MARKET WRAPS
STOCKS: Stocks finished mixed after private-employer jobs data.
TREASURYS: Treasury yields fell ahead of Friday's Labor Department jobs tally.
FOREX: The U.S. dollar ticked up against rivals ahead of key economic data.
COMMODITIES: Oil futures settled lower after the U.S. said it would receive up to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan crude and continue controlling sales indefinitely. Precious metals futures gave back some of their recent gains.
HEADLINES
AbbVie Near Deal for Revolution Medicines
AbbVie is in advanced talks to buy cancer-drug biotech Revolution Medicines, according to people familiar with the matter, in what would be one of the year's first megadeals.
A deal could come together soon, granted the talks don't hit any last-minute snags, the people said.
Revolution Medicines had a market value of around $16 billion before The Wall Street Journal reported on the talks Wednesday afternoon. Its shares were trading up around 30% after the Journal's report, giving it a market value of almost $20 billion.
Anthropic Raising $10 Billion at $350 Billion Value
Anthropic, the developer of the chatbot Claude, plans to raise $10 billion at a valuation of $350 billion before the new investment, according to people familiar with the matter, nearly doubling its valuation from four months ago.
GIC, Singapore's sovereign-wealth fund, and Coatue Management plan to lead the new financing, the people said. The funding round, the third megadeal in the past year, follows a $13 billion investment in September that valued the company at $183 billion.
The round is expected to close in the coming weeks. The total amount of the deal could change.
Trump Moves to Ban Big Investors From Buying Single-Family Homes
President Trump said he was taking steps to ban large investors from buying single-family homes, a move that would represent his administration's first significant action to address the U.S. housing crisis.
Wall Street firms and other institutional investors have scooped up hundreds of thousands of U.S. homes to rent out. Some housing advocates say those purchases are contributing to a dearth of homes for sale and driving up home prices in certain neighborhoods.
Investor purchases have made it harder for first-time buyers to compete with Wall Street-backed investment firms and their all-cash offers.
Warner Discovery Rejects Paramount's Amended Hostile Bid
Warner Bros. Discovery recommended its shareholders reject Paramount's amended hostile bid for the company, saying its existing deal with Netflix is stronger.
In a letter to shareholders made public on Wednesday, Warner said the amended Paramount Skydance offer wasn't superior, "or even comparable," to the $72 billion Netflix deal for its movie and TV studios and the HBO Max streaming service.
Paramount recently made changes to its $77.9 billion all-cash bid for the entire company, hoping it would prompt Warner to walk away from its agreement with the streaming giant.
JPMorgan Chase Reaches a Deal to Take Over the Apple Credit Card
JPMorgan Chase has reached a deal to take over the Apple credit-card program from Goldman Sachs, according to people familiar with the matter.
The biggest bank in the country will become the new issuer of the tech-giant's credit card, one of the largest co-branded programs with some $20 billion in balances, in a deal that has been negotiated for more than a year.
The deal, which is expected to be announced soon barring any more last minute hiccups, will further cement JPMorgan's status as a behemoth in the credit-card sector and marks the final chapter of Goldman's failed experiment in consumer lending.
Trump Orders Crackdown on Defense Industry Stock Buybacks
President Trump is set to sign an executive order Wednesday that will punish defense companies that repurchase stocks, pay dividends and reward executives with high salaries if they have Pentagon contracts that are over budget or behind schedule.
The order, which Trump previewed in late December, would limit executive pay to $5 million, he announced in a post on Truth Social. It isn't clear how the administration intends to enforce the order.
"All United State Defense Contractors, and the Defense Industry as a whole, BEWARE: While we make the best Military Equipment in the World (No other Country is even close!), Defense Contractors are currently issuing massive Dividends to their Shareholders and massive Stock Buybacks, at the expense and detriment of investing in Plants and Equipment," Trump said in a post on Truth Social before details of the order were made public. "This situation will no longer be allowed or tolerated!"
Private-Sector Hiring Turned Positive in December After November Losses
Private-sector hiring shifted back into gear in December, human-resources firm ADP estimated in its latest monthly report.
