Motley Fool Money — "Big Tech Is Fun Again & The Fed Speaks"

Date: September 19, 2025
Host: Travis Hoyam
Guests: Lou Whiteman, Jason Moser

Episode Overview

This episode dives into several major topics impacting investors: the Fed’s latest rate cut and what it signals for the economy, a deep look into Nvidia's $5 billion deal with Intel, the practicality (or lack thereof) of Meta’s new AI-powered Ray-Ban glasses, and the evolving landscape of “agentic commerce” in AI, featuring Google/PayPal’s new partnership. The team wraps up with insights from David Gardner’s new book, “Rule Breaker Investing,” and their stocks to watch for the upcoming week.

Federal Reserve Rate Cut: Implications & Market Response

[00:40]–[08:23]

• Fed Cuts by 0.25%:
  The Federal Reserve announced a 25 basis point rate cut, aiming to mitigate economic slowing while acknowledging continued complexity and uncertainty.

• Market Reaction:
  Stocks near all-time highs, but concerns remain about the underlying signals.
  Lou: “The Fed is sort of sounding the alarm ... we had a very, very complicated economic situation with tariffs ... and the Fed is sort of confirming, yes, there's a lot going on here and it's only getting more complicated.” (01:28)

• Policy Guidance:
  While the Fed didn’t explicitly promise more cuts, its “dot plot” implies further cuts may be coming this year—shifting the narrative from fighting inflation to fighting rising unemployment.

• Mortgage & Consumer Loans:
  Although the Fed sets short-term rates, longer-term rates (like the 10-year Treasury) rose—a mixed result.
  Jason: “We saw applications to refinance home loans ... up 58% versus the previous week. It was 70% higher than the same week a year ago ... but purchasers clearly are still on the sidelines.” (07:09)

• Long-Term Market Outlook:
  The panel notes that the Fed has limited power—other factors like US debt, tariffs, and global trends matter. The old belief that the Fed can fix everything is waning.

Nvidia and Intel: Partnership or Lifeline?

[08:23]–[12:45]

• Nvidia’s $5B Investment:
  Nvidia is set to invest $5B into Intel, following government moves to convert grants into equity. This brings together two major semiconductor players as Intel seeks relevance.

• Nature of the Collaboration:
  More than foundry work, this partnership will see tighter integration between Intel CPUs and Nvidia’s AI chips and GPUs.
  Lou: “I think intel is a winner here. But gosh, I feel for AMD because AMD has to compete with both of these guys ... having your two biggest rivals working together, it feels like you're ganging up on AMD.” (10:05)

• Bigger Picture:
  Possibility for even larger industry-driven funding of domestic semiconductor manufacturing (akin to ASML in Europe). But both Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and the panel agree: money alone won’t recreate TSMC’s “magic.”
  Lou: “Jensen Huang said ... ‘Taiwan semi makes magic. So we don't just need money, we need the magic of that.’ He sounded pretty skeptical of just recreating Taiwan Semi at Intel.” (12:25)

Meta’s New Ray-Ban Smart Glasses: Tech’s Next Platform or Overhyped?

[13:57]–[19:44]

• Meta Doubles Down on AR:
  Despite huge losses in VR/Metaverse, Zuckerberg pushes forward with smart glasses—new models offer AI integration, real-world querying, and messaging.

• Panel Response:
  Respect for persistence, but doubts about mainstream appeal.
  Jason: “They're coming along, but they're still not fully there yet. But I do see a lot of promise ... I think a lot of it is really just finding those killer apps, why we need these devices.” (14:47)
  Lou: “Everything you talked about was cool, but all things I can do with my phone ... you need to have a killer app that differentiates from the phone.” (16:13)

• Competitive Landscape:
  Google partners with Warby Parker; Snap struggles after six generations; Amazon enters both retail and delivery glasses.

• Generational Divide:
  The younger generation hasn’t shown clear interest; could be a “want,” not a “need”—similar to smartwatches, but with more skeptical economics.

Rule Breaker Investing: David Gardner’s Approach & Lessons Learned

[20:31]–[29:39]

• David Gardner’s Book Launch:
  “Rule Breaker Investing” provides lessons from Motley Fool’s long-term, high-conviction stock picking.

