This week’s world-famous news haiku competition™ is about how financial disclosures for President Donald Trump showed hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of transactions involving securities in major American companies including Nvidia $NVDA ( ▼ 1.33% ) , Palantir $PLTR ( ▲ 0.86% ) , Paramount $PSKY ( ▼ 0.71% ) , and Boeing $BA ( ▲ 0.05% ) in the first three months of 2026. Send me your entry — to haiku at cheddar dot com — by noon ET Thursday, for consideration by your Cheddar peers.

Let’s cut to the news chase…

Matt Davis — Need2Know Chedditor

News You Need2Know

What’s the stock market up to, eh?

$SPX ( ▼ 0.07% )   $DJI ( ▲ 0.32% )   $NDX ( ▲ 1.59% )  

Companies mentioned in today’s newsletter

$OPENAI ( 0.0% )   $NEE ( ▼ 4.63% )   $D ( ▲ 9.44% )   $BLK ( ▲ 0.37% )   $GOOGL ( ▲ 0.04% )  

Why a jury sided against Musk with OpenAI

A federal jury took less than two hours to unanimously toss out Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman yesterday. The primary reason the jury sided against Musk was a basic technicality: He brought his claims after the statute of limitations had already expired.

Musk’s team tried to allege that Altman manipulated him and "stole a charity." His lawyer, Steven Molo, swung for the fences, dramatically declaring of Altman, "Five witnesses in this trial called him a liar under oath."

However, OpenAI's lawyers completely dismantled Musk's narrative. They argued that Musk not only knew about the plan to convert to a for-profit structure, but that he actually supported it and tried to take control of the venture himself. According to OpenAI, Musk only pursued the lawsuit because his power grab was rejected, prompting him to leave and start a rival company.

OpenAI attorney William Savitt delivered the ultimate mic-drop regarding Musk's motivations, noting, "To succeed in AI, it turns out, all Mr. Musk can do is come to court." In the end, the jury saw right through the sour grapes, dismissing the case and clearing the way for OpenAI's IPO this summer.

Quote of the Day

Two energy giants combine to create a behemoth

With AI driving unprecedented electricity needs, NextEra Energy $NEE ( ▼ 4.63% ) and Dominion Energy $D ( ▲ 9.44% ) have agreed to a colossal merger. The all-stock agreement aims to create a massive $420 billion U.S. utility behemoth with a customer base of over 10 million homes and businesses stretching from Florida to Virginia.

The primary driving force behind this megadeal? Thirsty AI data centers. Dominion currently serves as the main power supplier for northern Virginia's "data center alley," the heartland of U.S. AI infrastructure that handles roughly two-thirds of global internet traffic. NextEra CEO John Ketchum highlighted the necessity of the tie-up, noting it is happening at "a historic moment" when "electricity demand is rising faster than it has in decades." Because of this technological surge, Ketchum stressed that "scale matters more than ever.”

However, the path to finalizing the transaction won't be simple. The mega-merger faces strict regulatory scrutiny from state authorities, especially regarding the potential impact on everyday consumers. Dominion Energy is literally digging up my front lawn as I type this, and I wouldn’t describe the contractors as exactly sorry for the inconvenience.

David Pomerantz, executive director of the watchdog group Energy and Policy Institute, voiced serious concerns. He warned the Financial Times, "If regulators approve this merger, it will lead to higher electric bills for customers in Virginia and South Carolina."

Although how our electricity bill could possibly get higher than it is already, I have no idea.

More investors are seeking losses for tax reasons

The stock market is booming, but wealthy investors are increasingly obsessed with finding ways to lose money—on paper, at least. Welcome to the hottest trade on Wall Street: Advanced tax-loss harvesting.

Traditionally, investors relied on "direct indexing," where a manager buys a basket of stocks to track an index and then sells off the declining ones to offset capital gains taxes. However, this relentless bull market has made finding losers incredibly difficult. Jon Diorio, head of U.S. wealth product at BlackRock $BLK ( ▲ 0.37% ) , told the Wall Street Journal that about half of these direct-indexing portfolios industrywide are now "ossified," meaning they are "no longer generating losses."

To keep the tax breaks flowing, financial advisers are turning to "long-short tax-aware" strategies. Now there’s about $392 billion in assets under this kind of management, according to the reporting.

This approach uses leverage, borrowing against the initial investment to create both long and short positions. By betting against certain stocks while going long on others, managers amplify returns while creating vastly more opportunities to harvest tax losses. However, these sophisticated accounts come with hefty fees and some wealth managers remain highly skeptical of the trend. Michael Paulus, founder of advisory firm PCM Encore, generally prefers direct indexing due to its lower costs and avoids the newer long-short strategies. As he bluntly puts it, "All else being equal, I’d probably rather cut the government a check than a hedge fund in Connecticut.”

Of course, if you’re really seeking to lose money on some investments, then I’ve got a series of absolutely great ideas for you…just give me a call, yeah? Let’s talk!

Song of the Day: bbno$, ‘Round and Round’

"Round and Round" blends 8-bit synths with a pop-rock beat, exploring modern success culture and the repetitive nature of fame. Although the artist is from Vancouver, so obviously he’s skeptical of success. #Canada