S&P 500 – 6,664.36 (+0.49%)

Dow Jones – 46,315.27 (+0.37%)

NASDAQ – 22,631.48 (+0.72%)

• Stocks: U.S. markets climbed Friday, closing a strong week as investors digested the Fed’s first rate cut since December.
• Tech Deal: Oracle and Meta in talks on a $20 billion AI cloud agreement.
• IPO: Amazon power seller Pattern goes public, raising $300 million in Nasdaq debut.
• Immigration: Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee applies only to new applicants.
• TikTok: U.S. to gain majority control of TikTok board and algorithm under new deal.
• Earnings: FedEx tops forecasts on cost cuts and strong U.S. deliveries; shares rise.
• Congress: House passes resolution honoring Charlie Kirk a week after his assassination in Utah.
• Housing: PHLX Housing (^HGX) index jumps over 16% this quarter, outperforming the S&P 500.
• Bonds & Rates: Treasury yields and the U.S. dollar rebound; 10-year yield rises to 4.13% post-rate cut.
• Fed Policy: Benchmark rate cut to 4.0–4.25%; two more cuts possible by year-end, focus shifts to labor-market trends.
• Small Caps: Russell 2000 outperforms Nasdaq and S&P 500, reaching a four-year high.
• Gold: Gold hits record highs this week before retracing in the last three days.
• Oil: Oil prices drop amid oversupply and declining demand; Brent $66.68, WTI $62.68.
• Bitcoin news: A 12-foot golden statue of President Donald Trump was put on display on 3rd street, just outside the US Capitol. The temporary statue was unveiled just hours before the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision was announced.
  Stock moves:
  • Apple (AAPL) climbed as the iPhone 17 Pro, Pro Max, and iPhone Air launched.
  • Micron (MU) fell from a record close as investors await its Sept. 23 earnings report.
  • CoreWeave (CRWV) jumped after receiving a Buy rating from Loop Capital.
  • Intel (INTC) was downgraded to Sell by Citi after a recent rally.
  • Lennar (LEN) dropped following a 46% Q3 profit decline and weaker-than-expected Q4 delivery guidance.
  • Tesla (TSLA) slipped in a “sell-the-news” reaction following a two-week rally and reports of a door-handle redesign.
  • Week Ahead: Investors eye Friday’s PCE inflation report and Fed speeches for guidance after last week’s rate cut. With the Fed meeting behind and seasonal trends turning weaker, the forecast for next week looks “slightly bearish,” with a possible early-week melt-up followed by exhaustion — unless long-term yields fall, which could boost small caps and rate-sensitive stocks.

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“It would be great for the country if Republicans and Democrats could stand together to call out political violence,” Johnson said before the vote of a resolution honoring conservative activist Charlie Kirk, one week after he was assassinated at an event in Utah.

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Notable Stocks

• Oracle (ORCL)
• Opendoor (OPEN)
• Meta Platforms (META)
• Intel (INTC)
• Nvidia (NVDA)

Weekly Notables

Oracle in Talks with Meta on $20 billion AI Cloud Agreement

Oracle Corp. is negotiating a multiyear cloud agreement with Meta Platforms Inc. valued at about $20 billion, according to people familiar with the talks. Under the proposed deal, Oracle would supply computing power for training and deploying Meta’s artificial intelligence models.

If completed, the contract would mark another major win for Oracle’s fast-growing cloud infrastructure business, which is challenging Amazon, Microsoft and Google. Oracle shares rose 4.1% Friday to $308.66, extending an 85% rally this year on record cloud bookings.

Amazon Power Seller Pattern Goes Public and Raises $300 million on Nasdaq

Pattern Group, one of Amazon’s largest third-party sellers, began trading on Nasdaq Friday under the ticker PTRN, opening at $13.50 per share — slightly below its $14 IPO price. The offering raised $300 million and valued the Utah-based e-commerce firm at about $2.5 billion, with half the proceeds going to existing investors.

Founded in 2013 and rebranded in 2019, Pattern is the No. 2 Amazon seller in the U.S. by customer reviews. It markets tens of thousands of products for more than 200 brands — including Nestlé, Panasonic and Skechers — across platforms like Amazon, Walmart, Target and TikTok Shop.

Earnings Spotlight

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU): Micron (MU) is scheduled to report fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings on September 23, 2025, with analysts expecting an average EPS of $2.87 on revenue of $11.1 billion, representing significant year-over-year growth. The company's own guidance for revenue is slightly lower at $10.7 billion, and they estimate adjusted EPS between $2.35 and $2.65. Strong AI demand and improved DRAM pricing are key factors driving these positive expectations. On September 16, Mizuho raised its price target on the stock to $182.00 from $155.00 on Monday, while maintaining an Outperform rating. The rating comes ahead of the company’s September 23 earnings report.

What's Ahead

Economic:

• Monday (Sep. 22): -no reports-
• Tuesday (Sep. 23): Current Account Balance, Existing Home Sales
• Wednesday (Sep. 24): EIA Crude Oil Inventories, MBA Mortgage Applications Index, New Home Sales
• Thursday (Sep. 25): Advanced International Trade in Goods, Advanced Retail Inventories, Advanced Wholesale Inventories, Continuing Claims, Durable Goods, EIA Natural Gas Inventories, Q2 GDP – Third Estimate, Initial Claims
• Friday (Sep. 26): PCE Prices, Personal Income, Personal Spending, University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment - Final

Earnings:

• Monday (Sep. 22): Ennis Inc. (EBF), Firefly Aerospace Inc. (FLY)
• Tuesday (Sep. 23): AutoZone Inc. (AZO), Micron Technology Inc. (MU), Worthington Enterprises Inc. (WOR)
• Wednesday (Sep. 24): Cintas Corp. (CTAS), H.B. Fuller Company (FUL), KB Home (KBH), Thor Industries Inc. (THO), Uranium Energy Corp. (UEC)
• Thursday (Sep. 25): Accenture PLC (ACN), BlackBerry Ltd. (BB), CarMax Inc. (KMX), Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST), Concentrix Corp. (CNXC), Jabil Inc. (JBL), TD Synnex Corp. (SNX)
• Friday (Sep. 26): -no reports-