Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Breakfast, where we cover the top news for investors every morning. Thanks so much for joining me on this Thursday, January 8th. I'm Julie Morgan. And after hours rebound for defense, Ford wants drivers to look away and pay for it. And Big Tech has a leaderboard update.
Defense stocks have rebounded sharply, which was triggered by a social media post from President Trump, where he proposed an historic $1.5 trillion defense budget for fiscal year 2027. This represents a substantial increase from the previously discussed $1 trillion figure. The president said in a Truth Social post that he made the decision on 2027 military spending to
after long and difficult negotiations with senators, congressmen, secretaries, and other political representatives, especially in these very troubled and dangerous times. In his social media post, Trump indicated the higher budget will allow the U.S. to build the dream military that it has long been entitled to, and more importantly, will help keep the U.S. safe and secure regardless of foe.
Trump suggested that tariff revenue would help fund the increased military spending, at the same time pay down debt and likewise pay a substantial dividend to moderate-income patriots within the country. This was a turnaround after the sector plummeted on Wednesday.
after President Trump issued an executive order and a series of social media posts threatening to block dividends, halt stock buybacks, and cap executive pay for underperforming contractors. For example, Lockheed Martin is up 7 percent pre-market after falling 4.8 percent on Wednesday. General Dynamics is up nearly 5 percent after a 4.1 percent drop.
Ford is planning to introduce its first Level 3 eyes-off driver assistance system in 2028, allowing drivers to remove hands and eyes from the road on certain highways. The debut vehicle could be a midsize electric truck priced around $30,000. The eyes-off feature will cost extra via subscription or upfront fee.
Alphabet is now the world's second most valuable company and is worth more than Apple for the first time since 2019. Shares of Alphabet rose more than 2% on Wednesday, lifting its market cap to $3.89 trillion.
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Chapter 2: What triggered the rebound in defense stocks?
Apple's market cap now stands at $3.86 trillion, after a 0.8% drop in its share price on Wednesday. Wall Street analysts have noted that Alphabet's Gemini is quickly closing the gap with OpenAI's ChatGPT, which is currently the top AI model. In addition, Alphabet is looking to challenge NVIDIA's dominance in the AI computing market with its custom tensor processing units.
But Apple has lagged its rivals in the AI race, and the iPhone maker has not made a major AI launch since it announced Apple Intelligence in 2024. Now I have a few other articles that are trending on seeking alpha. Nvidia is reportedly seeking full upfront payment for H200 AI chips in China. Samsung is projecting a threefold increase in profit on the AI boom.
And a judge says that Elon Musk lawsuit against OpenAI will head to trial. A couple of items to tell you about on our Catalyst Watch for the Day. The ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancer Symposium will begin. Some of the notable companies with abstracts or drug data presentations include Astellas Pharma, Alpha Tau Medical, Autonomix Medical, Renovo RX, and Bullfrog AI.
And Marks & Spencer is scheduled to release its Christmas trading statement. On Wall Street at this early hour, Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the red. Crude oil is up 1% at $56 a barrel. Bitcoin is down 1.2% at $90,000. Gold is down 0.5% at $44.30. The FTSE 100 is down 0.3% and the DAX is up 0.1%. Canadian solar is on our list of the biggest movers of the day pre-market.
CSIQ is down 6% after announcing a $200 million private offering of convertible senior notes due 2031, with an option for initial purchasers to buy an additional $30 million within 13 days. And on today's economic calendar at 8.30 a.m., jobless claims. Also at 8.30 a.m., productivity and costs. And at 3 p.m., consumer credit. That's it for today's Wall Street Breakfast. Thanks for listening.
To take full advantage of Seeking Alpha with coverage on significant stocks and ETFs, become a premium subscriber. Check out seekingalpha.com slash subscriptions. I'm your host, Julie Morgan. Go out and make it a great day.
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