Markets Move on AI, Energy, and Elon?

Daniel Ledenev
Nov 13, 2025
5 min read

Updated: Nov 29, 2025

👋 Welcome Back Investors! (November 3 to 7, 2025)

The first week of November brought plenty of market action. OpenAI made headlines again with a massive $38B partnership deal, fueling fresh optimism (and concern) around the AI boom. In commodities, oil jumped sharply as the ongoing conflict tightened global supply, giving energy stocks a lift. Over in tech, AMD impressed investors with strong AI driven demand, while Ross Gerber reignited debate around Tesla after publicly criticizing the company’s strategy and valuation. Meanwhile, gold posted a choppy week, reacting to shifting rate expectations and a stronger dollar.

🔧 AMD’s Big Beat: Strong Growth, Soft Margins, and a Surprise Stock Drop

AMD delivered another strong quarter this week, posting better-than-expected revenue and earnings as demand for its data center and AI chips continued to climb. Q3 sales rose 36% to $9.25 billion, and the company issued an upbeat outlook for next quarter, guiding well above Wall Street’s estimates. But despite the solid results, the stock moved lower. Investors focused on AMD’s flat gross margin guidance, which came in at 54.5%, good, but not the improvement many were hoping for given the excitement around its Instinct AI accelerators. Shares fell about 3% in extended trading.

CEO Lisa Su said the quarter showed broad strength across the company, with growth in both data center and PC chips. The client computing segment was a standout, boosted by strong Ryzen demand, while AI partnerships with companies like Oracle and OpenAI continued to expand. Still, uncertainty around AMD’s pending China chip shipments and softer margins kept investors cautious. With the stock already up over 100% this year, expectations remain high, and every detail matters.

🤝 OpenAI Lands Massive $38B Deal With Amazon

OpenAI kicked off the week with a headline grabbing partnership, signing a $38 billion multiyear agreement with Amazon to expand its use of AWS. The deal strengthens OpenAI’s cloud backbone at a time when demand for ChatGPT and its enterprise tools continues to surge globally. Under the agreement, Amazon will provide large scale compute, storage, and networking infrastructure, giving OpenAI the capacity it needs to train and deploy increasingly complex AI models. The move also deepens Amazon’s foothold in the AI race, as AWS becomes a key piece of OpenAI’s long-term infrastructure strategy.

For OpenAI, the partnership offers both stability and scale. For Amazon, it creates a powerful anchor client as the cloud giants battle to become the default choice for AI workloads. Investors saw the deal as another sign of how quickly the AI ecosystem is consolidating, and how aggressively the big tech players are positioning themselves for the next wave of generative-AI growth.

🚗 Ross Gerber Calls Out Tesla’s Priorities

Tesla found itself in the spotlight again this week after investor Ross Gerber criticized the company for spending money on digital ads promoting Elon Musk’s massive pay package, even as Tesla faces slowing sales in key markets. Gerber argued that a carmaker “struggling to sell cars” shouldn’t be diverting resources to campaign for a shareholder vote. The ads arrived just ahead of Tesla’s annual meeting, where investors will weigh in on Musk’s controversial compensation plan, valued near $1 trillion.

The vote has split big name investors. Cathie Wood and Michael Dell have backed the package, saying Musk’s performance targets justify the reward. Meanwhile, Norway’s $2.1 trillion sovereign wealth fund said it will vote against it, citing dilution and concerns about Tesla’s dependence on Musk. Despite the drama, Tesla’s stock climbed more than 4% ahead of the meeting, but investor sentiment remains sharply divided as the company tries to balance slowing EV demand, political backlash, and leadership questions.

🛢️ Oil Surges as Russia Conflict Tightens Global Supply

Oil prices gained momentum this week as the economic standoff between Russia and Western nations intensified. New restrictions on Russian refined product exports pushed global supply tighter, giving major oil companies a noticeable boost. Refiners were the biggest winners. Higher crack spreads and reduced competition from Russian fuel shipments helped lift margins across the sector, with several oil majors now expected to post stronger year-end results. Traders also noted increased geopolitical risk premiums, keeping crude supported even as demand signals remained mixed. The latest escalation adds fresh uncertainty to the energy market heading into winter. For now, though, the supply squeeze is working in Big Oil’s favor, and investors are watching closely to see how long the tailwind lasts.

🟡 Gold Sees Strong Rally, But Traders Expect a Pullback First

Gold closed the week firmly higher, finishing near the $4,016 level as bullish momentum carried through the start of November. The metal remains in an uptrend, with price action holding inside a rising channel and buyers staying in control. Analysts expect gold to cool off slightly before making another move higher. A short-term pullback toward the $3,905 support area is possible, but the broader setup still points to upside if that level holds. A break above the $4,165 resistance zone would confirm renewed strength and open the door for a push toward the $4,500+ region. On the flip side, a drop below $3,545 would signal that the bullish trend is breaking down, but for now, momentum favors the bulls as safe-haven demand and trend signals remain supportive.

👀 Stocks to Watch: What This Week’s Moves Reveal

Markets navigated a wave of AI headlines, geopolitical tension, and mixed corporate earnings as investors reacted to a massive OpenAI–Amazon partnership, a sharp rise in oil prices, renewed scrutiny of Tesla’s leadership, and shifting expectations in gold and semiconductors. Here are the tickers that stood out:

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN | 4.3%) — Could see a gain after signing a $38B infrastructure deal with OpenAI, cementing AWS as a core provider for the company’s next-generation AI models. Investors see long-term tailwinds as AI workloads continue migrating to hyperscale cloud platforms.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM | 2.4%) — Rose as Russia’s refined-product restrictions tightened global supply, boosting crack spreads and supporting higher oil prices. Refiners and integrated majors benefited from the rising geopolitical risk premium.
Chevron Corp. (CVX | 1.5%) — Could follow the broader energy rally, with analysts raising short-term margin forecasts as the Russia–West standoff disrupted flows and supported U.S. and Middle Eastern producers.
Newmont Corp. (NEM | 3.3%) — Climbed as gold held near the $4,000 level and technical momentum pointed to a potential breakout. Safe-haven flows and supportive trend signals gave miners a lift.

🛎️That’s a Wrap!

The week opened with a jolt as OpenAI’s $38B AWS deal fueled fresh AI optimism, even while AMD’s margin hiccup reminded investors how costly the chip race has become. Rising geopolitical tension pushed oil higher, boosting energy names, while Tesla stirred debate after critics slammed the company for promoting Elon Musk’s massive pay package amid slowing sales. Gold held steady near key levels, reflecting a cautious but steady market mood. With AI partnerships growing, energy tightening, and tech sentiment swinging day to day, investors closed the week alert and bracing for more volatility ahead.

Until then, stay focused and stay curious. Catch you next week 👋