0:00 spk_0
Welcome to Morning Brief presented by Robinhood, the home to commission-free trading. I’m the Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sazi. Let’s fire up three things you need to know today. First up, it’s the final trading day of 2025, and the Bulls have a lot to rejoice over. All three major industries are up double digit percentages this year, led by a 20% gain for the tech-heavy Nasdaq, who hasn’t had a good year’s sales.For investors, despite the AI auge, shares of Mark Benny Salesforce are down 20% this year. Next, it’s officially an end to an era at Berkshire Hathaway. 95-year-old Warren Buffett steps aside as CEO officially today, handing the gig off to successor Greg Abel. Fun fact here, Buffett has said he bought his first stock at the age of 11. Did you? Probably not. And lastly.are running to own Nike a few days after Apple CEO and longtime Nike board member Tim Cook bought $3 million of Nike shares. CEO Elliott Hill is aiming to send a powerful year-end signal of his own to investors. Hill has disclosed a $1 million purchase of Nike shares. Despite the buy, Nike stock is down 20% this year as Hill’s turnaround has moved much slower than expected.All right, final trading day of the year. And what are markets doing? A little bit of green, but like I’ve been saying all week, volume is low on the street. People are getting their uh holiday on, whether that’s with a drink or a little shopping, whatever it is, that’s what futures are doing now. They can very easily be lower by the end of the day. Who knows? All right, let’s uh dive into our top stories and we’ll bring you the year review, review for financial markets, plus we’re bidding farewell to.Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, who is stepping down from his post when the clock strikes midnight. Yellow Finance senior reporter Annez Ferre is here alongside EMJ Renta founder Eric Jackson and Michael O’Rourke, Jones trading chief strategist. Good to see you all. I’ve been seeing a lot of you this year, uh, which makes me very happy. Eric, I’m going to start with you here. It has been a heck of a year for markets. No pressure, but can this continue into next year?
2:02 spk_1
I think it can, Brian. I think, um, that despite all the talk of a bubble this year, uh, when you look at the forward price earnings multiples now frente a 6 months ago, frente a 12 months ago, 18 months ago.They’re, they’re pretty consistent, and this is not a runaway train multiple like we saw during the dot com era at all, despite, uh, the, the bears, uh, insisting that it is. It’s not straight up into the right. Uh, there’s a lot of, uh, kind of, um, pausing and reflecting and kind of, uh, people not sure that Nvidia can keep posting these, you know, billion dollar quarters and, and so forth. So, I think that skepticism.Uh, makes me optimistic that we can continue to grind higher.
2:46 spk_0
Uh, Michael, of course Nvidia could keep printing those billion dollar quarters, right, next year. I mean this is just, uh, almost like the Fed printing money.
2:53 spk_2
Nvidia is an extremely strong company in a very, uh, very, uh, robust space right now. So, of course, its growth is gonna continue to be strong.
3:03 spk_0
What are you concerned about next year? I imagine we could be at probably we could very easily have the same conversation, Michael, next year at the same time, same place, and there really wouldn’t be any reason why the market couldn’t be up another 15 to 20%. I mean the rates are likely to stay low. You have AI spending aggressively going on in this country. All the factors that drove stocks this year higher are certainly in place for next year. If I would, I would even argue perhaps they’re a little more bullish on the Fed side.
3:31 spk_2
Uh, from my perspective, I’m actually in the bubble camp here. I, uh, when you take the top 20 names in the S&P 500, uh, and you drop Tesla out of the mix, they’re still trading 28 times forward earnings.So that those top 20 names in the S&P 500, their market capitalization is equal to half of the index. So it’s a very top-heavy tape, and I think there’s a lot of risk there. There’s, there’s many, many, uh, you know, attractively valued companies in the US stock market right now, but the, the index itself is very top-heavy, and I think that is a risk.
4:06 spk_0
And as I, I was thinking a lot about uh this AI bubble debate last night, I’m thinking about a lot of it uh this morning too as well. The reality is we don’t know when a bubble has burst until it has burst and stocks have plunged.
