Wall Street News Breakfast FM-Radio | January 6, 2026
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Market Overview
Venezuelan President Maduro has been arrested, geopolitical risks support the strengthening of US Treasuries, precious metals, and the Japanese yen. Investors do not seem worried that tensions will end the three-year US stock bull market, with all three major US indexes rising.
The Dow Jones stood above 49,000 points intraday for the first time, later pulling back but still hitting a record high, small-cap indexes led the gains. Amazon and Tesla led gains among large tech stocks. Chevron rose over 5% as Trump said major US oil companies would invest in Venezuela.
Risk-off sentiment drove US Treasury yields generally lower; after the weak ISM data release, the 10-year yield dropped another 4.3 basis points.
The dollar fell, giving back gains from short-term risk aversion. Yen rose 0.3%, approaching 156 at one point.
Bitcoin surged, returning to near $95,000. Ethereum topped $3,200 for the first time in a month.
Precious metals soared, with spot gold up over 2.5%, spot silver up 5%, NY silver spiked nearly 10% intraday. London copper hit $13,000 for the first time. Oil fell then rose, WTI crude up more than 3.6% from its daily low.
In Asia, a strong start for 2026, Shanghai Composite regained 4,000, marking the longest up streak in 33 years, brain-computer interface stocks hit limit-ups, Hang Seng fluctuated slightly upward, Kuaishou surged over 11%.
Top News
China’s December RatingDog Services PMI at 52 maintained expansion, but new export orders fell back into contraction.
Li Qiang: Strengthen the main role of enterprises in innovation, accelerate iteration and upgrade of new technologies and products such as robots and drones through expanded application.
Maduro appeared in US court for the first time, pleaded "not guilty" to drug trafficking charges. Trump warned Venezuela’s "interim president": she must listen to the US, "if she doesn’t do the right thing, she could be worse off than Maduro"! Will the US take action in Colombia? Trump: That sounds pretty good. Venezuela’s interim president invited the US to participate in setting a cooperation agenda.
US December ISM Manufacturing PMI unexpectedly posted the biggest contraction since 2024, dragged by inventories.
Nvidia announced new Rubin platform, inference cost 10x lower than Blackwell, expected to ship in H2. Nvidia’s “native” self-driving car is coming, released the first chain-of-thought inference VLA model.
OpenAI-backed robotics startup 1X showcased housekeeping robot at CES, price $20,000.
Qualcomm launched a full set of robot technology solutions, empowering embedded intelligence from home robots to full-size humanoids. Released a cheaper X2 laptop processor to accelerate AI software performance.
AI demand is booming, Samsung and SK Hynix plan to raise DRAM prices by 60%-70%. AI server demand is strong, Foxconn Q4 sales up 22% YoY, December up 31.8% MoM. TSMC US shares up nearly 3% pre-market after Goldman dramatically raised target price.
Musk released a "mass production timetable", brain-computer interface stocks hit limit-ups.
Zhiyuan Robotics shipped over 5,100 units in 2025, projected output “could reach tens of thousands” in 2026.
Market Close
US and European stock markets: S&P 500 up 0.64% to 6902.05 points; Dow up 1.23% to 48977.18 points; Nasdaq up 0.69% to 23395.822 points. Europe’s STOXX 600 closed up 0.94% at 601.76 points.
A-shares: Shanghai Composite closed at 4023.42, up 1.38%. Shenzhen Component at 13828.63, up 2.24%. ChiNext at 3294.55, up 2.85%.
Bonds: US 10-year Treasury yield down 3.34bps to 4.1573%. 2-year Treasury yield down 2.05bps to 3.4528%.
Commodities: COMEX gold futures up 2.96% to $4457.60/oz. COMEX silver futures up 7.63% to $76.430/oz. WTI Feb crude futures up 1.74% to $58.32/barrel. Brent Mar crude futures up 1.66% to $61.76/barrel.
Details of Top News
Worldwide Highlights
China’s December RatingDog Services PMI at 52 Maintains Expansion, but new export orders fell back into contraction. In December 2025, China’s service sector activity continued expanding, marking a three-year expansion streak. However, due to a decrease in new export business, new export orders returned to contraction after a brief rebound in November. For the year ahead, business optimism improved to a nine-month high.
