Well well well, it’s Wednesday, 80*+ on Wall Street, and stocks hit record highs today on the hopes of a swift end to a six week war. Oil is down below $90 for the first time in March, having broken out from near $67/barrel before the first strikes hit Tehran.

The S&P 500 broke 7k for the first time on Wednesday, and the Nasdaq also hit a record.

Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, wrote in a note that the fresh records wiped out the entire downturn that started when the Iran war did, and the two-week rally showed, “stocks are basically expressing their view that the war in the Persian Gulf is all but over.”

Jared Blikre, ETF expert, wrote on Yahoo Finance that the S&P 500 11-day climb past 10% has only happened 11 times since 1962, and only two of those times were a case of ‘all-clear.’ One of those times, it was a multi-year high set March 2000. 👀

A New York federal jury handed $LYV ( ▼ 6.29% ) its biggest antitrust loss yet on Wednesday, finding the concert giant illegally monopolized live events and overcharged fans. The verdict hits the core of the Live Nation story because it goes beyond ticketing complaints and says the company’s venue, promotion, and Ticketmaster machine worked together to lock up the market.

The RIP: The jury found fans overpaid by $1.72 per ticket. The states are seeking as much as $700M and may push for a Ticketmaster divestiture. Rival names moved on the ruling, with $SEAT rising as much as 9.1% and StubHub gaining as much as 5%.

This matters because the real risk is no longer just a fine. It is structural remedy risk. If the judge forces operational changes, or even seriously entertains breaking off Ticketmaster, the valuation framework for $LYV changes fast. “The game is not over by any means” was Live Nation’s line after the verdict, but for holders the next catalyst is the remedy phase, not the appeal headline. 🎟️

Allbirds exploded 582% on Wednesday after the failed sneaker brand said it will rename itself NewBird AI and pivot into GPU infrastructure just weeks after agreeing to sell its footwear assets.

This is pure meme stock theater: a 2021-era consumer brand that destroyed its own equity story is now getting revalued like a mini data center trade because it said the letters A and I out loud.

The RIP: $BIRD ( ▲ 582.33% ) closed at $16.99, up 582%. Allbirds announced a $50M convertible financing facility to fund the AI pivot after previously agreeing to sell its assets and IP for about $39M. Its market value had fallen to about $22M by Tuesday. It was once valued at $4B.

What matters is that this is being priced like a shell-company transformation, not a credible operating turnaround yet. The closest comps are the crypto miners that pivoted toward AI hosting, except those at least already owned power and infrastructure. Berkshire started in textiles, sure, but there is usually only one Buffett in the room, and most “reinventions” look a lot more like NFT pivots than Berkshire Hathaway. 🐦

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RobinHood climbed again on Wednesday after the SEC cleared the removal of the pattern day trader rule, a change retail brokers have wanted for years. The move is simple: if smaller accounts can trade more freely, platforms built on activity should see more orders, more engagement, and potentially more transaction revenue. Everyone has tried to option 0DTE trade too much and gotten a little too close to this rule before.

The RIP: $HOOD ( ▲ 10.41% ) rose about 10% Wednesday after gaining 10.4% Tuesday. WeBull jumped about 11% after a 10.3% rise the day before. The rule change removes the $25,000 minimum equity threshold and ends the limit of 4 day trades in 5 business days for smaller margin accounts.

What matters now is whether this becomes a real volume story instead of a one-day headline trade. Holders should watch trading activity, margin balances, and options volumes at $HOOD, while peers like $BULL are exposed to the same upside if retail participation actually accelerates. 📈

The Fed’s latest Beige Book reads like an economy still moving forward, but with everyone glancing over their shoulder. Activity rose at a slight to modest pace in 8 of 12 districts, while 2 were flat and 2 slipped, with the Middle East conflict, tariffs, and higher fuel costs all feeding a broad wait-and-see mood.

The RIP: Growth improved in 8 of 12 districts, employment was steady to slightly higher, and wage growth stayed modest to moderate. Consumer spending rose slightly, housing softened, and commercial real estate improved. Energy and fuel costs rose sharply across all districts. New York and Boston weakened, while Dallas, Atlanta, and Cleveland still showed modest expansion.

The market takeaway is that this is not a recessionary Beige Book, but it is a margin squeeze Beige Book. Input costs are rising faster than selling prices, which matters more for equities right now than the headline growth rate. The most revealing regional notes came from Kansas City, where manufacturers reported automatic surcharges tied to logistics and energy, and from New York, where tariff shifts and the Middle East were blamed for a modest decline in activity. That keeps the pressure on transports, industrials, consumer names, and any business that cannot pass costs through cleanly. 📘

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Macro: Initial + Continuing Jobless Claims (8:30 AM ET), Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index (Apr) (8:30 AM ET), FOMC Member Williams Speaks (8:35 AM ET), Industrial Production (MoM) (Mar) (9:15 AM ET), Fed's Balance Sheet (4:30 PM ET). 📊

Pre-Market Earnings: $PEP Street sees $1.55 EPS on $18.92B in revenue, with North America beverage and snack volumes doing the real work.

$SCHW : Street sees $1.39 EPS on $6.39B in revenue, with sweep cash trends and net new assets driving the read. +$JKS JinkoSolar Holding Co LTD, $USB U.S. Bancorp, $KEY KeyCorp, +4 more. ☀️

After-Market Earnings: $NFLX : Street sees $0.76 EPS on $12.17B in revenue, with subscriber growth, ad traction, and guidance setting the tone.

Alcoa’s Macro Read: $AA : Street sees $1.13 EPS with realized aluminum prices, input costs, and commentary on autos and construction doing the real work.

$LAKE Lakeland Industries Inc, $NKLR Terra Innovatum Global N.V.. 🌙

P.S. You can listen to all of these earnings calls on Stocktwits.

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😨 Unpacking the Healthcare Hiring Boom

🏠 Fed chair pick is caught in an unprecedented standoff

💰 Five things we learned from bank earnings

📺 Trump threatens to fire Powell if he stays on after his term as Fed Chair ends next month

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