While you were watching the grill, Asia broke records

📊  Today’s Big Picture

Yesterday, US markets delivered the catch-up trade we previewed Monday.

• The S&P 500 (INDEX: SP500) closed at a record.
• The Nasdaq (INDEX: NASDAQ) closed at a record.
• The Russell 2000 (INDEX: RUT) closed above 2,900 for the first time in history.

Micron (NASDAQ: MU) jumped 19% on a single analyst note. The company joined the trillion-dollar club.

The 10-year yield fell 7 basis points. The bond market breathed.

But the Dow (INDEX: DJI) fell. Brent crude rose 3%. Bitcoin slid to $74,790.

Asia was right about almost everything. Just not oil.

Tonight at 4:00 PM ET, Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) reports.

At 4:05 PM ET, Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL) reports.

One company is down 32% this year. The other is up 130%. Both are AI plays.

At 8:30 AM ET tomorrow, April PCE inflation lands. Alongside Q1 GDP and jobless claims.

By the end of this issue, you will know what moved yesterday, what moves tonight, and what Thursday changes.

🔍  Signal vs. Noise

Three Headlines, Three Realities

1. The first headline this morning is that the catch-up trade printed.

• What the math says: the S&P 500 closed at 7,519.12. The Nasdaq at 26,656.18. The Russell 2000 at 2,920.54. All record closes.

The 10-year Treasury fell to 4.50%. The 2-year fell with it.

Micron hit a trillion-dollar market cap after UBS tripled its price target to $1,625.

But the Dow lost 118 points. Brent crude rose to $99.18 on fresh US strikes in Iran. Bitcoin (BTC) slid below $76,000.

Asia priced peace. Equities and bonds agreed. Oil did not.

2. The second headline is that Salesforce is the AI bear case.

• What the math says: Salesforce stock is down 32% year-to-date. The worst-performing Dow component.

A Jefferies survey of 20 channel partners last week found that 75% now name Anthropic as the biggest AI threat to Salesforce.

That number was 25% one quarter ago.

25% of partners reported seat reductions at renewal. That was 5% one quarter ago.

The chief product officer and the EVP of Agentforce both departed in May.

Tonight at 4:00 PM ET, Salesforce has to explain itself.

3. The third headline is that Marvell is the AI bull case.

• What the math says: Marvell stock is up 130% year-to-date.

The catalyst is Amazon’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) Trainium 2 chip. Marvell designs the custom silicon that powers it.

Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) raised its price target to $195 last week. Stifel (NYSE: SF) to $210. Citi (NYSE: C) to $215. HSBC (NYSE: HSBC) to $300. That is the Street high.

Insiders sold $29.9 million of stock in the past three months. Zero insider buys.

Tonight at 4:05 PM ET, Marvell has to justify the move.

🏛️ What The Smart Money Bought While The AI Trade Got Crowded

Central Banks Just Spent A Third Consecutive Year Buying More Gold Than In Any Year Since The 1960s.

A CFA Charterholder who advises on the framework now used by 4,000 investors mapped where institutional capital is rotating into.

Central banks bought roughly 1,045 tonnes of gold last year. Third year in a row above 1,000 tonnes.

The last time purchase volumes ran this high was 1967. Spot gold is trading near $4,500 an ounce. Central banks are not waiting for a pullback.

Family offices and private wealth desks are doing the same trade through tokenized gold. Each token represents one ounce of physical gold held in Swiss or London vaults.

Fully redeemable. Self-custodial. Tradeable 24 hours a day. The institutional gold trade has gone digital without losing its physical backing.

If you hold dollar-denominated savings or US equities concentrated in one sector, the same hedge the central banks are running is available to retail investors for the first time…

See for yourself right here…

📰  From Around the Market

Every issue, we bring you the most important stories from around the world and show you why they matter. Think of this as your shortcut through the noise - one click per story, and you’re caught up.

Micron joined the trillion-dollar club on a single note.

UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri tripled Micron’s price target from $535 to $1,625.

The stock jumped 19.3%. The market cap crossed $1 trillion for the first time.

Bloomberg reports the implied valuation is closer to $1.8 trillion.