Li Qiang: Strengthen the main role of enterprises in innovation, speed up upgrades of new technologies/products like robots and drones. Xinhua reports that he emphasized 2024 is the beginning of the 15th Five-Year Plan, and hopes businesses will seize opportunities, innovate boldly, and drive bigger growth to inject momentum into economic improvement. Government agencies are to coordinate efforts and accelerate key work. Deeper reforms, improved service efficiency, and a better business environment are to continually unlock endogenous economic growth drivers.
Maduro appeared in US court for the first time, pleaded “not guilty” to drug trafficking charges. Facing four U.S. Department of Justice charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy, Maduro called himself innocent and a righteous person, insisted he is still Venezuela’s president, and rejected all US accusations. The judge ordered Maduro to appear again on March 17. Maduro’s son, also listed as a co-conspirator by the U.S., warned that the case set a dangerous precedent and said that if kidnapping a country’s leader becomes normalized, no nation is safe.
Trump warns Venezuela’s “interim president”: Must cooperate with the US, or face “worse outcome than Maduro”! After a US raid in Caracas controlled Maduro, Trump warned acting president Rodriguez must cooperate or face even greater consequences. Rodriguez previously stated Maduro is the only president and refused to recognize the US action. Trump added Venezuela may not be the last country for US intervention and again maintained, “We absolutely need Greenland.”
Will the US take action in Colombia? Trump: Sounds pretty good. After the Venezuela raid, Trump made further threats, saying “Colombia action sounds pretty good.” Colombia urgently deployed 30,000 troops to the border to the highest alert; Latin America is suddenly tense.
Venezuela’s interim president invites the US to set a cooperation agenda. CCTV reports Rodríguez sent a letter to the US on Jan 4 reiterating a pursuit of peaceful coexistence and equal sovereignty, inviting the US to set a cooperation agenda and calling for peace and dialogue, not war. The US launched a military raid against Venezuela on Jan 3, seizing the presidential couple and deporting them, sparking widespread condemnation.
Venezuela nationwide hunt for US raid supporters, UN official calls US attack illegal. UN Deputy Secretary DiCarlo told a UNSC emergency meeting the Venezuelan gov. classified US actions as aggression, violating UN Charter, threatening peace and security. UN Secretary Guterres said instability in Venezuela may worsen and set a precedent in international relations. US rep argued Trump didn’t intend to occupy Venezuela and gave Maduro a diplomatic chance.
US December ISM Manufacturing PMI posts biggest contraction since 2024, dragged by inventories. The index slipped from 48.2 to 47.9, below 50 for 10 straight months. New orders shrank for fourth month, export orders still weak, jobs fell for 11th straight month though at a slower pace; prices paid at 58.5, up 6 points from end-2024. The index is mainly weighed down by faster inventory drawdowns. Analysts expect factory demand may pick up in coming months as customers’ inventories are also low.
Nvidia releases new Rubin platform, 10x lower inference cost than Blackwell, to ship later this year. Rubin train speed is 3.5x Blackwell, AI software speed 5x, GPU count for mixture-of-experts models reduced 4x. All six Rubin chips passed key tests, Huang said, “can deploy on schedule.” Rubin is in full production; cloud providers AWS, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle will deploy first.
Physical AI’s ChatGPT moment! Nvidia’s “native” self-driving car is coming, released first chain-of-thought VLA model. Nvidia open-sourced its first VLA (Visual-Language-Action) model Alpamayo 1. It’s designed to let vehicles “think” of solutions in emergencies, with 10 billion parameters for using video input to generate trajectories and reasoning. Huang said the first Nvidia-powered cars hit US roads in Q1. Nvidia also released open-source models/data/tools including Nemotron (agent AI), Cosmos (physical AI), Isaac GR00T (robotics), and Clara (biomed).
OpenAI-backed robotics startup 1X debuts $20,000 home robot at CES. The robot NEO is 1.68m tall, weighs ~30kg, can fold clothes, vacuum, water plants, and lift 70kg, runs 4 hours per charge, planned for US delivery in 2026 and beyond in 2027. 1X has raised $130M+, with OpenAI leading a $23.5M round in 2023.
Qualcomm launches full-stack robotics offering, enabling embedded intelligence from home robots to full-size humanoids. Powered by high-performance safety-grade SoCs, the universal robot stack integrates hardware/software/AI. Industry-leading on efficiency and scalability, supports everything from personal robots to next-gen industrial AMRs and decision-making humanoids. Qualcomm’s flagship Dragonwing™ IQ10 series targets humanoids and advanced mobile robots.
