Good afternoon! Wall Street isn’t waiting for Congress to do anything official, it’s trading this like the headline is already a law. Bank and credit-card names slid Monday after President Trump floated a one-year 10% cap on credit card APRs, a direct hit to one of the fattest profit pools in consumer finance.
The catch: it’s not actually policy yet, and it likely can’t be done by executive order. But markets did what they always do best: sell first, ask legal questions later and start pricing in both headline risk and the chance that “APR caps” becomes a real bipartisan talking point.
MARKETS
Stocks shook off the morning panic and closed at fresh record highs, even after news broke that the DOJ served the Fed with grand jury subpoenas. Tech led the rebound, pushing the S&P 500 to a second straight record close alongside gains in the Nasdaq 100 and Russell 2000.
Meanwhile, gold and silver blasted to new highs after Jerome Powell warned the executive branch is trying to influence monetary policy. Bonds took the headline more seriously, with yields jumping as investors priced in a little more “political risk premium.”
STOCKS
Winners & Losers
What’s up 📈
Day One Biopharmaceuticals surged 26.73% after posting better-than-expected Q4 sales $DAWN
Beam Therapeutics exploded 22.29% after reaching an FDA agreement on a potential accelerated approval path for BEAM-302 $BEAM
Sun Country popped 10.72% after Allegiant agreed to buy the carrier in a $1.5B deal $SNCY
Alibaba jumped 10.17% after China hinted it may step in to cool the food-delivery price war $BABA
Lithium Argentina climbed 7.31% after a bullish lithium upgrade boosted the space $LAR
Lithium Americas rose 6.86% as lithium names rallied in sympathy $LAC
Dexcom moved higher 5.31% after preliminary Q4 results beat expectations $DXCM
Albemarle gained 4.98% after Scotiabank upgraded the stock on a better lithium outlook $ALB
JD.com climbed 4.31% on the China food-delivery probe optimism $JD
Walmart added 3.01% after joining the Nasdaq-100 + announcing a Google Gemini shopping partnership $WMT
What’s down 📉
Abercrombie & Fitch cratered 17.70% after trimming the high end of Q4 guidance $ANF
Urban Outfitters dropped 12.31% after weak holiday sales $URBN
Bread Financial slid 10.70% after the proposed credit card APR cap sparked sector-wide selling $BFH
Duolingo sank 8.53% after its CFO announced he’s stepping down $DUOL
Synchrony Financial declined 8.37% as the APR cap proposal hit consumer lenders $SYF
Capital One fell 6.41% on the same APR cap pressure $COF
Allegiant dipped 6.40% after agreeing to acquire Sun Country for $1.5B $ALGT
American Express retreated 4.28% as payments/lenders sold off $AXP
American Eagle fell 3.56% as Q4 same-store sales outlook disappointed $AEO
TECH
Apple Picks Google Gemini to Power the New Siri
Apple just did the most un-Apple thing possible: it called in outside help.
According to CNBC, Apple $AAPL is teaming up with Google $GOOGL in a multi-year partnership to use Gemini as the brain behind a revamped, AI-powered Siri expected to roll out this year. After months of “Apple is behind in AI” chatter, this is Cupertino basically saying: best model wins, pride loses.
Siri Gets a New Engine (and Hopefully a Pulse)
Apple told CNBC it chose Google because Gemini offers “the most capable foundation” for Apple Foundation Models and will unlock new user experiences. Translation: Apple can’t afford another Siri update that feels like it belongs in 2016.
The upgraded Siri was originally announced in June 2024, but key features like personalization and deeper system integration didn’t land, and timelines slipped. This Gemini move looks like Apple reorganizing the plan so it can actually ship something meaningful.
The $1B Question
Bloomberg previously reported Apple could pay Google roughly $1 billion per year for Gemini, turning this into more than a product choice. It’s a strategic alliance between two rivals who already share one massive relationship: Google paying Apple billions to remain the default iPhone search engine.
Also important: Apple says nothing changes (for now) with its existing OpenAI tie-up that plugs ChatGPT into Siri for tougher queries.
Wall Street Heard: “AI Strategy Unlocked”
Wedbush’s Dan Ives called it the turning point investors have been waiting for, since Apple’s slow AI rollout has been the elephant in the room. Google briefly flirted with a $4T market cap on the headline, while Apple sits just under its prior peak.
Bottom line: Apple just outsourced Siri’s brain to Google, and the market is treating it like the first serious step toward Apple playing offense in the AI race again.
NEWS
Market Movements
🪙 Gold and silver hit new highs on Fed intimidation fears: Gold $GLD and silver $SLV ripped to records after Powell warned DOJ subpoenas could pressure Fed rate decisions. Markets read it as a threat to central bank independence, and safe-haven buying followed.
