Archives June 2025

Oracle (ORCL) shares soared to a record high Thursday, a day after the cloud computing giant said it expects “dramatically higher” revenue growth in its current fiscal year, prompting several analysts to lift their price targets.

The stock surged over 13% to close at an all-time high of $199.86 Thursday, leading gains on the S&P 500. With Thursday’s jump, the stock has added about 20% in 2025 so far.

KeyBanc said Oracle’s growth projections were “stunning” in a note to clients following the company’s quarterly results and raised its price target to $225 from $200. The bank pointed to comments from CEO Safra Catz that Oracle expects cloud infrastructure growth to increase from 50% in fiscal 2025 to more than 70% in fiscal 2026. Catz also called for a doubling in remaining performance obligations, a measure of revenue from contracts that has yet to be realized.

Deutsche Bank went even further, moving to $240 from $200 and calling Oracle’s results a “watershed cloud moment.” UBS meanwhile raised its target to $225 and Jefferies moved to $220, both from $200.

“Oracle is clearly winning on several fronts, most of which we believe is still largely under appreciated,” Deutsche Bank said. 

This article has been updated since it was first published to reflect more recent share price values.

Oklo (OKLO) shares lost ground Thursday after jumping nearly 30% the previous session following news the nuclear power company had won an Air Force contract. 

Today’s slump came after Oklo late Wednesday announced a public offering of $400 million in common stock. The news partially offset the investor optimism sparked when the company said earlier Wednesday it had tentatively landed a “mission-critical” contract to provide nuclear energy to the Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska.

Oklo shares fell 5% to around $64.50 on Thursday. The stock has tripled in value since the start of 2025, fueled recently by President Donald Trump signing new executive orders aimed at boosting the nuclear energy industry. Stocks in the nuclear energy sector have risen over the last year due to the anticipation of growing energy needs to run data centers and train artificial intelligence models.

Below, we take a closer look at the technicals on Oklo’s chart and point out key price levels that investors will likely be watching.

Flag Pattern Breakout

Since bottoming out around the 200-day moving average (MA) in early April, Oklo shares have resumed their longer-term uptrend.

More recently, the stock consolidated in a bullish flag before breaking out above the pattern during Wednesday’s trading session. Importantly, the buying occurred on above-average volume, indicating that larger investors participated in the move higher.

It’s worth noting that, while the relative strength index confirms strong price momentum, the indicator has moved into territory that has coincided with brief consolidation periods in the stock over the past eight months.

Let’s apply technical analysis to forecast how a new move higher may play out and also identify key support levels worth watching during potential pullbacks.

Bars Pattern Analysis

Investors can forecast where Oklo shares may be heading next by using bars pattern analysis, a technique that analyzes prior trends to project future directional price movements.

When applying the analysis to Oklo’s chart, we take the stock’s impulsive move higher last October and overlay it from the flag pattern’s breakout point. This projects a bullish target of around $135 and indicates the trend may last throughout most of June.

We selected this prior trend as it followed an earlier flag pattern on the chart, providing an indication of how a new move from a similar pattern may take shape.

Key Support Levels Worth Watching

The first support level to watch sits around $55. A drop to this level could attract buying interest near the flag pattern’s breakout point and the stock’s prominent February swing high.

Finally, a more significant drop could see Oklo shares revisit lower support at the $32 level. Investors who seek a deeper correction could look for entry points in this region near minor peaks in January and March, which also closely align with the 50-day MA.

The comments, opinions, and analyses expressed on Investopedia are for informational purposes only. Read our warranty and liability disclaimer for more info.

As of the date this article was written, the author does not own any of the above securities.

Oracle (ORCL) stock hit an all-time high as it led S&P 500 gainers Thursday, a day after the tech giant’s fiscal fourth-quarter results topped analysts’ estimates.

The shares surged over 13% to close at a record high of $199.86 Thursday, bringing their year-to-date gains to about 20%.

CEO Safra Catz said the company’s fiscal 2025 was a “very good year,” but said she believes fiscal 2026 “will be even better as our revenue growth rates will be dramatically higher.”