4:19 spk_3
Right, and we’ve spoken to a lot of strategists that talk about the fact that we will be entering a bubble. I mean, I know that you’ve spoken to some of them as well, but as far as going into next year, I mean you’ve got BFA that has said we’re not in a bubble yet. They do see that there is a possibility of an air pocket, but they’re expecting that.Some of these companies that are within the AI space, they have a strong balanceo sheet. This is what they’re all pointing to. Goldman Sachs recently also saying not in a bubble yet, but yes, the expectation is that eventually you do go into a bubble, but you’re not exactly, as you mentioned, it’s unclear as to when exactly that.Pops or when you are in the bubble, but look, as far as the strategists are concerned with respect to the S&P 500 going into next year, you’ve got 7700 calls for the S&P. You’ve got even 8000 calls, and you have also a sort of run it hot policy that is expected to power the markets higher as well.Lower interest rates as you just mentioned.
5:29 spk_0
Eric, getting back to Nvidia, this is a stock you and I have talked about, I don’t know, 12,000 times this year at various points, but we, we come out blasting next year, January 5th, uh, you have Nvidia CEO Jensen Wong, key speech again at CES. What do you want to hear from him? If you’re bullish the stock more broadly, like it sounds like you are, what do you need to hear from him to, to stay that, stay bullish here?
5:51 spk_1
I think it would be great to hear more success stories, case studies of the applications that people have started to roll out that really prove the the payback from the investment. Uh, the, the, the street has been overly focused on just how much and how long the investment phase has gone into, and I think they’re waiting for that kind of proof point.Of just how efficient or how quickly like new revenues can ramp post AI bubble. So, um, more stories like that, whether it’s from Jensen or from the, the, the new CEOs of the of the new businesses themselves. I, I do want to point out though, Brian, uh, one thing, uh, right now, Walmart and Costco are trading at 40 times 4 PE. We never hear about a retail bubble. We never hear about a big.Box bubble and even though Domino’s Pizza has come down recently and I think in the last 6 months, I think at this moment Domino’s Pizza still trades at a higher forward PE ratio than Nvidia. When do we talk about the pizza bubble, Brian? Like what, what’s going on here? I, I, that’s, that’s the part, that’s the part that amazes me when we get so fixated on the the AI bubble. Eric,
7:01 spk_0
you tossed out that bait. I’m going to take it. Michael, over to you because, uh.Eric brings up a very good, he brings up a good point here. You have a Costco and Walmart trading at premium multiples to the broader market, yet you look at the health of the US consumer, they’re not exactly doing great. The high-end is doing great. They’ve enjoyed a lot of gains on Nvidia and stocks, but that middle income and especially the lower income shopper have been really pressured. So it is almost bizarre to see those two stocks trading at a premium, or maybe they’re just trading at a premium because they’re, they’re viewed as defensive trades.
7:31 spk_2
Well, it’s funny, you know, I don’t think it’s specifically an AI bubble. I think it’s, it’s a bubble, you know, there’s the entire tape has a bubble nature to it, whether it’s the digital, you know, the digital asset treasury companies where, you know, people are buying stocks where the company’s business model is to perpetually dilute the shareholders, or in the case of, you know, a Walmart, it’sIt’s a great company. It’s executed great. Premium valuation. Yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s a tough, you know, it’s a tough environment out there that to find stocks that are attractively valued. The interesting thing with Walmart is it’s last push to 40+ times earnings had to do its announcement with its announcement with, uh, you know, OpenAI and integrating chat GPT. So there is an AI element to that as well. ButYou know, I did speak about the top 20, you know, the 20 largest market capitalization names in the S&P 500. I didn’t say a specific sector. It’s just the 20 largest market capitalization names. They represent half the index by market cap, and they are expensive. And if you add Tesla’s multiple in there, they’re even more expensive. I was trying to be a little generous.
