By ED CARSON

Dow Jones futures rose Monday morning, along with S&P 500 futures and especially Nasdaq futures. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) spiked on a big OpenAI chips deal while Tesla (TSLA) and Palantir Technologies (PLTR) were in focus.

The stock market rally hit record highs this past week, shrugging off a government shutdown, though growth stocks saw some selling Friday.

Artificial intelligence startup OpenAI will buy tens of billions of dollars worth of chips from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), possibly taking a big stake. AMD stock soared before the open. Nvidia (NVDA), which has its own OpenAI deal, fell back to a buy point.

OpenAI is holding a developers conference this morning.

Palantir rebounded after selling off Friday a report of a flawed Army communications network. Th tech giant later fired back at that report.

Tesla (TSLA) is rising with Full Self-Driving set to be released today, while the EV giant also teased a Tuesday announcement. Last week, shares reversed from 2025 highs last week in a sell-the-news reaction to record deliveries. Shares rose early Monday as CEO Elon Musk said early Saturday that the next big self-driving update will be on Monday, while Tesla teased a Tuesday announcement.

Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) will buy Comerica (CMA) in a $10.9 billion all-stock deal, the superregional banks announced Monday. Fifth Third stock fell while Comerica jumped more than 10%.

Palantir is on Leaderboard, with Tesla stock on the Leaderboard watchlist. Taiwan Semiconductor stock, Palantir and Nvidia are on the IBD 50. Palantir stock is on the IBD Big Cap 20. Nvidia stock and Palantir are on IBD Sector Leaders.

Dow Jones Futures Today

Dow Jones futures rose 0.2% vs. fair value. S&P 500 futures advanced 0.4% and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.9%.

The 10-year Treasury yield climbed a few basis points to 4.16%.

Crude oil futures rose less than 1%. OPEC+ on Sunday agreed to boost production by 137,000 barrels per day in November. But oil futures  tumbled 7.4% to $60.88 a barrel last week in anticipation of a much-bigger output hike.

Bitcoin briefly punched above $125,000 for the first time early Sunday, hitting $125,400. It is now about $124,000. The bitcoin price surged 12.4% to $122,759.24 last week as of 4 p.m. ET Friday.

Remember that overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn't necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session.

Stock Market Rally Hits Highs

The stock market rally extended the prior week's rebound. The S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow Jones and Russell 2000 all hit new highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.1% in last week's stock market trading. The S&P 500 index gained 1.1%. The Nasdaq composite rose 1.3%, even with Friday's modest pullback. The small-cap Russell 2000 jumped 1.7%.

AI stocks were strong, with big weeks for nuclear startups, quantum computing plays and other speculative names, despite some Friday pullbacks.

Meanwhile, drug stocks and health insurers rallied on government policies or bets. Homebuilders perked up amid retreating Treasury yields.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell seven basis points to 4.12%. A weak ADP Employment report raised Fed rate cut odds.

ETFs

Among growth ETFs, the Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) popped 3.1% last week. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) dipped 0.1%, with Palantir stock the top holding. The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) jumped 4.6%. Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor and AMD stock are major SMH components.

ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) leapt 6.3% last week and ARK Genomics ETF (ARKG) spiked 11.6%. Tesla stock is the No. 1 holding across ARK Invest's ETFs.

SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF (XME) rallied 5.8% last week. U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS) edged up 0.2%. SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) stepped up 1.6%. The Energy Select SPDR ETF (XLE) sank 3.4% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) bolted 8.5% higher.

The Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) gained 1.2%. The Financial Select SPDR ETF (XLF) slipped 0.3%.

AMD Soars On OpenAI Deal

OpenAI will buy tens of billions of dollars worth of AI chips from AMD, which issued the AI startup giant a warrant for up to 160 million shares. AMD stock vaulted more than 20%, signaling a surge to a two-year highs. Last week, AMD teased an aggressive entry on Thursday, but fell back below the 50-day line on Friday.

Nvidia stock fell 1%, but still holding a 184.48 flat-base buy point. Shares jumped 5.3% to 187.62 last week, breaking out after rebounding from the 50-day line. Nvidia announced a big deal with OpenAI on Sept. 22.

Nvidia and AMD chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) will report September sales on Thursday, with Q3 earnings a week later. TSM stock rose modestly before the open. Shares jumped 6.9% to 392.19 last week, significantly extended.

Palantir Stock Rebounds After Sell Signal

Shares climbed nearly 3% in premarket trade.

Palantir stock cleared a 185.75 cup-with-handle buy point on Thursday. But on Friday, shares tumbled 7.5% to 173.07 on a report that its Army communications system is flawed. PLTR stock fell through the 21-day line and triggered the 7%-8% sell rule.

Palantir said late Friday that the problems were resolved.

Tesla Stock Awaits FSD v14, Mystery News

Tesla shares are up 2% early Monday.

Elon Musk wrote Saturday that Full Self-Driving v14 will be released on Monday. He had said FSD v14 was coming last week, but the release was pushed back due to a "last minute bug."

On Tesla teased a Tuesday announcement on its official X account with two video clips, raising speculation that a stripped-down Model Y or next-generation Roadster is coming.

Meanwhile, California's insurance commissioner late Friday rebuked Tesla for failing to address policyholder claims despite repeated warnings. Tesla could face big fines and ultimately have its insurance license suspended or revoked in the state.

Tesla stock hit a 2025 peak of 470.75 on Thursday morning record deliveries in the third quarter, buoyed by now-expired U.S. tax credits. hares were closing in on the December 2024 all-time high of 488.54. But they reversed solidly lower, extending the slide Friday somewhat for a 2.4% weekly decline to 429.83.

This could be a healthy shakeout. Ideally, TSLA stock would retreat to the 21-day or a little below, forging a meaty handle on the big consolidation before attempting another run. A sharp break of the 21-day would be concerning.

What To Do Now

The stock market is at record highs. Some buying opportunities have struggled, including AMD and especially Palantir. But Nvidia held its breakout while many growth and speculative plays had big weeks.

Investors should be heavily exposed and looking for more. So work on those watchlists.

Economic data will be scarce in the coming week due to the government shutdown. The shutdown hasn't had much market impact so far, but could if the impasse drags on.

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.

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