OP Wire 5/24 (OP – Lite)

By Steve

Futures Muted as Market Awaits Direction

U.S. stock futures were largely unchanged on Friday after equities fell in the previous session, despite Nvidia’s strong earnings. Thursday saw the S&P 500 drop 0.7%, the Nasdaq Composite slip 0.4%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dip 1.5%. Positive Nvidia results were overshadowed by lower-than-expected jobless claims, suggesting a resilient labor market and potential delays in Federal Reserve rate cuts.

SEC Approves Spot Ether ETFs

The SEC has approved rule changes to create Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs), advancing towards listing eight such funds. This boosted Ether prices, although profit-taking caused a 2.8% drop to $3,684.11 on Friday.

Nvidia Cuts China AI Chip Prices

Nvidia is offering significant discounts on AI chips in China due to competition from Huawei. U.S. sanctions prevent Nvidia from selling its most advanced chips, leading to reduced prices for the H20 chip, which faces lower demand compared to Huawei’s Ascend 910B.

Crude Oil Set for Weekly Losses

Crude prices fell on Friday, with U.S. crude futures down 0.4% to $76.60 per barrel and Brent down 0.3% to $81.13. Both are heading for weekly losses over 3%, driven by inflation concerns and high interest rates. Attention now turns to the OPEC+ meeting in June, where production cuts will be discussed.

$MU/$NLST-Micron hit with $445 million US verdict in Netlist patent trial – congrats OP!

$SNOW- Bernstein raised the firm’s price target on Snowflake to $185 from $171 and keeps a Market Perform rating on the shares. Snowflake delivered decent Q1 results, but raised FY25 revenue guidance and strong RPO growth might overly inflate investor expectations, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The company’s long-term strategy remains unclear at best and unattainable at worst, the firm adds.

$BIDU- Susquehanna lowered the firm’s price target on Baidu to $135 from $150 and keeps a Positive rating on the shares. The firm said Bidu continues to navigate a challenging macro environment while remaining focused on its long-term initiatives like AI and intelligent driving. Despite the uncertain macro outlook impacting the ads business, management is focused on what it can control and remains optimistic that generative AI initiatives can help reaccelerate growth over time.

$AAPL- Apple is targeting a full-screen foldable MacBook launch in 2026 and considering a 20.25″ or a 18.8″ panel, with an M5 chip and Vision Pro-level price, according to a new research note from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Hey OP. Yesterday’s chat plan to scalp puts paid HUGE! Congrats to all that played. Also, big congrats to the NLST peeps…. Those commons continue to run higher as the long thesis continues to prove correct. I’ll be traveling but will be looking to play some calls on a few badly beaten plays like DIS, BABA, and SBUX. See you all in chat

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