Trump's plans for Venezuelan oil, defense spending hikes

Wall Street is attempting to cut through the noise out of Washington, D.C., after President Trump hinted at a long string of policy proposals, ranging from hiking defense spending to his administration's plans for Venezuelan oil and possibly banning institutional investors from buying single-family homes. Schwab Center for Financial Research head of macro research and strategy Kevin Gordon sits down with Julie Hyman to discuss how investors should be interpreting possible policy risks. Also, catch Kevin Gordon discuss the broadening of AI themes in 2026. Oil prices are rising after US Energy Secretary Chris Wright outlined the Trump administration's strategy, saying the US will control Venezuela's oil exports indefinitely. Yahoo Finance Breaking News Reporter Jake Conley sits down on Opening Bid with Julie Hyman to discuss the energy market's moves.

Nvidia (NVDA), Constellation Brands (STZ), and Applied Digital (APLD) are some of the trending tickers on Yahoo Finance's platform on Thursday. Morning Brief host Julie Hyman and Yahoo Finance Data and Markets Editor Jared Blikre examine the stories driving investor interest in the stocks. After artificial intelligence dominated Wall Street headlines in 2025, Schwab Center for Financial Research head of macro research and strategy Kevin Gordon discusses the diversity and investment options now made available in the current phase of the AI trade in 2026.

President Trump is giving Wall Street investors whiplash with a deluge of new policy proposals, from hiking defense spending to $1.5 trillion to expecting 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil and plans to ban institutional investors from buying single-family homes. Yahoo Finance Washington correspondent Ben Werschkul comes on the program to explain Trump's vision for the US occupation of Venezuela in relation to the oil industry, while the administration seeks to raise its defense budget in 2027. 

Takeaways:

• President Trump announced new policy proposals regarding US housing and a hike in defense spending
• US stock futures are ticking lower in Thursday's pre-market trading after the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and S&P 500 (^GSPC) closed below new record highs in yesterday's sessions
• According to a Bloomberg report, Chinese officials are set to approve the purchase of Nvidia's H200 AI chips (NVDA)

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