Major Indexes Close Higher as Stocks Rebound from Sell-Off; Bitcoin, Crypto-Tied Shares Soar

Broadcom Shares Jump as Results Top Street Estimates

FROM 6 hr 14 min ago

Can Broadcom’s latest quarterly results revive enthusiasm for its stock?

Shares of Broadcom (AVGO) were recently up more than 5% in extended trading, after the chipmaker posted better-than-expected results for its fiscal first quarter.

Broadcom posted adjusted earnings per share of $2.05 on a 29% year-over-year jump in revenue to a record $19.31 billion as AI sales more than doubled. Both figures topped analysts’ estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

CEO Hock Tan, in a press release after the closing bell Wednesday, said Broadcom saw “robust demand for custom AI accelerators and AI networking,” and that he sees that momentum continuing in the current quarter.

The supplier for Meta (Meta) and Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google forecast second-quarter revenue of $22 billion, above the $20.31 billion analysts called for.

If Broadcom’s gains hold, they could help the shares recover some of their recent losses. They were down about 8% for 2026 through Wednesday’s close, after a broader pullback in many AI-exposed stocks in recent weeks.

–Kara Greenberg

Households Face Rising Financial Pressure

FROM 6 hr 53 min ago

More Americans are collecting scrap metal, selling their clothes, skipping meals, and hunting for bargains to make ends meet.

The Fed’s “Beige Book” report published Wednesday suggested the economy is growing more “K-shaped.” The collection of anecdotal information from around the country collected in February showed wealthier households benefitting from a booming stock market while the rising cost of living squeezes people with lower and moderate incomes.

The economy has stayed afloat amid a series of shocks, including tariffs, an immigration crackdown and government shutdowns. However, persistently high inflation combined with a lackluster job market is taking a toll on lower-income households, who are increasingly struggling to pay the bills, according to the Fed’s contacts in regions across the nation.

The Beige Book isn’t based on hard data, but Fed officials and other experts use it to spot economic trends. Nearly every Fed district included in the Beige Book reported rising distress in its respective areas.

Read the full article here.

–Diccon Hyatt

Bitcoin Surges to $74,000 After President Trump Throws Support Behind Key Crypto Bill

FROM 7 hr 59 min ago

This crypto winter could be cut short.

Bitcoin (BTCUSD) rallied over the last 24 hours, pushing prices to as high as $74,000 for the first time since early February—signs of an early thaw that appear to be giving investors hope that a recovery is underway. Altcoins, including ether (ETHUSD) and sol (SOLUSD), also rose, helping drive the overall crypto market back to $2.5 trillion in market capitalization, according to data compiled by Messari.

The surge in crypto prices coincided with President Donald Trump throwing his support behind a key crypto bill called the Clarity Act—the passing of which crypto experts have said was the sole, near-term catalyst that could pull the coin market out of its months-long rut. Meanwhile, a major investor, Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest, recently picked up more shares of Coinbase (COIN) and Robinhood (HOOD), crypto-linked stocks that are also gaining on Wednesday.

Read the full article here.

–Crystal Kim

What to Expect From Friday’s Jobs Report

FROM 8 hr 38 min ago

The labor market likely maintained its recent pattern in February, with modest job growth alongside a low unemployment rate, in what economists have described as a “low-hire, low-fire” trend.

Friday’s report on the job market from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is likely to show U.S. employers added 50,000 jobs in February, a decline from the unexpectedly high 130,000 added in January, according to a survey of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. The unemployment rate is expected to stay at 4.3%, the lowest level since August.

The data will indicate whether the job market is recovering from its slump last year, which was the slowest year for job creation since 2003 outside of a recession. Uncertainty about trade policy due to President Donald Trump’s unpredictable tariff campaign, the reduction in the number of foreign-born workers because of the immigration crackdown, and the introduction of AI all weighed on job creation last year, according to economists.

Read the full article here.

–Diccon Hyatt

Tesla Stock Is Rising as It Gets a New Vote of Confidence From Wall Street

FROM 9 hr 11 min ago

Tesla just won a fresh vote of confidence from Bank of America.

