📈 Crypto army

Good morning.

The Fast Five → Trump campaign starts taking crypto donations, Nvidia’s up after the bell, RFK Jr. says he invested $24K in the short GameStop revival, Biden to sell 1 million barrels of gasoline to reduce prices, and White House says FDIC needs 'fresh start' with new chair…

Calendar: (all times ET)

• Today: Minutes - Fed’s May FOMC meeting, 2:00p

• THU, 5/23: Initial jobless claims, 8:30a

• FRI, 5/24: Durable-goods orders, 8:30a

  • Consumer sentiment, 10:00a

Your 5-minute briefing for Wednesday, May 22:

BEFORE THE OPEN

PRE-MARKET

MARKETS

• US stocks inched slightly higher as investors braced for today's blockbuster Nvidia earnings and Fed minutes

• The S&P and Nasdaq closed at new ATHs

• Traders are pricing in an 8.6%, ~$200B swing in Nvidia shares following earnings

• The VIX fell to its lowest level YTD to a pre-pandemic low

• Swaps markets are now pricing in ~40 bps of rate cuts for 2024

• Asian stocks snapped a seven-day win streak

• Ethereum posted its largest two-day gain in two years

EARNINGS

• Lowe's beat Q1 top and bottom line estimates despite a decline on DIY project spending they maintained their FY forecast (link)

• Macy’s rose ~5% on a Q1 beat-and-raise showing early momentum in its turnaround strategy (link)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: Nvidia, Target

  • Thursday: Intuit, Workday, Ralph Lauren

• Full calendar here

NEWS BRIEFING

Trump Campaign Starts Taking Crypto Donations, Vows to Build a ‘Crypto Army’

Traders Brace for Big Swings in Nvidia Shares

• Biden to sell 1 million barrels of gasoline to reduce prices at the pump ahead of July 4 (link)

• FDIC needs 'fresh start' with new chair, White House official says (link)

• Blackstone to grant equity to most employees in future US LBOs (link)

• PIMCO Australia shifts focus to alternatives to lure pensions (link)

• Eli Manning wants his own team as PE targets NFL (link)

• RFK Jr. invested $24,000 in GameStop after brief meme stock revival (link)

• JPMorgan and consumers have divided view on consumer health (link)

• Rite Aid creditors asked bankruptcy advisors to cut fees amid liquidity concerns (link)

• Samsung fired its co-CEO / head of semiconductor (link)

• Google to bring ads in AI search results (link)

• AI startup Anthropic hired Airbnb veteran Krishna Rao as first CFO (link)

• Nestle will sell $5 protein foods for Ozempic and Wegovy users (link)

• Lululemon product chief to exit in restructuring (link)

• 96% of NYC rents are unaffordable for average NYC worker (link)

CRYPTO

• Trump’s campaign started accepting crypto donations (link)

• Americans’ crypto use was down in 2023 (link)

• Share of Bitcoin volume during US market hours surged to a record high (link)

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📈 It’s in the chips: How Wall Street lenders are betting big on the AI boom.

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DAILY SHARES

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