Francesca Fontana
Appearances
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Temu’s Pressures, Nvidia Delivers, Beautiful E.l.f.
The S&P 500 rose about 6.2%. And the Nasdaq jumped more than 9%. Alright, first up, Timu. Or is it Temu? You know, I thought I had it down after the Super Bowl commercial with the song, but I've forgotten. So my wonderful producers have helped me nail it down. It's Temu. Anyway.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Temu’s Pressures, Nvidia Delivers, Beautiful E.l.f.
Temu, der berühmte E-Commerce-Seller von der chinesischen Elternfirma PDD Holdings, ist durch US-Tarife unter seriösem Druck. PDD Holdings hat diese Woche gesagt, dass ihr Profit in der ersten Quartiere fast 50% gestiegen ist, was... ist ein großer Schritt, je nachdem, wie stark Temus Aufstieg in den USA ist.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Temu’s Pressures, Nvidia Delivers, Beautiful E.l.f.
Temus ultra-cheap tägliche Produkte sind ein Hits mit budgetbewussten amerikanischen Konsumenten. Seht auch den chinesischen Fast-Fashion-E-Retailer Xi'an. Und diese Firmen handeln nicht nur mit den neuen amerikanischen Tarifen, sondern auch mit der Verlängerung eines Pflichtabschlusses für niedrige oder kleine Pakete aus China. And they've both relied heavily on it.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Temu’s Pressures, Nvidia Delivers, Beautiful E.l.f.
So, when all of this came rolling out, we saw TAMU raising prices and temporarily halting all shipments from China. And you can see how this might have affected their bottom line. So, what does this mean for the US-traded shares of PDD? Well, PDD dropped 14% on Tuesday and on the week lost 19%. One business that is managing to overcome its Chinese trade woes is NVIDIA.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Temu’s Pressures, Nvidia Delivers, Beautiful E.l.f.
The chip giant's business is still booming, even while it's effectively shut out of China's giant AI chip market. On Wednesday, NVIDIA posted another quarter of record-breaking sales, with quarterly revenue reaching $44.06 billion, which is a 69% increase. Even with Washington's roadblocks limiting sales to China. Nvidia shares gained more than 3% on Thursday.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Temu’s Pressures, Nvidia Delivers, Beautiful E.l.f.
And the stock helped power indexes to modest gains despite all of the back-and-forth court rulings I told you about re-Trump and tariffs. And on the week, the stock notched a gain of 2.9%. Last but not least, e.l.f. Beauty's stock got a major glow-up after announcing a $1 billion deal to acquire Hailey Bieber's beauty brand.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Temu’s Pressures, Nvidia Delivers, Beautiful E.l.f.
Hailey Bieber, the American model and wife of Justin Bieber, started RODE back in 2022, and e.l.f. said that buying RODE will help diversify its supply chain out of China. Sorry, I know, China this, China that, it's just how it is. Elfshares ended up rocketing 24% higher on Thursday and on the week notched a gain of 34%. And now you know what's news in markets this week.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Temu’s Pressures, Nvidia Delivers, Beautiful E.l.f.
You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in The Score, my column in the Wall Street Journal's Exchange section. Today's show was produced by Zoe Kolkin and Anthony Bansi with supervising producer Michael Kosmitis. I'm Francesca Fontana. Have a great weekend and I'll see you next Saturday.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Temu’s Pressures, Nvidia Delivers, Beautiful E.l.f.
Hey Listeners, it's Saturday, May 31st. I'm Francesca Fontana for the Wall Street Journal and this is What's News in Markets. Our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. You guys know, I usually do a play-by-play of the week, right? I go day by day, give you the biggest stock moving news in the order that we got it.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Temu’s Pressures, Nvidia Delivers, Beautiful E.l.f.
But this week, I think the big question is, where are we with tariffs right now? Sind sie fertig? Sind sie zurück? Sind sie wirklich weg? Also, wo sind wir mit Tariffs? Well, they're still in place. For now. But if you can imagine a cloud hanging over them right now, and that cloud's name is legal limbo. First, the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Temu’s Pressures, Nvidia Delivers, Beautiful E.l.f.
Court of International Trade invalidated nearly all of President Trump's tariffs. Then, a federal appeals court allowed them to stay in effect. Now, that's not going to be the end of this saga, and it's certainly not the end of the trade war or our collective whiplash. Natürlich gibt es auch andere Geräusche. Trump verurteilt China, dass es mit den USA zu tun hat, usw.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Temu’s Pressures, Nvidia Delivers, Beautiful E.l.f.
Aber das ist das lange und das kurze davon. Die Tarife sind immer noch da. Die Firmen rippen nicht ihre gewünschte Regulierung auf oder schlagen ihre Pläne, um die Kosten der Tarife zu vermeiden. Und wir sind alle nur einen Fuß vor dem anderen. Was tun die Indexe? Nun, alle drei endeten die Woche höher und haben die Monatserhöhungen genutzt. The Dow ended May with a gain of 3.9%.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Capital One Gains, Consumer Conglomerate Woes, Alphabet Earnings Shine
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WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Capital One Gains, Consumer Conglomerate Woes, Alphabet Earnings Shine
Early in the week, Capital One had some good news sending its shares higher, including the green light on its merger with rival credit card giant Discover. Capital One on Tuesday posted a higher quarterly profit, and the bank said it's prepared to complete the $35 billion acquisition in May, after regulators approved the merger the Friday before. This deal is big for Capital One.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Capital One Gains, Consumer Conglomerate Woes, Alphabet Earnings Shine
It expands its credit card business, and it gives the bank a card network to compete with Visa and MasterCard. Both Capital One and Discover are card issuers. They give out and manage credit cards. But only Discover is a network, the ones that make the transactions happen between merchants and credit cards.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Capital One Gains, Consumer Conglomerate Woes, Alphabet Earnings Shine
Investors cheered all the news, sending Capital One shares up 1.5% on Monday and 3.1% on Tuesday. And for the week, the stock gained more than 12%.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Capital One Gains, Consumer Conglomerate Woes, Alphabet Earnings Shine
Earnings season is in full swing, and one big sector to watch during the week was consumer products makers, as a bunch of them announced outlook cuts that gave us a window into how the trade war is affecting the makers of everything from shampoo to detergent to toilet paper. Some names for you, Kimberly-Clark, Procter & Gamble, and Colgate-Palmolive.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Capital One Gains, Consumer Conglomerate Woes, Alphabet Earnings Shine
Kimberly-Clark, Kleenex tissues, Huggies diapers, on Tuesday said it expects $300 million in new costs this year related to the trade war. And Procter & Gamble, which makes Tide detergent, for one, on Thursday posted lower sales and said it would do whatever it could, including possibly changing product formulations, to mitigate the effects of tariffs.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Capital One Gains, Consumer Conglomerate Woes, Alphabet Earnings Shine
On Friday, Colgate-Palmolive bucked the trend a bit by posting better-than-expected results, but executives said consumers worried about the economy have been buying less. So how'd the stocks do this week? Well, Procter & Gamble ended down 5%, Kimberly-Clark fell 7.9%, and Colgate-Palmolive dropped 1.7%.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Capital One Gains, Consumer Conglomerate Woes, Alphabet Earnings Shine
Now back to Alphabet, parent company of Google and one of the first big tech companies to report its quarterly results this season. And in the midst of all the economic turbulence, its latest earnings managed to hold up. Alphabet's operating income beat Wall Street's expectations, and it's still spending hand over fist to invest in AI.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Capital One Gains, Consumer Conglomerate Woes, Alphabet Earnings Shine
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WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Capital One Gains, Consumer Conglomerate Woes, Alphabet Earnings Shine
In the first quarter, capital expenditures reached a record $17.2 billion. Google's all-important advertising revenue rose 8% on the year, But this is something to watch as the rest of the year unfolds. Because while most of Google's business isn't directly affected by all the tariffs, the ad sector is vulnerable in an economic downturn. And it makes sense, right?
