Mid-Week Wrap-Up - January 8th, 2025

Market takes a turn after strong start to the week

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CMG Venture & Mark Roussin
January 08, 2025

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Good morning investors!

If this is your first time reading, welcome to The Investor’s Edge — a thriving community of over 21,000 subscribers striving to be better investors with an edge in the market.

Every Wednesday we publish “The Mid-Week Wrap-Up” — your ticket to being well informed and staying ahead in the investment game!

This report is designed to help investors of all skill levels break down important stories/topics within the stock market. And best of all, we cut through all of the BS and give you exactly what you need to know in easy to digest, bite sized pieces of content.

This article is designed to truly give you that EDGE in the day ahead!

Grab your afternoon pick me up and let’s dive in.

👉 REMINDER: The stock market will be closed tomorrow, January 9th, in honor of former President Jimmy Carter.

Market Talk

Markets started the week strong but a turnaround on Tuesday now has all three major indexes lower on the week.

3 Stories Moving the Market

These are some of the biggest stories so far this week that are having an influence on market action.

Nvidia kicks off CES 2025 with major announcements

Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang unveiled ambitious AI and gaming innovations at CES 2025.

Key highlights included the GB10 superchip, a smaller version of the GB200, powering the Project DIGITS AI desktop launching in May 2025. Nvidia also introduced the Cosmos platform for training robots and autonomous vehicles through virtual simulations, alongside its Isaac GROOT Blueprint software for humanoid robot development.

On the gaming front, the GeForce RTX 50 series debuted, with the RTX 5090 doubling the performance of its predecessor and the RTX 5070 matching last generation’s top-tier capabilities using AI-driven DLSS technology.

Huang predicted a multi-trillion-dollar robotics industry, emphasizing Nvidia’s leadership in AI, gaming, and autonomous systems.

👉 EDGE ALERT: Nvidia’s CES 2025 announcements cement its leadership in AI and semiconductors, though…upgrade to Edge+ to read the full Edge Alert.

Getty Images, Shutterstock gear up for AI challenge with $3.7 billion merger

Getty Images and Shutterstock announced plans to merge, creating a $3.7 billion stock image giant designed to adapt to the rise of generative AI tools like Midjourney and OpenAI’s DALL-E.

The deal allows Shutterstock shareholders to choose between cash, shares of Getty, or a combination of both, valuing Shutterstock at $28.80 per share. The merger is expected to generate $150-$200 million in annual cost savings within three years.

Craig Peters, CEO of Getty Images, will lead the combined company, which will be named Getty Images Holdings and trade under the ticker symbol "GETY" on the NYSE. Getty shareholders will own 54.7% of the new entity, with Shutterstock stockholders owning the rest.

While both companies have faced declining demand for stock photography in recent years, the merger aims to enhance content offerings, expand event coverage, and develop new technologies.

📚 EDGE-UCATION: What is generative AI?

Generative AI refers to a type of artificial intelligence that is capable of creating new content—such as images, text, music, video, or code—based on the patterns and data it has been trained on. Unlike traditional AI, which primarily analyzes or classifies data, generative AI focuses on producing original outputs that mimic human creativity.

Key Features of Generative AI:

  1. Learning from Data: It uses deep learning models like neural networks to learn from vast datasets, enabling it to generate realistic and coherent outputs.

  2. Applications:

    • Images: Tools like OpenAI’s DALL-E and Midjourney can create artwork or images from text prompts.

    • Text: Models like ChatGPT generate human-like text for conversations, writing, or code.

    • Music/Video: AI systems like AIVA can compose music, while others generate video clips.

  3. Human-Like Creativity: Generative AI doesn't simply retrieve stored information—it creates novel content based on the principles it has learned, blending realism with originality.

Popular Generative AI Models:

  • Text-based: GPT-4 (used here), which excels at generating human-like written content.

  • Image-based: DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion, which create images based on user input.

  • Audio/Video: Descript and Synthesia, which generate or manipulate audio and video.

Generative AI is transforming industries like entertainment, marketing, and design by reducing production time and costs, while enabling hyper-personalized content creation. However, its rise also raises ethical concerns, such as misuse, copyright issues, and the need for transparency in AI-generated content.

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Meta scraps fact-checking, brings back political content in latest Trump-friendly move

Meta announced it will end its third-party fact-checking program and transition to a user-driven “Community Notes” model, similar to Elon Musk's platform X, in an effort to restore free expression and reduce perceived political bias.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg cited errors, censorship concerns, and declining trust as reasons for the shift, emphasizing a return to simpler policies and prioritizing free speech. The new system, rolling out in the U.S. in the coming months, will focus on providing user-generated context to posts.

The move comes as Meta seeks to improve relations with President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican Party, addressing longstanding allegations of conservative censorship. Meta has also pledged to simplify its content policies, focusing on severe violations, and is relocating its trust and safety teams from California to Texas.

The announcement follows Trump’s reinstatement on Facebook and Instagram, and Meta’s ongoing efforts to align with the new administration, including appointing Republican-aligned Joel Kaplan as its top policy officer, adding UFC CEO Dana White, a Trump ally, to its board and donating to Trump’s inaugural fund.

The changes have drawn praise from Meta’s Oversight Board and criticism from regulators concerned about concentrated power over online speech.

📊 EDGE SCORE: Here’s a look at Meta’s Edge Score - the stock is pretty well priced right here:

Want access to your own Edge Scores? Upgrade to Edge+ today and be one of the first to use the dashboard:

In Other News

In this section we'll be curating a selection of news headlines we think you'll find interesting. If a topic catches your eye, click the provided links to read more about it.

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The Second Half

With the market being closed, Friday will be a big day for markets as investors look to the nonfarm payrolls report for insights into the labor market.

Earnings Reports

We will be watching earnings reports from Delta on Friday.

Here is the calendar of earnings releases scheduled for the rest of the week:

Source: Earnings Whisper

Economic Reports

All eyes will be on Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report as a strong labor market is not what the Fed and markets want to see as inflation remains a concern. We will also get an update on the unemployment rate, labor force participation, and consumer sentiment.

Here is the full calendar of events scheduled for the remainder of the week:

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Thank you for reading this edition of the Mid-Week Wrap-Up.

Until next time investors!

Mark & Chris

The Investor’s Edge

Disclosure

This is not investing advice. It is very important that you do your own research and make investments based on your own personal circumstances, preferences, goals and risk tolerance.

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