Qualcomm releases cheaper X2 laptop chip, designed to accelerate AI software. X2 Plus comes in 10-core and 6-core versions, featuring powerful neural-network units to speed up AI software. Targeting core PC processor market, designed to improve rapid response and battery life for laptop users.
AI demand is booming, Samsung and SK Hynix plan to raise DRAM prices by 60%-70%.
AI server demand strong, Foxconn Q4 sales up 22% YOY, December up 31.8%. Foxconn December sales at NT$862.86 billion, up 31.8% YOY; Q4 revenue rose 22.07% YOY to NT$2.6 trillion, beating estimates. Growth mainly in “components and others” and “cloud network.”
TSMC US shares up near 3% pre-market after Goldman raised target, Taiwan shares hit biggest gain in 8 months. TSMC Taiwan shares surged 6.9% at one point, new high, pushing Taiwan index past 30,000. US pre-market TSMC shares up nearly 3%, eventual close up less than 1%. Goldman hiked TSMC target price 35% to NT$2,330, said AI is key to TSMC’s future growth, expects $150B in capex over 3 years, margins rising.
Musk gave a “mass production timetable”, brain-computer interface stocks surging, a turning point for commercialization? With Musk setting Neuralink device mass production for 2026, the brain-computer interface industry might cross from “medical trial” to “mass consumer” product. Market revalues prospects in medical rehab, AI connectivity, robot collaboration. Morgan Stanley projects total market to jump to $320B by 2045.
Zhiyuan Robotics to ship over 5,100 units in 2025, 2026 volume may reach tens of thousands. Founder/Chairman/CEO Deng Taihua said 2024 sales were tens of millions RMB, 2025 could top 1 billion RMB. He predicts 2026 will see further exponential growth into full-scale commercialization.
Selected Analyst Reports
Goldman’s Top 10 Tech Trends for 2026: Apple’s "foldable" rescue, ASIC rise, trillion-dollar optical communication boom. Goldman expects AI server shipments to surge in 2026, ASIC penetration to hit 40%, 800G/1.6T optical module shipment to triple. Apple’s foldable iPhone could catalyze smart phone market. AI-driven hardware upgrades, smart driving, satellite communications seen as structural growth areas.
Dalio: AI hype in early bubble stage, Fed may fuel bigger bubble. Dalio says AI hype is a nascent bubble, and US stocks lag non-US stocks and gold in 2025. Investors prefer non-US stocks/bonds. Likely new Fed chair will push nominal/real rates lower, which props up prices but expands bubble.
Domestic Macro
Xi Jinping meets South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. Xinhua reports China places Korea relations as a priority for its neighborhood diplomacy, maintains continuity and stability in Korea policy, hopes to work with Korea for win-win cooperation, push strategic partnership forward, promote peace and development.
He Lifeng at China-Korea Biz Forum: Stronger China-Korea economic ties, new win-win. Xinhua says He Lifeng called for strategic guidance to upgrade bilateral economic ties, keep opening up, and welcome investment, including from Korea. Korea’s Lee Jae-myung wants more China cooperation for greater welfare.
Up 15%-20% annually in next two years! Goldman shouts: Overweight China stocks! Goldman sees China’s upside mainly from (1) profit rebound by AI expansion and “anti-involution,” ((2) valuation re-rating with 10% upside; China equity remains undervalued.
Domestic Corporates
MiniMax may price Hong Kong IPO at high end and close subscription early. Reports say China AI firm MiniMax plans to price its HK IPO at high end (165 HKD/share), seeking over 4.2B HKD. Strong subscription drew sovereign funds. Its overseas revenue is over 70%, aiming to strengthen position in global AI race.
Rare scene at Moutai: "sold out in seconds" and "below guide price" coexist. Feitian Moutai at 1499 yuan sold out for 4 straight days on iMoutai app, yet bulk price slipped below guide to 1490 yuan. Analysts say it’s due to Moutai’s shift to volume direct sales, squeezing channel profit, making it a "high-frequency daily" consumer good rather than "luxury-investment".
Kuaishou surges 12%, Koling goes viral overseas, Motion Control gameplay goes mainstream. Kuaishou’s AI commercialization accelerates, stock surges. Guangda Securities says its video model "Koling" exploded overseas with "audio-video sync" function, daily revenue up 2.5x, 2025 revenue to exceed $140M. Combined with AI-powered ads, company’s valuation logic is being reshaped.
