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Intel earlier this week launched its first product made with its newest chip manufacturing process.Shares of Intel (INTC) jumped more than 6% on Wednesday as investors grew more optimistic about the future of its chip manufacturing business.
Intel earlier this week unveiled its new "Panther Lake" AI PC chips, its first product made with its long-awaited 18A manufacturing process. The launch marked a milestone for the company that has for years been trying to prove it's capable of developing and scaling cutting-edge chip manufacturing processes.
Intel's foundry business entered 2025 in dire straits. The company’s CEO Pat Gelsinger had just been ousted after years of overseeing an expensive and largely fruitless effort to make Intel a viable competitor to chip manufacturing powerhouse Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM). Chip industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan was made CEO in March. He immediately began cutting costs and selling assets to stanch the bleeding, but shares remained under pressure amid uncertainty about the foundry's future.
Intel is seen by many as the only viable U.S. alternative to the Asian manufacturers that make essentially all of the world's most advanced semiconductors. This week's Panther Lake launch may increase Wall Street's and Silicon Valley's confidence in Intel's manufacturing abilities.
Then, in August, a chummy meeting between Tan and President Trump changed everything. The Trump administration announced a nearly $10 billion investment in the company, making the U.S. government Intel’s largest shareholder. A month later, Nvidia (NVDA) came on board, agreeing to invest $5 billion and collaborate with its competitor.
Investors liked the infusions of cash, as well as the optics of support from the federal government and the world’s most valuable company. Shares soared out of their slump, more than doubling in value between early August and December.
In recent months, investors have grown increasingly confident that the company’s backers can keep it afloat. “Nvidia’s a great shareholder. They’re going to help them. The Trump administration’s going to help them,” Ben Reitzes, head of technology research at Melius Research, told CNBC on Wednesday.
Nvidia has vowed to collaborate with Intel on data center technology, giving the latter a role in the rapid buildout of AI data centers currently underway. (Though it stopped short of committing to use Intel's foundry.) And the Trump administration, eager to assert America’s industrial might amid escalating tensions with China, is expected to champion Intel’s chip manufacturing business on national security grounds.
“As we go throughout 2026, we’ll hear more good news about their future foundry prospects,” predicted Reitzes, who expects tech giants like Nvidia and Apple (AAPL) will be interested in Intel’s next-generation 14A manufacturing process when its rolled out in the coming years. Rumors that Apple is considering becoming an Intel foundry customer began circulating late last year.
Intel shares have gained 15% in the first four trading sessions of 2026.
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Chipotle sales have softened as low-income and younger consumers pull back.Investors may want to take another look at what Chipotle’s cooking.
The burrito chain's stock fell out of favor with investors as its core audience of young, higher-earning diners cut back on eating out in recent months. But investors can scoop up shares at a discount—their prices dropped nearly 40% in 2025—and analysts say Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) is making a number of promising business moves.
Chipotle was a top restaurant investment pick for both Oppenheimer and Deutsche Bank, who say more limited-time offers and fresh sauces may drive diners to its restaurants. The restaurant’s new high-protein menu, with smaller, lower-cost options, may also appeal to Americans focused on weight loss, including those on GLP-1 medications, Oppenheimer said.
Chipotle may be on the verge of a “spicy revival story,” Oppenheimer said in a Tuesday note. “Against much lower expectations in [2026], the company has much more aggressive sales drivers.”
“The brand still [has a] best-in-class price/value offering which could be better rewarded more so than peers if consumers improve food-away-from home spend,” Oppenheimer's research note said.
Spending at restaurants may not change dramatically for a few months, according to market watchers. The impact of some potential catalysts, such as the World Cup and tax code changes, likely won't emerge until spring or summer.
Oppenheimer gave Chipotle a price target of $51; Deutsche, of $49. Other analysts are less optimistic that shares will climb so much past the current price of about $39. Wall Street's consensus target is near $46, according to Visible Alpha's poll.
Pressure on low-income and younger consumers made 2025 tough for restaurants. An estimated 2 million to 3 million people left the country amid restrictive immigration policies, which didn’t help the industry, analysts said.
They don’t expect conditions to worsen in 2026, and Deutsche Bank said sales may pick up thanks to the World Cup, the United States' 250th anniversary, and tax changes that lower costs for some consumers.
New tax policies are less likely to impact low-income consumers, which may mean quick-service restaurants will continue to face pressure, Deutsche Bank said. Still, McDonald’s (MCD) and Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) are well-positioned to succeed in this environment, analysts said.
