The Rundown - Nvidia Gets Green Light to Return to China, Big Banks Kick Off Earnings Season

Episode Date: July 15, 2025

Stock market update for July 15, 2025.

Public.com presents the rundown. Your daily market update in under 10 minutes. My name is Zadadmani, and today is Tuesday, July 15th. In today's episode, we'll tell you why Invidia just got a big boost to their business, thanks to Trump and some charm from Jensen Huang. We also recap earnings from big banks and tell you about Apple's investments in a rare earth company in the U.S. Then stick around to the end of the show to find out why Uno is coming to Vegas. We got a great show for you today coming from Florida.

Let's go. Markets kicked off the week in the green, but just barely. The S&B 500 squeezed out a 0.1% gain on Monday, and the NASDAQ was up 0.3%. But that was enough for a record high close for the tech-heavy index. You know, it seems like the markets have pretty much shrugged off President Trump's 30% tariff threats against Mexico and the EU. I think investors seem to be betting that trade deals will get worked out in these. tariff rates will come down before the August's first deadline. Because anytime the markets dip from tariff headlines, it seems to get bought right back up. Now, investors are also paying attention

to earnings, which kicks off this week. And like I mentioned on yesterday's episode, the expectations for this quarter are pretty low. That, according to Bloomberg intelligence, six of the 11 S&P 500 sectors are expected to pose a drop in profits. So the next two to three weeks are going to be pretty crucial for the markets as the dust settles on the trade war. And as investors find out what kind of impacts tariffs are having on company profits. If profits come in lower than expected and the U.S. doesn't strike any significant trade deals before August 1st, that could be a one-two punch for the markets going into August. So we get a lot to pay attention to in the markets for the rest of the summer. I'm actually wrapping up my Florida family trip today and headed

back to Houston to lock in for the next few weeks. So make sure you guys are subscribed for the podcast and tuning in every day, especially during earnings season, to stay on top of everything. Let's run through some headlines, starting with NVIDIA. You know, it's been a great summer for NVIDIA. They became the most valuable company in the world, the first one to top a $4 trillion market cap, and things just got even better. The U.S. government is reversing course and will now allow NVIDIA to resume selling their H20 chips in China.

Now, remember, Nvidia made the H20 chips specifically for the Chinese market. It's a less powerful version of their most advanced AI chips, and it was very very much. made to meet export restrictions by the Biden administration, which were put in place a couple years ago to slow down China's AI progress. But then back in April of this year, the Trump administration surprisingly blocked the export of the H20 chips, which was going to cost invidia billions of dollars in lost revenue. But fast forward to this month, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Wong met with President Trump, worked as magic, turned on the charm, and boom, the Commerce Department is now issuing licenses to Nvidia to allow them to sell their H20 chips back in the

Chinese market. This is a huge win for Nvidia and Jensen who's been working hard to not lose ground in China to homegrown rivals like Huawei. Jensen has been very vocal about how critical the Chinese market is for Nvidia. He's made multiple trips to China and he was finally able to ease export restrictions

under H20 chips. And this decision should open up the door for billions of dollars in revenue for Nvidia. So not a surprise here, investors were pumped to hear this news. Shares of Nvidia are up around 5% this morning, which is huge for a company like Nvidia that has a $4 trillion market cap, the company is on track to add $200 billion in market cap just today.

Now, as for why Trump decided to do a 180 on the H20 ban, that might be part of a broader strategy when it comes to trade talks with China. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Chinese officials are seeing this as a good faith gesture. So this isn't just bullish for Nvidia, but it could be a bigger sign that trade tensions between the two largest economies are cooling, and that should serve as a boost to investors overall. Let's shift gears and talk about big banks, because the few big names, just reported earnings. Let's start with J.P. Morgan, the biggest bank in the world. They continue to

crush it. The bank topped profit forecasts and raised its outlook for net interest income, which is the difference between what the bank earns on loans and what they pay out on deposits. J.P. Morgan now expects to make $95.5 billion in net interest income this year, which is a billion more than what they previously expected. Now, the real surprise here is their investment banking division. Analysts were bracing for a 14% drop in that division, but instead the bank grew it by 7%. Despite all the noise and uncertainty from tariffs, dealmaking didn't seem to slow down. And the market volatility over the last quarter was good for equity traders, which grew revenues by 15% last quarter. Now, Wells Fargo also reported earnings. They also beat profit estimates,

