Six Weeks of War Damage, One Truth Social Post, One Massive Wednesday Rally

For six weeks, the market has been pricing in a war with no end date. Today, it got an end date, sort of, and it responded accordingly.

Oil collapsed more than 16%, the VIX fell back toward pre-war levels, and every sector that had been under pressure since late February staged a meaningful recovery.

The names that ran fastest and the ones that were crushed in the reversal are all listed below.

Earlier this year, a U.S. defense-linked consortium issued a request for proposals focused on nickel supply and processing capacity.

Now, one micro-cap subsea mining company has submitted a formal bid, putting itself into a supply chain conversation that’s growing increasingly urgent.

The backdrop: a push to secure domestic or allied sources of strategic materials used in advanced manufacturing and military systems.

It’s still early-stage, but this filing moves the story beyond a concept.

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Trump posted before markets opened that he was suspending the bombing of Iran for two weeks, and the session was off to the races before the opening bell.

Oil dropped more than 16%, its steepest single-day decline in years, as the prospect of the Strait of Hormuz reopening removed the supply crisis premium that had been building since late February.

The Dow surged 1,200 points in its best session since April 2025, all 11 S&P sectors closed green, and 13 S&P 500 stocks hit all-time highs on the day.

The war trade reversed hard: energy names like Exxon and Chevron each fell more than 5% while semiconductors, airlines, cruise lines, and home improvement retailers surged as investors repriced a consumer who is suddenly spending a lot less at the pump.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) just scrapped its planned summer growth and warned that profits this quarter will fall below expectations.

The reason is simple. Jet fuel prices have nearly doubled since the Iran conflict began, adding around $2 billion to Delta's fuel bill in just one quarter.

When fuel makes up roughly a quarter of an airline's costs, a price spike like this hits hard and fast.

Cutting Capacity to Protect Margins

Delta is pulling 3.5 percentage points of planned capacity out of the summer. That means fewer flights, smaller schedules, and less expansion until fuel prices stabilize.

The company also raised checked bag fees and is using fare increases to recover part of the cost.

You do not cancel growth plans you announced months ago unless the math has fundamentally changed. Delta clearly believes the fuel pain is not going away soon.

Demand Is Still There

Despite higher fares and fees, Delta says ticket sales are up double digits year-over-year. Wealthier travelers are still flying and have not pulled back.

That resilience is exactly what gives Delta the room to raise prices without losing customers.

You look at Delta cutting growth, hiking fees, and warning about an industry shakeout, and the picture becomes clear. Delta is not panicking. It is preparing for a fight; it believes it will win.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) just unveiled Muse Spark, the first AI model released since the company tore apart and rebuilt its entire AI division.

This is the debut product from Meta Superintelligence Labs, the new unit created specifically to compete at the frontier of artificial intelligence.

The model can see, reason, use tools, and run multiple AI agents simultaneously.

For a company that has spent billions reorganizing around AI, this launch is the moment everything either pays off or falls flat.

Built on a Completely New Foundation

Meta rebuilt its AI training system from scratch over nine months.

The result is a model that reportedly matches the capabilities of its previous flagship using a fraction of the computing power.

That efficiency matters enormously in an industry where compute costs have become the biggest expense in AI development.

You spend nine months tearing down what you already have and rebuilding it because the old approach was not good enough.

That kind of commitment usually means leadership saw something fundamental that needed to change.

The AI Race Has a New Contender

Meta has been seen as falling behind in the AI race. This launch is the company's response to that perception. A new model, a new lab, and a new approach all arriving at once.

Whether Muse Spark actually competes with the leaders is something you will see play out over the coming months.

But Meta just made it impossible to ignore that it is back in the race with serious intent.

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AbbVie Inc (NYSE: ABBV) is launching Humira on a new federal pricing platform at an 86% discount. Humira is one of the most widely used autoimmune drugs in the world.

For years, it has been a symbol of how expensive prescription medications can get.

