Polymarket Launches Trading of Heavily Leveraged 'Perps' Contracts
Polymarket announced it will launch trading of perpetual futures contracts, or “perps,” expanding its prediction‑market platform into leveraged crypto derivatives. The contracts will be settled in USDC and run on Ethereum and Polygon, though the firm has not confirmed whether crypto‑based perps are included. The move follows rival Kalshi’s plan to add crypto trading and puts both platforms in direct competition with Robinhood, Coinbase and Kraken. Last year the perps market hit $86.2 trillion in volume, up 47% year‑over‑year.
Judge Dismisses Kash Patel's Defamation Lawsuit over Claim He Frequented 'Nightclubs'
A federal judge in Houston dismissed FBI Director Kash Patel’s 2025 defamation lawsuit against former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi. The judge ruled Figliuzzi’s comment that Patel spent more time in nightclubs than at the Hoover building was rhetorical hyperbole, not a factual...
DOJ Charges Southern Poverty Law Center with Fraud over Secret Funding of Extremist Groups
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed an 11‑count indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center, alleging the nonprofit secretly paid at least $3 million to eight individuals linked to white‑supremacist groups between 2014 and 2023. The charges span six counts...
United Airlines Slashes 2026 Forecast as Fuel Costs Surge
United Airlines slashed its 2026 adjusted earnings outlook to $7‑$11 per share, down from $12‑$14, as jet‑fuel prices surged following the Iran conflict. The carrier posted a strong first quarter, delivering $1.19 adjusted EPS and $14.61 billion in revenue, a 10%...
Trump Says 'I'll Remember' Companies that Don’t Seek Tariff Refunds
President Donald Trump told CNBC he will "remember" U.S. companies that do not seek refunds for the tariffs he imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which the Supreme Court ruled illegal in a 6‑3 decision. A day later,...
European Stocks Set to Slump as Gulf Tanker Attacks Threaten Ceasefire
European equities are poised to open lower on Monday as renewed U.S.-Iran tensions threaten the fragile cease‑fire in the Gulf. The FTSE 100 is expected to dip 0.34%, while Germany's DAX could fall 1.1% and France's CAC 40 and Italy's...
From AI Shopping to Video, Alibaba Is Making the Investments Analysts Want to See
Alibaba accelerated its AI rollout in April, unveiling a suite of models including the 3‑D world model Happy Oyster and the video‑generation engine HappyHorse. The company’s AI spending jumped to roughly 20 billion yuan ($2.93 billion) in the March quarter, about twice...
Construction on Trump's White House Ballroom Can Continue for Now, U.S. Appeals Court Says
A three‑judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit temporarily lifted a district judge’s order that halted above‑ground construction of President Donald Trump’s proposed $400 million, 90,000‑square‑foot White House ballroom. The appeals court set a June 5 hearing...
Iran Says Strait of Hormuz Is Closed Again as Vessels Attempting to Cross Come Under Fire
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced the Strait of Hormuz is closed again after gunfire struck a tanker, reversing a brief reopening. Tehran warned any vessel attempting passage will be treated as cooperating with the United States and could be targeted. The...
Berkshire Shares Left Behind as S&P 500 Rallies to Record High
Berkshire Hathaway’s stock has lagged the S&P 500 as the index hit a record high, with year‑to‑date losses of about 4.7% versus the market’s gains. The gap between Berkshire B and the S&P widened to 9.7 percentage points on March 31, the...
These Chipmakers and Other Stocks Are Overbought After the Market Rally This Week
The S&P 500 posted its biggest one‑week gain since May, while the Nasdaq logged a 13‑day winning streak – the longest run since 1992. Technology stocks led the rally, with the information‑technology sector up 8% week‑to‑date, propelling chipmakers such as AMD,...
'It's Just Scale': Local Mom-and-Pop Car Dealerships Are Growing or Dying Amid Industry Consolidation, Rise of Mega-Retailers
Family‑owned Sylvester Chevrolet in rural Pennsylvania was sold to New York‑based Matthews Auto Group, marking another deal in a wave of dealership consolidation. The top 150 U.S. dealers now account for 27% of new‑vehicle sales, up from 24.3% in 2021, while...
Nvidia's Once-Tight Bond with Gamers Is Cracking over AI, 'and that Breaks My Heart'
Nvidia’s focus has shifted from its historic gaming base to AI‑driven data‑center GPUs, now accounting for the bulk of its revenue and delivering roughly 69% operating margins versus 40% in the consumer graphics segment. A memory crunch and higher‑margin AI...
Jim Cramer's Top 10 Things to Watch in the Stock Market Friday
Jim Cramer highlighted ten market catalysts for Friday, April 17, 2026, starting with the S&P 500 set to open higher after Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices down more than 9%. He noted a 20% jump in...
Dow Futures Rally 500 After Iran Declares Strait of Hormuz Open Amid Lebanon Ceasefire: Live Updates
U.S. stock futures jumped on Friday after Iran announced the Strait of Hormuz was "completely open" following the Israel‑Lebanon cease‑fire. Dow Jones futures rose 524 points (1.1%), while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.8% and 0.9% respectively. The geopolitical easing...