End of an era

End of an era as Buffett hands over baton, a tidal wave of change headed for US economy, Powell is about to defy Trump, bond traders swing to Powell’s side, and Trump signals willingness to lower China tariffs ‘at some point’...

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Market Briefing
May 05, 2025

Good morning.

The Fast Five → End of an era as Buffett hands over baton, a tidal wave of change headed for US economy, Powell is about to defy Trump, bond traders swing to Powell’s side, and Trump signals willingness to lower China tariffs ‘at some point’...

📌 Is this tiny piece of hardware the key to unlocking what could be the most lucrative economic opportunity of our lifetime?

Calendar: (all times ET) - Full Calendar

  • Today:
    none watched

  • Tomorrow
    Adv retail inventories, 8:30A
    Adv wholesale inventories, 8:30A
    Consumer confidence, 10:00A
    Job openings, 10:00A

Your 5-minute briefing for Monday, May 5:

BEFORE THE OPEN

As of market close 5/2/2025.

Pre-Market:

US Investor % Bullish Sentiment:
↓ 20.94% for Week of MAY 1 2025

Previous week: 21.94%. Updates every Friday.

Market Wrap:

  • S&P +1.47% (9-day win streak, longest since 2004); Dow +1.39%; Nasdaq +1.51%

  • April payrolls +177K vs. 133K est.; jobless rate steady at 4.2%

  • S&P and Nasdaq now fully recovered since Trump’s April 2 tariff shock

  • Apple -3.7% on weak rev + $900M in tariff costs; Amazon down on soft guidance

  • China signals openness to talks, but demands full removal of US tariffs

  • Weekly: S&P +2.9%, Dow +3%, Nasdaq +3.4%; S&P still ~7% below Feb peak

EARNINGS

Here’s what we’re watching today:

Goldman Warns Millions of Jobs Could Disappear

Almost nobody else is talking about what I'm calling the biggest economic and financial story regarding America's future. 

Amazon, Google, and Tesla are quietly investing billions of dollars in this idea, which is already popping up in places like Shreveport, Louisiana, San Francisco, and Texas. 

If I'm right, this will reshape our entire society – how we eat, sleep, work, travel, and spend our time. 

And when it does, it will be too late. 

- from Stansberry Research -

HEADLINES

Warren Buffett picked the final minute of his 60th shareholder meeting to drop a long-awaited announcement that was still completely surprising for his fans, most of his board and even his successor.

American consumers are not yet seeing much evidence of the drastic changes President Trump has made on trade. But they are on their way.

  • Stock futures dip after weekly Wall St jump; US-China trade, Fed in focus (more)

  • Fed’s Powell is about to defy Trump and hold rates steady (more)

    • Bond traders swing to Powell’s side as Trump calls for rate cuts (more)

  • Trump signals willingness to lower China tariffs ‘at some point’ (more)

  • Trump announces 100% tariff for movies produced outside US (more)

  • Big Tech earnings defy fears of ‘worst-case scenario’ for stocks (more)

  • Dollar under water as surge in Taiwan dollar spills over (more)

  • Oil prices tumble after OPEC+ agrees to surge production in June (more)

  • US equity funds see outflows for third straight week (more)

  • 'Dumpster fire': Retailers urge shoppers to buy now before tariffs raise prices (more)

  • Buffett defends trade amid tariff pressures, as Berkshire cash sets record (more)

  • Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala pours $10B into TWG Global (more)

  • Trump says would extend TikTok deadline if no deal reached by June 19 (more)

DEALFLOW

M+A | Investments

  • Shell considers acquisition of BP

  • LlamaIndex, a platform for agentic document workflows, received investments from Databricks and KPMG

  • True Classic, a men's apparel brand, received a strategic investment from 1686 Partners

  • Mission Wealth, a wealth management firm, received an investment from Great Hill Partners

VC

  • Chaos Industries, a tech company building the next generation of defense systems, raised $275M in Series C funding

  • Doppel, an AI-powered social engineering defense platform, raised $35M in Series B funding

  • ChiroHD, a healthtech company, raised $26 million in funding

  • Gruve.ai, a company providing AI solutions for businesses that streamline operations, raised $20M in Series A funding

  • Kintsugi, a sales tax compliance startup, raised $18M in funding

  • Hoofprint Biome, an agtech startup, raised $15M in Series A funding

  • Trek Health, a payment and insurance workflow automation platform for mental health, raised $11M in Series A funding

  • Replenysh, a recycling logistics startup, raised $8M in Series A funding

CRYPTO

  • Bitcoin eyes $95K retest as traders brace for Fed rate cut volatility (more)

  • Maldives to build $9 billion crypto hub to attract investment (more)

  • Saylor signals impending Bitcoin purchase following Q1 earnings call (more)

  • Kidnappers in France target cryptocurrency entrepreneurs for ransom (more)

BULLISH BITES

🚨 Have you heard of Figure AI yet? If not, you will soon. *

🔥 Trump's White House is the hottest right-wing media outlet.

💵 The world still speaks in US dollars.

🤖 Why the AI race could be upended by a judge’s decision on Google.

🧐 5 discreet signs you’re in a wealthy person’s home.

DAILY SHARES

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