This week delivered a shock to commodity markets that nobody saw coming.
Gold and silver crashed. Big Tech earnings painted a mixed picture.
And geopolitical tensions between Western allies are heating up over China policy.
Here's what moved markets this week.
Trump Names Kevin Warsh as Next Fed Chair
Kevin Warsh, former governor of the US Federal Reserve (Bloomberg)
Trump officially nominated Kevin Warsh, former Fed Governor, to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chair. The announcement came this morning and markets reacted immediately.
Trump called Warsh "highly capable" and positioned the pick as bringing stability to monetary policy. But markets read something else in the nomination—less aggressive rate cuts than previously expected.
Key Points:
Warsh is more conservative than expected. He served at the Fed from 2006-2011 and earned a reputation as relatively hawkish on inflation. That's code for keeping rates higher, longer.
The dollar strengthened instantly. Treasury yields climbed as investors priced in fewer rate cuts under Warsh's potential leadership. A stronger dollar typically pressures commodities priced in USD.
This wasn't the dovish pick markets wanted. Investors had hoped for someone more aligned with aggressive rate cuts. Warsh represents institutional credibility over political pressure.
Market Impact
U.S. stock futures dropped 0.8-1.2% across major indices
Dollar Index jumped 1.1% to multi-week highs
10-year Treasury yield rose 12 basis points to 4.68%
The reaction tells you everything. Markets were positioned for easy money. Warsh signals something different.
How will Warsh's Fed leadership affect your investment strategy?
Gold & Silver Crash Hard
Precious metals got hammered. Gold tumbled more than 8% toward $4,900 per ounce on Friday, as profit-taking triggered a broader pullback across precious metals. The decline followed a sharp rally that pushed bullion to a record $5,608 on Thursday
Gold briefly fell about 9%, nearly $4,887/oz (down from record highs $5,600).
Silver dropped over 25% to $84 per ounce on Friday. The moves erased weeks of gains in a single session.
This wasn't gradual profit-taking. This was aggressive unwinding of positions built on expectations of Fed rate cuts and currency debasement.
Key Points:
Short-term profit-taking amplified the move. Gold had rallied about 23%, hitting an all-time high of $5,600/oz in January. When Warsh's nomination hit, traders rushed for exits. The result? A technical breakdown that triggered more selling.
Strong dollar dynamics hurt both metals. Rising yields make non-yielding assets like gold less attractive. When you can earn 4.7% risk-free on Treasuries, gold's opportunity cost increases.
Longer-term fundamentals haven't changed. Central banks continue buying gold. Geopolitical uncertainty remains elevated. But the short-term technical damage is real.
The parabolic rally phase is over. Gold and silver are now in a correction phase with increased volatility likely through February.
Key levels to watch:
Gold support: $4,850-4,900
Silver support: $85-90
Are you buying the dip in precious metals or waiting for more clarity?
Big Tech Earnings
Apple CEO Tim Cook holds up a new iPhone 17 Pro, California, Sept. 9, 2025 (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Big Tech's earnings season started this week. Some companies crushed estimates. Others missed badly. The common thread? Investors are demanding proof that massive AI spending delivers profits, not just promises.
Meta Platforms crushed it. Revenue and earnings both beat expectations, driven by advertising strength and disciplined AI investment. Shares jumped 8.4% after-hours.
Microsoft numbers disappointed. Cloud growth decelerated and AI infrastructure costs weighed on margins. The stock dropped 6.2% despite beating headline numbers.
Tesla just made it clear: It's no longer a car company. Now the focus for Musk are FSD and robots. Tesla reported a challenging 2025 with a 9% drop in annual vehicle deliveries, marking a consecutive year of decline and losing its top global EV maker spot to BYD. Energy storage revenue surged 42% YoY.
Apple delivered strong results. iPhone sales hit record levels with $67.8 billion in Q1 revenue, up 6% YoY. Services revenue climbed to $26.3 billion, showing the ecosystem strength beyond hardware. Gross margins held at 46.2% despite component cost pressures.
Key Points:
Profitability beats growth right now. Meta won because it showed operating leverage. Microsoft lost because margins compressed. Investors want efficiency, not just revenue growth.
Apple's ecosystem strength is underappreciated. Services revenue now represents 38% of total revenue, up from 28% three years ago. That's recurring, high-margin income that smooths hardware cycles.
AI spending creates a bifurcated market. Companies with clear monetization paths (Meta) get rewarded. Those still in heavy investment mode (Microsoft) get punished. The patience for "trust us" is gone.
