Good afternoon! Alphabet (Google) just joined one of the rarest clubs in capitalism. The company hit a $4 trillion valuation yesterday, proving that the AI race is no longer just Nvidia’s world and everyone else is living in it.
The timing was perfect too: CNBC reported Apple is bringing in Google’s Gemini to power its long-awaited AI Siri upgrades in a multi-year deal. After a 2025 run fueled by AI wins and cloud momentum, the market is basically stamping Google’s comeback with one word: validated.
MARKETS
Markets took a breather Tuesday as Trump policy headlines piled up. The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 all slipped despite softer core CPI.
JPM’s earnings beat couldn’t save financials from renewed 10% credit-card APR cap fears, while hyperscalers like Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta fell after Trump warned AI data centers can’t drive up household power bills.
STOCKS
Winners & Losers
What’s up 📈
Moderna surged 17.02% after guiding 2025 sales to $1.9B and saying COVID demand held up better than feared $MRNA
Roblox jumped 10.49% as engagement spiked from a new “brainrot” game climbing the charts $RBLX
Intel climbed 7.33% after KeyBanc upgraded the stock to Overweight on strong server chip demand $INTC
AMD popped 6.39% on the same KeyBanc upgrade, citing AI infrastructure fueling demand $AMD
Ørsted rose 2.97% after a U.S. judge cleared it to resume construction on its Rhode Island wind farm $DNNGY
Cardinal Health gained 2.83% after raising its fiscal-year outlook thanks to strength in specialty medicine $CAH
Boeing ticked up 1.98% after outselling Airbus last year and reporting 600 deliveries in 2025 $BA
Alphabet added 1.25% as Gemini momentum pushed the stock to another record high $GOOGL
What’s down 📉
Wealthfront sank 16.84% after earnings pointed to softening asset flows late in 2025 $WLTH
Travere Therapeutics slid 14.63% after the FDA asked for more data on the clinical benefit of Filspari $TVTX
Salesforce dropped 7.08% on pressure from Anthropic’s new Cowork tool and broader AI workflow competition $CRM
JPMorgan fell 4.19% despite a Q4 beat, as weaker investment banking offset strong trading results $JPM
American Airlines dipped 4.16% as airline stocks slid on Delta’s softer outlook $AAL
Synopsys declined 4.06% after a Piper Sandler downgrade to Neutral $SNPS
Delta Air Lines slipped 2.39% after underwhelming 2026 guidance despite bullish premium demand commentary $DAL
Micron fell 2.22% after a DigiTimes report warned memory shortages could drag on through 2028 $MU
ECONOMY
CPI Cools Again, But Your Grocery Bill Didn’t Get the Memo
The inflation marathon is not over yet… but December looked like we might finally be seeing the finish line in the distance.
The latest CPI report showed prices rose 2.7% year over year in December, unchanged from November, while monthly inflation came in at 0.3%, a touch softer than expected. Even better, core CPI (the Fed’s favorite, stripping out food + energy) rose 2.6% annually, the strongest “cooling” reading in about four years, and was up just 0.2% from November.
The “Finally Some Good News” Print
This report hit different because inflation data has been… messy lately. Between the government shutdown throwing off October data collection and some skepticism around the delayed November print, investors have been side-eyeing the numbers.
So today’s report landed like a clean, credible “okay, maybe we are actually cooling” signal. LPL’s Jeffrey Roach basically said what every trader was thinking: the overall report was encouraging, especially after last month’s questionable math.
Plot Twist: Groceries Went Full Villain
Here’s why consumers still feel like inflation is everywhere: even when headline inflation cools, the stuff people buy weekly can still spike.
Food prices jumped hard. Grocery prices rose 0.7% in December, the biggest monthly increase since 2022. So while the CPI headline looks like progress, the day-to-day “why does a bag of groceries cost $97” reality is still very real.
Fed Cut Three Times, Now What?
This was only the second inflation print since the Fed cut rates three times last year, so policymakers are now trying to rank the threats:
inflation that is cooling but still above 2%
a labor market that is slowing
BlackRock’s Gargi Chaudhuri summed up the current vibe: inflation should gradually moderate in 2026, but the Fed likely stays put at the Jan 27 to 28 meeting to evaluate how the last cuts ripple through the economy.
Markets agree. Traders are pricing in basically no chance of a cut this month, with odds around 2.8%.
Bottom line: Inflation is cooling enough to keep hope alive, but the details (especially food) still explain why households aren’t celebrating yet. And with political pressure on the Fed ramping into the next meeting, the next few prints could get extremely spicy.
NEWS
Market Movements
🕶️ Meta plans to cut about 10% of Reality Labs employees: Meta $META is reportedly preparing to cut roughly 10% of Reality Labs as the metaverse bet keeps bleeding cash. The division has racked up around $70B in losses since 2020, and the cuts fit Meta’s pivot toward AI “superintelligence.”
🇨🇳 Nvidia denies it requires Chinese customers to prepay for H200 chips: Nvidia $NVDA told Reuters it “would never require customers to pay for products they do not receive,” rebutting claims it’s demanding full up-front payment from China buyers. The dispute matters because reported H200 demand and regulatory uncertainty make China’s pipeline a high-stakes headline magnet.
