Like Wilt Chamberlain, stocks are pulling off some all-time rebounding: The S&P 500 closed within a hair of a new record yesterday, marking an enormous comeback from the multitrillion-dollar mudslide that followed the April announcement of “Liberation Day” tariffs.

Despite a persistent vibe of uncertainty related to US economic policy and geopolitics:

• The S&P 500 closed less than 0.1% away from a record high yesterday, which it notched in February before cratering nearly 20% in April. The index has regained ground in fits and starts since then and briefly surpassed its record in intraday trading yesterday.
• On Tuesday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 one-upped the broader market and logged its highest-ever close. It came after President Trump said Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire, which eased investors’ concerns about a potential oil crisis.

Between unresolved geopolitical conflicts and President Trump’s still-unfolding tariff policies, a portfolio manager with Capital Wealth Planning, Kevin Simpson, told CNBC that he was “surprised by the magnitude of the rebound.”

How is this happening?

Trump has walked back some of the harshest tariffs he threatened in April, and trade deals since then have been music to the market’s ears.

Investors also seem “eager…to buy dips in a market dominated by megacap tech and AI enthusiasm,” Simpson said.

• Nvidia hit a record high this week, powered by above-expectation earnings that helped temper fears that China’s DeepSeek could prove more cost-effective than US startups.
• Palantir is the year-to-date gains leader on both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100. The software company has increasingly gotten into high-paying government contracts and recently secured a $30 million deal to develop a “surveillance” platform for ICE, Wired reported.

Looking ahead…two anticipated interest rate cuts, the Big Beautiful Bill’s corporate tax cuts, and deregulation are set to ultimately boost company earnings and send the markets even higher, a Wells Fargo strategist predicts. But more volatility is expected in the meantime.—ML

Anna Wintour to step down as Vogue editor-in-chief after 37 years. The devil may still wear Prada, but for the first time in decades, the top editor at US Vogue won’t necessarily sport a bob and sunglasses. The longtime queen of the fashion industry, Anna Wintour, told staff she’s leaving the role. But she’s not leaving the magazine’s parent company, Condé Nast, where she’ll still be global chief content officer and Vogue’s global editorial director. Wintour’s yet-to-be-named successor will get the title “head of editorial content.” During her tenure, which began with the first Vogue cover featuring a person in jeans in November 1988, Wintour transformed the magazine into a cultural force that could make or break designers.

Iran’s leader claims victory in first public statement since ceasefire. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who went into hiding in a bunker during Israel’s bombing campaign and had not been seen or heard from publicly in a week, yesterday delivered a prerecorded speech on state television. In the speech, Khamenei said that US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites did not “accomplish anything significant” and that Iran had given a “slap to America’s face” with its attack on a US military base in Qatar. The status of Iran’s nuclear program remains unknown, and the speech did not directly address it. President Trump described the program as “completely and fully obliterated,” but leaked early US intelligence reports suggested it had only been set back a few months.

Nike’s sales fell 12% last quarter. But that wasn’t as much as Wall Street expected, and the shoe company says it should represent the lowest point in its corporate turnaround. It’s taken a beating from upstarts like Hoka and suffered a blow from anticipated tariffs, since most of its shoes are made in Vietnam. Now, Nike is trying to just do it when it comes to regaining its spot in the market, clearing inventory to make room for new products it hopes will catch on. Revenue fell by $11.1 billion, and the company’s CEO acknowledged the financials “are not where we want them to be.” But its finance chief said the quarter “reflected the largest impact” from its turnaround plan, with things looking up in the future.—AR

As Jerome Powell was finishing up his summer Capitol Hill tour on Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump could name a successor to Powell—whose term as Fed chair doesn’t end until May 2026—as early as this summer, potentially anointing a controversial “shadow chair.”

The dollar dropped by over 0.5% yesterday to a three-year low as investors mulled the possible threat to the political independence of the Fed.

The White House said that despite the report, a nomination is not “imminent, although the President has the right to change his mind.” The president, who has threatened to fire Powell for refusing to cut interest rates, said on Wednesday during a press conference that he had “three or four people” in mind for the role.

The speculated shortlist:

• Former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh interviewed for the job eight years ago alongside Powell, but he has been pretty anti-lowering interest rates lately.
• National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are considered likely options…but both have said they aren’t interested, according to the Wall Street Journal and DealBook.

Having a Fed Chair on his side might help Trump, but there are 12 voting members of the committee that determines interest rates. Undermining Powell, and by extension the independence of the Fed, with an early nomination could spook other members.—MM

Starting today, Apple is deviating from its cinematic strategy of only giving its original films limited theatrical runs with the worldwide release of F1 The Movie, an action/drama with a reported $300 million budget starring Brad Pitt as an aging race car driver.

Why is a company that makes smartphones betting big on a blockbuster movie geared toward the world’s dads?

• It’s a commercial. The advanced camera technology that gives the racing scenes their hyperrealistic feel is available in the latest iPhone models.
• F1’s broadcast rights are up for grabs in 2026. Apple is reportedly in the mix to add F1 to its lackluster Apple TV+ sports programming. It doesn’t hurt that F1 loves the iPhone cameras so much that it may incorporate them into its broadcasts.
• Apple wants a cinematic win. The company released several movies onto Apple TV+ last year, after four buzzy theatrical releases—including the Oscar-nominated Killers of the Flower Moon—failed to make a profit at the box office.

But if it flops…the $3 trillion company sounds unbothered. Apple doesn’t believe its Hollywood approach hinges on this particular movie’s success. Meanwhile, Apple TV+ has seen its subscriber numbers jump recently, thanks to popular shows like Severance and The Studio.—DL

Turns out, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff might not be quite as committed to ohana as Lilo and Stitch are. The CEO, who famously conceives of his workforce as a family, seems to have added a fair number of bots to the clan: He told Bloomberg yesterday that AI is now doing 30% to 50% of the work at his software company, in key functions like “engineering, coding, support, service.”

Benioff said that we all need to get our heads around the fact that AI can do work that humans used to do, and that “we can move on to do higher-value work.” But for some at Salesforce, it has just meant moving on—the company laid off ~1,000 people in February while still hiring (human) workers to sell new artificial intelligence products. Per Benioff, Salesforce’s AI product, Agent Force, has been a success, with more than 5,000 clients using it to create AI agents. The company is also on track to hit a goal of 1 billion agents being produced by the end of the year.

The CEO appears sanguine about the idea of AI replacing human workers, top execs included. When asked if AI could one day replace him, Benioff responded, “I hope so,” before clarifying, “I’m partially kidding.”—AR

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