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Capital One Gains, Consumer Conglomerate Woes, Alphabet Earnings Shine
Brands tend to pull back spending when consumers aren't in the mood to buy. Alphabet shares ended up adding 1.5% on Friday after the company reported Thursday afternoon. And on the week, the stock gained 6.8%. And now you know what's news in markets this week. You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in The Score, my column in the Wall Street Journal's Exchange section.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Capital One Gains, Consumer Conglomerate Woes, Alphabet Earnings Shine
Today's show was produced by Zoe Kolkin and Michael LaValle with supervising producer Talia Arbel. I'm Francesca Fontana. Have a great weekend and see you next Saturday.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Capital One Gains, Consumer Conglomerate Woes, Alphabet Earnings Shine
Hey, listeners, it's Saturday, April 26. I'm Francesca Fontana for The Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News in Markets, our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. The sun has come out here in New York, so it feels fitting that we also got a break in the clouds in the stock market.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Capital One Gains, Consumer Conglomerate Woes, Alphabet Earnings Shine
The relief rally started with optimism for a trade deal after Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said on Tuesday that he expects the trade war with China to de-escalate, even though Beijing has said it isn't in negotiations with Washington. And, of course, some dovish comments from Fed officials on Thursday boosted hopes for lower interest rates. That certainly didn't hurt.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Capital One Gains, Consumer Conglomerate Woes, Alphabet Earnings Shine
And it was after hours Thursday that we also got a strong earnings report from Alphabet. More on that in a bit. And though stocks traded mixed during Friday's session, all three major indexes ended higher. That is a four-day winning streak for those of you playing along at home. On a weekly basis, the Dow rose 2.5%, the S&P 500 gained 4.6%, and the Nasdaq jumped 6.7%.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Walmart Affirms Klarna, Tesla Politics, Consumer Angst
Now let's check back in on Tesla, the EV maker led by Elon Musk. I know, I know, we keep talking about this stock, but hey, there's just no shortage of moves lately. Long story short, a swirl of consumer backlash, investor scrutiny, and vandalism continues to surround Tesla. And as we've seen, all of this has taken a sizable toll on the stock so far this year.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Walmart Affirms Klarna, Tesla Politics, Consumer Angst
So this week, on Tuesday, analysts warn of lower overseas demand and said consumer backlash as the brand becomes, quote, increasingly politicized. I mean, it was just last week, right? We saw President Trump posing with Teslas on the White House lawn. And as chief executive Elon Musk has become a powerful senior advisor to Trump, we've also seen Tesla's vehicles becoming targets of vandalism.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Walmart Affirms Klarna, Tesla Politics, Consumer Angst
That same day, Tuesday, several vehicles were set on fire outside a Tesla service center in Las Vegas. And the stock ended up losing 5.3 percent that day. Then on Wednesday, Tesla recalled most Cybertrucks. This is its eighth recall issued on the truck due to a flaw that can cause an exterior panel to fall off. But there was also good news for the stock.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Walmart Affirms Klarna, Tesla Politics, Consumer Angst
Cantor Fitzgerald raised its rating on Tesla, saying the recent sell-off created an attractive entry point. And later that day, in an unusual move that certainly raised some eyebrows and some concerns re-federal ethics rules, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox viewers to buy Tesla stock, saying, quote, And just yesterday, Musk told Tesla workers not to sell their shares.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Walmart Affirms Klarna, Tesla Politics, Consumer Angst
But even with things relatively quiet on the tariff front, traders certainly had their fair share of news to digest. There was Tuesday's tech sell-off, turmoil in the Middle East and developments around the war in Ukraine. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday, with most officials at the central bank still penciling in two rate cuts for the year.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Walmart Affirms Klarna, Tesla Politics, Consumer Angst
So how did the stock do this week? Well, Tesla shares lost 5.3% on Tuesday, then they rebounded 4.7% Wednesday. On a weekly basis, though, the stock ended up extending its eight-week losing streak, well, nine-week losing streak now, with a loss of 0.5%. Last but not least, consumer spending and economic concerns were front and center in earnings this week.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Walmart Affirms Klarna, Tesla Politics, Consumer Angst
For instance, General Mills, the food maker known for Lucky Charms, Yoplait, etc., reported lower than expected fiscal third quarter sales and cut its outlook for the year. It said that in the latest quarter, North American retailers reduced inventory and consumers spent less on snacks. And we saw General Mills shares fall roughly 2% on Wednesday.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Walmart Affirms Klarna, Tesla Politics, Consumer Angst
Although the stock did end up notching a weekly gain of about 0.6%. We saw similar concerns coming from Nike later in the week. The sportswear company late Thursday posted lower third quarter profit and revenue. And Nike said its sales in the current fourth quarter are expected to drop at a rate in the mid-teens. And Nike shares ended up losing 5.5% on Friday.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Walmart Affirms Klarna, Tesla Politics, Consumer Angst
And now you know what's news in markets this week. You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in The Score, my column in the Wall Street Journal's Exchange section. Today's show was produced by Zoe Kolkin and Anthony Bansi with supervising producer Michael Kosmides. I'm Francesca Fontana. Have a great weekend.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Walmart Affirms Klarna, Tesla Politics, Consumer Angst
Hey, listeners. It's Saturday, March 22nd. I'm Francesca Fontana for The Wall Street Journal. And this is What's News in Markets, our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. Well, it looks like we made it through the week without any big trade drama coming from the White House compared to recent weeks.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Walmart Affirms Klarna, Tesla Politics, Consumer Angst
and plenty of earnings reports along the way. All in all, the major indexes match to notch gains for the week, with the S&P 500 rising half a percent, the Dow gaining 1.2 percent, and the Nasdaq ending about 0.2 percent higher. First up, let's talk about Affirm and Klarna, two of the fintech players in the buy now, pay later space. You've probably seen those options in your online shopping cart.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Walmart Affirms Klarna, Tesla Politics, Consumer Angst
They do what it says on the tin. You buy now and then you pay later in installments. Well, since 2019, Walmart, the U.S. retail giant, had partnered with Affirm to offer its customers those installment plans. But on Monday, we learned that Walmart is rolling back its relationship with Affirm and replacing it with Swedish rival Klarna.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Walmart Affirms Klarna, Tesla Politics, Consumer Angst
Now, Klarna has recently filed for an IPO listing on the New York Stock Exchange. So be on the watch for that. But Affirm began trading on the Nasdaq back in 2021. So let's see, how did the stock react to this news? Affirm shares fell 4.2% on Monday and extended their declines Tuesday, losing about 9%. But the stock gained background in the following days and ended the week just 0.4% lower.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Intel Spikes, Walmart Slides, Bumble Fumbles
First, let's talk Intel. Two of its chip-making rivals are eyeing deals that would break the storied company in two. The Wall Street Journal reported last weekend that Broadcom has been looking at Intel's chip design and marketing business, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has its eye on controlling some or all of Intel's chip plants.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Intel Spikes, Walmart Slides, Bumble Fumbles
And that's according to people familiar with the matter. Now, Broadcom and TSMC aren't working together, and the talks are preliminary and largely informal. But the end result could be a breakup of Intel. And if you're asking, how did Intel go from global leader, totally dominating the chip business for decades, to an acquisition target?
