Liz Ann Sonders Re-poster

I’m so sad today about the passing of Catherine O’Hara. She was a comedy treasure and will be so missed, especially in this era of such heaviness. From her fearless comedy to her tender, unforgettable characters, she showed us that humor and heart can live in the same breath. RIP, legend.

The distinction between investing and gambling is becoming increasingly faint. Here is my fundamental perspective on the matter. Investing represents ownership, while gambling represents hope.

We are thrilled to announce the release of our milestone 100th episode of the #OnInvesting podcast. In this installment, @KathyJones and I discuss the recent Fed meeting, although listeners should note that our conversation took place before today's Warsh announcement. Additionally, the episode features a segment where Kathy interviews the legendary Jack Schwager, celebrated for his Market Wizards book series. You can listen to the full discussion here https://www.schwab.com/learn/story/lessons-learned-from-market-wizards-with-jack-schwager

The December PPI report shows a year-over-year increase of +3%. This level is higher than the estimated +2.8% and matches the prior +3% reading. Regarding the figures excluding food and energy, the data indicates a rise of +3.3%. This result surpasses both the +2.9% estimate and the previous +3.1% benchmark.

The proportion of stocks within each sector achieving fresh price peaks across different timeframes

We have refreshed the performance data to encompass results through yesterday's close. This update applies to both the index tables and the Mag7 chart and table.

This section reviews the performance standing of various sectors and indexes, detailing the results for yesterday alongside Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date figures.

We have refreshed the MA breadth charts to include the figures from yesterday's close.

According to the natural language processing model used by Bloomberg @Economics to track the FOMC, members have communicated with an increasingly hawkish tone over the last couple of months. This recent shift marks a return to the levels observed during March/April 2025. @DataArbor

There has been a downward revision in the November data for core capital goods orders, shown in blue, as well as shipments, shown in orange. Specifically, orders have adjusted to +0.4% from the initial +0.7%, while shipments are now at +0.2% compared to the originally reported +0.4%.

The year-over-year change for continuing jobless claims has now dropped into negative territory. This is a distinct shift from the pattern observed throughout 2024 and 2025, when claims were consistently rising.

Since late 2022, the wholesale inventory/sales ratio has maintained a downtrend, moving slightly lower again in November.

While incoming shipments of consumer merchandise recovered slightly in November, the annual comparison is still remarkably low. Consequently, the year-over-year change remained significantly negative at -13.1%.

Shortly after 4pm ET today, I will have the pleasure of joining @michaelsantoli and @MelissaLeeCNBC for @CNBCClosingBell #Overtime.

The latest projection from the GDPNow model, provided by @AtlantaFed, indicates a decline to +4.2% (q/q ann.). This updated figure comes in lower than the prior estimate of +5.4%.

In November, the trade deficit expanded to $56.8B, exceeding the market estimate of $44.0B. This figure represents a shift from the $-29.2B recorded in the prior month. Regarding specific trade flows, imports were up by 5.0% while exports dropped by 3.6%.

I am eager to connect with @SchwabNetwork in just a bit. My appearance is slated for approximately 10:20am ET.

The most recent data reveals that initial jobless claims have dropped to 209k. This actual figure compares to an estimated 205k and is lower than the prior count of 210k, which had been revised upward from 200k. Regarding continuing claims, the current level sits at 1.827M, which is below the 1.850M forecast and the previous reading of 1.865. Geographically, the most substantial increases were found in NY at +1.9k, followed by OK and VA, which both rose by 0.8k. Conversely, CA led the greatest decreases with a drop of 12.1k, while MI fell by 8.2k and KY declined by 3.9k.

The latest data indicates that November factory orders increased by 2.7% on a month-over-month basis. This performance exceeded the estimated 1.6% and represents a strong recovery from the prior decrease of 1.2%. Additionally, when looking at orders excluding transportation, there was a gain of 0.2%, an improvement compared to the previous figure of -0.1%.

Brent crude #oil has successfully moved beyond $70/barrel, a price point not reached since September.