MARKET WRAPS
STOCKS: Stocks finished mixed amid uncertainty about peace prospects in Iran.
TREASURYS: Treasury yields rose, remaining at multiyear highs, as traders awaited updates on Middle East negotiations.
FOREX: The U.S. dollar fell, giving back some recent gains against rivals, amid hopes that the U.S. and Iran would avoid a resumption of hostilities.
COMMODITIES: Crude futures rose amid market concerns that the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz would drain global stockpiles.
HEADLINES
NextEra to Buy Dominion Energy in $67 Billion Deal
NextEra Energy agreed to buy Dominion Energy in a roughly $67 billion deal that would create the largest U.S. electricity producer and represent one of the biggest tie-ups of the year.
The companies said Monday that they plan to combine in a mostly stock deal. NextEra is offering the equivalent of around $76 a share to Dominion shareholders, based on Friday's closing stock prices. In addition, they will receive a one-time cash payment of $360 million once the deal closes, the companies said.
Dominion Energy shares surged 12% to $68.88 shortly after the opening bell, while NextEra dropped 4% to $89.51. In the deal, NextEra is offering 0.8138 of its shares for each Dominion share.
Trump Will Host Swearing-In Ceremony for New Fed Chair Warsh
President Trump will host a swearing-in ceremony for incoming Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh at the White House on Friday, according to a White House official.
The White House ceremony underscores the close personal interest Trump has taken in the appointment. Trump's pick to run the Fed during his first term in 2018, outgoing Chair Jerome Powell, was sworn in at the Fed in a ceremony that Trump didn't attend.
The last new Fed chair sworn in at the White House was Alan Greenspan in 1987. More recent ceremonies have been held at the Fed. The last president to attend was George W. Bush in 2006 for Ben Bernanke, who was the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Later that same year, Warsh was sworn in as a Fed governor by Vice President Dick Cheney in a ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Jury Rejects Musk's Claims Against OpenAI
OAKLAND, Calif.-A jury unanimously rejected Elon Musk's claims against OpenAI, finding that he brought his lawsuit against the company and Chief Executive Sam Altman after the statute of limitations expired.
In deliberations that lasted less than two hours, the nine-person panel found against Musk on technical grounds. He had alleged in testimony that the startup behind the world's most popular chatbot "stole a charity" when it converted into a for-profit company.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who presided over the case, accepted the verdict and dismissed the claims. Musk's attorney said in court that his side will reserve its right to appeal.
U.S. Home Builder Sentiment Improved in May But Affordability Challenges Persist
Confidence among U.S. home builders improved in May but still remains in negative territory amid rising mortgage rates, elevated costs and economic uncertainty tied to the war in Iran.
Here are the main takeaways from the National Association of Home Builders' latest report released Monday:
The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, a gauge of builder confidence in the market for newly built single family housing, increased to 37 in May from 34 in April. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected a reading of 34.
Ford Details European Growth Strategy, Signs EDF Energy-Storage Agreement
Ford Motor outlined a broad product-and-technology strategy for Europe that aims to renew its commitment to the region.
Separately, the automaker on Monday signed a large-scale battery energy storage agreement in North America.
Both moves reflect Ford's push to expand beyond traditional vehicle manufacturing into software, services and energy infrastructure.
Lululemon Urges Shareholders to Reject Chip Wilson's Proxy Fight
Lululemon Athletica is urging its shareholders to vote against the slate of directors nominated by founder Chip Wilson, saying he has outdated perspectives about how to position the athletic-apparel retailer for the future.
Lululemon's push came after Wilson earlier this month escalated his proxy fight against the company, outlining a series of pillars he said its board has neglected, such as focusing on core consumers, improving merchandising and in-store execution, and increasing marketing and product-development spending.
Wilson, who is also Lululemon's biggest active investor, previously nominated three directors for Lululemon's board: Marc Maurer, Laura Gentile and Eric Hirshberg. The three picks are former executives from the shoe company On Holding, ESPN and videogame producer Activision Publishing.
Lumentum, Coherent Drop After Prominent AI Investor Sells Stakes
Lumentum Holdings and Coherent were falling on Monday. A bad day for artificial-intelligence infrastructure stocks was compounded by news that prominent AI investor Leopold Aschenbrenner had dumped his holdings in the optical-networking companies.
