CNBC Fast Money | October 8, 2025

AI Ripple Rally Boosts Copper Miners… And The Fed’s Next Move As Rally Rolls On

Hosted by: Brian Sullivan (in for Melissa Lee)
Panel: Steve Grasso, Karen Feinerman, Guy Adami, Bono N., Christina Partsinevelos (correspondent), Carter Worth (Chartmaster), Ben Emons (guest), David Steinberg (Zeta Global CEO)
Location: NASDAQ MarketSite, Times Square, NYC

Episode Overview

This episode examines the broad market rally, with special focus on how AI-driven demand is reshaping commodity markets—especially copper—and boosting miners' stocks. The discussion also covers gold’s persistent price climb, the Fed’s next steps amid record highs, Nvidia’s ecosystem strategies, the continued boom for power infrastructure, and a key interview with Zeta Global’s CEO on AI in advertising. Final trades feature actionable stock picks from the panel.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Market Highs and the Tech Rally ([01:02])

• Both the NASDAQ and the S&P closed at new all-time highs, led by massive year-to-date gains, especially for tech stocks. The NASDAQ is now up nearly 20% in 2025.
• The show notes recurring “air adjacent” (AI-adjacent) demand themes, leading into the commodities segment.

2. Copper Surge Driven By AI Data Center Demand ([02:34]-[09:19])

Copper’s Unprecedented Run

• Guy Adami: “Copper prices are up…12% already this month, I think up 27% for the year. Back above $5 a pound. Yeah, copper is going higher.” ([03:39])
• Increased demand for data centers—especially those powering AI—is “sending copper prices soaring,” said Brian Sullivan, with miners “the big beneficiaries.”
• Steve Grasso: “Originally a data center uses three to ten times the amount of copper...that mine with FCX, that’s 3% of the supply globally. Just the one mine.” ([04:00])

Supply Constraints & Strategic Implications

• Discussion about Freeport McMoRan’s position—3% of global copper supply is offline, adding to tightness amid surging demand.
• Speculation that Freeport might become a U.S. government strategic stake due to copper’s importance, similar to stakes in Intel and other critical commodities.
  • Steve Grasso: “I think eventually there is to be some sort of a government stake within it because...they’re going to look at [Freeport] as a strategic stake.” ([05:37])
• Noted government risks with international competitors (e.g., Southern Copper is technically headquartered in Arizona but primarily operates mines in Peru and Mexico).

Other Players & Investment Angles

• BHP and Rio Tinto were highlighted as alternatives to Freeport, with Rio cited by Bono N. as a "catch up" and “higher beta play, a riskier play, but…a restructuring and post litigation play.” ([06:08])
• Guy Adami: “The copper story is not going away anytime soon...it’s a land grab. The Chinese have been way ahead on this.” ([07:57])
• Brian Sullivan: Southern Copper “kind of a quiet company. All it’s done is print money…from $32 to $100 over five years.” ([08:36])

3. Gold’s Relentless Rally—But Time to Trim? ([09:19]-[13:59])

Gold at Record Highs—But Overextended?

• Gold set its 44th record high of 2025, now “solidly above the $4000 level.”
• Carter Worth (Chartmaster): “Book some profits, take some off...It is as loved now as it was abhorred or hated two, three years ago.” ([10:18])
• Chart analysis suggests room to pause: “The pattern is resolved...What I see is just too steep, uncorrected, unsustainable.” ([11:22])

Is Gold Overbought?

• Guy Adami: “Gold RSI and monthly levels above 90 for the first time in history, which means it’s ridiculously overbought. Gold will sell off, though, on the back of a market sell off. We’ve seen it before.” ([12:02])
• Discussion about central banks loading up on gold, especially China, as a hedge against debasement and instability.

Crypto as the New Inflation Hedge?

• Karen Feinerman: “This is not their father’s gold. This is digital gold. So I’m in bitcoin, not gold.” ([14:00])
  • Notes the unprecedented crypto-friendliness of the current administration, institutional inflows, and shifting generational preferences.
• Panel observes that gold has held its value vs. the dollar for a century, while bitcoin's performance in recent years has dwarfed gold’s.

4. Power Infrastructure Boom ([15:53]-[17:17])

Winners from the AI & Electrification Wave

• Stocks like Quanta Services (power lines), Constellation Energy, Vistra, GE Vernova, and NRG are all surging.
• Steve Grasso: “We need more copper, we need more power. Everything that we’re doing here and with crypto and with AI is going to need more power.” ([16:04])
• Not all power companies benefit equally: Some have regulated pricing, while others can profit fully from spot market demand.

Guy Adami: Warns that ultimately “there will be a breaking point where areas, people, even data centers might say there is a limit to what we can pay for power.” ([16:45])

5. Nvidia, AI Investment Loops & “Feeding the Ecosystem” ([19:46]-[26:09])

Nvidia’s Massive Networked Bets

• Correspondent Christina Partsinevelos reports Nvidia’s dominant influence: $2B investment in Elon Musk’s xAI as part of a $20B funding round—all with the purpose of selling and financing Nvidia chips directly or indirectly.
• Jensen Huang (Nvidia CEO): “The only regret I have is I didn’t give him [Musk] more money…largely my only regret is that we didn’t invest more.” ([20:35])

Is Nvidia Propping up AI Demand?

