Morning Brief

Morning Brief host Julie Hyman and Yahoo Finance Markets and Data Editor Jared Blikre track several of Friday's top trending stock tickers, including Meta (META), Oklo (OKLO), Vistra (VST), Rio Tinto (RIO), Glencore (GLNCY), and Intel (INTC). The US added 50,000 jobs in the month of December, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), below the Bloomberg estimate of 70,000 non-farm payrolls. Additionally, the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.4% — down from the revised November reading of 4.5% (was originally 4.6%)— while average hourly earnings rose 0.3%. Morning Brief Anchor Julie Hyman reports on the breaking labor data, alongside RSM Chief Economist Joe Brusuelas and Interactive Brokers Chief Strategist Steve Sosnick. The US economy added fewer jobs than expected in December. The unemployment rate also fell below estimates. Yahoo Finance Federal Reserve Correspondent Jennifer Schonberger and Annex Wealth Management chief economist and strategist Brian Jacobsen explain what the latest jobs report means for the Fed.  US productivity rose 4.9% in the third quarter of 2025, as reported on Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This data comes on top of the December jobs report, which saw the US economy grow by 50,000 jobs last month while the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.4% (down from the revised November reading of 4.5% which was originally 4.6%). RSM chief economist Joe Brusuelas — alongside Interactive Brokers' Steve Sosnick and UBS Global Wealth Management's Leslie Falconio — reacts to the fresh productivity figure amid rising jobless claims.  Takeaways: Earnings season is close to kicking off for big banks, with companies JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), Morgan Stanley (MS), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Goldman Sachs (GS) set to report their quarterly results throughout next week. Major US bank stocks notably ended 2025 at new record highs.  Yahoo Finance senior bank reporter David Hollerith lists the three biggest themes that Wall Street investors will be watching from bank earnings.  Yahoo Finance's flagship show, Morning Brief, is your go-to source for smarter investing and market moves. Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wall Street is attempting to cut through the noise out of Washington, D.C., after President Trump hinted at a long string of policy proposals, ranging from hiking defense spending to his administration's plans for Venezuelan oil and possibly banning institutional investors from buying single-family homes. Schwab Center for Financial Research head of macro research and strategy Kevin Gordon sits down with Julie Hyman to discuss how investors should be interpreting possible policy risks. Also, catch Kevin Gordon discuss the broadening of AI themes in 2026. Oil prices are rising after US Energy Secretary Chris Wright outlined the Trump administration's strategy, saying the US will control Venezuela's oil exports indefinitely. Yahoo Finance Breaking News Reporter Jake Conley sits down on Opening Bid with Julie Hyman to discuss the energy market's moves. Nvidia (NVDA), Constellation Brands (STZ), and Applied Digital (APLD) are some of the trending tickers on Yahoo Finance's platform on Thursday. Morning Brief host Julie Hyman and Yahoo Finance Data and Markets Editor Jared Blikre examine the stories driving investor interest in the stocks. After artificial intelligence dominated Wall Street headlines in 2025, Schwab Center for Financial Research head of macro research and strategy Kevin Gordon discusses the diversity and investment options now made available in the current phase of the AI trade in 2026. President Trump is giving Wall Street investors whiplash with a deluge of new policy proposals, from hiking defense spending to $1.5 trillion to expecting 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil and plans to ban institutional investors from buying single-family homes. Yahoo Finance Washington correspondent Ben Werschkul comes on the program to explain Trump's vision for the US occupation of Venezuela in relation to the oil industry, while the administration seeks to raise its defense budget in 2027.  Takeaways: President Trump announced new policy proposals regarding US housing and a hike in defense spending US stock futures are ticking lower in Thursday's pre-market trading after the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and S&P 500 (^GSPC) closed below new record highs in yesterday's sessions According to a Bloomberg report, Chinese officials are set to approve the purchase of Nvidia's H200 AI chips (NVDA) Yahoo Finance's flagship show, Morning Brief, is your go-to source for smarter investing and market moves. Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Morning Brief host Julie Hyman tracks several of the day's top trending stock tickers, including Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) rejecting the latest Paramount Skydance (PSKY) bid, Strategy (MSTR) shares are rising after MSCI shelved a plan to exclude digital asset-backed treasuries from its indexes, and Bloomberg is reporting that Discord (DISO.PVT) has confidentially filed for an initial public offering.  While the US housing market is forecasted to thaw and see lower mortgage rates and home prices in 2026, that doesn't necessarily mean there will be available housing supply as older homeowners are staying put. Meredith Whitney Advisory Group CEO Meredith Whitney explains the impact that Baby Boomers deciding to "age in place" is having on housing supply, while also commenting on the portion of home equity loans currently being utilized for manufacturing projects. Whitney has been dubbed the "Oracle of Wall Street" for forecasting the 2008 financial crisis during her time as an analyst.  Takeaways: US stock futures are mixed in Wednesday's pre-market trading after the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and S&P 500 (^GSPC) closed yesterday's session at new record highs.  ADP announced a gain of 41,000 private sector jobs in the month of December.  Investors await the release of the latest Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report later today, while the December jobs report is to be released this Friday, January 9.  The White House announced that Venezuela will send 50 million barrels of oil to the US.  The Trump administration weighed its options of deploying the military to acquire Greenland. Yahoo Finance's flagship show, Morning Brief, is your go-to source for smarter investing and market moves. Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang unveiled a variety of new projects and innovations at his keynote speech at CES 2026 on Monday, including the chipmaker's Vera Rubin AI platform and even its Alpamayo open-source model to train and improve autonomous driving programs. As part of a panel on today's Morning Brief, New Street Research technology infrastructure analyst Antoine Chkaiban and Spear Invest founder and CIO Ivana Delevska discuss what could be next for the chipmaker, CapEx spending, and the company's stock reaction to the announcements.  After Huang's CES speech, investors are talking more about opportunity in the autonomous driving space. Ivana Delevska and Clark Capital chief investment officer Sean Clark sit down with Morning Brief host Julie Hyman to share what they expect from the artificial intelligence (AI) trade in 2026 and beyond.  Takeaways: Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang unveiled a variety of new projects and innovations at his keynote speech at CES 2026 on Monday, including the chipmaker's Vera Rubin AI platform.  US stock futures are mixed in Tuesday's premarket trading after the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) reached a new record high above 49,000 yesterday.  A majority of small and medium business owners appear cautiously optimistic for 2026, according to a new study from Bank of America.  Yahoo Finance's flagship show, Morning Brief, is your go-to source for smarter investing and market moves. Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Morning Brief host Julie Hyman tracks several of the day's top trending stock tickers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) shares ticking higher in premarket trading after Goldman Sachs analysts raise their price target, Mobileye (MBLY) announces a deal with an unnamed US automaker, and Comcast (CMCSA) spinoff Versant Media Group (VSNT, VSNTV) begins its trading on the Nasdaq Monday.  US military forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise invasion of the country over the weekend. Maduro's ousting comes as the Trump administration seeks to charge the world leader with narco-terrorism conspiracy charges. Yahoo Finance Washington correspondent Ben Werschkul comes on the program to break down the latest news regarding this event, global interests in Venezuela's oil supply (CL=F, BZ=F), and China's condemnation of the US operation against the nation's trade ally. Takeaways: Oil prices and related stocks rise following the US invasion of Venezuela and capture of President Nicolás Maduro US stock futures inch slightly higher in Monday's premarket in response to the geopolitical headlines CES 2026 kicks off today in Las Vegas with presentations from Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) CEO Lisa Su.  Yahoo Finance's flagship show, Morning Brief, is your go-to source for smarter investing and market moves. Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices