In short
Fast Money (8/3/26) discusses a broad market rally led by software, with tech rotation back into “AI monetizers” after a period where semis outperformed. Key example: Microsoft surged ~25% since earnings (up ~5% on the day), helping the IGV software ETF rebound while the SMH is down double digits this quarter. Panelists argue hyperscaler free cash flow and cloud growth (Meta/AWS/Azure) are reassuring, and that investors are rewarding clear AI monetization paths while staying broadly diversified. They debate whether the moves are impulsive (gap risk, knee-jerk) or a durable mean reversion in valuations.
Notable guest segment
Palantir shares jumped after earnings; commercial revenue +~150% YoY and government +~90%. CEO Alex Karp claims enterprises should control model weights via an application layer, criticizing “frontier” open-weight approaches and disputing claims that customer data isn’t used for training.
Guests
Seema Modi (CNBC), FedWatch Advisors founder Ben Emmons, and Kathy Entwistle (Morgan Stanley).
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOMarket Gains Overview
0:00 to 0:22
Discussion on major stock movements and market performance.
“Mazda has been named Consumer Reports' safest new car brand.”
Market Gains Overview
1:40 to 2:26
Discussion on major stock movements and market performance.
“We start off with stocks seeing big gains to start the week without adding nearly 700 points, setting a new all-time high at the close.”
Software vs. Semiconductors
2:26 to 4:25
Debate on the performance of software stocks compared to semiconductors.
“Has software gotten an all clear of some sort, Guy?”
Volatility in Major Stocks
4:25 to 6:54
Analysis of significant stock movements and market volatility.
“Obviously, your AI trade is doing better, which I think is good as people are rotating back in.”
NVIDIA and Manufacturing Data
6:54 to 8:10
Insight into NVIDIA's performance and broader manufacturing trends.
“But I'm talking about that bounce off the 100-day, which is really where they bounced back in March, where they continue to bounce.”
Palantir Earnings and AI Growth
8:10 to 14:00
Detailed analysis of Palantir's earnings report and AI market implications.
“But I don't know if you want to get out of these other areas.”
Assessing Valuations of Tech Stocks
14:00 to 15:00
Discussion on the current valuation challenges and growth potential of tech stocks like Microsoft and Palantir.
“And now if you look at the mix, it's 50-50 now, government and commercial.”
Market Strategies for Growth and Investment
15:00 to 17:00
Insights on investment strategies focusing on cash, long-term investments, and the impact of interest rates on growth.
“Well, of course, just as you all referred, down some 48, 50 percent from its peak of November at 207 and change.”
The Role of IPOs in Wealth Creation
17:00 to 20:20
Conversation about the transition in IPOs and private investments, highlighting investor behavior and market expectations.
“So we want to get ahead of the game and get people that have money that's supposed to be for longer term needs into longer term investments before that changes.”
Navigating the SpaceX IPO Discussion
20:20 to 21:36
Discussion on the challenges and investor sentiments surrounding the SpaceX IPO and broader market sentiments.
“The cleansing of the MAG-7 is interesting and part of what we talked about.”
Show all 23 chapters
Boeing's Stock Surge and Market Sentiment
21:36 to 22:32
Overview of Boeing's recent stock performance and market reactions to key regulatory approvals.
“The FAA green light that sent shares soaring today and why one Wall Street firm just flipped from bear to bull.”
Analyzing Boeing's Market Position
22:32 to 24:16
In-depth discussion on Boeing's turnaround story and the implications of recent upgrades and market conditions.
“Vanguard Marketing Corporation distributor.”
Retail Rally Insights
28:40 to 30:29
Discussion on the recent rally in retail stocks, particularly Macy's.
“closing near its highest level in nearly five years.”
Consumer Spending Trends
30:29 to 31:26
Analysis of consumer spending behavior and selective retail investments.
“just really want to look at where you're spending your money.”
Market Dynamics with Walmart
31:26 to 32:06
Impact of Walmart's performance on the retail sector and market dynamics.
“And I think giving room to other names because Walmart is such a massive name and it's been everybody's favorite stock, not so much.”
Yen Intervention Explained
32:06 to 34:41
Discussion on the US intervention to support the struggling yen and its market implications.
“The Dow rising nearly 700 points to record close to close up records.”
BoJ Policies and Inflation
34:41 to 37:57
Exploration of the Bank of Japan's policies amid inflation and currency dynamics.
“stepped in to buy the Japanese currency over the weekend.”
Japanese Market Outlook
37:57 to 40:34
Analysis of the Japanese stock market and potential risks related to currency fluctuations.
“So I think the yen intervention will be with us for the next sort of week to two weeks.”
Bullish Signals for Amgen
40:34 to 42:06
Technical analysis of Amgen and why it is poised for gains ahead of earnings.
“Coming up, a screaming biotech buy, the technical signals that have the chart master turning bullish on Amgen and the key levels for investors to watch when Fast Money returns.”
Pharmaceutical Earnings and Market Reactions
42:06 to 43:40
Insights into the pharmaceutical industry’s earnings and market movements.
“Just to get to that upper boundary is about 412.”
Transport Stocks Performance and Predictions
43:41 to 44:48
Discussion on the performance of transport stocks and future expectations.
“Coming up, transports trucking higher inside the stocks leading the group this year.”
Analysis of Airline and Rail Stocks
44:49 to 45:41
Evaluating the current state of airline and rail stocks in the market.
“I do think that the numbers there have been fantastic.”
Final Trades and Market Insights
45:42 to 46:50
Final trade recommendations and insights from the hosts.
“Carter Braxton North are worth charting.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:02Mazda has been named Consumer Reports' safest new car brand. It starts with our approach. Every Mazda comes standard with proactive safety features. So you're more aware of what's around you, more focused on the road ahead, and ready before problems ever start. Mazda. More of what matters most to you. Go to mazdausa.com to learn more.
