Jan-26-2025

Market & Macro Snapshot

• Cold weather impacting parts of the U.S., including the Philadelphia area.

• Crude oil slightly lower around $60.80/barrel; energy ETFs (XLE, USO) have rallied in recent weeks.

• Government shutdown risk resurfaces ahead of Jan 30, as Democrats push to pull DHS funding following a Minnesota incident involving ICE agents. President Trump is sending Tom Homan to Minneapolis.

Precious Metals Surge

• Gold up ~1.8% pre-market, trading near $5,065–$5,100/oz.

• Silver (SLV) up sharply, ~8% pre-market, near $110/oz.

• Gold miners ripping higher pre-market (IBD 50 leaders include CDE, ORLA, IAG).

• Allied Gold (AAUC) up ~3% after news of a $4B acquisition by Chinese miner Zijin.

Equities & Sectors

• Airlines (DAL, UAL, AAL) modestly lower amid widespread flight delays; stocks testing 50-day moving averages.

• Dow leaders early: Apple (AAPL) and Cisco (CSCO).

• Magnificent Seven earnings this week: Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, Meta.

Notable Stock Movers

• USA Rare Earth (USAR): +20% pre-market after U.S. government takes a 10% stake (~$1.65B).

• CoreWeave: Shares higher as NVIDIA invests another $2B to expand AI data centers.

• IONQ: +2% on news it’s acquiring SkyWater Technology (SKYT) for nearly $2B; SKYT up ~8%.

• AppLovin: +5% after Needham upgrade to Buy, $700 price target.

• Dutch Bros (BROS): Slightly higher after Citi initiates Buy, $82 target.

Earnings to Watch

• Data storage: SanDisk, Western Digital, Seagate.

• Chip equipment: Lam Research, KLA.

• Fiber optics: Amphenol, Corning, VIAVI.

Jan-23-2026

 Market Overview

• SPY: down ~0.2%

• QQQ: down ~0.3%, later stabilizing

• Dow Jones: potentially first decline after 3 sessions

• Market weakness is mild overall.

Key News & Stock Movers

• Tesla (TSLA):

  • Stock up ~4% after comments by Elon Musk at the World Economic Forum.

  • Reduced human safety monitors in Austin robo-taxis.

  • Optimus humanoid robots possibly for sale by end of 2027; estimated cost $20K–$30K.

  • Morgan Stanley estimates <1M humanoid robots sold in the U.S. by decade’s end.

• Oracle (ORCL):

  • Down ~2%.

  • Part of a deal to acquire a majority stake in TikTok alongside Silverlake and Abu Dhabi–based MGX (each owning 15%).

  • ByteDance retains 20%.

• Alcoa (AA):

  • Down ~4% pre-market.

  • Q4 revenue beat, but mixed outlook on production.

• Capital One (COF):

  • Down ~3% after earnings miss.

  • Announced acquisition of Brex for $5.15B.

• Intel (INTC):

  • Down ~13% pre-market.

  • Reported net loss of $333M, revenue down 4%.

  • Supply constraints expected to be worst in Q1; multi-year recovery ahead.

• SLB (Schlumberger):

  • Up ~1.3% after earnings.

• Life360 (LIF):

  • Up ~23% on strong user growth (95.8M monthly active users).

• Sallie Mae (SLM):

  • Up 7–10% pre-market.

  • EPS beat ($1.12 vs $0.94) and announced $500M stock buyback.

Market Open Check

• QQQ and SPY show only light declines.

• Equal-weighted indexes slightly weaker.

• All major indexes remain above key moving averages.

Jan 9 26

 Markets:

Futures are modestly higher pre-market:

• QQQ +0.2%

• SPY +0.2%

• IWM +0.4%

Rates & economy:

• 10-year Treasury at 4.18%, capped in a 4–4.2% range for months

• Unemployment fell to 4.4%

• Job creation came in below expectations (~50k)

• Wage growth steady at 0.3% MoM, 3.8% YoY

• Average workweek fell, signaling employer caution

Rate cut outlook:
Weaker job growth increases expectations for rate cuts in 2025.

Stocks in focus:

• Oklo & Vistra surged on power deals with Meta

• Intel rose on favorable Trump comments

• Rocket (RKT) jumped ~5% on Trump’s proposal to boost mortgage purchases

Housing & policy:
Proposal to use Fannie/Freddie cash to lower mortgage rates; potential ~65 bps reduction in 30-year rates.

Earnings ahead:
JPM, Delta, Citi, Taiwan Semi, Morgan Stanley reporting next week.

Regulation:
SEC may raise “small entity” AUM threshold from $25M to $1B, easing compliance for RIAs.

Jan 9 2026

 Market Tone:

Volatile, headline-driven. Defense stocks rebounded after Trump proposed a $1.5T FY27 defense budget (vs. ~$1T prior), despite earlier pressure over buybacks/dividends. Expect whipsaw action to continue.

Key Gainers / Watchlist:

• Defense: LMT, NOC, GD – rebound on budget optimism; trade headlines, not fundamentals today.

• Bloom Energy (BE): Big gap up on $2.6–$5B AEP fuel-cell deal + Wyoming facility.

• Globus Medical (GMED): Gapping higher after raised Q4 sales and 2026 outlook.

• Applied Digital (APLD): Revenue +98%, hyperscaler talks → AI/data-center momentum.

• Memory Semis: Samsung earnings nearly tripled → sympathy moves in memory names.

M&A / Corporate Action:

• Eli Lilly (LLY): Confirmed Ventex buyout ($14/share); VTYX largely priced in.

• CrowdStrike (CRWD): Buying AI identity startup CGNL (~$740M).

• AbbVie (ABBV): Denies talks with RVMD → RVMD likely to fade.

Weak / Risk Areas:

• Biotech: IMRX collapsing on failed Phase 2B data.

• Solar: CSIQ down on $200M convertible offering.

• Financials: JEF pressured by GAAP miss tied to First Brands charge.

Consumer & Macro Reads:

• Costco (COST): Strong December comps, but trend still weak → watch for bounce vs. fade.

• China / NVDA: Reports China may approve H200 purchases this quarter → headline sensitivity remains.

Today’s Focus:
Trade gaps and reversals, watch defense for policy volatility, and AI/data-center names for momentum continuation