🚀 Google stock rises after antitrust judgment

Market Overview
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Year To Date Performances:

1. Google’s long-running antitrust battle reached a turning point Tuesday as a federal judge imposed restrictions on its business practices but stopped short of forcing the company to sell Chrome or Android, sparking an 8% jump in Alphabet’s stock. Judge Amit Mehta ruled that while Google must end exclusive search distribution contracts and share some search index and user interaction data with rivals, divestiture of its flagship products would overreach and harm consumers. The decision eases fears of a worst-case breakup while still curbing Google’s dominance, with the Justice Department hailing the ruling as a way to pry open the frozen search market and prevent similar tactics in the AI era. Apple, which receives billions annually from Google to keep its search engine the default on iPhones, also saw shares climb 4%, underscoring how the ruling preserves a lucrative—if now less exclusive—arrangement between two of tech’s biggest players.

2. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will ask the Supreme Court for an expedited review after a federal appeals court ruled most of his tariffs illegal, striking at the core of his trade agenda. The Federal Circuit found that Trump overstepped his authority in imposing sweeping duties under emergency powers, declaring tariffs a constitutional power reserved for Congress. The decision threatens duties as high as 50% on imports from China, Canada, and Mexico—tariffs Trump justified as punishment for failing to curb fentanyl trafficking—and could slash coverage from 70% of U.S. imports to just 16% if upheld. Trump, warning that removing tariffs would turn America into a “third-world country,” argued that the stock market’s recent dip reflected investor reliance on his trade measures, underscoring both the economic and political stakes as the case heads toward the nation’s highest court.

3. The Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa, shuttered since 2020, is now poised for a comeback as soaring energy demand from AI data centers revives interest in nuclear power. Owner NextEra Energy won federal approval to reconnect the facility to the grid and is seeking a power purchase agreement with major tech firms, following the model of Microsoft’s deal to back the restart of Three Mile Island. If successful, Duane Arnold could return more than 600 megawatts of carbon-free electricity by 2028, enough to power 400,000 homes, though the project faces high upfront costs, long equipment lead times, and the risk of delays. Alongside Palisades and Three Mile Island, its revival signals nuclear energy’s unexpected second act, as utilities shift back from renewables toward high-capacity aseload power in response to relentless industrial and AI-driven demand.

   Headlines

   1. Amazon will be cracking down on people sharing Prime subscriptions.

   2. Kraft Heinz shares fell 7% after Warren Buffett commented that he was “disappointed” at the company’s decision to split.

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