AJB Capital

10 Things Investors Need to Know Today

Monday, February 2, 2026

1. US Futures Red, Tech Leading Losses NQ futures down 0.8% with ES -0.6% and RTY -0.9% as the week begins on a defensive note. NVIDIA (-1.6%) and Oracle (-3.5%) are dragging tech lower on company-specific news.

2. NVIDIA's OpenAI Deal in Question WSJ reports NVIDIA's $100bln OpenAI investment has stalled amid internal concerns. CEO Huang's attempted clarification ("no, no, nothing like that" when asked about $100bln+) may have inadvertently confirmed the doubts.

3. Historic Precious Metals Crash Continues Gold crashed as much as 10% and silver 16% — gold's biggest intraday drop in four decades. The selloff was triggered by Kevin Warsh's nomination as Fed Chair, with Chinese investors locking in profits overnight.

4. Oil Slides on US-Iran Talks WTI broke below $62/bbl as geopolitical risk premium evaporates on reports of potential US-Iran meeting in Turkey this week. Trump confirmed Iran is "seriously talking" with Washington.

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Momentum is red across all three major indices. This is a day for building cash, making watchlists, and waiting for the panic to create buying opportunities. SPY 692.50 is your line in the sand.

1. Trump to Announce Kevin Warsh as Fed Chair Pick The biggest story moving markets. Warsh is viewed as more hawkish than alternatives, having broken with Bernanke over QE and long criticized balance sheet expansion. His odds jumped to 94% from 34% pre-report. The tension between his hawkish reputation and Trump's desire for lower rates will be worth watching.

2. Risk-Off Across Asset Classes Everything is selling. ES futures down 0.8%, NQ down 0.9%, RTY down 1.2%. Bitcoin crashed to $81,200. Gold lost the $5,000 handle briefly. This synchronized selling suggests liquidity stress rather than sentiment-driven moves.

3. Dollar Strength Pressuring Commodities DXY bid on Warsh speculation, creating a wrecking ball effect across metals. Gold dropped from its ATH down to $4,941 before bouncing. Silver w

Gold approaching $5,600/oz - Spot gold nearly hit $5,600, with silver also posting a new all-time high at $120.43/oz. The move came post-FOMC on dollar weakness.

Copper breaks out to $14,120/t - 3M LME copper smashed through its prior ATH on AI infrastructure demand and pre-Lunar New Year positioning.

Trump considering Iran strike - CNN sources say Trump is weighing a large-scale military strike on Iran over stalled nuclear talks. Brent crude hit four-month highs above $69/bbl on the news.

Meta posts record sales, guides higher - Q4 EPS $8.88 vs $8.19 expected. Q1 revenue guide of $53.5-56.5B crushed the $51.3B estimate. Stock up 7.5% pre-market

Microsoft drops on cloud concerns - Despite beating on EPS ($5.16 vs $3.92), Azure growth disappointed and AI spending spooked investors. Down 6.4% pre-market.

SAP drags European tech - Cloud backlog metrics disappointed badly. Stock down 14%, pulling the DAX down 1.2%.

Fed holds, removes employment risk language - Rates unchanged at 3.50-3.75%. Mira