Overseas Macro
US media: Oil is a reason for US military action in Venezuela, VP Vance admits. Global Times reports US VP Vance said, “About 20 years ago, Venezuela expropriated US oil assets, and until recently still profited from these stolen assets for ‘narco-terrorism’.” This refers to former president Chavez nationalizing oil, excluding foreigners, using profit for social programs.
Trump’s plan to revive Venezuela oil—a $100 billion gamble. The Trump admin plans to revive Venezuela’s oil sector but rebuilding would require $10B/year for a decade, totaling $100B. Given poor infrastructure, low global oil prices and instability, oil majors will wait for legal and favorable terms before committing.
Goldman on Venezuela shift: Unclear short-term, could pressure long-term oil prices. Trump said the US will be "deeply involved" in Venezuela oil, use US finance and tech to restore output. Goldman says any output recovery will be gradual. If Venezuela’s output rises long-term, together with US/Russian output growth, could add to oil price downside risks post-2027.
Why Venezuela oil output won’t recover quickly even after Trump’s intervention. HSBC/Goldman say it’ll take a marathon effort, at least 10 years, $100B, and economic prospects uncertain. Even with "largest reserves," much is not commercially viable. Market is numb to short-term interruptions as 2M bpd global surplus absorbs shocks; long-term higher output is a bearish factor.
Political turmoil in Venezuela, why oil market shrugs it off, global financial markets unmoved. Venezuela only produces 1% of global oil, and oversupply means little price impact. Investors focus more on AI fundamentals and rates, not geopolitics except gold/safe havens. Only if supply chains are disrupted will markets react.
Venezuela defaulted bonds surge, hedge funds win big, Wall St: More upside possible. On Monday morning, Venezuela/PDVSA defaulted bonds jumped, 2027 sovereign bonds up 7 cents at $0.40, biggest single-day gain since 2023. Price is double that of six months ago, but still below debt restructuring potential recovery value.
Venezuela sets off next "gold rush"? Tribeca hedge fund: Biggest money-making opportunity ever. Political change triggers hedge fund rush; Tribeca, which doubled returns last year, plans to put 10% of capital into Venezuela after site visits. Despite high legal/security risks, risk-seeking investors hope to get in before big institutions, calling it the biggest opportunity ever.
Fed’s Kashkari: Labor market cooling, rates close to neutral. He also said inflation main risk lies in its persistence—tariff effects on prices may take years to pass; labor market easing risks are also significant.
Former Treasury Secretary and Fed Chair Yellen: "Fiscal dominance" threatens US economy. Yellen said burgeoning debt brings risk of fiscal dominance, especially as Trump pushes Fed to cut rates. Former Fed officials echoed her warning, saying gov’t may underestimate the risk. CBO projects US deficit at $1.9T this year, debt/GDP ratio to rise above 100% and keep climbing.
AI drives storage price up! Korea/Japan stocks at record highs, Samsung up nearly 5%, SK Hynix up nearly 3%. The surge in AI computing demand and memory price rebound propelled Samsung and SK Hynix stocks up, lifting Korean/Japan indexes to records. High-end HBM market sees fierce competition; Samsung’s HBM4 breakthrough means its HBM face-off with SK Hynix enters high gear. Global tech giants send procurement teams to Korea to secure fixed HBM supply.
Fiscal/inflation fears persist, Japan 10-year bond yield hits highest since 1999. Benchmark yield hit 2.12%, highest since 1999. Defense budget record, clear “reflation” policy, weak yen causes delayed central bank response. Persistent selling pressure and cautious sentiment.
Vietnam Q4 GDP up 8.46% YOY, manufacturing growth strong. Despite US tariff pressure, Vietnam’s Q4 GDP beat expectations. Growth driven mainly by manufacturing (over 10% quarterly) and export surge, confirming its key spot in global supply chain shifts. But rapid credit expansion (up 17.9% YOY) raises liquidity risks for future.
Overseas Corporates
Aggressive AI bet, Samsung to double Gemini-equipped mobile devices to 800M, taking aim at Apple. Samsung plans to raise Gemini AI-enabled devices from 400M to 800M by 2026, joining Google to challenge Apple. With HBM4 memory breakthrough, Samsung may return to Nvidia’s supplier chain, stock soared 7% in one day.
Industries/Concepts
1. Google Ecosystem | According to Sina Finance, Samsung Electronics is expanding Gemini AI coverage. Samsung’s co-CEO and Mobile chief Lu Taiwen said the company aims to double devices with Google Gemini AI features this year to gain an edge in the AI race. Currently, Gemini AI is on about 400M devices; the goal is 800M by 2026.