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Intel Spikes, Walmart Slides, Bumble Fumbles
Well, its recent struggles include manufacturing setbacks, a costly turnaround strategy, and AI missteps. And you might remember that this isn't the first time Intel was sought after. Last September, the Journal reported that Qualcomm had made a takeover approach to the company.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Intel Spikes, Walmart Slides, Bumble Fumbles
And investors were clearly excited about the dual deal possibilities this week, because Intel shares surged 16% on Tuesday. And while the stock came back down to earth later in the week, it still notched a weekly gain of 5.3%. Now let's circle back to Walmart. Retail giant, leading American grocer, used to be big on smiley faces, remember that old logo?
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Intel Spikes, Walmart Slides, Bumble Fumbles
Well, Walmart investors weren't smiling at the company's latest quarterly report. Deal-seeking shoppers boosted shares last year, but this year it might be a different story. Wal-Mart postete einen starken Profit und Revenue für die Weihnachtszeit, aber es gab weniger als erwartetes Wachstum für die kommende Jahrhunderte.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Intel Spikes, Walmart Slides, Bumble Fumbles
Dies schlug die Investoren ab und hatte Ripple-Effekte auf dem Markt am Montag, weil es einige Glauben auf die Stärke des US-Konsumenten gab. Wal-Mart-Ausgaben fielen am Montag um 6,5 Prozent und verringerten am Freitag weiter, endet mit einem wöchentlichen Verlust von 8,9 Prozent. Let's talk about love. You know, Valentine's Day is over, it's done.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Intel Spikes, Walmart Slides, Bumble Fumbles
And so maybe it's fitting that one of the biggest losers of the week was dating app company Bumble. Now Bumble's been trying to turn itself around, but late Tuesday the company forecast lower than expected earnings in the first quarter, disappointing investors. And it's not the only online dating stock that hasn't been so lucky in love lately.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Intel Spikes, Walmart Slides, Bumble Fumbles
Earlier this month, Rival Match, which owns Tinder, Hinge and Okie Cupid, replaced its top executive, posted a drop in fourth quarter earnings and forecast sales below expectations. Now Bumble said it's got a plan to attract more users and improve its monetization strategy and it's going to wind down two of its dating apps.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Intel Spikes, Walmart Slides, Bumble Fumbles
Fruits, with a Z, you know how cool stuff gets spelled, and official, which is spelled normally. But that did little to stop the freefall, as Bumble shares lost a whopping 30% Wednesday, and on the week lost 38%. And now you know what's news in markets this week. You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in The Score, my column in the Wall Street Journal's Exchange section.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Intel Spikes, Walmart Slides, Bumble Fumbles
Hey Listeners, it's Saturday, February 22nd. I'm Francesca Fontana for the Wall Street Journal and this is What's News in Markets. Our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. Kicking off another four-day trading week, Tuesday started on a high note, with the S&P 500 notching its second record high close of 2025.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Intel Spikes, Walmart Slides, Bumble Fumbles
Today's show was produced by Pierre Bien-Aimé, with supervising producer Talia Arbel. I'm Francesca Fontana. Have a great weekend and don't forget to email me whether you're feeling bullish or bearish about the stock market. I'll see you next Saturday.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Intel Spikes, Walmart Slides, Bumble Fumbles
But investors are still cautious, with talk of tariffs and warm inflation. And I found this really interesting. Per the latest survey from the American Association of Individual Investors, bearishness among individual traders... The percentage who expect stock prices to fall over the next six months reached about 47% for the week ending February 12th. That's the highest since November 2023. Woof.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Intel Spikes, Walmart Slides, Bumble Fumbles
And I'm curious to know what you think. So please email me at francesca.fontana at wsj.com. I am really looking forward to hearing your two cents. All right, back to the week. Am Donnerstag riefen Walmarts Steuern auf den Index-Paraden, wir kommen zurück zu dem, und die Gloom lag mit Fridays Verlusten. Am Wochenende fielen die Dow und der Nasdaq alle 2,5 %, während der S&P 500 1,7 % fiel.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Lilly Surges, UnitedHealth Plummets, Netflix Aims for $1 Trillion
On Thursday, Lilly said its daily pill met its goals in a trial, helping diabetics lower their blood sugar and lose weight. And these results are the first from several studies of the pill expected this year. And they were certainly celebrated by investors, because Lilly shares surged 14% on Thursday.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Lilly Surges, UnitedHealth Plummets, Netflix Aims for $1 Trillion
Now let's circle back to UnitedHealth, the healthcare conglomerate and parent of UnitedHealthcare, America's largest health insurer. UnitedHealth's stock took a nosedive on Thursday after the company slashed its annual outlook and posted quarterly earnings that fell short of Wall Street's expectations. This is a rare stumble for the company.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Lilly Surges, UnitedHealth Plummets, Netflix Aims for $1 Trillion
You know, it typically delivers a steady stream of increased earnings and better than projected financial performance. So what caused the unexpectedly disappointing results? Well, higher than expected medical costs in its Medicare business. This is an issue that has affected the entire industry over the past year, but until now, it's been not so significant a problem at UnitedHealth.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Lilly Surges, UnitedHealth Plummets, Netflix Aims for $1 Trillion
Hey, listeners. It's Saturday, April 19th. I'm Francesca Fontana for The Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News in Markets, our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. After some relative calm earlier in the week, the tariff angst came for the chip industry on Wednesday and ended up weighing down tech stocks.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Lilly Surges, UnitedHealth Plummets, Netflix Aims for $1 Trillion
The stock ended up plummeting 22% on Thursday. Last but not least, some news from Netflix. The streaming giant has some pretty ambitious goals, The Wall Street Journal reported this week, including joining the elite club of companies with a market cap of $1 trillion or more, which includes tech giants like Apple and Nvidia. The company also aims to double its revenue to about $80 billion by 2030.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Lilly Surges, UnitedHealth Plummets, Netflix Aims for $1 Trillion
So where's Netflix at right now? Well, it's got a market cap of more than $400 billion, for starters, and the company has boosted its performance in recent years by raising prices, limiting password sharing, and starting an ad business. Another thing Netflix has going for it, it's been relatively unscathed by the market turmoil related to Trump's tariffs, at least so far.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Lilly Surges, UnitedHealth Plummets, Netflix Aims for $1 Trillion
Netflix shares gained 4.8% Tuesday and, on a weekly basis, rose about 6%. We also got the latest quarterly results from Netflix later in the week, after market close on Thursday, in which it reported a record quarterly profit. But, as we know, the market was closed on Friday, so the stock is definitely one to keep an eye on Monday. And now you know what's news in markets this week.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Lilly Surges, UnitedHealth Plummets, Netflix Aims for $1 Trillion
You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in The Score, my column in the Wall Street Journal's Exchange section. Today's show was produced by Zoe Kolkin and Anthony Bansi with supervising producer Talia Arbel. I'm Francesca Fontana. Have a great weekend and see you next Saturday.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Lilly Surges, UnitedHealth Plummets, Netflix Aims for $1 Trillion
