(The opinions expressed here are those of the authors.)

By Anna Szymanski

June 5 (Reuters) -

Everything Mike Dolan and the ROI team are excited to read,

watch and listen to over the weekend.

From the Editor

Hello Morning Bid readers!

Markets entered this week riding high as traders held out

hopes for both an end to the three-month-old Iran conflict and

an unabated AI boom. But they were disappointed on both fronts.

While the AI frenzy helped boost global stocks for much of the

week, extending the S&P 500's winning streak to nine consecutive

sessions, the market stumbled following a slight earnings miss

from tech powerhouse Broadcom on Wednesday - a sign that the bar

for impressing investors has risen incredibly high.

The chipmaker - which saw a 55% share price rise in the quarter

through Wednesday - raked in over $22 billion in sales last

quarter, but this was below expectations, sending its shares

slumping more than 12% on Thursday. This wiped out around $300

billion of market value, dragging down the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 ultimately found its footing on Thursday and ended

the day up, but Asian shares dropped on Friday and Wall Street

futures were trading lower before the bell.

Despite this hiccup, tech enthusiasm remains palpable - and

this week offered plenty more news to chew on:

* Nvidia on Monday unveiled a new chip integrating AI

capabilities directly into personal computers, which industry

experts said could overhaul engagement with AI.

* Anthropic filed for an IPO, adding to an already-packed

lineup of planned listings, including SpaceX's $75 billion

offering - the biggest ever.

* Google's parent Alphabet announced on Monday that it will

pursue an $80 billion equity offering, with $10 billion being

scooped up by Berkshire Hathaway.

* Chip designer Marvell Technology surged more than 25% on

Tuesday after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang suggested it could be the

"next trillion-dollar company".

* And Microsoft announced a new, AI-designed quantum

computing chip on Tuesday, saying it believes it will have

commercially useful quantum machines by 2029.

Away from equities, FX markets garnered some attention as the

yen crept back toward the all-important 160-per-dollar mark - a

level that has previously prompted the government to intervene

to prop up the currency. Given that authorities reportedly spent

more than $73 billion only a few weeks ago in yen-buying

efforts, is that strategy failing? Not necessarily.

Over in commodities, the focus remains, of course, on the

stop-and-start peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.

Oil closed up more than 4% on Monday following Iranian reports

that peace talks had been halted, though the U.S. later disputed

this claim. Brent crude otherwise remained rangebound below $100

per barrel, moving with the headlines as military strikes

continued in the Gulf.

The latest ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon also appeared on

shaky ground, after Hezbollah - the Iranian-backed militant

group that Israel is actually fighting - said on Thursday that

it would not abide by the terms.

Markets remained relatively unfazed by the flare-ups, even as

the risk of a major energy crunch intensified amid rapid

drawdowns of global inventories. On that front, U.S. gasoline

stockpiles have fallen at a near-record pace just as summer

demand is set to rise.

On the other hand, China continues to serve as a balancing force

in the global energy market. Its seaborne imports of crude oil

slumped to the lowest in almost 10 years in May, helping Asia

adjust to the loss of at least 10 million barrels per day of

crude from the blockades of the Strait of Hormuz. But the

question is: how long can that last?

Amid all this, though, more oil appears to be quietly making its

way out of the embattled strait, with indications that a growing

number of ships are transiting the waterway "under the radar" of

satellite tracking systems.

But far from signalling a slow return to normalcy, these stealth

flows could be a preview of the opaque energy market the Iran

war is likely to leave in its wake.

Back stateside, this was a big week for U.S. employment

data.

Tuesday's JOLTS report showed that job openings rose by the most

in five years in April, while private-sector payrolls on

Wednesday posted a forecast-beating rise of 122,000 for May.

However, initial weekly jobless claims unexpectedly rose 6.1%,

and layoffs announced by U.S. corporations jumped 11% in May,

according to a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, with

almost 40% of those layoffs attributed to AI.

The spotlight is now on the May nonfarm payrolls report due out

on Friday. A forecast net increase of 85,000 jobs there would be

a bumper result compared with the more pessimistic scenarios

predicted earlier in the year.

This mixed picture could create headaches for new Federal

Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh ahead of the central bank's meeting

later this month. The path he takes may not be the one many had

previously assumed - particularly given the ongoing inflation

pressures.

And it's not only the Iran-driven energy squeeze that threatens

to push up prices globally. While AI may prove disinflationary

over time, the capex blitz currently appears primed to put

upward pressure on inflation in the short term.

It could be a hot summer in more ways than one.

For more data-driven insights on markets and commodities, check

out Reuters Open Interest. You can learn:

* Why might good news cause a spike in volatility on Wall

Street this summer?

* How long can small caps remain AI's big winners?

* Why might copper bulls be disappointed by the AI-driven

demand boost?

* Why might Trump's push to save coal backfire?

* Which region is poised to become the global oil market's

new swing producer?

* Which North Asian countries could enjoy an AI-fuelled

economic renaissance?

* Is gold's muted recent performance a sign of more weakness

to come?

* How long can average Americans stay afloat as savings

rates fall - and when might they force the issue at the ballot

box?

* Could love of baseball be a positive economic indicator?

I'd love to hear from you, so please reach out to me at .

This weekend, we're reading...

MIKE DOLAN, ROI Finance & Markets Columnist: We are in the

fourth wave of nationalisations in a century, according to

Cornell Professor Nicholas Mulder - the first since the 1970s.

His IMF article charts the history of these waves, noting that

governments worldwide have taken over up to half a trillion

dollars of industry assets since the pandemic in 2020.

ANDY HOME, ROI Metals Columnist: This in-depth Reuters

analysis explores the human expertise behind China's

dominance in rare earths, including an ecosystem of 40

specialist laboratories and 11 universities enrolling more than

500 students each year to study these esoteric metals.

JAMIE MCGEEVER, ROI Markets Columnist: In an IMF op-ed, U.S.

Trade Representative Jamieson Greer takes a swipe at the

economics profession for its groupthink and

assumptions about how global trade works, calling for new models

that capture "how trade actually works."

GAVIN MAGUIRE, ROI Global Energy Transition Columnist: This

piece by Hong Kong-based consultancy The Lantau Group pushes

back on The Economist's characterisation of China's solar sector

as being in turmoil, arguing that the industry is undergoing a

structured transition rather than a crisis.

CLYDE RUSSELL, ROI Asia Commodities and Energy Columnist: This

explainer by respected oil analyst Rory Johnston walks through

what will happen if the Strait of Hormuz reopens - covering the

key challenges and how long the disruption could last.

We're listening to...

JAMIE MCGEEVER, ROI Markets Columnist: Stock market veteran and

famed bubble-spotter Jeremy Grantham discusses market bubbles

with Reuters Breakingviews Global Editor Peter Thal Larsen. On

the question of whether AI is in a bubble, his answer may not

surprise you, but his detailed reasoning is compelling.

And we're watching...

RON BOUSSO, ROI Energy Columnist: Ian Bremmer, the president of

political consultancy Eurasia Group, joins this Ezra Klein

Show episode to discuss the incoherence of America's foreign

policy, using Iran and China as a lens to assess the risks the

U.S. now poses to the world.

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Opinions expressed are those of the authors. They do not reflect

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