In the Money: 5 Things to Know

Futures pop, tech rallies, Goldman Sachs beats, Pfizer abandons weight-loss pill

Congratulations to Rory McIlroy for winning his first Masters and earning a career Grand Slam. And welcome back to my husband from his four-day sabbatical.

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Tariff on/tariff off: Futures are higher led by tech stocks after a temporary reprieve in tariffs on the sector. On Friday, the US Commerce Department listed exemptions to tariffs that included smartphones, some computers and chipmaking equipment. But then yesterday morning Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the exemptions would only be for a month or two. Last night, US President Donald Trump indicated that sector specific tariffs could be coming. Keeping up? Tech stocks are squinting to see the good news and shares of Apple (+6%), Nvidia (+3%) and Dell (+8%) are rallying on these temporary exemptions (more on that below.) Despite the high-fiving in tech, the US dollar is still pretty depressed about what tariffs mean for the US economy. It is down for a fifth day in a row - hitting a fresh three-year low. Strategists are slashing their targets for the S&P 500 this morning. Citi has downgraded US equities calling them relatively expensive while earnings downgrades are intensifying.

Die another day : Shares of Apple have jumped 6% on relief that smartphones will be exempt from tariffs - for now. Despite signs these exemptions are temporary, Keybanc is upgrading the stock to buy. Tariff exemptions are “the best case scenario for Apple.” While Apple may still face tariffs and will be hit by a consumer slowdown, the analyst says given the sell-off “we find it difficult to argue further downside.” Shares of Apple are down about 21% so far this year. Dan Ives at Wedbush says the 1-2 months of breathing room gives Apple time figure out supply chains (perhaps shifting more to India) and doesn’t force the company to raise prices right away.

Stock jocks: Equity traders at Goldman Sachs brought in record revenue this quarter amidst intense market volatility. Shares are up about 2% in the pre-market after sailing past profit expectations. The results parallel what we saw from JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley last week. Provisions for credit losses came down and the company authorizing a $40 billion share buyback. The buyback is pretty eye popping when you consider it amounts to 25% of Goldman’s market cap.

Jagged little pill: Pfizer is abandoning its obesity pill after clinal trials came back with a patient who had a potential drug-related liver injury. This is a major setback in its efforts to throw its hat in the ring when it comes to weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro. Interestingly the stock is flat in the pre-market, but that could be because it is trading at the lowest level since 2012 (unfortunately, I own it.) That’s not to say this isn’t market moving. Shares of rivals Eli Lilly (+2%) and Novo Nordisk (+3%) are rejoicing at the reduced prospect of another competitor. Shares of Viking Therapeutics, which is also working on a weight-loss pill, are soaring 18%.

Notable calls: UBS is downgrading Stellantis this morning saying it could be hard for the Dodge & Jeep automaker to stage a rebound even after it’s sell-off. Shares are down 66% in the last year but the analyst says this is not the time to step in. “It’s impossible to be confident on US turnaround in an auto tariff world,” wrote the analyst. Deutsche Bank is piling on to the sector this morning, downgrading shares of General Motors. While the stock has underperformed, the analyst warns the auto maker could be an “impaired asset” for several years due to tariffs and uncertain industrial policy. In Canada, National Bank is downgrading several REITs this morning including RioCan, Boardwalk and InterRent.