How a New U.S. Weapon Killed 21 Civilians in Iran by The New York Times is a chilling, meticulous piece of visual journalism that investigates the lethal blast radius of the new US “precision strike missile” (PrSM). By analyzing satellite imagery and verifying impact points, the team exposes how a weapon touted for its precision still resulted in civilian casualties, offering a stark look at the real-world consequences of next-gen weaponry.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat down with CNBC’s Sara Eisen for an exclusive interview, stating that Israel and the U.S. are prepared to strike Iran again if necessary,. Netanyahu warned that Tehran is “playing with fire,” as the ongoing conflict and stalled nuclear talks continue to keep oil markets on edge and prices hovering near $100 a barrel,.
The S&P 500 closed above 7,600 for the first time ever, riding a wave of artificial intelligence optimism. In an exclusive CNBC interview, Goldman Sachs International co-CEO Anthony Gutman said markets are entering “unprecedented territory” as they absorb Alphabet’s $80 billion stock sale and prepare for blockbuster IPOs like SpaceX,. On the regulatory and economic front, Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester joined “Squawk Box” to discuss the U.S. housing crisis and the Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, Republican senators, including Thom Tillis on “Squawk Box” and Bill Cassidy at the CEO Council Summit, heavily criticized President Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte for acting director of national intelligence, questioning his qualifications and structural path to confirmation,,.
The S&P 500 snapped its nine-day winning streak as escalating geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Iran spooked investors, prompting a sharp rotation out of semiconductor and AI-linked stocks.
Oil prices exhibited extreme volatility this week, with West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude pulling back over 3% on Thursday following an agreed-upon ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, alongside reports that President Trump is hesitant to resume full-scale war with Iran. Equities broadly slumped on the geopolitical risk, with the Dow shedding over 620 points and the S&P 500 dropping 0.74% as traders pared risk. In the housing sector, rising mortgage denials and high interest rates have led sellers to pull properties at the fastest pace since 2020, as covered by CNBC’s Diana Olick. Meanwhile, markets remain extremely cautious ahead of Friday’s nonfarm payrolls release, where economists project a meager gain of 80,000 new jobs.
The AI industry faced a stark macroeconomic reality check today, marked by a massive tech stock slide and S&P indices officially refusing to bend their inclusion rules for mega-cap companies. Amidst escalating rumors of OpenAI seeking a U.S. government stake to shore up its finances, the broader enterprise conversation is rapidly pivoting from sheer scale toward strict operational efficiency, model routing, and managing surging token costs.
A massive unwind in semiconductor stocks snapped the S&P 500’s nine-week winning streak, triggered by Broadcom’s earnings miss, a hot jobs report pushing the 10-year Treasury yield above 4.5%, and an impending deluge of tech equity offerings.
The relentless “crash up” in chip stocks violently reversed on Friday, sending the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) tumbling nearly 10% at its lows and triggering the biggest single-day spike in the VIX since March. Investors rotated aggressively out of tech and into lagging sectors like health care and financials, with names like Eli Lilly and Wells Fargo ending the week in the green. Further pressuring market liquidity is a looming tidal wave of equity supply: SpaceX is planning a $75 billion stock sale at a $1.8 trillion valuation, Anthropic filed for an IPO at a $965 billion valuation, and Alphabet announced an $85 billion stock offering to fund its AI buildout.
Geopolitical tensions are once again rocking markets as Iran reportedly fires missiles at Israel, severely jeopardizing a fragile ceasefire that had been in place since early April. This sudden escalation follows Iranian assertions that ongoing U.S. naval blockades and operations in Lebanon constitute active violations of the truce.
The renewed Middle East conflict immediately sent stock futures sliding Sunday night, with Dow futures tumbling 150 points and Nasdaq 100 futures dropping 0.6%. This adds insult to injury following a rough week where the Nasdaq shed 4.7% on the back of a surprisingly strong May jobs report that pushed Treasury yields higher. As we mark 100 days of the Iran war, the macroeconomic fallout is becoming stark: U.S. CPI hit 3.8% in April, and 30-year Treasury yields recently touched pre-Financial Crisis highs. The war’s supply chain disruptions are also hitting tech hardware directly, as strikes on Saudi Arabia’s Jubail complex have caused a massive shortage of PPE resin, sending printed circuit board prices soaring by 40% in a month and threatening sticky electronics inflation by the fall. In energy, OPEC+ is expected to announce a fourth output quota hike of 188,000 barrels per day to help ease the massive global supply crunch caused by the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Investors will now brace for this week’s critical May CPI and PPI data releases to gauge if pricing pressures remain entrenched.
SpaceX delivered the largest IPO in history, debuting at $150 and closing near $161 to cement a $2.1 trillion market cap and make CEO Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire. The historic float raised $75 billion, wiping away fears that the massive equity supply would drain liquidity from the broader market.
The major indexes finished a choppy week on a high note, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.5% Friday for a 0.7% weekly advance. Inflation data came in hot, with the May CPI hitting 4.2% year-over-year largely due to Iran-war-driven oil spikes, though market anxiety was cooled by signals that a U.S.-Iran peace deal could be signed as early as Sunday, potentially reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Investors are now looking ahead to the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy meeting—the first under Chairman Kevin Warsh—to see how the central bank navigates inflation pressures and President Trump’s push for lower rates.
The U.S. and Iran have officially reached a peace agreement to end their nearly four-month war, triggering an immediate end to the U.S. naval blockade and the reopening of the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
Stock futures surged Sunday night in response to the U.S.-Iran peace deal, with Dow futures climbing 342 points (0.7%) and Nasdaq 100 futures popping 1.4%. The agreement sent oil markets tumbling, pushing U.S. crude down 4.8% to $80.80 per barrel and Brent lower by 3.9% to $83.89. This significant drop in energy prices could alter the inflation outlook just as the Federal Reserve heads into its Wednesday policy meeting—the first under the leadership of new Chair Kevin Warsh. Markets are currently pricing in a 98% probability that the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged as they await Warsh’s forward guidance regarding the recent supply shock and broader inflation trends.
A preliminary peace agreement between the U.S. and Iran sent shockwaves of relief across global markets, driving crude oil to its lowest level since March and propelling the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a fresh record high. The deal, expected to formally reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz on Friday, signals a potential end to a nearly four-month conflict that has rattled supply chains and global inflation forecasts.
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.
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.