The report made several analysts more bullish on Oracle, as the average price target compiled by Visible Alpha climbed to about $200, up roughly $26 from what it was on Wednesday morning, hours before the earnings report was released.

Thursday’s rally was also enough to send Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison back to the title of world’s second-richest person, according to Forbes.

This article has been updated since it was first published to reflect more recent share price values and analyst targets.

Written by Steven Dooley, Head of Market Insights, and Shier Lee Lim, Lead FX and Macro Strategist

USD index hits three-year lows

The US dollar, as measured by the USD index, broke below key three-year lows overnight as this week’s lower US inflation reading and last night’s rising unemployment claims caused markets to speculate the US Federal Reserve might be more willing to cut interest rates.

Importantly, the Fed’s likely moves to cut rates stand in contrast to the European Central Bank, which might pause rate cuts after a rapid move lower in official rates from 4.50% in April 2024 to 2.15% now. The EUR/USD surged to four-year highs.

The euro’s gains saw the US dollar weaker in other markets. The NZD/USD hit seven-month highs while USD/SGD fell to new 11-year lows.

Aussie back at highs on inflation expectations

The Aussie benefited from the greenback’s weakness with the AUD/USD closing at the highest level since November.

The Aussie was helped by a jump in inflation expectations. Consumer inflation expectations in Australia jumped from 4.1% in May to 5% in June, according to the Melbourne Institute—the highest level since July 2023.

The rising inflation expectations differ from the March-quarter headline CPI, released in April, which came in at 2.4% year-over-year, aligning with the Reserve Bank of Australia’s target midpoint.

Markets are currently pricing in a 25bps rate cut at the RBA’s July meeting.

Looking lower, the next key support level for the pair sits at the 21-day EMA of 0.6469, followed by 200-day EMA of 0.6423.

Japanese yen gains on USD weakness

Before reinstating higher tariffs on multiple economies, due on 9 July, US President Donald Trump announced he will send letters to trading partners in the next week or two, setting unilateral duty rates.

The news pressured the US dollar, causing it to trade softer.

Bloomberg noted that Trump often sets two-week deadlines that shift or go unmet, leaving uncertainty around whether he will follow through on this plan.

While Trump said he’s open to extending the deadline to allow more time for negotiations, he doesn’t see the need for it.

In APAC FX, the Japanese yen is gaining as investors seek safe-haven assets amid trade uncertainty and rising geopolitical tensions.

The Japanese yen hit fresh weekly highs overnight, with the 50-day EMA acting as key resistance, followed by the 200-day EMA at 148.70.

The yen’s climbed from one-month lows versus both the Australian and Singapore dollars.

USD breaks support

Table: seven-day rolling currency trends and trading ranges  

Key global risk events

Calendar: 9 – 14 May

Have a question? [email protected]

*The FX rates published are provided by Convera’s Market Insights team for research purposes only. The rates have a unique source and may not align to any live exchange rates quoted on other sites. They are not an indication of actual buy/sell rates, or a financial offer.

The U.S. dollar slumped to its lowest level since 2022 on Thursday, putting the greenback on track to have its worst start to a year in decades. 

The U.S. dollar index (DXY) slid as low as 98.6 Thursday morning, its lowest reading since March 2022, and more than 9% below where it started the year. The index has only shed more than 9% of its value during the first half of the year two other times since 1985, and the last was in 2002.

The dollar has slumped this year as investors have questioned both the U.S. economy’s outlook and America’s role within the global financial system. President Donald Trump’s unpredictable tariff policies and apparent desire to abdicate U.S. leadership of the post-war global economic order has sparked what Wall Street has dubbed the “Sell America” trade. 

Evidence of a global distaste for U.S. assets has shown up in the stock, bond, and foreign exchange markets. U.S. stocks severely underperformed equities in most developed markets in the first months of Trump’s second term as trade policy threatened to slow U.S. growth.

Treasurys and the dollar both tumbled in the days after Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs, “a very unusual pattern,” former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said at the time. The dynamic, Yellen said, suggested international investors were shunning dollar-based assets and questioning Treasury debt’s role as the bedrock of global finance. Others speculated that China was dumping its Treasurys in retaliation for Trump’s tariffs. 

