Investopedia Markets News (all except PF)

Bitcoin sank below $80,000 and crypto-linked stocks slipped amid a down day for broad markets.
Credit: Nikolas Kokovlis / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• The Senate moving its Clarity Act draft out of committee yesterday gave crypto stocks a short-lived boost.
• Shares of crypto-linked stocks including Strategy, Coinbase, and Robinhood slid, falling at least 4% as broad market indexes ticked lower and the price of bitcoin slipped below $80,000.

A risk-off day is taking some of wind out of crypto's sails.

Broad market indexes declined Friday, with stocks—including some high-profile, high-flying tech shares—retreating to end the week. That showed up in crypto, too: The price of bitcoin fell below $80,000 after spending much of May above that level, while leading crypto-linked stocks including Coinbase (COIN), Strategy (MSTR), Circle (CRCL) and Robinhood (HOOD) sank between 4% and 8%.

That same group was lifted just yesterday after the Senate's draft of the Clarity Act, a key industry bill that some have said would spur crypto markets higher, passed out of committee. Some digital-assets experts preferred to bide their time after Thursday's legislative news.

WHY THIS MATTERS TO YOU

The passage of the Clarity Act could spur a new wave of adoption and revive crypto markets, according to some experts; that theory could be tested soon as the bill gets closer to becoming law.

"While there are certainly reasons to take some profits here," Sean Farrell, head of digital assets strategy at Fundstrat, wrote in a note yesterday evening, referring to "sell-the-news" dynamics as well as stocks looking "increasingly stretched," he also said that he's "not rushing to make major adjustments in either direction."

Another step forward for the Clarity Act might give crypto and crypto-linked stocks another boost, but macroeconomic worries may be a hurdle. (Recently, stablecoin issuer Circle has been a particular beneficiary of movement in Washington.)

Traders appear to be pricing in a greater possibility of a rate hike this year, according to CME Group's FedWatch. Odds of a quarter-percentage-point hike at the Fed's October meeting rose were near 29% on Friday, up from under 7% last week, the data show.

Read Investopedia's full coverage of today's trading here.

Chip giant Nvidia is due to report results next week.
Credit: Alex Wong / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Some chip and AI-linked stocks were retreating to finish the week, marking a pause in the latest runup in tech.
• The iShares Semiconductor ETF was down nearly 3% in recent trading, while the Roundhill Memory ETF was off almost 5%.

The chips are down—a bit.

Chip stocks and shares of other companies linked to the red-hot AI trade stumbled Friday morning, cooling after a run that saw the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 at record highs to finish yesterday's session. Among the notable measures: The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) was down nearly 3% in recent trading as broader markets lost ground.

Investors are weighing a range of factors to close the week. Optimism about strong earnings reports and AI spending plans from big tech companies have spurred recent gains. Rising bond yields, meanwhile, may be weighing on stocks.

Markets watchers are also awaiting details about whether progress was made in allowing more advanced AI chips to be sold to Chinese companies after President Donald Trump visited China—and, looking ahead, the latest earnings report and outlook from stock-market giant Nvidia (NVDA), which is due to report its results next week.

Head of financial analysis at AJ Bell Danni Hewson wrote recently that with “a lot riding on” Trump’s trip to China, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s presence at the summit raising speculation about new deals, investors may have been expecting more developments that would boost sales.

For now, markets reflect a seeming touch of caution even as some experts have said tech shares may still command reasonable valuations.

Shares of Nvidia, which have lately pushed the company's market value above $5.5 trillion, were recently down nearly 3%. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was down more than 4%, while Arm Holdings (ARM) was off more than 8%.

Cerebras (CRBS), which had a hot first day after going public Thursday, were down more than 3%. Memory stocks slipped too: The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM), a massive gainer since its launch in April, was off more than 4%.

This article has been updated since it was first published to include additional analysis and reflect more recent prices.