Now AbbVie is voluntarily cutting that price dramatically as part of a deal with the White House. This is not just a discount. It is a complete shift in how AbbVie engages with the politics and policy of drug pricing.

From Pharma Giant to Policy Partner

AbbVie has historically operated like most large drugmakers. Negotiate with insurers. Work through pharmacy benefit managers. Maximize the price the system will tolerate.

This deal moves the company in a different direction. It is now working directly with the federal government on affordability.

You rarely see a major pharmaceutical company voluntarily slash prices on its most famous product. Doing so signals that AbbVie sees long-term value in being part of the solution rather than fighting the conversation.

The Industry Is Paying Attention

When one of the largest drugmakers cuts prices this dramatically, every other pharma company has to consider what comes next.

Will the same model apply to their drugs? Will patients start expecting these kinds of discounts as standard? Will regulators push harder on companies that resist?

AbbVie just set a precedent that competitors will struggle to ignore. Your read on big pharma pricing dynamics has to account for this moment because it changes the baseline.

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Spire Global [SPIR] $20.50 (+31.66%)

Spire operates a constellation of satellites providing maritime vessel tracking, weather data, and supply chain intelligence, and the partial reopening of the Strait of Hormuz immediately restored value to those services.

The company has also been winning defense and government contracts at a rapid pace, including a Missile Defense Agency IDIQ contract, and the broader risk-on rally in the session pushed the Strong Buy-rated stock to new 52-week highs on volume running at nearly 5x average.

Aehr Test Systems [AEHR] $63.16 (+25.69%)

Aehr reported fiscal Q3 earnings Tuesday night after market close, beating EPS estimates and posting bookings of $37.2 million, a book-to-bill ratio above 3.5x driven by its new silicon photonics customer win from a major global networking firm.

The ceasefire rally gave the whole semiconductor sector a tailwind on top of a strong print, and Aehr's record $50.9 million effective backlog told investors that the AI data center revenue wave is just beginning to hit its numbers.

AXT Inc [AXTI] $53.18 (+16.98%)

AXT makes compound semiconductor substrates critical for AI data center interconnects and has been one of the semiconductor sector's most consistent performers this year.

Wednesday's ceasefire rally lifted the entire semiconductor supply chain as fears about supply chain disruptions from the war faded, and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF jumped nearly 5% on the session, providing a powerful sector tailwind for a $2.93 billion Buy-rated name.

Tamboran Resources [TBN] $35.75 (-21.20%)

Tamboran priced a public offering of nearly 3 million shares at $35.00 per share, right as the ceasefire news removed the natural gas supply crisis premium that had been driving the stock higher for weeks.

The combination of dilutive equity issuance and a collapsing LNG price thesis hit TBN from two directions simultaneously, and volume running at nearly 6x average on the way down told you the exit was not gentle.

Better Home and Finance [BETR] $35.00 (-21.93%)

Better Home operates a digital mortgage platform, and the stock dropped as the ceasefire pushed Treasury yields higher on the session, undercutting the rate-cut optimism that had been building during the war.

When the peace trade removes the Fed's best argument for cutting rates, mortgage-dependent fintech names reprice immediately, and Better's 20% drop was a direct reflection of how rate-sensitive its business model is.

Kura Sushi [KRUS] $60.01 (-17.78%)

Kura reported fiscal Q2 results Tuesday night that beat on both EPS and revenue, with comparable sales up 8.6%, but the stock dropped anyway as investors sold the news into a session where the broader market was entirely focused on the ceasefire.

When you report in-line-to-good results on the best rally day in months and still fall 16%, the issue is valuation, not fundamentals, and at a $738 million market cap trading well above fair value estimates, sellers had been waiting for any excuse.

Oil prices are on the rise, putting the energy sector back in the spotlight.

Large banks have raised their crude outlooks, and investors are reexamining which companies could benefit most if supply risks persist.

In a new report, Zacks highlights three oil stocks standing out in the current market backdrop.

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— Adam G.
Elite Trade Club

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