0:26Guy Adami:Consumer Reports does not endorse or promote any product. The board recommends approving... Regarding that seat on the committee, we're promoting... To boost quarterly earnings... Every day, shareholders meet to discuss important matters about the companies you invest in. Now you can easily make your voice heard. Vanguard Investor Choice gives you a say in the companies you invest in. With just a few taps, you can set your proxy voting preference for your index funds. Visit vanguard.com slash investorchoice to learn more. Vanguard Investors own shares of our index funds, which own shares of the companies they invest in.
0:55Available for Vanguard Index funds that participate in Investor Choice, Vanguard Marketing Corporation Distributor.
1:01Tim Seymour:Live from the Nasdaq MarketSide in the heart of New York City's Times Square, this is Fast Money. Here's what's on tap tonight. Software surging, a semi-stall. What's behind the reversal in these two pillars of the tech trade? And where do these groups go from here? We'll debate that. An unprecedented action to support the yen and what this weekend's intervention means for the Japanese currency and the potential ripple effects for global markets. Plus, Boeing bounces for its best day of the year. Macy's heads towards nearly five-year highs. And transport tailwinds, a group quietly outperforming the broader market this year.
1:31Tim Seymour:What's got these stocks putting the pedal to the metal and how much higher they still have room to run? I'm Melissa Lee. I'm DLocker Studio BFNASAC. On the desk tonight, Tim Steenmore, Courtney Garcia, Guy Adami and Carter Braxton Worth are worth charting. We start off with stocks seeing big gains to start the week without adding nearly 700 points, setting a new all-time high at the close. The S &P also within spitting distance of records. And while the NASDAQ is still about 4 % from its best levels, The tech-heavy index did lead the gains today up more than 2 percent. One big winner, Microsoft, up another 5 percent on the session.
2:03Tim Seymour:Its third straight day of gains, it is now up a whopping 25 percent since earnings last Wednesday, adding$720 billion to its market cap in that period. The gains helping the long-lagging software stocks make up ground against semi-stocks. The IGV ETF trading near two-month highs, while the SMH is down double digits this quarter. So can this outperformance last? What does it mean for the rest of the market? Has software gotten an all clear of some sort, Guy? Last time we were together on Thursday, I believe. Oh, I thought you meant 10 minutes ago. Well, we were together 10 minutes. On the closing bell over time.
2:35Yeah, on the C-Bot. Anyway, last Thursday. No, but I should have specified. We spent a lot of time together, clearly. As we all do. We all do. It's good for TV's audience, by the way. But Tim mentioned he thought the Microsoft move could continue. And here we are. That's an extraordinary move by anybody's standards. And look, I thought it would sort of fail on Thursday's close. It did not. But I'll say this to your point about the IGV. Yeah, I do think you can sort of get an all clear sign here. And we've been bullish on the IGV for a while. So that 115 level-ish is where it broke down from a while ago.
3:05I think that's where it trades back up to. And it can do that regardless of whether or not Microsoft moves from here. I think the free cash flow in the hyperscalers is something that we've spent a lot of time looking at. And I think there's some sense that it's coming back. I think there's some sense that they're going to continue to not necessarily deliver this ROI that we can quantify, but that there is some sense of these companies are still growing massively. What we've learned, whether we heard about ad growth at 28%, 26 % for Meta, for AWS, but Azure, absolutely. The AWS growth that blew away the numbers at the end of the day, the numbers that these folks have reported should have given a lot of reassurance.
3:45Does this solve the software dilemma? Well, I tell you what, we're going to talk about Palantir. We've talked about a lot of different parts of the software trade that never were even affected by AI, that actually anything related to data, anything related to infrastructure, anything related to security. So I think you had over rotation. I think you had a dynamic where these things were left for dead. I actually think that semis and software can rally here. And that's what today was all about.
4:11Tim Seymour:And I think what I really like to see is on a day like today, markets are doing well. You're seeing the AI trade is doing well. But it's not that the rest of the markets are doing poorly. People aren't necessarily taking money out of those areas. And if you look at the equal weight, that was up today also. And not as much. Obviously, your AI trade is doing better, which I think is good as people are rotating back in. But I don't think this is saying, OK, all in on AI trade. I think you still want to be broadly diversified here. But I think investors are really rewarding those companies who can monetize AI and show some sort of clear path to that monetization.
4:40Tim Seymour:And that's going to continue. But I think the broader markets are going to follow with it. Carter, what are your thoughts on today? IGV, broader markets?
4:48Guy Adami:Well, IGV, of course, before the past two to eight weeks of strength was trading at 14-year lows relative to semis and to tech in general. And the question is, and there's really no answer to it, we're all going to wonder and figure it out in the day, days ahead. But for Microsoft to pop 26 % in one day, three days, excuse me, Amazon and so forth with gaps, is that impetuous, knee-jerk, impulsive? And on a tactical basis, is it right to assume they pull in, they dip, they give back, consolidate? Or is it the beginning of something that's very enduring? My own hunch is if you're short-term in nature, you want to sell calls against these things or trim, then to the broader question on the desk, is this the beginning of what can be, hey, maybe the worst is over for this very impaired area within the most important sector.
5:44Guy Adami:But since I'm on the shorter term nature of things, and it gets down to this, buy, sell, or hold, I am a fader, a seller of these very aggressive three-day moves in such big marquee names with gaps. It feels, again, impulsive, impetuous, a bit knee-jerk.
5:59Tim Seymour:Couldn't be clearer than that. It does feel, though, like overall we're seeing a little bit of a mean reversion here in terms of valuation. Even if we just showed a chart of Meta, I mean, Meta basically erased its post-earnings losses back to the pre-earnings levels almost. I was surprised at how poorly it traded in the aftermath, but now here we are higher than where it started. So the one problem I have with the broader market continues to be, by the way, we're within half a percent of an all-time high in the S &P, so obviously the market doesn't care. But these intraday moves on big-name stocks and big-cap names is extraordinary.