Also turning stocks lower was a warning from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who said there was a strong likelihood that the economy would take a hit from President Trump's trade war. The Dow was also dragged down Thursday by disappointing results from UnitedHealth, with the health care bellwether's share price having an outsized effect on the price weighted index. But more on that in a bit.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Lilly Surges, UnitedHealth Plummets, Netflix Aims for $1 Trillion
And Friday, as you likely noticed, the stock market was closed for Good Friday. On the week, the S&P 500 lost 1.5%, the Dow fell 2.7%, and the Nasdaq fell 2.6%. First up, let's talk about some big movers outside of all the tariff drama, like Eli Lilly, one of the drug makers vying for the weed in the race for a weight-loss pill.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Lilly Surges, UnitedHealth Plummets, Netflix Aims for $1 Trillion
A little context, pharmaceutical companies including Lilly and Novo Nordisk, which currently dominate the obesity market with injectable drugs like Zepbound and Wegovy, have been testing pills that could help people lose weight. The market for weight loss drugs has been on fire, and analysts say it could reach $100 billion by the end of the decade.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trade Truce Winners, UnitedHealth Slides, Foot Locker Deal Bounce
Amazon's ubiquitous online retail platform and many of the third-party sellers on that platform sourced their products from China. Before the trade deal eased the tariffs that they're subject to, many of these merchants warned that prices could skyrocket, and some said that they would have to stop their operations entirely.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trade Truce Winners, UnitedHealth Slides, Foot Locker Deal Bounce
So, we saw Amazon shares surge roughly 8% on Monday, and on the week the stock gained 6.5%. Then there was Boeing, which rose on the news that China was scrapping an earlier ban on Boeing's airplanes.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trade Truce Winners, UnitedHealth Slides, Foot Locker Deal Bounce
The government last month told Chinese carriers that they had to seek additional approval before taking delivery of Boeing aircraft that they had already ordered, so in effect halting deliveries to one of Boeing's biggest markets.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trade Truce Winners, UnitedHealth Slides, Foot Locker Deal Bounce
Plus, later in the week, the White House announced that Qatar Airways would buy up to 210 Boeing aircraft, one of several business deals that the president noted during his trip to the Middle East. Boeing shares gained 2.5 percent on Tuesday and rose 5.6 percent on the week.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trade Truce Winners, UnitedHealth Slides, Foot Locker Deal Bounce
And then there was Nike, which relies on Vietnam, Indonesia, and China for its products and was hit hard last month when the tariffs were announced. It climbed 7.3% on Monday and notched a weekly gain of more than 8%. Now, back to UnitedHealth, the healthcare conglomerate and parent of insurance provider UnitedHealthcare. It's had a rough year, and it had a bad week this week.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trade Truce Winners, UnitedHealth Slides, Foot Locker Deal Bounce
On Tuesday, UnitedHealth suspended its 2025 earnings outlook and announced the sudden resignation of Chief Executive Andrew Witte, and the stock dropped a whopping 18%. But that wasn't all. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department is investigating the company for possible criminal Medicare fraud.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trade Truce Winners, UnitedHealth Slides, Foot Locker Deal Bounce
And that's along with the other government probes into UnitedHealth, including antitrust investigations and a civil investigation of its Medicare billing practices that the journal first reported in February. UnitedHealth said it hadn't been notified by the Justice Department of the Criminal Investigation, and it stands by the integrity of its Medicare Advantage program.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trade Truce Winners, UnitedHealth Slides, Foot Locker Deal Bounce
86.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trade Truce Winners, UnitedHealth Slides, Foot Locker Deal Bounce
86%. That is how much that shares of sneaker seller Foot Locker gained on Thursday, thanks to Dick's Sporting Goods, the big box retailer, buying the company for roughly $2.4 billion. If you'll pardon the pun, Foot Locker has been on pretty shaky footing, and its shares have slumped this year on Trump's tariffs. So Foot Locker jumped 86% on Thursday and ended the week with a gain of 98%.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trade Truce Winners, UnitedHealth Slides, Foot Locker Deal Bounce
How did DigShares do? Well, they didn't make quite so extreme a move and not quite in the same direction, dropping 15% on Thursday. And now you know what's news in markets this week. You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in The Score, my column in the Wall Street Journal's Exchange section.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trade Truce Winners, UnitedHealth Slides, Foot Locker Deal Bounce
Hey, listeners, it's Saturday, May 17th. I'm Francesca Fontana for The Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News in Markets, our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. We have a deal. In case you missed it, we got a surprise on Monday when the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trade Truce Winners, UnitedHealth Slides, Foot Locker Deal Bounce
Today's show was produced by Zoe Kolkin and Anthony Bansi with supervising producer Talia Arbel. I'm Francesca Fontana. Have a great weekend.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trade Truce Winners, UnitedHealth Slides, Foot Locker Deal Bounce
and China announced a trade deal rolling back most of the tariffs between the two countries that have been weighing heavily on investors' minds and on many companies' operations. Now, the relief could be temporary. It's a 90-day agreement, so plenty of uncertainty remains.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trade Truce Winners, UnitedHealth Slides, Foot Locker Deal Bounce
But the trade optimism sparked a rally on Monday, with the three major indexes making some smaller, mixed moves the rest of the week. On Tuesday, for instance, UnitedHealth's giant drop dragged the Dow lower, and we'll get to that stock's meltdown in a bit. All in all, the three major indexes each made some gains this week.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trade Truce Winners, UnitedHealth Slides, Foot Locker Deal Bounce
The Dow added more than 3%, the S&P 500 gained more than 5%, and the Nasdaq rose more than 7%. As far as individual movers go, let's run through some of the big winners of the US-China truce. Many of the stocks that had the most to gain were, logically, the ones most exposed to China in their supply chains. So, for example, Amazon, along with other big tech stocks, got a boost from the news.
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What’s News in Markets: Trump’s Tesla, Trade-War Hiccups, Low-Flying Shares
Then, in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he was going to buy a brand new Tesla, quote, as a show of confidence and support for Musk. Like I said, Trump has been pretty anti-electric car. He campaigned extensively against Joe Biden's EV mandates, for one, and his administration back in February halted federal funding for new charging stations.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trump’s Tesla, Trade-War Hiccups, Low-Flying Shares
But, you know, you'd never know it, at least not by the looks of the photo op Trump held later that day on Tuesday. He joined Elon outside the White House alongside several Tesla models. The shoutout did give the stock a rebound, with shares rising almost 4% on Tuesday. But on a weekly basis, Tesla posted a loss for the eighth week in a row, this time a loss of nearly 5%.
