
Conflicting Hormuz Reports; GME Bids for EBAY
Conflicting news from the U.S.-Iran war roiled markets to start off this trading week, with all four major equity index futures pointing toward a lower open.
S&P 500 futures (/ES) are down -0.1% while small-cap Russell 2000 futures (/RTY) are down -0.3%. U.S. officials denied reports from Iranian media that the country’s navy attacked a U.S. warship, while crude oil futures (/CL) nonetheless gained over 3% at one point.
GameStop (GME) is once again making headlines after it made a $56B takeover bid for eBay (EBAY), sending both stocks higher. Factory Orders is on the docket for today’s economic data, while a busy earnings season continues with results from Palantir (PLTR), On Semiconductor (ON), Paramount Skydance (PSKY), and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) today.
Snapshot (as of 7 AM ET)
- Oil (/CL) – Oil is up +1.7% at 103.70 after headlines about the U.S.-Iran war rattled investors, bouncing back from Friday’s -2.8% drop.
- Gold (/GC) – Gold is down -1.5% near 4,573, continuing Friday’s -0.2% slide that closed near 4,580 as price continues to move in a rangebound trajectory.
- Bitcoin (/BTC) – Bitcoin is up +0.5% at about 79,260, on pace for its third green day in a row after last session’s +1.8% gain and making new relative highs above an old peak from late April.
- VIX – The VIX is higher in early trading near about 18, after a quiet session on Friday that saw little movement and closed at 16.99.
- U.S. Dollar (/DX) – The greenback is up +0.3% at about 98.3 after Friday’s session saw a modest gain of +0.1% but also held on above its previous relative lows from mid-April.
Biggest Premarket Movers (as of 7 AM ET)
- eBay (EBAY): +7.66%
- Seagate Tech (STX): +4.11%
- Micron (MU): +3.42%
- Lumentum (LITE): +3.17%
- SanDisk (SNDK): +3.12%
- Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH): -6.01%
- Eli Lilly (LLY): -2.63%
- United Parcel Service (UPS): -1.92%
- FedEx (FDX): -1.81%
- Carnival (CCL): -1.54%
Economic Data
- 9:00 AM ET: Factory Orders
- 10:30 AM ET: 3-Month Bill Auction, 6-Month Bill Auction
- 11:50 AM: Fed’s Williams Speaks
- 1:00 PM ET: Loan Officer Survey
- 2:00 PM ET: Treasury Refunding Financing Estimates
- All Day: Total Vehicle Sales (April)
Notable Earnings
- Premarket: TSN, NCLH, RIG
- Postmarket: PLTR, VRTX, FANG, ON, CTRA, FN, PINS, PSKY
- Premarket Tomorrow: SHOP, PFE, BUD, DUK, CMI, RACE, MPC, TDG, CCJ, ROK, PYPL, DD
- Postmarket Tomorrow: AMD, ANET, EMR, EOG, LITE, OXY, CTVA, EA, DVN, SMCI, JOBY, QRVO, MTCH
Upgrades/Downgrades
- Fubon upgrades Amazon (AMZN) to Buy from Neutral
- Oppenheimer upgrades Airbnb (ABNB) to Outperform from Perform
- Wedbush upgrades The Trade Desk (TTD) to Neutral from Underperform
- HSBC downgrades AMD (AMD) to Hold from Buy
- Morgan Stanley downgrades Prudential (PRU) to Underweight from Equal Weight
- BofA downgrades Check Point (CHKP) to Neutral from Buy