6:34I mean, 8 % to 10 % move seemingly two or three times a week and dozens of names, with a VIX below now 16%. So the single stock volatility is there. Obviously, the broader market volatility is not. I just think that the bounce we had last week was so powerful. Carter's right. I mean, 26 % on Amazon and Microsoft. Interesting they both made this exact same move. But I'm talking about that bounce off the 100-day, which is really where they bounced back in March, where they continue to bounce. And it's been very, very vociferous. I mean, really, if you think about the biggest companies in the world and also semiconductors, I think you can still be in that semi-straight.
7:12I just think there are different pieces to it. NVIDIA was very interesting today. NVIDIA, certainly relative to itself, had the kind of a move today that you want. We also combined that with manufacturing data that I realize has been a little bit lumpy. There's been a lot of pull-forward dynamics. But data center is a big part of this, too. Best manufacturing numbers in four years. Suddenly, we're on a seven-month trend in terms of manufacturing that's almost on a tear. We have payroll numbers on Friday that I think if they're decent. The story for the broader economy right now is that I think you've got the underpinnings of a market, underpinnings for the market that is allowing the broadening.
7:45And we haven't even gotten to retail yet. And as was referenced, there's a couple of names we're going to talk about that are quietly moving. Yeah.
7:52Tim Seymour:And I think when you look at the markets, the S &P and the Dow are near their all time highs. But the Nasdaq still has some room to grow go here. And I think that's just pointing out that there is some room for this AI trade to continue to rotate into, because that has not been one of your best performers this year. And I think you are going to see some of that catch-up trade continue to happen. So I do think these are going to continue to do well. But I don't know if you want to get out of these other areas. You absolutely want to still be in them moving forward. But that trade, people are going to catch up to it as you're seeing these earnings come out.
8:21Tim Seymour:And they are supporting that capex that's out there, at least for certain companies. And if that is, it's going to justify the earnings. Carter, how are you feeling about NVIDIA? Well, so in a way, you're cake and eat it too.
8:34Guy Adami:So the great one, let's call it that, because that's what it has been for so long, has been the one that has not participated for the better part of 18 months. And so do you go for the high flyers that crashed down 30, 40, 50 percent that can give you the ricochet? Or do you favor something like this, which was always the premium supreme name that has been a laggard, a dullard for the past 18 months? My preference is to pick NVIDIA if one were doing that choice.
9:06Tim Seymour:I think that is the first sign that the word dullard has been used on fast. but it is a fine word that should be used more often. Carter gives us a lot of good vernacular and terms. Yes, and calls, by the way. Yes, yes. Is there a theme that can be applied to all of these big moves that we've seen lately? You can say that the earnings story has come through and that, you know, Microsoft and Amazon have shown that you can spend and there's a pathway to profitability and that clears away for the likes of Alphabet and Google, et cetera. Or you can say on an evaluation basis relative to the other parts of the AI trade, these stocks were relatively cheaper, lump NVIDIA in there, and now we're seeing money go back there.
9:46Yeah, I don't know if there's, well...
9:47Tim Seymour:As opposed to the momentum kind of higher. The theme for me is this continued sort of, again, the volatility in single stocks that I have not seen since we've been starting to do the show. And these are not small biotech stocks. I mean, these are significant companies. And now it's been going on for a couple months. So that, to me, is the overriding theme. But what appears to be going on now is People look at Microsoft to Tim's point and says, we don't want to be behind the eight ball here. They've clearly figured it out. There's sort of a reemergence of growth here, and we don't want to get caught waiting for it to come back to us.
10:19So that's why the chase is on. But as Carter just pointed out correctly, now you have two huge gaps in the chart on the downside, Mr. Softy.
10:26Tim Seymour:All right, let's get an earnings alert here on Palantir, which is surging in the after-hours session. the company's sale past earnings and revenue estimates, Arseema Modi chatted exclusively with CEO Alex Karp earlier. She joins us now with the details. Seema. Melissa, first to earnings, the key takeaway is that Palantir's commercial business is taking off, up nearly 150 % year over year, while government sales surged about 90 % as the war with Iran continues. But feeling commercial is Palantir's artificial intelligence platform. CEO Alex Karp continues to double down on his criticism of the Frontier AI Labs, arguing that enterprise should not be forced to give up their intellectual property to work with the frontier labs.
11:04Tim Seymour:Instead, Karp says enterprises want to control the weights of their model and work with companies like his that offer an application layer that sits on the top of a company stack. What you see in both the sovereign demand for our product, the product offering, our alliances, both compute all the way up, including helping to open up the world to being receptive to open-weight models and their fine-tuning, beginning to fine-tune these models So the models work at Frontier is a business unlike any other business that is poised to grow with these margins and with this revenue growth for another 18 months.
11:40Tim Seymour:Anthropic and OpenAI have said over the last month that customer data is secure and is not used to train their models. But Karp isn't buying it. He also doesn't blame the Chinese open source players for distilling or replicating the Frontier Labs. Listen in. How do you think the models got their value? They distilled all the value of IP everywhere, including enterprise everywhere. We're in a battle here. Those things have to work. There's only one way for them to work ethically, and that's called an application layer on the back of your own compute where you control the model. There's a way to get it.
12:10It's not the only way, but the best way to do it is you buy Palantir, you install it, you have us do it.
12:15Tim Seymour:Karp was the first executive to sort of take direct aim at OpenAI Anthropic on CNBC in early July, blasting their token structure. his comments igniting a fiery debate, but also self-serving with a pivot to open source helping Palantir's business. But again, it's reflected in that commercial pop that we saw in revenue. Stock is up about 10 % as the conference call is underway, Melissa. Yep. Seema, thank you. Seema Modi. Fascinating. I mean, Alex Karp is always an interesting interview. But what do you make of these results? Again, a huge move for a stock, double-digit percent. Well, on the move, this was a stock, though, that had underperformed the S &P by 40 % from March into the lows and even into this print down by 32%.
