunge head-first into risky ones that everything might not be so kosher. That’s been the story of the last six weeks, and it may be unwinding.

Things are changing, albeit slowly. Indeed, yields on longer-dated Treasuries have been creeping higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury is getting close to 4.7%. In February, it was under 4%. The yield on the 30-year Treasury is the highest it’s been since 2007.

At some point, investors will wonder if it’s easier to park their money in a safe Treasury and make a boring 4.7% versus riding a chaotic and overpriced stock market. The volatility doesn’t bother me much, but I know it bothers some investors, and it doesn’t take much to trigger a sector rotation.

Here’s a look at the Long-Term Treasury ETF (TLT):

Strategists at Barclays and Citigroup both said that the 10-year yield could hit 5.5%. That would be a big deal. We haven’t seen these levels in over 20 years.

Think of the financial markets as an endless tug-of-war between safe and secure bonds versus riskier stocks. You know something’s up when one side completely creams the other, and that’s what’s happened this year. Stocks soared and bonds did nothing. Now the attractiveness of bonds is starting to show.

It doesn’t end there. Higher yields will also cause problems for the Federal Reserve. A good way of guessing what the Fed will do is to keep an eye on the two-year Treasury yield. The two-year yield has a habit of doing whatever the Fed does, just a little bit sooner.

The two-year yield has drifted up to 4.1%. Meanwhile, the Fed’s current range for interest rates is 3.5% to 3.75% (see below). This suggests that the market is putting pressure on the Fed to hike rates. Of course, it doesn’t mean that the Fed will follow, but the market doesn’t like being ignored.

As far as interest rates go, for now, the futures market is a doubter. The latest futures prices see the Fed hiking rates once before the end of the year. President Trump has said he wanted to see rates go down to 1%. I’m not so sure he’ll get his wish.

Tomorrow, the Fed will release the minutes from its most-recent meeting. The Fed minutes is normally the dullest report you can possibly imagine, but this new one might actually be a tiny bit interesting. That’s because there were four dissenting votes in the last policy statement.

I should explain that the Fed hates dissension. Even where there’s disagreement, the Fed will often defer to whatever the Fed chairman wants while making their objections known privately. One or two dissenting votes is rare but four is highly unusual. It’s the most dissenting votes in 34 years.

The other issue is that Jerome Powell is hanging around at the Fed, but not as chairman. Kevin Warsh has officially taken over that role. Could the Fed gradually have, in effect, competing Fed chairs? What happens if most members of the FOMC follow what Powell advocates instead of Warsh? It could happen. There’s no rule that says they can’t.

There’s also no rule that says that stocks and bonds can’t move in opposite directions, and that’s what we’ve seen. Not only do we see this risk divided between the markets, but we also see it within the markets. For example, value stocks have finally perked up after being trounced for so long by growth stocks.

Boring stocks are suddenly in. If you recall in last week’s issue, I told you about Sprouts Farmers Market. The stock gapped up 6.5% after the last earnings reports. Well, it didn’t stop there. The stock gained 3.5% yesterday, plus it was up over 7% today before it pulled back. SFM is now up 30% off last month’s low.

Beyond the optimistic earnings report, nothing has changed with SFM. It’s just that investors are finally more welcoming to stocks like Sprouts.

Weakness at the Big Boxes

This morning, we got a report that homebuilder confidence rose in May, but that’s coming off a steep low. The housing market is still soft, and many homebuilders are cutting prices to keep their sales going.

The report on pending home sales also increased by a bit, but here, too, there are some growing problems just under the surface. The major problem is affordability, and many potential buyers have been priced out of the market. Rising energy prices have also been a factor as that takes a big bite out of consumers’ finances.

Home Depot (HD) reported its earnings earlier today. In my mind, this is probably a better report on how the economy is really doing than most government reports.

For the three months ended on May 3, HD said that its same-store sales rose by just 0.6%. That’s not so hot. If more Americans are upgrading their homes, that’s a good signal of future growth. Home Depot’s CFO, Richard McPhail, said, “There’s no question that the average consumer is feeling pressure from rising fuel costs.”

On the plus side, HD maintained its full-year guidance, but I can assure you that higher rates will not help HD’s business. More earnings from the big box boys are to come. Target (TGT) reports tomorrow and Walmart (WMT) reports on Thursday.