BofA Says World Actually ‘Dollarizing Rapidly’

The dollar’s bad start to the year has prompted some to wonder if the world is “de-dollarizing,” a concern that Bank of America analysts in a note on Wednesday said “miss[ed] the dollar forest for the dollar trees.” On the contrary, they say, “the world is dollarizing rapidly,” as evidenced by the growth of nonbank financial intermediaries (NBFIs), including investment banks, mortgage lenders, insurance companies, and private equity firms. 

NBFI-controlled assets more than doubled between 2009 ($28 trillion) and 2022 ($63 trillion), according to BofA. “We see this rapid growth as reflecting strong demand for dollars,” the analysts wrote. “Part of this demand likely derives from the increased value of other dollar assets like equities and housing.” The U.S. equity market has ballooned to $60 trillion today from $11 trillion in 2008, the BofA report said, while the housing stock has nearly doubled in the last decade to $50 trillion. 

True de-dollarization, according to BofA, would be difficult to accomplish. It would require the federal government to tax more than it spends—the opposite of what congressional Republicans are proposing in the tax bill being considered on Capitol Hill. Alternatively, de-dollarization could follow from bank, NBFI, and corporate balance sheets shrinking. But, if that were to happen, as in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, we’d likely see the government increase its own spending, and thus the dollar supply, to stimulate the economy. 

Stablecoins Could Boost Dollar Demand

The U.S. government’s embrace of cryptocurrencies could also be a long-term “dollarizing” force. The Senate on Wednesday voted to advance the GENIUS Act, putting the bill, which establishes a legal framework for stablecoins, one step closer to becoming law. The bill’s co-sponsor, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee), said on Wednesday the act would “cement the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency.”

BofA analysts agree that the mainstream adoption of Treasury-backed stablecoins, which they expect will eventually offer interest in some form, is likely to boost the demand for U.S. government debt and, thus, augment dollar demand. Wider stablecoin adoption, in turn, could allow the U.S. Treasury to lower its interest expenses by issuing more short-term Treasurys, which have lower coupon rates than long-term debt. 

Editor’s Note: About 40 years ago, I created the quantitative system that many of you know today as Stock Grader. In fact, I’ve been called one of the first “quants” on Wall Street. Of course, the technology is better these days, so I’ve souped it up immensely since then. But the fact is it still does what I designed it to do way back when.

What I haven’t done, though, is design quant systems for other analysts. Stock Grader just works for my style of growth investing… and I’m in the business of helping folks like you use my style of investing to get rich.

But as you’ll read in the piece below, our corporate partners at TradeSmith have made it their business to help other analysts – and investors – utilize all kinds of powerful, thoroughly-tested strategies that suit their styles. In fact, as TradeSmith CEO Keith Kaplan will share, he and his team worked with master trader Jeff Clark to turn his proven, decades-old chart-reading discipline into a cutting-edge, easy-to-use scanner.

The end result? A system that can surface Jeff’s favorite “coiled spring” trade setups in seconds, not hours.

Jeff debuted his new system at yesterday’s Countdown to Chaos event. He also revealed 10 of his favorite trade setups pulled straight from this new tool. If you missed it, I strongly encourage you to watch the replay now.

Now today, TradeSmith CEO Keith Kaplan wants to take you behind the scenes a bit to show you how his team of engineers developed that software.

**************************

For decades, master trader Jeff Clark has turned chaos, crashes, and panics into big profits for his readers.

But when those readers ask him how, in 2008, he was able to recommend 42 winning short-term trades out of 52, for an average return of 31%…

Or in 2022, when he recommended 12 trades that made 100%+…

Or just a month ago, during the Liberation Day crash and rebound when Jeff went 19 for 25, with 15 double-digit winners and 3 triple-digit gains…

It’s hard for Jeff to pin down exactly how he does it.

Because for Jeff, making money when volatility strikes is just second nature… And, frankly, he’s a bit old-school.

Jeff is used to scanning charts one by one, in a weekly ritual where he filters down thousands of potential opportunities to just a few… purely with his eyes and a handful of trusty technical indicators.