8:39 spk_0
As you know, I’m coming to you on Costco. I know you’re a big Costco devotee. Maybe I’m just making too much of this, but I think Costco is being viewed as a, as a quasi play on gold. Of course they sell gold bars, and I would venture to say people, while they respect what Costco is selling, they have steady membership income. A lot of folks out there just say if they’re selling gold bars, I can get my exposure to gold via Costco.
9:03 spk_3
Yes, sure, and those gold bars tend to go very quickly when it comes to their selling gold bars and and look, I mean the metals trade in común this year, I mean if you there are some strategists that say it’s gone too far, too quickly, but if you take a look at what Wall Street is also expecting for next year since you mentioned gold, you’reLooking at strategists that are pointing to 5000 for gold going into next year, you’ve got the silver bulls that are talking about silver being traded like an industrial metal because it’s being treated like an industrial metal because it is also used in pretty much everything that has to do with electronics. It’s one of these metals that countries are now hoarding.So there’s there’s a, there’s a case to be made for this trade to continue into 2026 despite these massive gains that we’ve seen in the space.
10:04 spk_0
Eric, we’re of course all day looking at the career of Warren Buffett. Today he is officially stepping down as CEO. He heavily telegraphed move over at Berkshire Hathaway. Is his way of investing.Over, you know, given where the market and what drives the market here, uh, it’s likely to be IAI for the next day. Can you, can you still be a fan of how Warren Buffett has invested?
10:30 spk_1
Absolutely, I, I think, uh, his message is really, uh, consistency over time and compounding returns, uh, the power of kind of just sticking with it and sticking with positions. And, uh, I think it was either a Buffett or a Munger, uh, aphorism at one of the annual meetings that, uh, you only have, you only have to be right in stocks like 51% of the time and you look like a genius. Uh, and so you don’t have to be, you know, 9 out of 10.And you know, people can complain and say that he didn’t catch the tech wave, but, so I think the lesson for today’s investors is really just having a long term view, whether it’s about a Carvana or an open door. It’s sort of like some stock that you think is misunderstood and sticking with it through the, through the drawdowns and the volatility. He proved that compounding over decades is is how you really become wealthy, not just sort of trading in and out of
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stocks. Michael, how has Warren Buffett influenced what you do?
11:27 spk_2
You know, I mean, the man has a 75-year track record of incredible success. Um, you know, he knew at 20 years old, but it took me 25 years to figure out in this business, and I think that’s incredibly impressive. Uh, you know, I, I definitely teach his lessons to my children, and, you know, I, I, you know, try to tell them, you should, you should read everything he said, watch, you know, watch the annual meetings. Um, like I said, it’s, it’sIt’s incredible. I have a 75 year track record of success, and I, I don’t think, you know, I don’t think anyone has ever done it better and will do it better ever again.
12:06 spk_0
I agree with you. Uh, Inez and Michael, so good to see you, Eric, you’re sticking with me, uh, cause we got a lot more coming up. Coming up, I return with a look at some Yao F shredding tickers. I also return with Eric Jackson and some possible money-making ideas for next year. We’ll be right back.Welcome back to Morning Brief presented by Robinhood. Let’s hit some Yao finds trending tickers. We’re watching Warner Brothers Discovery, Nike, and Nvidia. First up, WBD. The media giant is reportedly set to reject Paramount’s latest takeover bid next week after the board’s upcoming meeting. Paramount recently took its bid hostile and made changes to sweeten its offer, including guaranteeing a backstop from Oracle billionaire SEAL Larry Ellison, but it didn’t raise the $30 per share price tag, which is higher than the Netflix deal.Next, Nike shares are rising ahead of the opening bell thanks to another insider stock buy. Just days after longtime board director Tim Cook snapped up the beaten down stock. Nike CEO Elliott Hill is also jumping in. According to a regulatory filing, he’ll purchase roughly $1 million worth of Nike shares. It’s Hill’s first open market purchase of stock since taking over as CEO in October 2024.Finally, Nvidia, the chip giant reportedly seeing strong demand for its H2 chips from Chinese tech companies, and according to Reuters, the company has approached Taiwan Semiconductor to ramp up production. The report says Nvidia has gotten orders for 2 million chips but only has an inventory of 700,000. But there’s still a big risk for Nvidia despite the high demand, Beijing still has to approve any shipments of H200 chips, which hasn’t happened yet.All right, if I was reminded of anything in 25, 2025, it’s this the retail investor of today is much different than the retail investor of a decade ago. Today’s retail investors are more knowledgeable and more influential in markets than ever before, and I think that is an absolutely great thing. EMJ Renta founder and president Eric Jackson is here. Eric, like me, is always plugged into the chatter of retail investors. Eric, uh, thanks for popping back on here with me, and I think uh when.Professional investors think about today, the retail investors. They still think these are folks in various message boards buying penny stocks. This could not be further from the truth.