Fly Me to the Moon…

At some point in the next few weeks, SpaceX will have its initial public offering. This has caused confusion for many on Wall Street.

On one hand, the company is obviously massively overpriced, but that calculation is based on conventional evaluation models and with Elon Musk, as usual, we’re dealing with something highly unconventional.

So the question is, how can you value SpaceX at all? One fact we’ve learned is that betting against Elon Musk has proved to be a risky proposition.

The company doesn’t have a ticker symbol yet, but SPCX seems to be the front runner. There’s also no IPO date yet, but rumors say it could be as early as June 12. Another possibility is June 28 which is Elon’s birthday. There’s also talk of the company having a five-for-one split ahead of the IPO.

We do know that after the IPO, Musk will own around 40% of the outstanding shares. Moreover, he has said that he has no plans to sell any stock. This means that if the company is given a value of say $1.5 to $2 trillion, that would make Musk the world’s first trillionaire. By trillionaire, we mean a person who is a millionaire one million times over.

For now, FOMO, the fear of missing out, seems to have overridden everything. No one wants to be left behind, especially when it involves Elon Musk.

Bank of America has already developed a basket of 35 stocks that are tied to the emerging space market. Of course, the connection that many of these companies have can be very faint. As long as it says “space” in their business models, investors will be interested.

I’m a fan of SpaceX, but I can’t say that I’m an eager investor. I’d love to be proven wrong.

That’s all for now. There will be no newsletter next week. I’m taking off in honor of Memorial Day. We’ll be back on June 2 with our next issue of CWS Market Review.

– Eddy

Morning News: May 19, 2026
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on May 19th, 2026 at 7:05 am

Congress Should Stop Dodging Its Responsibilities on Iran

Why the Iran War Is a Boost for Stalled Russia-China Gas Pipeline

Powell Was Great. The Federal Reserve’s Policy Messaging Was Not

US Yields Flirting With 2007 Highs Entice and Divide Investors

Citi Says 5.5% May Be Next Focus for 30-Year Treasury Yield

Citi Partners with BlackRock’s HPS for $17.5 Billion Private Credit Program

Crypto Crime Escalates With Kidnappings, Cons and Human Coercion

U.S. Prosecutors Drop Fraud Charges Against Billionaire Indian Businessman Gautam Adani

The Economist Who Taught Me There Is No Growth Without Risk

No ‘Debt Denialism,’ Mitch Daniels, Just a Focus On Markets

The AI Boom Is a Dilemma for Retail Investors

AI Rollout to Boost Metals-Rich EM Currencies, Barclays Says

Basic Economic Principles Call for More U.S. Housing

Build More Houses, Don’t Let Congress Pick the Buyers

They Say It’s a Tax on Millionaires. It Won’t Stay That Way

Demand for Fast-Track Credentials Drives Executive Education Market

The Biggest Challenge of a Utility Megadeal: Regulators

Meta Goes Big on the Bayou

StanChart to Cut Over 7,000 Jobs, Boost AI to Replace ‘Lower-Value Human Capital

Google and Blackstone to Create New AI Cloud Company

As OpenAI Celebrates Court Win Against Musk, Other Challenges Lie Ahead

Elon Musk Offered to Pay Employees for Their Tax Returns, You Can Probably Guess What Happened Next

Bipartisan Bill Would Impose New Annual Fee on Electric Vehicles

Home Depot Posts Lower Profit as Homeowners Hold Off on Large Projects

Target Plans to Name a New Supply-Chain Head as It Struggles With Weak Sales

How Zyn Became All the Rage Inside Trump World—Including With RFK Jr.

Calls for ‘No Seed Oil’ Push Companies to Order Up Butter and Beef Tallow

Marc Jacobs and LVMH Kick Off the Great Luxury Garage Sale

Swatch’s New Watch Debut Descends Into Chaos

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Morning News: May 18, 2026
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on May 18th, 2026 at 7:02 am

China’s Economy Unexpectedly Weakens as Iran War Fallout Mounts

Xi Teaching Trump Thucydides? Good Luck

G7 Finance Ministers Look to Contain Iran Economic Fallout

Global Bond Yields at Multiyear Highs on Mounting Inflation Risk

Ukraine’s Wartime Economy Has One Hedge Fund Holding the Keys

The Economy Kevin Warsh Is Inheriting Is Not the One He Wanted

Inflation Uptick Is Starting to Send Sell Signals to Stock Bulls

Just What Exactly Do Conservatives Think Inflation Is?

