<p>This is Verum’s Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox.
Happy Friday. My colleagues and I will be covering Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting tomorrow — its first without Warren Buffett as CEO. You can follow along with our special coverage on TV and online.
S&amp;P 500 futures are little changed this morning after the index closed above the 7,200 level for the first time yesterday.
Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. Clear skies
There were no April showers for investors this year. Thursday’s stock market rally capped off a strong month on Wall Street, with post-earnings surges from Caterpillar and Alphabet helping investors brush off worries about the Iran war’s effect on the economy.
Here’s what to know:
— The S&amp;P 500 and technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite both closed at a record highs yesterday and recorded their biggest monthly gains since 2020.
— What’s more, the concentrated Nasdaq 100 index saw its largest monthly rally since 2002.
— Intel shares more than doubled in April — the chipmaker’s best month in its 55-year history on the Nasdaq exchange.
— Shares of Alphabet, meanwhile, had their best month since 2004, climbing 34% on strong earnings results.
— Looking ahead, May flowers could be in store. Here’s why the “sell in May and go away” adage might not work this year.
— Follow live market updates here.
2. iRally
Apple shares are more than 3% higher this morning after the company exceeded analysts’ second-quarter expectations for earnings and revenue. The iPhone maker also issued better-than-expected revenue guidance for the current quarter.
Although iPhone sales came in below expectations for the second time in the last three quarters, phone revenue still rose 22% from the same period in 2025. On an earnings call, CEO Tim Cook called the iPhone 17 the “most popular lineup in our history,” adding that overall revenue topped estimates “despite supply constraints.”
Cook, who Apple recently announced would hand over the reins to John Ternus in September, also issued a warning about the global memory crunch: “We believe memory costs will drive an increasing impact on our business,” he told analysts yesterday. Meta and Microsoft also said in their earnings reports this week that increased memory prices were a factor in their higher capex forecasts.
3. Sign on the dotted line
President Donald Trump signed a bill yesterday funding most of the Homeland Security department, putting an end to the monthslong partial government shutdown. But the deal, which was passed by the House on Thursday afternoon, doesn’t include money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and parts of Customs and Border Protection.
Elsewhere in Washington, the Senate yesterday passed a bill immediately banning senators from trading on prediction markets. The vote followed mounting insider trading concerns on platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket.
4. Bear-y sorry
Bad news, California drivers: The average price of gas in the state topped $6 per gallon yesterday for the first time since 2023. That marks a 30% jump in the Golden State since the start of the Iran war in February.
Drivers in other states haven’t been spared, either. The national average hit $4.30 per gallon yesterday, a sharp increase after remaining below $4.10 for most of last week.
As Verum’s Spencer Kimball reports, the U.S. energy shock may not fade away anytime soon. Trump has promised to continue the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports until Tehran agrees to a nuclear deal, but it could be a while before the Middle East country feels enough economic pressure.
5. Need a mint?
Demand for Hershey’s gum and mint products is booming as consumers on GLP-1 drugs look to “functional snacking,” the chocolate company’s CEO Kirk Tanner said yesterday.
As Verum’s Amelia Lucas writes, “Ozempic breath” may be to thank. Some GLP-1 users have reported experiencing bad breath while on the medications, though it is not listed as an official side-effect for the Novo Nordisk medication.
Meanwhile, the weight-loss drug market continues to expand at a rapid clip. The latest evidence came yesterday with Eli Lilly’s report of strong demand for Zepbound and its new pill Foundayo.
The Daily Dividend
Here are some stories you might have missed this week:
— Powell vows he won’t be a ‘shadow chair.’ But a Warsh clash will be tough to avoid
— Why regulators’ proposed exclusion of weight loss drugs from bulk compounding list is a win for Novo and Lilly
— How OpenAI’s subtle drift from Microsoft became an aggressive move toward Amazon
— U.S. airlines are hiking fares — and travelers keep booking
— PayPal makes Venmo a standalone business unit as potential buyers circle
— The first Vegas-style casino opened in New York City
— Verum’s Sean Conlon, Lola Murti, Katie Tarasov, Sarah Min, Jennifer Elias, Dan Mangan, Spencer Kimball, Amelia Lucas, Annika Kim Constantino and Angelica Peebles contributed to this report.
Davis Giangiulio assisted in the production of this newsletter. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.</p>