Dow, S&P 500 Close at Record Highs to Wrap Up a Strong Week of Gains for Major Indexes

Trump Posted Unpublished Jobs Report Data Ahead of Scheduled Release

3 hr 30 min ago

If you wanted to know how the jobs market was doing at the end of the year, you could have waited until Friday morning’s highly anticipated December jobs report—or you could have gotten the information early by following President Donald Trump’s social media feed.

Late Thursday, about 12 hours before the scheduled release of the data, Trump posted a graph prepared by the Council of Economic Advisors on his Truth Social platform showing job creation figures since January.

When the Bureau of Labor Statistics published the official jobs report Friday morning, the data matched what Trump had posted the night before: U.S. employers added just 473,000 jobs from February through December, marking the slowest pace of job creation outside of a recession since 2003. Trump’s post highlighted the fact that the private sector had accounted for all new jobs created over the period, while the number of government jobs had fallen sharply.

Read the full article here.

–Diccon Hyatt

Stocks Could Keep Rising Even If AI Spending Slows Down. Here’s Why

3 hr 34 min ago

Big tech’s massive investments in artificial intelligence propelled stocks to record after record last year. They may not need another year of big spending to keep climbing in 2026.

U.S. hyperscalers—Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META), and Oracle (ORCL)—are expected to spend more than $500 billion on infrastructure, much of it related to AI, this year. If they do, tech capital expenditures as a percent of GDP will reach a level that marked the peak of past tech investment cycles, including the personal computing boom of the 1980s, the Dotcom boom of the 1990s, and the post-pandemic “Zoom boom,” wrote Dhaval Joshi, chief strategist at BCA Research, on Thursday.

In the 80s and 90s, tech stocks began to lag the market about a year before the capex cycle peaked. If this cycle is the same, Joshi wrote, “AI-plays in the stock market are in imminent danger.” But this cycle looks more like the Zoom boom than the Dotcom Bubble, he argues, thanks to the interest rate environment. 

“Even if the AI capex boom ends, an ultra-accommodative Fed can prolong the stock market rally,” wrote Joshi.

Read the full article here.

–Colin Laidley

Dow, Nasdaq, S&P 500 Easily Post Weekly Gains

3 hr 38 min ago

Major stock indexes closed comfortably higher the first full trading week of 2026. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 ended up a respective 2.3%, 1.9%, and 1.6% over the five sessions after all finished in the red last week.

Over the six trading days this year, the blue-chip Dow, tech-heavy Nasdaq, and benchmark S&P 500 are up 3.0%, 1.8%, an 0.8%, respectively.

Building Materials, Homebuilder Stocks Soar as Trump Orders $200B of Mortgage Bond Purchases

4 hr 38 min ago

Shares of building materials firms and homebuilders surged to end the week, a day after President Trump ordered his “representatives” to purchase $200 billion in mortgage bonds.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social network that he was making the move to “drive Mortgage Rates DOWN, monthly payments DOWN, and make the cost of owning a home more affordable.”

Builders FirstSource (BLDR) was among the top gainers in the S&P 500 with an 11% advance, while homebuilders Lennar (LEN), PulteGroup (PHM), and D.R. Horton (DHI) jumped roughly 7% to 8%.

The iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) climbed nearly 6%.

Here’s What President Trump Said About Intel’s CEO That’s Boosting the Stock Friday

5 hr 47 min ago

Intel’s stock hit its highest point in nearly two years Friday, thanks to a social media post.

The chipmaker’s stock was up nearly 10% in recent trading, making it one of the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 Friday after President Trump praised Intel (INTC) CEO Lip-Bu Tan on social media.

“I just finished a great meeting with the very successful Intel CEO, Lip-Bu Tan,” Trump said in a Truth Social post Thursday, and that the U.S. government is “proud” to be an Intel shareholder.

Just a few months earlier, Trump had pushed for Lip-Bu Tan to resign amid concerns about Tan’s stakes in Chinese companies. However, Trump changed his tune just days later after meeting with the CEO in August, and brokered a deal that saw the U.S. government take a 10% stake in the chipmaker.

Read the full article here.

