US stocks edge down from their record after oil prices climb 5%

stock market edged down from its all-time high on Monday, while oil prices rose on uncertainty about when the Strait of Hormuz could reopen and get the global flow of crude going again.The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% from its record set on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 60 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%.Momentum slowed for stocks following a rally powered by soaring profits for big U.S. Reports are on track to show earnings per share leaped 50% in the spring from a year earlier for companies in the S&P 500, according to FactSet.

That would be the best growth since five years ago, when the economy was roaring out of the chasm created by COVID.Berkshire Hathaway is one of the latest companies to deliver a stronger profit for the last quarter than analysts expected, and the company built by legendary investor Warren Buffett said over the weekend that it’s also invested some of its massive pile of cash into stocks under its new CEO, Greg Abel.Berkshire Hathaway has been famous for buying stocks at what it considers low prices, and criticism has been high that U.S. stocks generally look too expensive. But when they report strong profits, it helps them look less pricey.Berkshire Hathaway’s stock rose 1.5%.MarineMax jumped 46.1% after the retailer, marina operator and superyacht services provider said it agreed to sell itself for about $1.5 billion in cash to a portfolio company of Blackstone.Varex Imaging leaped 48.8% after Teledyne Technologies said it would buy the maker of X-ray imaging components for $18.90 per share in cash.But Intel helped offset such gains and fell 4.1% after saying it may sell $15 billion of its stock.

Such a move would dilute the ownership stakes of shareholders, and Intel said it would likely use the cash for investments to take advantage of the huge spending underway on artificial-intelligence technology.All told, the S&P 500 slipped 4.53 points to 7,753.11. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 60.95 to 53,975.98, and the Nasdaq composite sank 85.26 to 26,605.36.In the oil market, the price for a barrel of Brent crude rose 5% to $87.72. It had swung between $72 and $102 last month as hopes rose and fell that the United States and Iran could reach an agreement that would allow oil tankers to freely exit the Middle East again to deliver crude worldwide.But hopes are tu…