Fast-casual and casual dining will likely fare better, Deutsche Bank said. Deutsche Bank and Oppenheimer both favored Oliver Garden owner Darden Restaurants (DRI) and Shake Shack (SHAK), but disagreed on Starbucks’ (SBUX) trajectory.
The Seattle-based chain was one of Deutsche Bank’s top picks, but Oppenheimer said sales would have to increase dramatically for it to feel confident the company's earnings will bounce back. “The bottom line: we are forced to remain cautious," they wrote.
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Memory and storage stocks were some of the S&P 500's best performers in 2025.Big tech stocks may have lost some of their luster in recent months, but the first few sessions of 2026 suggest investors are still eager to chase momentum where they see it.
Data storage stocks skyrocketed earlier this week after Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang, speaking at the CES consumer electronics show in Las Vegas on Monday, highlighted the artificial intelligence industry’s huge demand for memory and storage hardware.
Shares of Sandisk (SNDK) soared more than 27% on Tuesday. The stock rose more than 500% in 2025, and added another 43% over the first three sessions of 2026. Western Digital (WDC) and Seagate Technology (STX) stocks, both of which tripled in value last year, advanced 17% and 14%, respectively, on Tuesday. (All three stocks gave back some of those gains Wednesday.)
While artificial intelligence has been the dominant theme on Wall Street for three years, leadership within the AI rally has shifted as investors discovered new bottlenecks to the data center buildout currently underway. In recent months, investors have aggressively chased momentum in memory and data storage stocks.
Memory and storage stocks are outliers within the AI trade, which hit a rough patch in the final months of 2025 amid concerns about an AI bubble. Those worries haven’t disappeared with the changing of the calendar. As of Tuesday’s close, every stock in the Magnificent Seven except Amazon (AMZN) was in the red so far this year. Constellation Energy (CEG), as well as software companies Oracle (ORCL) and Applovin (APP)—one-time poster children of the AI rally—are also down since the start of the year.
Huang on Monday reportedly told analysts that AI-specific storage and memory are “a completely unserved market today,” but that the industry “will likely be the largest storage market in the world.”
Huge demand for memory and data storage devices vastly outstripped supply last year, causing prices to skyrocket. Memory chip maker Micron’s (MU) gross margins expanded to 56% in the most recent quarter from 38% a year earlier.
Sandisk, Western Digital, and Seagate are among the companies expected to benefit from the huge amounts of data involved in AI, which is first trained on vast troves of data and then generates even more during inferencing. International Data Corporation estimates the amount of data being stored worldwide will double between 2024 and 2029, according to a recent Bank of America report.
“This active data stockpile is likely to continue growing as organizations retain more information for AI training, analytics, and compliance,” according to BofA’s analysts, who expect 2026 to be a banner year for AI inferencing as enterprises deploy AI to increase productivity, cut costs, and generate new revenue.
Take A Number: A Striking Figure In Economic News Today
Investopedia / Elizabeth Guevara
More workers are unable to get by on a single paycheck, according to recent data.Here's the irony of today's job market: Hiring is slowing down, but people who are employed are more likely to be working multiple jobs than at any time since 1999.
That's according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which found that in November, 5.8% of working individuals had more than one job. That's the highest percentage of moonlighters since December, 1999, when 6% of workers held multiple jobs. November 2025 was up from 5.4% in the prior 12 month period.
Some forecasters expect that 5.8% figure to hold steady or increase Friday when December jobs data is released.
One possible reason for the uptick: For many workers, especially those on the lower end of the income spectrum, the cost of living is rising faster than their wages.
The surge of Americans holding multiple jobs is more evidence of the "K-shaped" economy, where higher income earners are thriving and those on the low end are struggling to get by.
"This likely reflects people taking a second job because they don’t feel they can make ends meet on their normal paycheck," Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research think tank, wrote in a commentary.
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Alaska Airlines shares have lost nearly a quarter of their value in the last 12 months, while Boeing shares have gained more than 30%.Boeing just got a big vote of confidence from a longtime customer.
Alaska Airlines (ALK) announced its largest order ever, ordering 110 planes from Boeing (BA) over the next several years. The airline ordered 105 Boeing 737-10 planes, which have yet to be certified by federal air travel regulators, along with five new 787 Dreamliner aircraft, a wide-body plane designed for international flights.
The planes will serve as a mix of replacements for older Alaska Airlines aircraft, and new planes that will grow the airline's fleet. Alaska Airlines said the order "secures critical delivery slots and extends the aircraft delivery stream through 2035."
Alaska Airlines was the operator of the Boeing plane that had a door plug detach in mid-flight in early 2024 because of missing bolts, which set off months of investigations, production slowdowns, and leadership changes. The new order, covering years of plane deliveries, could serve as a sign of renewed confidence in Boeing's leadership and supply chain.