That’s the kind of discipline that’s built by becoming a trader in the pre-internet days. And to this day, Jeff’s a pretty traditional, low-tech guy.

He calls his approach “more art than science.”

But when Jeff joined TradeSmith, and we showed him that we could actually automate this ritual into an easy-to-use scan…

And that we could easily share this scan with his readers, providing 10 high-odds opportunities every single day…

We realized we could turn his moneymaking art into a science.

Now with his help and our technical firepower, we’ve developed a system that spots a unique, powerful trading signal that Jeff’s been following for years.

For anyone who has been following along in TradeSmith Daily, you probably know that we recently released a presentation all about this strategy, and how it’s now available to subscribers of Jeff’s work.

You also might know that during that presentation, we shared 10 different setups that recently hit our scanners. All of them could present 100%+ profit opportunities in the coming weeks, if you act on them ASAP.

I encourage you to check out the presentation now while these trade ideas are still actionable.

But while you’re here, I’d like to show you how we integrated Jeff’s monster signal into our software… and share a few of these “coiled spring” ideas for you to check out right now.

The S&P 500 has authorized record stock buybacks so far this year in what could be a lifeline for the stock market in turbulent times.

As of June 5, directors of S&P 500 companies had given management permission to spend a cumulative $750 billion on share repurchases, a big jump from the $600 billion authorized by the same time in 2023 and 2024, according to recent research from LPL Financial. Approximately 80% of this year’s total buyback authorization is concentrated in three sectors: communication services ($210 billion), financials ($200 billion), and information technology ($196 billion). 

Record authorizations gave executives plenty of dry powder to use when the S&P 500 slid into correction territory in March. S&P 500 companies spent $283 billion on buybacks in the first quarter, a 24% increase from the fourth quarter and 27% above the same period last year. Tech giants were the most active buyers; Apple (AAPL), Meta (META), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Nvidia (NVDA) spent a cumulative $73 billion last quarter. 

Buybacks, by supplementing demand from individual and institutional investors, have the potential to support stock prices during drawdowns like those seen earlier this year. There’s also evidence to suggest they lower trading costs for everyday investors. A 2021 U.S. Chamber of Commerce study found that the liquidity and price discovery benefits provided by corporate buybacks had saved retail investors between $2.1 billion and $4.2 billion since 2004.

But a buyback authorization doesn’t guarantee shares will be repurchased. Market conditions, valuations, and management teams’ priorities together determine whether buybacks happen. Stock prices have rebounded from their mid-April lows, putting the S&P 500’s P/E ratio about where it was at this time last year when threats to inflation and growth paled in comparison to today’s. That, plus lingering uncertainty about the economic impacts of tariffs, could temper corporate America’s appetite for buybacks. 

Plus, the companies that have spent the most on buybacks in recent years are also the ones dramatically increasing their business investments. Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet, and Meta plan to spend more than $300 billion on AI infrastructure and other capital expenditures this year, a 35% increase from 2024. 

Amazon is an illustrative example of the way business expenses and investments can preclude repurchases. The company’s board approved a $10 billion buyback program in early 2022. Amazon spent about $4 billion of that shortly thereafter but hasn’t purchased any shares since. Over the same period, capex spending has soared from about $63 billion to an estimated $104 billion. 

PPI inflation comes in soft… can Bitcoin break triple-top resistance?… waiting on “altcoin season” … be careful about heading bearish warnings… keep your eye on private credit

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Another day, another soft inflation report.

This morning, we learned that the Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures wholesale prices, rose just 0.1% in May, coming in below forecasts.

Core PPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, increased a mild 0.1% last month, also below expectations.

Let’s jump to legendary investor Louis Navellier for the takeaway. From this morning’s Flash Alert in Growth Investor:

Well, the mythical inflation bogeyman has not materialized, folks…

This is great news. The Federal Reserve has been anticipating higher inflation once the tariffs kick in, yet it continues to come in well below expectations…

The bottom line is the Fed is going to have to say something at its meeting next week. And while I don’t expect them to cut key interest rates, they’re going to have to give us some guidance.