Shares of Tesla (TSLA) were recently up more than 3% at around $405, as the bank reinstated its coverage of the electric vehicle maker with a “buy” rating Wednesday.

The analysts told clients they view Tesla as “the current leader in consumer autonomy,” pointing to its advances in autonomous driving and robotics as reasons for the upgrade, along with expectations that Tesla could gain share in a tougher regulatory environment for electric vehicles.

“We expect TSLA to quickly become a leader in robotaxi services, given its ability to scale more profitably than competitors,” Bank of America wrote. The analysts added they also see further upside from growing adoption of the company’s full-self driving software, Optimus humanoid robots and energy storage business.

Based on its “sum-of-the parts” analysis, BofA issued a $460 price target, suggesting roughly 14% upside from Tesla’s recent levels. That’s a bit higher than the $445 consensus target for the stock, which remains a divisive one on Wall Street. Just slightly more than half of the analysts with current ratings tracked by Visible Alpha recommend buying the shares.

Even with Wednesday’s gains, Tesla shares have lost nearly one-fifth of their value since hitting a record high in December.

–Kara Greenberg

Robinhood Stock Takes Flight Ahead of Product Launch Event

FROM 9 hr 49 min ago

Robinhood is launching new products from New York City’s JFK Airport this evening. Its stock is already airborne. 

Shares of Robinhood (HOOD) were up about 8% Wednesday afternoon ahead of its “Robinhood Presents: Take Flight” event, where the digital brokerage expects to “introduce a new wave of products designed to help customers build, grow, and plan wealth across every stage of life.”

The event will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET at the TWA Hotel at John F. Kennedy Airport. A livestream will be available on the Robinhood app, the company’s X account, and YouTube.

Over the past several years, Robinhood has rolled out a slew of products and services in an effort to become “a financial super app” that acts as a user’s one-stop-shop for financial services. It launched its Robinhood Gold credit card in early 2024, and later that year rolled out crypto staking, index options and prediction markets. Last year brought forays into wealth management and tokenized assets. This year, the company is hoping to bring private investments to public markets. 

Read the full article here.

–Colin Laidley

Used Barrel Sales, Canadian Trade Dispute Weigh on Jack Daniel’s Maker Brown-Forman

FROM 10 hr 22 min ago

Jack Daniel’s parent Brown-Forman’s (BF.B) stock is the worst performer in the S&P 500 Wednesday, in part because of Canada—and used barrels.

Brown-Forman shares sank more than 6% in recent trading after CFO Leanne Cunningham said on the company’s fiscal 2026 third-quarter earnings call that a “significant headwind is the year-over-year impact of our used barrel sales,” according to a transcript provided by AlphaSense. “The challenging and uncertain operating environment faced by the entire spirits industry has reduced the demand for used barrels and consequently also put downward pressure on the pricing.”

Brown-Forman’s Q3 organic net sales to Canada plunged 59% year-over-year, “driven by the absence of American-made beverage alcohol from retail shelves across most provinces.” For the year, the company affirmed its full-year guidance of organic net sales and organic operating income declining by low-single-digit percentages. 

“Used barrel sales and the trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada are persistent headwinds that continue to have a significant negative impact on our year-to-date organic net sales and organic operating income,” CEO Lawson Whiting said. “While we expect the cyclical headwinds to eventually subside, we recognize the highly dynamic nature of our industry and acknowledge that some of the current pressures could persist.”

For Q3, Brown-Forman reported earnings of $0.58 per share on revenue of $1.04 billion. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha had expected $0.47 and $1.01 billion.

Including today’s declines, Brown-Forman shares have fallen 18% over the past 12 months.

Prediction Market Contracts Tied to Iran War Sow Confusion—and Frustration

FROM 12 hr 31 min ago

Any bet goes on prediction markets, but death complicates the trade.

