0819 | Treasury to at least Double Buybacks; Marvell +10%; Moderna/Merck Vaccine; Target Raises

Mia: Welcome to After Market on Bri Radio. I'm Mia.

Milo: And I'm Milo. Today we're looking at the Treasury stepping up its bond market support, a big AI chip deal for Marvell and Google, new data on a personalized cancer vaccine, plus retail results and the latest on US-Canada trade.

Mia: The Treasury Department said it will at least double the maximum size of its liquidity support buyback operations for longer-dated nominal coupon securities, raising the cap to at least four billion dollars per operation effective September ninth of 2026. The move targets the sensitive longer-duration part of the Treasury market.

Milo: It was framed as Treasury Secretary Bessent deploying debt buybacks out of concern over the rise in yields, part of an effort to steady the bond market. On Wednesday, longer-term Treasury yields pulled back from multi-year highs after the announcement, and stocks climbed as the Treasury stepped in to support bonds.

Milo: Marvell Technology shares jumped ten percent after the company issued a warrant letting Google buy up to twelve point two billion dollars in Marvell shares as part of an AI chip deal.

Mia: Hm. That fits the broader push by Google and its competitors into custom chips, described as improving efficiency and reducing reliance on Nvidia. A CNBC Investing Club headline framed it as Marvell muscling in on Google, one of Broadcom's key customers.

Mia: Moderna and Merck reported positive results from a large, late-stage trial of their personalized mRNA cancer vaccine. The vaccine plus Keytruda significantly reduced recurrence of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, and significantly extended the time patients lived without the disease returning, compared with Keytruda alone.

Milo: The reports framed the outcome as showing promise for treating melanoma and reviving expectations for mRNA technology, which had been described as embattled. One report's headline said both stocks soared on the news.

Milo: Target posted better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter sales and raised its full-year outlook, saying its turnaround is picking up steam with help from a big tariff refund.

Mia: Lowe's, by contrast, reported mixed quarterly results with a muted outlook, saying it continued to see pressure in home improvement spending. And TJX stock fell as its earnings showed consumers pulling back.

Mia: On Wednesday President Trump said the US has reached an agreement with Canada on trade, telling Bloomberg's Tyler Kendall at the White House that Canadian representatives gave us the points we had to have, and that the two sides were close to a deal.

Milo: In concrete terms, tariffs on roughly twenty billion dollars worth of Canadian goods set to take effect Wednesday were postponed by three days, and Trump separately said he would delay new fifty percent tariffs for three days as well. Canadian equities jumped after the postponement announcement.

Mia: The three-day delay remains in place while talks continue. The final terms of any agreement, and whether the postponed tariffs will actually take effect after the pause, have not been reported. Separately, US and Canadian funds are hedging currency risk at the highest level in three years.

Milo: Carvana shares are under pressure this week as a probe involving Mark Walter fuels investor jitters. The scrutiny has raised questions about what could happen to Walter's Carvana position if fallout from the investigation pressures him to raise cash, though whether he actually faces that pressure, and what would happen to his position if he did, remains unknown.

Mia: To wrap up, we saw the Treasury doubling long-dated bond buybacks, which helped yields retreat from multi-year highs as stocks climbed, and Marvell shares popping ten percent on an AI chip deal that lets Google buy up to twelve point two billion dollars in stock.

Milo: Thanks for joining us today.

Mia: Take care, and we'll see you next time.