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What’s News in Markets: Trump’s Tesla, Trade-War Hiccups, Low-Flying Shares
All right, like I promised, it is time for another trade war play-by-play. I know last week was pretty nuts. You can be the judge of how this week stacks up in comparison. Spoiler alert, it's not the global auto industry caught in the crossfire. No, this time it is alcohol.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trump’s Tesla, Trade-War Hiccups, Low-Flying Shares
You might recall that Trump announced back in February that on March 12, 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum would go into effect. And that they did. On Wednesday. So on Wednesday, the European Union announced retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. Really hitting them where it hurts. 50%, starting April 1, on imports of American whiskey, motorcycles, and motorboats. we're gonna focus on the whiskey.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trump’s Tesla, Trade-War Hiccups, Low-Flying Shares
Hey, listeners. It's Saturday, March 15th. I'm Francesca Fontana for The Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News in Markets, our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. Welcome back, everybody. Hope you made it through this week in markets in one piece. What was it in a word? A doozy. Well, maybe that's two words.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trump’s Tesla, Trade-War Hiccups, Low-Flying Shares
Then, Thursday, Trump escalates, threatening to impose 200% tariffs on all alcohol imports from the bloc, prompting a sell-off among European drink makers. Beer, wine, champagne, liquor, you name it. Now, this EU levy on American whiskey That'd be a blow to Jack Daniels maker Brown Foreman and other U.S.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trump’s Tesla, Trade-War Hiccups, Low-Flying Shares
distillers, which are already contending with a drop in demand as American drinkers cut back on, well, drinking. And the tariff threat was a blow to Brown Foreman's stock this week. Its shares fell 5.1% on Wednesday, and on a weekly basis, the stock was down 5.8%. Last but not least, U.S. airlines lost some air on Tuesday, but some carriers managed to buck the trend.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trump’s Tesla, Trade-War Hiccups, Low-Flying Shares
What was the week about in a few words? Recession fears and trade. Recession fears were in the foreground for many companies' earnings reports. For instance, Kohl's joined the growing chorus of retailers warning of slowing household spending this year. And the stock on Tuesday plummeted 24 percent.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trump’s Tesla, Trade-War Hiccups, Low-Flying Shares
Delta Airlines, American Airlines, and JetBlue lowered guidance early in the week, and we saw Delta shares fall more than 7% on Tuesday, while American shares lost more than 8%. But JetBlue gained 4.2%. For one, its outlook cut was smaller than the others, and it already warned of first-quarter weakness back in January.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trump’s Tesla, Trade-War Hiccups, Low-Flying Shares
Meanwhile, Southwest unveiled a range of moves to lift revenue, including the seismic shift of charging for checked bags. And its shares on Tuesday jumped about 8%. So JetBlue, Southwest... How'd the stocks fare the rest of the week? Well, JetBlue ended with a loss of more than 8%, while Southwest posted a weekly gain of more than 9%. And now you know what's news in markets this week.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trump’s Tesla, Trade-War Hiccups, Low-Flying Shares
You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in The Score, my column in the Wall Street Journal's Exchange section. Today's show was produced by Zoe Kolkin and Anthony Bansi, with supervising producer Michael Kosmitas. I'm Francesca Fontana. Have a great weekend, and I'll see you next Saturday.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trump’s Tesla, Trade-War Hiccups, Low-Flying Shares
Plus, on Friday, we saw that the University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment fell to its lowest level since November 2022. So not great. And we'll get into the trade war stuff in a bit, but minor spoiler alert, it was Thursday, the day the European Union got more tariff threats from Trump, that the S&P 500 closed in correction territory.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trump’s Tesla, Trade-War Hiccups, Low-Flying Shares
In other words, it fell more than 10% from its recent high on February 19th. All in all, the three major indexes posted weekly declines, with the Dow dropping about 3% and the S&P and the Nasdaq each falling more than 2%. First up, Tesla, Elon Musk's EV maker, which got some relief from its latest rout thanks to a shout out from previous EV hater, President Trump.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Trump’s Tesla, Trade-War Hiccups, Low-Flying Shares
In case you missed it, disappointing sales data and concerns over Musk's role in the Trump administration have been weighing on the stock. And on Monday, shares lost 15%, its worst trading day since 2020, taking its year-to-date losses to 45%.
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What’s News in Markets: Banks' Warnings, CarMax Stalls, Delta Shares Fly
For one, the White House said that the China tariffs added up to 145 percent, not the 125 percent it had indicated the day before. And then we got one last twist. On Friday, stocks were back to rallying to close out the wild ride. On a weekly basis, the Dow gained about 5 percent, the S&P 500 gained more than 5 percent, and the Nasdaq climbed more than 7 percent.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Banks' Warnings, CarMax Stalls, Delta Shares Fly
In terms of individual movers, let's start with Delta Airlines. Delta predicted that 2025 would be its best financial year ever. But that view has gotten pretty cloudy. The airline on Wednesday ditched its full-year financial outlook and said it's too soon to say how air travel demand is going to play out.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Banks' Warnings, CarMax Stalls, Delta Shares Fly
On an earnings call, CEO Ed Bastian also said Delta's working to avoid paying tariffs on the dozens of planes it's set to receive from Airbus this year. Of course, you'll recall that Wednesday afternoon's tariff pause injected a bunch of optimism into the market. And man, oh man, did airline stocks really fly. Delta shares rose 23% on Wednesday. American Airlines also rose 23%.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Banks' Warnings, CarMax Stalls, Delta Shares Fly
And United Airlines rose 26%. On a weekly basis, Delta notched a 9.7% gain. American ended up 2.2%. And United rose 14%. Now, not every company was relieved by the tariff pause, certainly not the ones affected by levies that remained in place.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Banks' Warnings, CarMax Stalls, Delta Shares Fly
Like CarMax, the used car dealer, which on Wednesday posted disappointing quarterly earnings and said it could no longer give a time frame for financial goals that it's been working toward for years. The 25 percent tax on automotive imports was not included in Trump's walkback. Now, the tariffs could be a mixed bag for CarMax and its auto-selling peers.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Banks' Warnings, CarMax Stalls, Delta Shares Fly
Analysts say the levies will likely drive up the cost of both new and used cars. This could attract more used car buyers, moving away from the higher cost of buying new. Or they could lose out on demand if shoppers hold off on buying vehicles altogether. The stock rode the broader rally higher on Wednesday, but the next day it took a nosedive, dropping 17% on Thursday.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Banks' Warnings, CarMax Stalls, Delta Shares Fly
And on the week, CarMax ended up losing more than 9%. It's that time again, bank earnings. On Friday, traders were celebrating the latest quarterly results from JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, higher quarterly profits reported by each, while also digesting executives' warnings about the recession risks looming over us all.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Banks' Warnings, CarMax Stalls, Delta Shares Fly
JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon, for one, warned that the economy quote, is facing considerable turbulence. Even accounting for Trump's tariff pause, the bank's economists see a likely recession on the horizon this year, and the other bank's executives echoed those concerns. On Friday, it was back on the rise. Shares gained 4% on the day, bringing the stock's weekly gain to more than 12%.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Banks' Warnings, CarMax Stalls, Delta Shares Fly
And now you know what's news in markets this week. You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in The Score, my column in the Wall Street Journal's Exchange section. Today's show was produced by Zoe Kolkin and Anthony Bansi, with supervising producer Michael Kosmides. I'm Francesca Fontana. Have a great weekend, and I'll see you next Saturday.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Banks' Warnings, CarMax Stalls, Delta Shares Fly
