The Insomniac Hedge Fund Guy

Moderna shares jumped 177% in a single day after the company and partner Merck announced positive late-stage trial results for a personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine used alongside Merck's drug Keytruda. The move marks one of the largest single-day stock gains on the S&P 500 in roughly 18 years, though full data has not yet been published or peer-reviewed.

Agilent beat Wall Street's revenue and earnings expectations for its fiscal third quarter and raised its full-year 2026 guidance. Shares rose more than 3% in premarket trading after the report, as growth was broad-based across all three business segments.

President Trump will meet Tuesday with major U.S. refiners including Chevron, Marathon Petroleum, Valero and PBF Energy to discuss expanding refining capacity and lowering gasoline prices. The meeting comes as refinery utilization hits an eight-year high of 97.4% and gas prices become a key midterm election issue.

General Mills shares have fallen to historically low levels, pushing the dividend yield to around 6.9% after a mixed fiscal Q1 2027 report. The company reaffirmed its full-year guidance and pointed to improving retail trends, even as pet food weakness and inflation remain challenges.

Barry Diller's People Incorporated withdrew its cash offer to buy the remaining public shares of MGM Resorts after concluding the deal couldn't meet necessary conditions. A day later, reports surfaced that MGM itself might be considering a takeover bid for People, flipping the direction of the takeover talks and moving both stocks.

Meta has integrated PayPal into its Muse AI shopping assistant, letting users move from product discovery straight to PayPal-powered checkout without leaving the chat. The news puts PayPal back in the spotlight as it pushes deeper into AI-driven commerce, even as its stock remains down over the past year.

The European Commission has proposed harmonised rules for short-term rentals across the EU, aiming to ease housing shortages in tourist hotspots. The move follows years of patchwork restrictions in cities like Paris, Barcelona and Venice, and could bring more consistent but potentially tighter oversight for Airbnb across the region.

Akamai shares rose after the company announced an expanded seven-year partnership with AI model maker Anthropic worth $11.6 billion, with the potential to grow to over $20 billion. As part of the deal, Anthropic also received warrants to acquire roughly 5% of Akamai's outstanding shares, tying the AI company's success directly to Akamai's stock performance.

GoDaddy shares surged after a report that Gen Digital, the company behind Norton and LifeLock, made a preliminary approach to buy it in a deal valued at $12 billion. Gen Digital's stock fell sharply on the same news, as investors questioned whether the security-software maker can afford or justify the purchase.

Allstate denied a burst-pipe damage claim filed by an 81-year-old Illinois homeowner, citing policy exclusions for wear and tear and seepage. After her story spread on social media, filmmaker Tyler Perry paid off her $17,827.96 mechanic's lien and contributed further funds toward repairs, putting a spotlight on the insurer's claims decision.

Chevron CEO Mike Wirth says the mechanisms that had been cushioning oil markets from supply shocks have largely been used up. With the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut and a major Saudi pipeline offline, crude prices have pushed near $101 a barrel and diesel hit a record $6.23 a gallon.

Albemarle named BHP commercial chief Ragnar Udd as its next CEO, effective February 2027, with current CEO Kent Masters shifting to executive chairman. The move comes as Albemarle navigates a prolonged lithium price slump while betting on a rebound driven by grid-scale energy storage demand.

CoStar Group shares traded lower following data showing U.S. retail asking rent growth slowed to 1.6% year-over-year in Q2 2026, the slowest pace in over a decade. The deceleration reflects normalizing market conditions rather than weakening demand, as elevated interest rates and tenant cost pressures limit landlords' pricing power.

Tesla reported record Q2 revenue of $28.2 billion, up 26% year-over-year, but profits fell sharply as the company ramped up spending on robotaxis, humanoid robots, and AI infrastructure. Capital expenditures hit $5.8 billion in the quarter, contributing to the company's first negative free cash flow in years. CEO Elon Musk said the massive investment push will continue through 2029.

AstraZeneca shares fell as much as 10.6% in London after its experimental heart disease drug Wainua failed a late-stage trial, missing expectations for a company known for consistent clinical success. The market reaction was roughly twice what analysts expected based on the drug's financial impact alone, suggesting investors are reassessing the premium they've placed on AstraZeneca's pipeline credibility.

Vertiv is buying Strategic Thermal Labs to strengthen its position in AI data center cooling, a rapidly growing market driven by heat-intensive AI chips. The company already produces thermal management and liquid cooling systems for data centers and co-develops solutions with Nvidia. Analysts expect Vertiv's adjusted EBITDA to grow at a 38% annual rate through 2028 as AI infrastructure spending accelerates.

Celsius Holdings reported disappointing Q2 2026 results with revenue of $817.93 million missing estimates and earnings per share halving year-over-year. Rockstar Energy founder Russ Savage then disclosed a 4.7% stake worth roughly $300 million and publicly called for replacing the CEO and senior management, intensifying scrutiny on the energy drink company's execution and portfolio strategy.

Albemarle has named Ragnar 'Rag' Udd, currently Chief Commercial Officer at BHP, as its next President and CEO, effective February 1, 2027. He will replace Kent Masters, who moves into an Executive Chairman role, as the lithium producer navigates a challenging pricing environment shaped by shifting demand.

The steel producer industry is dealing with soft demand from China and weak automotive and residential construction markets, but rising steel prices and strong non-residential construction activity are offsetting some pressure. Zacks highlights ArcelorMittal, Nucor, Steel Dynamics, and L.B. Foster as companies to watch within this uneven backdrop.

S&P Dow Jones Indices announced Illumina will join the S&P 500 index effective September 21, alongside Everpure. Despite the inclusion, Illumina shares actually fell 1.5% following the announcement, a less common reaction to this kind of news.

Bloom Energy is set to join the S&P 500 index in the September 21 quarterly rebalancing, replacing Molson Coors. Shares rose about 7% on the news as investors anticipate buying from index funds that must hold S&P 500 members.

GameStop released preliminary fiscal Q2 results showing sales falling to $780-800 million from $972.2 million a year earlier, tied to store closures and its France exit. Despite the sales drop, net income is expected to nearly double thanks largely to gains on its eBay stake, ahead of the full earnings report on September 8.

Lennar's third-quarter results met its own delivery targets but fell short of Wall Street's revenue and profit estimates as rising mortgage rates and resale competition squeezed demand. Despite the miss, shares ticked up slightly after the report, with investors focused on how the company plans to navigate a tougher affordability environment.