Your Daily Dose of Market & Career Clarity

📬 Delivered to 150,000+ ambitious readers

Silver banana goes to…

Get a Top Job Offer, Guaranteed (or tuition is free) | Apply Here

Market Snapshot

📉 Banana Bits

• Japan’s 10-year bond auction stayed calm even as global markets churned.

• Economists warn that the Iran conflict could reignite global inflation.

• Coal prices jumped after Qatar’s LNG pause sparked fuel-switching.

• The U.S. is weighing a 75,000-chip cap per capita on Nvidia’s H200 exports to China.

• The RBA signaled its patience on inflation is limited, making March a live meeting.

• Nasdaq is exploring yes-or-no style bets tied to the Nasdaq 100.

Market News

Oil Just Lit a Match

Oil surged 6.3% as conflict near the Strait of Hormuz and disruptions in Saudi Arabia threatened global supply, while European natural gas prices spiked after Qatar halted operations at the world’s largest LNG export plant.

The inflation implications rattled bonds, sending 10-year Treasury yields up to 4.03%, their sharpest rise since October, and pushing back expectations for aggressive Federal Reserve rate cuts, with September now seen as the likely starting point. The dollar strengthened 0.7% as investors sought safety.

Equities, however, showed resilience. The S&P 500 erased an earlier 1% drop to finish with little change, suggesting markets see the conflict, for now, as contained.

Energy and defense stocks advanced, airlines fell on higher fuel costs, and gold topped $5,300 in a classic flight-to-safety move. Meanwhile, well-capitalized tech names such as Nvidia and Palantir Technologies gained, while Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings slipped.

Strategists remain divided: some view the geopolitical escalation as a temporary shock, even a buying opportunity, while others caution that sustained oil strength could complicate inflation trends and delay monetary easing.

🍌 Peel Take: Markets can stomach geopolitical drama, but if oil keeps climbing, inflation may steal the spotlight from rate-cut optimism.

What's Ripe

Coherent Corp. (COHR) 15.4%

• COHR jumped 15% after Nvidia pledged a $2 billion investment. Apparently, lasers are the new picks and shovels of the AI gold rush. Lumentum Holdings gained 12% as Nvidia matched that with another $2 billion commitment.

• Nvidia didn’t stop at equity stakes; it also signed multibillion-dollar purchase agreements with both companies.

• The message: AI infrastructure isn’t just about chips, as it also needs serious optical and laser muscle behind the scenes.

• Peel Take: In the AI boom, even the companies supplying the beams and bolts are getting a bright upgrade.

Strategy Inc. (MSTR) 6.3%

• Strategy shares rose 6.3% as the company doubled down on its favorite digital asset.

• The firm, the world’s largest corporate holder of B*tcoin, bought 3,015 more tokens for about $204.1 million, according to a securities filing.

• B*tcoin climbed 5.9% in the past 24 hours to $68,966, per CoinDesk data.

• Investors appear to like the conviction, or at least the timing.

• Peel Take: When B*tcoin rallies, its biggest corporate believer tends to rally right along with it, diamond hands included.

What's Rotten

uniQure N.V. (QURE) 32.8%

• uniQure shares plunged 33% after regulatory pushback hit hard.

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Phase 1 and Phase 2 data were insufficient to prove the effectiveness of AMT-130, the company’s gene therapy for Huntington’s disease.

• Investors had been betting on promising early results, but regulators want stronger proof.

• The sharp selloff reflects how binary biotech catalysts can be.

• Peel Take: In biotech, hope can move stocks up fast, but when the FDA asks for more homework, gravity works even faster.

Elevance Health Inc. (ELV) 8.1%

• Elevance Health shares fell 8.1% after regulatory trouble surfaced.

• The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it plans to impose sanctions over “alleged noncompliance” with certain risk-adjustment data submission rules.

• The issue centers on how the insurer reported data tied to Medicare payment calculations.

• Investors reacted swiftly, wary of potential fines, operational restrictions, or reputational impact.

• Peel Take: In health insurance, paperwork is power, and when regulators question the fine print, markets don’t wait for the appeal.

🧠 Technical Trip

Interview Q&A from JPMorgan

👉 Want 1-on-1 recruiting help from JPMorgan bankers & 2,000+ top mentors? Apply to WSO Academy

📚 Lesson from the Library

🎥 Investment Banking Interview Course: Nail the Technicals & the Fit

Master the technicals, the fit, and the mindset banks expect on Day 1.

🎓 Check out the course

🦈 Deal Dispatch

M&A, IPOs, And Other Notable Transactions

• Asian banks face rising risks on billions in Gulf loans amid regional turmoil.

• Thoma Bravo is nearing a deal to build a $12B shipping-tech group with WWEX.

• Paramount’s credit rating was cut to junk after the Warner Bros. deal.

• Blackstone’s flagship credit fund saw record investor withdrawals.

• BlackRock’s GIP and EQT struck a $10.7B deal for AES.

📊The Daily Poll

Previous Poll:

What’s the bigger risk in the Iran-US stand-off?

Full war: 34.1% // Economic shock: 20.2% // Energy supply dent: 23.4% // Regional instability: 22.3%

Student Success Corner

👉 Are you next? Find out with WSO Academy

Banana Brain Teaser

Previous

David has d books, which is 3 times as many as Jeff and 1/2 as many as Paula. How many books do the three of them have altogether, in terms of d?

Answer: 10d/3

Today

An object thrown directly upward is at a height of h feet after t seconds, where h = –16(t – 3)^2 + 150. At what height, in feet, is the object 2 seconds after it reaches its maximum height?

How Would You Rate Today's Peel?

Happy Investing,
Chris, Vyom, Ankit, Mitchell, Fernanda, & Patrick

ADVERTISE // WSO ALPHA // ACADEMY // COURSES // LEGAL