Happy Friday! A rare market signal not seen since 2022 is starting to emerge as oil prices climb and one corner of the market begins to break away from the rest. Discover what this signal could mean for your next move.

And could 5x leveraged ETFs be coming to the market? Wall Street is buzzing about the idea, while the SEC is pumping the brakes. Read on to see why.

Plus, with Warren Buffett stepping aside and Greg Abel taking the reins at Berkshire Hathaway, investors are watching closely for clues about what happens next to the conglomerate’s iconic portfolio. See what holdings may stay, and which ones could be on the chopping block. 

Also, if you’re looking to explore how investors are capitalizing on AI, check out Benzinga’s free webinar.

In Today's Edition

• MARKET RECAP

• MARKET HEATMAP

• FIVE ZINGERS

• MARKET HISTORY

These Stocks Are Flashing A Signal Markets Haven't Seen Since 2022

A rare signal is flashing in the stock market, and experienced traders have seen it before.

As oil prices surge on escalating tensions in the Middle East, energy stocks are quietly pulling away from the rest of the market while fuel-dependent industries begin to crack. The growing gap is starting to resemble the early stages of the last major oil shock, when sector leadership flipped almost overnight.

Click to read the full story and see what this signal could mean for your next move.

AI Continues Gaining Popularity With Retail – Learn How To Take Advantage Of That With This Exclusive Benzinga And Direxion Bootcamp

The AI boom in the retail sector continues unabated, with many retailers pouring billions of dollars into AI to protect their margins, improve their sales and grow their businesses on a global scale. That provides investors with an opportunity to invest in everything from the chips and infrastructure providers to the retailers employing the technology.

Join Direxion's Senior Vice President of Institutional ETF Strategy Shawn Edwards and Gianni Di Poce, analyst at The Mercator LLC., for a high-impact virtual bootcamp to learn why this theme remains front and center. During this bootcamp, traders and investors will gain insight into where momentum may be building and how to use ETFs to capitalize on it. Click here to learn more.

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Yesterday: U.S. indexes finished sharply lower again, with the Dow falling nearly 800 points — on track for its worst week since October — as investors react to a surge in oil prices and escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran. Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz — which controls roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply flows — have brought tanker traffic to a standstill, fueling concerns about global energy supply and pushing oil to its highest level since 2024. Oil is now on pace for its biggest weekly percentage gain since March 2022, adding to inflation and geopolitical worries. On the economic front, initial jobless claims held steady at 213,000, slightly below expectations, signaling continued resilience in the labor market.

On Our Radar: Analysts will be paying attention to today’s employment and unemployment report, hourly wages and consumer credit for clues on economic momentum. With regards to earnings, all eyes will be on ZIM (ZIM) — an international shipping company — which will report earnings before the market opens on Monday.

The market may have tanked, but that didn’t stop the Trade Desk (TTD), Expedia (EXPE) and Okta (OKTA) from soaring double digits. Meanwhile shares of United Airlines (UAL), UPS (UPS), Strategy (MSTR), and Sandisk (SNDK) were among the day’s top laggards. But those weren’t the only companies making big moves. Here’s a look at some of the biggest winners and losers on Thursday.

Discover how the market is moving with our interactive heatmap. Filter by market cap, or click on any box to explore specific sectors or assets in more detail.

Fired Up: Shares of Smith & Wesson’s are heating up after smashing Wall Street’s expectations and leaving short sellers in the crosshairs. Click to see why this “triggered” rally could be just the beginning.

Cost-Glows: Costco crushed Wall Street estimates, fueled by international growth and membership gains. Click to see why shares fell, and what’s next for the warehouse giant.

War Room: The Pentagon just labeled Anthropic a “risk”, escalating a high-stakes clash over AI in U.S. defense. Click here to see how this could shake the future of AI and tech.

Insider Report: The biggest gains may be hiding where no one’s looking. Check out Benzinga’s latest insider report packed with insights to put you ahead of the crowd.

Insider Alert: Despite the market tanking, shares of the Trade Desk soared nearly 20% after CEO Jeff Green executed the largest insider purchase in company history. Could this historic move signal a major rebound? Read on to find out.

Nextdoor’s Turnaround Strategy

Nirav Tolia, Co-Founder & CEO of Nextdoor ($NXDR) shares why he returned to the CEO role, how the landscape has shifted in the post-COVID and AI era, and how Nextdoor is using AI to improve efficiency, product quality, and local advertising outcomes. Tolia breaks down Nextdoor’s core advantage – its neighborhood graph of 100M+ verified users, and addresses a key misconception: that Nextdoor’s potential is capped rather than under-executed.

On This Day In 1933…

President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Proclamation 2039, declaring a nationwide bank holiday as panic withdrawals threatened to topple the U.S. financial system. The order, initially intended to last four days, ultimately stretched to nine as regulators worked to prevent widespread bank failures at the height of the Great Depression. During the closure, Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act, allowing federal officials to inspect banks and permit only solvent institutions to reopen. The move helped restore public confidence, stabilized the banking system, and laid the groundwork for a significant stock market rebound.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“You can’t get rich without taking risks, but you can get poor by taking dumb ones.“

— Charlie Munger

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