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The president could name up to 24 advisors on new tech panel. (0:15) Memory chip stocks fall after Google unveils more efficient AI algorithms. (1:22) BlackRock CEO Larry Fink tells private credit investors to ‘live with it.’ (1:59)
This is an abridged transcript of the podcast:
Out top story so far, President Donald Trump has appointed some of the biggest names in business a new President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
The appointees include Meta Platforms (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle (ORCL) Executive Chairman Larry Ellison and Nvidia’ (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) CEO Lisa Su and Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) co-founder Sergey Brin will also serve.
The White House says the panel will focus on topics related to the opportunities and challenges that emerging technologies present to the American workforce and ensure all Americans thrive in the Golden Age of Innovation.
It will be co-chaired by David Sacks, who has served as White House AI and crypto czar, and Michael Kratsios, another technology advisor.
Thirteen members have been appointed so far and the total is expected to rise to 24.
“We’re delighted to see NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang appointed to this council and to have the opportunity to advance American leadership in AI,” the chipmaker posted. “America’s strength in science and technology depends on a vibrant ecosystem of researchers, developers, and industry working together to drive innovation and global leadership.”
Among active stocks, memory stocks are down after Google revealed a set of new algorithms designed to reduce the amount of memory needed to run large language models and vector search engines.
Micron (MU), Western Digital (WDC), Seagate Technology (STX) and Sandisk (SNDK) were all under pressure.
Chewy (CHWY) missed estimates with its fourth-quarter earnings report and set mixed guidance. But shares are sharply higher as investors eyed the confident tone from the company that stressed it is in a position of real strength with expanding margins and strong cash generation.
And Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT) is surging after the company posted initial data from Phase 1/2 trials for its experimental drugs targeted at two rare forms of muscular dystrophies.
And in other news of note, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has some blunt advice for investors frustrated by limited redemptions in private credit funds: deal.
“On the front page of the contract… you’re investing in something that has less liquidity,” he told the BBC’s “Big Boss Interview” podcast. “You have to accept the notion that redemptions are gonna be limited to 5% a quarter.”
“Those are the rules. Live with it.”
In addition, he stressed that unlike the Financial Crisis, private credit does not pose a systemic risk to markets, despite recent redemption pressures on some retail funds.
The Financial Crisis in in 2007 “was based on hidden leverage, just gigantic leverage balance sheets,” he said. “This is not a leverage balance sheet problem.”
While some retail investors are seeking to exit, Fink said institutional demand remains strong. “More people are trying to get in,” he said, adding that “we actually had more subscriptions than redemptions” in the HLEND fund.
And the senior leaders of Meta Platforms (META) stand to earn hundreds of millions of dollars if they help the company reach a $9T valuation in the next five years.
The company awarded new stock options to its seven main executives, excluding CEO Zuckerberg, which are exercisable only if the company’s stock price surges at least 88% by 2031, according to filing. Senior execs could enjoy the full benefit of Meta’s stock options program if the company’s share price jumps more than 500% within the provided time frame.
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