"Lots of companies don't succeed over time. What do they fundamentally do wrong? They usually miss the future." ✍️

- Larry Page (co-founder of Google)

SUMMARY

✅ U.S. stocks slumped ahead of Nvidia’s key earnings report due later today. The S&P notched its 4th consecutive day of losses.

✅ Meta wins FTC antitrust case over Instagram and WhatsApp.

✅ Alphabet jumps as Berkshire makes rare $4.9 billion tech bet.

✅ Tesla rises on bullish call for FSD and robotaxis.

✅ Strategy makes $835.6 million bitcoin purchase during market slide.

✅ Ford partners with Amazon to sell certified used vehicles online.

MARKET SNAPSHOT

↘ Dow 46,091.74 - 1.07%
↘ Nasdaq 22,432.85 - 1.21%
↘ S&P 6,617.32 - 0.83%

Meta scored a major legal victory Tuesday, winning its long-running antitrust case against the Federal Trade Commission. After a seven-month trial, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled that the agency failed to prove Meta currently holds monopoly power in the social networking market—undercutting the FTC’s argument that the company never should have been allowed to acquire Instagram in 2012 or WhatsApp in 2014.

In his memorandum opinion, Boasberg wrote that even if Meta once enjoyed monopoly power, the FTC had not demonstrated that such power persists today. “The Court’s verdict today determines that the FTC has not done so,” he noted, issuing a judgment in Meta’s favor.

The case, first filed five years ago, has undergone several iterations. Boasberg originally dismissed it in 2021 for insufficient evidence. The FTC then filed an amended complaint with expanded data on competitors such as Snapchat, the former Google+ platform, and Myspace. In 2022, Boasberg allowed the revised case to move forward.

High-profile testimony came from CEO Mark Zuckerberg, former COO Sheryl Sandberg, Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom, and other current and former Meta leaders. Meta’s stock was little changed Tuesday and is up about 2% for the year—lagging most major tech peers.

Meta welcomed the decision, saying it affirms that the company “faces fierce competition” and that its products “exemplify American innovation.” The FTC has not yet commented.

The ruling arrives shortly after Google avoided the most severe penalties in its own antitrust case. Although a judge found Google maintained an illegal monopoly in search, the company was not forced to divest its Chrome browser, though it must loosen restrictions around search data.

TECH

Alphabet Shares Hit Record After Berkshire Makes Rare $4.9 Billion Tech Bet

Image courtesy of Playbigger.com

Alphabet (GOOG) shares surged nearly 6% to an all-time high on Monday after Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) disclosed a rare $4.9 billion stake in the company—an unexpected endorsement of the tech giant’s artificial intelligence strategy at a time when fears of an AI-driven market bubble continue to build.

Berkshire purchased 17.85 million Alphabet shares, valued at roughly $4.93 billion, marking one of the final significant investments under Warren Buffett and a surprising move for a conglomerate long known for avoiding most technology stocks. Buffett has famously treated Apple—Berkshire’s largest holding—more like a consumer-products company than a tech play.

“The stake purchase may signal a different mentality at Berkshire, though it still fits within its value-investing model,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers.

The investment comes as broader sentiment toward tech has cooled. Several industry leaders and analysts have warned that the AI frenzy may be stretching valuations beyond fundamentals, with uncertainty around returns from massive data-center spending. The Roundhill Magnificent 7 ETF—tracking giants like Nvidia, Microsoft, and Alphabet—has been largely flat since September after dominating earlier in the year.

performer. Its shares are up nearly 14% this quarter and have climbed 46% for the year, making it the top performer among the “Magnificent Seven.”

Alphabet also trades at a more attractive valuation, around 25× forward earnings, compared with 29× for Microsoft and nearly 30× for Nvidia, according to LSEG data.

“Alphabet fits the value theme better than some of the other names leading the AI charge,” Sosnick noted.

Analysts say Alphabet’s strength comes from its leading AI position—supported by aggressive infrastructure investments, the rapid rollout of AI-enhanced search, and a massive advertising business capable of funding its data-center expansion. CFRA analyst Angel Zino said Berkshire’s move “validates Google’s strong fundamentals” and gives it exposure to a major AI provider through Google Cloud and the company’s Gemini platform.

Last month’s earnings reinforced the trend, showing AI investments were turning Google Cloud into a major growth engine. The investment may also help Berkshire address one of Buffett’s long-standing regrets—missing the chance to buy Google early—just as the famed investor prepares to transition the CEO role to Greg Abel at the end of 2025.

