Uncle Sam’s rare earth stake, Nike layoffs, five years of meme stocks and more in Morning Squawk

Happy Tuesday. Today we tell you about the five-year anniversary of the meme stock frenzy, which has me thinking it’s finally time to watch “Dumb Money.”

S&P 500 futures are little changed. The three major indexes are coming off a winning day.

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

Yesterday was another day of market-moving announcements from the White House. This time, the headlines centered on rare earths, Treasury contracts and health care.

Here’s what to know:

• Shares of USA Rare Earth closed nearly 8% higher after the company announced that the Commerce Department will take an equity stake.
• The department issued a letter of intent saying it will provide a $1.3 billion loan and $277 million in federal funding to the critical minerals startup, whose stock as much as 29% in yesterday’s session.
• In an exclusive interview with CNBC, CEO Barbara Humpton described how a meeting with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in November led to the deal. “The government is taking an economic interest in the business, not a governance interest,” she told CNBC.
• On the other hand, shares of Booz Allen Hamilton fell 8% yesterday after the Treasury Department canceled its contracts with the consulting firm, one of whose employees leaked President Donald Trump’s tax records.
• The Treasury said it had dozens of contracts amounting to nearly $5 million in annual spending and $21 million in total obligations with Booz Allen.
• Later yesterday, health insurers plunged in extended trading after the Trump administration floated keeping Medicare Advantage rates nearly flat next year.
• Shares of CVS Health, Humana, UnitedHealth Group and Elevance Health are all sharply lower before the bell this morning.
• Follow live markets updates here.

Federal agents’ killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis over the weekend has continued to reverberate across the U.S., from Minnesota to Washington, D.C. — and even corporate America. The incident has put corporate executives under scrutiny, as they continue to try walk a political tightrope in the wake of Trump’s return to office.

Incoming Target CEO Michael Fiddelke said in a video message to staff that “violence and loss of life in our community is incredibly painful.” Fiddelke, who will take the helm of the Minneapolis-based retailer in February, did not mention Trump or the two shooting victims by name. Meanwhile, several Big Tech executives have been silent on the situation, in stark contrast to their response to George Floyd’s killing in 2020.

The White House yesterday appeared to dial back its tone on Pretti’s death. “Nobody in the White House, including President Trump, wants to see people getting hurt or killed in America’s streets,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

Shares of General Motors rose more than 4% this morning after the automaker beat analysts’ earnings expectations. GM also unveiled a 20% quarterly dividend increase and a $6 billion share repurchase authorization.

The company slightly missed Wall Street’s revenue forecast. Earlier this month, the automaker pre-announced special charges for the quarter tied to “legal matters,” its headquarters move and its defunct robotaxi business.

GM wasn’t the only transportation name to report earnings this morning. American Airlines missed expectations on both lines, but shares rose 3% on its revenue growth outlook for 2026. Boeing shares ticked 1% higher after the company reported higher-than-anticipated revenue and surging sales.

Nike is laying off 775 workers, CNBC reported yesterday. The cuts particularly target distribution center staff in Tennessee and Mississippi, according to people familiar with the matter.

Nike said in a statement it’s aiming to “strengthen and streamline our operations” and that the cuts are part of its plan to return to “long-term, profitable growth.” The Oregon-based company also said it’s “accelerating” its use of automation.

The layoffs come on top of the 1,000 corporate job reductions the athletic retailer announced last summer.

This week marks roughly five years since GameStop ignited the short squeeze that put Wall Street on notice. While the trend of “meme stock” trading ended up being a fad, the pandemic-era boom in retail investing didn’t.

BlackRock found that individual investors now account for nearly 20% of average daily trading volume in U.S. equities, up from low single digits before the pandemic. These mom-and-pop traders aren’t taking their foot of the gas: 2025 brought record retail flows that were around 17% higher than when the meme stock mania took off in 2021, according to JPMorgan.

Shares of GameStop jumped 4% yesterday after famed investor Michael Burry announced he was buying the stock. Burry noted that he was “not counting on a short squeeze to realize long-term value,” instead saying he believed in the company’s strategy and its CEO Ryan Cohen.

Gold finished above the $5,000 per ounce mark yesterday, notably surpassing the $5,100 level during the trading session. The precious metal has surged amid rising geopolitical tensions.

CNBC’s Spencer Kimball, Brian Sullivan, Dan Mangan, Pia Singh, Annika Kim Constantino, Melissa Repko, Lola Murti, Michael Wayland, Leslie Josephs, Laya Neelakandan, Sara Eisen, Gabrielle Fonrouge, Jessica Golden, Yun Li, Kate Rooney and Gabriel Cortes contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.