Wall Street Breakfast

Oil jumps as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz grinds to a halt, spotlighting supply risks and tanker attacks. Broadcom soars on a bullish AI-driven outlook. Berkshire restarts buybacks while company leadership buys stock. Retail and tech moves include store closures, mixed earnings, and stronger subscription guidance for identity software.

OpenAI's ad experiments and early talks with The Trade Desk spark a market move. A $25B revenue milestone and big funding rounds grab attention. Robinhood rolls out an invite-only $695 platinum card. A court orders refunds for struck-down tariffs, with logistics and appeals in play. Markets buzz with Nvidia production shifts, a Kospi surge, and Morgan Stanley job cuts.

Bond market moves hint at rising inflation risks after Middle East tensions and oil spikes. Fed fund futures shift shows traders eyeing interest-rate uncertainty with a new Fed leader. ISM services jumps to a three-year high as firms add headcount. Crypto-linked stocks surge following political encouragement for bank-industry deals. Big-money Nvidia buybacks boost AI stock chatter.

Coverage of CrowdStrike hitting a major ARR milestone above $5.2B. Senate set to vote on war powers related to strikes on Iran. Anthropic racing toward a near-$20B revenue run rate amid Pentagon AI tensions. Quick rundown of big tech moves, market snapshots, and upcoming investor events.

Markets clash as yields rise and volatility spikes while gold and silver surprise with weakness. A surging dollar and oil rally follow Iraq production cuts. Corporate moves include a major media debt downgrade and Amazon buying a large GWU campus for data and AI capacity. Lesser-known AI infrastructure plays and recent retail and tech earnings rounds round out the headlines.

Futures sink as tech stocks lead broader declines. A major cloud provider suffers drone strike damage in the Middle East, causing service outages. The CEO of a leading AI firm admits a rushed Pentagon deal and plans revisions. A database company’s premarket crash and mixed guidance rattles sentiment. Other market movers and debt, geopolitical tensions, and a trade-show preview round out the rundown.

Travel names fell as cruise lines, airlines, and hotels reacted to conflict and rising oil. Markets mostly recovered with tech strength offsetting sector losses. A major power company agreed to a large buyout and manufacturing data surprised on the upside. AI services saw a partial cloud outage and an AI-themed trading basket struggled.

Oil surges to multi-year highs after Strait of Hormuz disruptions rattle global supply. Markets worry whether shipping will resume or a prolonged shock will unfold. Gold climbs above $5,400 as safe-haven flows pick up and central bank demand is noted. FedEx halts services in five Gulf countries, raising logistics and airline disruption concerns.

A major geopolitical shock in Iran and its likely impact on oil markets takes center stage. The conversation contrasts OPEC+ output plans with possible Middle East supply disruption. Movements in gold and regional equities are highlighted. The show previews February payrolls and flags a busy corporate earnings week and shifts at Berkshire Hathaway.

Brian Stewart, Seeking Alpha's Director of News, offers quick market analysis and earnings coverage. He unpacks Nvidia's puzzling beat-and-drop, AI-driven volatility and IBM's tumble. He weighs big tech software moats, Salesforce’s relief rally, stablecoins' surge, streaming M&A drama, and layoffs tied to AI productivity. Short takes on upcoming earnings and jobs data.