12:54So now Alex is very outspoken. He's very sure of his business, and he should be year over year, second quarter sales up 149%. I mean, they blew away the numbers that had been expected. I think the term he used was outer worldly, which is now another, maybe might have been the first time it was mentioned on our show too. I don't know, Guy. I haven't used it. Yeah, well, you should. But I think it's a case where the valuation is very difficult, But Palantir is so well situated within both the U.S. government contracts and some enterprise. The thing that's the worry here is what he's talked about and other countries have talked about.
13:31Europe is scrambling. It's a sovereignty issue. They could be boxed out of a lot of other parts of the world for those sovereignty issues. And I think that's something that the market might discount them on. What is the game we played at the beginning of the year with the letters and stuff? Acronyms.
13:46Tim Seymour:Oh, this is the P in your hope trade. You remember this? That's like three years ago, though. Maybe even longer. Maybe longer. Yeah. And my thesis was that at some point they're going to get away from government contracts and get into the middle small businesses, mid and small businesses. And now if you look at the mix, it's 50-50 now, government and commercial. Good for them. As Tim just mentioned, the problem is valuation. But it's a good quarter. And the setup was good. I mean, the stock had been selling off since October. So how much is left in it? Well, given what we saw in Microsoft, maybe another 15 or 20 percent.
14:17Tim Seymour:Yeah, I mean, the valuation challenge, it's like an 86 forward PE, even with decline. I mean, it's crazy. Yeah, I mean, they have really impressive growth in earnings here. And even after these numbers here, I think that that could potentially justify it. But the question is, is it going to continue to grow as fast as it has? And that's what people have been questioning really for this category as a segment. And that's why it's really been underperforming the markets. But now it's the show me story. And as you're seeing these earnings come out, they are proving why that they should be valued that way.
14:43Tim Seymour:And I think that specifically, which Guy pointed out here, the fact that they're growing in commercial, not just government, is a really good sign for them. And I think you want to watch that moving forward. Yeah, it's not just revenue growth. It's also total deal value on commercial, which surpassed analysts' expectations. Carter, what was your take on Palantir's chart? Right.
15:00Guy Adami:Well, of course, just as you all referred, down some 48, 50 percent from its peak of November at 207 and change. And so the indication here at 139 versus today's close at 125, there's a level that matters, at least by my work, which is where the 150-day moving average comes into play. And that's around 144. Again, indicated at 139, I would think it gets a little bit higher, 144, 145. And that's where one might want to harvest if one is a short-term trader. All right.
15:33Tim Seymour:So, at least for now, I mean, does Microsoft and Palantir combined the two? Plus, we had, you know, pretty good results from ServiceNow. Does that all lay the foundation, do you think? Yeah, IGV, absolutely. I mean, if you want to play the ETF game, that's the place to be. And where did it go? Is it like 94.5 or 95? I'd have to look. But 97 and change. Wow. So, I think the mid-1-teens, so 115 to 118, I think that's where it's headed. All right. For more on the big tech trade and the market, let's bring Kathy Entwistle, Managing Director and Private Wealth Advisor at Morgan Stanley. Kathy, great to see you.
16:04Great to see you too. Thank you.
16:05Tim Seymour:So it's interesting because everybody's in a tizzy thinking that Kevin Warsh is going to raise rates. You think that there's nothing happening and you're actually positioning, you're looking forward to next year and your base case is a cut. Yes, we are thinking that at Morgan Stanley. So I would say that everyone's talking about, you know, this raise. We don't think that's going to happen this year. We think it will stay pretty neutral. And even when you see what's just been happening over the weekend or since last week with growth stocks, people piling back in, looking at the opportunity for, you know, opportunities there, and then also with energy oil taking a hit, it could be another indication that perhaps we will not actually get another rate hike.
16:50So I would look into next year and think about specifically even cash. Cash is like a variable asset, right? It's a variable rate in terms of it's going to change very quickly. So we want to get ahead of the game and get people that have money that's supposed to be for longer term needs into longer term investments before that changes.
17:12Tim Seymour:So longer term investments like what? Well, I mean, longer term investments, yeah, longer duration, longer duration for cash. We also like value, you know, cash flows, great balance sheets, long-term investing, things like that, in terms of, you know, we just had this whole conversation about AI, and we're thinking AI infrastructure is sort of, you know, getting more mature. And now we're looking for the companies that can monetize. And I think that's also why we're seeing some of these software-type cloud-owning companies coming back into play, and also the discount. Now, Kathy, I'm curious what your take is with the steepening of the yield curve.
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17:49Tim Seymour:So even if there are cuts here, which could affect the shorter term end of the curve, how do you guys view the longer term end of the curve, which can affect things like your housing market and mortgage rates and things like that? Like, will that come down also? What's your view there? Yeah, unfortunately, I would like to say that it is coming down, but I think we're getting to a new normal. And really, the intermediate sort of part of the curve is probably the best place to place clients' fixed income or duration assets. And in terms of the individual investor, I still think there needs to be some kind of relief for these first-time homebuyers and things like that.
18:24The mortgage rates might go back to what the norm was back in, I don't know, the 90s or so, where it was more like a 6%. You got to be getting questions about SpaceX going into it, and I guarantee you're getting it now. Talk about SpaceX. Technically, I can't speak about individual stocks. However. However, I can speak about IPOs and things like that. So I would say, you know, traditionally we have seen wealth creation during the IPO. right immediately following. But in the last few years, we've seen a transition, a shift, and that's in the private market space where value is created early on.
18:57And you have to be a private investor to participate in that. Now, what can happen is you'll go to the IPO, you won't see that wealth creation right up front. But I would say if you have a long-term view of a company or a sector, you should either buy at the dip, maybe not be part of the IPO. If you're a long-term investor, maybe wait until you see a little bit of a pullback and go in, or just say, at the end of the day, it's going to fluctuate in price. And when you can go in as it drops, hopefully you get points to purchase.
