Earnings Preview
Retailers take center stage this week, with $Target (TGT.US)$ , $Home Depot (HD.US)$ , and $Lowe's Companies (LOW.US)$ set to report amid persistent tariff uncertainty and consumer caution. Analysts expect Target’s revenue to miss consensus due to weak spending and cold weather. Home Depot may narrowly miss same-store sales estimates but is better positioned than Lowe’s to navigate tariff risks due to its scal...

$Tesla (TSLA.US)$ bulls are loading up on options Monday, weeks before the electric vehicle giant is widely expected to undertake a limited launch of its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas.
Last month, when the company reported its first quarter results, CEO Elon Musk assured analysts that he and his team are “laser focused on bringing Robotaxi to Austin in June.”
The rollout of the Robotaxi has been delayed a number of times ...

News Highlights
$NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ 's shares are set to be scrutinized when the company releases its first-quarter results on May 28. The company has forecasted gross margins of 71% for the current quarter, which is down from the previous quarter's 73.5%. Analysts surveyed by FactSet are expecting earnings per share of 88 cents on sales of $43.1 billion.
In the meantime, Scion Asset Management, led by "Big Short" Micha...

$Coinbase (COIN.US)$ rose some 10% intraday Friday ahead of its inclusion next week in the S&P 500, coupled with stronger Bitcoin prices and a general risk-on sentiment on Wall Street amid no fresh trade-war troubles. The trio of positives helped send $Bitcoin Depot (BTM.US)$, $Cipher Mining (CIFR.US)$ and other crypto-related stocks up sharply as well.
COIN gained as much as 10.3% to a $269.54 session hig...

The Dow industrials, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all rose a half-percent or more Friday as Wall Street continued to celebrate the recent U.S.-Chinese 90-day trade-war truce.
The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ led the way higher in percentage terms, adding 331.99 points (0.8%) to 42,654.74. The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ followed closely behind by adding 41.45 ticks (0.7%) to 5,958.38, while...

$Microsoft (MSFT.US)$ attracted a $29 million bullish block trade in options Friday, ahead of its Build developers' event that’s expected to focus on rising usage of generative artificial intelligence.
At 1:06:08 p.m. in New York, a block trade was posted with an active buyer paying a $29.27 million premium for call options that give the holder the right to buy 287,000 Microsoft shares at $350 each by June 20, exchange data s...

by Jinta HONG, CFA
Institutions are reporting their 13F holding in the first quarter of 2025(as of 3/31/25), and they have demonstrated a keen interest in option strategies to hedge with the market uncertainties. We saw index put options everywhere,  puts on $SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY.US)$, $Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ.US)$ and $iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM.US)$ surged up across their portfolios, signaling a downside protection. Tech stocks are ...

Warren Buffett's $Berkshire Hathaway-A (BRK.A.US)$ doubled its stake in alcoholic beverages producer $Constellation Brands (STZ.US)$, while shedding investments in $Citigroup (C.US)$ and other financial services companies as of March 31, according to its 13F filing.
It ended March with $347.7 billion of cash and equivalents. The market value of the holdings decreased slightly from $267 billion in the previous quarter to $259 ...

Morning Movers
Gapping Up
$Quantum Computing (QUBT.US)$ shares surged 10.9% in today's pre-market trading following the company's announcement of first-quarter EPS results that exceeded expectations.
$Vistra Energy (VST.US)$ rose 4.9% following the company's announcement of a $1.9 billion acquisition of natural gas assets, likely aimed at boosting its capacity to power artificial intelligence data centers.
$Estee Lauder (EL.US)$ sha...