BEFORE THE OPEN

MARKETS:

• S&P 500 reaches a new yearly high, closing at 4,604.37.

• Nasdaq rises, Dow gains, all major indices end the week with gains.

• November's jobs report surprises with drop in unemployment rate to 3.7%.

• The economy adds 199,000 jobs, exceeding estimates.

• Data sparks debate on Fed policy, with expectations of rate cuts.

• Monthly jobs report supports the idea of a "soft landing" for the economy.

• University of Michigan survey shows lower inflation expectations and higher consumer sentiment.

• Investors drive Boeing, FedEx, and Costco to new yearly highs.

EARNINGS

What we’re watching this week:

• Monday: Oracle (ORCL)

• Wednesday:

  • Adobe (ADBE) - expected: $4.14 per share (+15% YoY) on $5.0 billion revenue (+11.2% YoY)

• Thursday: Lennar (LEN)

  • Costco Wholesale (COST) - expected: $3.41 per share (+11.1% YoY) on $57.7 billion revenue (+8.1% YoY)

• Friday:

  • Darden Restaurants (DRI) - expected: $1.73 per share (+13.8% YoY) on $2.7 billion revenue (+8.0% YoY)

Full earnings calendar here

NEWS BRIEFING

Penn Leaders Out After Wall Street Donors, Alumni Pressure from Genocide Response

Fed Starts to Confront the Next Big Question: Why to Cut Rates

• Zelensky will meet Biden at the White House amid a stepped-up push for Congress to approve more aid (more)

• Harvard under heightened pressure after Penn leadership ousted (more)

• This week's Fed meeting could slam brakes on year-end stock rally (more)

• Inflation expectations plunge in closely watched survey (more)

• China proposes trading cost cuts for mutual funds, to regulate commissions (more)

• China’s livestream shopping is booming, fueling new tech such as avatars and AI (more)

• Rakuten plans to launch proprietary AI model within next 2 months (more)

• Cigna calls off merger with Humana (more)

• Sotheby’s ditches IPO strategy after picking bankers (more)

• Starbucks tells union it wants to resume contract talks in January (more)

• Elon Musk reactivates Alex Jones’ X account after a five-year ban (more)

• Embattled luxury goods sellers claim 'the worst market conditions since 2008' (more)

• Gen Z redefining the luxury market—why TikTok and IRL experiences should be embraced by legacy brands (more)

• Battery startup ONE demotes founder and CEO during cash crunch (more)

A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM BEHIND THE MARKETS

“The buck stops here.”

Dear Fellow Investor,

China just deployed six warships near Israel.

China's presence could easily escalate this regional conflict into a direct confrontation with the US.

This would be a nightmare scenario for us.

We lost 18 straight simulated war games with China.

The good news is, the US military has a plan to upgrade our weapons to win wars in the 21st century.

And early investors could see 35,960% returns with the small defense contractor who won this groundbreaking contract to upgrade our weapons.

Here's the Ticker >>>

"The Buck Stops Here."

Dylan Jovine

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DEALFLOW

M & A | INVESTMENTS:

• Macy’s receives $5.8 billion buyout offer (more)

• TikTok to invest $1.5 billion in joint venture with Indonesia's GoTo (more)

• Fenway moves forward in final talks to invest in PGA Tour’s Saudi deal (more)

• Shari Redstone reportedly in talks to sell Paramount parent to Skydance (more)

• Stone Point, General Atlantic propose to buy remaining stake in HireRight (more)

• India's Max Healthcare to buy Sahara Hospital in $113M deal (more)

• M&A chatter in the cun at Evercore’s Health-Care Confab (more)

• TIS acquires Dynetek (more)

• H.I.G.-backed Hibu acquires Software Division of Signpost (more)

• Mountaingate-backed Ignite Visibility purchases IDS (more)

• White Wolf-backed NSC Technologies purchases Shipyard Staffing (more)

• Thoma Bravo-backed Nearmap buys Betterview (more)

• Ontario Teachers’ Pension explores SeaCube stake sale (more)

• CropX, a company specializing in digital agtech solutions, acquired Green Brain, a digital irrigation management solutions provider (more)

• Invaio Sciences, a provider of a nature-positive solutions for farmers, acquired Peptyde Bio, a company that discovers, designs and characterizes novel peptides for use in agriculture (more)

• Ecopol, a developer/producer of innovative biodegradable films and delivery systems, invested in JRF Technology, a developer of water-soluble polymer and edible film technology (more)

• ProHance, a new-age workplace analytics and operations management platform company, received a majority investment from ChrysCapital (more)

• Hayden AI Technologies, a startup that provides traffic violation enforcement services using image analysis technology, received an investment from ME Innovation Fund (more)

VC

• New Ajax Health affiliate raises $90 million led by KKR, Hellman & Friedman (more)

• Liquid AI, a developer of domain-specific, and general-purpose AI systems powered by Liquid foundation models, emerged from stealth mode with $37.6M in Seed funding (more)

• Artisan AI, an AI startup that plans to build human-like digital workers, raised additional funding from a Sequoia scout, doubling the valuation from $15M to $30M (more)

• Simply Homes, a provider of an automated Single Family Rental sourcing and underwriting platform, raised $22M in funding (more)

• Opal Security, an identity security and access management company, raised $22M in Series B funding (more)

• Yogi, a provider of a customer insights platform, raised $10M in Series A funding (more)

• Qortex, an Intelligent Video Analytics company, raised $10M in funding (more)

• OurSky, a developer platform for space data applications, raised $9.5M in Seed funding (more)

• Shiseido Company, Limited, a global beauty company, launched Shiseido Long Term Investments for the Future (LIFT) Ventures (more)

• Bureo, a B Corp focused on providing fishermen with an end-of-life solution for discarded fishing nets, closed its Series B funding (more)

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CRYPTO

• Bitcoin’s 2023 rally frays during brief 7.5% drop toward $40,000 (more)

• BTC, ETH, SOL, major altcoins begin Asia business day in deep red (more)

• Google updates policy to allow ads for US crypto trusts (more)

• FTX, Alameda move $23.59M in assets to Binance, Coinbase, OKX (more)

BULLISH BITES

🦄 Incoming class: Here are the newly minted fintech unicorns

⚾️ Home run: Ohtani breaks contract record with $700 million Dodgers deal.

📈 Hot tip: Early investors could see 35,960% returns with the small defense contractor who won this groundbreaking contract to upgrade our weapons. Here's the Ticker >>>

🏪 Middleman: How grocery stores are becoming data brokers.

✈️ Mad dash: Americans rush to Portugal ahead of changes to expat tax breaks

DAILY SHARES

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