The catalyst is high-bandwidth memory. Every AI accelerator needs it. Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix are the only three suppliers.

Samsung crossed $1 trillion earlier this year. Micron is the second memory company to do so.

The AI capex cycle now has a new layer of winners.

Zscaler beat earnings then guided light on capex.

Zscaler (NASDAQ: ZS) reported Q3 Tuesday after the close.

Revenue came in at $850.5 million, up 25%. Annualized recurring revenue hit $3.525 billion. Both beat.

But FY26 free cash flow margin guidance was cut to 22.8% to 23.3%.

The prior guide was 26.5% to 27%.

Management cited higher capital expenditure on AI infrastructure.

The stock fell more than 20% after hours.

The AI capex cycle is now eating margins in cybersecurity. Not just compute.

AutoZone missed revenue and fell 10%.

AutoZone (NYSE: AZO) reported Q3 Tuesday morning.

Revenue came in at $4.84 billion against a $4.86 billion consensus.

Earnings per share landed at $38.07. Above the prior year’s $35.36.

The stock fell 10% on the revenue miss.

This is the first consumer-discretionary read of the week. The consumer is still spending. Just not as much as analysts modeled.

Costco reports Thursday after the close. Same question.

HPE reports tonight too.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) reports Q2 tonight at the same time as Salesforce and Marvell.

Consensus revenue: $9.6 to $10 billion. Earnings per share: $0.51 to $0.55.

The Juniper Networks integration is complete. The AI server backlog was $5 billion exiting Q1.

Networking revenue grew 151% year-over-year last quarter.

Tonight is a third AI read most investors are not watching.

👀  What to Watch For

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Tonight after the close. The AI double-bill.

Salesforce reports at 4:00 PM ET. Marvell reports at 4:05 PM ET.

Salesforce options price an 8.7% move. Marvell options price a 13.6% move.

Salesforce trades around $180. The consensus price target is $274.

If the Agentforce numbers beat, the bear case breaks. If seat reductions show up in the guide, the Cisco signal gets louder.

Marvell trades near $95. HSBC sees $300.

If the Trainium commentary is strong, the AI infrastructure rotation accelerates. If it is cautious, insider selling gets vindicated.

Tomorrow at 8:30 AM ET. The triple release.

April PCE inflation releases.

FactSet consensus is 3.9% headline and 3.3% core.

The Cleveland Fed Nowcast tracks 3.83% headline and 3.31% core as of yesterday.

In other words, the Fed’s own model says consensus is right.

• A 0.3% core monthly print keeps the December hike probability near 80%.
• A 0.4% core monthly print pushes it higher. A 0.2% print breaks the trade.

Q1 GDP second estimate releases at the same minute.

Initial jobless claims land at the same time.

Tomorrow night. Costco and Dell.

Costco (NASDAQ: COST) reports at 4:15 PM ET.

The stock is up 19% year-to-date at $1,028. Options price a 3.65% move.

This is the consumer read. AutoZone missed. Walmart (NASDAQ: WMT) warned. Home Depot (NYSE: HD) slowed.

Dell (NYSE: DELL) reports at 4:05 PM ET.

The stock is up 136% year-to-date at $290.55. The AI server backlog was $43 billion exiting Q4.

Polymarket prices a 94% probability that Dell beats on earnings.

💭  Today’s Final Thought

Yesterday confirmed the trade.

Tonight tests the franchise.

Tomorrow tests the Fed.

The retail investor will see the AI earnings in Thursday morning’s papers. They will see the PCE print in Thursday afternoon’s commentary.

The institutions finished repositioning by Tuesday’s close.

The bond market is already pricing the answer. The next 30 hours decide whether it was right.

- Rami Al-Sabeq (Editor in Chief | Future Finance)

About Future Finance

Future Finance is written by Rami Al-Sabeq, Editor-in-Chief, and his research team. His macro-to-crypto work has been featured in Unchained and Cryptonary, and his independent essays appear at RamiWrites.Substack.com.

Behind every issue sits Head of Research Tyler Hubbard, whose track record across 590+ digital asset picks has produced an 85% directional accuracy rate and a 426% average peak return. That’s as of the third-party audit measuring performance through April 30th, 2026. Follow him on TradingView here.