Businesses added a net 41,000 new employees last month, after shedding 29,000 on net in November, according ADP's running estimate. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected to see 48,000 new private-sector jobs in ADP's figures, which are derived from the anonymized payrolls of the company's corporate clients.
Big companies pulled back slightly from the job market last month, ADP chief economist Nela Richardson said. But small businesses, which had cut roles on net in November, grew their staffs last month, putting private-sector jobs in positive territory overall, she said.
Factory Orders Fell in October
U.S. factory orders contracted in October, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.
Orders from U.S. factories declined 1.3% in October to $604.8 billion, from $612.9 billion in September. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal were expecting a 1.2% decrease.
The delayed report is part of the Census Bureau's effort to catch up on stats that were postponed by the government shutdown last year. Almost two months after the end of the shutdown, many key reports are back on track or close, but some indicators are still trailing.
JOLTS Report Hints at Cooling Labor Market
Job openings and hiring declined in November, the Labor Department's monthly job openings and labor turnover survey showed.
The economy had about 7.1 million open jobs in November, down from nearly 7.5 million in October, the JOLTS report showed Wednesday. The rate of job openings declined to 4.3%, from 4.5% a month earlier.
Hiring fell as well, with about 5.1 million workers finding new roles in November, versus 5.4 million in October. The hiring rate dropped to 3.2%, from 3.4% in October.
Albertsons Narrows Full-Year Forecast as Medicare Pricing Changes Take Effect
Albertsons narrowed its full-year expectations as the grocer said Medicare price cuts would hurt financial results.
The company also said on an earnings call Wednesday that the consumer backdrop was "mixed" with pressure across all income levels and noted a "more aggressive promotional environment," especially during the holidays.
Albertsons' shares fell to a 52-week low of $15.80 in morning trading recovering slightly to $16.11, leaving them down 5.8% at midday.
TALKING POINT Is Venezuela Just the Start? What Financial Advisors Are Telling Clients About Geopolitical Risk.
Advisors are fielding a new wave of client questions in the wake of the weekend's U.S. military operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. The fate of the oil-rich nation comes amid President Donald Trump's increasingly forceful rhetoric toward nations and territories including Greenland and Cuba. All of this is taking place against the backdrop of Russia's continuing war in Ukraine and China's assertive posture toward Taiwan. Do today's geopolitical headlines signal a more dangerous world for markets, or is it all a nothingburger? This week's Barron's Advisor Big Q asks advisors what they are telling clients now.
Michael Rosen, chief investment officer, Angeles Investments: What I'm telling clients is welcome to the new world disorder. Venezuela, while it was not on my dance card on Jan. 1, is consistent with a pattern of heightened geopolitical risks and uncertainty. And I think investors ought to expect more of this. In terms of investment implications, I think the changing environment argues for as wide a diversification of a portfolio as one can tolerate. That means geographic diversification in particular, but really in every form. After 15 years of massive U.S. outperformance of the rest of the world, it seems likely that it's going to be a much more balanced and volatile environment going forward.
As far as what not to worry about, it's these geopolitical events having any sort of material impact on an investment strategy. Every significant geopolitical event in the past century has had either a modest or a very temporary impact on the markets. After 9/11, the markets were closed for a week. They opened down 10% and recovered within five weeks. After the assassination of President Kennedy, the market recovered in a matter of weeks. After what may have been the biggest geopolitical event of the past century, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the market dropped 30% or so, but within 10 or 11 months it had fully recovered. The message is that what matters is what happens in the economy, and in particular, corporate profit. That's what drives equity markets, not the saber rattling or chaotic political events that seem to occur on a daily basis.
