😗A financial firm discusses this week's trends.
🧐This week, earnings from major US banks and key inflation data will be released, serving as an early test of whether the recent stock market frenzy will continue into 2026. Following Chairman Powell’s statement, the independence of the Federal Reserve is once again in the spotlight. Meanwhile, unrest in Iran has further heightened geopolitical tensions globally since the start of the year, and a long-awaited Supreme Court ruling on US tariffs may be handed down in the coming days.
1. CPI takes center stage
Among this week’s economic indicators, the most watched will be the December US consumer price inflation rate, a general gauge of inflation.
Economists expect the consumer price index for the 12 months ending in December to remain unchanged at 2.7% from November. On a monthly basis, this indicator is also expected to stay flat at 0.3% compared to the previous month.
The so-called core measure, which excludes volatile items like food and energy, is forecast to slightly accelerate to 2.7% annually from 2.6%, and rise to 0.3% on a monthly basis from 0.2%.
Although the annualized overall CPI level remains above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, inflation has shown signs of...

😗Fed Chair Powell is under investigation. Concerns over the Fed's independence are triggering a 'sell America' (falling US dollar, US stocks, and US Treasuries).
🧐US assets faced broad pressure on Monday as fears of renewed 'sell America' sentiment grew following reports that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is under federal criminal investigation, prompting a reassessment of risks to the central bank’s independence.
In a recorded statement, Chairman Powell noted that the investigation relates to a $25 billion renovation project at the Federal Reserve Board headquarters and congressional testimony regarding the plans. He described the focus on this investigation and renovation costs as a 'pretext,' arguing that the threat of criminal charges stems from the Fed's refusal to align monetary policy with President Trump’s political preferences.
"This is a question of whether the Fed can continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions, or whether monetary policy will be swayed by political pressure or coercion," Mr. Powell said.
These remarks mark the first instance of a Fed Chair openly countering mounting pressures, framing the event as a direct challenge to the institution's independence...

😗Bank of America announced AI with the potential to move markets by 2026. AMZN, GOOGL, AAPL, META, UBER, BKNG, and DASH seem promising.
🧐According to Bank of America, artificial intelligence will continue to be a core asset and driver of valuation across major internet platforms, and 2026 is expected to be a significant year for AI announcements that could move markets.
The bank stated that increased infrastructure investment by large internet companies is raising the importance of proprietary chips, frontier models, user data, and large-scale consumer distribution.
In a report on Monday, Bank of America provided a broad outline from feasible AI developments to long-term prospects that could impact competitive positioning, monetization, and investor sentiment by 2026.
1) Amazon and OpenAI partner in agent-based commerce: Bank of America sees increasing potential for partnerships enabling agent-based commerce, especially as competition between OpenAI and Google intensifies.
Any agreement would also boost Amazon's Prime ecosystem...

😗Five top analysts discuss the trends in AI. AMZN, GOOGL, BKNG, and ASML seem to be good picks.
▶️The biggest analyst movements in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector this week are as follows.
Bank of America announces top AI internet stocks for 2026
According to Bank of America, artificial intelligence will remain a key theme for internet and e-commerce stocks heading into 2026, with large-cap performance driven by market sentiment toward AI, the profitability of capital expenditures, and a clear path to monetization.
Justin Post's analyst team noted that enthusiasm for AI continues to grow and the 'peak of optimism' may not appear until well-known companies focused on AI go public. Until then, investor interest is likely to remain with established platforms that have advantages in scale, data, and distribution.
Against this backdrop, the team highlighted Amazon, Google, and Booking as the most promising large-cap AI players in the e-commerce, media, and travel sectors.
Regarding Amazon, analysts mentioned 'underappreciation due to capacity expansion by 2025...