Misread Signals: The 1970s Inflation Bogeyman Isn’t Back

U.S. Debt Is Now Bigger Than the Economy. That’s Not the Real Problem

Commerzbank Formally Rejects UniCredit Takeover Offer

UBS Says Clients Expect Firms Axing Net Zero to Face Market Hit

Britain’s Chaos Is a Big Red Flag for Europeans

Catastrophe Is Emerging in the World’s Most Vulnerable Places

The Iran War Is Crippling One of the World’s Wealthiest Nations

Oil Prices Edge Higher as Cease-Fire Remains Tenuous

The Oil Shock Is Causing a $45 Billion Rupture in the Economy

The World Can’t Get Enough U.S. Energy, Keeping Prices High for Americans

High Prices Are Making Oil Even ‘Sexier’ For Thieves — Now Texas Is Wrangling with Cloned Trucks and Exploding Pipelines

NextEra to Buy Dominion Energy in $67 Billion Deal

Fix America’s Power Grid by Giving People Power

How the European Union’s Tech Policy Threatens Consumers

SpaceX’s Mega-IPO Puts a Price Tag on the Fear of Missing Out

I Have Seen the Future of Physical AI in Dusty West Texas

The Villain of This Year’s Commencement Speeches: A.I.

Can AI Drug Development Live Up to the Hype?

Senators Work to Ban Gambling Ads Targeting Minors

Baidu’s Profit Slides Again Amid Slow AI Payoff

For Retailers, It’s One Battle After Another

Shoppers’ Frenzy for ‘Royal Pop’ Pocket Watches Forces Swatch to Shut Stores

The World Is Awash in Bourbon. That’s a Problem for Big Booze

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Morning News: May 15, 2026
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on May 15th, 2026 at 7:13 am

Trump Touts ‘Fantastic Trade Deals’ With China, but Details Are Scarce

Trump Announces Boeing Jet Order From China. Beijing Stays Silent.

Nvidia’s Future in China Remains Unclear After Trump-Xi Summit

Kishore Mahbubani: ‘China Can No Longer Be Stopped’

US Needs Another Decade to Fix $1.2 Trillion Rare Earth Crisis

Spies, Sanctions, Cyberattacks: China and the U.S. Clash Behind the Scenes

Oil Prices Climb on Fears of Broader Energy Crunch

The World Is Burning Through Its Oil Safety Net

Aramco Cracks Open Its Empire to Wall Street in $35 Billion Push

Why the Price of Gas Is the Most Important Number in US Politics

It’s Not Just U.S. Stocks. A.I. and Oil Are Moving Global Markets, Too

Global Bond Selloff Worsens as Rising Oil Prices Spook Investors

How Many Temporary Shocks Make a New Inflation Trend?

Why the Stock Market Keeps Rising

As Powell Steps Down, the Fed Confronts ‘Regime Change’

Jerome Powell’s Critics Fail to See the Big Picture

Kevin Warsh on the Fed, in His Own Words

The Fed’s Next Challenge Is Main Street Confidence

Trump Ethics Filing Reveals Thousands of Trades Tied to US Corporate Securities

JPMorgan’s Bet on Early-Stage Companies Pays Off in Leading Global Tech Investment Banking

Winklevoss-Founded Gemini Shares Surge After Founders’ $100 Million Lifeline

The Entirely Made Up Claim That Corporations Pay No Taxes

The Sleepless, Lonely, Ridicule-Paved Path to Billionaire

In This Job Market, Women Have the Upper Hand

America Is Addicted to Disposable Work

Andy Jassy Is Rewriting Amazon’s Playbook for the AI Age

Don’t Throw Out the Keyboard in the AI Revolution

To Prosper In Space, We Must Put the Private Ahead of Flight

Used EVs Are Now the Most Affordable Cars. Here’s How to Buy a Good One.

Honda’s Never Faced a Crisis Like This—and a Comeback Won’t Be Easy

Sundays Are Sacred at Chick-fil-A. The U.S. Says a Worker’s Saturday Sabbath Is, Too

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Morning News: May 14, 2026
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on May 14th, 2026 at 7:07 am

Oil Prices Waver as Trump Meets China’s Xi

Donald Trump and Marco Rubio Well Overstate Iran’s Oil “Leverage”

Trump-Xi Summit Seeks to Cement Stability After Rocky Stretch for Trade Ties

What Is The Thucydides Trap and Why Did Xi Raise It With Trump?