News of the day for May 15, 2026

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite entered the day on track to post gains for the 7th consecutive week.
Credit: Michael Nagle / Bloomberg / Getty Images

Stock futures are pointing to a sharply lower open for major indexes this morning as oil prices rise; President Donald Trump said China would buy more American oil as a two-day summit in Beijing ended; Kevin Warsh is scheduled to be sworn in as head of the Federal Reserve today; chip stocks are stumbling after their recent rally; and SpaceX could unveil its IPO prospectus as soon as next week. Here's what investors need to know today.

Stocks Poised to Pull Back from Record Highs

Stock futures are stumbling this morning as investors await news on President Trump's discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping and keep tabs on developments in Iran. Futures tied to the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq, which each closed at record highs yesterday, were down 1.1% and 1.6%, respectively, as chip stocks fell sharply in premarket trading. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.8% after the blue chip index closed above 50,000 on Thursday for the first time since February. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite entered today on track to post gains for the seventh consecutive week.

West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, were up 3.4% at $104.60 per barrel after Trump said that China could buy more American oil (more on that below). Gold futures fell nearly 3% to $4,560 an ounce, while bitcoin was little changed at $80,500. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which affects interest rates on all sorts of consumer loans, was at 4.55%, up from 4.46% at yesterday's close and at its highest level in a year.

Trump Says China Could Buy More American Oil

President Trump said in a Fox News interview following his final meeting with China's President Xi that the two discussed China buying more U.S. oil to lessen its dependence on the Strait of Hormuz. Iran was also among the topics the presidents discussed in their two days of meetings, along with other potential trade deals that have not yet been finalized or announced. Trump also invited the Chinese president to the U.S. in September. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent oil and gas prices soaring in the last two months, and a lack of progress in peace talks to end the Iran war has kept them elevated.

Kevin Warsh Set to Be Sworn In as Fed Chair

Kevin Warsh is scheduled to be sworn in today as chair of the Federal Reserve after he was confirmed by the Senate earlier this week. President Trump nominated Warsh to replace Jerome Powell, who has served eight years in the role. Powell has said he will stay on as a member of the Fed's board of governors, a term that runs to 2028, at least until a federal investigation into his handling of the renovation of a Fed building has been fully concluded. Trump consistently criticized Powell for not cutting interest rates more aggressively to boost the economy, but it's far from clear that Warsh will be in a position to trim rates any time soon. Warsh takes over a divided Fed at a complex time for the economy, with the Iran war sending inflation surging, while the job market has been in a "low hire, low fire" mode in recent months.

Chip Stocks Stumble After Record Rally

Shares of a number of major chipmakers are stumbling this morning after leading the broader market's rally in recent weeks. Optimism about strong earnings reports and AI spending plans from big tech companies have spurred the recent gains, but investors are waiting to hear any official news about whether progress was made in allowing more advanced AI chips to be sold to Chinese companies. Shares of Nvidia (NVDA), Intel (INTC), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Micron (MU), Sandisk (SNDK), Western Digital (WDC) and Arm Holdings (ARM) are all sinking ahead of the opening bell. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) was down more than 3% in recent premarket trading.

SpaceX IPO Prospectus Could Come as Soon as Next Week

Investors could soon get more information about one of the most anticipated initial public offerings of the year. CNBC reported last night that SpaceX could disclose its first public prospectus as soon as next week. The Elon Musk-led space exploration, social media and AI company filed confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission back in April, and unveiling a prospectus detailing the company's operations and finances for the investment community is the next step. SpaceX executives are planning to launch a "roadshow" to discuss the IPO with institutional investors in mid-June, the report said, with a prospectus needing to be filed at least 15 days before such a campaign starts.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (pictured) will lead a must-listen earnings call next Wednesday after the chip giant's results.
Credit: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Nvidia is slated to report quarterly earnings Wednesday afternoon, a market-moving event that could be critical for sustaining Wall Street's AI bullishness.
• Expectations are high heading into the print, and investors have sold Nvidia stock in the wake of its last three better-than-expected earnings reports.

Here comes the big one.

Nvidia (NVDA) is slated to report earnings after the close on Wednesday. The chip behemoth’s report has become a must-watch event for investors, up there in importance with Federal Reserve meetings and Liberation Days: The pace of Nvidia’s growth—for now, growth is a given—affects more than just the price of the stock market’s most important, and most valuable, company. It can reinforce or disrupt the mood on Wall Street, where returns are increasingly driven by a single theme: AI. 

