* TRUMP TO PBS: NO IRAN SANCTIONS RELIEF FOR GIVING UP URANIUM

"Brent oil time spreads have fallen to the lowest level since early March as the energy market bets that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen. Despite the sell-off in time spreads, the oil market remains in significant backwardation." (via @javierblas.bsky.social) #OOTT

B of A DESK: ".. . A software stock last night, #$ZS, guided full year below, guiding to 17% Y/Y growth, when consensus was at 20%, and guided capex higher .. on account of higher memory costs. I mean, if one print could really just poetically encapsulate this Tech tape .. its that!"

(Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday said a report from Iran's state TV citing a draft of an initial, unofficial framework for a memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States was "not true" and that the cited memorandum was "a complete fabrication."

#$JPM | Jamie Dimon Says JPMorgan Chase Could Spend $20 Billion On Acquisition: ‘We Are On The Lookout’ - CNBC

(Bloomberg) - Target Corp. is planning to evaluate workers on how they greet, help out and engage with shoppers, stepping up efforts to make service in its stores more consistent. #$TGT @bloomberg.com

#$HIMS: HIMS Director David Wells buys 48,400 shares @ $24.23 Value $1,172,974

KLOZA: ".. US pump prices are about to see their most severe drops in four years. AAA retail average is down ~10cts/gal in the last week. Wholesale gasoline is off 55-85cts/gal in the same time frame. Steep drops are forthcoming in the rest of May."

* JPMORGAN'S DIMON SAYS TRADING COULD BE UP BY 11% IN Q2 OR COULD BE A BIT BETTER * JPMORGAN'S DIMON SAYS EQUITY CAPITAL MARKETS WILL BE HUGE THIS YEAR * JPMORGAN'S DIMON SAYS INVESTMENT BANKING IN Q2 COULD BE UP 10% OR MORE @reuters.com #$JPM

Speaking at the Bernstein Conference, JPMorgan's CEO Jamie Dimon says, "This year expenses could be higher". #$JPM

#$OPEN | Opendoor Announces Inclusion in Russell 3000 Index

“Powell was a really great scapegoat for Trump for issues that had nothing to do with Powell,” said Richard Stern, who studies economic policy at the conservative Advancing American Freedom think tank. Reuters (1/2)

(Reuters) - China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday he hoped parties in the Iran conflict can stay committed to pursuing a ceasefire and continue to meet each other halfway.

DUDLEY: “.. We have been above the Fed’s inflation target for more than five years. And there is a risk that inflation expectations do finally become unanchored. “.. The case for cutting rates now is actually very, very weak.” @bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

(Reuters) - OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on Tuesday the rapid development ‌and adoption of AI would not lead to a global "jobs apocalypse" and the technology had not claimed as many white-collar jobs as he had feared.

The Knicks are the hottest tickets in town (and out of town) @cnbc.com

* IRAN ALLOWS 25 SHIPS TO CROSS HORMUZ STRAIT IN PAST DAY: TASNIM @bloomberg.com

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- South Carolina Senate rejects President Trump’s push to redraw US House districts to try to get Republicans extra seat.

There's also a ton of CEOs speaking at a Bernstein Conference tomorrow, Agenda: Wed: (All CEOs) 8-8:50am: PYPL HWM BSX GEV BKR CNI 9-9:50am: JPM LMT AAL FTI APD 10-10:50: BAC BA LRCX UPS KMI TRU 11-11:50am: JNJ GE ZBRI SPGI EOG ARES

U.S. Government Hits First Brands With $286 Million Claim In Underpaid Tariffs - WSJ

UBER PRESIDENT AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER ANDREW MACDONALD: "I think over the coming quarters and years, maybe that will become clearer, but I think today it’s hard, even if some of the underlying metrics are trending in a really astronomical direction." #$UBER www.theverge.com/transportati...

Appears the WSJ report about escorts was not correct.

".. CEO David Risher said he’s already speaking with CEOs like United Airlines’ Scott Kirby about bundling Lyft with other corporate travel perks. “Maybe it looks like: get a first-class seat, and get an automatic upgrade on Lyft to a TBR chauffeur,” he said.." #$LYFT

“.. ConsumerConfidence continues to show an historically risk-taking bullish consensus. 2nd highest reading in nearly 40 years of history!!” - RBAdvisors

Micron just became worth more than $1 Trillion for the first time. #$MU

* U.S. Navy Restarts Guiding Ships Through the Strait of Hormuz #OOTT @wsj.com www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

(WSJ) - Groupon will lay off nearly a quarter of its employees, cutting up to 400 positions globally in a restructuring the company said will advance its previously disclosed strategy to rebuild as an AI-native company. #$GRPN

Trump claims 2020 election 'rigged' at least 107 times in six months as midterms loom - Reuters

* RUBIO: NEGOTIATING LANGUAGE OF DEAL WITH IRAN COULD ‘TAKE A FEW DAYS’

Tim Duy: We see 40% odds of a September hike rising to 75% by December. We think hot inflation will keep the Fed worried it needs to hike rates, but Warsh doesn’t have political cover to hike anytime soon.

