👀 Meta And Anduril ?!

+ Fed Chair Powell meets with Trump at the White House

May 29, 2025

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Good afternoon! GameStop jumped headfirst into crypto this week, scooping up $512 million worth of Bitcoin — but Wall Street isn’t cheering. After an early pop to nearly $36, shares tumbled hard, sliding over 5% Thursday and wiping out most of the week’s gains. CEO Ryan Cohen says they’re playing the long game, but investors don’t seem sold on the retailer’s pivot into the Bitcoin treasury playbook.

It’s not just GameStop feeling the crypto chill — Bitcoin has slipped more than 5% since its all-time high last week, now hovering around $106,000.

MARKETS

  • Nvidia’s strong earnings report helped pull the S&P 500 and Nasdaq up 0.4% and nudged the Dow 0.3% higher. But despite the early rally, gains cooled as investors stayed wary, watching the unfolding legal fight over President Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs. Big tech led the charge, but Wall Street is still hungry for clearer signals.

  • A federal appeals court let Trump’s sweeping tariffs stay (for now), just a day after another court tried to block them, keeping markets guessing. Meanwhile, EU and US trade leaders crept forward in talks, and Trump pressed Fed Chair Jerome Powell to cut rates — the first time they’ve met since 2019. Investors may have gotten a rally, but the uncertainty isn’t going anywhere.

STOCKS
Winners & Losers

What’s up 📈

  • C3. ai surged 20.76% after reporting a smaller-than-expected loss and strong revenue growth. ($AI)

  • Veeva Systems soared 19% after beating Wall Street estimates on both revenue and earnings. ($VEEV)

  • E.l.f. Beauty jumped 23.58% on strong earnings and the announcement it will acquire Haley Bieber’s Rhode brand. ($ELF)

  • Boeing climbed 3.32% after CEO Kelly Ortberg detailed a turnaround plan centered on boosting 737 Max production. ($BA)

  • Moderna rose 3.38% even after the Trump administration pulled $766 million in bird flu vaccine funding. ($MRNA)

  • Li Auto added 2.11% after beating Q1 forecasts, though it issued softer guidance. ($LI)

What’s down 📉

  • SentinelOne tumbled 11.59% after missing revenue estimates and lowering its sales forecast. ($S)

  • HP sank 8.27% after missing on profits and cutting full-year guidance despite solid revenue. ($HPQ)

  • Best Buy dropped 7.27% after beating earnings but missing revenue and warning on prices and outlook. ($BBY)

  • Salesforce slipped 3.30% despite a beat-and-raise report, as shareholders remained unimpressed. ($CRM)

AR/VR
Meta Teams With Anduril, Palmer Luckey on Army VR Bid

Remember when Meta (then Facebook) booted Palmer Luckey after his political donations drama? Well, plot twist: Luckey and Zuckerberg are back in business — and this time, they’re aiming not at your social feed, but at the Pentagon.

Meta and Palmer Luckey’s defense unicorn Anduril just announced EagleEye, a sci-fi-esque military headset packed with AR, VR, sensors, and AI. Designed to help U.S. soldiers detect drones, identify hidden targets, and control autonomous weapon systems, the gear is part of a broader $22 billion Army wearables initiative. With Microsoft stumbling on its earlier defense contract, Anduril swooped in as lead vendor — and bringing Meta along boosts both hardware and AI credibility.

This isn’t just about shiny helmets. It’s another milestone in Big Tech’s growing courtship with defense, a space traditionally dominated by legacy contractors like Lockheed Martin. Meta has quietly hired former Pentagon insiders and opened its AI models to military applications — an ideological shift for a company once laser-focused on ads and consumer software.

Why It Matters

For Meta, defense work offers a new growth lane as social media hits saturation and regulatory heat rises. For Anduril, it’s a chance to leverage Meta’s deep AI stack and VR expertise. And for the military? Faster, cheaper access to cutting-edge tech — plus a glimpse of the startup culture Washington once kept at arm’s length.

Zooming Out: Palantir’s market-smashing 616% rally since late 2023 shows how much investors crave the blend of Silicon Valley innovation + defense money. Meta’s own 82% rise suddenly looks humble next to Palantir’s sky-high 66x forward sales multiple. With EagleEye, Zuckerberg isn’t just chasing tech cred — he’s chasing market love, too.

Bottom line: What once looked like a messy split is now a power alliance — and it could reshape how America’s biggest tech firms gear up for the battlefield.

NEWS
Market Movements

FED
Fed Chair Powell meets with Trump at the White House

President Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell met face-to-face for the first time since Trump’s second inauguration, and it didn’t take long for sparks to fly. Trump leaned hard on Powell, urging him to lower interest rates to keep the U.S. competitive against China and other global rivals. “It’s a mistake not to cut,” the president told Powell, according to the White House, underscoring his frustration with the Fed’s cautious stance.

Fed Holds the Line on Data-Driven Policy

Powell’s message back? The Fed doesn’t take marching orders from the Oval Office. The central bank released a statement confirming that Powell stressed monetary policy will follow incoming economic data, not political pressure. Fed officials are particularly wary of the ripple effects from Trump’s expanding tariffs, which they say could boost inflation while weighing on growth — making the case for patience, not quick cuts.

Markets Eye a Tense Standoff: For investors, the meeting reinforced that a rate cut isn’t coming soon. The Fed has held rates steady at 4.25–4.5% throughout 2025, and futures markets now see little chance of a cut before September. Minutes from the Fed’s last meeting reveal growing concern about “difficult tradeoffs” ahead: How do you tame inflation when the economy is wobbling? Add in trade uncertainty, and the Fed’s hands are tied even tighter.

Trump’s pressure campaign echoes familiar frustrations from his first term, when he called Powell “a major loser” and floated firing him. But a recent Supreme Court ruling has made clear: Powell’s job is safe, and the Fed’s independence is intact. For now, Powell and his team are signaling they’ll stay the course, no matter how heated the White House rhetoric gets.

Bottom line: Trump can bring the heat, but Powell’s playing the long game — and Wall Street knows it.

Calendar
On The Horizon

Tomorrow

The big reveal lands tomorrow: April’s Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report, the Fed’s go-to inflation gauge. This snapshot captures price pressures across the month, even with all the recent tariff chaos tossed in.

Forecasts suggest PCE will tick down slightly from 2.3% to 2.2%, offering a brief sigh of relief. But economists warn the real tariff bite may not show up until summer reports. For now, we’re inching closer to the Fed’s 2% target — enjoy the calm before the next storm.

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