Alaska Airlines' order includes options for another 35 737-10 planes that can be exercised within the same delivery timeframe. By the end of the delivery timeframe in 2035, Alaska Airlines said its total fleet will grow to 550 planes from its current 413 aircraft.
Alaska Airlines expects the 737-10 to be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration this year, and start being delivered to the airline in 2027, senior vice president of fleet, revenue products, and real estate Shane Jones told CNBC.
In its last quarterly report in September, Boeing said its order backlog had grown to more than 5,900 commercial airplanes, worth $636 billion.
Alaska Airlines shares were down slightly in recent trading, while Boeing shares gained 0.5%. In the last 12 months, the stocks have moved in opposite directions, with Alaska Airlines shares losing nearly a quarter of their value and Boeing shares rising more than 30%.
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Michael Saylor, executive chair of Strategy, is a big backer of bitcoin.Strategy shareholders haven't caught many breaks lately. They did this week.
Index provider MSCI late Tuesday said it would not boot publicly traded companies with big holdings of digital assets such as bitcoin from its indexes—for now. Fans of Strategy (MSTR), the company made famous for stockpiling cryptocurrency, applauded the decision: Its stock was recently up about 4%, a bit off earlier highs.
The news removed, or at least delayed, an overhang from Strategy's shares. MSCI last fall proposed removing digital asset treasury companies, or DATCOs, from its indexes following a proliferation of firms of that ilk, saying they resemble investment funds, which aren't eligible for inclusion. That spooked investors, as analysts estimated the move could spur other index providers to follow suit and cost the company billions in outflows.
MSCI's decision removes the near-term risk that was hanging over Strategy shares, but it doesn't mean the company is in the clear.
Though Strategy will live another day on MSCI indexes, its place is not guaranteed over the longer term. Strategy executive chairman and bitcoin evangelist Michael Saylor took to social media to spread the word of MSCI's decision, though he stopped short of celebrating: "$MSTR will remain in MSCI indexes," he said on the X platform.
The news offered some relief to shareholders who saw the stock battered throughout the second half of 2025. Still, it isn't registering as a major win today—because it may not be. MSCI said it would to start a "broader review" of DATCOs and a final decision on their index eligibility required "further research."
Saylor, for his part, has been revamping his pitch about what the company brings to the table, though remaining aligned with its argument that excluding DATCOs from indexes on the notion that they are not operating companies is based on flawed reasoning.
"Strategy is not an investment fund and it does not passively hold bitcoin," the company wrote in December. "Strategy is an operating business that actively uses the bitcoin it holds to create returns for shareholders."
Strategy, which according to Visible Alpha has a market cap of about $48 billion, is a member of the Nasdaq Composite and Nasdaq 100 indexes, among others.
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Prediction-markets bettors are wagering on possible geopolitical outcomes in Iran, Venezuela and elsewhere.The world is unsettled—and people are wagering on what will happen next.
Event contracts tied to geopolitical events in the Middle East, China, and elsewhere are trending on prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi. Trading volumes have risen on questions like "Israel strikes Iran by January 31, 2026?" and "World leaders out before 2027?" alongside the more regular fare related to sports and where the S&P 500 will close. An Investopedia scan of 20 popular geopolitically linked bets on those two platforms recently found a total of more than $110 million in wagers across them.
Attacks, conquests, and the fall of governments or their leaders appear to be the lottery tickets of the moment. Over $10.5 million in trading volume has been generated on the question "Will the U.S. invade Venezuela?"—referring to the U.S. using military operations intended to establish control of the country, Polymarket's site shows.
And there's almost $1.4 million in trading volume tied to the question of whether Israel will strike Iran by the end of January on the same venue. On Kalshi, a contract guessing who the next leader of Venezuela will be has generated over $2 million in trading volume and; around $1 million has been bet on one that guesses at which world leaders will be out before the end of the year.
Traditionally traders have bet on possible future outcomes of geopolitical events by buying and selling certain stocks, safe-haven assets like gold, or commodities such as oil. Now, folks are making more direct bets on specific events.
It might make sense that folks are flocking to make such wagers after one trader won big betting that Nicolás Maduro would soon be out as Venezuela's leader, which appeared to be a long-shot even in the hours before the announcement of his capture. As is usually the case in betting, the longer the odds, the greater the profit.
The "Will the U.S. invade Venezuela by..." question created in mid-December has clocked over $10.5 million in trading volume, according to Polymarket. There's a 5% probability of that occurring by Jan. 31, based on the trading volume. If one buys 1,000 shares of the "yes" contract, they could see a profit of $950—or a loss of $50. Buying a "yes" on Dec. 31, seen as having 25% odds of occurring, would net $750 but risk a loss of $250.
