CNBC — 2026-06-17#

Lead Story#

Kevin Warsh’s inaugural Federal Reserve meeting shocked markets as the new chairman omitted his rate forecast and the committee’s “dot plot” shifted to project an interest rate hike in 2026. The hawkish pivot stripped out prior easing language and triggered the S&P 500’s worst performance on a new Fed chair’s first meeting day since 1994.

Markets & Economics#

The S&P 500 tumbled 1.21% and the Nasdaq Composite shed 1.34% following the Fed’s decision to hold its benchmark rate steady at 3.5%-3.75%. Ahead of the decision, MetLife’s Drew Matus outlined the high-stakes expectations for Warsh’s policy debut. The 2-year Treasury yield ultimately surged as high as 4.22% after the central bank delivered a drastically abbreviated, 130-word policy statement asserting it will “deliver price stability”. DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach noted that Warsh’s firm stance signals a definitive end to the “easy money” policy Wall Street had been counting on. Internationally, UK inflation held steady at 2.8% in May, while Japanese exports surged 17% on soaring semiconductor demand.

Business & Earnings#

SpaceX officially agreed to acquire AI coding startup Cursor for $60 billion in an all-stock transaction, positioning the company to compete aggressively with frontier labs like Anthropic and OpenAI. Following its record IPO, SpaceX shares rallied another 3% to 4%, pushing the space conglomerate’s market cap to $2.65 trillion and surpassing Amazon. CarMax beat Wall Street expectations with first-quarter earnings of $1.31 per share, but shares sank 8% as retail used vehicle gross profits declined 9.5%. Meanwhile, Carvana announced a major pivot into new vehicle sales by transforming seven Stellantis franchised dealerships into test-drive “playgrounds” integrated entirely with its online sales platform.

Investing & Commentary#

JPMorgan urged clients to be “aggressive buyers” of Broadcom, asserting the market is heavily underestimating the company’s lead in AI chip packaging and custom silicon despite recent delay rumors regarding Google’s TPU v9. Jim Cramer upgraded the recently spun-off FedEx Freight (FDXF) to a buy, calling it an attractive self-help story with significant margin expansion potential, funding the purchase by trimming Dover. For those skeptical of SpaceX’s astronomic valuation, Michael Burry noted he is tempted to bet against the stock but is currently passing on put options due to exorbitant premium costs.

Also Worth Watching#

• Pending home sales post surprisingly large gain for May: CNBC’s Diana Olick breaks down the latest upbeat housing data.
• The U.S.-Iran war never should have been fought: CFR’s Richard Haass: Richard Haass provides geopolitical context ahead of the expected U.S.-Iran deal signing in Geneva.
• Early SpaceX investor Christian Garrett: It’s been a great and wild ride: A look back at the rocket maker’s journey as its market cap briefly rivals Microsoft.
• Quantum has a tremendous potential says HPE CEO Antonio Neri: A discussion on how quantum computing is poised to disrupt the broader technology sector.