They keep imagining an inflation bogeyman that hasn’t materialized.

Louis’ reference to “next week” is the Federal Reserve’s June FOMC meeting that concludes on Wednesday.

As he noted, no one is anticipating a rate cut, but with inflation failing to materialize, we’ll be looking for Fed Chair Powell’s rationale for waiting.

We’ll also be eager to review the new Dot Plot that will include the Fed members’ updated forecasts on inflation and the fed funds target rate as we look ahead to the coming months.

Can Bitcoin break through resistance to reach $150,000?

As I write Thursday, the crypto trades just above $107,000 – that’s about 4% below its all-time high of just under $112,000, set last month.

Bitcoin has pushed above $110,000 three times since Tuesday, only to fall back, creating a “triple top” of resistance.

Are we about to see a resistance break, followed by a new all-time high? Or will $110,000 prove too strong, resulting in a meaningful pullback where Bitcoin will have to regroup and lick its wounds for a few weeks?

While it’s anyone’s guess what happens over the next few days, our crypto expert Luke Lango believes a handful of bullish factors mean Bitcoin will be materially higher by Labor Day.

Let’s go to his latest issue of Crypto Investor Network:

What we’re looking at here is a textbook case of macro bark shaking out weak hands while fundamentals remain steadfastly bullish.

In fact, we’re still targeting $150,000 on Bitcoin by late summer and an altcoin surge higher over the next few months.

Luke points toward a few tailwinds to fuel a bullish push.

First, the U.S. Labor Department reversed a Biden-era ruling that warned 401(k) plan issuers against using cryptos in workplace retirement portfolios. The move is part of a broader push from the White House to introduce cryptos into 401(k) portfolios.

But the more impactful move from the government comes via new legislation. Here’s Luke:

A new – and better – crypto bill is now making its way through Washington, D.C.

The newly released Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, known as the CLARITY Act, promises to bring transparency on rules and lower legal risks for platforms like Coinbase and Robinhood.

The bill outlines which agency (SEC or CFTC) has jurisdiction, how firms should register – potentially as an alternative trading system (ATS) or as a digital commodity exchange, broker or dealer – and when a token should be considered a security or a commodity.

The bill also gives the CFTC authority over crypto spot markets.

Congress’s continued work on crypto regulation is a welcome step. For years, the industry has faced a hostile and uncertain regulatory environment, pushing many innovators to seek clearer rules abroad.

A well-crafted legislative framework could finally resolve the awkwardness of traditional securities laws being applied to decentralized crypto networks. And that’s likely to clear the way for higher prices.

But if Bitcoin at $150K gets you excited, hang on for Luke’s fall forecast:

Inflation expectations are cooling. Rate cuts are back on the table. And we’re still tracking a post-halving pattern that points to $150K Bitcoin by late summer and $200K by fall.

Bitcoin at $200K would mean an 87% gain from here.

Keep on the lookout for “altcoin season”

In crypto markets, “altcoin season” refers to a period when alternative cryptocurrencies – anything that’s not Bitcoin – start to outperform Bitcoin.

Normally, the granddaddy crypto dominates the market and sets the tone, pulling most investor attention and capital. But eventually, when Bitcoin’s rally slows or consolidates after a strong move up, risk appetite shifts.

Investors begin rotating into smaller, more volatile assets (like Ethereum, Solana, or meme coins), hunting for bigger returns. When this happens, the returns from leading altcoins can be enormous, putting “87%” to shame.

To be clear, we’re not there yet.

We can see this by looking at the CMC Altcoin Season Index. This shows us the performance of the top 100 altcoins relative to Bitcoin over the past 90 days. If 75% of the top 100 coins outperform Bitcoin in the last 90 days, it’s Altcoin Season.

As I write, we’re only at 31. However, we’re moving in the right direction. On April 25, the index clocked in at just 12.

We’ll keep an eye on this and will alert you as the index heats up. After all, love them or hate them, few things can make you as much money – in as short a period – as altcoins when they get hot.

Here’s Luke’s bottom line:

[Even though altcoins remain subdued right now], that’s how things started in every previous cycle. Altcoins lagged, seemed dead. Then they erupted.

