🚨 The Fed nomination that broke gold's back

😎 Market Vibes

🚨 Trump Names Warsh as Fed Chair While Markets Stumble Into Friday

Markets opened Friday morning with that familiar feeling - like you're watching your least favorite rerun while someone keeps changing the channel. Stock futures were down around half a percent across major indices as traders digested President Trump's morning announcement that former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh will be his pick to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chair.

The Warsh nomination shouldn't shock anyone who's been paying attention. The 55-year-old served as a Fed Governor from 2006 to 2011 and famously survived the 2008 financial crisis as the central bank's liaison to Wall Street. But here's the twist - while Warsh spent years as a monetary hawk who preferred higher rates to fight inflation, he's recently changed his tune, criticizing the Fed's hesitancy to cut rates. Convenient timing for a guy hoping to get Trump's approval, no?

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💥 Tech Wreckage Continues: Microsoft's Hangover Lingers

Yesterday's Microsoft massacre is still sending shockwaves through tech land. The software giant shed over 10% on Thursday after reporting slowing cloud growth - its worst single-day drop since March 2020. That put pressure on the entire Nasdaq, which tumbled 1.6% on Thursday and opened Friday looking about as enthusiastic as someone facing a 6 AM flight after three hours of sleep.

Meta Platforms surged nearly 9% after beating sales expectations, and Tesla managed modest gains despite reporting its first annual revenue decline in company history. But Microsoft's stumble reminded everyone that even the mighty can fall hard when cloud revenue growth decelerates from stupid-high to merely respectable.

Apple reported after the bell Thursday, and the Street seemed cautiously optimistic about results that included a surge in China sales. But with Microsoft's shadow still looming, tech stocks overall opened Friday in the red. The Nasdaq Composite closed Thursday down after being down more than 2% at its worst levels.

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🛑 Gold's Epic Rally Hits The Brakes

Remember when gold was flirting with $5,600 per ounce? Yeah, about that. The yellow metal crashed back to reality Friday morning, plunging more than 5% to around $5,100 per ounce as profit-taking kicked in hard. Silver followed suit, dropping from its stratospheric heights above $120 to around $108.

Here's what happened: Gold had been on an absolutely absurd run, posting its best monthly gain since the 1980s - up over 15% in January alone. That rally was fueled by a toxic cocktail of geopolitical uncertainty (Iran tensions, trade war threats), a weakening dollar hitting four-year lows, and sustained safe-haven demand. But when Warsh's Fed nomination became clear Thursday night, markets started repositioning. Market observers note that a Warsh-led Fed might be slightly more hawkish than feared, which strengthened the dollar and took some steam out of precious metals.

Don't cry for gold bulls just yet - even after Friday's selloff, the metal is still sitting on massive year-to-date gains. The fundamentals driving the gold trade haven't disappeared. Central banks are still buying, geopolitical risks remain elevated, and the dollar's long-term weakness hasn't vanished just because markets burped on a Fed nomination.

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Our partners at StockEarnings are sharing 10 positions that stand out while market uncertainty lifts gold…

The price of gold has now surged past $5,000 per ounce for the first time ever, driven by safe-haven demand amid persistent global risk and economic uncertainty… Analysts from Deutsche Bank and others have raised their 2026 gold price targets toward $6,000 as structural demand remains strong… Silver prices are also making waves, with industrial and investment demand lifting them to record territory above $110 per ounce.

At the same time, central banks around the world are increasing gold allocations as part of diversification strategies — not just as a hedge, but as a long-term strategic reserve. All of this adds up to a once-in-a-cycle opportunity for investors willing to think beyond bullion and into the stocks and ETFs that leverage this gold rally.

That’s why we put together our brand-new:

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💔 Bitcoin Breaks Below Key Support, Analysts See More Pain Ahead

Bitcoin slipped below $83,000 Friday morning, continuing its painful January slide that's seen the world's largest cryptocurrency drop more than 33% from its October peak of $126,000. The digital asset traded around $82,700 as of Friday morning, hovering near its lowest level since mid-December after breaking through its 100-week simple moving average - a technical level that had provided support for two months straight.

Crypto analysts at 21Shares say holding above $84,000 is critical for Bitcoin. If it breaks lower, some analysts see a potential drop to $75,000 or even $70,000 - levels where buyers stepped in during last April's correction. The good news? Bitcoin's gotten punched in the mouth before and bounced back stronger. The bad news? There's not much technical support between here and those lower levels.

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🛢️ Oil Holds Gains as Middle East Tensions Simmer

WTI crude oil futures traded around $64 per barrel Friday morning, holding onto gains after Trump's escalating threats against Iran kept geopolitical risk premiums elevated. The President has deployed a massive naval force to the region and warned Tehran to agree to a nuclear deal or face military strikes. Iran, for its part, has warned of an "unprecedented response" if provoked, while conducting live-fire drills in the Strait of Hormuz - a critical chokepoint that handles about one-third of global oil shipments.

Oil prices have climbed more than 10% in January despite forecasts of oversupply throughout 2026. The rally has been driven almost entirely by geopolitical risk rather than fundamental supply-demand dynamics. A severe winter storm in the U.S. temporarily knocked out up to 2 million barrels per day of production last week, but that's expected to be short-lived as infrastructure comes back online.

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👀 Earnings Watch: Big Oil and Telecom Report Friday

Friday's earnings calendar brings heavyweight reports from Exxon Mobil, Chevron, American Express, and Verizon. Oil majors reporting in this environment should be interesting - they're benefiting from elevated oil prices driven by Middle East tensions, but they're also facing concerns about oversupply and weakening demand forecasts for 2026.

American Express will give insights into consumer spending trends, which have been surprisingly resilient despite persistent inflation and higher interest rates. Verizon's numbers will shed light on the competitive telecom landscape and whether their costly 5G buildout is starting to pay dividends.

Next week gets even busier with Amazon, Alphabet, Disney, and Palantir all scheduled to report. Amazon and Alphabet's cloud businesses will be under particular scrutiny after Microsoft's stumble, and Disney will face questions about streaming subscriber growth and theme park attendance.

📌 Bottom Line

Friday feels like the market equivalent of trying to process too much information after not enough sleep. We've got a new Fed Chair nominee who may or may not get confirmed, tech stocks still nursing Thursday's bruises, gold collapsing after a historic rally, Bitcoin breaking key support levels, and oil holding gains on Middle East war drums.

🔥 What’s Heating Up This Week

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✌️ Thanks for vibing with us.

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