The market was fallign Friady, after the dobule wammy of really bad jobs numbers and oil reaching past $90 a barrel hit equities like a… double whammy.

In war news, it still looks like war, the conflict in Iran is now reaching a week old. Apparently all the air superiority in the world doesn’t mean anything to convincing more than one or two ships a day through a measly 20 miles of ‘maybe we’ll blow up’ waterway. With 20% of the world’s oil supply cut back so drastically, analysts are expecting oil prices to keep climbing, even past $100/barrel if conditions do not improve.

The jobs nubers were bleak: the U.S. lost 92,000 jobs last month, according to the Labor Department, way below estimates for additions. One in four job seekers have been out of work for 27 weeks.

At least in equities, there were a few standout names. Marvell Tech was flying despite the red Nasdaq on its revenue growth in AI chips.

The US economy shed 92,000 jobs in February, demolishing expectations of a +55,000 gain, as unemployment rose to 4.4% and prior months were revised down a combined 69,000 roles.

The miss spanned virtually every major sector.

"Big decline in nonfarm employment, a jump in the unemployment rate. A win for 'Team Doomer', a whiff for 'Team Reacceleration'," Guy Berger, director of economic research at the Burning Glass Institute said.

The weak print strengthens the case for rate cuts ahead of the March 17-18 FOMC meeting, a tailwind for REITs, utilities, and long-duration tech. Healthcare swung from +77,000 in January to -28,000 in February on strike activity, putting hospital operators like $HCA in focus. Federal payrolls are down 11% from their October 2024 peak, adding pressure on government contractors. 📉

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Brent crude surged +7.6% to $90 a barrel Friday as Strait of Hormuz shipping all but stopped, with crude futures up +35% on the week and WTI topping $85 for the first time since April 2024. The Qatar energy minister said the war would force nearly all the Gulf to shut production, sending prices even as high as $150/barrel, according to the Wall Street Journal.

To combat the war caused price explosion, the Trump admin took a step Friday: they will allow India to buy oil from Russia, temproarily. The U.S. has attempted to sanction most international energy deals with Russia ever since the start of the Ukraine war. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said don’t worry, it won’t help the Russians, somehow. “This deliberately short-term measure will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government as it only authorizes transactions involving oil already stranded at sea.”

With Citigroup estimating 7M-11M barrels a day of lost supply, Goldman Sachs warned of $100 oil if low flows through the strait persist.

"It is possible we would see Brent prices cross the $100-per-barrel threshold," Samantha Dart, co-head of global commodities research at Goldman Sachs said.

$USO ( ▲ 12.94% ) surged nearly 13% and $BOIL ( ▲ 11.58% ) exploded over 13% as energy traders piled in after crude blew past $90 a barrel. Energy is the only place retail wanted to be today.

US energy producers like $XOM ( ▲ 0.3% ) and $CVX ( ▲ 0.02% ) benefit directly from elevated crude, while refiners face tighter margins as product costs surge. Airlines including $DAL ( ▼ 3.75% ) and $UAL ( ▼ 3.52% ) face severe fuel cost headwinds with European diesel already up +50% this week. Tanker operators and energy logistics names remain in flux until Hormuz traffic resumes. 🛢️

Shares of the world’s largest asset manager, $BLK ( ▼ 7.17% ) , tumbled after the firm restricted withdrawals from its $26B HLEND fund, signaling a liquidity crunch in the once-booming private debt sector.

The damage: $620M paid out vs. $1.2B in total redemption requests. 9.3% of NAV requested for withdrawal, breaching the 5% quarterly cap. 19% of the portfolio is concentrated in the volatile software sector.

The move to "gate" the fund highlights a structural mismatch between illiquid private loans and the redemption expectations of retail investors. With peers like $BX ( ▼ 4.46% ) and $OWL ( ▼ 5.09% ) also facing heavy exit pressure amid rising defaults and geopolitical instability, the private credit "gold rush" is facing its first major systemic stress test. 📉

NEW YORK, NY — The inaugural Robinhood Ventures Fund I faced a tepid reception in its NYSE arrival, with $RVI ( 0.0% ) sliding 12% below its $25 listing price as geopolitical tensions weighed on the broader market. Just after 10 am ET, the crowd gathered in a pregnant pause, silent as the floor traders shouted out the investment banks bid and ask for the opening pricing of the fund.

Finally, with a smash of a mallet on the ceremonial fund bell, it went live. $22.65 market price vs. $25.00 IPO price. $14.6M pending investment in Stripe. Portfolio currently spans 7 private holdings including Databricks and Revolut.

With the names on the list, management is aggressively courting the "highly valued" AI, space, and defense firms to bridge the retail-to-private equity gap, despite past friction with targets like OpenAI. While retail sentiment remains bullish, the fund must prove it can secure institutional-grade allocations at fair valuations to overcome its initial discounting. ⚖️

Sarah Pinto, president of Robinhood Ventures, told Stocktwits the goal, as always, is to democratize yet another aspect of investing for retail. She said she can’t make any announcements on larger names like OpenAI they are targeting for fuitfutureure inclusion, but she did say they were adding Stripe.

“So we can't name any specific names, but think of all the best, most highly valued private companies,” Sarah Pinto Peyronel, president of Robinhood Ventures told Stocktwits. “The AI labs, the space companies, the defense companies, the consumer companies that retail investors love – we're talking to them all.”

Check out the full interview with Micele Stele below for the entire breakdown on what this new fund means.

The news came right after the launch of its $695 annual fee Platinum Card, $HOOD shares climbed 4.68% as investors cheered the company's aggressive move into the high-net-worth credit tier to challenge incumbents like Amex. 💳

📈 Join IBD’s experts for a 3-hour virtual workshop to learn what goes into a winning trade*

🛢 US Grants Temporary Waiver for India to Import Russian Oil

😨 US collected $166 billion under IEEPA duties, customs agency says

🏠 Jobs report shocks with unexpected loss of 92,000 jobs in February as unemployment rate rises

📺 Iran war live: Trump wants ‘unconditional surrender’ as attacks continue

Exclusive: US investigation points to likely US responsibility in Iran school strike, sources say

*3rd Party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Stocktwits. See disclosure here.

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