Market Performance - Major indices collectively rose, with the Nasdaq increasing by nearly 1%, the Dow Jones slightly up, and the S&P 500 rising by 0.5%, nearing its historical high [1] - Closing figures: Dow Jones at 50,135.87 points (+0.04%), S&P 500 at 6,964.82 points (+0.47%), Nasdaq at 23,238.67 points (+0.90%) [1] Technology Sector - Most large tech stocks saw gains, with Nvidia up 2.50%, Microsoft up 3.11%, and Oracle up 9.64% [3][5] - Nvidia's CEO highlighted the strong demand for computing power, indicating continued investment in AI infrastructure [5] - Analysts suggest that capital expenditures for major cloud providers are expected to continue facing upward pressure due to increasing demand [6] Cloud Computing - Morgan Stanley reported that the revenue growth for GCP, AWS, and Azure is accelerating, driven by an exponential increase in token processing [6] - Concerns were raised regarding Amazon and Alphabet's capital expenditure guidance, which was perceived as significantly higher than market expectations, overshadowing their strong cloud business growth [5] Commodities - COMEX gold futures rose by 2.1% to $5,084.2 per ounce, while silver futures increased by 8% to $83.05 per ounce [7] - WTI crude oil futures closed up 1.27% at $64.36 per barrel, and Brent crude oil futures rose 1.45% to $69.04 per barrel [8] Chinese Stocks - The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index saw mixed performance, with Alibaba up 0.30% and NIO down 2.98% [6]

Group 1: Nvidia - Nvidia's stock rose by 2.4% with a trading volume of $37.199 billion, and Goldman Sachs set a target price of $250, anticipating Q4 revenue of $67.3 billion [1][11] - Goldman Sachs expects Nvidia to deliver a revenue "surprise" of $2 billion in Q4, with EPS forecasts exceeding market expectations by 5% and 9% for Q4 and Q1 respectively [1][11] - Analysts predict that the Rubin GPU will start shipping in Q3 2026, significantly increasing volume in Q4 and supporting strong growth until at least 2028 [1][11] Group 2: Tesla - Tesla's stock increased by 1.48% with a trading volume of $22.539 billion, and the company announced the mass production of the Tesla Cybercab at its Texas Gigafactory [2][12] - Tesla's Vice President revealed that the Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology rollout in mainland China is progressing, with a local training center established for adaptation [2][12] Group 3: Amazon - Amazon's stock fell by 0.76% with a trading volume of $18.912 billion, while STMicroelectronics announced a multi-year, multi-product collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) [3][12] - The partnership positions STMicroelectronics as a strategic supplier of advanced semiconductor technologies for AWS, integrating high-bandwidth connectivity and energy-efficient solutions [3][12] Group 4: Microsoft - Microsoft's stock rose by 3.13% with a trading volume of $18.292 billion, but the company faced two downgrades in less than a week due to concerns over AI-related risks [3][13] - Melius Research downgraded Microsoft from "Buy" to "Hold," citing worries about capital expenditures and the performance of its Copilot AI software [3][13] Group 5: Micron - Micron's stock fell by 2.84% with a trading volume of $11.764 billion, as semiconductor research indicated that Micron may miss out on first-year orders for the Rubin architecture [4][13] - SemiAnalysis reported that Nvidia is likely to exclude Micron's HBM4 from initial production, favoring Korean suppliers instead [4][13] Group 6: SanDisk - SanDisk's stock decreased by 2.43% with a trading volume of $8.87 billion, but Bernstein raised its target price to $1000, reflecting a 72.4% increase from the previous target of $580 [5][15] - The new target price suggests a potential upside of about 50% from the current stock price, as SanDisk focuses on NAND flash memory and storage products [5][15] Group 7: AMD - AMD's stock rose by 3.63% with a trading volume of $8.255 billion, and the company appointed a new Chief Marketing Officer from Oracle [6][16] - Huatai Securities maintained a "Buy" rating for AMD with a target price of $300 [6][16] Group 8: Oracle - Oracle's stock increased by 9.64% with a trading volume of $7.721 billion, and DA Davidson upgraded its rating from "Neutral" to "Buy" based on reduced risks associated with its client OpenAI [6][16] - The report maintained a target price of $180 for Oracle, reflecting improved outlooks for the company's performance [6][16] Group 9: AppLovin - AppLovin's stock surged by 13.19% with a trading volume of $4.564 billion, driven by positive comments from multiple financial institutions regarding its business prospects [6][17] - The market sentiment is bolstered by AppLovin's AI-driven advertising engine, Axon, which is described as a leading machine learning advertising engine [6][17]

