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America ready to drop the hammer on the EU over free speech regulations and fines
EU trade war heats up again after $140m fine on Musk's X
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Hello Capitalists,
Here is everything you should be following today:
US starts the ball rolling on retaliation over EU’s digital taxes and fines
EU actions could reignite trade war
Big Banks had a great 2025 and look to 2026 with glee
Sub-Prime lender charged with massive fraud
Tesla surges to all time highs on the back of RoboTaxi buzz
Amazon looks to make a huge OpenAI investment
Today’s markets + assets:
🔴 DOW: 47974.72 (⬇️ 0.29%)
🔴 S&P: 6745.75 (⬇️ 0.80%)
🔴 NASDAQ: 22841.30 (⬇️ 0.20%)
⚠️✅CBOE VIX Volatility Index: 17.29 (⬆️ 5.10%)
✅ Gold: $4373.90 (⬆️ 0.05%)
✅ Silver: $66.88 (⬆️ 5.67%)
🔴 Bitcoin: $86,432 (⬇️ .36%)
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US threatens EU tech retaliation after members target US firms
The Trump administration on Tuesday threatened to impose fees or restrictions on major European companies like Spotify and Siemens, accusing the EU of discriminatory taxes, fines and regulations targeting American tech giants.
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Targeted European firms: Accenture, DHL, SAP, Amadeus, Capgemini, Publicis and Mistral AI are all seen as potential subjects for US countermeasures.
Section 301 probe: The US has launched an investigation to investigate EU digital policies, enabling possible tariffs or service restrictions under US trade law.
National digital taxes: In response to the targeting of US firms (Such as Elon Musk’s “X” and also Google) with fines by countries like France, Italy, Austria, Spain and UK the US seeks to rebalance the playing field with retaliatory action.
EU defends rules: The EU says the taxes are fair and non-discriminatory, emphasizing equal application and commitment to prior US trade agreements
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Big banks crush 2025 records, look for 2026 to be even better
America’s largest banks are closing out 2025 at peak strength, with record-high stock prices, surging balance sheets and the most regulatory freedom in 15 years, fueling ambitious growth plans for 2026 amid wide-open capital markets.
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Record Stock Surge: Major bank shares, including Bank of America surpassing its 2006 peak and JPMorgan at all-time highs, drove a 29% sector index gain outperforming the S&P 500.
Investment Banking Boom: Merger momentum and market volatility propelled trading fees to expected records at most big banks, with global volumes hitting highest levels since 2021.
Expansion Plans Ahead: Executives signaled 2026 empire-building, including Bank of America’s push into cross-selling via adviser recruitment and branch growth.
Regulatory Tailwinds Support: Unprecedented easing not seen in 15 years enables momentum, as resilient economies keep capital markets accessible despite uncertainties.
Subprime auto loan execs charged with massive fraud
Federal prosecutors charged Tricolor Auto founder Daniel Chu and COO David Goodgame with orchestrating a years-long systematic fraud, allegedly double-pledging loan collateral and manipulating data to secure billions in funding before the subprime lender’s September bankruptcy roiled Wall Street.
Double-Pledging Scheme Exposed: Executives repeatedly pledged the same auto loans to multiple lenders simultaneously, inflating collateral values to obtain excessive financing.
Loan Data Manipulation Alleged: Delinquent and charged-off loans were altered to appear eligible, deceiving banks and investors from 2018 through September 2025.
Banking Sector Shockwaves Felt: Tricolor’s collapse alongside First Brands triggered mid-October stock drops for Jefferies, Zions Bancorporation, and regional banks amid private credit fears.
Dimon Warns of Risks: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon called the failures signs of lax lending practices, quipping “when you see one cockroach, there are probably more.”
Are Subprime auto loans the reboot of 2008 nobody asked for? | ||||||
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Tesla stock surges to record on robotaxi buzz
Tesla shares closed at a record $489.88 Tuesday, soaring on investor excitement over Elon Musk’s announcement of driverless robotaxi testing in Austin, Texas — even as the company’s electric vehicle sales continue to slump amid fierce competition and lost tax incentives.
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Driverless tests advance rapidly: Tesla is now testing vehicles with no occupants in Austin, nearly six months after starting a pilot with safety drivers, signaling progress toward unsupervised Full Self-Driving technology.
EV deliveries plunge sharply:The company reported a 13% drop in first-quarter deliveries and a 20% revenue decline, with U.S. sales hitting a four-year low in November due to competition and backlash against Musk.
Analysts boost price targets: Mizuho raised its Tesla target to $530 from $475, citing potential for faster robotaxi fleet expansion in Austin and San Francisco through FSD improvements.
Market cap hits trillions: The rally pushed Tesla’s valuation to $1.63 trillion, ranking it the seventh-most valuable public company despite a roller-coaster year with earlier sharp declines.
Amazon eyes massive OpenAI stake
OpenAI is in confidential discussions with Amazon for a potential investment exceeding $10 billion, coupled with an agreement to utilize Amazon’s AI chips, as the ChatGPT creator diversifies partnerships following its recent restructuring.
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Post-restructuring freedom expands: OpenAI’s October shift ended Microsoft’s exclusive compute rights, enabling broader capital raises and third-party collaborations in the AI ecosystem.
Rivals attract big investments: Amazon has poured at least $8 billion into Anthropic, while Microsoft and Nvidia plan up to $5 billion and $10 billion respectively in the OpenAI competitor.
AWS chips gain traction: Amazon’s Trainium and Inferentia chips, developed since 2015 with the latest generation unveiled this month, position it to challenge Nvidia in AI training and inference.
Infrastructure commitments soar: OpenAI recently signed a $38 billion AWS cloud capacity deal and committed over $1.4 trillion total to chipmakers like Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom amid massive compute demands.
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