‘Sell America’ Is Back as Moody’s Pushes 30-Year Yield to 5%

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Longer-dated Treasury yields rose to the psychological 5% level and S&P 500 Index futures slid with the dollar after a downgrade of the US’s credit score by Moody’s Ratings increased concerns over the nation’s debt.

📊 Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures sink after Moody's downgrades US credit rating: US stock futures took a hit on Monday as Wall Street processed Moody's downgrade of the US credit rating and new developments in President Trump's tariff salvos.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped around 340 points, or 0.8%. Contracts tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were down 1.2% and 1.6%, respectively. Yahoo Finance reports.

🏦 Trade deals take center stage: What to know this week: Growing investor confidence on US trade deals has sent stocks to their highest levels in more than two months, but Moody's Friday downgrade is now weighing on the market.

On Friday, the ratings agency downgraded the US sovereign credit rating by one notch, becoming the final major agency to do so, due to worries over the country’s mounting $36 trillion debt. Yahoo Finance reports.

🖥️ Qualcomm to launch data center processors that link to Nvidia chips: Qualcomm on Monday said it plans to launch processors designed for data centers to power artificial intelligence, which will link to Nvidia’s chips. Nvidia’s graphics processing units have become a critical component in data centers used to train huge AI models that power applications like chatbots. They are often paired with a central processing unit — a market dominated by Intel and AMD.

Qualcomm said it is planning to launch a custom CPU for the data center that can connect to Nvidia’s GPUs and software. A link to Nvidia’s infrastructure is key for any player hoping to crack into the data center given the relevance of the U.S. chip giant’s semiconductors for AI. CNBC reports.

💿 Intel debuts AI GPUs for workstation system as it works to gain ground on Nvidia, AMD: Intel is expanding its graphics chip offerings with the debut of its Arc Pro B50 and B60 series workstation cards.

The options, starting at $299 and $500 and higher, respectively, are designed for customers who don't necessarily need or want to use cloud-based AI processors from the likes of Amazon, Google, or Microsoft. Yahoo Finance reports.

👩‍💻 Microsoft hosts developer conference as focus grows on AI profits: Microsoft hosts its annual software developer conference in Seattle on Monday, drawing thousands of coders looking to turn the past years of investments into artificial intelligence into profitable products and services for consumers and businesses.

The Redmond, Washington-based software giant, which is an investor and deep strategic partner with ChatGPT creator OpenAI, and has already spent $64 billion this year, much of it on data centers needed for AI-based services such as Copilot used in its popular Microsoft 365 applications. Reuters reports.

🤖 Nvidia announces humanoid robotics, customer AI infrastructure offerings at Computex 2025: Nvidia rolled into this year’s Computex Taipei tech expo on Monday with several announcements, ranging from the development of humanoid robots to the opening up of its high-powered NVLink technology, which allows companies to build semi-custom AI servers with Nvidia’s infrastructure.

The announcements come as Nvidia rides a recent hot streak after the US announced it was scrapping the Biden administration’s AI diffusion rules that would have put limits on which countries could buy the company’s AI chips. Yahoo Finance reports.

💸 Blackstone to acquire TXNM Energy in $11.5 billion deal: Blackstone's infrastructure unit will acquire TXNM Energy in a $11.5 billion deal, including debt, the utility firm said on Monday.

Reuters reported last week that Blackstone was in talks to buy the New Mexico and Texas-focused utility, citing people familiar with the matter. Reuters reports.

✈️ Airbus in talks with Malaysian airlines for its A220 planes: European planemaker Airbus is holding talks with airlines in Malaysia for its A220 aircraft, state news agency Bernama said on Monday, citing a top company executive.

Airbus sees potential for the A220 in Malaysia, where about 150 of its other commercial planes operate, said Anand Stanley, the firm's Asia-Pacific president, and it expects about 400 further orders for future delivery, the agency said. Reuters reports.

(All pricing and percent gains are based on Early Pre-Market from 4:00 AM to 7:00 AM Eastern Time)
Benzinga reports.

1) $HKPD: Hong Kong Pharma Digital

Total gain: +45.11%

2) $SXTC: China SXT Pharmaceuticals

Total gain: +34.58%

3) $MOVE: Movano

Total gain: +26.47%

4) $NUWE: Nuwellis

Total gain: +20.12%

5) $ADGM: Adagio Medical Holdings

Total gain: +16.94%

The closing price of the top three market percent gainers trading near or above $3 on May 16.
Benzinga reports.

*All pricing and percent gains are based on regular market trading hours from 9:30am to 4:00pm Eastern Time

1) $INZY: Inozyme Pharma

Total gain: 178.87%

BioMarin Pharmaceutical and Inozyme Pharma announced that BioMarin has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Inozyme for $4.00 per share in an all-cash transaction, for a total consideration of approximately $270 million. Benzinga reports.

2) $TSSI: TSS

Total gain: +74.2%

The company reported results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2025. Revenues totaled $99.0 million, an increase of 523% compared to the first quarter of 2024. Gross profit increased by 239% to $9.2 million. Net income was $3.0 million, up from $15,000 in the prior-year period. Benzinga reports.

3) $SYTA: Siyata Mobile

Total gain: +71.21%

The stock appeared to be moving on no notable news.

Time (ET) / Report / Period

8:45 am - New York Fed President John Williams speech

8:45 am - Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson speech

10:00 am - U.S. leading economic indicators - April

"Risk means more things can happen than will happen."

- Howard Marks

Sourced in:
“The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor” by Howard Marks, published in 2011