On Tuesday, the Seattle City Council will vote on whether to enact a one-year moratorium on new data centers - just two months after several companies proposed building five large-scale centers in the city. Among the moratorium's fiercest supporters are current employees from the city's biggest tech giant, Amazon, who joined others to testify in support of the policy last week. Data centers have s...
On Tuesday, the Seattle City Council will vote on whether to enact a one-year moratorium on new data centers - just two months after several companies proposed building five large-scale centers in the city. Among the moratorium's fiercest supporters are current employees from the city's biggest tech giant, Amazon, who joined others to testify in support of the policy last week. Data centers have sparked protests across the country over concerns about water consumption, local electricity prices, and noise. In Seattle and the surrounding King County, the issue is coming to a head. If the city council votes in favor of a moratorium on June 9th … Read the full story at The Verge.
The start of the FIFA World Cup is just two days away, but for Comcast Corp. ’s Telemundo, it’s been more than two years in the making. The Miami-based television network, which holds the Spanish-language rights to the tournament in the US, has long been preparing to lure in viewers with the idea that “soccer is more fun en Español.” With all-day-long coverage from 16 cities, celebrity guests, uni...
The start of the FIFA World Cup is just two days away, but for Comcast Corp. ’s Telemundo, it’s been more than two years in the making. The Miami-based television network, which holds the Spanish-language rights to the tournament in the US, has long been preparing to lure in viewers with the idea that “soccer is more fun en Español.” With all-day-long coverage from 16 cities, celebrity guests, unique broadcasting features and a big presence on NBC’s Peacock streaming platform, the network hopes to leverage its traditional audience’s passion for soccer, while also appealing to non-Hispanics. “The entire day on Telemundo, on Peacock, on social, will be all about the World Cup,” said Joaquin Duro, executive vice president of sports and head of streaming for Telemundo. The world’s premier soccer championship hasn’t been played in the US since 1994. Broadcasters Telemundo and Fox Corp. , which holds the English-language rights in the US, are gearing up for what they believe could be record viewership for soccer domestically, given that the best players in the world will be taking the pitch in cities from Atlanta to Seattle. The last time that happened, streaming services such as Peacock and Fox’s new Fox One didn’t exist. “Fox One is a super important platform for us and obviously we’ve seen tremendous growth in the last year,” said Zac Kenworthy, vice president of production at Fox Sports. The networks will benefit from an increased number of games. The US, Canada and Mexico are hosting the tournament, which FIFA expanded to include 48 countries and 104 matches. The last World Cup, in Qatar four years ago, featured 32 teams and 64 games. Fox averaged 3.6 million viewers per match during the 2022 tournament, and scored a record 16.8 million viewers for the Argentina-France final. Telemundo averaged 2.58 million viewers, with 35% of its streaming audience non-Hispanic. Telemundo is preparing to show World Cup coverage from roughly 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. every day during the tou...
An index of US small business optimism fell in May to the lowest level since October 2024, erasing almost all of the gains seen since President Donald Trump was elected for a second term. The National Federation of Independent Business optimism index fell 0.6 point to 95.3, according to data out Tuesday. The measure had climbed to a six-year high in December 2024 following the presidential electio...
An index of US small business optimism fell in May to the lowest level since October 2024, erasing almost all of the gains seen since President Donald Trump was elected for a second term. The National Federation of Independent Business optimism index fell 0.6 point to 95.3, according to data out Tuesday. The measure had climbed to a six-year high in December 2024 following the presidential election. Rising prices and economic uncertainty due to the Iran war continue to hang over companies. Seventy percent of small business owners reported that supply chain disruptions affected their business to some extent, up 6 points from April. The share of owners citing inflation as their most important business problem climbed for a third straight month. The net share of owners raising selling prices climbed to 36%, the highest in more than three years. And more price hikes are in the pipeline for consumers. A similar share plan to increase prices in the next three months . “More small business owners are struggling with significant and unpredictable hikes in fuel prices, which are more challenging for small businesses to pass on to their customers compared to their larger corporate competitors,” NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said in a statement. Despite excitement about artificial intelligence, only 16% of small business owners plan to make capital outlays in the next three to six months — down 1 point from April and matching the lowest level since 2009, according to the NFIB. The share of small businesses saying they’re planning new hires or are having trouble filling jobs , meanwhile, both fell to six-year lows .
AlexSecret/iStock via Getty Images By Kelvin Wong The S&P 500, one of the four major US benchmark stock indices, posted a 2.6% weekly decline, halting its 9-week streak of consecutive gains, and recorded its worst weekly performance since the week of 23 March 2026 during the depths of the US-Iran war. The bulk of last week’s losses came on Friday, 5 June, as ex-post US non-farm payrolls induced a ...
