Today At A Glance:

Stocks nudged higher, with the S&P 500 finishing just shy of a record as traders weighed calm inflation prints and rising odds of a Fed cut next week. Retail stole the show: Ulta rocketed on a clean beat/raise and Victoria’s Secret jumped on a stronger outlook, while media names swung on Netflix’s proposed Warner Bros. Discovery deal. Mega-cap tech was mixed but remained the market’s volume anchor, and semiconductor headlines kept AI in the conversation. Treasury chatter focused on the week’s jump in the 10-year yield even as equities hovered near highs. Overall: a quiet, upward finish to a newsy week that was heavy on single-stock catalysts.

Today’s Index Performance:

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: The index opened today at 47,879.60 and closed today at 47,954.99, with the percentage change of +0.2% on the day.
• S&P 500: The index opened today at 6,866.32 and closed today at 6,870.40, with the percentage change of +0.2% on the day.
• Nasdaq Composite: The index opened today at 23,567.77 and closed today at 23,578.13, with the percentage change of +0.3% on the day.

Gainers Of Note:

• Ulta Beauty (ULTA) — specialty beauty retailer; shares surged after a Q3 beat and a guidance raise highlighted solid comps and margin control.
• Victoria’s Secret & Co. (VSCO) — lingerie/apparel; jumped on better-than-expected results and a raised full-year outlook tied to fewer promos and stronger traffic.
• Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) — media; rose as Netflix announced a landmark bid to acquire major WBD assets, fueling deal-premium speculation despite regulatory questions.

Losers Of Note:

• Netflix (NFLX) — streaming/media; slipped as investors parsed price, debt, and regulatory risk around its proposed Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition.
• Paramount Skydance (PSKY) — media; fell after losing out to Netflix in the bidding for WBD assets, reducing perceived strategic options.
• SoFi Technologies (SOFI) — fintech; declined after announcing a $1.5B common-stock offering, raising dilution concerns.

Active Traders Of Note:

• Tesla (TSLA) — EVs/energy; heavy options-led flow and elevated share turnover around key strikes kept TSLA atop most-active lists.
• NVIDIA (NVDA) — AI semis; sustained high volume as traders positioned around AI-chip headlines and options activity.
• AMD (AMD) — semis; active tape after remarks from CEO Lisa Su about pathways to resume China AI-chip sales under potential tax terms.

Looking Forward:

With the Fed meeting next week, traders will key off any confirmation of a quarter-point cut and clues about the 2026 path; index levels sitting near records raise sensitivity to surprises. Retail remains a swing factor as post-print revisions (Ulta, VSCO) and holiday-traffic anecdotes ripple across discretionary. Media may stay volatile as investors handicap regulatory odds and deal financing around the Netflix–WBD proposal.

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