Hey, listeners, it's Saturday, April 12th. I'm Francesca Fontana for The Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News in Markets, our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. So what to talk about this week? I mean, it was so slow. There was no big news. I'm fully kidding.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Banks' Warnings, CarMax Stalls, Delta Shares Fly
This week, like last week, was full of trade turmoil and giant market swings. Really, we can divide it into before Wednesday and after Wednesday, a.k.a. before and after Trump's big about face on a bunch of the latest tariffs.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Banks' Warnings, CarMax Stalls, Delta Shares Fly
So before Wednesday, the market was digesting all of the latest threats of retaliation from China in response to Trump's tariffs, as well as big Wall Street players weighing in and voicing their concerns like JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon, and BlackRock's Larry Fink. In contrast, Trump told everyone to, quote, be cool via Truth Social, but clearly things in the market were not cool.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Banks' Warnings, CarMax Stalls, Delta Shares Fly
And then there was Wednesday. Trump interrupted the day's sell-off and announced the 90-day pause on certain tariffs to most countries, also via Truth Social. And we got a big old rally, and the three major indexes notched some records. Now, after Wednesday. Thursday, stocks were falling again, despite the good news from the previous day.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Disney Shines, Cleveland-Cliffs Slides, Boeing Climbs
So it's expanding its lucrative experiences business into a new market. The company also posted strong earnings, saying that its U.S. theme parks attracted more guests and higher spending from visitors in the latest quarter.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Disney Shines, Cleveland-Cliffs Slides, Boeing Climbs
Disney's Experiences unit, which is the home of its theme parks and cruises, has helped boost its other businesses, including its streaming platforms and its film and TV studios. And those areas, at Disney and at its rivals, have an array of issues that they're facing, like declining cable TV and underperformance at the box office. And, of course, a new threat has also emerged.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Disney Shines, Cleveland-Cliffs Slides, Boeing Climbs
President Trump's recent comments calling for 100% tariffs on films produced outside the U.S. So how'd the stock do on Wednesday? Well, Disney shares jumped 11%, making it the best performer in the Dow that day. And on the week, the stock gained about 15%. Now let's talk steel.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Disney Shines, Cleveland-Cliffs Slides, Boeing Climbs
Of course, as we've seen, President Trump has been trying to build up American steel demand with tariffs on foreign metal. Meanwhile, as we learned this week, one of the major U.S. steelmakers is shrinking. Cleveland Cliffs on Wednesday said it will pause or slow operations at six plants. after posting a wider first quarter loss and lower revenue.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Disney Shines, Cleveland-Cliffs Slides, Boeing Climbs
These production cuts and changes in its operations are expected to affect about 2,000 jobs and save the company some $300 million a year. Now, the future for steel demand in the U.S., it seems, is still unclear. Steel prices climbed as customers were buying up steel ahead of Trump's tariffs on imported metal.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Disney Shines, Cleveland-Cliffs Slides, Boeing Climbs
But now that rally has stalled, and buyers are holding off on placing big orders in an uncertain U.S. economy. Cleveland Cliff shares ended up plummeting 16% on Thursday and on a weekly basis lost more than 20%. And we finally got a big trade deal development this week, with the US-UK agreement announced on Thursday. And, like I said earlier, it contained good news for Boeing.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Disney Shines, Cleveland-Cliffs Slides, Boeing Climbs
$10 billion worth of good news, you might say. Because during the announcement... Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said a British airline would buy $10 billion worth of Boeing planes. And in exchange for the UK buying these jets as well as doing other things like cutting tariffs on some U.S. beef imports, the Trump administration agreed to roll back tariffs imposed on British steel and cars.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Disney Shines, Cleveland-Cliffs Slides, Boeing Climbs
And we got more specifics on Friday when British Airways owner IAG said it's ordered 32 Boeing planes. So after making some smaller moves in both directions earlier in the week, Boeing shares gained 3.3% on Thursday and notched a weekly gain of 5.1%. And now you know what's news in markets this week.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Disney Shines, Cleveland-Cliffs Slides, Boeing Climbs
You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in The Score, my column in the Wall Street Journal's Exchange section. Today's show was produced by Zoe Kolkin and Pierre Bien-Aimé with supervising producer Talia Arbel. I'm Francesca Fontana. Have a great weekend and I will see you next Saturday.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Disney Shines, Cleveland-Cliffs Slides, Boeing Climbs
Hey listeners, it's Saturday, May 10th. I'm Francesca Fontana for The Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News in Markets, our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. The stock market started this week pretty gloomy, as the S&P 500 and the Dow both snapped nine-day winning streaks on Monday.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Disney Shines, Cleveland-Cliffs Slides, Boeing Climbs
Trade jitters, of course, continued to be at play for investors. And those jitters weren't calmed by President Trump's meeting with Canada's prime minister or promises of trade deals. But things turned around on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve held rates steady. And we got a nice rally on Thursday on the announcement of a trade pact between the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Disney Shines, Cleveland-Cliffs Slides, Boeing Climbs
and the U.K., which had some good news in it for Boeing, but more on that later. All in all, though, all three major indexes ended the week slightly lower. Thank you. First up, let's talk Disney. The entertainment company announced plans for a new theme park, and investors were certainly celebrating. Disney said that its new park, which will be its seventh global park, will be built in Abu Dhabi.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tariffs Whipsaw, Gap’s Bump, Target Prices
And it seemed like Target investors got spooked, too, because its shares fell 3% on Tuesday and the stock ended the week down more than 7%. And Target wasn't alone. Another retail stock, Best Buy, took a hit after saying tariffs might curb demand for its electronics due to higher prices. Best Buy shares took a dive after that, sliding about 13% on Tuesday. And on the week, they lost roughly 12%.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tariffs Whipsaw, Gap’s Bump, Target Prices
So we're seeing how the trade policy atmosphere has been weighing on stocks through Tuesday, which was when those Mexico and Canada tariffs took effect. That brings us to Wednesday, where this week's tariff play-by-play really ramps up. OK, so we're going to move fast. And we're going to focus on global auto stocks, which are especially vulnerable. All right? Got it? Great. Let's go. Tuesday.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tariffs Whipsaw, Gap’s Bump, Target Prices
The tariffs are here. Wednesday. The White House says, eh, not so fast. Actually, automakers, you're getting a one-month reprieve from the levies for cars that comply with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement. Auto stocks cheer. U.S.-traded shares of Toyota Motor, for one, jump 6.5%. But that's not all.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tariffs Whipsaw, Gap’s Bump, Target Prices
Thursday morning, we get Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on CNBC saying that one-month reprieve might be extended beyond automakers. And later that day, President Trump suspends the tariffs on goods that fall under the USMCA until April 2nd. But like I mentioned, investors weren't sure what to make of all these sudden changes, and stocks fell anyway.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tariffs Whipsaw, Gap’s Bump, Target Prices
Hey, listeners, it's Saturday, March 8th. I'm Francesca Montana for The Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News in Markets, our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. Trade, trade, trade. That was the big story in the stock market as investors and portfolio managers grappled with fears about U.S.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tariffs Whipsaw, Gap’s Bump, Target Prices
