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June 15, 2026
Dow: 50,866
S&P: 7,383
Nasdaq: 25,709
10-YR T-Note: 4.52%
Bitcoin: 63,893
VIX: 18.7
Gold: $4,355
Crude Oil: 91.62
Don Selkin, the creator and innovator of the "Fair Value" numbers, as its Chief Market Strategist on the Newbridge platform has given CNBC and its Predecessor, these numbers every day for the over 40 years - never missing a single day, as well as given the fair value for the Nasdaq 100 futures since their introduction in 1996 and the Dow Jones stock index futures since 1997. Mr. Selkin has also been quoted in several publications including but not limited to Bloomberg News, New York Post, Reuters, and The New York Times. Mr. Selkin's Fair Value numbers are included in the U.S.
Futures Report broadcast on CNBC every day before the market
opens attributing "Newbridge Securities" as the source. In addition, NSC provides to its professionals, their clients and the public access to Don Selkin's more in depth financial market views.
After last week's decline, which was the first one after nine straight gains, things took an about-face to the upside in the week just ended.
As a result, the three main indices all ended higher by 0. 7% for the week. The big story was the introduction of the largest IPO of Space Exploration Technologies (SPXW). The event kind of came and went without too much disruption and this stock will probably now be a referendum of how strong investor appetite will be for everything of this nature, with Anthropic and Open Al coming up later this year.
SPXW will enter the Nasdaq 100 as technology is 37% of the S&P with the Magnificent 7 alone responsible for a third.
The market was also helped by a decline in oil prices down to $84.88 a barrel. This was helped by the President calling off his threats to attack Iran and said that a potential deal with that country may be imminent.
A deal to end the war could re-open the Straight of Hormuz and allow oil tankers to deliver crude oil from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide. Its near closure has raised the price of Brent up from $70 and has caused much painful inflation for the world.
In the bond market, Treasury yields rose with the 10-year yield up to 4.48% as the U. of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey improved by more than expected.
The war in Iran has continued to push up prices for American consumers, as the C.P.I. gained 4.2% in May from a year earlier. It was the third month in a row that the annual inflation rate ticked higher, at the fastest pace since April 2023. The rate was 2.4% in February, the last month before the war began.
Energy prices rose by 3.9% and it drove the overall increase. The core index, which excludes food and energy prices, gained 0.2% from the previous month. The average cost of a gallon of gas is over $4.10, up about a dollar from last year. Airfares were up 26.7%.
Inflation rose faster than wage growth and wage gains have fallen back to where they were when the President took office last year, dipping to 0.7% over the past year.
Not all prices have gone higher as auto prices have declined by 2% while the cost of health insurance dropped by 6,4%. But not is great with the overall situation as despite the still relatively low unemployment rate, the household capacity to consume is eroding.
Of all weird things, GME submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire 100% of eBay Inc. (EBAY) at $125.00 per share in cash and stock. The offer represents a 46% premium to eBay's unaffected closing price on February 4, 2026, the day GameStop started accumulating its position in eBay. GME has built a 5% economic stake in eBay through derivatives and beneficial ownership of common stock. It is filing a Schedule 13D and HSR notification.
The offer is $125.00 per share, comprising 50% cash and 50% GME common stock, with full shareholder election rights as to consideration type and pro-rata allocation. Aggregate undiluted equity value is approximately $55.5 billion, based on eBay's most recently disclosed undiluted share count, representing a 27% premium to the 30-day VW AP and a 36% premium to the 90-day VW AP. The transaction is conditioned on customary closing conditions. The cash consideration is expected to be funded from a combination of (i) cash and liquid investments on GME balance sheet, which totaled ~$9.4 billion as of January 31, 2026, and (ii) third-party acquisition financing, in respect of which GME has received a highly-confident letter from TD Securities for up to $20 billion.
EBAY spent $2.4 billion on Sales & Marketing in fiscal 2025 while only adding one million net active buyers (134M to 135M - a net increase of less than 0.75%). GME will deliver $2 billion of annualized cost reductions within twelve months of closing:
~$1.2 billion from Sales & Marketing. More spend is not producing more users on a marketplace with near-universal brand recognition.
~$300 million from Product Development. Product Development expense grew 11% in fiscal 2025 against revenue growth of 8%.
~$500 million from General & Administrative. Consolidated finance, HR, real estate, legal, IT, and professional services across the combined company.
On cost reductions alone, EBAY's diluted GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations would increase from $4.26 to $7.79 in year one. Beyond cost, GME' s -1,600 US retail locations give eBay a national network for authentication, intake, fulfillment, and live commerce.
Following close, Ryan Cohen will serve as Chief Executive Officer of the combined company.
Mr. Cohen has led GME since January 2021. Over that period, the company moved from a $381 million net loss in fiscal 2021 to $418 million of net income in fiscal 2025, reduced SG&A by ,..,,$800 million (47%), retired its legacy debt, and raised $4.2 billion of long-term debt at 0% coupon. He owns ~9% of GME and receives no salary, no cash bonuses, and no golden parachute. He will be compensated solely based on the performance of the combined company.
If anyone thinks that this is a good deal, they should think again.
Since this is the in-between period for 1Q and 2Q earnings, the only ones this week are as follows: Wednesday- KMX, JBL; Thursday - KR.
Economic reports will be more interesting with: today - May industrial production; Tuesday - May housing starts; Wednesday- May retail sales, F.O.M.C. meeting with Kevin Warsh as new chairman and let's see how far he gets the President to push for lower interest rates when the majority of the committee is leaning toward raising rates; Thursday - May leading economic indicators.
