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- 🚗 Tesla vs. Nvidia
🚗 Tesla vs. Nvidia
PLUS: Intel gains pace
Market Performance
S&P 500: 6,920.93 ⬇️ 0.34%
Nasdaq: 23,584.27 ⬆️ 0.16%
Dow Jones: 48,996.08 ⬇️ 0.94%
Nvidia Takes on Tesla
Nvidia threw down the gauntlet in the autonomous vehicle race. At CES 2026, CEO Jensen Huang unveiled Alpamayo, a groundbreaking family of AI models for self-driving development that applies "humanlike thinking" to navigate rare and novel scenarios.
The chipmaker's Vision-Language-Action (VLA) model represents what Huang called "the ChatGPT moment for physical AI"—when machines truly begin to understand, reason, and act in the real world.
Huang positioned Nvidia as a "technology platform provider" serving the entire automotive industry—a fundamentally different approach than Tesla's vertically integrated model.
However, Elon Musk threw cold water on Nvidia's latest self-driving ambitions and responded on X with a reality check: "It's easy to get to 99% and then super hard to solve the long tail of the distribution."
The Tesla CEO knows this challenge intimately. While Nvidia announced partnerships with Mercedes-Benz for Level 2 driver assistance and positioned its Vision-Language-Action model as a breakthrough for robotaxis, Musk suggested any real competitive threat is "5 or 6 years" away—if not longer.
Tesla's own Full Self-Driving journey illustrates this difficulty. Despite progress with its Austin robotaxi service and Cybercab prototypes testing across Texas and California, the company missed Musk's year-end deadline for driverless operations.
Even Tesla's AI chief Ashok Elluswamy acknowledged the struggle: "The long tail is sooo long, that most people can't grasp it."
Our Takeaway
While Nvidia boasts superior chip technology and automotive partnerships, Tesla maintains a critical advantage: years of real-world driving data and deployment experience.
The "last mile" of autonomous driving isn't about technology specs—it's about solving countless edge cases that only emerge at scale.
Market Overview 📈
Markets pulled back from record highs as early 2026 winners lost momentum.
The S&P 500 and Dow both notched intraday records before reversing course, with financials and energy leading declines—both sectors down over 1%. Bank stocks, including JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, all closed lower.
The energy sector faced dual headwinds. Crude oil prices fell after President Trump announced that Venezuela would deliver up to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S., raising concerns about oversupply.
"We're still far from being tight from a supply-demand standpoint," noted Keith Buchanan of Globalt Investments. "There's significant risk of oversupply."
On the bright side, oil refiners Valero Energy and Marathon Petroleum surged 3% and 1%, respectively, after sources indicated Venezuelan oil sales would continue indefinitely with reduced sanctions.
Stock Moves Deciphered 📈
💊 Eli Lilly (LLY)
Eli Lilly shares climbed after the company announced its $1.2 billion acquisition of Ventyx Biosciences, a clinical-stage company developing treatments for inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases associated with obesity.
The deal strengthens Lilly's already dominant position in metabolic health following the massive success of its obesity drug Zepbound, which helped drive the stock up 39% over the past year.
Additionally, Lilly partnered with AI drug discovery company Nimbus Therapeutics to develop another oral treatment for obesity and metabolic disorders, building on their earlier collaboration.
🤖 Intel (INTC)
Intel shares surged after unveiling its "Panther Lake" AI PC chips and 18A manufacturing roadmap at CES 2026.
The announcements generated significant investor optimism about the chipmaker's turnaround strategy and competitive positioning in the rapidly expanding AI chip market, signaling that Intel's multi-year restructuring efforts may finally be gaining traction.
💣 Lockheed Martin (LMT)
Lockheed Martin's stock fell sharply after the Trump administration announced it would block defense contractors from issuing dividends and share buybacks until companies address complaints about production speed and equipment maintenance.
Trump said executive compensation should also be capped until new production plants are built.
The policy aims to redirect capital from shareholder returns to manufacturing capacity, but it created significant uncertainty across the defense sector.
⬇️ Blackstone (BX)
Blackstone shares declined after President Trump announced plans to ban large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes.
In a Truth Social post, Trump argued that corporate ownership has pushed housing "out of reach for far too many people, especially younger Americans" and called on Congress to codify the ban.
Blackstone has significant exposure to residential real estate through its portfolio companies and direct investments, making it a prime target of housing affordability initiatives.
Headlines You Can't Miss 👀
📊 Service sector activity hit its highest level in 2025 at 54.4%, beating expectations of 52.2% and signaling continued economic expansion.
💼 Job openings tumbled to 7.15 million in November, down 303,000 from October—the lowest level since September 2024.
🛢️ Crude oil prices fell as Trump confirmed the U.S. would import $2 billion worth of Venezuelan crude, with WTI dropping to $56.85 per barrel.
🏅 Gold pulled back for its first down day of 2026, with SPDR Gold Shares falling nearly 1% as investors took profits after the metal's 64% surge in 2025.
🇩🇰 Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Danish officials next week regarding Greenland, as the Trump administration eyes territorial expansion.
🎮 GameStop shares rose 2% after unveiling CEO Ryan Cohen's compensation package tied to growing the company to a $100 billion market cap.
📈 Private payrolls added 41,000 jobs in December according to ADP, reversing November's loss but slightly below the 48,000 estimate.
🤖 Prediction markets show rising odds that Trump will seize the Panama Canal (35%) or take control of Greenland (38%) before early 2029.
Trending Stocks 📊
🤝 Mobileye (MBLY)
Mobileye shares jumped after the self-driving systems company announced it would acquire humanoid robot maker Mentee for $900 million.
The acquisition signals Mobileye's expansion beyond automotive applications into broader robotics and AI-powered automation, potentially opening new revenue streams beyond its core advanced driver assistance systems business.
₿ Strategy (MSTR)
The bitcoin treasury firm gained ground after MSCI backed away from its plan to remove digital asset treasury companies from MSCI Indexes.
The reversal provides legitimacy to Strategy's business model of holding bitcoin as a primary treasury reserve asset and keeps the company in major index funds.
🥷 Palo Alto Networks (PANW)
Palo Alto Networks climbed after Guggenheim upgraded the stock from "Sell" to "Neutral," citing the company's recent underperformance, strategic acquisitions, and strong free cash flow margins.
The upgrade signals renewed confidence in the cybersecurity leader's financial health despite sector-wide competitive pressures.
What’s Next?
Key market and macro news 👇
📊 The ADP employment report for December 2025 is scheduled for release. This report provides a snapshot of private-sector employment changes and can influence expectations for the more comprehensive government jobs report.
👩💼 The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) will release its Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for December. This data reflects the health of the services sector, a significant driver of the U.S. economy.
🧑✈️ The JOLTS report for November will be released, offering insights into labor demand and turnover. This data helps gauge the tightness of the labor market, which can have implications for wage inflation.
📚 The Bureau of Economic Analysis will release data on the U.S. trade balance for October 2025. This report can impact currency markets and companies with significant international exposure.
📱CES, one of the world's largest technology trade shows, will be in full swing. Announcements from major tech companies regarding artificial intelligence, consumer electronics, and other innovations can create significant stock market movements.
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