Corporate Market Flash

Fed Inflation Outlook

• 🔥 Powell Forecasts PCE Inflation: Fed Chair Powell expects February PCE inflation at 2.8% and core PCE at 3.0%, with...

Swarmer, an AI drone company, saw shares soar 520% on its Nasdaq debut, proving defense tech startups are on a tear and paving the way for others to go public. Article spotlights 12 potential IPO candidates.

Powell's caution dominates: Fed forecasts one rate cut in 2026 despite surging oil, admits "just don't know" impact on inflation/economy.

• Raises...

Powell's March takeaways:

• Growth projections revised upward on productivity gains
• Expects Feb PCE at 2.8%, core PCE 3.0%
• Energy prices rising, pushing overall inflation higher
• Rates held steady for now

Global oil shocks trigger key responses:

• Philippines fiscal move: Marcos links fuel excise tax cut to volatile global oil markets, burdening...

Microsoft hires full team from Sequoia-backed AI collaboration startup Cove, which shuts down April 1 with customer data deletion. Talent grab fuels hyperscaler AI builds.

Microsoft weighs suing Amazon and OpenAI over a $50B deal, fueling 5 key discussion points on Hacker News. Big Tech AI tensions heat up.

China imposes restrictions on Meta's $2B acquisition of Manus, an AI startup with Chinese roots, targeting associated individuals. Geopolitical tensions escalate US-China AI dealmaking hurdles.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and French Finance Minister Roland Lescure held in-depth talks in Paris on March 16, pledging to deepen economic and financial cooperation.

Mega round locked: $110B from Amazon, SoftBank, Nvidia boosts pre-money valuation to $730B.

• Valuation spike: Hits $840B, with another $10B expected...

Robinhood Ventures Fund I (RVI) ramps up investments:

• March 12, 2026: Buys $19.999M Series D stock in ElevenLabs (AI firm).
• Tuesday morning: Announces total $34.58M invested in Stripe and ElevenLabs.
  Big moves in fintech and AI voice tech.

• Rising dissent among Fed officials, ending near-unanimous votes
• No rate cut expected; focus on Powell's vibes post-meeting
• Markets in holding pattern: Dow waits, EUR/USD steady, volatility builds
• FOMC results 1PM CT today spark anticipation

Nasdaq 100 futures have risen for two days, now back above 25k despite declining volumes, eyeing bull trend resume amid less dovish Fed watch – spotlight on GOOG, MSFT, RKLB.

• Iran retaliation looms: Revolution Guard to warn Gulf states; Polymarket odds hit 88% today for military action.
• Rates surge: Energy shock adds...

Quick market flash:

• U.S. Q4 2025 GDP growth recently revised down
• "AI productivity boom" story gone for now
• Instead, all AI capex – data centers keeping economy afloat

Energy Market Shifts

• 🔥 Citi Raises Brent Crude Forecast: Citi raised its short-term Brent crude baseline forecast to $110-120 per barrel,...

Samsung considers shifting memory chip contracts to 3-5 year terms from quarterly/annual deals to stabilize supply and ease shortage fears amid 2026 AI demand surge. Co-CEO Jun Young-hyun announced at shareholder meeting.

Quick enterprise AI update:

• Mistral Forge lets firms train custom models from scratch on their data
• Takes on OpenAI, Anthropic head-on
• Unlike rivals' fine-tuning/retrieval focus

Middle East flare-up hits energy markets:

• Iran-Israel war escalates with US Army prepping strikes and Pentagon briefing on crisis.
• Citi hikes...

NVIDIA today unveiled DLSS 5, the company's most significant breakthrough in computer graphics since real-time ray tracing debuted in 2018. AI-powered advance boosts gaming visual fidelity.