MARKET WRAPS

STOCKS: Stocks fell amid anxiety ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting.

TREASURYS: Treasury yields rose as traders braced for a hawkish commentary from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

FOREX: The U.S. dollar rose slightly ahead of the Fed meeting.

COMMODITIES: Oil futures fell as traders eyed talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders.

HEADLINES

Paramount Makes $77.9 Billion Hostile Bid for Warner After Netflix Struck Deal

Paramount launched a $77.9 billion hostile takeover offer for Warner Bros. Discovery Monday, taking its case for acquiring the storied entertainment company directly to shareholders just days after Warner agreed to a deal with Netflix.

Paramount, run by David Ellison, is arguing that its all-cash $30-a-share offer for all of Warner, owner of networks such as CNN, TBS and HGTV as well as the HBO Max streaming service, is a better deal for shareholders and more likely to pass regulatory muster. Paramount said its offer "provides shareholders $18 billion more in cash than the Netflix consideration.""We're really here to finish what we started," Ellison said on CNBC Monday morning.

Netflix agreed to pay $72 billion, or $27.75 a share, for Warner's studio and HBO Max streaming business after the entertainment company splits itself in two, in a cash-and-stock deal the companies announced Friday.

U.S. Plans to Approve Export of Nvidia's H200 Chip to China

WASHINGTON-The Trump administration plans to let Nvidia export its H200 chip to China, the latest twist in the artificial-intelligence chip designer's efforts to maintain access to the world's second-largest economy, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Commerce Department plans to approve licenses to China letting Nvidia sell its H200. The chip has higher performance than the H20 it was previously allowed to sell-but it isn't as powerful as the company's top Blackwell products released this year nor the Rubin generation of chips coming next year, one of the people said. Semafor previously reported the expected approval.

PepsiCo to Cut Costs, Lower Food Prices in Deal With Activist

PepsiCo struck an agreement with activist investor Elliott Investment Management, committing to cut costs across the company and lower prices in its slowing food business.

The maker of Pepsi-Cola, Lay's and Doritos said it would reduce expenses in its food and beverages operations, while cutting the number of individual products by 20% across its U.S. businesses, according to people with the matter.

PepsiCo also plans to lower prices for some food products in the New Year, the people said.

Berkshire's Geico Boss Todd Combs Leaves for JPMorgan Ahead of Buffett Retirement

Berkshire Hathaway is losing one of its top stars just as Warren Buffett makes his exit.

Todd Combs, the stock picker who stepped in to lead the turnaround of Berkshire's Geico auto-insurance arm, will decamp for JPMorgan Chase.

His departure, announced Monday, was by far the most unexpected move in a series of executive changes Berkshire unveiled mere weeks before Buffett hands off his CEO role to Greg Abel.

IBM Strikes $11 Billion Deal for Confluent

International Business Machines said Monday it agreed to acquire data-infrastructure company Confluent for around $11 billion.

IBM agreed to pay $31 a share for Confluent. The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday evening that IBM and Confluent were in advanced deal talks.

Trump Unveils $12 Billion Bailout for Farmers

WASHINGTON-The Trump administration announced $12 billion in aid to struggling U.S. farmers as the agriculture sector grapples with the fallout from the president's far-reaching tariffs.

The aid package was unveiled at the White House on Monday afternoon during a roundtable with farmers. Top administration officials have been discussing the bailout behind the scenes for months.

Much of the aid-$11 billion-will be in the form of one-time payments through the Farmer Bridge Assistance program, which helps U.S. crop farmers. The remaining $1 billion will go toward commodities not covered under the bridge assistance program, the Trump administration said.

TALKING POINT 401(k)s Are Minting a Generation of 'Moderate Millionaires'

The 401(k) millionaire club is growing.

Steady saving by many Americans and a third consecutive year of big gains for U.S. stocks have swollen account balances. As 2025 comes to a close, many individual investors are finding holiday cheer in statements showing they have crossed the $1 million milestone.

As of the third quarter, there were 654,000 401(k) millionaires at the brokerage Fidelity, the highest level in records going back to the early 2000s. Around 3.2% of more than three million accounts tracked by benefits provider Alight had balances above $1 million as of the third quarter, double the figure at the end of 2022. At T. Rowe Price, roughly 2.6% of participants had balances above $1 million, up from 1.3% at the end of 2022.