It is still unknown whether the purchase was executed directly by Buffett, portfolio managers Todd Combs or Ted Weschler, or incoming CEO Greg Abel. Historically, Buffett oversees Berkshire’s largest positions.

STOCK NEWS

Tesla Stock Rises as Stifel Turns Bullish on FSD and Robotaxis

Image courtesy of Markets.com

Tesla (TSLA) shares moved higher on Monday after a volatile week, boosted by a bullish call from investment bank Stifel, which sees major upside in the company’s autonomous driving and robotaxi initiatives.

Stifel analyst Stephen Gengaro raised his Tesla price target to $508 from $483 while reiterating a Buy rating. His call is based on a sum-of-the-parts valuation and what he views as the company’s leading position in Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology and its expanding robotaxi service.

“We believe Tesla’s AI-based Full Self-Driving technology and Robotaxi initiatives are critical to the story and a large part of our valuation,” Gengaro wrote in a note to clients.

Gengaro highlighted Tesla’s rapidly evolving AI capabilities, noting that the company’s FSD system is expected to improve its decision-making, reduce “jerky” maneuvers, and deliver better real-world performance such as identifying parking spots.

He also pointed to Tesla’s advanced Cortex AI training cluster at Giga Texas, which he expects will accelerate FSD learning cycles. Gengaro said his own personal experience with the latest FSD version “shows improvement” compared to earlier iterations.

In addition to FSD, Stifel is optimistic about Tesla’s paid robotaxi service, currently operating in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Tesla management reiterated plans during the Q3 earnings call to expand robotaxi operations to 8–10 metropolitan areas by year-end 2025.
According to Gengaro:

Austin’s coverage area has been expanded three times since launching in June 2025

Safety drivers are still present in both Austin and the Bay Area

Early deployment progress remains “encouraging”

Despite his bullish stance, Gengaro noted challenges for Tesla’s core automotive business.
He flagged:

Falling gross profit per vehicle

Flat average selling prices expected in the near term

Potential pressure from the loss of U.S. EV tax credits

However, Stifel believes Tesla’s cheaper standard-range Model Y and Model 3 variants could help offset the loss of incentives.

Recent weakness in Tesla shares followed news that CEO Elon Musk was awarded a record-setting compensation package, potentially worth nearly $1 trillion if long-term milestones are met.

Peter Thiel, Musk ally and PayPal co-founder, also significantly reduced his Tesla stake, according to a new 13F filing. Thiel Macro sold 207,613 Tesla shares in Q3, cutting its position by 76% to just 65,000 shares. Thiel also liquidated his entire Nvidia position, fueling speculation he may be unwinding a major AI bet.

CRYPTOCURRENCY

Strategy Inc. Makes Massive $835.6 Million Bitcoin Purchase as Market Slides

Image courtesy of MarketWatch photo illustration/iStockphoto

Strategy Inc. has plunged back into the crypto markets, disclosing that it purchased $835.6 million worth of Bitcoin in the seven days ending Sunday — the firm’s largest buy since July. According to a Monday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the latest accumulation brings Strategy’s total holdings to 649,870 BTC, valued at roughly $61.7 billion.
The company appears to have funded most of the purchase through a euro-denominated preferred share offering completed last week.

Bitcoin’s price has fallen nearly 30% from its early-October peak, defying expectations that deeper Wall Street participation, regulatory tailwinds from Washington, and the rise of mainstream ETFs would smooth out volatility. Retail traders remain hesitant, scarred by previous downturns, while market liquidity continues to thin — pressures that have weighed even more heavily on digital-asset treasury companies, whose stock prices move in near-lockstep with their crypto holdings.

The latest slump pushed firms like Strategy closer to the underlying value of their Bitcoin reserves, exposing how quickly their shares can behave like leveraged BTC bets with minimal downside cushion. As a result, dip-buying has become a riskier proposition across the sector, making Strategy’s aggressive new purchase a high-profile test of institutional conviction.

One of the sharpest signs of pressure: Strategy’s mNAV — which measures its market cap against the value of its Bitcoin — has collapsed from above 2.5 to just 1.2.
The once-lofty premium that turned the stock into a high-beta Bitcoin proxy has all but evaporated, weakening the momentum loop that previously fueled its spectacular rallies.

Since Strategy began its Bitcoin accumulation in August 2020, the company’s stock has surged over 1,500%, compared with a little more than a doubling of the S&P 500 over the same period. Still, shares remain down about 57% from their all-time high of $473.83 set on Nov. 20, 2024. The stock was little changed on Monday.