The catch-up trade is real, and it happens fast. We still believe we’re in the early innings of that move.

The burden of “timing” for bears

Yesterday, CNBC reported that JPMorgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon suggested the economy is headed for a slowdown, saying, “I think there’s a chance real numbers will deteriorate soon.”

This is certainly a possibility, and it’s one we track regularly in the Digest.

However, we must take this warning with a grain of salt since Dimon appears to be growing into a permabear.

In 2020, he warned of “a bad recession.” In December 2022, he doubled down, saying that we could face a “mild or hard recession.”

Since that second warning – December 6, 2022 – the S&P has surged 51%.

Then, on February 27, 2024, Dimon was back at it, downplaying the overall positive investor sentiment and market gains. He said, “markets change their mind pretty quickly,” followed by:

Remember, in 1972 you felt great, too. And before any crash, you felt great, and then things change.

Since that comment, the S&P has climbed 19%.

This underscores something we’d be wise to remember today…

Bearish forecasts are only as useful as the accuracy of their timing.

After all, what benefit is there in being right about a bearish forecast if it comes to fruition on the other side of a monster rally you missed?

Even if the market crashes 30% tomorrow, your portfolio would still be higher for having ignored Dimon’s warning back in 2022 before the market’s 51% ascent.

This is why my cautious Digests in recent years always urged readers to abide by their stop losses and be mindful of position sizing, but with those safeguards in place, stick with bullish momentum.

Let’s recall the wise words of the legendary Peter Lynch:

Far more money has been lost by investors preparing for corrections or trying to anticipate corrections than has been lost in the corrections themselves.

This is why we urge investors to learn how to trade volatile markets rather than trying to time a bear.

On that note, if you missed him yesterday, master trader Jeff Clark held a live presentation detailing exactly how he’s trading, and profiting from, volatility today.

Jeff – like Dimon – believes we’re in for some market pain. But Jeff sees opportunity in this, confident that there are big trading profits to be had, whether markets are falling or soaring.

To illustrate this bi-directional opportunity, here are the trades Jeff recommended at his live trading blog, Delta Direct, going back to the end of March.

Notice how he’s making money in both long and short trades – as well as how quickly Jeff is in and out of the market.

If you missed Jeff’s presentation, you can catch the free replay right here.

Circling back to Dimon, there was one part of this latest interview that caught our eye…

His warning on private credit.

Be careful about jumping into private credit today – and consider skimming some profits if you’re already in it and up nicely

While private credit has historically offered attractive yields, several factors (and Dimon) suggest that now may not be the best time for new investments. You might even want to take some money off the table.

To make sure we’re all on the same page, private credit involves non-bank lending to companies, typically through direct loans or private debt funds. Unlike public credit markets, these loans are not traded on exchanges, offering investors higher yields in exchange for reduced liquidity.

Currently, private credit yields are at a four-year high. The upper middle-market loans are offering yields around 10.15%.

That might sound attractive, but there’s a catch: The spread, or extra compensation you get for holding these less liquid, private loans instead of similar public ones, has collapsed.

Today, the yield premium over comparable public credit is only around 226 basis points (or 2.26%). That spread is narrow by historical standards. In other words, you’re not getting paid as much of a premium for assuming the added risk.

In fact, that 226 basis-point spread is almost twice as tight as the average we’ve seen since 2021.

Remember the old market truism: The more you pay today, all else equal, the lower your returns will be tomorrow.

Here’s Dimon from yesterday:

Do I think that now is a good time to buy credit if I was a fund manager?

No. I wouldn’t be buying credit today at these prices and these spreads.

Circling back to Louis, he’s warned investors to be careful of excessive leverage in private credit

Here’s Louis from one of his past Growth Investor Flash Alerts:

What has happened in America is that we’ve become like China. We have an official bank lending system, then we have an unofficial lending system, controlled by the private credit industry.

Now, private credit is exploding everywhere. This is what you can buy at Morgan Stanley and almost every broker/dealer and financial advisor.

And you can – right now – get an 11% yield, and you’ll get your money back in two years. But the question is “how are they getting an 11% yield?”

