Best Quarter in Six Years, Chips Steal the Show

Best quarter in six years and chips stole the show. SOX up 88% for the quarter — its best ever. Micron quadrupled. Intel trebled. And the Mag Seven? Down 4% for the year. The companies spending the money are lagging the companies selling them the shovels.Gold's had its worst quarter since 2013, down 24% from the January highs. Iran talks resume in Doha but the "back to normal in two weeks" calls from Wall Street feel detached from reality. Samsung and SK Hynix just pledged $1.3 trillion in new chip investment. Nike beat on both lines and still sold off. JOLTS job openings hit a two-year high and rate hike bets are building.Plus: ASX starts FY27, South32 sells its aluminium business to Alcoa for $8.1bn, and why healthcare might be the rotation play when chip stocks eventually turn. Payrolls land Thursday night with no US market Friday — that Asian open could get spicy.S&P 500: 7,496 (+0.8%) | Nasdaq: 26,213 (+1.5%) | Dow: record 52,317 | SPI: 8,784