Business and Finance News - 1.9.25

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Anthropic is in talks to raise $2 billion at a $60 billion valuation, potentially making it the seventh most valuable startup globally. Despite generating under $1 billion in revenue, this positions Anthropic near DataBricks and OpenAI in market value, reflecting strong investor confidence in AI growth. (Axios)

Key Insight → Anthropic’s potential $60 billion valuation highlights the immense investor confidence in AI, signaling that the market values future growth and technological advancement over immediate profitability. This reinforces the trend of aggressive capital allocation towards AI companies, reflecting expectations that AI will drive significant economic and industrial transformation. For the broader market, it suggests continued competition for resources like talent and compute power, accelerating innovation but also increasing barriers for smaller players.

AT&T will offer automatic bill credits for outages lasting 20 to 60 minutes or more, as part of a new initiative to improve customer trust and retention. This follows major service disruptions in 2024 and reflects AT&T’s effort to enhance reliability and accountability in the competitive telecom market. (Reuters)

Key Insight → AT&T’s move to offer bill credits for network outages aims to rebuild customer trust and improve retention following major service disruptions. This reflects growing pressure on telecom companies to ensure reliable communication services and highlights increased competition in the industry. For the market, it signals a shift towards greater accountability and customer-centric policies to maintain loyalty.

President-elect Donald Trump announced a $20 billion investment by Emirati billionaire Hussain Sajwani to build data centers across several U.S. states. This follows similar commitments, such as Softbank’s $100 billion pledge, as Trump encourages foreign investment with incentives for large-scale projects. (CNBC)

Key Insight → This $20 billion investment in U.S. data centers highlights growing foreign confidence in the American market, driven by expectations of favorable business policies under President-elect Trump. It signals potential job creation and economic growth across multiple states, reinforcing the U.S. as a key destination for global tech infrastructure. For the broader market, it reflects increasing competition among nations to attract foreign capital through incentives and policy shifts.

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Here’s how the major indexes did yesterday:

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 42,635.20 +106.84 (+0.25%)

• S&P 500: 5,918.25 +9.22 (+0.16%)

• Nasdaq Composite: 19,478.88 -10.80 (-0.06%)

• Russell 2000: 2,238.96 -10.84 (-0.48%)

Here’s how The Magnificent Seven did yesterday:

• Apple (AAPL) [3.669T]: 242.70 +0.49 (+0.20%)

• Nvidia (NVDA) [3.431T]: 140.11 -0.03 (-0.02%)

• Microsoft (MSFT) [3.157T]: 424.56 +2.19 (+0.52%)

• Alphabet (GOOGL) [2.374T]: 193.95 -1.54 (-0.79%)

• Amazon (AMZN) [2.336T]: 222.13 +0.02 (+0.01%)

• Meta Platforms (META) [1.542T]: 610.72 -7.17 (-1.16%)

• Tesla (TSLA) [1.268T]: 394.94 +0.58 (+0.15%)

Here’s how Bitcoin and Ethereum did yesterday:

• Bitcoin (BTC): $94,479.69 (1:45PM PST on 1/8/25)

• Ethereum (ETH): $3,299.22 (1:45PM PST on 1/8/25)