• Key Lesson:
  Big winners (the “100 baggers”) are the core of long-term outperformance.
  Travis: “Those winners are the point. That is the point ... That is the entire goal is to have the mindset to be able to find those stocks and then hang on to them for decades.” (22:59)

• Holding Is Hard—but Essential:
  Jason: “It is. The value comes in the holding of those, of those tremendous companies ... David Garner ... taught me how to look at things differently beyond sort of the conventional thinking ... adding to your winners can be a very powerful strategy, particularly over, over long periods of time.” (23:20)

• Investor Mindset:
  The Fool’s philosophy emphasizes building long-term relationships with companies—buy the vision, not just the near-term numbers.

• Uncertainty Fuels Opportunity:
  Travis: “There's something too about buying a culture ... and sort of understanding that there is uncertainty. And that's the point and that's the upside that you don't get that upside by, by having all the answers.” (27:14)

Google & PayPal: Agentic Commerce and AI Integration

[31:06]–[37:56]

• Agentic Commerce Defined:
  The new Google-PayPal partnership is meant to enable “agentic commerce”—AI agents handling purchases, searches, and transactions for users.

• Skepticism on Real-World Impact:
  Jason: “It sounds like a big deal ... but the process ... there are a lot of things that have to go right ... customer or consumer adoption ... historically, the E-commerce hype cycles are just notoriously overhyped.” (33:31)

• Best Use Case?:
  Consumer use is uncertain (would you want your fridge automating groceries?), but AI automation may prove most valuable in large enterprise settings (like automated supply chain orders).
  Lou: “It makes so much more sense for a corporation than it does for ... consumers.” (35:10)

• Google’s Platform Advantage:
  The key advantage may be Google’s distribution—they can roll out new features to billions via Chrome and Android.
  Jason: “If Google can just roll out all of these features and all of this technology that makes that experience better and more seamless ...” (37:37)
  Travis: “... for free. We also need to bring that up is that ChatGPT runs on subscriptions. Google has an ad business.” (37:44)

Stocks on the Radar

[38:06]–[40:54]

• Lou: FedEx — Beat lowered expectations, showing green shoots in a cyclical industry hit by tariffs. “I think we be nearing time where this works again.” (38:06)
• Jason: Costco (COST) — “Boring” company, but shares up 180% in five years, with membership renewals as a core metric of value and growth. “Renewals just continue to impress ... 92.7% U.S. and Canada renewal rate.” (39:20)
• Dan’s Pick: FedEx, for the strong brand and intriguing turnaround.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Lou: "I don't think we are just doomed to just the plane is going to crash from here. But I also don't know if it's a reason for celebration." (01:28)
• Jason: “The Fed is not the economy. ... This isn't the Wizard of Oz here.” (06:34)
• Lou: “Everything you talked about was cool, but all things I can do with my phone. ... I think you need to have a killer app that differentiates from the phone. And I'm not sure if I've, I've seen that Yet.” (16:13)
• Travis: “Those winners are the point. That is the point.” (22:59)
• Jason: “Adding to your winners can be a very powerful strategy, particularly over, over long periods of time.” (23:20)
• Travis: “There's something too about buying a culture ... and sort of understanding that there is uncertainty. And that's the point ...” (27:14)
• Jason: “Agentic commerce is a new form of commerce where autonomous AI agents act on behalf of consumers to search for, purchase, and receive goods and services. ... a little bit more difficult to actually execute.” (33:31)
• Lou: “Not buying Meta display glasses, not buying stuff with agents, just a grumpy old man.” (36:06)

Episode Structure

• Fed & Economy: Discussion of rate cut, economic signals, long-term market shifts
• Big Tech: Nvidia & Intel’s partnership, implications for chip industry
• Consumer Tech: Meta’s smart glasses, platform ambitions, generational perspectives
• Investing Philosophy: Rule Breaker approach, mindset shifts, real-life winners
• AI & Commerce: Google/PayPal’s agentic commerce, Chrome as an AI platform, practical use cases
• Stocks to Watch: FedEx, Costco, with analysis and a lighthearted logo discussion

For long-term investors: the episode’s core theme is not only navigating macroeconomic uncertainty, but also understanding how technology innovation, investor mindset, and business models—often ahead of market consensus—shape durable outperformance.