Musk commits

Musk commits to Tesla CEO role—political pullback, House weighs expanding access to private markets, Trump fails to convince ‘SALT Caucus’, Senate advances crypto regulation bill, and Tesla robotaxis will be on Austin roads in June...

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Market Briefing
May 21, 2025

Good morning.

The Fast Five → Musk commits to Tesla CEO role—political pullback, House weighs expanding access to private markets, Trump fails to convince ‘SALT Caucus’, Senate advances crypto regulation bill, and Tesla robotaxis will be on Austin roads in June…

📌 A new drilling technique just unlocked a massive American energy find. Not since the rise of shale oil have we seen an energy story like this. Will history repeat itself in 2025? (ad)

Calendar: (all times ET) - Full Calendar

  • Today:
    None scheduled

  • Tomorrow:
    Initial jobless claims, 8:30A
    Existing home sales, 10:00A

Your 5-minute briefing for Wednesday, May 21:

BEFORE THE OPEN

As of market close 5/20/2025.

Pre-Market:

US Investor % Bullish Sentiment:
↑ 35.93% for Week of MAY 15 2025

Previous week: 29.45%. Updates Friday.

Market Wrap:

  • Futures dip: S&P, Nasdaq -0.2%; Dow -93 pts

  • Tuesday: S&P snapped 6-day streak; Dow/Nasdaq also fell

  • Pullback comes after sharp monthlong rebound

  • S&P 500 now up YTD, rebounding from near bear market

  • Earnings ahead: Lowe’s, Target, TJX, Canada Goose, Snowflake

EARNINGS

Here’s what we’re watching this week:

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HEADLINES

At the center of the debate: proposals to make it easier to qualify as an accredited investor.

He commented during a remote appearance at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha.

  • Dow slides more than 100 points, S&P 500 snaps six-day winning run (more)

  • US bonds swing as dip buyers enter after Moody’s-fueled selloff (more)

  • Trump fails to convince ‘SALT Caucus’ to back tax bill (more)

  • Senate advances crypto regulation bill with bipartisan support (more)

  • Dollar extends slide with G-7 meeting, deficit in focus (more)

  • Asian stocks edge up as US fiscal health in focus (more)

  • Nvidia’s Huang praises Trump move to scrap some AI export curbs (more)

  • Nestle CEO: US consumers unsettled by economic slowdown (more)

  • Musk confirms Tesla plan for robotaxis on Austin roads in June (more)

  • Apple to open AI models to developers to spur new apps (more)

  • Blackstone, CVC Split From Group Set to Invest in NFL Teams (more)

DEALFLOW

M+A | Investments

  • Thoma Bravo's Nearmap to acquire insurance tech firm itel for over $1.3B

  • Nippon Steel still committed to full U.S. Steel takeover

VC

  • Gravitee, an agentic API and event management company, raised $60M in Series C funding

  • Blues, a provider of IoT connectivity solutions, raised $25M in funding

  • Catena Labs, a company developing financial infrastructure and services, raised $18M in funding

  • True Markets, a non-custodial, stablecoin-native DeFi trading mobile app, raised $11M in Seed funding

  • Seeds, a fintech company enabling advisors to create a personalized investing experience, raised $10M in Series A funding

  • Meibel, a runtime platform for confident AI, raised $7M in Seed funding

  • AskElephant, an AI orchestration platform purpose-built for customer-facing teams, raised $6M in Seed funding

  • Blooms, a fintech company, raised $2.6M in Seed funding

CRYPTO

  • Bitcoin options traders eye $300,000 with record high in sight (more)

  • Blackstone buys $1M worth of Bitcoin ETF in first crypto bet (more)

  • NYC Mayor Eric Adams launches crypto advisory council (more)

  • Crypto entrepreneur Sun will join Trump’s memecoin dinner (more)

BULLISH BITES

🚨 There's a strange bidding war underway in Utah.... *  

💰 The cryptocurrency that buys access to Trump.

🌍 The tech industry is huge—and Europe’s share of it is very small.

🏠 Want to buy her house? You’ll need $7 and some luck.

🥖 Inside the hottest new brasserie in Paris.

DAILY SHARES

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