Good morning! Here is the latest in trending:
Big Tech: Earnings are here. Google (GOOGL) rises amid broad growth, a tax charge weighs on Meta (META), while Microsoft (MSFT) slides after boosting its capex forecast for 2026.
Cut and QT: The Federal Reserve reduced rates by another 25 basis points. The central bank also moved to end quantitative tightening, but another rate cut in December is not a foregone conclusion.
Equal basis: Russia’s recent nuclear-powered weapons tests are making waves. President Trump has directed the Pentagon to resume nuke testing after a 33-year pause.
Forget custom amplifiers by Spinal Tap that go to 11; trade talks with China just went even higher. “On the scale from 0 to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12,” President Trump declared aboard Air Force One following a nearly week-long trip to Asia. The trip culminated with a high-stakes bilateral meeting with President Xi, which took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit and marked their first face-to-face meeting in six years. Here are the takeaways heard on AF1 and Truth Social:
Tariff reduction: “On fentanyl, we agreed that he was going to work very hard to stop the flow. It’s a very complex subject because it’s used for lots of different reasons, including anesthetics. I think you’re going to see some real action taken. I’ve reduced tariffs [from 20%] to 10% based on what [President Xi] said today… including taking very strong measures. Again, it’s complex because of what the precursors do.”
No controls: “China has agreed to continue the flow of rare earth, critical minerals, magnets, etc., openly and freely. All of the rare earth has been settled, and that’s for the world. This was a worldwide situation, not just a U.S. situation. The roadblock is gone now on rare earth. That will hopefully disappear from our vocabulary for a little while.”
Farm products: “I was extremely honored by the fact that President Xi authorized China to begin the purchase of massive amounts of soybeans, sorghum, and other farm products. Our farmers will be very happy! In fact, as I said once before during my first administration, farmers should immediately go out and buy more land and larger tractors. I would like to thank President Xi for this!”
Chips: “[China] is going to be talking to Nvidia (NVDA) and others about making chips. I’m going to be speaking with [CEO] Jensen [Huang]. I said it’s really between you and Nvidia, but we’re sort of the arbitrator or the referee… Not the Blackwell, but a lot of the chips.”
Energy: “China also agreed that they will begin the process of purchasing American energy. In fact, a very large scale transaction may take place concerning the purchase of oil and gas from the great state of Alaska. Chris Wright, Doug Burgum, and our respective energy teams will be meeting to see if such an energy deal can be worked out.”
Fine print: When asked about signing a trade deal with China, President Trump replied that could happen “pretty soon.” There aren’t “too many major stumbling blocks,” but any deal would be “renegotiated” every year… “and I think it will be routinely extended as time goes on.” Concerning a timeline, Trump revealed that he’ll be going to China in April and Xi will arrive in [the U.S.] sometime after that – either to Palm Beach or Washington. That could mean several months before things are inked on paper, and a lot could happen in the interim.
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What else is happening…
Nvidia (NVDA) makes history as it shatters $5T market cap ceiling.
Flights delayed at Newark airport over air traffic controller shortage.
Boeing (BA) delays 777X once again to 2027, takes $4.9B charge.
GM (GM) to cut EV jobs, idle two battery cell plants for six months.
Hegseth plans arms sales overhaul to speed up deliveries to allies.
Paramount (PSKY) ‘addressing redundancies’ as 2K job cuts begin.
Chipotle (CMG) falls as soft sales, higher costs pressure margins.
Soaring premiums: Obamacare enrollees get first look at 2026 plans.
Fiserv (FI) plunges after leadership shake-up, big earnings miss.
OpenAI (OPENAI) eyes record-breaking IPO at $1T valuation.
Today’s Markets
In Asia, Japan flat. Hong Kong -0.2%. China -0.7%. India -0.7%.
In Europe, at midday, London -0.6%. Paris -0.8%. Frankfurt -0.2%.
Futures at 7:00, Dow -0.3%. S&P -0.1%. Nasdaq -0.1%. Crude -0.6% to $60.09. Gold -0.1% to $3,997.60. Bitcoin -2.4% to $110,137.
Ten-year Treasury Yield unchanged at 4.08%.
On The Calendar
Companies reporting today include Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN).
See the full earnings calendar on Seeking Alpha, as well as today’s economic calendar.
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