The market fell Friday, and this week, as AI fears hit the mainstream when websites came down for fears the server infrastructure behind it was at risk. Oil hitting close to $120 by some measures only added fuel to the selloff fire: the Dow fell 600 points.

Turns out decades-old malware vulnerabilities deemed 'too annoying to pursue' are open season for AI agent swarms running from basements all over the world. Banks, airlines, governments, and my precious Fed Reserve data, all came down for fear of, well, fear. The British government told civilians to prepare 72 hours of food and water, a preparedness initiative a long time coming, but dropping this week looks like Terminator music is about to play.

Most of the fear is around newfound vulnerabilities, or reidentified blind spots, rather than new attacks, Bloomberg reported. The two PHP flaws that left 70% of the world's websites open to easy minipulation were patched mostly overnight, and there is no evidence anyone got in. The fear is they could have.

So what’s the answer to the arms race? More security, and more AI. The craze is costing more and more, and now the debt is looking scary too. Global corporate bond yield premiums surged to their highest since March 2025- record set during the tariff aftermath. Meta platforms said it was set to issue a ton more stock, to help Zuck get around billions in taxes and to issue more debt to pay for AI AI AI. The firm said its spending agreements reached $825B in its most recent earnings report.

The S&P 500 closed down 0.5% at 7,623.68, and the Dow lost 1.2% to 52,215.16. $QQQ finished nearly flat, $IWM slipped 0.3%, and the VIX rose 2.2% to 19.45. Three of 11 sectors finished green: Energy led at +2.6%, Technology added 0.5%, and Consumer Staples lagged at -1.9%.

Today's Briefing:

Instacart, the grocery-delivery platform, is exploring a possible sale and has held preliminary talks with Uber and DoorDash, The Information reported Friday, according to Reuters. Two delivery rivals could become buyers. That would certainly change the competition. 🛒

The RIP: At Friday’s 4 p.m. ET close, $CART ( ▲ 9.21% ) gained 9.21% to $56.44 on 15.6M shares. It traded at $56.92, another +0.84%, at 4:25 p.m. ET.

Reuters put Instacart’s market value at about $12B. No purchase price was disclosed, and the report said there was no guarantee the discussions would produce a deal. The reported talks carry no promised payout. 🤝

Instacart also sells advertising and technology to retailers, giving a potential buyer more than a network of grocery deliveries. The interest would put a price on those retailer relationships and the marketplace attached to them.

Uber and DoorDash would have to decide how much that business is worth alongside their existing delivery operations. Instacart, Uber, and DoorDash did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. The talks remain preliminary.

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SpaceX is seeking access to at least 80,000 U.S. cell sites as it builds toward a wireless network, Bloomberg reported Friday. The established carriers took another hit. A potential competitor is getting closer to their customers. 📡

The RIP: At Friday’s 4 p.m. ET close, $T ( ▼ 7.96% ) fell 7.96% to $20.93, $TMUS lost 7.71%, and $VZ slipped 1.19%. AT&T traded 99.4M shares.

Bloomberg reported talks with a major infrastructure company. Access to terrestrial sites would give SpaceX another piece of the network needed to compete for mobile customers, alongside its satellite business. The report described negotiations, not 80,000 completed site agreements.

More competition could mean another round of promotions, discounted plans, and spending to keep subscribers. The phone bill is already a crowded battlefield. AT&T’s better-than-expected Wednesday earnings did little to calm that fear. 📱

The buildout still needs time and money. Citi telecommunications analyst Michael Rollins said SpaceX would need years and billions of dollars to develop the offering, according to Barron’s. The carriers are losing market value well before a new national rival finishes building its network.

Credo, which sells high-speed connectivity chips and cables for data centers, fell Friday after MaxLinear outlined plans to enter a market Credo dominates. Investors have been buying the AI buildout. Friday brought a reminder that competitors want a piece of it, too. 🔌

The RIP: At Friday’s 4 p.m. ET close, $CRDO ( ▼ 9.51% ) fell 9.51% to $147.29 on 12.6M shares. $MXL lost 2.79%. MaxLinear is targeting 20% to 30% of the 1.6T active electrical cable market over the next couple of years.