Lumentum was down 11% and Coherent was dropping 6.6% in morning trading. Although those are only small dents in the huge gains the two companies have racked up in recent months, they are signs of some nervousness around AI hardware plays.
Sentiment was being hit both by high bond yields and news that Aschenbrenner's Situational Awareness firm exited its holdings in Lumentum and Coherent in the first quarter, according to regulatory filings released Monday. It also sold its stake in Tower Semiconductor, which was down 8% in morning trading.
Regeneron Shares Tumble After Fianlimab Study Failure
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals shares fell sharply in premarket trading Monday after the biotechnology company reported a late-stage study failure of its fianlimab drug candidate in the skin cancer melanoma.
Regeneron late Friday said a Phase 3 study evaluating two dose levels of fianlimab in combination with its blockbuster cancer drug Libtayo missed its primary endpoint of improvement in progression-free survival compared with Merck's Keytruda as a first-line treatment for patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic melanoma.
Shares of the Tarrytown, N.Y., company, which closed Friday at $698.25, were recently down 11% to $622 in premarket trading.
Thyssenkrupp to Close U.S. Plant as Part of Automotive Restructuring
Thyssenkrupp will close a U.S. plant as it pushes ahead with the restructuring of its automotive technology unit.
The German industrial conglomerate said Monday that production at the site in Terre Haute, Indiana, will be gradually wound down by March 31 next year with the loss of around 230 jobs.
It has also been working to make its automotive technology business more focused, to capitalize on the transition to electric vehicles and Chinese demand. In a move outlined last year, it said the business would be restructured to pave the way for profitable growth and make it "capital market-ready in the coming years."
TALKING POINT AI Chip Mania Sows Seeds of Its Own Destruction
Investing in artificial intelligence involves a strong belief that it's different this time, and memory-chip makers are a particularly extreme example.
Micron Technology recorded its biggest-ever loss just three years ago, and is now forecast to become the sixth-most profitable U.S. stock. It will make just under $100 billion over the next 12 months, more than Meta or Berkshire Hathaway. Micron and its rivals are big winners from runaway AI demand and soaring prices for the high-bandwidth memory Micron makes.
Like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, it's in the sweet spot of the chip cycle, boosting prices, profits and their stock. It goes outside chips, too: Micron made a notable contribution to Wall Street's upgrades of the S&P 500 earnings outlook, while the two Korean stocks have made the country's market by far the world's best-performing this year.
The question is how long booming demand for memory chips can last.
Memory chips are a perfect example of a highly cyclical industry. Heavy investment is required to build a fabrication plant, or fab. When demand rises, it takes several years for supply to catch up, during which prices and profits jump. Those high profits encourage CEOs to expand supply. And the high fixed costs encourage producers to run fabs at full capacity-even when supply overshoots demand. The cycle turns when excess supply pushes down prices and profits plunge, as they did in 2022-23.
Already the high profitability has encouraged heavy capital spending. Micron is spending $150 billion to build or expand fabs in New York, Idaho and Virginia, and new Korean fabs are opening.
--James Mackintosh
Expected Major Events for Tuesday
04:30/JPN: Mar Revised Industrial Production
04:30/JPN: Mar Tertiary Industry Index
06:00/UK: Apr UK monthly unemployment figures
06:45/FRA: 1Q New home sales
08:30/UK: Feb Card Spending statistics
08:30/UK: Apr Monthly Insolvency statistics
12:30/CAN: Mar Building permits
12:30/CAN: Apr CPI
12:30/CAN: Apr New Housing Price Index
12:55/US: 05/16 Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index
14:00/US: Mar Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment
14:00/US: Apr Pending Home Sales Index
20:30/US: API Weekly Statistical Bulletin
All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.
Expected Earnings for Tuesday
8X8 Inc $(EGHT)$ is expected to report $-0.01 for 4Q.
AI Financial Corp (AIFC) is expected to report for 1Q.
Anavex Life Sciences Corp (AVXL) is expected to report $-0.07 for 2Q.
CAVA Group Inc $(CAVA)$ is expected to report $0.18 for 1Q.
Driven Brands Holdings Inc (DRVN) is expected to report $0.18 for 4Q.
Dye & Durham Ltd (DND.T) is expected to report for 3Q.
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May 18, 2026 16:35 ET (20:35 GMT)
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