MARKET WRAPS
STOCKS: Stocks fell as investors fled increasingly volatile artificial-intelligence investments in the wake of Samsung Electronics' earnings report and renewed disruptions of the Strait of Hormuz.
TREASURYS: Treasury yields rose amid fears the energy shock is not yet over. The yield on the 10-year note registered its sixth straight gain, the longest streak of gains for the 10-year yield since October 2024.
FOREX: The U.S. dollar ticked up against rivals due to a rebound in oil prices and inflation concerns.
ENERGY: Oil futures rose, topping $72 a barrel in New York, after the U.S. revoked a waiver for dealing in Iranian oil. The U.S. was responding to Iranian attacks on ships near the Strait of Hormuz.
HEADLINES
U.S. Revokes Waiver Allowing Sale of Iranian Oil
WASHINGTON-The Trump administration on Tuesday revoked a license allowing Iran to sell oil on the open market, the main economic benefit for Tehran of an interim peace deal that put an end to the war between Washington and Tehran and which now threatens to collapse after days of skirmishes in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Treasury Department said the June 21 license would no longer apply, a reprimand coming hours after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired missiles and drones at ships near the strategic waterway Tuesday. The Treasury allowed for a grace period until July 17 for transactions already authorized under the license.
The price of oil rose shortly after the move, even as President Trump has boasted that his efforts to wind down the war with Iran have lowered the price of gas and other products. The price of a barrel of Brent Crude oil was a touch below $75.00 after the announcement, up 2.5% on the day.
Raytheon, NATO Move to Build Advanced AMRAAM Missile Components in Europe
Raytheon and a coalition of North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies signed an agreement to expand the AMRAAM missile program, clearing the way to build components of the advanced air-to-air missile on European soil for the first time.
The defense contractor, an RTX company, said following a NATO summit in Turkey that it is working in partnership with the U.S. government and multiple other NATO nations to conduct a series of feasibility studies that would qualify new suppliers in Europe for priority components of its advanced medium-range air-to-air missile.
By qualifying new secondary suppliers across Europe, the joint initiative aims to create a localized co-production footprint that can rapidly accelerate deliveries, bolster supply-chain resilience and replenish critical air-defense stockpiles heavily depleted by recent global conflicts.
U.S. Trade Deficit Widened in May as Imports of AI Components Rose
The U.S. trade deficit ballooned in May to its widest since March 2025 as the country imported more products like pharmaceuticals, vehicles and semiconductors for the artificial-intelligence boom, while American-made exports declined.
The trade gap in goods and services widened by 42.2% in May from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted $77.6 billion, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That marked the highest level since the deficit neared $133 billion in March last year, when companies were racing to import goods ahead of President Trump's new tariff rollouts.
The deficit has been volatile during Trump's second term, with shifting tariff policies and a rebuke from the Supreme Court that limited his ability to impose broad duties on most foreign countries. On average, the deficit is still slightly smaller since he returned to office than it was in the same-size period before then.
Amazon Taps Bond Market to Raise Money as Borrowing Costs Stay Low
Amazon is tapping the bond market to raise more money while investor demand for corporate debt remains high.
A filing by Amazon, labeled 424B5, issued on Tuesday shows the company plans to sell debt across eight tranches: one floating-rate tranche, which pays an interest rate that resets quarterly, and seven fixed-rate tranches. The debt is worth at least $25 billion, a source familiar with the deal confirmed to Barron's. Amazon declined to confirm.
The latest preliminary sale notice follows Amazon's sale of C$14 billion (about $10 billion) worth of Canadian dollar bonds last month. It also raised $37 billion through a U.S. bond sale in March.
JPMorgan, Bank of America and Other Banks Explore a Deal to Shake Up Payments World
Some of the largest banks in the country have been exploring an acquisition that could allow them to get around one of the laws they hate most: the limits on fees they earn on debit-card transactions.
When Capital One Financial bought Discover Financial in a $50.6 billion deal, it got a network that cut out the need for a middleman in card transactions and allowed it to deal more directly with merchants.
Now, big banks are looking on with envy because owning a network can mean exemption from a federal law that caps debit-card fees. Those fees collectively amount to billions of dollars each year across the industry, but banks have long complained the government-defined cap limits their ability to offer customers debit-card rewards and other services.