Co-founder and chairman Michael Saylor initially financed BTC purchases through common stock sales, later shifting to convertible and preferred share offerings as investors balked at dilution and the stock’s premium narrowed. Recently, the company has increasingly turned to European capital markets to fuel its ongoing Bitcoin strategy.

AUTOMOTIVE

Ford Teams Up with Amazon to Bring Certified Used Vehicles to Online Shoppers

Image courtesy of Ethan Miller — Getty Images

Ford Motor is expanding its digital retail strategy through a new partnership with Amazon, allowing the automaker’s franchised dealers to sell certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicles directly on Amazon’s platform.

Announced Monday, the program enables customers to secure financing, begin purchase paperwork, and schedule pickup times for vehicles at participating Ford dealerships. While some final steps — such as signing documents — may still occur in person, the companies say the process brings significantly more of the car-buying experience online.

The collaboration follows Amazon’s earlier move to open its marketplace to auto dealers, starting with new Hyundai vehicles. Unlike Hyundai’s agreement, Ford’s offering focuses on certified pre-owned models — used vehicles that have been inspected, reconditioned, and certified by Ford or its dealers, typically including manufacturer-backed warranties.

Amazon has been steadily expanding its automotive footprint. Earlier this year, it partnered with Hertz to sell used rental vehicles on its site, signaling deeper ambitions in the online car retail space.

Ford says dealer participation is ramping quickly. More than 160 of its roughly 2,900 U.S. retailers have begun onboarding with Amazon, with around a dozen already fully launched and another wave set to go live next week.

“The addition of Ford certified pre-owned vehicles to Amazon Autos represents an exciting expansion of our store,” said Fan Jin, global leader of Amazon Autos, noting that customers will gain access to thousands of high-quality CPO vehicles backed by Ford’s inspection and warranty programs.

As part of the partnership, Ford will offer a 14-day or 1,000-mile money-back guarantee, plus three tiers of CPO certifications with varying warranty coverage. CPO Ford vehicles are now available to shoppers in Los Angeles, Seattle and Dallas, with expansion to additional metro areas planned in the coming months.

Despite Amazon’s growing role, Ford emphasizes that franchised dealers remain the official sellers — a critical distinction given state franchise laws that limit or prohibit direct-to-consumer sales of new vehicles. Used vehicle sales, however, face fewer restrictions, which is why companies like Carvana and Hertz can sell pre-owned cars online with far more flexibility.

📉 ON THE MOVE AND NOTABLES 📈

✔️ Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said that President Trump's proposal to send $2,000 "dividend" payments from tariffs to US citizens would need support from Congress.

✔️ Bond yields are easing, with the 10-year Treasury slipping to 4.09%.

✔️ Overseas, Asian markets finished in the red on Tuesday, led by declines in Japan’s Nikkei.

✔️ The U.S. dollar is weakening against major global currencies, while WTI crude is also trading lower.

✔️ In crypto, bitcoin has erased its year-to-date gains and is now down more than 25% from its October peak near $125,000 as leveraged positions unwind across the market.

✔️ New Labor Department data shows initial jobless claims rose to 232,000 for the week ending October 18, still below the four-week moving average of 237,000. Continuing claims ticked up to 1.96 million from 1.92 million in September.

✔️ The Magnificent Seven are down more than 5% in November, dragging on the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

✔️ President Trump hinted Tuesday that he has started interviewing candidates for the next Federal Reserve chair and said he thinks he knows who his pick will be for the position.

✔️ With the government shutdown resolved, statisticians at the BLS, Census Bureau, and BEA are returning and preparing to release delayed data for August and September, including Wednesday’s September jobs report. October CPI may also be delayed entirely, and November’s inflation data could be less reliable.

✔️ Markets are now pricing only a 40% chance of a 25-basis-point cut in December.

✔️ President Donald Trump called for ABC News' broadcast license to be revoked as he lashed out at a reporter who asked him why he has chosen not to release the Epstein files.

✔️ Alphabet (GOOGL) jumped after Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) disclosed a $4.3 billion stake in the company. Bloomberg also reported Alphabet plans to invest $40 billion in three Texas data centers.

✔️ Google announced Gemini 3, an upgraded artificial intelligence model, almost eight months after the company rolled out Gemini 2.5.

✔️ Apple (AAPL) slipped after Berkshire revealed it had trimmed its position.

✔️ Microsoft (MSFT) announced new strategic partnerships with Nvidia and the AI startup Anthropic. Microsoft will invest up to $5 billion into Anthropic, while Nvidia will invest up to $10 billion into the startup, pushing Anthropic’s valuation to the range of $350 billion.

