News

Investors and traders have had quite a ride with shares of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. DJT, +7.92%. This has actually been a good week for the stock, with shares up 5% from a week earlier, through Thursday.

But Trump Media and its CEO Devin Nunes have been making a case with regulators and leaders in Congress that patterns of short-selling DJT shares give “strong indications of unlawful manipulation of DJT stock.”

Ciara Linnane and Tomi Kilgore explain why the trading patterns cited by Trump Media haven’t led to volatility for the stock.

The Moneyist

Quentin Fottrell answered an interesting question from a retired reader. She and her husband helped their son through a difficult financial time by giving him $100,000, with a plan for the money to be “paid back” eventually by having the son’s inheritance from their estate reduced by that amount. With the son now back on a sound financial footing, all should well with this plan, right? Here’s why their estate planning may not be so simple, and what they can do about it.

See the Moneyist column for more.

Estate planning, retirement accounts and taxes

Beth Pinsker answered a complicated question from a reader who has two siblings expecting to inherit money and property. How can they plan now to lower their tax bill later?

A seasonal stock-market slide

The S&P 500 SPX rose 10.6% during the first quarter, but then declined 3.9% from the end of March through Thursday (with dividends reinvested). This may not seem much of a pullback, but some of the stock market’s brightest tech stars have fared worse. Nvidia Corp. NVDA, +6.18% and Meta Platforms Inc. META, +0.43% were both down 9% in April, through Thursday.

Here is commentary related to the stock market pullback:

Looking ahead after a good week for Tesla

Tesla Inc. TSLA, -1.11% reported its first-quarter results on Tuesday, and investors were impressed enough with the numbers — or what CEO Elon Musk had to say about accelerated plans for product launches — to send the stock up 12% on Wednesday, followed by a 5% gain on Thursday.

Here is a sampling of reactions following Tesla’s earnings call.

An improving housing market — for buyers

MarketWatch real estate reporter Aarthi Swaminathan interviewed Re/Max founder Dave Liniger, who drew upon decades of housing-market history and the recent industry upheaval to predict what lies ahead.

On a related note, many U.S. housing markets have seen an upsurge in listings. Here is how that action is affecting asking prices for homes.

Meta — sell the good news?

After the close on Wednesday, Meta Platforms reported a 27% increase in first-quarter revenue from the year-earlier quarter to $36.46 billion, while the Facebook holding company’s profit more than doubled to $12.4 billion.

But the stock fell 11% Thursday.

Therese Poletti explained what might have soured Meta for some investors — at least for one day.

On a related note, Meta’s bonds, and those of other members of the Magnificent Seven group of companies, have attractive yields now.

Want more from MarketWatch? Sign up for this and other newsletters to get the latest news and advice on personal finance and investing.