US Efforts to End Iran War Stumble as Ship Seized Near UAE

Europe Plays Catch-Up in Africa as Emerging Powers Boost Investment

How Eight Tumultuous Years Pushed Jerome Powell and the Fed to the Limit

What the New Head of the Federal Reserve Will Inherit

Boston Fed’s Collins Flags Rate-Hike Scenario as Inflation Risks Tilt Higher

The Same Hidden Mistake In Every Forecasting Failure

Crypto Industry Is Pushing a Bill to Tilt Regulation in Its Favor

JPMorgan’s Bet On Early-Stage Companies Pays Off In Leading Global Tech Investment Banking

The DOJ’s Comey Indictment Goes Way Too Far

Of Course the South’s Redistricting Rush Isn’t ‘Race-Neutral’

China’s Best and Brightest Tech Talent Is Going Back to China

How to Build a Data Center in Space

Forget Grok. Musk’s AI Edge Is Infrastructure, Not Software

AI Chipmaker Cerebras Raises $5.55 Billion in Year’s Biggest IPO

Ford Is Becoming an AI Stock — Sort Of

Honda Posts First Ever Annual Loss After Pullback From E.V.s

Nuveen Backs Startup With $500 Million of Funds for Clean Energy

Can Some Very Tiny Particles Cool the Planet? One Tech Company Says Yes.

Geothermal-Champion Fervo Energy’s Shares Soar in Trading Debut

Versant Shares Surge Premarket as Company Beats Wall Street Expectations

Can Microdramas Save Hollywood?

GLP-1 Users Are Taking a Bite Out of the Restaurant Business

Death to the $20 Cocktail: The Bars Bringing Back Cheaper Drinks

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Morning News: May 13, 2026
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on May 13th, 2026 at 7:04 am

Oil Inventories Falling at Record Pace on Iran War, IEA Says

IEA Warns Recovery From Hormuz Supply Shock Will Take Months

Undersea Internet Cable Projects Are Getting Tangled in the Iran War

India Allocates $4 Billion to Support Converting Coal to Gas

China’s Secretive Missile Program Is Making Dozens of Companies Rich

Trump’s Shrinking Ambitions on China

Trump’s Trade War With China: How We Got to a Stalemate In 3 Numbers

Nvidia’s CEO Joins Trump in China With AI in the Spotlight

How China Could Wield Its Control of Rare Earths Against Trump

China’s AI Suppliers Can’t Keep Up as Component Shortages Bite

China’s $3 Billion US Clean Tech Exit Is an Investment Warning

Equinox, Orla Agree to Form $18.5 Billion Gold Major

Carney’s Pivot From US Is Dependent on High Gold, Oil Prices

What You Need to Know About the Federal Gas Tax

Prices at the Pump Are Wiping Out Wage Gains

To Dot or Not? Warsh’s First Fed Rate Projection Could Out His Views to The Public – And Trump

Why a Warsh-Led Fed May Keep Interest Rates Steady

Morgan Stanley Hikes S&P 500 Target to 8,300 on Earnings Boom

Investors Benefit From More Financial Data, Not Less

With Inflation on Rise, I Bonds Look Like a Good Place to Park Cash Again

Trump on US Banknotes? A Social Media Post Spurs Speculation

Apollo’s Pricing Plan Will Transform Private Credit

Anthropic’s Mythos Sends US Banks Rushing to Plug Cyber Holes

Please Stop, There’s No Such Thing As a “Bubble”

The U.S. State With the Most Population Growth, and Why It Grows

San Francisco’s Luxury Housing Boom Is a Warning

Even Silicon Valley’s Congressman Wants to Rein in AI

Lake Tahoe Power Crunch Shows AI’s Growing Energy Toll in West

Tomato Prices Soar as War, Tariffs and Weather Affect a Popular Crop

The Rising Impact of “Nuclear” Verdicts on Consumer Prices

China’s ‘Two Billion Feet’ Are Suddenly Running From Nike

Teens Helped Bring Malls Back to Life. Now They’re Getting Banned.

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