From the Team @ HPLT 6/9
Markets Update
Stocks are catching some positive momentum here of late. The S&P 500 finished 20% above the April 8th post-Liberation Day low last week, and now trades just 3% below the February record high. The first 5+ months of this year have been an absolute doozy. Trade and tariffs are still very much the biggest story in public markets and the primary driving force behind daily price action. President Trump and China’s Xi held a 75-minute phone call last week which ended with an agreement to a new round of trade talks, set for today June 9th.
Last Friday we also saw a strong May payrolls report, which helped sentiment to close the week out strong. The market is now pricing 1-2 rate cuts for the rest of this year, with the first one likely coming in the Fall. Tesla was the big story of last week as a very public spat between Trump and Elon took place for all to see. Shares of the stock were -15% last week, with an estimated $1.2b hit to full-year profit if the EV credit is scrapped, as Trump is proposing to do with hil bill. The richest man in the world and the most powerful man in the world appeared to cool down the rhetoric by the end of the week. The cue that the stock market took as a positive development, was simply a reply by Elon to an account with < 200 followers, who urged Elon to ‘cool off for a couple of days’… to which Elon said, ‘Good advice’. And futures popped after that… What a world. This tweet sums it up nicely!
Corporate Roundup / Macro Highlights
The CEO of Vista think AI will eradicate 60% of PE jobs by next year, the head of Citadel Securities said the US deficit is a ‘ticking time bomb’, Public market IPOs are primed for a revival and coming back strong despite tariff uncertainty, Google parent co Alphabet expects to keep hiring engineers as AI advances, U.S. average 401k savings have risen to a record high, Lululemon stock traded 20% lower last week after warning that trade/tariff issues will put a major dent in forward guidance, and Stablecoin firm Circle (CRCL) IPO’d last week, with crypto mania helping fuel a +245% move in its first two days of trading as a public company (deal priced @ $31, closed last week @ $107.70!!).
Similar Roundup but inside the Business of Health & Wellness
Momentous added a female-focused supplements line, investing in women’s health R&D, Equinox/Soul Cycle were ordered to repay $600k for hard-to-cancel memberships, Longevity startups all of last year raised $8.5 billion, up 220% YoY, AG1 launched sleep supplements, to be sold @ Costco’s nation-wide, consumers are prioritizing health, but cost is a barrier with 54% of people who took a Nielson poll saying high prices prevent them from making better choices, and high-protein bar David recently landed a $75m investment in a series A led by Greenoaks.
Sky’s the limit this week… GO GO GO