What’s News in Markets: Markets Digest Shocks, Tokenized Stocks, Buffett Steps Down

Markets opened on shaky footing as damage to Saudi Arabia's crucial east-west pipeline stoked worries about oil shortages and inflation, sending oil prices and bond yields higher.

Inflation is too high and has been for too long.

The Fed raised interest rates for the first time in three years, causing stocks to fall and Treasury yields to rise above five percent for the first time in nineteen years. By Friday's close, the Nasdaq was up 0.7 percent, the S&P 500 edged lower by about 0.1 percent, and the Dow fell 1.7 percent.

The CEOs of Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceX called for a slowdown in AI's development before their advances create a menace that can't be controlled. OpenAI's Sam Altman suggested his company may need to delay its much-anticipated IPO to focus on safety. Microsoft published a provisional code of conduct for training new AI models.

New AI regulation is a hoax and a sick conspiracy that would leave the industry in financial ruin and hand China a competitive edge.

Chip stocks rebounded even as investors worried that slower AI progress could temper demand. Shares of Nvidia ended the week up 0.5 percent, Marvell Technology rose nearly 2 percent, and Intel stock jumped about 6 percent.

The SEC cleared a path for trading venues to offer tokenized stocks in the U.S., a landmark decision that may overhaul traditional equity markets. The SEC said it would exempt authorized trading venues from certain rules that have prevented trading in digital tokens that mimic shares of listed companies. The decision comes just two days after the Clarity Act failed to advance past a procedural vote in Congress, signaling the agency's willingness to use its authority to create a path for some crypto offerings to enter mainstream financial markets.

Tokenization of regular assets on a blockchain is gaining momentum, with the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq both building platforms for it right now. Qualified U.S. investors can already trade tokenized gold and private funds, suggesting regular stock trading could be right around the corner. On Friday, Bitcoin broke above eighty thousand dollars, lifting shares of crypto-linked stocks, though Coinbase shares fell 0.07 percent and Strategy added nearly one percent.

Warren Buffett stepped down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, with his son Howard Buffett assuming the role effective immediately. Warren Buffett will remain on the board as chairman emeritus and continue to offer his valued judgment and perspective. Shares of Berkshire Hathaway rose 0.1 percent and ended the week down 0.2 percent following the announcement.