| Bloomberg Morning Briefing Americas |
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| Good morning. Trump's Venezuelan tanker blockade heats up. Gold and silver climb to records. And we give you a pre-IPO investing guide for OpenAI. Listen to the day's top stories. — Hellmuth Tromm | |
| Markets Snapshot | | | | Market data as of 06:47 am EST. | View or Create your Watchlist | | | Market data may be delayed depending on provider agreements. | | |
| Donald Trump is stepping up his Venezuela crackdown by pursuing a third oil tanker, intensifying a blockade meant to cut off a crucial cash lifeline for President Nicolas Maduro's government. Oil prices rose in response. Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan will make an announcement at 4:30 pm ET today, the White House said. | |
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| The escalating tension also contributed to propelling gold and silver to yet another record. Copper is also up almost 40% this year. Global stocks were undeterred and rose to a one-week high as investors position for a strong year-end. US stocks are poised to be kept on edge in 2026, juggling AI FOMO and fears of a bubble. A senior Russian general was killed after a bomb exploded in his car in Moscow, with investigators pointing suspicion at Ukraine. On the negotiation front, US special envoy Steve Witkoff continued to project optimism, saying officials held "productive and constructive" meetings with Ukrainian and European counterparts in Florida. Trump's top economic adviser Kevin Hassett also struck an upbeat tone, downplaying risks around a Supreme Court challenge to the administration's tariffs and saying the court is likely to side with the White House. He also suggested an improving economy has buoyed the chances of a plan to deliver one-time $2,000 rebate checks to many Americans—an idea Trump has repeatedly floated but faces major roadblocks. Meanwhile, the Epstein files controversy continues. Justice officials said removing a photo of Trump (and several other images) from the agency's release of files tied to the convicted pedophile was about victim protection, not politics. The Justice Department had released thousands of pages of documents from investigations, including images of celebrities and politicians. | |
Deep Dive: OpenAI Proxies | |
 Illustration: Vincent Kilbride OpenAI can do almost everything, it seems: its software writes code, drafts presentations and converses like a person, inspiring trillion-dollar bets across Silicon Valley and Wall Street. Yet one inconvenient fact remains: ordinary people can't invest in it. Here's our guide to imperfect, creative, picks-and-shovels strategies to gain exposure now before a potential IPO. - Attempts to buy just one actual OpenAI share across multiple platforms at the moment end with the same result: none for sale.
- As the OpenAI's private-market valuation soars, worries grow that mom-and-pop investors may be jumping in at exactly the wrong moment.
- The company has yet to show a profit—but appears to be squeezing better margins out of its paid products.
- China's OpenAI rivals MiniMax and Zhipu AI have just offered a first look into their business models and profit prospects ahead of their IPOs.
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 The former Manifattura Tabacchi site outside Bari, where Adriatic DC plans a 200-megawatt data center. Photographer: Roberto Salomone/Bloomberg Big Tech's dominance of AI infrastructure is shrinking as a host of other players pile into the arena. While greater diversification spreads risk beyond a single industry, it also means any collapse in the AI business case would ripple across the global economy, hitting firms and financial markets alike. | |
| Big Take Podcast |  | | | |
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 Deck the halls Photographer: ANGELA WEISS/AFP Wall Street is bullish on 2026, but you should assume it's wrong, Jonathan Levin writes. The annual update to the strategist scorecard shows the street's abysmal track record predicting the S&P 500. | |
| One More Opinion |  | | | |
| Our daily word puzzle with a plot twist. Play now! | |
 A Waymo driverless car unable to detect traffic lights Photographer: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu/Getty Images Silicon stall. In San Francisco on Saturday, Waymo's driverless cars stalled mid-ride across the city as traffic lights went dark during a widespread power outage. The cars became stationary roadblocks as traffic backed up, during one of the city's busiest shopping periods. Meanwhile, Uber and Lyft are charging ahead abroad, teaming up with Baidu to trial robotaxis in the UK, starting in London next year. | |
| A Couple More |  | |  | | | |
| Bloomberg Invest: Join the world's most influential investors and financial leaders in New York on March 3-4. This flagship event examines how AI disruption, geopolitical uncertainty, shifting central bank policy and the convergence of public and private markets are reshaping global finance. Learn more here. | |
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