Good afternoon and welcome to Markets Desk.
Kevin Warsh is officially in the chair at the Federal Reserve, and his first meeting is drawing serious attention. The new Fed chief is signaling a, quote, new chapter, promising sweeping institutional reforms alongside the central bank's rate deliberations. Markets will be watching closely for any policy signals that diverge from the Yellen-Powell playbook.
Shifting to the used car lot, CarMax posted fiscal first quarter results that actually beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines, yet the stock got hammered anyway. That kind of reaction tells you the market had already priced in the beat and found something it didn't like underneath, whether that's margin compression, softer forward guidance, or weakening consumer credit quality in the auto space.
And in the consumer technology space, Apple's Tim Cook is warning that prices are heading higher, citing a global memory chip shortage being driven in large part by surging demand from artificial intelligence infrastructure. MacBook prices already moved earlier this year, and Cook is signaling that smartphones and other devices are next. If you've been sitting on an Apple purchase, the window to buy at current prices may be closing faster than you think.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