Market Overview - Major indexes experienced a weak open but recovered to close positively, with traders awaiting significant upcoming data and earnings reports [1] - The delayed January jobs report is expected to show an increase of approximately +55,000 nonfarm payrolls, following a weak ADP print of +22,000 [2] Company Performance - Oracle's stock surged by 8% after being upgraded to a Buy rating, driven by optimism surrounding OpenAI and its ecosystem beneficiaries [2] - Other chip manufacturers, including Nvidia and Broadcom, also saw gains, with Nvidia up nearly 3% and Broadcom up more than 1% [2] Economic Indicators - The January Consumer Price Index (CPI) is anticipated to show a 2.5% annual rate, contributing to a broad market rally where small caps outperformed and Big Tech remained strong [3] - Bond yields decreased, and the dollar continued its sell-off, while commodities like silver and gold remained firm, with gold nearing $5,100 [4] Trend Tracking Indexes (TTIs) - The domestic Trend Tracking Index (TTI) closed at +8.35% above its moving average, while the international TTI closed at +12.91% above its moving average, indicating strong market momentum [8]

The tech industry witnessed a dramatic shift as the wealth of several top tech billionaires plummeted due to fears over the AI bubble and fluctuating valuations. Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, experienced a staggering $59.2 billion loss in his net worth since the beginning of the year, with $19 billion of that occurring just this week. The selloff was exacerbated by developments such as Anthropic’s new legal AI tool, which caused a nearly 4% drop in the S&P 500 software and services index. The weal ...

Shares of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) plunged on Friday after the company disclosed it would ramp up capital expenditures to $200 billion this year. Amazon is betting big on AI infrastructure: "...we are monetizing capacity as fast as we can install it," said Amazon CEO Andrew Jassy in the fourth-quarter earnings call. While the jury is still out on whether Amazon's prolific AI spending will pay off in the long run, some of that spending will go toward a business that isn't getting much attention from investor ...

Core Insights - Sterling Capital Management launched the Sterling Capital Hedged Equity Premium Income ETF (SCEP) to combine AI-driven stock selection with human portfolio construction, aiming for tax-efficient income and reduced downside risk [1] Fund Overview - SCEP began trading on December 12 and currently manages $214.1 million in assets with a management fee of 0.65% [1] - The ETF structure was chosen for its tax efficiency, intraday trading capability, and lower costs compared to traditional mutual funds [1] Investment Strategy - The fund aims to deliver tax-efficient monthly income, better risk-adjusted returns through AI-driven stock selection, and reduced downside risk via protective options trading [1] - Guardian Capital, the fund's sub-adviser, has utilized AI in equity strategies since 2018 and manages over $4 billion in assets [1] AI Stock Selection - AI models forecast key investment variables such as earnings growth and dividend growth, creating a shortlist of companies with durable earnings potential [1] - The fund focuses on quality (sustainability of cash flow) and growth (consistent high-quality earnings and revenue growth) [1] - Current top holdings include Alphabet Inc. (6.37%), Apple Inc. (6.09%), NVIDIA Corp. (5.77%), Microsoft Corp. (5.07%), and Amazon.com, Inc. (4.58%) [1] Options Strategy - SCEP employs a dynamic options overlay strategy, writing covered call options on up to 100% of its portfolio and buying protective put options to cushion against market declines [1] - Protective puts are structured to guard against a 10% to 30% market decline, aiming to protect income-focused investors from large drawdowns [1] - The fund maintains around 21% exposure to midcap stocks, which may provide better valuations compared to large-cap alternatives [1] Tax Efficiency - The fund's structure aims to deliver more tax-efficient income by offsetting gains with losses on individual securities and options [1] - Return of capital distributions may allow investors to defer taxes until they sell their position, potentially years into the future [1]