SpaceX Joins the Nasdaq-100. What the Fast-Track Addition Means for the Stock.
SpaceX trading on Tuesday won't have much to do with space or AI fundamentals. Instead, technical factors will likely rule the day.
Elon Musk's AI and space company is now in the Nasdaq-100, one of the best-known large-cap growth indexes that tracks the largest nonfinancial companies listed on Nasdaq. It's a who's who of tech giants, including Apple, Nvidia, Alphabet, Amazon.com, Meta Platforms, Broadcom, Micron Technology, and others. The total market value of companies in the 100 is almost $40 trillion at recent prices.
A stock pop is possible, as passive funds snap up shares. But investors should always remember the stock market is forward-looking.
Walmart Lowers Prices on Thousands of Items, Including Beef and Coca-Cola
Walmart is cutting prices on thousands of items to help customers with affordability after years of inflation.
The largest U.S. grocer said Monday it is lowering the price of ground beef by 12%. The price of cherries is being halved. A 24-pack of Coca-Cola is falling by one-third to $9.97. The company also said it is cutting prices on household products, toys, apparel and other products.
The effort drew praise from President Trump, who hailed it in a social-media post as "a huge deal."
Getty Images Calls Off Shutterstock Deal After U.K. Hurdle
Getty Images has officially called off its merger with Shutterstock, about a week after the deal was dealt a blow by a U.K. regulator.
Getty on Tuesday delivered a written notice to Shutterstock terminating their planned tie-up, which was first announced in January 2025 and received clearance from the Justice Department in April.
The $3.7 billion deal would have created a visual-content company able to offer a more expansive library to users, helping meet booming demand for licensed images and videos as artificial intelligence disrupts the business of content creation.
TALKING POINT QQQ, Meet IQQ. BlackRock Is Launching a Cheaper Nasdaq-100 ETF.
The popular Invesco QQQ exchange-traded fund has been around for more than 25 years, but all of a sudden it is facing stiff competition. BlackRock disclosed today that it plans to launch the iShares Nasdaq 100 ETF as early as this Thursday, just two weeks after State Street launched its own ETF to rival the QQQ: the State Street SPDR Portfolio Nasdaq 100 ETF.
All three track the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 index, which includes big names such as Apple, Microsoft, Palantir, Nvidia, and now SpaceX. The new ETFs, however, are offering lower fees. BlackRock's ETF, which will take the ticker IQQ, will have a gross expense ratio of 0.12%, with a temporary waiver reducing the expense ratio to 0.10% through July 31, 2027, the asset manager said. State Street's ETF has an expense ratio of 0.10%. Both are lower than the QQQ's total expense ratio of 0.18%.
Invesco offers another ETF that tracks the index, the Invesco Nasdaq 100 ETF, which has an expense ratio of 0.15%.
IQQ's initial net asset value, or NAV, will be $24 per share, according to BlackRock. Shares of QQQ and QQQM were trading at $706.54 and $291.02, respectively, midday Tuesday. Shares of QNDX were trading at $23.93.
The Nasdaq-100 index is a favorite of many investors because it includes some of the largest and fastest-growing publicly traded companies.
Invesco's QQQ is particularly popular with active traders, who like the fund's liquidity; there is about $500 billion in notional options exposure tied to QQQ. Invesco launched the cheaper QQQM in 2020 as an option for investors looking to hold shares for the long term.
"I would not underestimate the 25-year performance track record, experienced management, and global brand recognition of QQQ," Brian Hartigan, Invesco's global head of ETFs and index investments, said in a statement. "As the cornerstone of the Nasdaq-100 ecosystem, a half a trillion dollars of options are tied to the QQQ, offering deep liquidity that will be difficult to displace. These factors create direct value for QQQ investors."
--Andrew Welsch, Barron's
Expected Major Events for Wednesday
04:30/JPN: Jun Corporate Insolvencies
05:00/JPN: Jun Economy Watchers Survey
06:45/FRA: May Balance of payments
11:00/US: 07/03 MBA Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey
14:00/US: May Monthly Wholesale Trade
14:00/US: Jun Online Help Wanted Index
14:30/US: 07/03 EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report
19:00/US: May Consumer Credit
23:01/UK: Jun RICS Residential Market Survey
23:50/JPN: Jun Money Stock, Broadly-defined Liquidity
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