19:29Tim Seymour:Are you hearing from clients, for instance, that may have had exposure to these high-flying IPOs, these well-known headline-grabbing IPOs like a SpaceX or Jersey Mike's that are down, that they've gotten bitter over the IPO process. I see two kinds of investors, really. There's the ones that are going in for the fast money, and there's the ones that are there for the long haul because they really want to own that company. So I've had conversations with different clients over the years with, you know, IPOs that they're interested in, and they will say, no, I want to hold it because I want to hold this for a long period of time.
20:08And you think back to a lot of the early stage technology companies, you know, 20 years ago, we've seen incredible growth in wealth. So sometimes, you know, there's opportunities for trades and sometimes there's opportunities for long term thinking and you have to find that balance.
20:23Tim Seymour:Kathy, you've got to leave it there. Good to see you. Thank you. Thank you. Kathy Antwistle. Well, what do you think? The cleansing of the MAG-7 is interesting and part of what we talked about. And I think this is it's important because I think there are clients out there that actually they saw the types of moves in Meta. They saw the types of moves in some of the other names. And it's like, hey, should we be doing something here? I think I think those instincts have been obviously right. But I think people don't want to get too far away from these trades. The IPO market and SpaceX was such a unique story in terms of where people are playing the long game there.
20:57But this is something that, you know, the question about the valuation was so difficult going into that IPO. that it's hard to say I told you so. It just feels like there was room to wait, and there will be those IPOs that you have to own, but this wasn't one. We play the game, if I told you this, what would... And if you had said to me, SpaceX is going to break price in a week, and it's going to be trading either side of$105, what's the broader market? I'd be like, the broader market's getting smoked because it was such a consumer sentiment thing in terms of what people were focused on, and it has not played out that way at all.
21:31And if you look at what's going to happen with open AI, and some of the other names that are coming public this year. Market doesn't seem to care.
21:37Tim Seymour:Coming up, Boeing catches a tailwind. The FAA green light that sent shares soaring today and why one Wall Street firm just flipped from bear to bull. Plus a retail reawakening, the big news breathing life into the sector today and whether the rally has more room to run. Don't go anywhere fast when he's back in tune.
21:55This is Fast Money with Melissa Lee right here on CNBC.
22:03Tim Seymour:The board recommends approving... Regarding that seat on the committee, we're promoting... To boost quarterly earnings... Every day, shareholders meet to discuss important matters about the companies you invest in. Now you can easily make your voice heard. Vanguard Investor Choice gives you a say in the companies you invest in. With just a few taps, you can set your proxy voting preference for your index funds. Visit vanguard.com slash investorchoice to learn more. Vanguard Investors own shares of our index funds, which own shares of the companies they invest in. Available for Vanguard Index funds that participate in Investor Choice.
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23:32Tim Seymour:Welcome back to Fast Money. Shares of Boeing soaring 8 % on two bullish catalysts. First, analysts at BNP Paribas upgrading the stock to outperform from underperform, boosting the price target to$300 from$230. The FAA also certifying Boeing's 737 MAX 7 plane, the smallest model in the 737 line, the move following almost a decade of delays tied to deadly crashes of the company's MAX 8 model. Is this the B in Timbo? No, it's not. It has been much like a guy looking back on his hopes gone by. This was this might have been the B and Bicep. Bicep, yes. Yes. But but I do think the Max 7 approval is an important moment sentiment wise.
24:14I think it's very important. Also, tailwind wise, I guess pun intended. I don't know. But it's less about these upgrades today. It's more about a company that does seem to be on the right side of the regulatory environment. And I realize that could change. But remember, this has been such a long term thing and the company has been looking for some guidance. I don't know that the investor community has been waiting for this. I think the analyst community actually likes it. I do think it's a case of free cash flow once again with Boeing. I do think this is a company that will surprise to the upside.
24:44I do think that the re-rating that's going on in the airline industry could be played upon what's going on on the industrial side. Yeah, free cash flow, Tim Nelda. And I think they reported on the 28th or so in the quarter suggested exactly that. So you rarely see it. Was it a double upgrade? You don't see that that often. It's very rare. It's like a double secret probation. Double what? Double secret probation. Double secret probation, of course, is what happened to the fraternity in Animal House. They were put on double secret probation. I didn't expect you to know that, by the way. With that said, you rarely see it.
25:18But this one's justified. So they've been getting in their own way now for the last five or six years of Boeing. Finally, they seem to be getting out of their own way. I think this is the right move.
25:27Tim Seymour:I mean, it's interesting. You mentioned the earnings before. They were mixed results. It's not like this double upgrade came on the back of Gangbuster's results, and it was like right afterwards sort of a delay, and it wasn't clear that this was going to be a double upgrade candidate out of earnings. Yeah, but I think this has been a story people have wanted to see for so long. There has been a turnaround. This is a duopoly. They should eventually come back up to speed here, but they have just had setback after setback, and I think we've had a long enough period here where that turnaround is getting believed, and I think that's what those double upgrades are showing, is that people are actually really getting behind this story.
25:55Tim Seymour:And I think that's a good sign. Carter, are you behind the chart?
25:59Guy Adami:Yeah, I mean, just as you all have articulated, it's something that's gone nowhere, done nothing, has sort of been non-participatory. In fact, it's the exact same level it was in August of 2021. The stock was around$230 then, and here we are at$233. three. I think it's an excellent kind of thing to have in a book rather than just having only high flyers that are working and then all of a sudden crashing and all of the things that are in the news. It's always good to double back, find something like this that's sort of off the radar, that hasn't participated and favor it. And so I would. All right.
26:35Tim Seymour:There's a lot more fast money to come. Here's what's coming up next. Retail therapy. Investors flocking back into the discretionary trade? What's driving big gains in names like Target and Macy's? And which stocks should you add to your shopping cart? Plus, a yen intervention inside the historic move to prop up Japan's currency and the potential ripple effects on stocks, bonds, and beyond. You're watching Fast Money, live from the NASDAQ market side in Times Square. We're back right after this.