–Aaron McDade

Think Small-Caps Are Set to Take Off? Here Are Some Expert Stock Tips

6 hr 15 min ago

The stock market’s underdogs may be ready to lead the pack.

Small-caps—generally, companies with market capitalizations between about $250 million and $2 billion—are poised to outpace their larger peers this year, Wall Street analysts say. The group’s early 2026 outperformance supports that view: The S&P 600 and the Russell 2000, benchmark indexes for that category, have risen more than 4% year-to-date, outpacing the broader market.

This may sound familiar. Market strategists have asserted that smaller companies were due to trounce their larger peers time and time again in recent years—then seen them struggle to do so. This year, experts see the stars aligning to support a long-awaited boost for the category: earnings are set to rebound, monetary policy is more accommodative, and there’s the possibility that some tariffs are taken off the table.

“Earnings outperformance should drive small caps to lead,” wrote Jill Carey Hall, Bank of America’s head of U.S. small- and mid-cap strategy, last month.

In a follow-up report published Friday, she offered a list of 30 “smid-cap” stocks whose 12-month price targets imply average upside of almost 30%.

Hall said that about 90% of the stocks on the list saw upbeat consensus earnings-per-share revisions over the last three months, with median growth projections for the next 12 months at 23%.

Read the full article here.

–Crystal Kim

Got ACA Sticker Shock? Here Are Some Cheaper Health Insurance Options to Consider Before Jan. 15

7 hr 17 min ago

As the end of open enrollment for Obamacare plans approaches, some individuals facing significant premium increases are seeking alternatives to the Health Insurance Marketplace.

Boulder, Colorado, resident Rebecca Rush spent much of the 2026 Affordable Care Act (ACA) open enrollment season in sticker shock.

The premiums for her 2025 health insurance—a Bronze plan with a $9,500 deductible—were increasing from an already pricey $760 to $1,001 a month, and it was one of her more affordable marketplace options.

“I was stressed financially,” she said.“The last few years, I’ve had to get worse insurance to stay in my budget, and I was still paying tons of money [out-of-pocket] for everything.”

So, when a private health insurance broker contacted her, Rush was happy to hear his pitch. For the first time since the ACA marketplaces opened in 2013, she chose an off-market plan.

Read the full article here.

–Jeanine Skowronski

The ACA Subsidy Cliff Is Back. Here’s What You Can Do to Avoid It

7 hr 58 min ago

If you’re planning to buy or have already bought health insurance off the exchange this year, your premiums may have surged. And if you’re not careful, you could be on the hook for a huge tax bill next year.

At the start of the year, enhanced premium tax credits, a type of subsidy for Affordable Care Act (ACA) premiums, expired.

These temporary subsidies were enacted in 2021 and reduced the cost of health insurance premiums for those making more than 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL)—or about $62,600 for individuals in 2025.

Those with a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) that falls above the 400% threshold face what some are calling a “subsidy cliff.”

“If that number [your MAGI] is $1 above the threshold, you lose the tax credit,” said Carolyn McClanahan, a certified financial planner and founder of Life Planning Partners.

Read the full article here.

–Trina Paul

How to Trade the Next Earnings Season? Goldman Says Try Options

8 hr 20 min ago

Earnings season is around the corner. Goldman Sachs’ analysts have ideas about how to trade it.

Options pricing suggests traders expect the average S&P 500 stock to move up or down 4.5% after earnings, near the lowest level of implied volatility in the last 20 years, according to Goldman. Just two quarters ago the average S&P 500 stock moved 5.4% on earnings, their highest volatility since 2009.

That disparity likely reflects expectations for a low-volatility earnings season, Goldman’s analysts wrote. “But we believe the fundamental drivers of earnings volatility remain,” they said.

At the sector level, Goldman sees the most opportunity for post-earnings volatility in utilities, healthcare, materials, and industrials stocks. Utilities in particular have been abnormally volatile in recent quarters. Volatility has declined in most other sectors, including tech, over the past year. 

Goldman sees good reason to expect more upside than downside this coming earnings season. Goldman’s S&P 500 earnings estimates rose 5%, and their price target for the index increased 8% over the past three months, but the index itself rose just 3%, suggesting “improvement in fundamentals has outpaced the rise in stock prices.”

