Trump announces lumber tariffs, Exxon Mobil to cut 2,000 jobs: Morning Buzz

The major averages were broadly lower near noon, curtailing some of Monday’s gains as a possible U.S. government shutdown looms. Investors are wary over a slowing labor market, the risk of stagflation, and elevated stock valuations, and a shutdown could amplify those concerns. While House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, told CNBC that he is “skeptical” a shutdown could be averted by tonight’s deadline, Congressional Democrat leaders have said that a government shutdown would be the GOP’s “decision,” not theirs.

Meanwhile, U.S. consumer confidence fell 3.6 points to 94.2 in September, weaker than forecast, after edging down 0.9 ticks to 97.8 in August. In other data news, the Chicago PMI dipped 0.9 ticks to 40.6 in September, weaker than expected and a fifth monthly drop in the last six.

Looking to commodities, gold prices edged higher, adding to yesterday’s sharp gains. Oil prices, meanwhile, were dropping, curtailing some of yesterday’s gains ahead of API crude numbers set for release this afternoon. 

Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.

1. STOCK NEWS:

• President Trump slapped tariffs on imports of timber, lumber, and wood products
• Exxon Mobil (XOM) will cut 2,000 jobs globally, Bloomberg reports
• CoreWeave (CRWV) said that Meta (META) has initially committed to pay up to $14.2B in a new order form
• Amazon (AMZN) unveiled new hardware on Tuesday, including a new Fire TV lineup, a redesigned Kindle Scribe, two new Blink devices, a new Ring with 4k cameras and new AI features, and the Alexa+ personal AI assistant, free with Prime
• Robinhood (HOOD) is considering a rollout of its prediction markets product outside the U.S., Bloomberg reports

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Spotify (SPOT) downgraded to Neutral at Goldman Sachs
• Celsius Holdings (CELH) upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley on growth acceleration
• Oklo (OKLO) downgraded to Neutral and NuScale Power (SMR) downgraded to Underperform at BofA
• Instacart (CART) downgraded to Neutral at BTIG amid negative competitive developments
• CoreWeave (CRWV) initiated with bullish view at Evercore ISI

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• President Trump and Pfizer (PFE) CEO Albert Bourla are set to announce a plan to lower drug costs at the White House later today as well as announce a $70B investment on manufacturing medications in the U.S., WSJ says
• China’s state iron ore buyer has told major steelmakers and traders to temporarily pause purchases of any dollar-denominated seaborne iron ore cargoes from BHP (BHP), Bloomberg reports
• General Motors (GM) and Ford (F) are launching programs that would extend the use of a $7,500 U.S. tax credit on leases of electric vehicles beyond the Tuesday expiration of the federal subsidy, Reuters says
• YouTube (GOOGL) will pay $24.5M to settle a 2021 lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump over suspending his account after January 6, 2021, WSJ reports
• Boeing (BA) is planning a successor to the 737 MAX, a new single-aisle airplane, as it looks to recover business lost to Airbus (EADSY) amid a series of quality and safety problems, WSJ says

4. MOVERS:

• AnaptysBio (ANAB) higher after announcing its intention to separate into two publicly traded companies
• Wolfspeed (WOLF) increases after completing its financial restructuring and emerging from Chapter 11 protection
• Robo.ai (AIIO) gains in New York after a Burkhan Capital-led consortium committed to investing $300M in the company
• FireFly Aerospace (FLY) lower after announcing the Alpha Flight 7 rocket event resulted in a loss of the stage
• Etsy (ETSY) falls after announcing plans to transfer the listing of its common stock to the New York Stock Exchange from the Nasdaq Stock Market

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• United Natural Foods (UNFI) reported Q4 results, with CEO Sandy Douglas commenting, “UNFI delivered a solid fourth quarter as we effectively navigated the cyber incident in collaboration with our customers and suppliers”
• Acuren (TIC) provided guidance for Q3 and FY25
• Paychex (PAYX) reported Q1 results, with EPS beating consensus
• Lamb Weston (LW) reported Q1 results and provided guidance for FY26, with CEO Mike Smith commenting, “The Lamb Weston team delivered a strong start to the fiscal year”
• Glimpse Group (VRAR) reported FY25 results and provided guidance for FY26

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was down 0.16%, or 74.18, to 46,241.89, the Nasdaq was down 0.18%, or 39.65, to 22,551.50, and the S&P 500 was down 0.10%, or 6.74, to 6,654.47.