A "note on middle east markets" appears on related Polymarket events contracts, saying that prediction markets "harness the wisdom of the crowd to create accurate, unbiased forecasts" which are "particularly invaluable in gut-wrenching times like today."
The perceived odds of the "yes" on another Polymarket question—"[Ali] Khamenei out as Supreme Leader of Iran by June 30—have risen to over 30% from around 19% in late December as citizens started anti-government protests across the country.Assuming one buys 1,000 shares of the "yes" contract for 34 cents apiece, they would win $660 or lose $340.
Compare that to a similar question: "Nothing Ever Happens: Khamenei," which would resolve to a "no" only if the Iranian leader leaves the country for any length of time or if he no longer occupies his role before the contract's expiration. A win on 1,000 shares of a "yes" contract would garner a $260 profit, or a $740 loss.
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Unemployed workers significantly outnumbered job openings in November.For the first time in four years, unemployed people significantly outnumbered job openings in November as the job market continued to deteriorate.
U.S. employers had 7.1 million job openings in November, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday. That was a decrease from 7.4 million in October, the fewest since September 2024, and below the 7.6 million openings forecasters had expected, according to a survey of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. There was less than one job for every unemployed worker, with the ratio slipping to 0.9 from 1:1 in September. It was the lowest ratio since 2021.
The unexpectedly low number of job openings in November is the latest in a series of data showing the job market is stagnating.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey data added detail to a BLS report last month showing the unemployment rate rose to a four-year high in November as employers cut back on hiring. Uncertainty about tariffs, President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration, and the adoption of artificial intelligence software have all taken a toll on the labor market, although employers have mostly avoided mass layoffs so far.
"Today’s report is another signal that the job market lacks dynamism but isn’t completely breaking down," Ali Jaffery, an economist at CIBC, wrote in a commentary. "The pace of hiring is slow, but firms are still not comfortable firing either."
Data from Wednesday's report, alongside a highly anticipated report on the job market due Friday, will likely be scrutinized by officials at the Federal Reserve later in the month when they meet to set the nation's monetary policy. The Fed has cut its key interest rate at its last three meetings in an effort to prevent the job market slowdown from becoming a severe increase in unemployment.
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Concerns about the labor market have rattled consumers and caused the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates several times.Forecasters believe the U.S. job market expanded slowly in December, extending a streak of underwhelming hiring numbers.
A report Friday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to show the U.S. economy added 73,000 jobs in December, while the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.5% from 4.6% the month before, according to a survey of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. The job growth would be slightly higher than the 64,000 jobs added in November, when the unemployment rate hit its highest level since 2021.
Over the past several months, tariffs have dragged on hiring, and job seekers have had a difficult time finding work, even as President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown reduces the number of workers. The U.S. economy only added 17,000 jobs per month on average between May and November, compared to 147,000 per month in the 12 months leading up to April 2025, when Trump announced his "Liberation Day" tariffs on nearly every U.S. trading partner.
Some experts believe the BLS has been overestimating job growth in recent months, and that even those weak hiring figures are too optimistic. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the economy has likely been losing 20,000 jobs a month on average since April.
Labor market concerns have rattled consumers and led the Fed to cut interest rates several times to stimulate hiring and stem unemployment. Friday's report will provide an important snapshot of the health of the economy, and will be closely watched by the Fed and investors.
"After two months of shutdown-related distortions, December should bring a relatively clean jobs report," Sal Guatieri, senior U.S. economist at BMO Capital Markets, wrote in a commentary. " Unfortunately, it will likely confirm the recent sluggish hiring trend."
The labor market weakness has prompted the Federal Reserve to cut its benchmark interest rate at each of its last three policy meetings. Friday's report will be a key data point for the Fed as it considers possible further rate cuts.
Employers have curtailed hiring in recent months due to uncertainty about trade policy, and the effects of tariffs on prices and consumer behavior among other things, according to surveys. On top of that, some businesses say they have reduced hiring or let workers go because of adopting artificial intelligence software to automate certain tasks.
The December data will be the first relatively free of distortions from the government shutdown in October and November, which disrupted the surveys the BLS uses to create the job growth and unemployment figures, but could still be affected by it.
Forecasters at Goldman Sachs, for instance, noted that the unemployment rate should be lower in December because of federal workers returning to work after the shutdown.