Comment: Gemini 3 released in Nov 2024 leads rivals on AI benchmarks. In 2025, Google rebuilt Android 16 around Gemini, supporting large-scale AI deployment for OEMs, especially Samsung. Samsung’s integration enables broad multi-modal/edge AI capability; rapid adoption can popularize AI assistants and experiences among “hundreds of millions” of users.
2. Solid-State Battery | First Electric reports Finland’s Donut Lab launched the world’s first commercially mass-producible all-solid-state battery, debuting at CES on Jan 6, 2026. Its advantage is “full-dimension breakthrough”—energy density, charging speed, cycle life, adaptability—breaking lithium limits. Usable from cars and buses to motorcycles, trucks, and machinery, could revolutionize EV industry.
Comment: Solid-state batteries are crossing from laboratory to engineering validation, with “semi-solid first, all-solid breakthrough, multi-field progress.” The market is now dominated by semi-solid (95%+) in high-end EVs and grid storage; all-solid is still in pilot stage, mass deployment expected ~2030. CMB Securities forecasts all-solid equipment market to hit RMB 59.2B by 2030, CAGR 103% (2024-30).
3. Mini-Programs | CNR reports WeChat Mini Programs launched the “AI Application and Online Tools Mini Program Growth Plan,” offering cloud resources, AI compute, analytics, monetization, and traffic incentives throughout 2026 (Jan–Dec), helping developers turn ideas rapidly into profitable AI mini-program products.
Comment: Compared to lengthy App development, mini-programs deploy rapidly; their social sharing boosts organic growth. Conversion is higher within WeChat ecosystem. With better infrastructure and upgraded model, WeChat lowers development barriers and provides a complete path from idea to commercialization, setting up for an AI mini-program boom in 2026.
4. Vanadium Redox Battery | Jiemian News reports China’s largest all-vanadium flow battery energy storage station in Xinjiang has entered full-scale operation. Rated at 200MW/1GWh, the project will improve solar utilization by 10%+, and generate over 230M kWh clean electricity annually.
Comment: Vanadium redox batteries, with safety, long life, and flexible power/capacity decoupling, have entered scaling and are key to next-gen grid construction. Global installed capacity will exceed 16GWh by 2025, with a trillion-yuan market by 2030.
5. Environmental Protection | The State Council issued the “Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Action Plan” requiring reduction, recycling, and harmless treatment, strict closed-loop management at source, process, and end disposal, with focused action for waste related to safety and daily life. The plan aims for strong governance by 2030, cutting illegal dumping, raising major resource recycling to 510M tons per year.
Comment: By 2030, targeted special governance for solid waste will show marked results, stored waste under control, illegal disposal curbed, annual comprehensive use of major waste at 4.5B tons, and upgraded capacity.
6. Brain-Computer Interface | The Paper reports Fudan Huashan Hospital achieved technical breakthrough with China’s first, world’s second brain-computer interface with built-in battery (all-implant, all-wireless, full-feature), completing first clinical trial. A 28-year-old paraplegic controlled a wheelchair and browsed the web by thought. The breakthrough elevates China to world-leading status.
Comment: Kaiyuan Securities says brain-computer interface is in a phase of technological breakthroughs, policy support, and ecosystem synergy. According to Precedence Research, global market to reach $12.4B by 2034, CAGR 17% (2025-34). Neuralink mass production and new breakthroughs have boosted attention on the sector.
7. Commercial Space | National Enterprise Credit Info reports China Aerospace Science and Technology Group’s Commercial Rocket Co increased registered capital from 1B to 1.396B yuan, group’s contribution up 77.6%. The company, founded in 2024, is based in Shanghai, aiming to build world-class reliable, high-performance, efficient, low-cost commercial rockets and provide “one-stop” launch solutions including procurement, planning, licensing, insurance, and site services. China’s major space sector launched commercial rocket and satellite firms as the industry booms globally.
Today's News Preview
US, Eurozone, UK December services and composite PMI.
Germany December CPI.
Lenovo and Nvidia to jointly release enterprise AI product.
CES media day, AMD’s Lisa Su to speak.
Richmond Fed President Barkin speaks.
Ukraine and US hold new round of talks.
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Risk DisclaimerMarkets are risky, invest cautiously. This article is not personal investment advice and does not account for individual circumstances, financial status, or needs. Users should decide if any opinions, views, or conclusions fit their situation. Investing based on this is at your own risk. ```