Switzerland's largest bank sees investment opportunities in U.S. utility stocks, bonds and gold

Protective assets instead of euphoria: UBS names 5 risks after Middle East truce

The Walt Disney Company

US President Donald Trump has ramped up pressure on NATO and revisited the Greenland issue amid disagreements with allies over war with Iran, while highlighting the fragility of a truce in the Middle East. OpenAI is gearing up for an IPO with retail investors and a massive infrastructure investment. On these and other topics - in our review of key events for the morning of April 9.

Top story for this morning: Trump pressures NATO, Anthropic denied lifting Pentagon sanctions

Rigetti Computing, Inc.

Quotes of Rigetti Computing, which deals with quantum computing, jumped 5% on April 8. The company - albeit a few months late - <a href="https://investors.rigetti.com/news-releases/news-release-details/rigetti-announces-general-availability-108-qubit-system">announced</a> that it was launching its most powerful quantum computer yet.

Rigetti shares jump: it has belatedly launched sales of a quantum computer

Physical North Sea crude oil prices have risen sharply, suggesting a continued supply shortage in the market, Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-08/key-oil-prices-soar-showing-supply-is-tight-despite-iran-war-ceasefire?embedded-checkout=true">notes</a>. Despite a U.S.-Iran truce to restore traffic in the key Strait of Hormuz for global trade and already causing the value of oil futures to collapse, real oil supplies remain expensive and are selling at a large premium to core prices, the agency said.

North Sea oil price premiums jump despite US-Iran truce

Broadcom Inc.

Alphabet Inc.

Seaport Research downgraded the shares of data center and cloud services chip maker Broadcom on Wednesday, April 8. This is a rare decision in the case of these securities, which most analysts recommend buying. Goldberg cited risks associated with the company's partnership with Google and AI startup Anthropic, as well as the overall health of the AI chip market.

Broadcom has received a rare downgrade. Anthropic deal could be a problem

Sleep Number Corporation

Aehr Test Systems, Inc.

Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc.

Waldencast plc

Vicor Corporation

Solo Brands, Inc.

The Hain Celestial Group, Inc.

Paysafe Limited

GigaCloud Technology Inc.

The Russell 2000 Index, a benchmark for small and mid-cap companies, <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/%5ERUT/">jumped</a> 3.4% in early trading on April 8, to its highest level in more than a month. This could be the best result of the index for the last two months, <a href="https://www.barrons.com/livecoverage/stock-market-news-today-040826/card/the-russell-2000-is-soaring-it-s-almost-out-of-correction-territory--WkUyZETA0oS6rLEU4cLa">writes</a> Barron's. However, the momentum slowed thereafter. Nevertheless, the Russell 2000 showed the largest growth among the major U.S. indices on Wednesday, adding almost 3%.

The small-cap index is at its highest for the month. Which stocks grew the most?

BP p.l.c.

Chevron Corporation

Shell plc

Exxon Mobil Corporation

Shares of energy companies in the United States and Europe fell in price on Wednesday: a truce in the Middle East removed a significant military premium built into oil prices, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/european-energy-shares-drop-oil-plunges-iran-ceasefire-2026-04-08/">writes</a>. They fell below $100 a barrel after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week pause in hostilities and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, through which more than 20% of the world's oil supply passes.

A painful day: energy stocks fell in price after oil prices plummeted

U.S. stocks rose sharply at the end of trading on April 8, the first session since the truce between the U.S. and Iran. Although by the end of the trading day the rally slowed down - amid Tehran's statements about ceasefire violations by the U.S. military, the Dow Jones showed the best growth since April 2025, CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/07/stock-market-today-live-updates.html">calculated</a>. Other indices also remained in significant plus.

Dow Jones posted best growth in a year: results of the first day of the truce between the US and Iran

Data

Optex Systems Holdings, Inc

Freedom Broker has initiated coverage on Optex Systems Holdings with a “buy” rating, citing rising defense spending as a key driver of demand for the company’s products. The analysts flag that the stock is best suited to long-term investors, given the firm's exposure to uneven defense procurement cycles.

Freedom Broker initiates on micro-cap defense optics supplier Optex at 'buy'

Boot Barn Holdings, Inc.

'Victim of negative investor sentiment': Jefferies upgrades Boot Barn to 'buy'

XWELL, Inc.

Investment group American Ventures, linked to the children of U.S. President Trump, has <a href="https://www.xwell.com/static-files/0b6259f4-58aa-46bc-927c-37d35dae1efd">acquired</a>&nbsp;shares of small-cap spa operator XWell. By the World Cup of&nbsp;soccer  in June, the company plans to roll out AI-powered infectious disease screening at U.S. airports, the FT <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d075f22c-1794-42e3-83d6-020ff2b4ef4f">reports</a>.

Trump family-linked investment group backs small-cap spa company XWell

Primo Brands Corporation

Dauch Corporation

Nextdoor Holdings, Inc.

Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc.

Sweetgreen, Inc.

Cable One, Inc.

Sabre Corporation

Stitch Fix, Inc.

Cars.com Inc.

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc.

American Public Education, Inc.

MediaAlpha, Inc.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc.

Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc.

Portillo's Inc.

Freedom looks at the 15 small-cap stocks in consumer cyclicals that were most held by hedge funds as of 4Q25

Soleno Therapeutics, Inc.

Shares of Soleno Therapeutics, the developer of the first therapy for insatiable hunger, surged nearly 30% in early trading on Monday to $51.30 per share after Neurocrine Biosciences was reported to be nearing a more than $2.5 billion acquisition of the company, the FT <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/6642c09c-12df-4724-8ed4-a28c32b9b2b7?syn-25a6b1a6=1">wrote</a>, citing people familiar with the matter.

Extreme hunger drugmaker Soleno jumps on potential acquisition by Neurocrine

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