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Hey listeners, it's Saturday at March 21st. I'm Hannah Aaron Lang for the Wall Street Journal.
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And this is what's news in markets. Our look at the biggest stock moves of the week
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and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. The vibes in financial markets did not get much
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better this week. There were a lot of big losers including gold and the companies that
0:54
mine the precious metal, chip maker, micron technology in spite of its eye popping earnings,
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and super micro computer whose co-founder got on the wrong side of US prosecutors this week.
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But more on that later. First, let's talk about oil, which is really all that anyone is talking
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about since the war in Iran began three weeks ago. At the beginning of the week, US stocks shrugged
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off energy concerns, rising with hopes that perhaps a coalition of countries would work together
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to open the straight of her moves, the key thoroughfare for a fifth of the world's oil supply.
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But the mood shifted on Wednesday when the federal reserve announced its latest move on interest
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rates. Policy makers opted to leave rates unchanged, which is pretty much what Wall Street expected.
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But then, at a press conference after the decision, Fedger Jerome Powell made remarks that investors
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didn't find very comforting. He highlighted the inflation risks posed by the war in Iran,
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and said the central bank was in a quote, difficult situation. That really weighed on stocks,
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and investors slashed their bets that the central bank would cut interest rates at all in 2026.
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Combine that with news of attacks on energy infrastructure in the Middle East,
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and it just wasn't a very good week for markets.
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Brent Crude Futures, the global benchmark for oil prices, climbed 8.8% this week,
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and US stocks ended down for the week. The Dow and the NASDAQ each fell 2.1%,
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while the S&P 500 dropped 1.9%.
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Gold has literally been a hot commodity recently, but now the precious metal is losing its
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luster. Gold logged its worst week since 2011. One reason has to do with interest rates. Gold is
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typically a haven that investors flock to during tumultuous periods for the market.
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But it also thrives when rates are lower. When interest rates are higher, investors tend to ditch
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the metal in favor of other assets, like bonds, that can offer a steady income, and maybe a more
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attractive return on investment. US and European Central Banks this week indicated that rate reductions
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might not come as quickly as hoped. The energy shock from the war in the Middle East has investors
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and central bankers worried that inflation could accelerate and economic growth could slow.
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Gold has fallen 7 of the past 8 sessions and ended the week down 9.5%.
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Other precious metals also sold off this week, taking with them the stocks of mining companies,
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SSR mining, and NUMONT. For the week, SSR mining is down 19%, and NUMONT dropped 13%.
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Putting it is one of the worst performers in the S&P 500 for the week.
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On the AI front, Blockbuster earnings late Wednesday failed to pump up
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Micron technology investors this week. The Memory Chipmaker's second quarter results were
3:52
pretty much a blowout. Revenue nearly tripled year over year, while the company's adjusted
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operating earnings topped Wall Street's estimates by 33%. Micron forecast stronger revenue growth
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for the next quarter and expects to earn 81 cents in gross profits for every dollar of revenue,
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a gross margin that is pretty eye-popping for the semiconductor industry.
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But that might be the problem. Wall Street is growing more cautious about the AI trade,
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and business is so good at Micron that their concerns that profitability is at or near its peak.
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As my colleague Dan Gallagher reported, investors are used to seeing big numbers from these
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kinds of tech companies. What they're missing is the assurance that it can last.
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Shares of Micron, which have surged more than 300% over the past 12 months,
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fell almost 4% on Thursday after the company reported results.
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For the week, shares are down 4.8%.
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And finally, Shares of Super Microcomputer posted one of their biggest daily declines ever
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on Friday, after US prosecutors charged three people, including the company's co-founder,
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with smuggling machines with high-end Nvidia chips to China.
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The stock was down roughly 30% in Friday afternoon trading. Yikes.
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The move in Super Microstock erased more than 4 billion from its market value.
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For context, at Thursday's close, Super Micro had a market cap of roughly 18.5 billion.
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In an unsealed indictment, prosecutors accused the three people of helping smuggle servers into China
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through, quote, a tangled web of lies, obfuscation, and concealment, all to drive sales and generate
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revenues in violation of the US law, end quote. While Super Micro wasn't named as a defendant,
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the company did place its co-founder on leave after learning of his alleged role in the scheme.
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The company also said it placed a second employee on leave and fired a contractor.
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The debacle left Super Microstock in shambles. The week shares lost 33%, the most of any stock
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in the S&P 500. And now you know what's news in markets this week. You can read about more stocks
6:08
that moved on the week's news in our live markets coverage on WSJ.com. Today's show was produced
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by Alexis Moore, with the supervising producer, Janna Heron. I'm Hannah Erin Lang. Have a great weekend
6:20
and see you next Saturday.
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