MARKET WRAPS
STOCKS: Stocks rallied as a TikTok deal sparked a rebound in Oracle shares, alleviating fears about an artificial-intelligence bubble.
TREASURYS: Treasury yields rose during the session, but finished the week lower.
FOREX: The U.S. dollar rose against rivals after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates.
COMMODITIES: Oil futures rose Friday, but finished the week lower as traders awaited developments in Venezuela and Ukraine.
HEADLINES
Consumer Sentiment Rose in December But Remains Dim, Michigan Survey Suggests
Consumers' economic mood recovered slightly in December but remained broadly gloomy as households face drawn-out inflation and a frustrating labor market for job seekers, according to the University of Michigan's monthly survey.
This month the survey's headline index rose to 52.9, from 51 in November. A preliminary mid-month December result showed a reading of 53.3, and economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected a slight additional increase to 53.5 in the final number.
High prices and weaker hiring continue to weigh on consumers, survey director Joanne Hsu said. More than 60% expect joblessness to continue rising over the next year, the survey found.
Home Sales Rose in November for the Third Consecutive Month
Home sales rose in November for the third straight month, with lower mortgage rates injecting some fresh momentum into the long sluggish housing market.
Sales of existing homes rose 0.5% from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.13 million, the highest level since February, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.7% increase.
The three consecutive months of rising sales is the longest streak since December 2024.
Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern File for Merger Approval From Surface Transportation Board
Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern filed an application with the Surface Transportation Board requesting approval of their proposed merger.
The application, filed Friday, said the merger would boost competition, streamlining pricing of interline moves for thousands of customer locations. It also would allow the industry to compete more effectively with long-haul trucking, the companies said.
The deal also would move freight more efficiently and preserve all union jobs that exist at the time of the merger, according to the application. The growth of the combined company also is expected to create about 900 net new union jobs by the third year following the merger.
BioMarin to Buy Rare-Disease Biotech Amicus Therapeutics for $4.8 Billion
BioMarin Pharmaceutical has struck a deal to buy fellow biotech Amicus Therapeutics for about $4.8 billion in cash, expanding the company's portfolio in treatments for rare diseases.
On Friday, BioMarin said it would pay $14.50 a share for Amicus, a 33% premium to Thursday's closing price of $10.89 for the Princeton, N.J., company. The deal is slated to close in the second quarter of 2026.
Shares of Amicus were up nearly 31% at $14.24, while BioMarin shares rose nearly 20% to more than $62.
More Drugmakers Reach Deals With White House to Lower Prices
Nine pharmaceutical companies including Bristol-Myers Squibb, GSK and Merck agreed to lower the prices that certain federal government programs and patients pay, in a new round of industry pacts with the Trump administration.
The companies said they would reduce U.S. prices on drugs to levels comparable with prices charged in other wealthy countries, which are generally much lower. In return, the companies get administration-backed reprieves from potential new U.S. tariffs for three years.
President Trump announced the deals Friday at the White House, joined by top executives of the nine companies. Shares in the companies were up on the news.
Conagra Sales Decline as Consumer Spending Remains Challenged
Conagra logged lower sales in its latest quarter as consumers continued to pull back on spending on its products.
Shoppers continued to look for value in the quarter, and their household budgets remained strained, Chief Executive Sean Connolly said in prepared remarks Friday. Those pressures weighed most heavily on low- and middle-income consumers, he said.
Some retailers also slowed down ordering near the end of the quarter due to the U.S. government shutdown and a pause in payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, Connolly said in the remarks. Several large customers also shifted the timing of their promotions, pushing their inventory build into the current quarter, he said.
DraftKings Launches Prediction Market in States Without Legal Sports Betting
DraftKings' prediction markets went live on Friday, bringing sports event contracts to 17 states, including some, like California and Texas, that haven't legalized sports betting.
The app, DraftKings Predictions, is a stand-alone product from the company's signature sportsbook and available in 38 states. Twenty-one of those don't have access to sports event contracts, but all customers can trade event contracts based on stock market levels and economic events, like the Federal Reserve's next interest-rate decision. Contracts related to culture and entertainment will come later, according to a Friday press release.
"DraftKings Predictions is a significant milestone and reflects our ongoing commitment to delivering products that tap into the passion of our customers," DraftKings chief product officer Corey Gottlieb said in the release.
