Billionaire Titans Back Trump… Apple Dares Elon to “F*** Around And Find Out”

Tech billionaires that once supported Biden are now financially backing Trump?

Traders across the country are bracing for yet another disappointing Fed decision tomorrow…

Apple roars 7%+ off of the momentum of their new Apple Intelligence release… while Elon makes a massive threat.

We’ve got a lot to cover in today’s post-mortem recap.

Let’s dive in.

But first, here’s where the heatmap ended today.

Today the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at new record highs, driven by Apple's (AAPL) impressive performance. Investors are closely watching for the latest consumer price data and the Federal Reserve’s upcoming decisions on interest rates.

The S&P 500 edged up by 0.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained nearly 0.9%, buoyed by Apple's success. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped by 0.3%. Despite ongoing market uncertainty about the state of the economy—whether it's running too hot or too cold—stocks have been gradually moving upward.

Recent economic data has been inconclusive, dampening expectations for three rate cuts this year as the Fed had initially suggested in March. Now, many investors predict just one rate cut before the end of the year.

As the Fed's two-day policy meeting begins, it is widely expected that interest rates will remain at their current two-decade high. Investors will be looking for any hints about when rate cuts might begin, with possible timing around September or November.

In addition to rate predictions, investors are also anticipating the release of May consumer price data on Wednesday, which will play a key role in the Fed's decision-making process.

Meanwhile, Apple has been the standout performer in the corporate world, with its stock surging more than 7% to a new record high. Wall Street has reacted positively to Apple's significant move into the AI space, highlighting its continued influence and innovation in the tech industry.

Silicon Valley VC Titans Pivot from Biden to Trump

In a surprising twist, some of Silicon Valley's bigwig venture capitalists are jumping ship from President Biden and sailing towards former President Trump. This marks a significant change for an industry that has historically leaned towards Democrats.

High-profile investors like David Sacks, Chamath Palihapitiya, Marc Andreessen, and Shaun Maguire have grown weary of Biden’s key policies, including his proposed 25% "billionaire tax" and the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust crusades.

“It’s impossible to support Biden,” lamented Keith Rabois, an early PayPal exec, now making waves about backing a Republican-led Congress and Senate, even if Trump isn’t his top pick.

David Sacks, who made his fortune at PayPal, is taking things up a notch by co-hosting a fundraiser for Trump. Sacks, once critical of Trump post-Capitol riot, now finds Biden's policies more irksome.

Tech moguls are particularly miffed at the tight regulations on the cryptocurrency sector by Gary Gensler, Biden’s SEC chair, and the aggressive moves by Lina Khan at the FTC against tech giants. Marc Andreessen voiced concerns about the Biden administration's approach, suggesting a Trump return would bring in a different, possibly more business-friendly, crowd.

Ben Horowitz, Andreessen’s partner, has also shown support for politicians backing a tech-forward future. Meanwhile, Shaun Maguire of Sequoia Capital has been vocal about his disagreements with Biden, highlighting the tension within the tech community.

Even Chamath Palihapitiya, once a Democrat supporter and former Facebook executive, is now siding with Trump, planning to co-host a Trump fundraiser with Sacks.

This open shift towards Trump in Silicon Valley is a stark contrast to previous election cycles where such endorsements were rare, reflecting a growing discontent with the current administration’s tech policies.

Stock.News Spikers of the Day

Big Tree Cloud Holdings Limited: [DSY] [+90%]

F45 Training Holdings Inc.: [FXLV] [+65.29%]

“F*** Around And Find Out” -Apple, Probably

As we all know, yesterday Apple announced a shiny new partnership with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into its devices. True to form, Elon Musk took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to declare he would ban Apple devices at his companies if Apple goes ahead with this plan. And you know what? Go for it, Elon. While you're at it, yank your company’s software from Apple’s App Store too.

Musk’s companies include Tesla, SpaceX, X, X AI, and Neuralink. With Apple holding a 52% market share in the US, this ban could affect around 80,000 of Musk's 155,000 employees, assuming they follow the general statistics. That’s a whole lot of iPhones, Macs, and iPads to ditch, with the bulk of these folks at Tesla, which employs about 140,000 people.

Musk’s management style has been likened to "willing to shoot himself in the foot," thanks to previous staffing cuts at X and Tesla. But banning more than half of his staff from using one of the most popular gadget brands seems particularly boneheaded. Sure, it would be a massive headache for his IT teams, but if Elon’s really concerned about security, he's only halfway there.

Why stop at Apple? If ChatGPT at the OS level is the issue, then the apps his companies make for iOS are at risk too. So why not pull X, Tesla, and other apps from Apple’s App Store? That would surely shield his companies from OpenAI’s clutches.

By now, some of you are probably thinking, "If the issue is ChatGPT’s integration at the OS level, shouldn’t Windows be on the chopping block too?" Absolutely. As a man of principles, Elon should ban those Windows machines from his workplaces. I’m sure his engineers would love calculating rocket trajectories on a Ti-83 calculator.

Musk went on to say, “It’s patently absurd that Apple isn’t smart enough to make their own AI, yet is somehow capable of ensuring that OpenAI will protect your security & privacy! Apple has no clue what’s actually going on once they hand your data over to OpenAI. They’re selling you down the river.”

Naturally, this statement doesn’t accurately reflect Apple and OpenAI’s partnership. Readers quickly pointed this out using X’s additional context feature (irony alert!). Apple claims its own AI models will run on-device or in a private compute cloud, and they’ll only send data to OpenAI with explicit user permission on a strict opt-in basis. So, no trickery there, despite Musk’s claims.

The bottom line is, as the head honcho of multiple companies, Musk can do as he pleases. But Apple's recent announcement is clearly daring him to go ahead. Prove that your tweets aren’t just hot air. Let’s see you "f*** around and find out."

Stocks.News does own positions in Apple and Tesla. Please see our disclosure page for more information.