Tuesday PM reads
- President Donald Trump granted Nvidia Corp. permission to ship its H200 artificial intelligence chip to China in exchange for a 25% surcharge. The decision allows Nvidia to potentially regain billions of dollars in lost business from the Chinese market, and also makes chipmakers such as Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. eligible to ship to "approved customers". Trump's move has been met with backlash from Democratic senators, who warn that providing China with the H200 chip could be a "colossal economic and national security failure" and give Chinese companies an edge in artificial intelligence. BB
- Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s clients are pulling back their bullish views on artificial intelligence and US stocks following last month's slide. Investors expect the S&P 500 to end the coming year between 7,000 and 7,500, a sharp retreat from late October's anticipated jump to 7,200. Clients still expect the S&P 500 to rise in 2026, but their targets have become "much more conservative" with only 1% of respondents seeing a recession in 2026. BB
- On Friday, Ellison’s concerns were realized. Warner and Netflix announced a deal for the streaming giant to acquire the iconic Warner and HBO properties for $72 billion, a proposed merger that could radically reshape entertainment. Ellison’s father, billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, a Trump ally, called the president after the Netflix deal was announced and told him the transaction would hurt competition, according to a White House official and a person familiar with the matter. Not ready to give up, Paramount on Monday launched a hostile takeover effort for Warner, taking its case directly to shareholders. Ellison says his offer for Warner is a better deal for shareholders and more likely to pass regulatory muster. Paramount said its offer provides shareholders $18 billion more in cash than Netflix’s. WSJ
- Todd Combs, the stock picker who stepped in to lead the turnaround of Berkshire’s Geico auto-insurance arm, will decamp for JPMorgan Chase. His departure, announced Monday, was by far the most unexpected move in a series of executive changes Berkshire unveiled mere weeks before Buffett hands off his CEO role to Greg Abel. “I was really surprised,” said Paul Lountzis, president of Lountzis Asset Management, which owns Berkshire shares. “When you look at the future, it is more murky now that Todd’s gone.” Berkshire also announced that longtime finance chief Marc Hamburg was retiring, and that the company had tapped Snap’s Michael O’Sullivan as general counsel. WSJ
- President Trump rolled out a $12 billion bailout for struggling farmers on Monday as he looks to shore up the finances of some of his most loyal supporters whose financial fortunes have been hurt by his trade war. The rescue package, which was unveiled at an event with farmers at the White House, comes as Mr. Trump’s trade policies have hurt America’s agriculture sector. While Mr. Trump’s plan to raise tariffs was intended to spur domestic production and open export markets it has actually closed off sales for many U.S. farmers. China — the biggest buyer of American crops such as soybeans — retaliated against Mr. Trump’s tariffs by halting purchases of U.S. farm products this year. NYT