Lately, Wall Street has been bullish on AI. Chip and memory stocks are surging on booming demand from AI data centers. Demand for fiberoptic cables has made Corning (GLW), a glass maker, one of the S&P 500’s best-performing stocks this year. Nvidia is up more than 40% since late March, and closed at a record high for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday. 

Why This Matters To Investors

Artificial intelligence has been the driving force behind the stock market for the past three years. Nvidia, as the most valuable U.S. company and arguably the most important supplier in the AI supply chain, has an outsized impact on how investors feel about the AI boom.

Nvidia’s rally has pushed its market capitalization up to $5.7 trillion, more than any company in history and almost $1 trillion more than the next-largest company. As such, its stock has more influence than any other over the direction of capitalization-weighted indexes like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. It accounts for 8.6% of the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), one of America’s most widely held ETFs. The next largest component, Apple (AAPL), accounts for 6.9%. 

To demonstrate how much influence the multi-trillion dollar companies have over the S&P 500, consider last week. According to Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist at LPL Financial, three-quarters of the S&P 500’s 2.3% gain last week was attributable to just five stocks: Nvidia, Micron (MU), Apple, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Intel (INTC). Micron, AMD, and Intel all rose more than 25%, yet Nvidia’s comparatively modest 8% gain was the biggest contributor to last week’s gains. The feat is all the more impressive considering that more than half of S&P 500 stocks declined.

As the biggest beneficiary of AI data center spending, Nvidia’s results have become a bellwether for AI demand. Several of the so-called hyperscalers—Alphabet (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META), and Oracle (ORCL)—bumped up their AI spending forecasts in recent earnings reports. The tech giants are now expected to spend more than $700 billion on infrastructure and equipment this year, at least a 60% increase from 2025. 

Nvidia has cemented its place at the center of the AI infrastructure supply chain with a slew of partnerships and investments that have at times raised eyebrows. This year alone it’s announced new or expanded partnerships with OpenAI, Marvell (MRVL), Corning, CoreWeave (CRWV), Nebius (NBIS), and IREN (IREN). As part of all of those deals, Nvidia either invested in the partner or was given the right to. 

Wall Street’s bullishness of late has revived the AI bubble debate. Analysts at Wolfe Research on Wednesday predicted tech stocks were “overdue for at least a consolidation of gains.” But they also see Nvidia’s earnings report as one of the only catalysts that can keep the rally going. The near-term bull case, they said, depends on oil prices dropping sharply from an end to the Iran war, or Nvidia’s results “materially surprising to the upside” enough to reinvigorate animal spirits. 

Surprising to the upside may be a tall order given investors' already high expectations. Analysts tracked by Visible Alpha expect that revenue grew by 78% last quarter, its fastest pace since late 2024 when sales were about half what they are today. Profit is expected to have more than doubled, also its fastest growth rate since 2024.

To be sure, Nvidia could report another blowout—and see its stock go nowhere. The company has reliably topped earnings estimates since 2023, yet shares haven’t risen the day after an earnings report since this time last year. Nvidia may need to surpass expectations by a lot to impress investors, who’ve been reluctant to reward strong earnings over the past month. 

Gene Munster, co-founder of Deepwater Asset Management, is preparing for that outcome. “Investors question how the stock will react if growth slows from what will likely be 90% this year to 45% next year,” Munster wrote in an earnings preview last week. That uncertainty, he says, “has created a dynamic in which the company’s fundamentals continue to improve beyond even the highest expectations, yet the stock’s reaction remains muted.”

Americans are feeling the effects of inflation—and paying attention to its causes, experts say.
Credit: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Economists at Oxford Economics said the Iran war is pushing prices for energy and other things more than it otherwise would if people weren't paying so much attention to it.
• Economists generally believe people's expectations about inflation affect how they spend their money and make business decisions, which influences actual prices.

You're reading about inflation—which could mean you're contributing to it. (Sorry about that!)

