Public Markets 3d Briefing
×Market Turmoil
The S&P 500 finance.yahoo.com fell 1.2% as AI spending fears returned, marking its worst week since June. Nvidia finance.yahoo.com stock rose despite the broader tech selloff, with shares climbing after the company signaled the AI boom remains intact. Tech stocks investing.com are now almost as cheap as consumer staples, creating potential value opportunities amid the volatility. Treasuries bloomberg.com rose, sending longer-maturity yields toward their lowest levels of the year, as the technology share slump deepened.
AI Sector Shakeup
C3.ai finance.yahoo.com slashed 26% of its staff after CEO acknowledged failure to deliver and "burning too much money." Citizens investing.com downgraded the software company after a revenue miss deepened turnaround risks. Salesforce finance.yahoo.com eased AI fears with a strong outlook and big buybacks, while NVIDIA CEO Huang investing.com said the "Saa Spocalypse" narrative is wrong, seeing a "deep misunderstanding" of AI's impact. Morgan Stanley investing.com says hyperscaler AI spending is set to exceed dot-com peak levels.
Corporate Developments
Walmart wsj.com agreed to a $100 million FTC settlement over driver pay deception allegations. EBay wsj.com will cut 800 jobs in a strategic restructuring. Papa John's wsj.com is closing hundreds of pizza shops as the broader restaurant sector struggles. Bed Bath & Beyond wsj.com narrowed its fourth-quarter loss and targets low- to mid-single digit revenue growth in 2026. Shake Shack wsj.com reported higher fourth-quarter profit, maintaining margins through operational improvements amid industry headwinds.
Private Credit Concerns
A publicly-traded private credit fund bloomberg.com managed by Blackstone is marketing a new bond after disclosing continued stress in one of its largest investments. Top executives bloomberg.com at Europe's biggest insurance companies acknowledged widespread concern about private credit while seeking to reassure investors about their own exposure. A BDC with 2% software exposure bloomberg.com pitches itself as a "safe haven" amid mounting concerns about loans to software companies.
Energy & Commodities
Oil bloomberg.com climbed as US-Iran nuclear talks kept investors on edge, rekindling fears of military conflict that could disrupt OPEC supplies. BP bloomberg.com is aggressively expanding shale drilling, bucking the conservative approach of many rivals as the UK oil giant seeks to reverse years of anemic output. Revere Copper Products bloomberg.com is ramping up US investment as tariffs and surging data center demand lift earnings at America's oldest copper manufacturer.
Financial Markets
Fed's Bowman bloomberg.com says consensus has been reached on the Basel plan, with regulators getting close to releasing a revised version of the bank capital proposal. Fed's Miran wsj.com says four rate cuts are appropriate this year, calling for about a percentage point reduction. State Farm bloomberg.com will pay a record $5 billion dividend to auto-insurance customers after posting strong underwriting profits. HSBC bloomberg.com faces an earnings test after its stock rallied 89% from lows, with revenue prospects and a subsidiary buyout in focus.
International Markets
China's yuan bloomberg.com hit a 35-month high as the dollar keeps falling, touching its strongest level since 2023 amid tariff uncertainty bleeding into currency markets. Colombia's dollar bonds bloomberg.com fell across the curve and the peso led emerging-market losses after a new poll showed leftist Senator Iván Cepeda with a wide lead in the presidential race. National Bank of Canada bloomberg.com hit a record high as CWB boosted earnings, beating analyst estimates in its fiscal first quarter.
Technology & Innovation
Amazon's AI lab chief ft.com will depart amid a leadership shake-up, with David Luan leaving to "cook up something new." Qualcomm investing.com gained after Wells Fargo sees up to $7 billion in revenue from data center chips. Broadcom finance.yahoo.com expects to sell 1 million 3D stacked chips by 2027. MP Materials barrons.com is lifting output of rare-earth magnets, with production ramping up at a new facility.
Legal & Regulatory
The Supreme Court yahoo.com ruled against a private prison firm facing forced-work suit from immigration detainees. A Canadian court bloomberg.com rebuked the securities watchdog over a forex trading case, awarding record legal costs to My Forex Funds and criticizing regulatory conduct. The Federal Trade Commission alleged Walmart deceived drivers about potential earnings, leading to the $100 million settlement.
Economic Indicators
U.S. power-plant pollution wsj.com rose sharply in 2025, marking a rare uptick in an otherwise long-term downward trend partly due to more coal being burned for electricity generation. U.S. jobless claims bloomberg.com moved slightly higher to 212,000, rising by less than expected for the week that included the Presidents Day holiday. Nearly half of U.S. farmers wsj.com are forecast to turn a profit in 2026, with many bracing for another difficult year amid years of thin margins.
Market Analysis
David Rubenstein bloomberg.com interviewed former Vice President Al Gore about the accelerating climate crisis and the economic case for renewables. Dan Loeb bloomberg.com says the "lost art of short selling" is making a comeback as opportunities emerge to bet against crowded trades. The case for going long complacency ft.com suggests corporate credit may simply be boring and fine despite recent volatility.