Oil at $140, a Pilot MIA, and Your Easter Candy Is Getting Cheaper — Welcome to the Weirdest Week in Markets
Iran, oil shocks, a jobs beat nobody fully trusts, and bank earnings season lurking — the social sentiment tape was on fire this week
Ticker Ratings
| Ticker | Rating | Entry Price | Current | $ Gain | % Gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NKE NIKE, Inc. | sell | $43.96 | — | — | — |
| TSLA Tesla, Inc. | sell | $361.26 | — | — | — |
| JPM JPMORGAN CHASE & CO | buy | $294.85 | — | — | — |
| GS GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | buy | $863.95 | — | — | — |
| DAL DELTA AIR LINES, INC. | hold | $66.71 | — | — | — |
| SATS EchoStar CORP | hold | $130.59 | — | — | — |
| AMZN AMAZON COM INC | hold | $209.78 | — | — | — |
| GSAT Globalstar, Inc. | buy | $77.00 | — | — | — |
Let's set the scene: Brent crude topped $140/barrel — its highest since 2008 — a US F-15E was shot down over Iran with one pilot still missing, and President Trump issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Tehran that markets received about as warmly as a margin call on a Friday afternoon. The VIX hovered around 25–26, the S&P 500 swung from down 1.5% to nearly flat in a single session, and WTI crude ripped +11% to ~$112/barrel in one day. Fun week, everyone.
On the brighter side — if you squint — the March jobs report dropped at 178,000 payrolls added, crushing the 65,000–150,000 estimate range depending on who you asked, with unemployment dipping to 4.3%. Wage growth came in soft at +0.2% MoM, the lightest since May 2021, which is either great news on inflation or a sign the labor market is quietly rolling over. The permabears on YouTube are voting for the latter — loudly. Meanwhile, $NKE face-planted ~16% to its lowest since 2014, $TSLA missed deliveries at 358K vs. 372K expected, and SpaceX quietly filed for an IPO targeting a $2 trillion valuation that would dwarf basically everything with a ticker symbol.
Big bank earnings are up next — $JPM guided for mid-teen capital markets growth and the volatility gods have handed $GS a gift-wrapped trading quarter. If there's a silver lining to geopolitical chaos, Goldman found it and put it on a term sheet.