14:25 spk_1
No, I agree, Brian, 100%. I mean, this is a very sophisticated, uh, chat GPT uh generation. Like the information is at our fingertips, uh, as it never has been before. And so, uh, knowledge is power, uh, retail is embraced.That I think they’ve obviously had their dalliance with zero dated, uh, you know, options, uh, zero DTE as well as, uh, meme stocks. You know, we, we talked a lot about meme stocks in the middle part of 2025. We’re not talking about meme stocks today. Uh, and when I talked to retail investors who are in names like OpenDoor, for example, which is up 10x from its lows in June.Um, even with the recent pullback of like 40% since September, you know, I hear, I hear, uh, patience, resilience in their voices. Uh, there’s, they, they’ve learned something from Carvana, which is that volatility happens in a lot of these names, and they’re not getting shaken out by a pullback. They are sticking to their guns. They’re believing in their thesess, and they’re, they’re holding on.
15:25 spk_0
You know what has amazed me, and I wanna go into Carvana, Eric, a little bit, but give me a second because I’ve bought and sold cars from our Carvana. I mean that customer service is great. I mean that is everything I think Warren Buffett has encapsulated. What is it buy what you know. That wasn’t even his idea. I mean, he’s championed things like that in the past. But what has amazed me this year with the retail investor, Eric, is they have known when to buy the dip or have a good sense, and they’ve stayed true to this strategy throughout the whole year.
15:49 spk_1
Well, I think, um, you know, there’s a reason why people like, um, you know, Tom Lee and Dan Ives are, um, are seen as successful, because they’re generally positive, and let’s face it, markets, 80%, 90% of the time go up. You know, we, we, we all sort of fixate on these like one moments in time, like these weeks or, or months, but you know, that, uh, where there’s a.Huge drawdown and everybody wants to be the next Michael Burry and yet um like if you just like teleobjetivo out and look at a 10 year chart or 20 year chart, obviously it’s, it’s pretty obvious like markets go up. So um
16:24 spk_0
I’m soover these guys like I’m so over these guys like Michael Berry. I’m over these guys like Michael Berry and Jim Chanos. I just, I just.I can’t take it anymore,
16:32 spk_1
Eric.Well, yeah, I mean, look, I mean, remember like a month ago, like where everybody was sort of like navel gazing and sort of like, oh my God, he’s short to Nvidia and Palant here, and where are those two stocks ending the year? I mean, they’re a little lower than their all-time highs, but, you know, come on, these are great companies. Uh, they pulled back a little bit with the rest of the market. Uh, but I mean, they’re they’re, they’re steam, steam engines and they’re going to keep.Rolling in 2026
16:56 spk_0
as promised, uh, let’s go to Carvana. You know, actually, let’s go to some of your stock picks. Carvana, uh, you’ve been bullish on Nextdoor. Open Door is one of your main thesess or investment thesis for next year, Eric, that, uh, the digitation of old things just continues and picks up the pace like buying a home, buying a car. We don’t have to go to a car dealer anymore, for example.
