Movements in the Market

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is assigned to address Congress in person, his first trip outside his country after Russia’s invasion ten months ago. Elon Musk is preparing to resign as Twitter CEO just as soon as he can discover someone foolish enough to want the job, and oil prices smashed their highest in a week on signs that the U.S. government’s swish from the seller to the buyer and G7 measures versus Russia is tightening crude availability.

Nike Earnings Cheer as Inventories Fall

Nike (NYSE: NKE) shares jumped following the sports gear giant stated it had made satisfactory progress in paring down excess inventory over the last three months.

The company reported a lumpy 27% upgrade in constant-currency sales in the last three months late on Thursday and net revenue 30% ahead of expectations, with markdowns in North America especially useful in shifting excess stock. It, therefore, increased its recommendation for full-year.

As Nike’s heads, so goes the global consumer. That could be an overstatement, but the world’s biggest sportswear maker isn’t the most destructive proxy for consumer discretionary spending. Rivals Adidas (ETR: ADSGN) and Puma (ETR: PUMG) both achieved in European morning trading in sympathy, as did U.K. retailer J.D. Sports (LON: J.D.).

Zelensky in Washington, Medvedev in Beijing

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will handle the U.S. Congress in person later Wednesday, his first trip outside Ukraine after Russia invaded the country over 300 days ago.

Zelenskyy will ask the U.S. for Lockheed Martin’s (NYSE: LMT) state-of-the-art long-range rocket artillery system, the so-called ATACMS, which would give the country much greater ability to strike targets in Russia.

The U.S. has so far resisted less public pressure for the ATACMS to be contained in U.S. military aid, fearing escalation of the battle.