Economists at Oxford Economics in an analysis released Wednesday said the Iran war is pushing prices for energy and other things more than it otherwise would if people weren't paying so much attention to it. The analysis shows how inflation can be a psychological phenomenon as well as a physical one—notable at a time when real-world factors including tariffs and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz are also stoking inflation.

"The inflationary impact of the Middle East oil supply disruption is being amplified because it's arriving during a period of intense inflation scrutiny," Daniel Harenberg, lead economist at the research group, wrote in the paper. "Having recently suffered through multiple price shocks, households and firms are now more sensitive to inflationary news."

Why This Matters to You

Economists say that inflation can been pushed higher by attention. In current terms, that suggests that a closely watched war in Iran, which has powered rising energy prices, is driving inflation in both practical and psychological terms.

Economists generally believe people's expectations about inflation affect how they spend their money and make business decisions, which influences actual prices. When inflation expectations are high, the theory goes, workers demand higher wages and businesses raise prices more.

"When inflation attention is high, firms react more sharply to inflationary news and adjust prices faster," Harenberg wrote. "Households revise their inflation expectations more readily, fuelling stronger wage demands."

Harenberg estimated that prices in major economies worldwide will rise 0.6% to 0.7% more in 2026 than they might have otherwise because of the "high attention."

U.S. prices rose 3.8% over 12 months ending in April according to the Consumer Price Index.

A simple way to measure attention is by how much people google the word "inflation." Those searches have risen lately, approaching the level they reached in 2022 when inflation surged to its highest in a generation, Harenberg found.

Still, Harenberg found the attention span of the public is limited, and the "high attention" effect on inflation tends to fade after a year; next year, he estimated, the effect could be in the range of 0.3% to 0.5%. Still, the research suggests the risks of inflation accelerating are greater than most forecasts currently estimate, especially if the Iran war isn't settled anytime soon. If so, the Federal Reserve may have no choice but to raise interest rates to counteract inflation using monetary policy.

"If the Strait of Hormuz remains closed for longer, as seems increasingly likely, the upside risk to inflation and policy rates would rise substantially," Harenberg wrote.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is among a group of tech executives attending a summit in China along with officials from the Trump administration.
Credit: Alex Wong / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Nvidia shares rallied to a fresh record Thursday in the wake of reports CEO Jensen Huang is attending a summit in China with President Trump, and that the chipmaker could be closer to selling more of its chips to China.
• Nvidia is set to report earnings next week, with analysts expecting rising revenues and profits.

Nvidia shares keep hitting new highs.

The AI chip leader's stock was up over 4% in recent trading, leaving it on track to close at a fresh high topping yesterday's record. It was one of the best-performing stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, on a day of broader gains for the major indexes. (For more from Investopedia on today's market moves, click here.)

Reports CEO Jensen Huang is attending a summit in China with President Trump, and that the chipmaker could be closer to selling more of its AI chips to China, have helped send the chipmaker's stock higher this week, amid improving sentiment around the AI trade. Several other AI hardware makers including Micron Technology (MU), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Intel (INTC) have also seen their stocks climb to new records recently.

Why This Matters to Investors

Nvidia's leading position in the AI space has made it the most valuable company in the world by market capitalization, and moves in its stock can influence a wide range of other tech stocks.

Reuters reported Thursday that the U.S. Commerce Department has approved about 10 Chinese companies as buyers of Nvidia's H200 chips, though none of the chips have been sold or delivered yet. Nvidia and the Commerce Department did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.

Nvidia and other chip stock have also gotten a boost recently from positive demand signals from Intel's results, along with rival AMD's, as big tech companies continue to spend heavily on AI hardware to build out data centers.

With Thursday's gains, Nvidia shares are up more than 25% since the start of the year, with the chipmaker's market capitalization approaching $6 trillion. As of Thursday afternoon, Nvidia's market cap hovered around $5.7 trillion.

The chipmaker's rally will face its next big test next Wednesday, when Nvidia will be the final Magnificent Seven company to report earnings for the quarter, with analysts forecasting growing sales and profits.