Read the full article here.

–Colin Laidley

These Nuclear Energy Stocks Are Soaring Thanks to Deals With Meta

8 hr 51 min ago

Several nuclear energy stocks surged Friday morning thanks to new agreements with a Big Tech giant.

Facebook and Instagram parent Meta Platforms (META) said Friday it’s reached agreements with nuclear energy provider Vistra Corp. (VST), along with startup Oklo (OKLO) and Bill Gates-backed TerraPower. The Vistra deal will provide power to Meta from its currently operating reactors, while the startup deals will help the younger companies build their smaller nuclear reactors. Meta expects the Oklo and TerraPower reactors to come online between 2030 and 2035, the company said.

In total, Meta expects to add 6.6 gigawatts of power capacity to its data center network by 2035. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed in Friday’s release.

Vistra and Oklo shares each surged close to 14% Friday morning. Other nuclear stocks, including NuScale Power (SMR), Constellation Energy (CEG), and Nano Nuclear Energy (NNE), also gained. Meta shares were little changed.

Read the full article here.

–Aaron McDade

GM Set to Take $6B Hit From Pivot Away From EVs

9 hr 11 min ago

Another Detroit automotive giant is pivoting away from electric

vehicles, and expects to pay a heavy price to do so.

General Motors (GM) said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that it expects to take on $6 billion in impairment charges for the final quarter of 2025 as it shifts its priorities away from EVs.

Last month, Ford (F) made a similar announcement, saying it would shift focus back to internal combustion and hybrid vehicles amid lagging consumer demand for EVs, and announcing $19.5 billion in charges through the end of 2027.

GM executives will likely give more details on the result of its review of EV assets when the automaker reports fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 27.

GM shares were down 3.5% an hour after the opening bell Friday.

–Aaron McDade

How the Biggest Wealth Shift Ever Could Change Your Financial Future

9 hr 45 min ago

The United States is on the precipice of the largest wealth transfer in history; approximately $84 trillion will pass from one generation to the next by 2045. It’s expected to have a massive impact on inheritors, older loved ones who need help managing their finances, and others who must adjust to a changed financial future. It will influence retirement, investments, and tax strategies for decades. Here’s how to prepare, whether you’re leaving an inheritance or receiving one.

Industry analysts predict that baby boomers—those born between 1946 and 1964—will pass on approximately $84 trillion in wealth to their heirs by 2045. That’s almost three times the current GDP of the U.S.

The timing, tax implications, and distribution methods relating to this wealth transfer will affect how much heirs, primarily Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z, receive, and in turn, how that will shape their financial decisions, the economy, investment markets, housing prices, and retirement planning. For this reason, all parties need to be ready.

“I do not see millennials or Gen Z as fully prepared for the wealth transfer we have on the horizon. Many in these generations have not begun meaningful financial planning, which may stem from limited financial education or simply not having discretionary income left after covering essentials,” said Kevin Kautzmann, CFP, and founder of EBNY Financial.

Read the full article here.

–Ali Hussain

Jobs Report Shows US Labor Market Continues to Weaken

10 hr 11 min ago

The job market improved by one measure but stayed relatively slow in December.

U.S. employers added 50,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate edged down to 4.4% from a downwardly-revised 4.5% in November, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. The relatively slow job growth was slightly below the downwardly-revised 56,000 added in November, and was less than the 73,000 jobs forecasters had expected. Additionally, the unemployment rate was lower than the 4.5% forecast according to a survey of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

The unemployment rate fell for the first time since June, halting its recent upward trend. A downward revision lowered it to 4.5% instead of 4.6% in November as well. The rate in December was the same as September although higher than the 4% unemployment rate at the beginning of the year.

The slow job growth and elevated unemployment rate continued to show the effects of President Donald Trump’s economic policies, especially tariffs, which have discouraged hiring, and his crackdown on immigration, which has reduced the number of available workers. Job growth has slowed down significantly after averaging 147,000 workers per month through April of last year, when Trump announced his far-reaching “Liberation Day” tariffs on nearly every U.S. trading partner.

