No silver lining this week.
Market Moves
Weekly Recap
- Market doldrums. After the S&P 500 clinched two straight winning sessions on Friday and Monday, the markets failed to maintain the momentum. By Tuesday, stocks turned lower across the board as fears of a recession rearing its head gripped investors. The S&P 500 dropped 1% and came within striking distance of reentering correction territory, marking a 10% decline from its most recent all-time highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 250 points.
- Recession fears. Internet searches for the term “recession” have spiked to levels not seen since 2022, when negative GDP growth triggered an economic slowdown. What’s different this time is a stronger labor market, which could make all the difference. The wild card is tariffs, which threaten to chisel away at profits and could affect corporate America’s hiring trends.
- Nvidia kicked off its big conference, but its stock failed to shine. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang revealed the company’s next two AI chip innovations, which would normally drive excitement around the broader technology sector. He also predicted that robots will be the next trillion-dollar opportunity. But instead of rising on the bullish outlook, Nvidia’s stock sank 3.4% alongside its Big Tech peers.
- All eyes on the Feds. All eyes are on the Federal Reserve, which kicked off a two-day meeting on Tuesday to discuss the fate of short-term interest rates. According to Wells Fargo economists, the Fed will maintain its wait and see posture, thereby leaving rates in the current range of 4.25%-4.50%. The markets appear to agree, pricing in the likelihood that interest rates will stay the same for now.
- More losses to come? Deutsche Bank has warned that the stock market sell-off is far from over and that it has another 6% to fall before reaching a bottom. If the Wall Street firm is right, the S&P 500 could drop as low as 5,250 before it’s over.
- Tesla has been facing pressure from short-sellers. The number of TSLA shares shorted rising by over 16% over the past month alone to 71.5 million shares, or 2.6% of the EV maker’s total shares, per S3 Partners data. Tesla is not alone in its misery, as its peers in the Magnificent 7 cohort have seen their combined market caps fall by roughly $2.7 Trillion over the last three weeks.
- Nvidia signed a big partnership. The company is partnering with U.S. automaker General Motors to make autonomous vehicles. "The time for autonomous vehicles has arrived," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang revealed Tuesday at the company's annual GTC event in California. "We're looking forward to building with GM AI in all three areas: AI for manufacturing so they can revolutionize the way they manufacture; AI for enterprise so they can revolutionize the way they work, design cars, and simulate cars; and then also AI for in the car," the executive said.
- Residential construction rose in February. New housing starts rose 11.2% from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.501 million units, according to data from the Census Bureau released Tuesday.
- Warren Buffet had something to celebrate. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway stock reached an all-time high level of nearly $800,000 per share.
- Mag 7 stock suffers worst quarter in two years. After two years of leading stocks' rallies, the market's largest technology companies including Amazon and Meta, are now leading the major indexes lower.
- Apple shares have shaved almost $700 billion. Shares of the iPhone maker have fallen roughly 18% since reaching their all-time high closing price of $259 on Dec. 26.
- Gold hit a record again. Gold prices hit a record high Tuesday after Israeli airstrikes on Gaza escalated tensions in the Middle East. The metal traded above $3,030 an ounce.
- Oil went lower. Crude oil prices fell to around $67.25 a barrel on Tuesday. Over the past month, both WTI crude and Brent oil prices have fallen about 5%
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"In March and April, we're going to see a pretty big pickup in terms of inflation," RSM US economist Tuan Nguyen told Yahoo Finance. "That's going to be quite troubling for the market."
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Most Active Stocks
- Tonix Pharmaceuticals (TNXP)
- Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME)
- Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT)
- Warby Parker, Inc. (WRBY)
- Reddit, Inc. (RDDT)
- Carvana (CVNA)
- Tesla (TSLA)
- NextDecade Corp. (NEXT)
- Nvidia (NVDA)
- Meta (META)
Weekly Notables
Sarepta Shares Sink on the Death of a Patient
Sarepta Therapeutics stock plunged over 22% in early trading following news that a patient died while taking the company's gene therapy Elevidys. The company said the patient died of acute liver failure, a known side effect of the treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare genetic disorder. It's the first death associated with the therapy since the treatment received expedited FDA approval in the US in 2023.
Alphabet to Buy Cybersecurity Startup Wiz for $32B
The Financial Times reported that Alphabet has agreed to buy cybersecurity startup Wiz for $32 billion, with more details expected to come later today, according to people familiar with the matter. If the offer holds, the price tag would make the potential buyout Google's largest acquisition yet, per Reuters.
Earnings Spotlight: General Mills
General Mills is set to report its earnings for its 3Q ended in February, on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. The company is projected to report $0.97 earnings per share, a drop from the prior year’s $1.17, and sales of $4.98 billion, representing a 2.4% decrease. General Mills’ first-half results were favorably influenced by specific timing factors, which the company predicts to reverse in the latter half of the year, weighing on its overall financial performance. The company has over $30B in current market capitalization.