AlexSecret/iStock via Getty Images By Kelvin Wong The S&P 500, one of the four major US benchmark stock indices, posted a 2.6% weekly decline, halting its 9-week streak of consecutive gains, and recorded its worst weekly performance since the week of 23 March 2026 during the depths of the US-Iran war. The bulk of last week’s losses came on Friday, 5 June, as ex-post US non-farm payrolls induced a plunge of 2.64%, reinforcing a tighter liquidity condition ahead as Fed funds futures traders start to position for a more hawkish US Federal Reserve. Based on the latest data from the CME FedWatch tool as of 9 June 2026, the increased odds of 63% that the Fed may start to enact its first 25 basis points (bps) rate hike as soon as the October 2026 FOMC meeting and another hike of 25 bps (63% chance) to come in April next year. This hawkish Fed funds rate repricing is likely to dampen the earlier optimistic revenue guidance reported during the first-quarter US earnings reporting session, especially in the AI infrastructure and semiconductor sectors, in turn, triggering a negative feedback loop into the S&P 500. Weak market breadth Fig. 1: S&P 500 medium-term trend with cumulative AD line as of 8 Jun 2026 (Source: TradingView). The information presented is historical information, and past performance is not indicative of future performance. The “buy-the-dip” behaviour seen in US semiconductor stocks on Monday, 8 June, when the PHLX Semiconductor index surged by 5.6% to lead the intraday recovery, could be a “bull trap” as market breadth was weak. Out of the 11 S&P 500 sectors, only three of them managed to notch gains on Monday: Technology (+1.5%), Energy (+1.1%), and Consumer Discretionary (+0.5%). Also, the cumulative Advance/Decline line of all stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has broken below a former medium-term ascending support after a bearish divergence condition, indicating a distribution pattern underneath rather than an accumulation after yesterd...
Market Snapshot S&P 500 futures 7,449.25 +0.4% Nasdaq 100 futures 29,684.50 +0.8% US 10-year Treasury yield 4.55% -0.01 WTI crude oil futures $89.00 -2.5% Bitcoin $62,692.63 -1.2% Market data as of 05:59 AM ET. Data is subject to provider delays. Five things you need to know US stock futures advanced as a recovery in the AI trade carried into a second day. Oil prices fell as hostilities in the Mid...
Market Snapshot S&P 500 futures 7,449.25 +0.4% Nasdaq 100 futures 29,684.50 +0.8% US 10-year Treasury yield 4.55% -0.01 WTI crude oil futures $89.00 -2.5% Bitcoin $62,692.63 -1.2% Market data as of 05:59 AM ET. Data is subject to provider delays. Five things you need to know US stock futures advanced as a recovery in the AI trade carried into a second day. Oil prices fell as hostilities in the Middle East eased. OpenAI filed confidentially for an IPO , joining AI rivals in tapping public markets to fund ambitious growth plans. The maker of ChatGPT could list as soon as the fall, people familiar with the matter have said. Apple used its Worldwide Developers Conference to make the case that it can compete in the AI era . The centerpiece of its latest operating systems will be an overhauled assistant called Siri AI. Nuvalent shares soared after GSK agreed to buy the biotech firm, which is developing treatments for lung cancer, in a deal valued at $10.6 billion. Indonesia’s central bank hiked interest rates in a surprise decision, attempting to reverse a market selloff and halt foreign outflows. Musk’s entangled empire One way to think about SpaceX is that Elon Musk is building a multiplanetary, AI-infused version of General Electric. Once regarded as the embodiment of American industrial ingenuity, GE amassed a mammoth collection of loosely related businesses, from light bulbs and jet engines to the TV network NBC, and ran a vast finance operation. For its part, SpaceX makes reusable rockets, provides satellite internet, operates a social media platform and houses a fast-growing AI company. Musk wants to add space tourism and moon hotels in the future. The model worked for GE, until it didn’t. In recent decades, opaque deals between businesses and untransparent balance sheets turned investors against the conglomerate model, and GE’s empire has broken off into pieces. Today, Bloomberg’s Big Take is about the links between Musk’s hardware, software and AI businesses, and...
AlexSecret/iStock via Getty Images S&P Global ( SPGI ) is a global financial information services firm focusing on benchmarks, credit ratings, data, and analytics. It has scale and diversified markets with decades of operating experience. Notably, it has a regulated status for its credit rating segment. The firm is spinning off its Mobility segment, which should improve the growth and margin profi...