Carnival Earnings Beat Is a Relief for Cruise Stocks
Carnival beat quarterly earnings expectations and issued strong 2026 guidance Friday. It was more than enough to send cruise stocks higher.
The cruise operator reported adjusted earnings of 34 cents a share on revenue of $6.3 billion-a fourth-quarter record-in the three months to Nov. 30. Analysts were expecting profit of 24 cents a share on revenue of $6.4 billion.
Carnival's first quarter profit guidance was a touch below Wall Street's expectations, but its full-year outlook for $2.48 a share was higher than the $2.44 consensus.
Winnebago Swings to Profit on Higher Sales of Motorhome, Towable RVs
Winnebago Industries swung to a profit in its fiscal first quarter, driven by higher sales of its motorhome and towable RVs.
The stock climbed 17% to $47.05 in premarket trading on Friday.
The recreational-vehicle maker posted a profit of $5.5 million, or 19 cents a share, compared with a loss of $5.2 million, or 18 cents a share, a year earlier.
Lamb Weston Warns of Profit Pressure Ahead Due to Discounts, Rising Costs
Lamb Weston executives warned that its profit would face pressure both from continued discounting to win back business and rising manufacturing costs internationally.
The french-fry maker on Friday reaffirmed its sales guidance for the year, due in part to strong sales in the first half of its fiscal year as it enacts a turnaround.
Pricing dynamics with customers, costs to ramp up manufacturing in Argentina and underutilized production in Europe means the company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization will come in around the midpoint of its range for between $1 billion and $1.2 billion, Chief Financial Officer Bernadette Madarieta said on call with analysts Friday.
TALKING POINT Predictions Markets Will Make the Stock Market Obsolete. Yes or No?
On any given Sunday, Americans flock to their couches to watch hours of football on TV. Wall Street trading floors are closed, but the American pastime has become prime time for upstart financial platforms known as prediction markets. This past weekend, National Football League fans placed more than $200 million worth of NFL trades through Kalshi, the leading prediction market in the U.S. The financial contracts, like sports bets, pay out depending on the outcome of each game.
Many of those trades are powered by Robinhood Markets' popular stock trading platform, meaning that viewers can use their NFL profits to buy shares of Nvidia, Nike, or Netflix-all from one app.
Robinhood, which was home to the meme-stock revolution, has gradually brought prediction markets onto its platform over the past year and added Kalshi's NFL contracts for the current season. It sees event contracts, which allow clients to place money on Yes/No predictions about coming events, as a democratizing force in the world of finance.
"Adding pro and college football to our prediction markets hub is a no-brainer for us as we aim to make Robinhood a one-stop shop for all your investing and trading needs," Robinhood said in a blog post announcing the Kalshi-NFL partnership.
But that one-stop shop is raising uncomfortable questions across the world of wealth management: If the same app allows the same trader to place money on the outcome of sports events and corporate earnings growth, what's the difference between gambling and investing?
"The lines of investing and gambling are being blurred like never before, " says James Martielli, head of investment product for Vanguard's Personal Investor business.
And this week, those lines blurred even more, with Robinhood announcing sports trades linked to a series of related events. One possibility: The San Francisco 49ers will win on Sunday, Christian McCaffrey will rush for more than 100 yards, and the total score will be more than 50.
--Andrew Welsch and Nick Devor, Barron's
Expected Major Events for Monday
00:01/UK: Dec CBI Growth Indicator and Service Sector Survey
05:00/JPN: Nov Convenience Store Sales
05:00/JPN: Nov Steel Production
07:00/UK: 3Q Balance of Payments
07:00/UK: 3Q Business investment revised results
07:00/UK: 3Q UK quarterly national accounts
09:00/ITA: Nov PPI
11:00/UK: Nov Aluminium Production report
13:30/US: Sep Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI)
13:30/US: U.S. Weekly Export Sales
13:30/CAN: Nov Industrial product and raw materials price indexes
15:00/US: Oct Online Help Wanted Index
15:00/US: Nov Online Help Wanted Index
17:59/UK: Nov Adzuna UK Job Market Report
All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.
Expected Earnings for Monday
ALT5 Sigma Corp $(ALTS)$ is expected to report $-0.36 for 3Q.
Broadway Financial Corp $(BYFC)$ is expected to report for 3Q.
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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 19, 2025 16:38 ET (21:38 GMT)
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