Shares of bitcoin miners turned data center developers have surged amid a frenzy for AI investments.
Credit: MARK FELIX / AFP / AFP via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Jefferies analysts said companies with bitcoin mining roots have a "head start" on addressing a projected shortfall in data center capacity.
• Shares of the five former bitcoin miners tapped by Jefferies in a new report have risen between 45% and 135% year-to-date.

There's another set of artificial intelligence plays hidden in plain sight. And their roots are in crypto.

Jefferies analysts on Thursday started coverage of a handful of bitcoin miner-turned AI data center developers, including Cipher Digital (CIFR), TeraWulf (WULF), Hut 8 (HUT), Riot (RIOT) and Core Scientific (CORZ) on Thursday, rating four of them a buy, and giving one a hold rating. The investment bank's mostly bullish report on those stocks lands after the group's torrid climb, with their stocks rising between 45% and 135% year-to-date—and the firm suggests that four of them can keep climbing.

These companies, the analysts say, have a power edge, with some already generating data center revenue or landing lease agreements with hyperscalers. Their ability to develop their capabilities this year will differentiate them, according to Jefferies.

WHY THIS MATTERS TO YOU

Bitcoin miners-turned data center developers are getting a warm reception from Wall Street analysts amid outsize investor demand for all things AI related.

"One of the largest bottlenecks is interconnected power, which is where these developers have a head start, as they are repurposing power sourced for BTC mining to pivot toward AI data center development," the firm's equity analyst Jonathan Petersen and his team said in their report.

The firm estimates that roughly 66 gigawatts of AI data center capacity will come online over the next five years, but the companies the bank covers only account for about 17%. Demand is likely to outstrip supply, which is where the former bitcoin miners' efforts to convert their power footprints would come in, the firm said.

Price targets set on the stocks that received a bullish rating—Cipher, Terawulf, Hut 8, and Core Scientific—imply upside between 18% and 48% from recent levels. The price target set on Riot, which received a neutral rating, is roughly where shares traded lately. Analysts tracked by Visible Alpha covering those stocks all have bullish ratings on them.

Shares of the buy-rated stocks are up between roughly 1% and near 5% so far Thursday. Read Investopedia's live coverage of today's trading here.

Thursday's gains put Cisco shares up more than 50% since the start of the year.
Credit: Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Cisco shares rallied after the networking hardware provider posted earnings that beat analysts' estimates and announced a plan to trim its staff.
• Cisco said it would cut roles to prioritize investments in AI, making it the latest tech company to cite AI as a major reason for layoffs.

Cisco's stock keeps hitting new highs as AI orders surge.

Shares of Cisco (CSCO) were up 15% in recent trading, setting a new record topping yesterday's high, a day after the networking giant posted earnings that beat estimates and announced layoffs to support its investments in AI.

Cisco said Wednesday that it will restructure "to invest in key growth opportunities including silicon, optics, security and AI," and that it would lead to about $1 billion in one-time charges for severance and other costs. Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins said the cuts would impact "fewer than 4,000 jobs, representing less than 5 percent of our total employee base." As of its latest annual report last July, Cisco had 86,200 total employees.

Why This Matters to Investors

Cisco is the latest to cut jobs because of AI. Several other companies including Cloudflare (NET) and Block (XYZ) have attributed recent layoffs to efficiencies created by AI. Some tech companies are also reducing workforces to shift spending to AI projects.

Cisco reported fiscal third-quarter revenue of $15.84 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.06 per share, both ahead of analysts' estimates compiled by Visible Alpha. Cisco said it expects fourth-quarter revenue to come in between $16.7 billion to $16.9 billion, with adjusted earnings per share of $1.16 to $1.18, well above what analysts had projected.

Analysts from JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley lifted their price targets to $120, while UBS analysts hiked theirs to $132 following the results, suggesting they still see room for Cisco's stock to rise from its recent level around $116. The JPMorgan analysts said that Cisco's years of investment in its supply chain leaves the company "in much better control of their destiny" than peers relying on other suppliers for some components.

With Thursday's gains, Cisco shares are up more than 50% since the start of the year.

