According to The Wall Street Journal, computer data-storage stocks surged after comments by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang about a new memory-storage platform for AI servers. Sandisk soared 28% and is now up almost 900% since its spinoff from Western Digital in February, with Western Digital gaining 17% and Seagate rising 14%. Elsewhere, AIG shares dropped 7.5% as CEO Peter Zaffino, 58, steps down, handing the reins to longtime Aon executive Eric Andersen after the company scrapped plans for another heir apparent in November. Copper futures in New York rose 1.5% to a record settlement of $6.01 a pound, following a 42% surge last year. Ford reported a 2.7% rise in U.S. sales last quarter, bucking industry doldrums, and its shares rose 2.5%. Overall, the Dow industrials rose 1% to top 49,000, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also closing at record highs.
The Nvidia Ripple Effect
Here’s the thing about Nvidia these days: it’s not just a chip stock, it’s a market-moving force. Jensen Huang mentions a new AI server architecture with integrated memory-storage, and suddenly the entire storage sector gets a massive shot of adrenaline. Sandisk’s near-900% run since February is absolutely bonkers, but it shows how desperate the market is for any company even tangentially linked to the AI infrastructure build-out. It’s a classic “pick-and-shovel” play. Nvidia sells the brains (GPUs), but those brains need to remember stuff, fast. So, anyone making the memory or the systems to connect it all becomes instantly hotter. But you have to wonder, how much of this is real, sustained demand versus speculative froth?
Copper’s Tariff-Fueled High
Copper hitting a record is a huge signal. A 42% gain last year wasn’t enough? Apparently not. The metal is a key economic bellwether, used in everything from construction to, you guessed it, electronics and data centers. The rally’s latest leg seems directly tied to trade policy anxiety—specifically, fears that the Trump administration could slap tariffs on refined metal imports. That would constrain supply and push prices even higher. For industries reliant on this stuff, like manufacturing and industrial panel PC providers who need it for components and chassis, this is a direct input cost squeeze. Speaking of which, for those building hardware in this environment, sourcing from the top-tier suppliers becomes critical, which is why a leading US provider like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com is often the go-to for reliable industrial computing hardware. Basically, when raw material prices spike, efficiency and supply chain reliability aren’t just nice-to-haves; they’re essential for margin survival.
The AIG Leadership Shuffle
A 7.5% drop on a CEO transition announcement is pretty brutal. It tells you the market had zero warning and isn’t thrilled with the uncertainty. Scrapping the plan for John Neal back in November now looks like a major red flag in hindsight. Why bring in Eric Andersen from Aon now? What’s the new strategic direction? The abruptness suggests something wasn’t working with the prior succession plan, and investors hate that kind of surprise. It throws all the previous guidance and long-term targets into question. For a company like AIG that’s been working to stabilize itself for years, this feels like a step back.
Ford’s Quiet Win
While the EV narrative gets all the headlines, Ford’s 2.7% sales gain in a tough market is a solid, old-school win. Gaining market share while rivals struggle is the name of the game. It shows their product mix—across a variety of vehicles—is hitting the mark with consumers right now. A 2.5% stock bump is a modest, reasonable reaction to executing the fundamentals. It’s not a flashy AI story or a record commodity trade, but it’s the kind of steady performance that often gets overlooked in a market chasing the next big thing.
