Your Evening Briefing

December 17, 2025

Markets slump as AI trade tumbles

Stocks fell on Wednesday, driven by concerns around AI credit risk which seemed to swell following a report that Blue Owl Capital won’t fund Oracle’s $10 billion Michigan facility. In response, Oracle told Bloomberg that negotiations for that data center project are “on schedule,” but that did little to quell investor fears.

Every member of the Magnificent 7 fell. The pessimism around the AI trade also dragged down Broadcom, AMD, and retail favorite CoreWeave, to name just a few.

The S&P 500 finished down over 1%, the Nasdaq 100 dropped nearly 2%, and the Russell 2000 dipped roughly 1%.

Stocks that moved higher:

Netflix ticked a little higher after Warner Bros. Discovery’s board told shareholders to turn down Paramount Skydance’s “inadequate” hostile bid.
Reddit rose following a Piper Sandler note that said the platform’s monthly active users has gained for six months straight and predicted continued momentum for 2026.

Stocks that moved lower:

Joby Aviation dipped after announcing plans to double its air taxi manufacturing to 4 per month by 2027.
Reuters reported that China has completed a factory-sized prototype of an EUV chip fab, sending ASML lower as it could threaten the company’s unique position in the AI race.

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This year was peak coal, as global consumption is set to decline through 2030, per new report
Falling demand in China, the US and EU could offset growth in India.
Discount stores are having a moment in America, drawing high- and low-income consumers alike
Everyone loves a deal in 2025 — and Aldi, Walmart, and Dollar Tree are all cashing in.
Amazon in talks to invest upwards of $10 billion in OpenAI at a valuation of more than $500 billion, per reports
The two sides are discussing having OpenAI use Amazon’s Trainium chips, and other potential collaborations in e-commerce as a part of this deal.
SpaceX is reportedly valued at around $800 billion ahead of slated 2026 IPO, sending Musk’s net worth soaring
The valuation figure’s more than doubled since July, and is now a much larger part of Elon Musk’s wealth than Tesla is.
Roblox willing to make changes to have its ban lifted in Russia, one of its biggest markets
Roblox shares ticked up in premarket trading on Wednesday, but then lost those gains.
Bitcoin is behaving like a no-fundamentals tech stock
The three-month correlation between the daily changes in the iShares Bitcoin ETF and a Goldman Sachs basket of nonprofitable tech stocks is at a record high.
Group of House Republicans defy leadership and join Democrats to force ACA vote
The subsidies are still likely to end before the deadline.

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