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28:08Tim Seymour:When you partner with CDW, you get more from your devices with solutions that take modern work to the next level. CDW experts are delivering powerful productivity with Lenovo AI PCs, helping users block out distractions, access virtual support anytime, anywhere, and share content seamlessly between devices. Make amazing happen. Learn more at cdw.com slash Lenovo. Welcome back to Fast Money, a rally in the retail space today with the XRT ETF up almost 2%, closing near its highest level in nearly five years. Among the big winners, Abercrombie & Fitch with its best day since November, long-struggling target also higher, closing at its best level since November 2024.
28:56Tim Seymour:And Macy's gaining 5 % today, the stock ending the day near more than four-year eyes. Once upon a time, you had Macy's. I did. And it might have been in the me trade. I don't know. But there's no question it's a name that I've owned at different times. And I was looking at it in my screens today and it jumped out because ultimately, what has really changed to Macy's? Their addressable market hasn't really changed. The margin profile has. And this is a company that has figured out how to operate in this declining department store space, but also with their online business and also their real estate value and a much better balance sheet.
29:31So I think this is indicative of where the market is looking for consumer names going into retail earnings with a consumer that is better. Macy's is not expensive. It's probably trading sub kind of eight times. And I think he can go higher on this one.
29:44Tim Seymour:How are you feeling about Macy's, Carter, or retail in general?
29:48Guy Adami:Well, starting with the XRT, which you mentioned, I mean, it's slowly poking its head up now well below its all-time high of 2021. But I think the bias is up here and I would be long that particular instrument, XRT. Macy's fine, closed around 25, 26 that I would play for 28.
30:10Tim Seymour:Yeah, and I think what this does is it challenges the idea that the consumer is falling apart. They're clearly holding in, I think, better than people have been giving them credit for. But you do want to be selective of names here because people are being choosy of where they spend their money. So just looking at this, like for example, Macy's is up 14 % since the beginning of the year. Take a name like Lululemon is down 40%. So I think you just really want to look at where you're spending your money. I wouldn't look at this as a sector on its whole, but I think there's names that'll work here.
30:35Tim Seymour:And I also like the idea that you're seeing names like this working alongside the AI trade. It's just, again, indicative that this is a broad market rally, and that's what I like to see. The turnaround in Target, as Tim has talked about, is clearly underway. That is in my acronym. That is the T for Tim, though. Is it this year? Yeah. Oh, wow. Good to be on time, right? This one, you know what? You got this one, cold because, I mean, the stock's up 80-something percent since the lows, which is amazing. They don't report their off cycle. August 19th, it probably continues to rally because it's broken a downtrend that's been in place since the summer of 2021.
31:07So good on target, as they say. I also think because Walmart had taken so much oxygen out of the room, and I think Walmart, and I'm reading reports from the street, Wolf had a note where they said they actually think that same-store sales could be a little messier than people think. You have a dynamic here where they're moving in two different directions in terms of the trends on same-store sales and the overall merchandising mix. And I think giving room to other names because Walmart is such a massive name and it's been everybody's favorite stock, not so much.
31:37Tim Seymour:Yeah. Carter, quick on Walmart.
31:38Guy Adami:Well, I mean, to Tim's point, it's not just Walmart. It's Walmart, it's Costco, it's TJX, the three biggest winners of all. It's just the same circumstances in the market overall. The winners, the high flyers are under pressure. its rotation, and people are doubling back and finding laggards and trying to play them. All right.
31:56Tim Seymour:Coming up, the next move for Japan, why the U.S. just swooped in to bolster the long struggling yen and the major implications it could have for markets. Fast Money's back right after this. Missed a moment of fast? Catch us anytime on the go. Follow the Fast Money Podcast. We're back right after this.
32:23Tim Seymour:Welcome back to Fast Money. Stocks in rally mode to start the week. The Dow rising nearly 700 points to record close to close up records. Excuse me. The S &P gaining a percent and a half. The Nasdaq rose over two percent. Exxon and Chevron lower after President Trump said the companies made, quote, too much money on high oil prices tied to the Iran war. Both companies reported profit windfalls in their latest quarters. Exxon ending down just a quarter of a percent, while Chevron fell nearly two percent. And some stocks on the move after reporting in the last hour on semi-surging after topping estimates, saying it expects AI data center revenue to more than double this year.
32:56Tim Seymour:Whirlpool dropping after missing estimates and cutting full year guidance, setting an updated interest expense outlook. And Snap soaring after revenues and daily active users came in ahead of expectations. You can watch, by the way, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel in a CNBC exclusive interview tomorrow morning, 8, 10 a.m. Eastern time on Squawk Box. I didn't want to go to oil because you said last week that for sure all these companies would have targets on their backs because of their strong quarterly report. Yeah, that's what we got right. And it was pretty I thought over the weekend you'd hear it on the weekend shows.
33:27But you heard it from the president directly again talking about how well these companies are doing. And I'm saying vilifying, but saying we need to get prices down. So I think the stocks were definitely in the crosshairs. By the way, the quarters were really, really strong. I think these stocks should continue to go higher. But for a couple of days, at least you can see what the problem is going to be.
33:44Tim Seymour:I mean, he singled out Chevron and its CEO, Mike Wirth, saying, oh, well, you should be thankful to President Trump and the great administration. Venezuela, exactly. And I guess what's fascinating here is a political base that's very supportive of these oil companies. So it's, you know, this is politics and this is how you have to play it. And ultimately, it's not a reason to run away from the oil companies. That free cash flow dynamic that was well beyond high expectations is something I think you can still invest behind. I think they continue to re-rate. Carter, would you rather integrated or refiners right now?
34:21Guy Adami:Well, the refiners are pretty darn stretched. I'd rather go after Exxon or Chevrolet. I mean, that was very succinct.