Folks who placed bets linked to the fate of Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and were set to profit handsomely, were caught off guard when the trade didn’t immediately settle following the weekend strikes on the country, and its leader’s subsequent death. Prediction market operator Kalshi effectively voided the contract.

Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour took to social media to address those “frustrated about the Khamenei market,” explaining that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission disallows folks from directly profiting on “war, assassination, terrorism, or other violent outcomes.”

On rival Polymarket’s international venue—where the CFTC’s rules don’t apply—bettors had to wait for a similar contract to be resolved amid user disputes about when exactly the Iranian leader was declared “out.”

Polymarket eventually settled the trade to the affirmative. One winning bettor would appear to have made over $123,000 on the “Khamenei out” contract. Event contracts linked to geopolitical events, as popular as they are with regular folks and institutions alike, are generating fresh drama. Earlier this year, someone profited handsomely from an unlikely bet on the removal of Nicolás Maduro as Venezuela’s president, raising questions on whether insiders were using misappropriated information for personal gain. Now, issues stemming from event contracts linked to recent current events show how complicated they can be to settle.

Read the full article here.

–Crystal Kim

GitLab Stock Sinks on Software Firm’s Weak Full-Year Guidance

FROM 12 hr 48 min ago

GitLab’s weaker-than-expected fiscal 2027 guidance is spooking investors.

Shares of GitLab (GTLB), whose fiscal 2026 fourth-quarter results topped estimates, sank 8.5% Wednesday, a day after the software company issued soft full-year projections.

The San Francisco-based firm sees fiscal 2027 adjusted earnings per share of $0.76 to $0.80 on revenue of $1.099 billion to $1.118 billion. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha expected $1.01 and $1.12 billion, respectively.

“GitLab reported solid fourth-quarter results, but fiscal 2027 guidance came in short of consensus expectations as management reset the bar and acknowledged that GitLab is going through a pivotal transition period where product and [go-to-market] execution will need to be sharp,” William Blair analysts wrote in a note.

Investors have been worried in recent months about how artificial intelligence advancements could disrupt software stocks. Shares of GitLab have dropped 35% year-to-date and more than 60% over the past year.

Here’s Much Traders Expect Broadcom Stock to Move After Earnings

FROM 14 hr 59 min ago

Broadcom is due to report earnings after the closing bell Wednesday. Traders anticipate the event could lead to a big swing in the chipmaker’s stock.

Options pricing suggests traders see Broadcom (AVGO) stock moving nearly 8% in either direction by the end of the week. A shift of that size from Tuesday’s close could lift shares back to around $339, recovering some of their recent losses, or pull them down to $289.

Shares of Broadcom have lost nearly one-quarter of their value from their December highs, amid concerns about growing competition, margin pressures from rising memory prices, and some skepticism around the sustainability of AI-driven growth. Many of its rivals, including Nvidia (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), have also been pressured in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, Bank of America analysts said they expect Broadcom to top consensus estimates, as major clients such as Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) dramatically boost spending on AI infrastructure.

Read the full article here.

–Kara Greenberg

The Housing Shortage Intensified in 2025

FROM 15 hr 15 min ago

Finding a house to buy isn’t getting any easier. 

The shortage of housing inventory got worse in 2025, according to Realtor.com, which found that the market needs 4 million more homes to meet buyer demand.

The inventory gap edged higher because the 1.36 million housing construction starts in 2025 fell 50,000 short of the number of households formed during the year. That extended an inventory shortfall that has persisted for a decade. 

“Even when annual construction and household formation are roughly balanced, the market is still digging out from more than a decade of underbuilding,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, in a prepared statement. “Without a sustained and targeted increase in housing supply, particularly in areas with strong job growth and persistent demand, affordability challenges will continue to sideline many would-be buyers.”

Read the full article here.

–Terry Lane

Wall Street’s ‘Fear Index’ Jumped 10% Tuesday—Here’s What That Means for Your Money

FROM 15 hr 39 min ago

Wall Street’s much-watched fear gauge jumped to its highest level of the year on Tuesday as the U.S.-Iran conflict entered its fourth day,

The CBOE Volatility Index, known as the VIX, climbed as much as 31% to an intraday high of 28.15 this morning, before finishing the day nearly 10% higher at 23.57. The index is up 19% since last Friday’s close, before U.S. and Israeli forces launched strikes on Iran over the weekend.