For the first time, half of private-sector workers are saving in 401(k)s, which allow workers to invest money directly from their paychecks without subtracting income taxes upfront. Many of those accounts are also more tied to the stock market than ever before, with workers in their late 30s allocating roughly 88% to equities last year, up from 82% a decade earlier, according to a Vanguard Group examination of the millions of plans it administers.

While about 40% of U.S. households are still at risk of being unable to maintain their standard of living in retirement, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, many of those using 401(k)s are doing better than ever.

"It's a very sweet place to be," said John Ward, an 82-year-old retiree in Rye, N.Y., of his rising retirement balance. Around 86% of those with seven-figure balances are 50 years of age or older, typically baby boomers or Gen Xers, according to Fidelity.

--Gunjan Banerji

Expected Major Events for Tuesday

00:01/UK: Nov BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor

00:01/UK: Nov UK Nations and Regions Growth Tracker

00:01/UK: 1Q Manpower UK Employment Outlook Survey

05:01/US: 1Q Manpower U.S. Employment Outlook Survey

06:00/JPN: Nov Preliminary Machine Tool Orders

07:00/GER: 3Q Labour cost index

07:00/GER: Oct Foreign Trade

09:30/UK: 3Q Mortgage Lenders and Administrators Return (MLAR) statistics

11:00/US: Nov NFIB Index of Small Business Optimism

13:55/US: 12/06 Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index

15:00/US: Oct Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey

17:00/US: World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates (WASDE)

21:30/US: API Weekly Statistical Bulletin

23:50/JPN: Nov Corporate Goods Price Index

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Expected Earnings for Tuesday

Academy Sports & Outdoors Inc $(ASO)$ is expected to report $1.03 for 3Q.

AeroVironment Inc $(AVAV)$ is expected to report $-0.41 for 2Q.

American Outdoor Brands Inc (AOUT) is expected to report $-0.01 for 2Q.

AutoZone Inc $(AZO)$ is expected to report $32.03 for 1Q.

Braze Inc $(BRZE)$ is expected to report $-0.28 for 3Q.

Caleres Inc $(CAL)$ is expected to report for 3Q.

Campbell's Co $(CPB)$ is expected to report $0.72 for 1Q.

Casey's General Stores Inc $(CASY)$ is expected to report $5.21 for 2Q.

Children's Place Inc $(PLCE)$ is expected to report $0.70 for 3Q.

Cognyte Software Ltd (CGNT) is expected to report for 3Q.

Core & Main Inc $(CNM)$ is expected to report $0.69 for 3Q.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc $(CBRL)$ is expected to report $-0.61 for 1Q.

Dave & Buster's Entertainment Inc $(PLAY)$ is expected to report $-1.05 for 3Q.

Designer Brands Inc (DBI) is expected to report $0.18 for 3Q.

Frequency Electronics Inc $(FEIM)$ is expected to report $0.27 for 2Q.

G-III Apparel Group Ltd (GIII) is expected to report $0.21 for 3Q.

GameStop Corp - A Share (GME,GMEB) is expected to report $1.50 for 3Q.

Genasys Inc $(GNSS)$ is expected to report $-0.02 for 4Q.

Korn Ferry $(KFY)$ is expected to report $1.24 for 2Q.

Lakeland Industries Inc $(LAKE)$ is expected to report $0.23 for 3Q.

Lands' End Inc $(LE)$ is expected to report $0.12 for 3Q.

Loop Media Inc (LPTVQ) is expected to report for 4Q.

MIND Technology Inc $(MIND)$ is expected to report $-0.01 for 3Q.

North West Co Inc (NWC.T) is expected to report $0.82 for 3Q.

Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings Inc $(OLLI)$ is expected to report $0.75 for 3Q.

SailPoint Inc $(SAIL)$ is expected to report for 3Q.

Vince Holding Corp $(VNCE)$ is expected to report $0.08 for 3Q.

Wilhelmina International Inc $(WHLM)$ 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 08, 2025 16:41 ET (21:41 GMT)

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