The United Arab Emirates has made it clear that the currency swap talks it is having with the United States are not driven by a need for external financing, but by a desire to join a small club of countries that have access to Federal Reserve liquidity lines, Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-02/world-s-largest-container-carrier-plans-route-avoiding-hormuz">writes.</a>

"Status is more important than dollars": why the Emirates want to join the "elite club" of central banks

United Airlines Holdings, Inc.

Air China Limited

Deutsche Lufthansa AG

Air France-KLM SA

Airfares have already risen five times in price since the war in the Middle East began - and started to get even more expensive at the end of April, industry officials say

Airlines around the world will cut 12,000 flights and 2 million passenger seats in May

US stocks opened the main session on May 4 with a slight decline. Market uncertainty increased after <a href="https://oninvest.com/article/v-irane-zaavili-ob-udare-po-voennomu-korablu-ssa-neft-brent-vzletela-vyse-110">contradictory reports</a> that Iran allegedly forced a U.S. patrol ship to turn around near the Strait of Hormuz by launching missiles at it. The U.S. denied this statement.

U.S. stocks began trading lower after reports of an Iranian attack on a patrol ship

Trump's announced operation to withdraw ships from the Gulf has not been discussed in any way with market participants, and its details remain "disturbingly unclear," shipping companies say

'Too vague': Trump's new Strait of Hormuz plan has perplexed the market

Spirit Aviation, which has been trying to restructure its business for a year and a half, <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/spirit-airlines-begins-orderly-wind-062300402.html">announced</a> on Ma. 2 that it would immediately wind down its operations. This is the only way out amid a significant rise in oil prices and lack of additional sources of financing, it explained.

Lowcoster Spirit has announced that it will cease operations immediately. How did he explain it?

SK hynix Inc.

Coinbase Global, Inc.

Strategy Inc

Robinhood Markets, Inc.

Bitcoin's rise to a two-month peak supported Coinbase and Strategy shares. For how long?

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc.

Shares of Esperion Therapeutics, a small-cap maker of cholesterol-lowering drugs, <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/ESPR/">soared</a> nearly 56% on Ma. 1, to a two-month high. He <a href="https://www.esperion.com/news-releases/news-release-details/esperion-be-acquired-archimed">said</a>: it plans to be acquired by funds managed by Archimed, a private equity firm specializing in health care.

Quotes of small-cap biotech Esperion soared. It will be bought by a private investment company 

eBay Inc.

GameStop Corp.

Amazon.com, Inc.

GameStop, a chain of stores for gamers, has offered to buy eBay and turn it into a full-fledged competitor to Amazon 

An investor from The Big Short was buying Gamestop. Why doesn't he believe in the idea of a new Amazon?

Data

Peloton Interactive, Inc.

Organon & Co.

KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Frontline plc

Rigetti Computing, Inc.

First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund

Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF

Peloton's workouts will appear on the Spotify streaming service app. Indian pharma company Sun Pharma will buy women's health products maker Organon, and Italy's Chiesi will buy KalVista, a developer of therapies for a rare disease. The leaders among small-cap ETFs in the first quarter were funds that benefited from the conflict in the Middle East and the resulting energy shock. Read about the main events of the small-caps sector from Ma. 27 to Ma. 1 in our review.

Highlights in small-caps: Peloton and Spotify deal, M&amp;A in pharma, small-caps ETF results 

Hertz Global Holdings, Inc.

Uber Technologies, Inc.

Shares of Hertz Global Holdings, one of the world’s largest car-rental companies, surged nearly 14% on Thursday after the "<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/hertz-the-original-meme-stock-rewards-its-true-believers-11621354091">original meme stock</a>" announced a robotaxi <a href="https://newsroom.hertz.com/press-releases/press-release-details/hertz-and-uber-partner-to-power-autonomous-robotaxi-and-driver-led-fleet-operations/">partnership</a>&nbsp;with Uber Technologies.

Meme stock Hertz rallies almost 14% on robotaxi partnership with Uber 

Novo Nordisk A/S

Hemab Therapeutics

Shares of biotech Hemab Therapeutics, founded by former Novo Nordisk executives, are now available for early trading on the Freedom client trading platform. The company’s lead asset, sutacimig, is being developed for rare blood-clotting disorders. Later on Friday, the stock will debut on the Nasdaq during the regular session under the ticker symbol <a href="https://tap.freedom24.com/to/quote/COAG.US?utm_source=stocks&amp;utm_medium=COAG.US&amp;utm_campaign=pfu17521958">COAG</a>.

Hemab IPO: Novo-backed blood disorder biotech debuts on the Nasdaq

Shares of rare disease small cap developer KalVista Pharmaceuticals <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/KALV/">surged</a>&nbsp;almost 40% on Wednesday to their highest level since mid-2021 after the biotech <a href="https://ir.kalvista.com/news-releases/news-release-details/chiesi-group-acquire-kalvista-pharmaceuticals-expanding-its">said</a>&nbsp;it would be acquired at a premium by Italian drugmaker Chiesi Group. M&amp;A activity in the rare disease space continues to accelerate, and investors should watch the sector closely for new opportunities, <a href="https://www.channelchek.com/news-channel/chiesi-drops-1-9-billion-to-snag-kalvista-and-the-first-oral-hae-treatment-on-the-market">writes</a>&nbsp;Noble Capital Markets.

Small-cap biotech KalVista to be acquired by Italy's Chiesi; stock hits 5-year high

Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF

Avantis U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF

Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF

APA Corporation

iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF

Kosmos Energy Ltd.

The escalating conflict in the Middle East has <a href="https://en.oninvest.com/article/middle-east-oil-supply-disruption-surpasses-losses-from-1970s-crises-iea">triggered</a>&nbsp;the largest disruption to oil supplies in the history of the global market. Against that backdrop, oil prices have remained&nbsp;near $100 per barrel, while the energy sector in the S&amp;P 500 <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/energy/articles/energy-stocks-surged-38-q1-200000694.html">gained</a>&nbsp;about 38% in the first quarter even as the broader index <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/03/25/the-sp-500-is-on-track-to-finish-q1-in-negative-te/#:~:text=S%26P%20500%20slid%20roughly%204.6%25%20in%20the%20first%20quarter.">fell</a>&nbsp;4.6%.

Small-cap ETFs in 1Q26: Who managed to gain from the energy shock?

Small Caps

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