The big moves in the VIX mirrored wild swings in major stock indexes. The benchmark S&P 500 index fell as much as 2.5% in the first hour of Tuesday’s session before finishing the day less than 1% lower, the second straight day that stocks have rebounded from steep declines.

Investors are scrambling to price in new risks amid fears that war in the Middle East could disrupt oil supplies, spurring inflation and weighing on economic activity. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, have risen 13% so far this week, pushing their year-to-date gain to 35%.

JPMorgan economists warned the conflict “generates greater macroeconomic risk than recent military conflicts,” comparing it to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.1

A sustained closure of the Strait of Hormuz—through which about a fifth of the world’s oil flows—would directly slow the global oil supply, potentially reigniting inflation. That could complicate the Federal Reserve’s plans for interest rates with a weakening job market and inflation still about a percentage point above the central bank’s target rate of 2%.

Read the full article here.

–Peter Gratton

Bond Yields Rise as Oil Prices Add Inflation Pressure

FROM 15 hr 49 min ago

The bond market stands to take more hits from the escalating U.S.-Iran conflict, as some investors worry a surge in oil and gas prices could rekindle inflation.

Energy prices haven’t spiked to worrying levels yet, but analysts see risks that oil prices will surpass the more than 10% rise already seen since the U.S. and Israeli air strikes in Iran. If higher prices persist, the bond market, which stayed relatively stable Tuesday after a volatile start to the week, could face renewed pressure.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury, a key input into mortgage rates, is now up to about 4.08% and at risk of rising higher, analysts say.

“The longer the war continues, the greater the risk of further increases in energy prices, which could keep upward pressure on Treasury rates,” wrote John Canavan, lead analyst at Oxford Economics.

Read the full article here.

–Polo Rocha

Why Wall Street Is Taking the War in Iran in Stride

FROM 16 hr 24 min ago

With every passing day, the conflict in the Middle East expands to new fronts, but that’s not scaring off investors.

Stocks rebounded on Tuesday from an early morning sell-off, an echo of Monday’s session. The major indexes all fell about 2.5% in the first hour of trading Tuesday, and then slowly and steadily pared their losses to finish the day down less than 1%. Why have investors been so quick to shrug off escalation and buy the dip? 

The worst case scenario for the U.S. stock market in light of events in the Middle East “would be if oil prices were to rise sharply and persistently enough to pose risk to the duration of the business cycle,” wrote Morgan Stanley analysts in a recent note. “However, because we believe we’re in an early cycle environment today with many favorable drivers,” oil would need to be a big drag on the economy to offset its strength.

Read the full article here.

–Colin Laidley

US-Iran Conflict Clouds Fed’s Path on Interest Rates

FROM 17 hr 1 min ago

The U.S. attack on Iran has complicated the Federal Reserve’s already challenging task of managing inflation and maintaining high employment.

Officials at the Fed are in the same boat as other forecasters: waiting to see how the outbreak of violence in the Middle East plays out, how long it lasts, and how severely it disrupts the U.S. economy.

The war has already caused energy prices to rise significantly, with WTI Crude up 8% since the conflict began as of Tuesday afternoon, and a gallon of regular gasoline up 10 cents to $3.11 per gallon, according to AAA.

The spike in energy prices has immediate implications for the Fed’s efforts to push inflation down to a 2% annual rate, especially if the war spreads or drags on for a long time. The war has disrupted oil exports from the Middle East, with more severe effects on U.S. energy prices the longer the conflict continues. On Wednesday, two Fed officials said they were watching the situation.

Read the full story here.

–Diccon Hyatt

Stock Futures Rise After Wild Session

FROM 17 hr 14 min ago

Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked 0.2% higher.

S&P 500 futures pointed up 0.3%.

Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.4%.