✈️ Delta slides after 2026 guidance disappoints: Delta $DAL beat on Q4 EPS, but shares fell after 2026 EPS guidance came in below expectations. The miss also dragged other airlines, even as premium demand continues to outpace the main cabin.
🏛️ Microsoft unveils “community-first AI infrastructure plan” after Trump pressure: Microsoft $MSFT said it will pay utility rates high enough to cover the full grid and usage costs created by its data centers. It also backed two-tier pricing where “Very Large Customers” like hyperscalers pay higher rates than households.
💾 Micron warns the memory shortage could last until 2028: DigiTimes reports Micron $MU is telling customers the memory chip supply crunch could persist until 2028 as its Idaho fab ramps slowly. If true, that’s a long runway for tight supply and strong DRAM/NAND pricing.
🔐 Oracle customers still facing ransom demands months after business software breach: The WSJ reports companies are still getting ransom demands tied to the Oracle $ORCL E-Business Suite breach, months after disclosure. The alleged Cl0p-linked campaign is still pressuring victims to pay to prevent data leaks.
₿ Bitcoin “exiting its most stressed phase” as CPI relief and regulation optimism lift prices: Bitcoin $BTC bounced with softer inflation data and optimism around the amended Digital Asset Market Clarity Act ahead of a Thursday committee vote. On-chain metrics suggest forced selling pressure is easing, but analysts warn momentum hinges on policy progress and macro stability.
🧠 Intel hits a 52-week high after KeyBanc upgrades it and AMD: Intel $INTC jumped on a KeyBanc upgrade that cited sold-out-like server CPU conditions and potential pricing power, with AMD $AMD upgraded too. The note also boosted Intel’s foundry credibility and floated the possibility of future Apple $AAPL foundry work.
⚡️ Meta faces the biggest pain from “pay your own way” power costs: Meta $META is more exposed to higher data center electricity bills because it’s building AI infrastructure mostly for itself, not a cloud business that can directly monetize capacity. That makes “eat the power bill” politics feel like a cleaner margin headwind for Meta than for its peers.
🧩 Nvidia shrugs off report China will restrict H200 purchases to “special circumstances”: The Information says China may only approve H200 purchases under limited “special circumstances,” but Nvidia $NVDA barely moved. Investors look numb to the week-to-week policy noise unless it turns into a clear, enforceable ban.
🛫 Boeing stock rises after jet deliveries surge 72% from disaster year: Boeing $BA climbed after reporting 600 deliveries in 2025, up 72% from 2024 as it rebounds from safety probes and a strike. It still trailed Airbus $EADSY, but the recovery is showing up in output again.
🧑💼 Salesforce drops as Anthropic launches Cowork autonomous office agent: Salesforce $CRM slid as Anthropic introduced Cowork, an agent that can manipulate files and automate workflows, landing right in Salesforce’s Agentforce narrative lane. The market treated it as fresh competitive pressure in the workplace AI agent race.
🧬 Moderna jumps after projecting better-than-expected 2025 sales: Moderna $MRNA spiked after saying its COVID business held up better than expected and it cut costs further, supporting a stronger 2025 outlook. It also reiterated plans to break even in 2028, giving investors a clearer timeline.
ENERGY
Trump Targets AI Power Bills, Microsoft Says It’ll Pay Up
President Trump just picked a new villain for rising electricity bills: AI data centers. In a Truth Social post Monday night, Trump said the AI boom must “never” lead to higher power prices for Americans, and claimed the administration is working with Big Tech to make sure households aren’t “picking up the tab.”
His first named target: Microsoft $MSFT, which Trump said will make “major changes beginning this week” tied to its power consumption.
AI Is Not Just Eating GPUs… It’s Eating Power
Hyperscalers want to build AI infrastructure at full speed, but those data centers are massive electricity hogs. In a political environment obsessed with affordability, power prices are an easy pressure point. BLS data shows electricity costs per kilowatt-hour are up roughly 40% since early 2021, and the narrative is forming that AI could make that worse.
That is why Trump is trying to get ahead of the backlash before voters start associating AI with higher monthly bills.
Microsoft’s Answer: “Bill Us, Not You”
Microsoft responded with a “community-first AI infrastructure plan,” promising it will cover its own power-related costs so households are not subsidizing AI. The big headline: Microsoft is backing a two-tier pricing model, where “Very Large Customers” like hyperscaler data centers pay higher rates.
Bottom line: the AI arms race is colliding with politics, and Microsoft is signaling it will pay for power if it prevents public backlash.
CALENDAR
On The Horizon
Tomorrow
Tomorrow’s calendar is basically a three-course meal: earnings, econ data, then a political bombshell for dessert.
First up, earnings season rolls on with more heavyweight banks stepping into the ring, including Citigroup $C, Bank of America $BAC, and Wells Fargo $WFC. If markets are a mood ring, bank guidance is the color chart.
On the data front, we get PPI (CPI’s wholesale cousin), the Fed’s Beige Book for a vibes check on the economy, and the delayed November retail sales report to tell us how real holiday spending actually was.
But the main event is the Supreme Court, which could finally rule on whether Trump’s tariffs are legally valid. The Court has already delayed this once, but they can’t keep punting a multi-billion-dollar question forever.
RESOURCES
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