Dow Jones futures were little changed early Friday, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures fell slightly.
Elon Musk showed off the Cybercab and Robovan at Thursday night's Tesla robotaxi event. He once again sees self driving "next year." There was no sighting or mention of an "affordable EV" expected in early 2025. Tesla fell solidly in premarket trading, while Uber Technologies jumped.
JPMorgan Chase kicked off bank earnings Friday morning, rising on strong results and net interest income guidance.
The stock market fell slightly Thursday amid talk of a Fed rate-cut "pause." Nvidia resumed its strong run, with several tech plays making bullish moves.
Dow Jones Futures Today
Dow Jones futures were even vs. fair value, with JPMorgan providing a lift. S&P 500 futures edged lower and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.2%, with Tesla a drag.
Crude oil futures fell slightly.
Overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn't necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session.
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Tesla Robotaxi Event
At the Tesla robotaxi event, Elon Musk rode the two-seat Cybercab, with butterfly doors and no steering wheel, briefly to the stage.
Musk expects the Cybercab price tag will be below $30,000, with production starting "before 2027."
Further, he expects "fully autonomous unsupervised FSD in California and Texas next year — that's with the Model 3 and Model Y."
However, he admitted, "I tend to be a little optimistic with time frames."
Elon Musk has said for years that Tesla would achieve self-driving "this year" or "next year," while production targets often slip considerably. He also didn't offer new evidence that Tesla FSD was making progress toward actual self-driving.
Musk didn't offer significant details about business models, such as a ride-hailing service. There had been speculation that Tesla would launch a ride-hailing service with human drivers.
He also showed off a large Robovan, but with no timing on when that will go into production.
Musk also showed off the latest Optimus robot, with a handful walking around. He expects that the cost could be $25,000-$30,000 when produced at scale.
Notably, Tesla did not show or even mention an "affordable" vehicle. It's supposed to enter production by mid-2025, but there have been no images of that, let alone a prototype. An affordable EV is key to Tesla's near-term efforts to boost deliveries and use up excess capacity at its existing plants.
Tesla is pushing hard to boost sales and FSD take rates in Q4. On Thursday, Tesla will again let owners transfer FSD to a new Model 3, Y, S or X through Dec. 31. That comes on the heels of 0% financing for Model 3 and Y buys that include buying FSD.
Tesla Stock Tumbles
Tesla stock sold off 6% in premarket trading, threatening to undercut the 50-day line. Shares fell nearly 1% to 238.77 Thursday.
The EV giant has a 264.86 cup-with-handle buy point, according to MarketSurge. The 250 area offers an early entry.
The initial negative reaction to the Tesla robotaxi is a positive for ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft. Both jumped, with Uber stock set to break out.
Bank Earnings
JPMorgan earnings and revenue topped, with investment banking revenue above targets. The Wall Street giant added $1 billion to net reserves for credit losses, slightly more than expected. JPMorgan guided slightly higher on full-year net interest income, just a few weeks after warning that analyst estimates on NII were too high. JPMorgan stock advanced slightly in premarket trade. Shares are working on a flat base, just above its 50-day line.
Wells Fargo topped EPS estimates, but revenue and net interest income slightly missed. Wells Fargo, which has lagged other banks, climbed modestly before Friday's open, potentially breaking a trendline entry.
Asset management giant BlackRock easily beat Q3 views before the open, with assets under management nearly hitting $11.5 billion. Blackrock stock, extended from buy points, was up modestly.
Stock Market Rally Thursday
CPI inflation came in hot and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic raised the possibility of a November rate-cut "pause." But the major stock indexes barely dipped.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1% in Thursday's stock market trading. The S&P 500 index slipped 0.2% after hitting a record high Wednesday. The Nasdaq lost a fraction. The small-cap Russell 2000 declined 0.55%, but rebounded off its 50-day.
Many leading stocks made bullish moves, including AI play Samsara and cybersecurity stocks Palo Alto Networks and Fortinet. Meanwhile, some techs are racing up from the bottom, including AI IPO Astera Labs, Cloudflare and Datadog.
ADMA Biologics dived 16%, knifing through its 50-day line. The big 2024 winner announced that its auditor is resigning.
Insurers, including Brown & Brown, reversed lower Thursday. They've had some swings this week due to Hurricane Milton.
U.S. crude oil prices popped 3.6% to $75.85 a barrel. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed three basis points to 4.09%, continuing a big run.
Nvidia stock is on IBD Leaderboard and SwingTrader. Samsara stock, Fortinet and Nvidia are on the IBD 50. Samsara was Thursday's IBD Stock Of The Day.
ETFs
Among growth ETFs, the Innovator IBD 50 ETF fell 1.3%, hit by ADMA stock. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF climbed 0.7%. The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF dipped 0.2%, even with Nvidia stock the dominant holding.
ARK Innovation ETF retreated 1%. Tesla stock remains a major holding across Ark Invest's ETFs. Cathie Wood also owns a lot of Nvidia.
Nvidia AI Chips Sold Out
Nvidia stock rose 1.6% on Thursday, 134.81, still in buy range from various entries, including the Aug. 26 high of 131.26. Since testing its 50-day line on Oct. 1, NVDA stock has jumped 15.2%.
Nvidia executives told Morgan Stanley analysts that production of Blackwell artificial intelligence processors is in full swing, with the next-generation AI chips sold out for the next 12 months.
Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday unveiled its upcoming Blackwell rival, with Instinct MI325X production starting by year-end. CEO Lisa Su predicted a $500 billion market for AI accelerators by 2028. AMD stock, which has lagged Nvidia and many other AI chip names, fell 4% Thursday.
What To Do Now
The stock market rally continues to act well. You can keep making incremental buys. If you already have heavy exposure, you might offset new buys by trimming or exiting relative laggards.
But if you've built up your portfolio and those stocks are working, let those positions work for the most part.
Keep updating your watchlists, reviewing your holdings and staying engaged.
Read The Big Picture every day to stay in sync with the market direction and leading stocks and sectors.
Please follow Ed Carson on Threads at @edcarson1971 and X/Twitter at @IBD_ECarson for stock market updates and more.
