Alain’s Holdings
| Symbol | Name | Price | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VOO | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | 672.54 | -2.12 | -0.31% |
| QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust | 694.91 | -0.86 | -0.12% |
| XIU.TO | iShares S&P/TSX 60 ETF | 49.73 | -0.26 | -0.52% |
| VRT | Vertiv Holdings Co. | 340.01 | -18.91 | -5.27% |
The Dow Touched 50,000 — Then Pulled Back. Iran Waiting Game Stalls the Rally.
The market’s patience is being tested. After three consecutive days of record highs, Thursday finally delivered a breather. The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly crossed the historic 50,000 mark intraday — then reversed to close lower. Iran’s 48-hour response window came and went without a deal, chip stocks digested their monster gains, and a handful of earnings bombs rattled individual names.
The S&P 500 fell 0.38% to close at 7,337.11, dragged lower by losses in Amazon and semiconductor stocks such as Broadcom and Micron Technology.
The Nasdaq Composite slid 0.13% to end at 25,806.20.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 313.62 points, or 0.63%, settling at 49,596.97.
The Russell 2000 led all declines, tumbling 1.74%, falling back from all-time highs set just 24 hours earlier.
The 50,000 Tease — And the Iran Waiting Game
The Dow rose past 50,000 briefly during the session — its first time at that level since its peak in February — before reversing course. The catalyst for the fade: Iran continued to assess the U.S. memorandum but offered no response, leaving oil prices in limbo and traders cautious. Charles Schwab
Oil prices came off their session lows after trading meaningfully below $100 earlier in the session. WTI crude settled down just 0.28% at $94.81/barrel, while Brent fell 1.19% to close at $100.06 — barely below the psychologically key $100 level. Short-term inflation expectations nudged higher in April, with New York Fed survey respondents now seeing inflation at 3.6% one year from now — up 0.2 percentage points from March. MorningstarMorningstar
⚠️ Paul Tudor Jones Sounds the Alarm
Billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones said the AI-fueled bull market still has “another year or two” to run but drew a striking parallel to 1999 — about a year before the dot-com bubble peaked. “Just imagine the stock market went up another 40%. The stock market GDP is gonna probably be good lord 300%, 350%. You just know that there’ll be some…” Jones warned that when the AI bull market does end, the drawdown could be significant. Morningstar
📊 A Rally Built on 5 Stocks — A Warning Sign?
The Financial Times flagged that the recent rebound was driven by the “smallest number of stocks on record.” Over half of the S&P 500’s gains came from just five equities: Alphabet (+23.79%), Broadcom (+18.97%), Amazon (+22.74%), Nvidia (+16%), and one other Mag-7 name. That concentration is a growing concern for portfolio managers heading into the second half of the year.
🏦 Citigroup Drops a $30 Billion Bombshell
Citigroup gained 1% after announcing a $30 billion share buyback — one of the largest in Wall Street history — signaling deep confidence in its capital position and future earnings trajectory. For context, $30 billion would retire roughly 13% of Citi’s entire market cap in a single authorization. Charles Schwab
🚀 HawkEye 360 IPO: +28% on Debut
Intelligence data and analytics company HawkEye 360 jumped 28% in its debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. The company priced its IPO at $26 per share and was trading around $33.50 by midday. HawkEye provides space-based radio frequency intelligence used by defense and government agencies. It’s the first major defense-tech IPO of 2026 and a sign that the public markets are open for business. Morningstar
🏆 Today’s Notable Winners
- 🟢 Fortinet (FTNT) +15% — Strong Q1 cybersecurity results and raised full-year guidance drove one of the session’s biggest single-stock moves
- 🟢 *Warby Parker (WRBY) +27%* — Blockbuster Q1 results on strong direct-to-consumer eyewear demand Yahoo Finance
- 🟢 **HawkEye 360 (HWK) +28%** — Defense AI IPO lights up on debut TipRanks
- 🟢 Tesla (TSLA) +3.14% — Continued momentum from last week’s delivery data; one of few bright spots in an otherwise cautious session
- 🟢 Nvidia (NVDA) +1.80% and Microsoft (MSFT) +1.69% — Tech held the line while everything else faded Yahoo Finance
- 🟢 Caterpillar (CAT) — Trading at all-time highs since its NYSE debut in 1929; 16 S&P 500 stocks hit all-time highs today including Apple, Intel, Alphabet, and Ross Stores Yahoo Finance
📉 Today’s Notable Losers Charles Schwab
- 🔴 Planet Fitness (PLNT) -33% — Worst single-day drop in company history. Slashed its 2026 outlook, scrapped a planned price hike. New Year’s signups came in well below expectations. CEO Colleen Keating admitted: “We may have pivoted too far” — the chain tried to attract wealthier gym-goers and alienated the budget beginners who made it famous. Despite the guidance carnage, Q1 revenue surged 22% to $337M and EPS of $0.74 beat the $0.63 estimate.
- 🔴 Arm Holdings (ARM) -10% — Earnings beat masked investor concerns about smartphone demand weakness and supply chain pressure heading into the second half Yahoo Finance
- 🔴 Whirlpool (WHR) -12% — Disappointing earnings and a dividend cut rattled income investors TipRanks
- 🔴 Coinbase (COIN) -2.53% — Missed Q1 estimates owing to heavy declines in the crypto market during the first quarter TipRanks
- 🔴 Zoetis (ZTS) -7.8% — Animal health company cited a challenging market environment; guidance disappointed TRADING ECONOMICS
✈️ After the Bell: Airbnb Beats Revenue, Misses EPS TRADING ECONOMICS
Airbnb reported mixed Q1 results. Revenue came in at $2.68 billion vs. the $2.62 billion estimate — an 18% year-over-year gain. EPS of $0.26 missed the $0.29 expected. Gross booking value grew 19% to $29.2 billion, topping the $27.82 billion estimate.
The company raised full-year revenue guidance to “low to mid teens” growth from a prior 12% forecast, and issued strong Q2 guidance of $3.54–$3.60 billion versus the $3.46 billion analyst expectation. Adjusted EBITDA of $519 million surpassed the $485 million estimate. However, Airbnb warned of regional weakness spurred by the Iran war, with some international travel corridors showing softness. Shares fell in after-hours trading despite the guidance raise. Wall Street Horizon + 2
🔭 What’s Next: Jobs Friday
Tomorrow is the week’s most important macro moment: the April Nonfarm Payrolls report. The tech sector is expected to deliver 39% year-over-year earnings growth in 2026 — but with concentration risk at historic levels and Paul Tudor Jones drawing 1999 comparisons, a soft jobs number or a breakdown in Iran talks could accelerate a pullback. The Dow needs just one clean session to close above 50,000 for the first time in history.
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