Most global markets remain in the red again today, taking a breather from their upward climb last week. Investors are on tenterhooks, eagerly anticipating what Fed Chair Jerome Powell will reveal tomorrow. The expectation is that US interest rates will remain steady. Corporate earnings are robust, yet the horizon is obscured by the looming uncertainty of the US-initiated trade war. In other words, it's business as usual in the financial world.

There was no tenth consecutive session of gains on Wall Street yesterday. The streak was broken by a modest 0.6% decline in the S&P 500, which coincided with quieter corporate earnings activity. However, the US Treasury Secretary delivered a confident speech, the kind that investors love. Scott Bessent said that US growth should return to 3% next year, driven by the combined effect of investment generated by tariffs, deregulation and tax cuts. Of the three pillars cited by Bessent, only the first has really been built. The financial markets are counting (very) heavily on the other two to fuel the positive narrative and continue their upward trend. But the task is not easy for the Trump administration, which has to contend with a huge deficit and a debt market that is much more demanding in terms of economic consistency than the stock market.

In Europe, indices have had mixed fortunes. Paris lost 0.55%, but Frankfurt, the European star of the year, gained more than 1%, extending its streak of consecutive gains to nine. London is still one step ahead with a record streak of 15 consecutive gains. The City, which was closed yesterday, could attempt to make it 16 today.

The strength of the stock indices contrasts with the anxiety of business leaders faced with the reshuffling of the international trade deck. Statistics show that companies are exceeding expectations in terms of relative data, but this has not prevented downward revisions of forecasts from piling up. Yesterday, Mattel, Ford and Clorox abandoned their targets, and several companies are starting to pay close attention to their balance sheets to avoid being caught in a downward spiral.

These liquidity problems are not affecting Berkshire Hathaway, which nevertheless lost 5% yesterday on Wall Street after the announcement of the retirement of finance guru Warren Buffett (94). I have skimmed through a lot of sensible articles on how Buffett's successor, Greg Abel, should allocate Berkshire Hathaway's $347.7 billion war chest. For educational purposes, and because it's fun to do so, let's find out what you can buy with $347.7 billion. Here are a few examples:

  • You can purchase one Elon Musk. Assuming his current wealth is $336 billion, as suggested by the Bloomberg billionaire ranking. 
  • Eight, almost nine Glencore. The mining group's rough patch has caused its market capitalisation to plummet.
  • 2,349 A321neo. The new star of Airbus is priced at $148 million (unofficial), although we know that airlines get generous discounts on the list price.
  • 21,220 SL120 Asymmetric yachts. The mid-range model from the Sanlorenzo shipyard is a beautiful 36-metre baby. Not easy to park.

After this useless digression, let's return to the financial markets. Investors will adopt a wait-and-see approach ahead of the Fed's decision on interest rates tomorrow evening. The probability of the status quo remains at around 97% on the futures market. The rise in US bond yields proves that the market is pricing in a less accommodative US central bank than hoped for. In fact, traders are beginning to abandon hopes of a cut at the next meeting on 18 June: the probability has fallen to 27%, down from 60% a week ago. On the corporate front, several important results are expected today. In politics, Friedrich Merz failed to be appointed German chancellor today during the first round of vote, following the signing of the coalition agreement in Germany. Meanwhile, Mark Carney, the new Canadian prime minister and former head of the Canadian and British central banks, is scheduled to meet with Donald Trump at the White House.

In Asia-Pacific, public holidays continue to thin the ranks: Tokyo, Seoul and Shenzhen are closed. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng is up 0.7%. Taiwan and Sydney ended flat. The Indian stock market is down 0.2%. European leading indices are bearish.

Today's economic highlights:

See the full calendar here.

  • Dollar index: 99,272
  • Gold: $3,359.97
  • Crude Oil (BRENT): $61.09 (WTI): $58.56
  • United States 10 years: 4.35%
  • BITCOIN: US$94,511.5

In corporate news:

  • Peabody Energy considers terminating its deal to acquire Anglo American's Australian coal assets due to a mine fire.
  • Shell appointed Colette Hirstius as the new president of Shell USA.
  • Google faces DOJ pressure to divest advertising technology products while expanding into film and TV production.
  • Ford Motor anticipates a $1.5 billion impact in 2025 due to tariffs, affecting financial guidance.
  • Apple announces a four-tranche bond offering to raise $5-6 billion amidst various challenges.
  • eToro Group targets a valuation of up to $4 billion in its upcoming US IPO.
  • Ford withdraws its forecasts and warns that tariffs will cost it $1.5 billion.
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb will invest $40 billion in the United States over five years.
  • Sunoco LP will acquire Canadian company Parkland for $9.1 billion (enterprise value) to create North America's largest independent fuel distributor.
  • IBM and Oracle are strengthening their partnership in agentic AI and hybrid cloud.
  • OpenAI has decided not to change its status and will remain under the control of a non-profit organization.

Today's main earnings: AMD, Duke Energy Corporation, TransDigm Group, Zoetis, Brookfield Asset Management, Constellation Energy, Marriott International, Electronic Arts, GlobalFoundries, Super Micro Computer, International Flavors & Fragrances, Rivian...

Analyst Recommendations:

  • Block, Inc.: Daiwa Securities downgrades to outperform from buy with a price target reduced from USD 90 to USD 55.
  • Chevron Corporation: DZ Bank AG Research downgrades to sell from buy with a price target reduced from USD 182 to USD 130.
  • Fortinet, Inc.: DZ Bank AG Research downgrades to sell from hold with a price target reduced from USD 110 to USD 95.
  • Skechers U.s.a., Inc.: Raymond James downgrades to market perform from outperform.
  • Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.: Zacks downgrades to underperform from neutral with a target price reduced from USD 64 to USD 52.
  • Abercrombie & Fitch Co.: Morgan Stanley maintains its market weight recommendation and reduces the target price from 114 to USD 78.
  • Albemarle Corporation: JP Morgan maintains its neutral recommendation and reduces the target price from 80 to USD 60.
  • Ares Management Corporation: Wolfe Research maintains its outperform recommendation and raises the target price from USD 151 to USD 193.
  • Glaukos Corporation: Morgan Stanley maintains its underweight recommendation and reduces the target price from 110 to USD 72.
  • Olin Corporation: Goldman Sachs maintains a neutral recommendation with a price target reduced from USD 33 to USD 25.
  • On Semiconductor Corporation: Jefferies maintains its buy recommendation and reduces the target price from USD 85 to USD 65.
  • Palantir Technologies Inc.: Deutsche Bank maintains its sell recommendation and raises the target price from USD 50 to USD 80.
  • Quanta Services, Inc.: Piper Sandler & Co maintains its overweight recommendation and raises the target price from USD 286 to USD 360.
  • Roku, Inc.: Baird maintains its outperform recommendation and reduces the target price from USD 110 to USD 85.
  • Westlake Corporation: Goldman Sachs maintains its neutral recommendation with a price target reduced from USD 130 to USD 95.