Smart Investor: Best Energy Stocks, The Whiplash Economy, OpenAI’s IPO Questions

This week’s highlights:

• Weekly Market Update: Stocks Gain 0.9% as Energy Rises and Basic Materials Fall
• As Powell Closes Out Term as Fed Chair, Odds of Rate Cut in 2026 Vanish
• Claudia Sahm: Thinking Through Scenarios in a Whiplash Economy
• Why Sustainable Investing Strategies Are Doing Better Than You Might Think
• OpenAI Missed Multiple Revenue Targets—Here’s Why It Likely Won’t IPO This Year
• Ahead of IPO Push, OpenAI Distances Itself From Microsoft Partnership
• Haven or High Risk? Decoding Bitcoin’s Unstable Market Role
• The Best Energy Stocks to Buy
• What’s Happening in the Markets This Week

Amid a flood of Big Tech earnings, one trend was clear: The ‘picks and shovels’ trade for the artificial intelligence boom is roaring. As hyperscalers like Microsoft MSFT and Meta META plow billions into building out their AI offerings, companies ranging from Corning GLW to Texas Instruments TXN and NextEra NEE reported big gains in data center-related businesses. Still, this past week, it was energy stocks that led the rally as the stalemate around the Iran war saw oil prices push to new, recent highs.

Despite this year’s big rally in energy stocks, sustainable investing strategies—most of which have at most tiny exposures to the sector—are holding their own compared with the overall market. And in some cases, ESG strategies are outperforming. Why? We explain. For investors at the other end of the spectrum, Tori Brovet updates the list of the best energy stocks to buy now, with nine names that Morningstar analysts believe are still trading at attractive prices.

Among the events of the past week, one for the history books was the final meeting for Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair. What made it most notable was that in response to the Trump administration’s investigations and pressure on the Fed, Powell is taking the unusual step of staying on the board when his term as chair expires this month. Meanwhile, with the energy price spike adding to preexisting worries about inflation, Morningstar Senior US Economist Preston Caldwell says any changes to interest rates are likely off the table in 2026. He explains why he believes the Fed will cut rates in 2027.

In the background, the Fed is facing a “whiplash economy” hit by one shock after another, says noted economist Claudia Sahm. What are the implications for the Fed and the outlook for the US economy? Check out this great interview with Sahm conducted by Morningstar’s Amy Arnott and Ben Johnson.

The drama around this year’s expected mega-IPOs continues, this time with potentially bad news for OpenAI’s prospects. PitchBook senior analyst Harrison Rolfes looks at the implications of reports that OpenAI has missed multiple revenue targets and whether the AI-leader will be in any shape to go public in 2026. We’ve also got a look at how OpenAI is trying to distance itself from one of its big backers, Microsoft.

Lastly, is bitcoin having an identity crisis? Valerio Baselli digs into bitcoin’s performance since the start of the Iran war and explores what it means for investors that the largest cryptocurrency continues to flip-flop between being a safe haven and a “risk” asset.

As always, be sure to visit our Markets page for our latest coverage and live stock market updates, along with our full weekly calendar of key upcoming data and events.