WSJ What’s News - What’s News in Markets: Tesla Turmoil, Steelmaker Rallies, Dollar General Gains

Episode Date: June 7, 2025

How much did a fight between Elon Musk and President Trump hurt Tesla shares? And why did tariff news lift steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs? Plus, what types of shoppers are driving Dollar General’s gains? Host Francesca Fontana discusses the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Rise to rewards with the BMO Eclipse Rise Visa Card. Terms and conditions apply. Hey, listeners. Hey listeners, it's Saturday, June 7th. I'm Francesca Fontana for the Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News in Markets, our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. All right, what happened this week? Of course, of course, we had more earnings reports, we had developments in tariffs with steel and aluminum, but we're going to get to that later because really what captured

all of our attention, and not just in the stock market, was the giant feud unfolding between President Trump and Elon Musk. So it started with Musk's criticism of Trump's tax and spending mega bill, and it escalated to an afternoon of back and forth insults and attacks. Trump threatened to eliminate government subsidies and contracts for Musk's businesses, and Musk called Trump ungrateful after his campaign support and agreed with a tweet that Trump should be impeached. And it certainly made Thursday's trading interesting.

Tesla's shares fell 14% during the session, losing about $152 billion in market value, which is the company's biggest one-day slide on record. And Trump Media and Technology, the parent company of Trump's Truth Social, saw its shares fall 8%. On Friday, they made up some ground, both gained close to 4%. All in all, the three

major indexes notched weekly gains. The S&P 500 and the Dow each rose more than 1%, and the Nasdaq rose more than 2%. Now let's get back to those metals tariffs and what they mean for American steelmakers, like Cleveland Cliffs. Steel producers seriously rallied on Monday on Trump's recent move to double steel and aluminum tariffs to 50 percent. And yes, that's five-zero. He unveiled the higher duties at a rally the Friday before, and by that I mean May 30th, not yesterday, while promoting a $14 billion deal between Japan's Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel, which the president said would ensure

U.S. control over the company. The higher tariffs, which took effect on Wednesday, give domestic steelmakers more power to raise prices. And, as we've seen since April, steel demand and prices have been cooling off. So back to that rally. Cleveland Cliff shares surged 23% on Monday, and on a weekly basis, the stock gained 30%. Next up, we've got earnings reports from bargain chains like Dollar General. We've talked about the ongoing trend of falling retail demand, and these companies are apparently bucking that trend, thanks to an influx of higher-income customers looking

for deals. Dollar General on Tuesday raised its annual sales outlook after posting better-than-expected first-quarter results. The company said its updated guidance assumes current tariff rates remain in place through mid-August. As we've seen, of course, it's hard to predict anything when it comes to Trump's trade policy. Executives for Dollar General and rival Dollar Tree said that increased demand from middle- and upper-income customers boosted sales in their spring quarters. Meanwhile, as Dollar General's CEO mentioned, lower-income customers remain financially strapped.

And, on Wednesday, low-cost retail peer Five Below joined the dollar stores in posting better-than-expected quarterly results. So back to Dollar General. How'd the stock do? Well, it soared 16% on Tuesday and ended the week with a gain of about 17%. Last but not least, let's talk Lululemon. You may know it for its yoga pants. The sportswear brand cut its annual profit outlook as the company faces cautious U.S. consumers pulling back spending and tariffs

that stand to threaten its supply chain. Specifically, tariffs affecting products from some of the company's largest sourcing bases. It makes products in China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. Lululemon said it's assuming tariffs of 30% on Chinese imports and 10% from other countries. It's looking at ways to cut shipping costs and plans to raise prices on some products. On Friday, Lululemon shares plummeted 20% and the stock notched a weekly loss of about 16%.

And now you know what's news in markets this week. You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in The Score, my column in the Wall Street Journal's Exchange section. Today's show was produced by Zoe Kolkin with supervising producer Talia Arbel. I'm Francesca Fontana. Have a great weekend and I'll see you next Saturday.