"Getting a tariff refund has become a bureaucratic nightmare for small businesses" www.businessinsider.com/businesses-f...

"Trump often says it’s foreign firms that pay his import taxes...and he’s now painting refund backers as unpatriotic.... Recent disclosures from some of America’s most well-known businesses...challenge Trump’s assertion" 🤣🤣 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

(Reuters) - Iran's ​top negotiator and its foreign minister were in Doha for talks with Qatar's prime minister on a potential deal with the U.S. to end the three-month-old war, an official briefed on the visit said ‌on Monday, after Washington and Tehran played down hopes for an imminent breakthrough

#OOTT | Oil Market At ‘Tank Bottoms’ In Asia, And Europe Isn’t Far Behind, Warns Market Veteran Jeff Currie - CNBC

".. The most actively-traded Brent crude oil futures slid roughly 5% to about $95 a barrel, the lowest since mid-April. That helped pull European bond yields lower as inflation worries cooled." @wsj.com #OOTT

"The K-shaped economy? #$RL: “Our core consumer continues to be resilient,” said CEO Patrice Louvet on the company’s earnings call. #$WMT: "...while the lower income consumer is more budget conscious and perhaps navigating financial distress,” said CFO John David Rainey." (via Ryan Detrick)

* IRAN TO OPEN HORMUZ 30 DAYS AFTER US DEAL TO END FIGHTING - NIKKEI CITING SOURCE * IRAN WOULD PROCEED WITH CLEARING MINES FROM THE STRAIT DURING A 30-DAY WINDOW FOLLOWING AN AGREEMENT - NIKKEI CITING SOURCE @reuters.com

* IRAN DEMANDS URANIUM TO BE TRANSFERRED TO CHINA: AL ARABIYA @bloomberg.com

".. Lasse Kristoffersen, the chief executive of Wallenius Wilhelmsen, a car shipping and logistics giant with one vessel stranded in the Persian Gulf, said it would take at least 30 to 45 days until shipping in the region returned to normal — if everything went as planned."

Goldman Sachs: Mutual funds have their lowest exposure to software stocks since at least 2012.

".. Acronyms like "TACO" - "Trump always chickens out" - "FAFO" - "f*** around, find out" and "FOMO" - "fear of missing out" - have emerged and increasingly reflect the behaviour of retail ‌investors, who are reacting to an incessant news flow to lean into short-term swings."

(Reuters) - A senior Trump administration official told reporters an agreement would not be signed on Sunday, saying that the Iranian system did not move fast enough. But he outlined what he said were the latest contours of what was being negotiated.

Ed Yardeni: "The S&P 500 is up 9% this year, but the price-to-earnings multiple has actually contracted 4.6%. The entire rally has been driven by earnings rising 14.4%."

The Stock Market Has Never Been So Good When People Have Felt So Bad - WSJ - Stocks are partying like it’s 1999. Americans haven’t been this gloomy in 70 years.

"FOMO vs FEMO (Fabulous Earnings Momentum)." ".. The entire rally has been driven by forward earnings. The multiple has contracted. FOMO inflates the P/E. This market did the opposite. That is why we are not in the bubble camp. FOMO is based on hope and hype. FEMO is based on fundamentals."

Trump on his Iran deal: "Nobody has seen it, or knows what it is"

“.. All signs point to this summer being the worst for teen employment since 1948, when the federal government started tracking the data, as rising inflation and higher fuel prices squeeze the small businesses and restaurants that typically hire them ..” @wsj.com www.wsj.com/economy/teen...

* IRAN'S TASNIM NEWS AGENCY: U.S. OBSTRUCTION OF SOME CLAUSES OF AGREEMENT, INCLUDING ISSUE OF RELEASING IRAN'S BLOCKED ASSETS, STILL CONTINUES * IRAN'S TASNIM: ACCORDINGLY, THERE IS STILL A POSSIBILITY THAT THE AGREEMENT MAY BE CANCELED @reuters.com

#$DIS | ‘The Mandalorian And Grogu’ Is Disney’s Lowest-Ever Star Wars Film Opening - CNBC

* IRAN'S FARS SAYS STRAIT OF HORMUZ WOULD REMAIN UNDER IRAN'S MANAGEMENT CONTRARY TO TRUMP'S ANNOUNCEMENT @reuters.com