34:30Tim Seymour:That's good, yeah. I mean, he could have played it up a little bit. Well, Mel, since you're asking me to play the game, which I enjoy. He doesn't engage in such competition. No, Tom Fullery. I know this. All right, let's get to the yen. Strengthening today after the U.S. stepped in to buy the Japanese currency over the weekend. It was the first intervention since 1998. The yen hit its lowest levels in almost 40 years last week. For more on the ripple effects of the move, FedWatch Advisors founder and CIO Ben Emmons joins us now. Ben, great to see you. Good to see you, Mel. It was good to be on.
34:58Tim Seymour:It was a coordinated intervention, which maybe is more important. And I'm wondering how long you think this works for. Yeah, that is actually an open question because, you know, this is the first time they do coordinate it. And as I looked at the data, there was a big spike in yen volume on Thursday. But on Friday, the euro volume, which the Treasury traded in, was actually really low or nothing. So my guess is they're going to come back with more, Mel. They're going to try to push this yen a little lower. And I got to note that the yen is hovering just above 155 to the dollar, which is a pretty key technical support from since 2022 move.
35:38So I think that they're going to try to break through that. And that could give us a little bit more rally in this yen. Now, we know what happened two years ago in August of 2024 when yen strength led to this carry unwind, this yen carry unwind. So I have to watch that, too, because if you're getting more squeeze on the yen down, stronger yen, And then that carry trade comes to play. Ben, Tim, what's a more powerful force for the BOJ and the political cycle at home in Japan? Is it inflation that clearly is in Japan and something that is starting to bite the consumer? Or is it the fact that it's been such a tailwind for Japanese exporters?
36:16The Japanese stock market is one of the best performers in the world on very long Japan. I would be concerned about an overly significant move in the unappreciation. Yeah, I think that's right, Tim, because it has been a major tailwind and they've been very careful with raising rates. Now, also because the banking system sits in so many JGBs, there's a lot of risk there. And then this inflation picture in the meantime is accelerating and they are relying almost 90 percent of their energy imports from the Strait of Hormuz. So I think what we're dealing with here is that this is maybe the compromise, get the yen somewhat stronger to the dollar and the euro, but not such extent that it affects their export machine or their banking system for that matter.
37:01So I think once the yen sort of like pears out, which is going to happen with these interventions, this is actually a buy, right? The Nikkei becomes interesting. That's kind of traded off from the high. I think there will be an opportunity. And Treasury getting involved suggests everybody realizes this is a problem. I would say all roads lead to gold on the back of this. Any thoughts on that? Yeah, it would be a difficult road here, Guy, because the history of interventions, even the coordinated ones, at some point the market knows that they're in the market, so it doesn't have much surprise element.
37:35If you look at this data, they have something like one to one, a half trillion of a war chest, if you will, but that would include also selling treasuries. So there's a limit to how much they can do. So the only way they can actually get the yen really materially down would be a peg on the yen. And that requires like a really significant policy commitment on both sides, which I don't think will happen. So I think the yen intervention will be with us for the next sort of week to two weeks. But then it fades off.
38:03Tim Seymour:There are some talk then that there is beyond what happened recently that in September there will be coordinated central bank action that both will hike. Do you believe that's going to happen? We're going to see both banks hike rates. So that's interesting dynamic, Mel, because the Bank of Japan will raise rates again. They've signaled that. But we know with the Fed what's happening. So we don't know exactly about that. But if they both do that, then you're not going to see much of a yen strength from here. I mean, if anything, I think the dollar would actually rally more on a Fed hike, given what's happening with our economy and what happened last Wednesday, and the way interest rates reacted to the press conference.
38:46So I think it's an interesting way of thinking about it. My guess is that they will stay coordinated to an extent, but it actually puts the yen in some sort of a range once they hike both. My guess is we're going to end up somewhere in the 150 to 155 range on the dollar yen if they both hike interest rates.
39:05Tim Seymour:All right. Ben, good to see you. Thank you. Thank you. Ben Emmons of FedWatch. By the way, be sure to catch Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Squawk Box. That's tomorrow, 730 a.m. Eastern time, right here on CNBC. So I'm sure he'll get a lot of questions about this intervention and coordinated action. At what point do you start getting concerned about your Japanese stock holdings? Well, I think somewhere kind of around 154, there's some levels there that I think would really trigger next level down or strengthening of the yen. I do think Japan is certainly still considered an export economy.
39:36I think the Japanese banks would be most exposed here. And I do think that there's a credit dynamic at some point. All of this should, though, help the rates dynamic. And what we've seen with JGB yields is they've been moving in the other direction of the currency that's been depreciating. So that would take some pressure off the banks.
39:53Tim Seymour:What do you see in Japan, Carter?
39:56Guy Adami:Well, I mean, the sell-off is sort of in the same time frame as it was the Nikkei sell-off, as the Kaspi, the Taiwan Stock Exchange, the U.S. SOX index and so forth. But it was the most sort of mild of all, dropping only 17 percent, where those others have dropped much more. My hunch is to play the Nikkei for a bounce here.
40:16Tim Seymour:And I think when you look at markets today, you're seeing oil down and rates are down, which markets are liking. But what this does risk is that there has to be treasuries that are sold off in order to support this, which could potentially send rates higher. And I think that's one of the concerns here, which would put into question your longer duration assets. So I don't think we're there yet, but I think that's why you need to watch this. Coming up, a screaming biotech buy, the technical signals that have the chart master turning bullish on Amgen and the key levels for investors to watch when Fast Money returns.
40:48Tim Seymour:Welcome back. Shares of Amgen, down ahead of its earnings report tomorrow afternoon. Shares of the biotech hit a record on Thursday, and the chartmaster says there are more gains to come. Carter, what do you see?