Kevin Grimes, CEO, chief investment officer, Grimes & Co.: I don't think there are any investment implications, honestly. And I find myself saying the same thing to clients with whatever the geopolitical issue of the day is. Some of these issues are very serious, and some can be very sad. But most of the time they don't have much of a market impact at all. You can go back to our taking out nuclear facilities in Iran. That was a nonevent for the markets. The Israel-Hamas war was terrible, and a lot of people were very upset on both sides. As terrible as that was, it did not have a market impact. Even something like Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when we were in the middle of elevated inflation here in the U.S. People worried about energy markets. They worried about the breadbasket of Europe, about supply chains. But that didn't have much of a market impact either. If you want a geopolitical event that matters, it would be a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Then you're talking supply chains, you're talking semiconductors, you're talking the markets. It would be a big, big event and a mess. Outside of that, I don't see any of these geopolitical events really moving markets much more than a day or so.
Brian Huckstep, chief investment officer, Advyzon Investment Management: The events that took place over the weekend should result in additional oil being traded on free markets. Many studies show that Venezuela has the largest oil reserve of all countries around the globe, so additional oil could mean a lot of new supply coming onto the market. Lower oil prices would result from additional supply. Because demand for oil is relatively inelastic-supply shifts result in relatively large impacts on price-an increase of five million or 10 million barrels, which would be an additional 5% or 10% in global supply, could push oil prices down significantly. This could potentially result in a small boost in earnings for energy-consuming corporations as costs drop, and a large blow to profits for U.S.-based energy-producing companies, as their gross revenues drop. An offsetting factor for U.S. energy producers could be a big win for one or two firms that are invited to coordinate production in Venezuela.
--Steve Garmhausen, Barron's
Expected Major Events for Thursday
00:01/UK: CBI Financial Services Survey
02:00/JPN: Dec Imported Vehicle Sales
05:00/JPN: Dec Consumer Confidence Survey
07:00/UK: Dec Halifax House Price Index
07:00/UK: 4Q Halifax House Price Index: UK Regional Breakdown quarterly release
07:00/GER: Nov Manufacturing orders
07:00/GER: Nov Manufacturing turnover
07:45/FRA: Nov Balance of payments
09:00/ITA: Nov Unemployment
09:30/UK: Dec Narrow money (Notes & Coin) and reserve balances
13:30/US: 3Q Preliminary Productivity and Costs
13:30/CAN: Oct International merchandise trade
13:30/US: Oct U.S. International Trade in Goods & Services
13:30/US: 01/03 Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report - Initial Claims
13:30/US: U.S. Weekly Export Sales
15:00/US: Oct Monthly Wholesale Trade
15:30/US: 01/02 EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report
20:00/US: Nov Consumer Credit
23:30/JPN: Nov Household Spending
23:50/JPN: Dec International Reserves / Foreign Currency
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Expected Earnings for Thursday
Acuity Inc $(AYI)$ is expected to report $3.86 for 1Q.
Aehr Test Systems (AEHR) is expected to report for 2Q.
Anixa Biosciences Inc (ANIX) is expected to report $-0.09 for 4Q.
Aritzia Inc (ATZ.T) is expected to report $0.81 for 3Q.
Bank of South Carolina Corp (BKSC) is expected to report for 4Q.
Commercial Metals Co $(CMC)$ is expected to report $1.60 for 1Q.
Environmental Tectonics Corp (ETCC) is expected to report for 3Q.
Greenbrier Cos Inc $(GBX)$ is expected to report $0.87 for 1Q.
Lindsay Corp $(LNN)$ is expected to report $1.47 for 1Q.
Neogen Corp $(NEOG)$ is expected to report $-0.06 for 2Q.
Northern Technologies International Corp $(NTIC)$ is expected to report $0.03 for 1Q.
Postmedia Network Canada (PNC.A.T,PNC.B.T) is expected to report for 1Q.
RPM International Inc (RPM) is expected to report $1.40 for 2Q.
Richtech Robotics Inc (RR) is expected to report $-0.04 for 4Q.
Simply Good Foods (SMPL) is expected to report $0.31 for 1Q.
Simulations Plus Inc (SLP) is expected to report $0.08 for 1Q.
TD SYNNEX Corp $(SNX)$ is expected to report $2.86 for 4Q.
WD-40 Co $(WDFC)$ is expected to report $1.36 for 1Q.
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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 07, 2026 16:38 ET (21:38 GMT)
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