Cerebras prices IPO at $185 a share amid strong demand; Traders got a big first-day pop

The AI chipmaker is set to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker "CBRS.”
Credit: Michael Nagle / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• AI chipmaker Cerebras raised more than $5 billion after pricing its upsized IPO at $185, above its guided range of $150 to $160.
• Shares of Cerebras opened well above their IPO price, losing some steam during the session but still ending well above their offer price.

A new AI play has coming to town. Traders expect big things.

Cerebras Systems started trading on the Nasdaq this afternoon under the ticker symbol "CBRS," and the stock finished well above its offer price but off intraday highs. Shares of the AI chipmaker, which priced its upsized IPO offering at $185, opened at $350, rose above $385 and then closed near $311. The company raised $5.55 billion after it expanded its offering by 2 million shares and boosted its guided price range by 30% earlier this week. At the end of its first trading day, the company's market valuation was at around $68 billion.

"We're in the early innings of a fundamental transformation, and AI is at the heart of that," Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman said Thursday morning on CNBC. The company moved to go public because it had "reached a stage" of maturity and felt it "was the right way to fund [the company's] growth," he said.

WHY THIS MATTERS TO YOU

Highly anticipated IPOs like that of Cerebras and SpaceX stand to help keep markets climbing, assuming their debut performances match the investor hype.

That it's both an AI stock and a chipmaker—two categories of stocks that have been surging lately—appealed to investors. Ahead of Cerebras' debut, prediction market bettors were already betting that its first day of trading would produce outsize returns. (Track Investopedia's full coverage of today's trading here.)

Polymarket bettors at one point expected Cerebras' market capitalization to rise even higher by the end of the day. The most popular bet in the afternoon reflected a more than 35% likelihood of it ending at $100 billion or more.

At a market capitalization of $100 billion, and based on the 220 million shares outstanding Cerebras will have assuming banks take their over-allotments of shares in full, prediction market bettors put Cerebras' closing price at roughly $455.

The stock closed roughly 68% higher than the IPO price, a big first-day pop to say the least. The median first-day return for IPOs between 1980 and 2025 was 7%, according to IPO expert and University of Florida business professor Jay Ritter, while the proceeds-weighted average, which accounts for the size of the raises, was 20%.

This article has been updated since it was first published to incorporate comment from Feldman and to mark the close of trading.

Economists have thought that higher gas prices would cause households to spend less in other areas.
Credit: Brandon Bell / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Retail sales stayed resilient, rising 0.5% in April from March.
• Spending on gasoline increased the most out of the major categories, rising 2.8% due to soaring prices from the Iran war. Taking out that surge, spending rose 0.3%.

Retail sales stayed resilient in April as Americans spent far more at gas stations, and a bit more at most other kinds of stores.

Spending at retailers rose 0.5% in April from March, not adjusted for inflation, down from a 1.6% monthly increase in March, the Census Bureau said Thursday. That was in line with the expectations of forecasters, according to a survey of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. The uptick was largely due to a 2.8% increase in sales at gas stations, reflecting a surge in prices driven by the energy crisis stemming from the Iran war. Taking out fuel, sales rose 0.3%.

What This Means For The Economy

The uptick in retail sales indicates that while consumers may be pessimistic, the lack of confidence hasn't yet translated into a reluctance or inability to spend, keeping the main engine of the U.S. economy running.

The acceleration of retail sales showed U.S. consumers staying resilient despite the drag from higher gas prices, surging inflation, and a deepening sense of pessimism about personal finances and the health of the economy, as shown in public opinion surveys. Consumer spending is the foundation of the U.S. economy, accounting for 68% of the Gross Domestic Product.

That foundation isn't crumbling, although the April report did show a few cracks. While sales increased in most categories, spending fell 3.2% at department stores, 0.4% on autos and parts, 1.5% on clothing, and 2% on furniture.

"Consumers aren’t in a recession, but they’re not powering the economy either," David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation, wrote in a commentary. "Higher inflation, tariffs and demographic changes have taken a toll on retail spending as a growth driver."