Tech ETFs
Technology Select Sector SPDR $XLK faces headwinds if Microsoft weakness continues, it's the second-largest holding at 21.4%. But Communication Services Select Sector SPDR $XLC benefits from Meta's strength (23.8% weight) and Alphabet's solid positioning.
Invesco QQQ $QQQ sits in the middle with 11.7% Microsoft and 7.8% Meta exposure, making it more balanced but also more volatile to individual stock moves.
SanDisk Explodes on AI Storage Demand
SanDisk reported strong Q2 2026 earnings.
Revenue surged 61% YoY. Operating margins expanded dramatically, adding more than 20% YoY. And guidance for Q3 came in well above consensus.
$SNDK jumped more than 20% in a single day, one of the biggest moves in the entire tech sector today.
Key Points:
AI datacenter demand is creating a NAND memory shortage. Every major cloud provider and enterprise customer is building out AI infrastructure. That requires massive storage capacity. SanDisk supplies it.
Pricing power returned to memory markets. After years of oversupply and price compression, the market flipped. NAND prices increased 32% over the past six months, directly flowing to SanDisk's bottom line.
Analyst price targets are playing catch-up. Jefferies raised its target to $700 (from $480). Morgan Stanley went to $650. Bernstein raised its target to $1,000, rating Outperform. The average price target jumped 38% in a week.
Memory chips are cyclical by nature. But we're entering a multi-year upcycle driven by AI infrastructure buildout.
SanDisk sits in the sweet spot.
The risk? If the broader tech sector corrects or if AI spending slows, market will react fast. But right now, the momentum is undeniable.
SpaceX-Tesla Merger Rumors
Elon Musk, Tesla CEO (Frederic Legrand)
Reports surfaced that SpaceX is exploring closer corporate ties with Tesla and potentially xAI. Nothing concrete. Nothing official. But enough to move stocks and generate speculation.
Tesla shares moved 3-4% intraday on the rumors before settling. Options volume spiked. And investors started gaming out scenarios.
Key Points:
This is exploratory at best. No formal merger proposal exists. No board approvals. No regulatory filings. It's early-stage strategic discussion, the kind that happens regularly in corporate boardrooms.
Potential synergies exist. Yes, Tesla batteries could power SpaceX operations. Yes, shared tech platforms make sense. Musk plans to build an AI future.
Would a SpaceX-Tesla merger create or destroy shareholder value?
UK-China Ties Deepen
UK PM Keir Starmer and Chinese President Xi Jinping (BBC)
UK Prime Minister Starmer visited Beijing this week and announced a few agreements with China: visa-free travel for citizens, tariff cuts on British whisky, and expanded economic cooperation across multiple sectors.
Trump immediately criticized the move, calling closer UK-China ties "dangerous" and suggesting it undermines Western unity against Chinese economic practices.
Key Points:
Economic pragmatism is winning over ideological alignment. The UK needs trade deals post-Brexit. China offers a massive consumer market.
This creates tension within traditional alliances. The U.S. wants unified pressure on China. The UK wants trade access. France and Germany are watching closely and may follow Britain's lead if it works.
Currency and commodity markets care about this. Chinese demand drives copper, iron ore, and agricultural commodities. Improved Western access to Chinese markets could support these sectors while creating volatility in defensive trades.
But geopolitical risk remains elevated. Any deterioration in U.S.-China relations creates spillover effects globally.
How should investors position the U.S.-China-UK dynamics?
What to Watch Next Week
Tech earnings continue with Amazon, Alphabet, and AMD all reporting. Expect more volatility in tech-heavy ETFs.
And watch the dollar. If it continues rallying, commodities face more pressure. But any reversal could trigger sharp snapback rallies in oversold sectors.
The Bottom Line
This week reminded investors that macro policy matters more than individual stock stories when the Fed chair is changing.
Warsh's nomination shifted rate expectations. That moved the dollar. And dollar moves ripple across every asset class.
Gold's correction doesn't mean the bull market is over, it means the parabolic phase is done. Tech earnings divergence shows that AI spending without profit delivery gets punished.
Geopolitical tensions between allies create uncertainty that markets hate.
The opportunities? Disciplined investors can find value in the volatility. The risks? Chasing momentum in either direction gets you hurt.
Stay focused on fundamentals. Watch the data.
Remember that the best investment decisions are made when markets panic, not when they party.