Amazon is cutting 14,000 jobs to fund AI investments. Gold is close to all-time highs, but Bank of America is predicting gold to hit $6,000/oz next year. And Cathie Wood, one of the biggest tech bulls out there, is calling for an AI “reality check” correction.

This is the kind of environment where knowing when to take profits matters more than picking winners. Because even the winners can reverse violently when narratives shift. If you're sitting on gains in AI stocks, rare earth miners, or semiconductors, do you know your exit strategy? We've put together a guide on profit-taking timing for you below.

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This is the question that separates average traders from great ones. Take profits too early, and you miss life-changing gains. Hold too long, and you watch them evaporate!

And the market is forcing the profit question on everyone this week:

It’s a ton of news and information.

So, we've created a compact guide on profit-taking strategies for when to scale out, when to hold, and how to use technical and fundamental signals to make the decision:

Markets sprinted to fresh records Monday after hopes for a US–China trade deal lifted sentiment.

The Fed is widely expected to cut rates by 0.25 percentage points on Wednesday, with markets betting on additional cuts in December and January. Unemployment claims continue climbing while inflation cooled to 3%, though the central bank faces internal divisions and political pressure for aggressive easing.

Gold dropped below $4,000 as investors dumped safe-haven assets on trade deal optimism, snapping a nine-week winning streak. Despite the pullback from record highs, Wall Street remains bullish with Bank of America targeting $6,000 and Goldman Sachs forecasting $4,900 by the end of 2026.

OpenAI warned the US risks falling behind China in the AI race without massive power grid investments, calling for 100 gigawatts of new energy capacity annually. The company highlighted an "electron gap" as China added 429 gigawatts last year versus just 51 in the US, declaring "electrons are oil" in an 11-page White House submission. Is this legitimate, or is CEO Sam Altman getting desperate for funding?

Amazon is laying off 14,000 corporate employees in what's expected to become the largest corporate job cuts in the company's history. The company said it's cutting roles to make the organization leaner and less bureaucratic while investing more heavily in generative AI. The layoffs underscore a brutal trend: AI is simultaneously driving investment and eliminating jobs.

Cathie Wood warned of an AI "reality check" while rejecting fears of a full bubble. Speaking at Saudi Arabia's Future Investment Initiative, the Ark Invest CEO said that as interest rates begin to rise, "there will be a shudder" in markets. She also state that “We think there will be a reality check.” Despite the near-term warning, she remains long-term bullish on AI, particularly humanoid robots.

Qualcomm soared 11% after announcing its entry into the AI data center chip market with new AI200 and AI250 processors. The stock spiked over 20% intraday before settling, as the company targets AI inference workloads starting in 2026 and promises lower power consumption. The meaning: Qualcomm is stepping up to give Nvidia and AMD a run for their money in the chip space.

PayPal surged 14% in premarket trading after signing a deal with OpenAI to become the first payments wallet integrated into ChatGPT. Starting next year, PayPal users can purchase items through the AI platform, and merchants can sell directly through ChatGPT with inventory listed there. The agreement gives PayPal a massive new distribution channel and validates the conversational commerce thesis.

Rare earth miners fell sharply after reports that a potential US-China deal could ease export controls, removing a key bullish catalyst. MP Materials, USA Rare Earth, and Lithium Americas all declined as traders priced in reduced supply chain tension.

Short sellers are having their worst year since 2020, and they’re blaming retail investors (that’s you and us!). Retail investor activity surged to 22% of all stock market trades, the highest level since the February 2021 meme stock peak.

A new bill from Rep. Ro Khanna aims to ban stock and crypto trading by elected officials, following scrutiny of a timely AMD purchase by Rep. Dan Newhouse (who serves on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy) just ahead of the DOE's $1 billion AMD partnership announcement.

The private equity secondaries boom hit $200 billion this year, tripling since 2020 as investors sought liquidity from aging funds. Firms such as Evercore helped limited partners offload stakes stuck in illiquid portfolios, turning secondaries into a key source of cash flow.

The surge came as traditional exits froze, pushing funds to recycle capital through continuation vehicles and secondary sales. Evercore’s private capital advisory team led a wave of deals that reshaped how private equity investors manage liquidity in a slow market.

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That’s all for today. Did we miss anything? Smash the reply button to let me know.

Cheers,
Brandon & Blake of Invested Inc