Job growth in the previous months was lower than previously thought: the bureau revised its job growth estimates for October and November by 76,000 total. The job market was shaken up in those months by the record-long government shutdown.

Read the full article here.

–Diccon Hyatt

How Much Americans Ages 55–64 Have Saved for Retirement—and How Many Have Nothing

11 hr 42 min ago

The Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances shows that 57% of households headed by someone ages 55–64 had money in retirement-specific accounts in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available. While that share is higher than in 2019, it’s among the lowest participation rates for this age group since 1995, according to the survey.

A household’s income, wealth, and ability to save for retirement are closely tied to age. Families tend to see assets grow over time, with earnings and net worth often peaking in the years leading up to retirement, according to the Fed’s data. For households in their mid-50s to mid-60s, median income and net worth are typically near their highest levels, reflecting decades of earnings, savings, and asset accumulation.

This lifestage can bring with it more financial flexibility than earlier years, as expenses tied to raising children or paying for college often decline. Even so, many people in this age range aren’t prioritizing—or able to maintain—retirement savings. Some households may be retiring earlier than planned or shifting assets as they prepare for income planning.

“Many households are consolidating accounts, retiring earlier, or shifting assets in anticipation of income planning,” said Eric Ludwig, director of the Center for Retirement Income at the American College of Financial Services. “Others never fully accumulated [their retirement savings] and are quietly opting out.”

Read the full article here.

–Sara Clarke

Vistra, Oklo Shares Soar on Power Deals With Meta Platforms

12 hr 24 min ago

Meta Platforms (META) did not announce financial terms of its new nuclear power deals. That isn’t preventing investors from buying shares of some of its partners.

Shares of Oklo (OKLO) and Vistra (VST) soared a respective 17% and 11% in premarket trading Friday after Meta announced it had inked “landmark agreements” with the companies and privately held TerraPower to power its AI projects.

The deals will support “up to 6.6 GW of new and existing clean energy by 2035,” Meta said, adding that “this work builds on our ongoing collaboration with electric utility companies and power providers to plan for and meet our energy needs years in advance of our data centers becoming operational.”

Meta had signed a 20-year power deal with Constellation Energy (CEG) last June.

Entering Friday, shares of Oklo have soared nearly 275% over the past year, while those of Vistra have slipped 6%. Shares of Meta, which entered the day up about 6% over the past year, was little changed before the bell.

Venezuela Investments: High-Risk, High-Reward—Or Neither?

12 hr 54 min ago

When U.S. special forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3, 2026, some on Wall Street immediately wanted to know if the world’s largest oil reserves were now open for business. 

Venezuelan bonds, as well as shares in Chevron (CVX), ExxonMobil (XOM) and ConocoPhillips (COP), jumped on President Trump’s promise that American companies would “spend billions” rebuilding the country’s energy sector.

But can you invest in Venezuela? The answer is as complex as the country’s political situation. For most Americans, not yet. Any investments would be a high-risk gamble in a country with $150 billion in debt and an oil industry that needs at least a decade to rebuild.

When U.S. investors want exposure to a foreign country, they typically have a few options: buy an American depositary receipt (ADR), which lets them trade foreign stocks on U.S. exchanges; invest in a country-specific exchange-traded fund (ETF); or buy shares directly on a foreign exchange through a broker that offers international access.

None of that’s available for Venezuela. No Venezuelan ADRs trade on U.S. exchanges. Venezuela-focused ETFs don’t exist. Teucrium Investment Advisors filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Jan. 5 to offer a fund that would track Venezuelan companies and firms with heavy exposure to the country. But it’s not yet trading.

While the Caracas Stock Exchange keeps regular hours, it has only about 60 listings and trades in bolívares. Even if you found a way in, U.S. sanctions could make any trades illegal.

Read the full article here.

–Adam Hayes

Stock Futures Tick Higher Ahead of Jobs Report, Possible Supreme Court Tariff Ruling

13 hr 12 min ago

Futures contracts associated with the Dow Jones Industrial Average were near flat.

S&P 500 futures ticked 0.1% higher.

Nasdaq 100 futures pointed 0.2% higher.