✔️ Disney (DIS) and Google reached a distribution deal returning Disney content to YouTube TV.

✔️ Gap (GPS) climbed after Barclays upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight, citing confidence in management’s long-term sales and margin-recovery strategy across all brands.

✔️ Dell (DELL) fell after Morgan Stanley downgraded it to Underweight from Overweight, warning the memory “supercycle” could pressure hardware earnings heading into 2026.

✔️ HP (HPQ) lost following a downgrade to Underweight from Equal Weight by Morgan Stanley, which cut several hardware names on concerns over weakening gross margins.

✔️ Novo Nordisk (NVO) fell after CNBC reported the company plans to lower Wegovy and Ozempic pricing to $349 per month for cash-paying direct-to-consumer customers.

✔️ Stifel raised its price target on Tesla (TSLA) but warned of potential sales headwinds following the expiration of the U.S. EV tax credit. Over the weekend, Tesla also told suppliers to exclude Chinese-made components from U.S.-built models, according to Barron’s.

✔️ Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) rose after announcing a share-repurchase authorization of up to $250 million.

✔️ Blue Owl Capital (OWL) sank after Reuters reported that the alternative asset manager—currently working with Meta Platforms (META) on financing a Louisiana data center—has moved to block redemptions from one of its private credit funds as it merges that vehicle with a publicly traded fund.

✔️ Delta Air Lines (DAL) and United Airlines (UAL) fell, even after the U.S. government lifted shutdown-related flight restrictions. Investors remain wary about the potential hit to fourth-quarter industry earnings.

✔️ Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) dropped after Rothschild & Co. issued downgrades, arguing it’s “time to take a more cautious stance on the hyperscalers” and that underlying economics “are far weaker than assumed.” Meanwhile, Stifel boosted its Nvidia price target and raised estimates ahead of Wednesday’s earnings.

✔️ Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) is set to raise $15 billion from its first US dollar bond offering in three years as technology companies race to fund artificial-intelligence infrastructure with jumbo debt sales.

✔️ Home Depot (HD) slid after reporting earnings per share below expectations—its third consecutive quarterly miss—though revenue matched forecasts.

✔️ Cloudflare (NET) fell after an outage disrupted several major platforms, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Elon Musk’s X. The company attributed the issue to a surge in unusual traffic, according to CNBC.

✔️ Crypto exchange Kraken was valued at $20 billion in the latest funding round.

✔️ Medtronic (MDT) gained after beating on both earnings and revenue, helped by strong cardiovascular product demand, and raised its outlook.

✔️ Honeywell (HON) moved lower after Bank of America cut its rating to Underperform, citing a “challenging” catalyst runway.

✔️ Money market fund assets hit a fresh record above $7.54 trillion last week, indicating increased investor caution as more cash moves to the sidelines.

💲What Else to Watch This Week 💲

All eyes are on NVIDIA’s earnings report today, where analysts expect another blockbuster quarter: consensus forecasts call for $1.25 in EPS, up 56% from last year, on $54.9 billion in revenue. CEO Jensen Huang previously signaled a massive $500 billion order pipeline spanning 2025–2026, and analysts will scrutinize those figures closely as a barometer for the broader AI cycle.

🟢 Wednesday (11/19): Building Permits, EIA Crude Oil Inventories, Housing Starts, MBA Mortgage Applications Index. Earnings from Bullish (BLSH), Copa Holdings SA (CPA), Dycom Industries Inc. (DY), Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW), NIO Inc. (NIO), Nvidia Corp. (NVDA), Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW), Target Companies (TGT), TJX Companies Inc. (TJX), Viking Holdings Ltd. (VIK).

🟢 Thursday (11/20): Continuing Claims, EIA Natural Gas Inventories, Existing Home Sales, Initial Claims, Leading Indicators, Philadelphia Fed Index. Earnings from Copart Inc. (CPRT), Elastic NV (ESTC), ESCO Technologies Inc. (ESE), Gap Inc. (GAP), Jacob Solutions Inc. (J), Intuit Inc. (INTU), NetEase Inc. (NTES), Ross Stores Inc. (ROST), Veeva Systems Inc. (VEEV), Walmart Inc. (WMT).

🟢 Friday (11/21): University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment – Final. Earnings from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA), BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. (BJ), IES Holdings Inc. (IESC), VinFast Auto Ltd. (VFS).

Watch Our Latest Weekly Video On Youtube Or Spotify

"Shutdown Ends, Markets Rip, AI & Crypto Reignite"