Khadija Saeed

A dedicated markets reporter, she covers stocks, macroeconomics, and major business developments with a sharp eye for detail and accuracy.

Nvidia stock slips as China buyers face “pay upfront” rule for H200 AI chips

Nvidia stock slips as China buyers face “pay upfront” rule for H200 AI chips

New York, January 8, 2026, 10:31 EST — Regular session Nvidia shares fell about 1.6% to $186.03 on Thursday after two people briefed on the matter said the chipmaker is demanding full upfront payment from Chinese customers seeking its H200, a data-center processor used to train artificial-intelligence models. The terms bar cancellations, refunds or configuration changes after an order is placed, the people said. The stock hit an intraday low of $184.73 and a high of $190.28. Reuters The shift lands as investors start 2026 leaning again into big AI names, even as valuations and policy risk keep flashing yellow.
8 January 2026
Intel stock slides after 18A ‘Panther Lake’ rally — Jan. 22 earnings is the next test

Intel stock slides after 18A ‘Panther Lake’ rally — Jan. 22 earnings is the next test

New York, January 8, 2026, 10:05 AM ET — Regular session Intel (INTC.O) shares fell 1.6% to $41.95 in morning trade on Thursday. The stock has ranged between $41.87 and $43.31 so far. The pullback comes a day after Intel’s shares jumped when the company said it has begun shipping its first products made on 18A, its newest chipmaking process. The initial shipments involve the Panther Lake family, branded as Core Ultra Series 3, and Melius Research upgraded the stock to “buy” with a $50 price target. TradingView Investors have latched onto 18A because it sits at the center of
XRP price stock slides near $2 after first ETF outflows as U.S. jobs report nears

XRP price stock slides near $2 after first ETF outflows as U.S. jobs report nears

NEW YORK, Jan 8, 2026, 10:28 EST — Regular session XRP fell about 5% on Thursday to around $2.09, extending a pullback in major cryptocurrencies after a hot start to 2026. Trading volume over the past 24 hours was about $4.6 billion, CoinMarketCap data showed. CoinMarketCap The XRP price move mattered because one of the big props under the rally — steady demand for U.S.-listed spot XRP exchange-traded funds — showed its first crack. Spot ETFs, which trade like stocks and aim to track XRP’s price, saw roughly $41 million of net outflows on Wednesday, according to SoSoValue data cited
GOOG stock turns flat after early spike as EU sets Wiz deal deadline and Cantor upgrades Alphabet

GOOG stock turns flat after early spike as EU sets Wiz deal deadline and Cantor upgrades Alphabet

NEW YORK, Jan 8, 2026, 10:18 (EST) — Regular session Alphabet’s non-voting Class C shares were little changed on Thursday after EU regulators set a Feb. 10 deadline for an initial call on Google’s planned Wiz purchase and after Cantor Fitzgerald lifted its rating. The stock opened higher and then sagged, tracking the broader wobble in growth shares. The deadline matters because Wiz would be Alphabet’s biggest deal and a rare megacap bet on cloud security, an area where deals now draw instant scrutiny. A longer review can freeze a transaction for months, keeping investors guessing on costs and timing.
8 January 2026
Dow Jones Today: Dow steadies near record highs as jobs report looms and Trump defense talk jolts stocks

Dow Jones Today: Dow steadies near record highs as jobs report looms and Trump defense talk jolts stocks

New York, January 8, 2026, 10:13 EST — Regular session The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 129 points, or 0.3%, at 49,124.87 by mid-morning in New York. It has traded between 48,792 and 49,165 so far and sits about 1% below a recent peak near 49,621. Google The move matters because the index has been swinging on a mix of policy headlines and labor data, with investors trying to pin down whether the Federal Reserve can cut rates as quickly as markets have hoped. After a sharp run to new highs, even small surprises are landing harder. Data on
Palantir stock steadies after Truist’s $223 call as investors eye next catalyst

Palantir stock steadies after Truist’s $223 call as investors eye next catalyst

New York, Jan 8, 2026, 10:01 EST — Regular session Palantir Technologies (PLTR.O) shares were up 0.1% at $181.81 on Thursday after swinging between $180.59 and $186.89 in early trade. Truist Securities initiated coverage with a buy rating and a $223 price target, calling the stock a “best-in-class AI asset” and pointing to demand for generative AI — software that can produce text and code — across governments and companies. The call lands as PLTR stock trades like a referendum on whether AI spending can stay hot and profitable at the same time. Truist framed its target as a 28.1%
8 January 2026
Lockheed Martin stock jumps on Trump’s $1.5 trillion defense budget push — buyback ban still in play

Lockheed Martin stock jumps on Trump’s $1.5 trillion defense budget push — buyback ban still in play

NEW YORK, Jan 8, 2026, 10:08 EST — Regular session Lockheed Martin shares rose 7.4% to $533.71 on Thursday, leading a rebound in big U.S. defense names after President Donald Trump talked up a sharp increase in Pentagon spending. Northrop Grumman climbed 10.1% and RTX gained 5.5% in early New York trading. Trump said on Wednesday the 2027 U.S. military budget should be $1.5 trillion, well above the $901 billion approved by Congress for 2026, and suggested tariff revenue would help fund it. Capital Alpha Partners defense analyst Byron Callan said the post raised questions about where the money would
Amazon stock today: AMZN ticks up as AWS self-driving deal and GPU pricing come into focus