Okay, that was a lot of news, a lot of whipsawing in the markets, and like I said, a lot of big moves for the most trade-vulnerable sectors. But let's circle back to Toyota. At the end of all that, its U.S. shares finished the week with a gain of 4.8%. So now we're at Friday, and markets got a bit of a break from all the trade news, so we got to look up and see, you know, what else is going on.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tariffs Whipsaw, Gap’s Bump, Target Prices
I'll tell you. Gap was on fire. The apparel company, behind brands like Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta, and of course its namesake, posted better than expected sales and profit last quarter, as its turnaround efforts continue to show results. And for what it's worth, given that the trade uncertainty is far from over, Gap also addressed tariffs, saying it has minimal exposure.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tariffs Whipsaw, Gap’s Bump, Target Prices
economic performance amid a ton of policy uncertainty. Don't worry if you missed the latest on all the rapid-fire tariff updates this week. I will run through those in a bit. On a broader level, we've been seeing U.S. consumer confidence slipping on fears of rising prices, which was a thread we saw in some of the retail movers this week. I'll come back to those in a minute, too.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tariffs Whipsaw, Gap’s Bump, Target Prices
Less than 10% of Gap's products come from China, and less than 1% come from Canada and Mexico. Good to know, because with how this week went, it's hard to say what next week holds. All in all, Gap's share surged a whopping 19% on Friday. And now you know what's news in markets this week.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tariffs Whipsaw, Gap’s Bump, Target Prices
You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in The Score, my column in the Wall Street Journal's Exchange section. Today's show was produced by Zoe Kolkin and Jess Jupiter with Deputy Editor Chris Sinsley. I'm Francesca Fontana. Have a great weekend and see you next Saturday.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tariffs Whipsaw, Gap’s Bump, Target Prices
Then, of course, there was Thursday's big sell-off, with chip stocks in particular getting hammered as investors searched through AI chip makers' results, looking for the next big thing, the next NVIDIA, if you will. And while the indexes managed to end Friday in the black, they each notched losses for the week. The Dow fell more than 2%, the S&P lost more than 3%, and the Nasdaq fell about 3.5%.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tariffs Whipsaw, Gap’s Bump, Target Prices
First up, let's set our target on Target, the Red Bull's eye, the American retail giant. This week, Target was the latest retailer to warn investors about the looming impacts of higher tariffs and consumer uncertainty. Like I said before, shoppers are worried that they'll be seeing a lot of price tags going up.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tariffs Whipsaw, Gap’s Bump, Target Prices
So on Tuesday, Target said its February sales fell year over year, and the company warned that its sales could be flat this year. A similar reading from Walmart spooked investors last month when executives set lower-than-expected fiscal year revenue and profit targets.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tesla Turmoil, Steelmaker Rallies, Dollar General Gains
Now let's get back to those metals tariffs and what they mean for American steelmakers like Cleveland Cliffs. Steel producers seriously rallied on Monday on Trump's recent move to double steel and aluminum tariffs to 50%. And yes, that's 5-0. He unveiled the higher duties at a rally the Friday before. And by that I mean May 30th, not yesterday.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tesla Turmoil, Steelmaker Rallies, Dollar General Gains
while promoting a $14 billion deal between Japan's Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel, which the president said would ensure U.S. control over the company. The higher tariffs, which took effect on Wednesday, give domestic steelmakers more power to raise prices. And, as we've seen since April, steel demand and prices have been cooling off. So, back to that rally.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tesla Turmoil, Steelmaker Rallies, Dollar General Gains
Cleveland Cliffs shares surged 23% on Monday, and on a weekly basis, the stock gained 30%. Next up, we've got earnings reports from bargain chains like Dollar General. We've talked about the ongoing trend of falling retail demand, and these companies are apparently bucking that trend, thanks to an influx of higher-income customers looking for deals.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tesla Turmoil, Steelmaker Rallies, Dollar General Gains
Dollar General on Tuesday raised its annual sales outlook after posting better-than-expected first-quarter results. The company said its updated guidance assumes current tariff rates remain in place through mid-August. As we've seen, of course, it's hard to predict anything when it comes to Trump's trade policy.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tesla Turmoil, Steelmaker Rallies, Dollar General Gains
Executives for Dollar General and rival Dollar Tree said that increased demand from middle- and upper-income customers boosted sales in their spring quarters. Meanwhile, as Dollar General's CEO mentioned, lower-income customers remain financially strapped. And on Wednesday, low-cost retail peer Five Below joined the dollar stores in posting better-than-expected quarterly results.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tesla Turmoil, Steelmaker Rallies, Dollar General Gains
So, back to Dollar General. How'd the stock do? Well, it soared 16% on Tuesday and ended the week with a gain of about 17%. Last but not least, let's talk Lululemon. You may know it for its yoga pants. The Sportswear brand cut its annual profit outlook, as the company faces cautious U.S. consumers pulling back spending and tariffs that stand to threaten its supply chain.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tesla Turmoil, Steelmaker Rallies, Dollar General Gains
Specifically, tariffs affecting products from some of the company's largest sourcing bases. It makes products in China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Lululemon said it's assuming tariffs of 30% on Chinese imports and 10% from other countries. It's looking at ways to cut shipping costs and plans to raise prices on some products.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tesla Turmoil, Steelmaker Rallies, Dollar General Gains
On Friday, Lululemon shares plummeted 20% and the stock notched a weekly loss of about 16%. And now you know what's news in markets this week. You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in The Score, my column in the Wall Street Journal's Exchange section. Today's show was produced by Zoe Kolkin with supervising producer Talia Arbel. I'm Francesca Fontana.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tesla Turmoil, Steelmaker Rallies, Dollar General Gains
Have a great weekend and I'll see you next Saturday.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tesla Turmoil, Steelmaker Rallies, Dollar General Gains
Hey Listeners, it's Saturday, June 7th. I'm Francesca Fontana for The Wall Street Journal and this is What's News in Markets. Our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. All right. What happened this week? Of course, of course, we had more earnings reports. We had developments in tariffs with steel and aluminum.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tesla Turmoil, Steelmaker Rallies, Dollar General Gains
But we're going to get to that later, because really what captured all of our attention and not just in the stock market was the giant feud unfolding between President Trump and Elon Musk. So it started with Musk's criticism of Trump's tax and spending megabill and it escalated to an afternoon of back and forth insults and attacks.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tesla Turmoil, Steelmaker Rallies, Dollar General Gains
Trump threatened to eliminate government subsidies and contracts for Musk's businesses. And Musk called Trump ungrateful after his campaign support and agreed with a tweet that Trump should be impeached. And it certainly made Thursday's trading interesting. Tesla's shares fell 14% during the session, losing about $152 billion in market value, which is the company's biggest one-day slide on record.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Tesla Turmoil, Steelmaker Rallies, Dollar General Gains
And Trump Media & Technology, the parent company of Trump's Truth Social, saw its shares fall 8%. On Friday, they made up some ground, both gained close to 4%. All in all, the three major indexes notched weekly gains. Die S&P 500 und die Dow sind alle mehr als 1% gestiegen und die Nasdaq ist mehr als 2% gestiegen.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Nvidia’s China Rival, Tariff Tech Effect, McDonald’s Slips
So in Monday's session, we saw investors reacting to the Wall Street Journal's report that China's Huawei Technologies is gearing up to test its newest and most powerful artificial intelligence processor, hoping it'll beat some of NVIDIA's chips. And Huawei has emerged as China's champion in the AI field.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Nvidia’s China Rival, Tariff Tech Effect, McDonald’s Slips