Stocktwits reported that MaxLinear CEO Kishore Seendripu set that target on Thursday’s earnings call. He estimated Credo’s current market share at 93% to 99%. Those are his estimates, and the target is a plan for future business.

MaxLinear intends to sell chips to cable makers rather than produce complete cables itself. That would give manufacturers another source for the components connecting increasingly fast AI systems. A market-share lead that big attracts company. 🧩

MaxLinear’s quarterly release highlighted its Annapurna family of 1.6T electrical products. Credo retains a large lead, but Friday’s selloff put a price on the risk that customers gain another supplier.

American Express plans to eliminate about 5% of its global workforce after taking a $336M restructuring charge, the credit-card company said Friday. Reuters reported that its chief financial officer told CNBC the cuts are to prepare for AI. The preparation starts with payroll. 🤖

The RIP: At Friday’s 4 p.m. ET close, $AXP ( ▼ 3.68% ) fell 3.68% to $313.22. Adjusted EPS of $4.68 beat the $4.50 consensus, while revenue of $20.06B missed the $20.12B forecast, according to Barron’s.

The charge reflects a reorganization that American Express CEO Stephen Squeri said should make the company more agile and efficient, Barron’s reported. The company is also looking to use AI to make customer offers more personalized.

Its cardholders kept spending. Billed business rose 8% to $454B, while revenue grew about 9%. Customers kept swiping. Jobs are getting cut anyway. 💳

Amex narrowed its full-year adjusted EPS forecast to $17.60 to $17.90, lifting the lower end from $17.30 while leaving the upper end unchanged. An earnings beat and a higher floor still left shareholders with a revenue miss and a restructuring bill.

Brent crude hit $117 a barrel Friday as fears of renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran pushed energy prices higher, the Financial Times reported. Energy stocks climbed while most sectors fell. A stronger price for producers becomes a bigger bill for everyone buying fuel. 🛢️

The RIP: At Friday’s 4 p.m. ET close, $USO ( ▲ 4.32% ) gained 4.32%, $XLE rose 2.60%, and ConocoPhillips’ $COP added 3.55%. Energy was one of only three sectors to finish higher.

The Financial Times reported that the oil rally also pushed U.S. inflation expectations higher. More expensive fuel can raise transport and production costs, putting pressure on companies that cannot pass the whole increase to customers. Households can face the same squeeze at the pump.

Energy’s gain is somebody else’s cost increase. That split helps explain why a strong day for oil stocks offered little comfort to the wider market. Airlines, delivery operators, and other heavy fuel users have a different reason to watch the same barrel. ⛽

The United States Oil Fund invests in oil futures and related contracts; its share move is separate from Brent’s dollar price. A rally driven by fears of disrupted supply can also reverse if those fears ease. Friday’s market was paying for the risk.

2.2K WATCHERS · BULLISH · NORMAL ACTIVITY

Comfort Systems sank despite Thursday’s earnings beat and a $17.81B backlog, with Barron’s highlighting gross margin’s decline to 24.8% from the previous quarter’s 25.9% as labor costs rose.

64K WATCHERS · BULLISH · NORMAL ACTIVITY

Shares surged after CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz warned that a critical flaw in PHP, software used to build websites and apps, required urgent patching before attackers could exploit it, Dow Jones reported.

13.8K WATCHERS · BULLISH · NORMAL ACTIVITY

SLB jumped after reporting $9.45B in revenue and $0.64 adjusted EPS, beating forecasts, while its data-center revenue surged 76% from a year earlier, according to Barron’s.

1.3K WATCHERS · BEARISH · HIGH ACTIVITY

CBRE fell following Thursday’s results, as revenue of $11.52B missed the $11.77B consensus despite adjusted EPS of $2.05 beating the $1.97 estimate, according to Reuters.

Bearish 🐻 | Bullish 🐮 | It’s Complicated 😵‍💫

🔐 AI Finds Security Holes Faster Than Humans Can Patch Them

⚖️ Texas Sues OpenAI Over Chatbot Dangers and Deceptive Practices

🌎 President Trump’s Canada Tariff Cuts Have a Maine Angle

🕊️ First Lady Melania Trump’s Office Announces a Local Ukraine Ceasefire

⚡ SpaceX’s Wireless Push Could Pay the Tower Owners

🪙 Security Flaws Put Ethereum’s Testnet Upgrade on Hold

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