Today At A Glance:

Stocks slipped as traders positioned ahead of Wednesday’s Fed decision while Treasury yields ticked higher, pressuring multiples. Media and tech headlines drove single-name moves: Paramount Skydance launched a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix fell, and Confluent spiked on an $11B IBM deal. Carvana rallied after news it will join the S&P 500, while Marvell slid after missing the cut. Energy softened as crude retreated, and defensive sectors couldn’t offset broad index weakness. Overall, a cautious, rates-watching tone pulled the major averages modestly lower into the close.

Today’s Index Performance:

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: The index opened today at 47,971.51 and closed today at 47,710.34, a −0.54% move on the day.
• S&P 500: The index opened today at 6,876.73 and closed today around 6,847.21, a −0.43% move on the day.
• Nasdaq Composite: The index opened today at 23,638.22 and closed today at 23,541.24, a −0.41% move on the day.

Gainers Of Note:

• Confluent (CFLT): data-streaming software; soared after IBM announced a roughly $11B acquisition, with investors betting on strategic fit and AI data-pipeline demand.
• Carvana (CVNA): online used-car retailer; jumped on news it will be added to the S&P 500 on Dec. 22, prompting index-fund demand and sentiment tailwinds.
• Paramount Skydance (PSKY): media; rose after launching a $108.4B hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, reframing studio consolidation prospects.

Losers Of Note:

• Marvell Technology (MRVL): semiconductors; fell after being left out of the S&P 500 addition, with rotation favoring newly included names.
• Netflix (NFLX): streaming/media; declined as investors weighed the regulatory and strategic overhangs amid renewed studio M&A chatter.
• Tesla (TSLA): EVs/energy; slipped on cautious sell-side commentary that refocused attention on delivery cadence and margin headwinds.

Active Traders Of Note:

• NVIDIA (NVDA): AI semiconductors; remained a volume anchor as tech was the sole S&P sector gainer intraday and traders positioned into this week’s chip and software headlines.
• Broadcom (AVGO): semiconductors/infrastructure; heavy turnover following reports that Microsoft is in talks for custom chips and with AVGO earnings on deck.
• Microsoft (MSFT): software/cloud; active tape as AI-infrastructure news intersected with Fed-week macro positioning.

Looking Forward:

All eyes turn to the Fed: a widely expected 25 bp cut is less market-moving than the vote split and 2026-path guidance; a hawkish tone could keep yields sticky and cap risk appetite near-term. Deal flow and index changes (e.g., Carvana’s inclusion) may continue to drive outsized single-name moves regardless of index drift. For tech, AI spend discipline and chip supply signals (plus Broadcom/Oracle updates) are the swing factors for momentum into the next leg.

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