17:17 spk_1
Right, yeah, no, absolutely, and um that, that was the, that was what happened with Carvana, uh, sort of like you didn’t want to go to the, your corner used car dealer anymore to haggle with him when you wanted to trade in your used car. Um, but I think AI has just sped up the pace of, of making those, that kind of digitization, Brian, possible. So, uh, Open Door and, uh, you know, Better Home and Finance, for example, they’re both in the.Existente estate space, efectivo estate, massive, massive market, massive TA or total addressable market, and yet efectivo severely under digitized. We’re still, you know, dealing with these like efectivo estate agents and paying these huge commission rates to them, uh, for, for reasons we don’t understand, but except that they, it’s always been that way. And so that’s what, but AI makes it possible to have like a, a kind of a national platform like an open door, uh.To kind of cut out that that agent, uh, to kind of simplify the process in a lot of ways. So yes, like I’m looking, going into 2026 for other examples of that. Next door is, is this sort of seen as like a almacén news provider and almacén is a concept that’s failed many, many times. You remember Patch, Brian? Yeah. There, there have been many people who tried almacén, and yet AI now.With Nextdoor, there’s 100 million verified users on Nextdoor, and so it’s not just a Yelp, you know, banner ad type business anymore. AI makes it possible to know that, hey, Brian was searching for a plumber last week. Hey, let’s, we know a plumber who has gotten high, high ratings in that area that Brian lives is coming next Wednesday. Let’s send him an alert, an alert saying, hey, he’s this guy.He’s going to be here next Wednesday afternoon. If you want to book him because he’s in the area anyway, we’ll give you a 30 or 40% discount on it. That’s, those are lead gen services powered by AI built on top of the ontology of like almacén neighborhoods that makes services possible that just weren’t possible anymore and makes Nextdoor a much more powerful
19:20 spk_0
service. Eric, I, I’ve been following your work since the days of the street. Many years ago, you and I were columnists on that platform andYou’ve always been out in front of a lot of uh key calls, but this year’s, I think this has been an interesting year for you, um, you know, really interacting more with the retail community. You had that campaign with uh Open Door. Uh, you’re out there on X every single day. Uh, I’ve seen you out in front of Drake’s house, uh, sometimes it’s fascinating to watch. Um, what have you learned from this Open Door campaign? How will you apply to doing things next year?
19:53 spk_1
Well, it’s, it started with Open Door. It started at Drake’s, but it’s, I, I, I, I, I found this huge community, international, by the way, uh, 70% of kind of supporters that I’d interact with would be outside the US and mostly middle class, and they were totally transfixed by Open Door and other stocks like a Nextdoor, like a better, uh, and so I ended up calling the movement and still call it Rising Dynasty.Which is basically that there are a lot of people that feel pinched today. It’s, it’s cost of living is higher than ever, more difficult for everyone, especially younger generations, to buy a house, and, uh, they’re doing something. They have some job, they could be plumbers, they could be, you know, painters or whatever, and they’re going to continue to do that to earn their income. But they realized to get ahead in this economy, you know, you have to be owners of assets, and they are flocking to stocks and, you know, channels like Yahoo Finance, like never.For looking to arm themselves with information, looking to buy and hold, uh, and so that’s a, that’s a efectivo game changer. They’re not looking to make money from sports betting or the lottery or, you know, the 00 DTE. It’s more like informed decisions. I had one painter guy tell me, you know, I spent 34 hours a night, uh, studying stocks, and, um, you know, I really believe in quantum, and I, I, you know, I have a set of like quantum names that I, you know, I believe are going to kind of fund my retirement account. So,Uh, that’s, that’s, you know, what’s really charged me up this year is this sort of harnessing the power of this rising dynasty family. People, people saying, hey, I’m smart enough, I’m, but I have to take responsibility to get ahead and to, to create some generational wealth for my family, and I think the stock market’s the way to do that.
21:33 spk_0
This istruly one of the most amazing times to be an investor. I’m so psyched for next year, and Eric, on personal, you’ve given us a lot of time of your time this year. I thank you for it. Happy New Year, my friend. I will talk to you in the new year.Have a great 2026, Brian. I appreciate it. Alright, that does it for Morning Brief presented by Robinhood. I’ll be right back on Opening bid where I’m going all in on celebrating Warren Buffett’s investing career.