Data from private-sector sources, which are less comprehensive than the massive surveys upon which BLS figures are based, informed forecaster expectations for December. Private employers added 41,000 jobs in December, payroll provider ADP reported Wednesday. That was below the consensus forecast for a pickup of 48,000 jobs, although a rebound from November when private sector payrolls fell by 29,000.
News of the day for January 7, 2026
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 1,400 points in the first three sessions of 2026.Stock futures are little changed this morning after major indexes hit record highs on Tuesday; President Donald Trump said that Venezuela would give the U.S. up to 50 million barrels of sanctioned crude; the ADP employment report for December showed that hiring in the private sector rebounded from the month before; Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said demand in China looks strong after the U.S. government approved the sale of H200 chips to customers in the country; and Warner Bros. Discovery's board of directors has again told its shareholders that they should reject the takeover offer from Paramount Skydance and support its deal with Netflix. Here's what you need to know today.
Stock Futures Steady After Record HighsStock futures are mixed but little changed this morning after another day of solid gains for U.S. equities on Tuesday. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were recently up 0.1%, while those linked to the S&P 500 and the tech-focused Nasdaq slipped 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. The Dow and S&P 500 each closed at new record highs on Tuesday, with a number of tech hardware manufacturers leading a rally. Gold futures were down 0.8% at $4,460 an ounce, giving back some of the gains posted amid the uncertainty created by the U.S. ouster of Venezuela's president over the weekend. Bitcoin was at around $92,000 recently, losing ground for the second day in a row after surging earlier this week to near $95,000, its highest level in a month. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects borrowing costs on a wide array of personal loans, fell to 4.14% from 4.18% at Tuesday's close.
Trump Says Venezuela to Sell Oil Through the U.S.President Trump said Venezuela will soon start to turn over an estimated 30 million to 50 million barrels of "high quality, sanctioned oil" to the U.S., which will then be sold on the global oil market by American authorities. Trump also said that the money made from the sale of that oil would be controlled by him "to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States," despite the Constitution giving Congress the authority to spend revenue brought in by the government. The Wall Street Journal also reported late Tuesday that the Trump administration is expected to meet with executives from several American oil companies including Chevron (CVX), ExxonMobil (XOM), and ConocoPhillips (COP) on Friday to discuss potential plans for the companies to invest in Venezuela. Shares of the oil majors surged on Monday after Trump said over the weekend that U.S. companies would "fix" Venezuela's crumbling oil infrastructure, but the stocks tumbled yesterday.
Private Sector Hiring Rebounded in December, ADP SaysThe U.S. private sector added 41,000 jobs in December, according to human resources and payroll provider ADP. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal had forecast a gain of 48,000 jobs in the month, up from a surprise decline of about 32,000 jobs in November. The ADP report comes ahead of the highly anticipated release on Friday of the December jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The employment data is closely followed by the Federal Reserve, which has cut its key interest rate at each of its last three policy meetings owing to concerns about a weakening labor market. The Fed isn't expected to cut rates at its policy meeting later this month, as inflation remains well above the central bank's target range.
Nvidia CEO Says China Demand 'Quite High' After White House ApprovalNvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang said Tuesday that the chipmaking giant is seeing "quite high" demand in China for its H200 chips, according to the The Wall Street Journal. Last month, Trump announced that the government had approved a license for Nvidia to sell the chips to customers in China, with the U.S. government receiving a 25% cut of revenue. The Biden and Trump administrations have each restricted the ability of Nvidia and other chipmakers to sell advanced tech to China, over national security concerns that China could develop military capabilities with the AI powered by the chips. "President Trump has already said that the H200s are licensed to be exported, and now we have to go through the mechanics of that," Huang said Tuesday at CES, per the Journal. "Once we get that done, I’m expecting the purchase orders to arrive.” Nvidia shares were up 0.5% in recent premarket trading.
Warner Bros. Discovery Recommends Shareholders Reject Paramount Skydance OfferWarner Bros. Discovery's (WBD) board of directors has again told its shareholders that they should reject the takeover offer from Paramount Skydance (PSKY) and support its deal with Netflix (NFLX). Despite Oracle (ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison agreeing to personally guarantee over $40 billion of the Paramount offer's equity financing, the WBD board said in a Wednesday release the deal is still too risky. "Paramount's offer continues to provide insufficient value, including terms such as an extraordinary amount of debt financing that create risks to close and lack of protections for our shareholders if a transaction is not completed," board chair Samuel Di Piazza said. Warner Bros. Discovery shares edged lower, while Netflix shares rose slightly and Paramount shares were little changed. Shares of Parmount Skydance and Netflix were up slightly in premarket trading, while Warner Bros. Discovery fell less than 1%.
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