Amazon stock today: AMZN ticks up as AWS self-driving deal and GPU pricing come into focus

New York, January 8, 2026, 09:32 EST — Regular session Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) shares rose 0.3% to $241.56 in early trading on Thursday after its cloud unit AWS expanded a partnership with German auto supplier Aumovio to speed up self-driving vehicle development using artificial intelligence. “The big accelerant in the industry has been the use of engineering AI,” AWS automotive and manufacturing boss Ozgur Tohumcu told Reuters. Reuters Why it matters now: investors are treating AWS as Amazon’s tell on corporate tech budgets, especially for AI-heavy workloads that need expensive computing power. A steady drumbeat of customer wins can matter
Meta stock drops as China opens scrutiny of Manus AI deal

Meta stock drops as China opens scrutiny of Manus AI deal

New York, Jan 8, 2026, 09:56 EST — Regular session Meta Platforms shares fell on Thursday after China’s commerce ministry said it would assess and investigate the company’s acquisition of artificial intelligence startup Manus. Reuters The move matters because Meta has been leaning hard into AI — both for ads and new consumer products — and any new friction around data or technology transfer can turn a small deal into a bigger risk question for investors. China’s statement also lands at a touchy moment for U.S. tech, with markets quick to reprice policy and regulatory surprises. Meta stock was down
Apple stock slips today as Apple Card shifts to JPMorgan, payrolls and earnings loom

Apple stock slips today as Apple Card shifts to JPMorgan, payrolls and earnings loom

New York, Jan 8, 2026, 09:34 EST — Regular session Apple (AAPL.O) shares slid 0.8% to $260.33 in early trading on Thursday. The stock closed at $262.32 on Wednesday. The move keeps attention on Apple’s services and payments push, a piece of the story that tends to matter more when hardware demand looks harder to read. Investors have also started treating big-tech leadership as less stable than it looked a few months ago. The broader tape was cautious ahead of Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, after data this week pointed to slower hiring even as layoffs stayed relatively low. “Both
Micron stock slips as UBS, Piper lift targets to $400 ahead of New York megafab kickoff

Micron stock slips as UBS, Piper lift targets to $400 ahead of New York megafab kickoff

NEW YORK, Jan 8, 2026, 09:40 EST — Regular session Micron Technology Inc shares fell 1.1% to $339.55 in early trading on Thursday, after touching $342.50 and $336.33, as the chipmaker’s recent surge cooled. The moves matter because investors are trying to judge whether a tight memory market is turning into something more durable, driven by data centers building out artificial intelligence systems. Samsung Electronics this week forecast record quarterly operating profit as demand for memory chips used in AI applications lifted prices, a read-through for rivals that sell similar products. Reuters UBS lifted its price target on Micron to
8 January 2026
Microsoft stock edges up after Fiserv expands Copilot rollout, with earnings next in focus

Microsoft stock edges up after Fiserv expands Copilot rollout, with earnings next in focus

NEW YORK, January 8, 2026, 09:44 EST — Regular session Microsoft Corp shares rose $5.02, or about 1.0%, to $483.47 on Thursday after payments technology firm Fiserv said it will deploy Microsoft 365 Copilot across its workforce and expand its use of Microsoft Foundry, an Azure-powered platform for building and running AI applications. “We’re transforming how Fiserv delivers the next generation of innovation for our clients,” Guy Chiarello, Fiserv’s vice chairman, said. Fiserv, Inc. The timing matters because Microsoft’s big pitch to investors is that enterprise customers will pay up for “Copilot” tools — generative AI features stitched into Office

Stock Market Today

Apple stock price ends week higher as Dow hits 50,000; jobs and CPI loom next

Apple stock price ends week higher as Dow hits 50,000; jobs and CPI loom next

7 February 2026
New York, Feb 7, 2026, 08:51 EST — Market closed. Apple shares ended Friday higher, closing up 0.8% at $278.12. The stock eased 0.3% after hours to $277.25 ahead of Monday’s reopening. (Investing.com) The move capped a choppy week for megacap tech as traders tried to work out whether the latest bout of nerves over artificial intelligence spending is a speed bump or something stickier. That matters for Apple because it sits in both camps — a heavyweight in the Dow and a bellwether growth stock — just as the next set of U.S. data may reset bets on interest-rate
Broadcom Stock Gets a Google AI Spend Lift as Jefferies Sees 60% Upside

Broadcom Stock Gets a Google AI Spend Lift as Jefferies Sees 60% Upside

7 February 2026
Google raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to $175 billion–$185 billion, with most spending expected on data-center chips. Broadcom shares rose about 2% after the announcement, while Nvidia and AMD slipped. Jefferies reiterated a buy rating on Broadcom, maintaining a $500 price target, implying a 62% upside from Wednesday’s close.
No $2,000 IRS stimulus check is coming in February 2026 — but Trump’s tariff-check talk keeps the rumors alive

No $2,000 IRS stimulus check is coming in February 2026 — but Trump’s tariff-check talk keeps the rumors alive

7 February 2026
The IRS has not announced new federal stimulus payments for February 2026, and Congress has not approved fresh checks. Trump told NBC he is considering $2,000 tariff rebate checks but has not committed, saying any payout would likely come later in 2026. The IRS warns taxpayers to ignore texts and emails about “stimulus payments” and verify notices through official channels.
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