Market Overview - The S&P 500 rose approximately 0.5%, the Nasdaq increased by 1%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average remained around the flatline above 50,000 [1] - Technology stocks rebounded from recent declines, with significant contributions from the portfolio's Magnificent Seven positions, excluding Apple and Amazon [1] Inflation Expectations - The New York Fed's 1-year inflation expectations decreased to 3.09% from 3.42% in December, below the consensus estimate of 3.38% [1] Capital Expenditure Insights - Bank of America reported a 14% quarter-over-quarter and 66% year-over-year increase in fourth-quarter global hyperscale capital expenditures, reaching $148 billion, which was $7 billion more than previously expected [1] - Looking ahead, Bank of America forecasts capital expenditures to be $748 billion in 2026 and $869 billion in 2027, reflecting year-over-year growth rates of 56% and 16% respectively, which are higher than previous estimates of 36% and 15% [1] Upcoming Earnings Reports - Earnings reports are expected from On Semiconductor and Vornado Realty Trust after the market closes, with additional reports from DuPont, Coca-Cola, Datadog, Fiserv, Spotify, AstraZeneca, Ferrari, Marriott International, BP, and Xylem before the market opens on Tuesday [1] Sector Performance - The AI capital expenditure beneficiary basket is performing well, with new highs in companies such as Corning, GE Vernova, Dover, Cisco, and Qnity Electronics, alongside solid gains in Eaton and strength in semiconductor stocks like Nvidia and Broadcom [1]

Core Viewpoint - Sterling Capital Management launched the Sterling Capital Hedged Equity Premium Income ETF (SCEP), which combines artificial intelligence for idea generation and human intelligence for portfolio construction to provide a U.S. equity allocation while employing options strategies for income generation and market protection [1][3]. Fund Overview - The fund began trading on December 12 and currently manages $214.1 million in assets with a management fee of 0.65% [2]. - The ETF structure was chosen for its tax efficiency, intraday trading capability, and lower costs compared to traditional mutual funds [2]. Investment Strategy - SCEP aims to deliver tax-efficient monthly income, better risk-adjusted returns through AI-driven stock selection, and reduced downside risk via protective options trading [3]. - The fund's sub-adviser, Guardian Capital, has utilized AI in equity strategies since 2018 and manages over $4 billion in assets using similar investment processes [3]. AI Utilization - Guardian's AI models forecast key investment variables, including earnings growth and dividend growth, using machine learning and deep learning techniques [4]. - The AI narrows the investment universe to a shortlist of companies with a higher probability of durable earnings and dividend growth [5][6]. Portfolio Composition - The fund's top holdings include Alphabet Inc. (6.37%), Apple Inc. (6.09%), NVIDIA Corp. (5.77%), Microsoft Corp. (5.07%), and Amazon.com, Inc. (4.58%), identified for their strong balance sheets and growth potential [7]. - The fund maintains around 21% exposure to midcap stocks, which may provide better valuations compared to large-cap alternatives [11]. Options Strategy - SCEP employs a dynamic options overlay strategy, writing covered call options on up to 100% of its portfolio to boost income while buying protective put options to cushion against market declines [8][9]. - Protective puts are structured to guard against a 10% to 30% market decline, aiming to protect income-focused investors from large drawdowns [9][10]. Tax Efficiency - The fund's structure seeks to deliver more tax-efficient income by finding losses on individual securities and options to offset gains, potentially allowing for return of capital distributions [13]. - Return of capital distributions are generally not taxable in the year received, deferring taxes until the shares are sold, which may result in a higher capital gain [14][15].

The semiconductor industry’s undisputed leader, Nvidia (NVDA) is reportedly facing delays in releasing its new gaming GPUs. The GPUs were scheduled for release this year, but that has been delayed due to an ongoing supply crunch in the memory segment. If a new gaming GPU is not released this year, it would be the first time in three decades. The company has chosen to focus on memory supply, which is facing a crisis driven by demand for artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators. Nvidia is also cutting pro ...

The market is no longer a one-trick show led by the Magnificent Seven, the group of mega-cap tech giants that have defined U.S. stock performance since the early 2020s. For years, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), Meta (NASDAQ: META) and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) set the pace for Wall Street. But now, that dominance is starting to crack as investors look beyond Big Tech for the next source of growth, as highlighted by Bank ...