Major Indexes Plummet; Dow Drops Nearly 1000 Points; Oil Jumps Further as Iran Claims to Have Attacked Tanker

Nvidia, AMD Shares Fall on Report US Drafts Rules to Restrict Chip Shipments Without American Approval

FROM 1 minute ago

Shares of semiconductor giants Nvidia (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) sank Thursday afternoon following a report that the U.S. government has drafted rules restricting AI chip shipments without its approval.

According to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, “the proposed regulations would require companies to seek US permission for virtually all exports of AI accelerators.”

The report added that “the specific approval process would depend on how much computing power a company wants,” the people said.

AMD and Nvidia shares were down 3% and 2.5%, respectively. Both had been little changed on the today until the report published around 12:30 p.m. ET.

Investors Are Piling Into the ‘HALO’ Trade. Here’s What That Means and What They’re Buying

FROM 1 hr 24 min ago

There’s a new way to describe the “anything but AI” trade that’s been getting traction on Wall Street lately.

The “HALO” trade, attributed to Ritholtz Wealth Management CEO Josh Brown, stands for “heavy assets, low obsolescence,” or assets widely deemed as AI-proof that have gotten a boost lately, while AI fears weigh on some previously high-flying corners of the AI trade.

In a blog post last month, Brown said these are the stocks associated with physical, heavy assets that “you can buy and not worry about” because they’re “undistruptable” by AI. Some of the examples Brown gave included major oil companies like ExxonMobil (XOM), fast-food giant McDonald’s (MCD), and America’s biggest brick-and-mortar retailer, Walmart (WMT), all of which have surged this year.

Read the full article here.

–Kara Greenberg

Unemployment Rises 0.1 Percentage Points? Yawn. Wake Me Up When It Changes By 0.3

FROM 2 hr 36 min ago

Forget about small monthly changes in the unemployment rate: the number is only meaningful if it’s a sustained change by at least 0.3 percentage points over three months.

That’s according to researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, who highlighted the sometimes-overlooked statistical reality behind one of the most closely-watched figures in economics.

In a blog post Monday, researchers Alexander Bick and Kevin Bloodworth II noted the unemployment rate is based on a survey of 60,000 people by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that, despite being the gold standard of economic statistics, is subject to a certain amount of error and noise.

Read the full article here.

–Diccon Hyatt

Trump Accounts Are Coming. Are They Right for You?

FROM 3 hr 19 min ago

Trump Accounts, the new tax-advantaged accounts for children, are set to launch July 5. Yet for parents who want to get a head start on saving for their kid’s future, there are plenty of other ways to save in the meantime.

Determining what type of account is best for your child will depend on your goals and preferences. Do you want to invest in their college education or open an account that offers more flexibility, allowing them to use their cash for whatever they want after they turn 18?

Here’s a guide to figuring out where to stash your money before the Trump Accounts open later this year.

Read the full article here.

–Trina Paul

BJ’s Stock Drops as Fiscal 2026 Profit Outlook Disappoints

FROM 4 hr 11 min ago

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings may have had a better-than-expected fiscal 2025 fourth quarter, but its fiscal 2026 profit outlook is sending shares sharply lower before the bell.

BJ’s (BJ) shares fell more than 4% in premarket trading Thursday after the warehouse club said it expects full-year adjusted earnings per share to range from $4.40 to $4.60. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha expected $4.67.

For Q4, the Marlborough, Mass.-based company reported adjusted EPS of $0.96 on revenue that rose 5.6% year-over-year to $5.58 billion. Analysts had called for $0.92 and $5.55 billion, respectively.

Shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings entered Thursday essentially flat over the past 12 months, but up 11% in 2026.

Berkshire Hathaway Resumes Buybacks; New CEO Abel Buys $15M of Stock

FROM 5 hr 2 min ago

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A; BRK.B) has started buying back its shares. Its new chief executive is getting in on the act.

The conglomerate announced in a regulatory filing Thursday that it started repurchasing its shares yesterday. It last did so in the second quarter of 2024.

“Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s long-standing common stock repurchase policy permits us to repurchase shares of our Class A and Class B Common Stock at any time we believe the repurchase price is below our intrinsic value, conservatively determined,” it wrote in the filing. “In the interest of transparency with our leadership transition, we are disclosing that we commenced repurchasing shares of our common stock under this policy on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.”

Greg Abel, who took over as Berkshire CEO from Warren Buffett at the start of the year, told CNBC that he purchased $15 million worth of Class A shares, the full amount of his after-tax annual salary, and that he plans to use his full salary to buy company shares each year.

The company on Saturday reported a nearly 30% year-over-year drop in fourth-quarter operating earnings to $10.2 billion in Buffett’s final quarter as CEO, as the company took write-downs of its stakes in Kraft Heinz (KHC) and Occidental Petroleum (OXY).

Berkshire’s Class B shares, which entered Thursday down 2% over the past 12 months, rose 1.3% before the bell.

401(k) Balances Hit a Record High in 2025—So Did Hardship Withdrawals

FROM 5 hr 40 min ago

For the sixth straight year, more Americans raided their retirement accounts during a crisis. They also finished the year with more money in their 401(k)s than ever before.

About 6% of workers in Vanguard’s 401(k) plans tapped emergency funds last year, while average account balances also hit an all-time high of $167,970, a 13% annual increase.

The markets rewarded those who stayed invested: the S&P 500 gained 16%, bonds rose 7%. The job market told a different story. Excluding health care, nonfarm payroll employment fell throughout most of 2025, layoffs surged to their highest level since the pandemic, and credit card delinquencies hit a 13-year high.

Read the full article here.

–Peter Gratton

Stock Futures Little Changed After Indexes Rebound

FROM 6 hr 28 min ago

Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average pointed 0.1% lower.

S&P 500 futures were near flat.

Nasdaq 100 futures also were near the flat line.