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Trump reverses course after Davos talks, sending stocks sharply higher. (0:14) Sandisk now up 1,000% over six months. (3:02) Natural gas rockets on deep freeze as global energy prices jump. (3:13)
This is an abridged transcript of the podcast:
President Donald Trump has backed off his threat to impose new tariffs in February, after negotiations in Davos over Greenland.
And whether you call it another TACO — Trump Always Chickens Out — or another example of the Art of the Deal, the markets are happy.Stocks (SPY) are surging, Treasury yields (US10Y) are falling, and the greenback (DXY) is firming.
Trump posted that after a “very productive meeting” with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, they had “formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region.”
“Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st,” he added, noting that additional talks are being held concerning the Golden Dome missile-defense concept as it relates to Greenland.
Earlier in his keynote, Trump said he didn’t want to use force, adding:“All I’m asking for is a piece of ice that can play a role in world protection.”
Also heard in Davos, Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang said AI has kicked off the largest infrastructure buildout in human history, and warned that the world will need more energy, land, and skilled workers to keep up.
He also praised Anthropic’s (ANTHRO) Claude as a coding tool, saying anyone who runs a software company should use it, and highlighted OpenAI’s (OPENAI) ChatGPT for its success in the consumer space, calling it easy to use and approachable.
Also on the AI front, Meta (META) CTO Andrew Bosworth said the first high-profile AI models built by its Superintelligence Labs team were delivered this month and are already showing “a lot of promise.”
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon warned that a proposed Trump plan to cap credit-card interest rates at 10% “would remove credit from 80% of Americans,” adding that the people “crying the most will not be the credit card companies; it will be the restaurants, retailers, travel companies, the schools, the municipalities.”
And Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Deutsche Bank’s CEO personally called to distance the lender from a controversial note suggesting Europeans might sell U.S. assets, saying the bank doesn’t stand by it. That’s not something you see often.
Deutsche Bank said analyst reports don’t necessarily represent the views of senior management, but did not confirm the disavowal.
Among active stocks, Netflix (NFLX) is down after in-line guidance that failed to impress, though analysts are defending the stock.
Wedbush blamed the “underwhelming” report for the weakness, saying investors have grown used to phenomenal results.
Jefferies echoed the bullish stance, expecting Netflix to remain the dominant streaming player and to grow free cash flow at about 15% a year over the next five years.
And Morgan Stanley noted Netflix surpassed 325M members in 2025, adding more than 25M net new subscribers—more than any other major streaming service, despite already having the largest base.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) reported better-than-expected Q4 revenue, driven by its Pharma and MedTech divisions, but adjusted earnings for the quarter missed expectations.
J&J also rolled out its 2026 outlook, guiding to EPS of $11.53 on $100.5B in reported sales—both above forecasts.
And Sandisk (SNDK) is up again, extending a ridiculous six-month rally that has seen shares climb more than 1,000% as it pivots from general storage to a high-performance, AI-focused brand.
In today’s trading, U.S. natural gas futures continue their massive gains, now up more than 50% in two days as freezing temperatures across much of the country drive heating demand.
Front-month Nymex natural gas (NG1:COM) for February delivery is up about 20%, hitting a fresh YTD high above $4.65/MMBtu, and contracts are on track for their biggest weekly gain in more than 35 years.
Cold weather has sent energy prices sharply higher worldwide. Japan’s power prices have hit a three-month high, and European gas futures are up nearly 30% so far this month. Snow is also forecast this weekend in Texas, home to key gas production sites—raising the risk of temporary outages and lower exports.
