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Happy Tuesday. Yesterday I took a Hyrox themed class at a workout studio. As a result, not only did my muscles become sore, but I also gained a deeper understanding of what the fitness industry hype is all about.
S&P 500 futures rose this morning. The stock market is having a triumphant day.
Here are five important things investors need to know to start their trading day.
1. Preparing for takeoff
Elon Musk attends the 56th World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on January 22, 2026.
Dennis Bariboos | Reuters
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk announced yesterday that he is merging his rocket company SpaceX with artificial intelligence startup xAI. The partnership comes ahead of what is expected to be a major IPO for the combined business.
The deal is the largest merger in Musk’s portfolio, combining two businesses whose value has soared in the private markets. Nevada public records obtained by CNBC show the deal was completed yesterday.
Musk said in a blog post that they are forming “the most ambitious vertically integrated innovation engine on Earth (and beyond).” He said the main driver for the merger was his quest to build “orbital data centers,” or data centers in space. As CNBC’s Laura Kolodny and Ali Levy point out, SpaceX may present Musk’s clearest path to securing the capital needed to make AI’s dreams a reality.
2. Turn the page
This illustration taken on August 27, 2025 shows the Nvidia logo and a rising stock price graph.
Dado Luvić | Reuters
3. Friends in high places
Palantir sign at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022.
Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images
Palantir Both stocks beat expectations for the fourth quarter yesterday, with their shares up more than 11% in overnight trading. CEO Alex Karp said in an interview with CNBC’s Morgan Brennan that Palantir’s report is “without a doubt the best result I’ve seen in technology over the last 10 years.”
The Denver-based company posted higher commercial and government revenue than Wall Street expected. Karp said strong demand and Palantir’s high commitment to the U.S. are causing the defense technology company to delay sales of new products to U.S. allies.
Karp also spoke about the ongoing protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, telling CNBC that he believes protesters should support the company’s business with the government. “If you’re critical of ICE, you should be protesting for more use of Palantir,” he said, adding that Palantir’s products “require citizens to comply with Fourth Amendment data protections.”
4. Agreement or no agreement
On February 13, 2025, US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
President Trump announced yesterday that the United States and India have reached a trade agreement that lowers tariffs on each other’s exports. The news comes days after the European Union signed its own trade deal with India.
Under the deal, India will purchase American products at “a much higher level,” Trump said on social media. He also said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised to “stop” buying oil from Russia. Instead, Trump said New Delhi would buy more products from the United States and possibly Venezuela.
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, House Speaker Mike Johnson is moving forward with a funding deal to end the partial government shutdown that began Saturday. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced yesterday that the government shutdown will delay the release of the January jobs report, which was scheduled for Friday.
5. (Frowning) Year of the Horse
A picture taken on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, at a New Year’s goods shop in Hangzhou, eastern China’s Zhejiang province, shows two “crying horse” stuffed animals that have become an overnight sensation, initially due to a factory worker’s mistake with the mouthpieces turned upside down.
Long Wei | Featured China | Future Publishing | Getty Images
As CNBC’s Eunice Yun reports, consumer sentiment is deteriorating in China as well as in the United States. That darkness is reflected in the widespread popularity of stuffed grimacing horses.
According to state media, the stuffed animal’s downcast appearance was originally due to a manufacturing error. A factory worker accidentally sowed the toy’s smiling face upside down, creating what is now known as the “crying horse.”
The sad horse has come to symbolize the depressed emotions felt by Chinese consumers amid deflation and economic downturn. “The crying horse represents people’s hearts,” said Gao Lan, a toy seller in Beijing.
daily dividend
U.S. store closures are on track to reach their lowest level in three years as the retail industry weathers a wave of bankruptcies. Here are the retailers expected to add the most stores this year:
CNBC’s Ali Levy, Laura Kolodny, Sean Conlon, Liz Napolitano, Soda Bymiya, Lillian Rizzo, Julia Boorstin, Yun Li, Li Ying-Hsiang, Samantha Subin, Kevin Bruninger, Garrett Downs, Eunice Yun, Melissa Repko, Gabriel Cortez and Reuters contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this version.