but they didn't fare as well when it comes to net interest income. The company, which is the fourth largest lender in the U.S. cut their 2025 guidance for net interest income and they now expected to be in line with last year's levels. Some analysts were expecting that elevated interest rates combined with tariff uncertainty to weigh on demand for borrowing. And that seems to be the case based on management's lowered forecasts. Now, for the quarter ending in June, interest income came in at $11.7 billion, which missed Wall Street estimates of $11.8 billion. And finally, Citibank reported earnings and their traders have had a big quarter thanks to

tariff-induced volatility. The bank reported its best trading revenue for the second quarter in the past five years. In fact, all five of Citigroup's businesses experienced revenue growth in the recent and quarter. So overall, pretty decent earnings from these big banks, especially for Citigroup, their stock is seeing the biggest jump today out of all the banks. Shares are up more than 3% at the time of this recording. Let's talk about some stocks making moves today. Shares of MP Materials are popping off this morning, up nearly 10% on reports that Apple is planning to invest $500 million into the company. This is according to Fox Business. You know, MP Materials owns the only

rare earth mineral mine in the U.S. And rare earths are a big deal. These minerals are crucial for making high-powered magnets used in everything from EVs to fighter jets. And lately, rare earths have become a chess piece in the trade war with China. China has used rare earth exports as leverage in past

trade fights, which pushed the Pentagon to strike a multi-billion dollar deal with MP materials last week to reduce the U.S.'s reliance on rare earths from China. And now it looks like Apple is joining the party as well. As part of this half-billion dollar investment into MP materials, will start sourcing MP's magnets from its Texas factory and also co-develop a new magnet line

in California. This investment makes sense for Apple because rare earths go into everything that Apple makes from iPhones, MacBooks, Airpods, maybe even the Vision Pro that no one ever buys. So yeah, smart move for Apple and a good day for MP shareholders. Now, on the flip side, Black Rock stock is down, despite the finance giant hitting an all-time high in assets under management of $12.5 trillion. $4,000. BlackRock pulled in $46 billion in new investments last quarter, but investors were disappointed with net inflows into long-term funds, which fell by nearly 10% year over year.

As a result, shares of BlackRock are down around 3% at the time of this recording. Let's wrap the show with a fun fact. You can now play a high stakes game of Uno in Vegas, sort of. The Palms Casino in Vegas will be launching an Uno's social club this weekend, and one winner will get a Las Vegas suite with a bowling alley and a private Uno dealer to shuffle the deck. Now, unfortunately, you won't be able to gamble on the game of Uno, so, you know, you don't need to practice your card counting skills or anything. This movie is more of a PR marketing stunt for the casino, and the company plans to expand

the idea to more casinos across the country. Now, look, I'm all for this, but if casinos are going to do this, they better step up security because every game of Uno I've ever played has always gotten heated, and this is without money on the line. So if they actually go through with this, we might see a few Uno fight video. on the internet. Well, all right, guys, that's the rundown for today. Hope you guys enjoyed today's episode. Like I mentioned earlier in the show, today is the last day of my trip here to Florida. I'm going to be back here in my normal recording studio tomorrow. So thank you guys so much

for putting up with the audio quality. It should be back to normal starting tomorrow. And while I am going to miss this view and being 10 steps away from the ocean, I'm excited to get back home. You know, we need to lock in right now. Orning season is about to kick into gear. By the way, if you guys enjoyed the show and have like eight extra seconds, consider giving us a five-star rating on Apple, Spotify, wherever you listen to your podcast. Remember, you guys can actually watch this podcast now on Spotify and YouTube.

So I highly recommend checking that out. And while you're at it, don't forget to vote in today's Spotify poll. Leave us a comment on Spotify or YouTube. All that engagement really does help us out. And it helps other people find the show. Thank you guys so much for listening. Shout out to Mike and Connor. For all the help behind the scenes,

and we'll see you guys back here tomorrow.