AlexSecret/iStock via Getty Images S&P Global ( SPGI ) is a global financial information services firm focusing on benchmarks, credit ratings, data, and analytics. It has scale and diversified markets with decades of operating experience. Notably, it has a regulated status for its credit rating segment. The firm is spinning off its Mobility segment, which should improve the growth and margin profile while simplifying the business. Also, it is arguably a leader in AI adoption. As a dividend growth stock, S&P Global is familiar as a Dividend King with a 53-year streak of annual increases and outstanding safety. The company has many attractive qualities, including significant competitive advantages, a sound financial position, historical operating experience in stock and capital markets, and sustained continuous growth over time. That said, investor fears about AI disruption have caused the share price to decline, reducing the valuation to below its historical average. Hence, I view S&P Global as a ‘buy.’ Overview of S&P Global S&P Global, Inc. is a global financial information services firm founded in 1860 and headquartered in New York, New York. Today, it provides benchmarks, credit ratings, data, and analytics. The company operates through five segments: S&P Global Market Intelligence (~33% of total revenue), S&P Global Ratings (~31% of total revenue), S&P Global Energy (~15% of total revenue), S&P Global Mobility (~11% of total revenue), and S&P Dow Jones Indices (~11% of total revenue). The S&P Global Market Intelligence segment provides data and analytics. S&P Global Ratings provides credit ratings and research to clients. The S&P Global Energy provides information and benchmarks for energy and commodity markets. The S&P Global Mobility segment offers solutions to the automotive value chain. The S&P Dow Jones Indices is an index provider. The firm is most famous for its Dow Jones Industrial Average (“DJIA”) and S&P 500 Index and its credit ratings on debt. S&P Gl...
freemixer/E+ via Getty Images The herd got spooked on Friday, but the market is not about to go over the proverbial cliff just yet. In this piece, we outline the reasons why we are betting that the bull market will continue. For two months running, we have been pointing out the pattern of seasonal weakness in the months of May and June. SPX seaonality (equityclock.com) The May "stall" (black-oval,...
freemixer/E+ via Getty Images The herd got spooked on Friday, but the market is not about to go over the proverbial cliff just yet. In this piece, we outline the reasons why we are betting that the bull market will continue. For two months running, we have been pointing out the pattern of seasonal weakness in the months of May and June. SPX seaonality (equityclock.com) The May "stall" (black-oval, below) was too shallow to provide a "buy-the-dip" opportunity, but the June dip (pink-oval) has done that already. May and June "stall" (angtraders.com) We are likely to see some follow-through and more opportunity to profit from selling naked put options, but the conditions remain for the bull market to continue. The fundamental driver of the stock market is money creation. At the moment, money creation is higher than it was last year, and the net-transfer component of money-creation--the net movement of money from the Treasury to private bank accounts--has been improving rapidly over the last two months. When three of the four money measures (net money creation, net transfers, bank credit, and nominal spending) are higher YoY, the SPX closes higher, like it did in 2024 (chart below) Money-Flows (angtraders.com) Friday's impressive drop is unlikely to be the start of a bear market. Bear markets start 6-18 months after the second 10y-2y rate inversion (highlighted on the chart below by pink ovals). If the rate differential continues to move lower at the current pace, it will invert for the second time at the start of 2027, which means a bear market won't start before mid-2027 at the earliest. 10y-2y and unemployment (angtraders.com) While the driver of the market is money, sentiment is the "barometer". Market tops are accompanied by a combination of fear of missing out (greed) and euphoria (it is different this time). The put:call ratio is a proxy for the level of fear and greed in the herd: the lower the ratio is, the lower the hedging is and the less fear that is in the ...
Kuwait is offering to sell its crude to refiners in Asia for the first time since the Iran war started, the latest indication that oil flows from Persian Gulf producers are opening up despite Tehran’s threat to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. At least 4 million barrels of the nation’s main export grade, carried on two very large crude carriers, are being offered to refiners in at least Chin...
Kuwait is offering to sell its crude to refiners in Asia for the first time since the Iran war started, the latest indication that oil flows from Persian Gulf producers are opening up despite Tehran’s threat to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. At least 4 million barrels of the nation’s main export grade, carried on two very large crude carriers, are being offered to refiners in at least China and South Korea, traders familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified as they’re not authorized to speak to the media. The offers are the latest indication that Hormuz flows are starting to open up — a trend that has coincided with increased US coordination of transits. The United Arab Emirates has also been selling millions of barrels of oil from inside the Persian Gulf to refiners in Asia. Still, flows remain far below prewar levels. Oil from the region’s fifth-largest producer loads from deep inside the Persian Gulf, requiring tankers to run the Hormuz gauntlet to reach global markets. Traders said the oil is being offered directly by state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp. rather than an intermediary. The barrels in question have already exited the waterway and can be taken to ports in Asia promptly, they said, without elaborating on the sales terms. KPC declined to comment.