• Debate whether Nvidia is using its capital to create demand for its own products—a self-reinforcing flywheel not “illegal,” but potentially risky if AI demand cools.
• Guy Adami: “It works until it sort of doesn’t work…if you were to see a slowdown…capex will get cut and this whole system…starts to fade away.” ([21:43])
• Brian Sullivan: “Is the rate of AI infrastructure buildout sustainable? Are we pulling forward 10–20 years of earnings to now?” ([24:14])
• Bono N.: “[Nvidia would] be highly criticized if they stood pat and did nothing. They’re in a position where they can widen out their customer base.” ([24:38])

6. Zeta Global: AI’s Advertising Shake-Up ([37:42]-[43:30])

AI Embedded in AdTech

• David Steinberg (Zeta Global CEO): “Most companies have been doing it [AI] for 7 or 8 months. We’ve been doing it for 7 or 8 years…AI allows organizations to process information faster and get to intelligence faster when used properly.” ([38:15])
• Claims their AI returns $5–7 of revenue for every dollar a client spends, aiming to reach $10 with recent acquisitions and advances. ([39:03])
• Zeta’s moat comes from owning “one of the world’s largest data clouds” and architecting their platform with AI and data at its core; competitors often rely on slow, third-party data workflows.

Business Model & Customer Diversity

• Zeta serves 567 enterprise clients, including 44% of the Fortune 100, with its largest vertical (retail) at 17% of revenue. Recent acquisitions expand their media platform offerings but avoid business concentration risk.

  “For every dollar an enterprise client spends using our AI and software, we return 5 to $7 in revenue today…Our goal…is to get to a $10 return.”

— David Steinberg ([39:03])

7. Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk & GLP-1 Drugs ([27:47]-[29:43])

Eli Lilly Stock Target Raised

• Guggenheim boosts price target to $948 (from $875) on expected pricing/volume growth; Lilly hits highest marks since April.
  • Karen Feinerman: “I'm long Lilly. I think Lilly is expensive, but it’s worth it…But also I’ve been adding to Novo, which is, you know, the poor man’s Lilly…I think that makes Novo interesting.” ([28:12])

Growth Beyond Weight Loss Drugs

• Discussion around the continued “GLP-1 narrative” for weight-loss and diabetes drugs, but noting historical relevance of both companies aside from this recent success.
• Guy Adami: Points out multi-standard deviation valuation premiums for Lilly/Novo; predicts a future “catch up trade” among lower-multiple pharmas like Merck and Bristol Myers.

8. The Fed’s Next Moves and Market Resilience ([31:12]-[36:51])

Fed Minutes: Dovish Lean, Record Highs

• The Fed is divided on how soon to cut rates, leaving the market in limbo but undeterred. “A slim majority…expecting two more cuts this year,” but low-quality, incomplete data due to the government shutdown slows decision-making. ([31:50])
• Ben Emons: “There’s a group…that wanted to keep rates on hold…That was notable.”
• The 10-year yield is “exactly where it was like 18 months ago,” yet market keeps making fresh highs.
• Under the surface, possible global risks lurk: Japanese yields rising as the yen weakens, potential spillover into the U.S. market.

Fed Balance Sheet and Leadership

• Panel considers fast-approaching end to quantitative tightening due to low reserve levels, referencing Silicon Valley Bank’s crisis period.
• Market expects Powell’s replacement to be dovish, which could keep stocks moving higher regardless of short-term Federal Reserve signals.
  • Steve Grasso: “The market probably…already has…It's a decay value on Powell. They know lower rates are coming whether you like it or not.” ([35:31])

9. Earnings Season Preview ([43:31]-[44:59])

Delta, Pepsi, and Levi’s Set to Report

• Bono N.: Key focus is on Delta’s fuel costs, international/business class split; for Pepsi, watching for “continued shrinkflation” and GLP-1’s consumer effects. ([44:08])
• Karen Feinerman: Potential for weight loss drugs (GLP-1s) to hurt snack business, remains long Lilly as a hedge.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Copper/Ai Link:
  “All these data centers are very copper intensive…we’re expecting demand [for copper] to grow by up to 70% by 2050.”
  — BHP CEO Mike Henry ([03:02])
• On Gold’s Overbuying:
  “Gold RSI and monthly levels above 90 for the first time in history...which means it’s ridiculously overbought.”
  — Guy Adami ([12:02])
• Crypto vs Gold:
  “This is not their father’s gold. This is digital gold…so I’m in bitcoin, not gold.”
  — Karen Feinerman ([14:00])
• Nvidia’s AI Funding Flywheel:
  “The only regret I have is I didn’t give him more money [Elon Musk/X.AI]...we didn’t invest more.”
  — Jensen Huang ([20:35])
• Zeta’s Value Proposition:
  “For every dollar an enterprise client spends using our AI and software, we return 5 to $7 in revenue today.”
  — David Steinberg, Zeta Global ([39:03])
• Fed Caution:
  “There's a group…that wanted to keep rates on hold…That was notable.”
  — Ben Emons ([31:50])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Market and Copper Rally — [1:02]-[9:19]
• Gold’s Record and Chart Analysis — [9:19]-[14:17]
• Power Infrastructure Boom — [15:53]-[17:17]
• Nvidia, xAI, and the AI Investment Loop — [19:46]-[26:09]
• Zeta Global CEO Interview — [37:42]-[43:30]
• Eli Lilly/Novo/GLP-1 Segment — [27:47]-[29:43]
• Fed Minutes & Macro Discussion — [31:12]-[36:51]
• Earnings Preview: Delta, Pepsi, Levi’s — [44:08]-[44:59]

Final Trades ([45:00]-[45:56])

• Steve Grasso: Freeport McMoRan (FCX) — reaffirms bullishness on copper.
• Karen Feinerman: Novo Nordisk (NVO), also long on Eli Lilly (LLY).
• Bono N.: Deere & Co. (DE), benefiting from agri-trends.
• Guy Adami: Zeta Global (ZETA), following the strong management interview.

This episode provided a fast-paced, actionable breakdown of the intersection between AI, commodities, power infrastructure, and the Fed’s influence on markets, highlighting key themes for current and future investment opportunities.