MARKET WRAPS

STOCKS: U.S. stocks finished mixed, as the energy and materials sectors rallied, while artificial-intelligence companies gave back some of their 2025 gains.

TREASURYS: Treasury yields rose after weekly jobs data.

FOREX: The U.S. dollar rose ahead of the December jobs tally.

COMMODITIES: Oil futures rose sharply as over-supply concerns faded.

HEADLINES

U.S. Trade Deficit Unexpectedly Falls to Lowest Level Since 2009

The U.S. trade deficit shrank dramatically in October to its lowest level since 2009, the Commerce Department said Thursday, an unexpected twist in a year of volatile trade flows that have been buffeted by the Trump administration's steep tariffs.

American imports fell to $331.4 billion in October, while exports increased to $302 billion. That yielded an October deficit of $29.4 billion, an imbalance nearly 40% smaller than September's.

Analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal had been expecting to see a $58.4 billion deficit-a large forecasting miss. Like much other recent economic data, the trade figures were delayed by last fall's government shutdown.

General Motors to Report $6B Charge From Electric Vehicle Review

General Motors expects to incur a $6 billion charge in the fourth quarter from a review of its electric vehicle manufacturing capacity following the end of a $7,500 EV tax credit and slowing consumer demand.

The company previously recorded a $1.6 billion charge from the EV review in its fiscal third quarter.

GM also expects to record non-EV-related charges of about $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter, the vehicle maker said Thursday.

U.S. Wholesale Inventories Rise at Slower Pace

U.S. wholesale inventories rose at a slower pace in October, driven by nondurable goods.

Inventories at merchant wholesalers increased 0.2% on month, after jumping by 0.5% in September, according to Commerce Department figures published Thursday. This was in line with a consensus of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.

The metric is a gauge in calculating the U.S.'s quarterly gross domestic product, which reflects the health of the economy.

Paramount Defends Its Hostile Bid for Warner

Paramount Skydance continued pushing its $77.9 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery Thursday, a day after Warner said it plans to stick to its existing deal with Netflix.

"Paramount's offer is superior to WBD's existing agreement with Netflix and represents the best path forward for WBD shareholders," Paramount said.

Warner on Wednesday had told its shareholders in a public letter that Paramount's latest offer for the entire company wasn't superior, "or even comparable," to its $72 billion deal with Netflix.

Walmart Launches Digital Healthcare Platform, to Cut Prices on Some Health Items

Walmart launched Better Care Services, a digital network of healthcare providers, and will trim prices on some wellness-related products.

The platform offers same-day consultation with third-party providers for urgent care and behavioral health, the company said Thursday.

It also has access to LillyDirect, Eli Lilly & Co. digital platform for managing diabetes, obesity, and migraines.

Unemployment Claims Stayed Modest Last Week

U.S. jobless claims edged slightly higher last week to start 2026, but remained near the low end of levels seen over the past year.

About 208,000 Americans filed new claims for unemployment benefits in the week through Jan. 3, versus 200,000 a week earlier, according to figures released by the Labor Department on Thursday morning. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal were expecting to see 210,000 claims this past week.

Continuing claims, a gauge of the size of the total unemployed population, ticked higher to 1.91 million in the week through Dec. 27, from 1.86 million the week before. The continuing-claims data lag the initial-claims numbers by a week.

New York Attorney General Requests Instacart Share Information on Price Testing

New York Attorney General Letitia James is demanding that Instacart share information about its price-testing experiments following a report that the app's users were charged different prices for identical products from the same stores.

In a Thursday letter to the company, James and Assistant Attorney General Ryan Galisewski requested copies of the company's pricing agreements with a range of retailers and food and beverage brands.

The New York officials also requested information about Instacart's price testing through the Eversight artificial-intelligence pricing platform and the company's own Caper Cart software, and asked whether the company was engaging in dynamic pricing or personalized algorithmic pricing as defined by the state's Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act.

TALKING POINT SEC Wants to Redefine the Size of 'Small' Financial Advice Firms. It's a Big Change.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is proposing a large increase in the threshold that qualifies registered investment advisory firms as "small entities." The designation is important because it helps the SEC determine the impact such firms would face from future regulation. Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, federal agencies are required to perform an economic analysis of how a new rule would impact small entities and evaluate alternatives that could lessen their compliance burden.

The SEC on Wednesday proposed increasing the threshold for small-entity RIAs from $25 million in assets under management to $1 billion. The proposal, which will be subject to a public-comment period before it is revised or completed, would be a major victory for the Investment Adviser Association, which has long advocated and formally requested an SEC update to the definition.

In a statement, the group says it "highly commends" the SEC for its proposal, which it calls an "important step towards recognizing that the investment advisor industry is largely made up of small businesses that face different resource constraints from larger firms and that regulation should more appropriately take these factors into consideration."

The proposal would also increase the maximum asset threshold for investment companies to be deemed small entities from $50 million to $10 billion. It calls for the asset thresholds to be revised for inflation every 10 years.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins says the proposal is "consistent with the SEC's intent to modernize regulatory requirements" and broadly aims to ease the compliance obligations for firms registered with the agency.

"This, in turn, would help the commission more appropriately promote the effectiveness and efficiency of its regulations, with the goal of minimizing the significant economic impact on small entities," he says.

--Kenneth Corbin, Barron's

Expected Major Events for Friday

00:01/UK: Dec BRC-Sensormatic IQ Footfall Monitor

05:00/JPN: Nov Indexes of Business Conditions - Preliminary Release

07:00/GER: Nov Foreign Trade

07:00/GER: Nov Industrial Production Index

07:45/FRA: Nov Industrial production index

07:45/FRA: Nov Household consumption expenditure in manufactured goods

09:00/ITA: Nov Retail Sales

13:30/US: Sep New Residential Construction - Housing Starts and Building Permits

13:30/US: Oct New Residential Construction - Housing Starts and Building Permits

13:30/CAN: Dec Labour Force Survey

13:30/US: Dec U.S. Employment Report

15:00/US: Jan University of Michigan Survey of Consumers - preliminary

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Expected Earnings for Friday

Beta Bionics Inc (BBNX) is expected to report for 4Q.

Bio-Path Holdings Inc $(BPTH)$ is expected to report for 3Q.

Black Titan Corp $(BTTC)$ is expected to report for 3Q.

Hurco Cos $(HURC)$ is expected to report for 4Q.

Lifecore Biomedical Inc (LFCR) is expected to report $0.16 for 2Q.

Sonder Holdings Inc $(SONDQ)$ 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

January 08, 2026 16:38 ET (21:38 GMT)

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