What’s happening is it looks like they’re starting to leverage.

It’s time to be especially cautious about this leverage.

Let’s go to Bloomberg:

The companies that get private credit loans are looking increasingly wobbly and banks are among those that could eventually be on the hook for losses.

Many companies getting direct loans from private lenders are struggling to produce cash, by at least one key measure: At the end of 2024, more than 40% of borrowers had negative free cash flow from their businesses, the International Monetary Fund warned in a report this past week. That’s up from closer to 25% at the end of 2021.

Borrowers that aren’t generating enough cash flow are at greater risk of defaulting, a particular concern as trade wars lead to fears of economic stagnation.

Turning to your portfolio, a handful of companies that have exposure here are Apollo Global Management (APO), Ares Management Corporation (ARES), Blackstone Inc. (BX) (Disclaimer: I own BX), and Blue Owl Capital Inc. (OWL).

To be clear, we’re not predicting an imminent collapse. But prices are toppy, spreads are shrinking, and caution is warranted.

We’ll keep you updated.

Have a good evening,

Jeff Remsburg

AMD (AMD) unveiled its next-generation MI400 chips at its “Advancing AI” event Thursday. The chip isn’t expected to launch until 2026, but it already has some high-profile customers, including OpenAI. 

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman joined AMD CEO Lisa Su onstage Thursday to highlight the ChatGPT developer’s partnership with AMD on AI infrastructure and announce that it will make use of the MI400 series.

“When you first started telling me about the specs, I was like, there’s no way, that just sounds totally crazy,” Altman said. “It’s gonna be an amazing thing.”

AMD said it counts Meta (META), xAI, Oracle (ORCL), Microsoft (MSFT), Astera Labs (ALAB), and Marvell Technology (MRVL) among its partners as well.

AMD showcased its AI server rack architecture at the event, which will combine MI400 chips into one larger system known as Helios. The company compared it to rival Nvidia’s (NVDA) Vera Rubin, also expected in 2026.

The event also brought the launch of AMD’s Instinct MI350 Series GPUs, which it claims offers four times more computing power than its previous generation. 

Shares of AMD slid about 2% Thursday, leaving the stock down just under 2% for 2025 so far.

The White House may adjust immigration policies in response to employer concerns in some industries, according to President Donald Trump.

“Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” Trump wrote early Thursday on Truth Social.

“This is not good,” Trump’s post concluded. “We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!” 

The White House didn’t respond to Investopedia’s questions about employers’ concerns and potential policy changes in time for publication. Trump told reporters at the White House Thursday that he would soon issue an order to address employers’ concerns, Bloomberg reported.

“We look forward to working with the President on solutions that ensure continuity in the food supply in the short term, and we call on Congress to follow the President’s lead to develop a permanent solution that fixes outdated and broken farmworker programs,” American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said in a statement.

]“As an industry, we are committed to strict compliance with labor laws and immigration regulations, including those focused on recruitment, background checks and employment verification,” said Ralph Posner, spokesperson for the American Hotel & Lodging Association. “Along with our members, we continue to communicate with Congress and the administration about the importance of building a strong hospitality and tourism workforce.”

Leisure and hospitality businesses, including ventures run by the Trump family, employ nearly 17 million people, according to April data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Immigrants make up roughly one-third of the hospitality industry workforce, according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association. The farm and agriculture industry also relies on foreign-born workers, often from Mexico and Central America “with many lacking authorization to work legally in the United States,” the Department of Agriculture said.

Besides impacting businesses’ labor supply, the administration’s high-profile deportation campaign is cutting into customers’ spending and corporate revenues. 

Companies have seen a pullback, in particular, from Hispanic customers, who are generally in better shape financially than other consumers, but are shopping in-stores less due, in part, to concerns about immigration enforcement.

“Families are being wise,” Eric Rodriquez, from the civil rights group UnidosUS, told Investopedia in May. “If they are going to lose a breadwinner tomorrow, they need the resources to do something about that.

This article has been updated since it was first published to incorporate more context and data, as well as the statements from the AHLA spokesperson and the Farm Bureau.