Washington has attempted to hinder Beijing's chip industry by cutting off access to some Western chipmaking equipment, and Huawei has been on a U.S. trade blacklist for nearly six years. Despite these efforts, though, China's semiconductor industry is still advancing. And the latest news on those advancements weighed down Nvidia's stock price.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Nvidia’s China Rival, Tariff Tech Effect, McDonald’s Slips
Its shares fell 2.1% on Monday, but rebounded later in the week, and on a weekly basis gained 3.1%. Now back to those magnificent seven earnings. As I mentioned, a handful of tech giants posted earnings during the week. So which ones lived up to the hype? Well, on Wednesday, we got the latest from Microsoft and Facebook parent Meta Platforms.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Nvidia’s China Rival, Tariff Tech Effect, McDonald’s Slips
Both posted better than expected results that reassured investors and boosted markets. Indicators around trade were a big part of that. So for one, Meta said growth would remain steady, assuaging concerns that tariffs would hurt its digital advertising business. And Microsoft indicated that big corporate clients aren't slashing their technology budgets. At least, not yet.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Nvidia’s China Rival, Tariff Tech Effect, McDonald’s Slips
Meta shares rose 4.2% on Thursday, while Microsoft shares jumped 7.6%. And on the week, Meta gained roughly 9%, while Microsoft gained about 11%. But that tech enthusiasm started to fade away from the stock market after Apple and Amazon's quarterly reports, after the market close on Thursday. Apple's sales rose, but it said current tariff plans would add $900 million to its costs this quarter.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Nvidia’s China Rival, Tariff Tech Effect, McDonald’s Slips
Woof. And while Amazon predicted a solid quarter, the lower ends of its forecasts missed analysts' expectations. On Friday, Amazon shares ended roughly flat. while Apple shares lost more than 3.5%. And on a weekly basis, Amazon edged half a percent higher, and Apple fell nearly 2%. Finally, the golden arches are losing some of their shine as the fast food chain's customers in the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Nvidia’s China Rival, Tariff Tech Effect, McDonald’s Slips
cut back on spending. McDonald's posted a bigger than expected drop in quarterly revenue, and this tracks with the larger trend we've been seeing this earnings season. As consumer spending slows down, many restaurants have reported falling sales, including Chipotle Mexican Grill, Domino's Pizza, and Starbucks.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Nvidia’s China Rival, Tariff Tech Effect, McDonald’s Slips
During Thursday's earnings call, Chief Executive Chris Kempchinsky told investors that low-income consumers pulled back on their spending, but so did middle-income households, while the higher-income crowd kept spending, illustrating what he called the divided U.S. economy. So how'd the stock do? Well, McDonald's shares fell 1.9% on Thursday and notched a weekly loss of 1.5%.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Nvidia’s China Rival, Tariff Tech Effect, McDonald’s Slips
And now you know what's news in markets this week. You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in The Score, my column in the Wall Street Journal's Exchange section. Today's show was produced by Zoe Kolkin and Anthony Banzi with supervising producer Talia Arbel. I'm Francesca Fontana. Have a great weekend and I'll see you next Saturday.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Nvidia’s China Rival, Tariff Tech Effect, McDonald’s Slips
Hey, listeners, it's Saturday, May 3rd. I'm Francesca Fontana for The Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News in Markets, our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. Trade and earnings were the two big stories of the market this week.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Nvidia’s China Rival, Tariff Tech Effect, McDonald’s Slips
And in many ways, they were intertwined, as investors have been watching for the effects of Trump's tariffs on corporations, on consumer spending, on the real world, really. A big focus was earnings from four of the magnificent seven super stocks. But more on those reports and how they moved the market later.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Nvidia’s China Rival, Tariff Tech Effect, McDonald’s Slips
Notable trade developments this week injected some optimism into the stock markets, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying he's reached a trade deal with an unnamed country, although no trade deals have been announced, Trump softening the blow of auto tariffs, and some signs of the ice thawing between Washington and Beijing.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Nvidia’s China Rival, Tariff Tech Effect, McDonald’s Slips
This week, the Dow rose 3%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.9%, and the Nasdaq rose 3.4%. Let's start by checking in with AI chip company NVIDIA and how the U.S.-China chipmaking rivalry is heating up.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Home Depot Delivers, Nvidia Wobbles
Now let's circle back to NVIDIA, the poster child of the AI boom. Like I mentioned, NVIDIA also delivered some solid earnings, but investors weren't so ready to celebrate. After the market closed Wednesday, NVIDIA posted sharply rising sales and profit in its latest quarter, and the company said it brought in $11 billion of revenue from its new Blackwell artificial intelligence chips.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Home Depot Delivers, Nvidia Wobbles
The results showed that spending on NVIDIA's chips is continuing to soar, despite all the jitters about the outlook for the AI boom that have been moving through the stock market. You may recall that in January, the threat of competition to U.S. dominance from Chinese AI developer DeepSeek rattled investors.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Home Depot Delivers, Nvidia Wobbles
Analysts blame the stock's fall on narrower profit margins and worry about NVIDIA's sales in China. NVIDIA shares dropped 8.5% on Thursday and on a weekly basis lost about 7.2%. And now you know what's news in markets this week. You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in The Score, my column in the Wall Street Journal's Exchange section.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Home Depot Delivers, Nvidia Wobbles
Today's show was produced by Zoe Kolkin and Anthony Bansi with supervising producer Talia Arbel. I'm Francesca Fontana. Have a great weekend. And don't forget, you can email me your thoughts on the market at francesca.fontana at wsj.com. I'll see you next Saturday.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Home Depot Delivers, Nvidia Wobbles
But trade drama, continued inflation, and AI competition fears did not do us any favors in February.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Home Depot Delivers, Nvidia Wobbles
Hey, listeners. It's Saturday, March 1st. I'm Francesca Fontana for The Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News in Markets, our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. To refresh our memories, stocks logged gains for January and a strong start to 2025.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Home Depot Delivers, Nvidia Wobbles
This week, for instance, NVIDIA's positive results still managed to cause a sell-off, and we had more tariff threats from President Trump and retaliation threats from China, not to mention the tense meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, after which stocks wobbled before they recovered late Friday afternoon.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Home Depot Delivers, Nvidia Wobbles
All in all, the three major indexes ended the week mixed, and for the month of February, the S&P 500 and the Dow each fell about 1.5%, while the Nasdaq dropped nearly 4%. We got some fresh earnings reports this week, including from Home Depot, the home improvement giant. Even the less handy among us certainly know the orange logo.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Home Depot Delivers, Nvidia Wobbles
Home Depot delivered a better-than-expected quarter, beating Wall Street's expectations for quarterly sales and profit, and the company said it's increasing its quarterly dividend to $2.30 a share.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Home Depot Delivers, Nvidia Wobbles
Home Depot said that demand was strong for things like appliances, building materials, and lumber, but weaker for projects like kitchen and bathroom remodels, you know, the kind of big purchases that a lot of us might typically use financing for, like a credit card or a personal loan.
WSJ What’s News
What’s News in Markets: Home Depot Delivers, Nvidia Wobbles
And the company sees higher interest rates continuing to strain people's wallets when it comes to big-ticket purchases. And, as a result, it offered cautious guidance. Home Depot shares rallied 2.8% on Tuesday and notched a weekly gain of 2.9%. We also got positive quarterly results this week from Home Depot rival Lowe's, with the blue logo, not orange, and its shares rose too.