40:58Guy Adami:Well, let's get right to it. So I have five charts, four daily and then one long term. So here is Amgen's chart with no judgments. Let's go ahead and annotate it. First iteration of three more. It's all very symmetrical, right? The sell-off since March 2nd, the recovery right back to the level from which the sell-off occurred. And here we are trading exactly at the former high. Another way to draw the lines, just to reiterate just how remarkably similar the recovery has been to the preceding sell-off, literally the same number of days, weeks, hours down, and then right back up. The sort of technical way to draw it, next chart would be whether you call it an ascending wedge or an ascending triangle.
41:44Guy Adami:This setup more often than not is resolved higher, where you come away from a peak, return to it, and then that's what a breakout candidate is. Final chart. This is a long term, and these are perfectly mathematical 45 degree lines. The stock has ascended north by northeast, higher, steadily higher, never getting extended for the past 10 years. Just to get to that upper boundary is about 412. And that's a nice sort of 8, 9 % move from here. And we think it's right to be long into earnings. Guy. They have$6 billion drugs. I mean, valuation is definitely not a concern. If there is a concern, it comes in the form of that trend, which we're at the upper end of.
42:26And the fact that of the 35 analysts that cover it, the average price target is about 358, which is obviously lower than we are now. So this would be a classic breakout. You need them absolutely to crush on the revenue side, which I think they're capable of doing. We've seen it before. I think they've beaten revenue 18 in the last 20 quarters, and I think they've beaten EPS 16 in the last 20. So it's poised for this type of move.
42:50Tim Seymour:By the way, there's a lot of pharma earnings out this week in particular, Lilly, Novo, Merck, Pfizer. Yeah, and Pfizer for sure looking for that catalyst. I would just go also to even a Biogen, which is the B in Timbo. That's the B in Timbo. As a similar chart. Lakembi is a catalyst. It's certainly been a catalyst to upgrades. I think you look at what's going on in the pharma space today. There was a big, you know, at least a lot of noise around AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers and certainly didn't behave well for AstraZeneca stock, which I am long. So there is some talk and we've talked about this a lot.
43:25There's a lot of money in pharma, M &A, biotech, for sure.
43:29Tim Seymour:Yeah, I think that AstraZeneca news was a big headline today because you're seeing a lot of M &A in this space as they're really having to buy up for their next leg of growth here. And I think you're going to continue to see that. So especially on these earnings reports, I think you want to start to listen to what's next here. Coming up, transports trucking higher inside the stocks leading the group this year. And whether the latest bounce is just a pit stop or the start of a longer rally. More Fast Money in two.
43:58Tim Seymour:Welcome back to Fast Money. Airline stocks taking off today. Frontier, Alaska, United and American taking off after President Trump backed down from further strikes in Iran. Cruise lines also sailing higher. Norwegian cruise line rising nearly 6 percent. Carnival and Royal Caribbean also seeing a boost today. The move's helping the transports, which have quietly been outperforming the rest of the market this year. The group's 18 percent gain, handily beating the broader industrial sector and more than doubling the performance of the S &P. Tim, you flagged this one. Yeah, it's a lot more than the S &P.
44:28In fact, it's probably a three-bagger to the S &P. And last week was a particularly bad week for transports. Obviously, in the early part of the week, as oil prices went higher, we know the impact there for airlines and related. But it's the rails that were big underperformers. And honestly, there was some bad earnings, but ultimately, I think the whole group got taken down. There's some rotation. I think you go back into that trade. I do think that the numbers there have been fantastic. And I like the rails and the airlines. I'm sorry, real quick. UPS reported that stocks total of 7%. It had a big move into earnings, but I think the pullback, you got to buy it.
45:01I think valuation is still compelling here. And I think analysts probably offside. So I think UPS goes higher.
45:06Tim Seymour:Carter, what in transports do you like?
45:09Guy Adami:Well, rail's a little stretched. Of course, it's a price weighted index, right? So Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific are almost 20 percent of the entire Dow Jones transportation. Those two, I think they're extended. I would double back and favor things like airlines here.
45:24Tim Seymour:Yeah, and I think this, again, it's a really good sign of the broader economy. You're seeing that things are moving right now, which is exactly what you want to see. And I do think this is something you want to be into, especially if you see geopolitical risk is coming down here, which it is. That will, again, improve the space even more so. So I think you absolutely want to be in here. And Guy's a doubt theorist, so he likes this move. Well, Charles and I went to school together, so I was very proud of him when he came up with that. Rest in peace. Up next, Final Trades. Rest in peace.
45:59Tim Seymour:Final trade time. Carter Braxton North are worth charting.
46:02Guy Adami:EJX has stalled, and we think it's in Trumbullet, Walmart, and Costco. They're not a place to be. We're sellers. Timbo. We've got a couple weeks until Walmart and Target, but Target, same store sales. I think they're going to surprise. Second half comps are easy. I think the multiple continues to move higher.
46:19Tim Seymour:Courtney. Ahead of earnings here, I take a look at Caterpillar. It's down almost a quarter from its highs right now, so I think I'd take a look here. Mass exodus at Shea. I mean, they're jettisoning players left and right. Why would we give him so much time today? It's going to be amazing if they could field a team. Mel was just saying it before. Look, those are some great moves by the Yankees, too. And if you're expecting those three old guys to get back on the playing field. Anyway, what's your final strike? It would be Alibaba, Tim. Oh, it's not the beam, Timbo. Thanks for watching Fast Mad Money with Jim Cramer starts right now.
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From the publisher
A market rally kicking off the week as major indexes trade at near all-time highs with software leading the gains. The traders break down what caused the historic trading day after weeks of mega-cap losses, plus key after-hours earnings from Palantir and Onsemi. Then, the Japanese Yen trading at near 40-year lows sparking U.S. intervention. Ben Emons of FedWatch Advisors lays out the best positioning in the Treasury market after intervention, and how to trade the volatile Yen. Plus, Airlines soaring higher, Boeing getting a double upgrade, and why it might be time to buy Amgen.
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