Big Moves in Markets, Sports, and More: What's Shaking Up the World?

The financial world is buzzing with big news. First off, there's a lot of talk about "quadruple witching. " This is a rare event where options on stocks, indexes, and futures all expire on the same day. It happens only four times a year, and this time, it's expected to be huge. Goldman Sachs predicts a record $7. 1 trillion in options exposure, with most of it tied to the S&P 500. Despite this, stock futures weren't moving much in early trading. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones have had a rough week, but they did snap a four-day losing streak after a recent inflation report. Nike is also in the spotlight. The sportswear giant's shares dropped in early trading after they warned about a sales decline in the current quarter. While North America sales were strong, China remains a challenge. Nike's CEO called it the "middle inning of our comeback, " but investors were hoping for more.In a surprising move, President Trump signed an order to reclassify marijuana. This could be a big deal, as it moves cannabis from a Schedule I drug to Schedule III, meaning it has accepted medical use. However, cannabis company shares fell after the announcement, possibly due to fears of new competition. Dealmaking has been slow this year, despite high hopes. There were fewer deals in 2024 compared to the last year of the Biden administration. High interest rates and tariff uncertainty have made things tricky. Still, there have been some big deals, like Union Pacific's proposed acquisition of Norfolk Southern and Netflix's potential takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming assets. Lastly, the University of Texas at Austin has the most valuable college sports program, worth $1. 48 billion. That's a 16% increase from last year. Ohio State University, which was number one last year, is now in second place.