🛒 Walmart plugs into Gemini and gets a Nasdaq-100 boost: Walmart $WMT jumped after announcing a Google $GOOGL Gemini shopping integration that can recommend and route purchases through Walmart. It also joins the Nasdaq-100 on January 20, which can pull in passive index flows.
🍏 Apple’s 2026 hinges on AI execution: Apple $AAPL led smartphone shipments in 2025, but analysts say 2026 is its AI “prove it” year. The bet is whether Apple can ship a real Siri upgrade and monetize AI without losing iPhone momentum.
💳 Trump floats a 10% credit card APR cap and lenders flinch: Trump proposed a one-year cap that would cut typical credit card APRs to 10%, and consumer finance names sold off. A cap could mean tighter approvals, higher fees, or less credit for riskier borrowers.
🧬 Abivax spikes on €15B Eli Lilly bid chatter: Abivax $ABVX surged after a report said Eli Lilly $LLY may be preparing a roughly €15B offer. The excitement centers on Abivax’s late-stage IBD drug data, though nothing is official.
🎬 Roku CEO says an AI-made hit movie is coming: Roku $ROKU’s CEO predicts a fully AI-generated hit film within three years. Roku’s angle is obvious: cheaper content plus better targeting could lift its ad-driven platform.
🧪 Tempus pops on preliminary Q4 numbers: Tempus AI $TEM moved higher after posting early Q4 sales that beat expectations, with diagnostics revenue surging. The figures aren’t final, but they shaped the narrative ahead of its investor conference.
🧫 Moderna guides high-end as COVID demand falls slower: Moderna $MRNA said 2025 revenue should land near the high end of guidance as vaccination declines were less severe than feared. Profitability is still years out, so the pipeline remains the real swing factor.
🏛️ Meta adds a new top job and hires Dina Powell McCormick: Meta $META named Dina Powell McCormick as its first-ever president and vice chair. It’s a Washington + Wall Street operator hire for an era where AI is as much financing and regulation as it is models.
🩺 Anthropic launches Claude for Healthcare: Anthropic rolled out Claude for Healthcare right after OpenAI’s health push. The pitch is less paperwork for providers and more record-aware help for patients.
🍜 China hints it may end food-delivery price wars and stocks rally: Alibaba $BABA, Meituan, and JD.com $JD jumped after China said it’s probing distortive pricing tactics in food delivery. Investors treated regulation as bullish because it could protect margins.
🎥 Paramount sues WBD as the Netflix angle heats up: Paramount Skydance $PSKY sued Warner Bros. Discovery $WBD to force more disclosure tied to Netflix $NFLX talks. It’s a pressure move meant to drag the process into the open.
🧠 Citi upgrades Palantir on AI budget momentum: Citi upgraded Palantir $PLTR, citing CIO chatter that enterprise AI spending is accelerating into 2026. The risk is valuation, with expectations already set at “flawless.”
FEDERAL RESERVE
Fed Chair Powell says he’s under criminal investigation
Trump just turned his beef with the Federal Reserve into a courtroom drama.
Late Sunday, the Fed dropped an unusual video update confirming it received grand jury subpoenas from the Department of Justice tied to the $2.5B renovation of its Washington headquarters, meaning Jerome Powell is now under criminal investigation. Powell fired back by framing the probe as something bigger than building costs: a stress test for whether the Fed can still set rates based on data… or political pressure.
Markets Tried “Sell America”… then got bored
At first, investors reacted like someone unplugged central bank independence. Stocks dipped overnight, the dollar slid to a three-week low, and safe havens immediately caught a bid.
Gold hit a record, silver jumped, bitcoin ticked higher, and the 10-year Treasury yield rose, as traders hedged against a world where the Fed starts looking less like an institution and more like a target.
The Twist: Everything Looked Weirdly Normal
By the end of Monday, the panic faded and markets stabilized like nothing happened, which might be the most surprising part of all.
Even former Fed Chair Janet Yellen sounded the alarm, reportedly saying she was shocked the market wasn’t more concerned and calling it “the road to a banana republic.” But traders seem to be treating this like another headline storm, not a structural shift.
Bigger Picture: Diversification Isn’t a Trend, It’s a Hedge
The real takeaway isn’t just that precious metals ripped. It’s that every new Washington shock makes the case for international exposure easier to justify.
Global stocks already outperformed U.S. equities last year, and this episode is another reminder: America may still be the main character… but the plot is getting more unstable.
CALENDAR
On The Horizon
Tomorrow
Tomorrow’s basically the market’s first real pop quiz of 2026.
We’ll get December CPI, the last inflation check-in before the Fed’s January 28 decision, and the first full read since last year’s government shutdown chaos. Wall Street’s bracing for inflation to land around 2.8% year over year.
Then earnings season officially clocks in. Big banks like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of New York Mellon report, with Delta Air Lines also kicking off what should be a busy stretch of corporate scorecards.
RESOURCES
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