Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Tick Higher to Begin Week Featuring Fed Decision on Interest Rates; S&P 500 on Cusp of Record

Whoever Replaces Tim Cook Will Have ‘Big Shoes to Fill’

1 hr 22 min ago

Tim Cook ushered Apple into the age of smartwatches and wireless headphones. Will he be around for its AI era?

Cook, 65, may retire from the CEO post as soon as next year, the Financial Times has reported, stepping back as the company tries to find its place in the age of AI—and after he oversaw Apple’s (AAPL) foray into Apple Watches and AirPods. That could explain why a number of executives are leaving the company now, a possible attempt to get ahead of a leadership shakeup.

“Tim Cook’s era of unmatched scaling at Apple presents big shoes to fill,” J.P.Morgan said in a research note last month. “His tenure since [2011] features exceptional feats.”

Apple didn’t respond to questions from Investopedia about Cook’s plans. Bloomberg News reported that Cook is unlikely to leave the CEO post in 2026—a view shared by some analysts. Cook “will remain CEO of Apple through at least the end of 2027 to see Apple through this key AI technology transition in Cupertino,” Wedbush wrote in a research note Sunday.

Still, succession was on investors’ minds before the Financial Times report—and before executives such as John Giannandrea, senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy, and Alan Dye, vice president of human interface design, announced their exits, J.P.Morgan said.

The bank’s analysts last month said senior Apple executive John Ternus, who has been at the company since 2001, was a possible Cook replacement.

Cook, who replaced Steve Jobs in August 2011, has delivered big for Apple shareholders. Share prices increased 20-fold during Cook’s 14-year tenure, while the S&P 500 index rose about sixfold during that period. The company’s market capitalization went from less than $400 billion to $4 trillion, J.P.Morgan estimated, as Cook helped the company achieve “operational excellence” by building supply chains in Asia and steering Apple through the Trump administration’s tariffs.

He has overseen the introduction and monetization of near-ubiquitous products like Apple Watch and AirPods and helped Apple develop a reputation for innovation in health through devices and tracking. “If you zoom out way into the future, and you look back and ask what Apple’s biggest contribution was, it will be in the health area,” Cook said in a recent interview with Wired.7

The so-called “wearables” business is strong, and iPhone sales are booming, but some investors have worried that Apple is falling behind on AI. The company delayed the rollout of an AI-powered version of Siri, making its suite of AI tools, called Apple Intelligence, less compelling. Recent hires, Wedbush said, have some hoping that 2026 “is going to finally be the year that Apple actually enters the AI Revolution.”

–Sarina Trangle

This Drugmaker’s Stock Is Soaring Over 40% Monday

2 hr 56 min ago

Kymera Therapeutics (KYMR) shares surged over 40% to an all-time high Monday afternooon after the drugmaker reported positive results from an early test of an oral anti-inflammatory drug.

The company said a Phase 1b trial of its KT-621 drug found it can help significantly reduce inflammation for patients with eczema and asthma. The treatment works by targeting STAT6, a protein that affects immune responses.

CEO Nello Mainolfi said the results “exceeded our highest expectations and provide a powerful additional validation of our industry-leading STAT6 degrader program.”

Kymera said that a Phase 2b trial of KT-621 for those with eczema is already underway, and it expects results by mid-2027. A second Phase 2b trial for asthma patients is scheduled to start in the first quarter of next year.

With Monday’s gains, Kymera Therapeutics shares are up about 140% year-to-date.

–Bill McColl

Technology Is Only S&P 500 Sector in Green Today

3 hr 30 min ago

Tech companies are a positive outlier for the S&P 500 today.

The S&P 500 Information Technology Sector was the only one of the 11 tracked by the benchmark index in the green Monday afternoon, with industry shares up about 0.5%.

Communication Services (down 1.9%), Materials (down 1.6%), and Consumer Discretionary (down 1.5%) shares leading sector declines.

The S&P 500 was down 0.5% overall with about an hour left to go in the trading day.

The Netflix-Warner Bros. Deal Was Never Going to End Quietly. Now What?

3 hr 44 min ago

Have your movie-night plans ever been blown up by too many choices and competing interests? That could be happening to the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal too.

Shortly after Netflix (NFLX) last week made its plans to acquire Warner Bros. (WBD) public, power players—up to and including President Donald Trump—made it clear that the industry-upending deal wouldn’t occur without their involvement. Netflix prevailed in a months-long bidding war for Warner Bros. assets, including its film and TV studios, its gaming business, HBO and HBOMax. But Paramount Skydance (PSKY) on Monday launched a hostile takeover attempt, saying the company’s shareholders should prefer its offer.

Meanwhile, Trump on Sunday said he would be “involved in the decision” and pointed to possible antitrust issues implied by the Netflix deal. To sum up the state of this media deal using the words of Warner Bros.’ iconic cartoon rabbit: “Of course, you realize this means war.”

The stakes are extremely high. When Netflix and Warner Bros. struck their $83 billion cash-and-stock deal, the pact came with sizable breakup fees. If the deal doesn’t go through because Warner Bros. walks away to pursue a different suitor, or because it fails to get shareholder approval, the company has to pay Netflix a fee equal to $2.8 billion. If the deal doesn’t go through because of antitrust laws or foreign regulatory laws, Netflix has to give Warner Bros. $5.8 billion.

Fees like those are generally larger when deals are big and the likelihood of turbulence is high. Paramount took its offer to Warner Bros. shareholders directly on Monday, saying its all-cash bid was superior to Netflix’s. “We’re really here to finish what we started,” Paramount CEO David Ellison said on CNBC. “We believe when they see what is currently in our offer, that that’s what they’ll vote for.”

Read the full article here.

–Crystal Kim

Nvidia-Backed CoreWeave’s Stock Slumps. Here’s What’s Behind Monday’s Slide

4 hours ago

Shares of CoreWeave (CRWV) lost ground Monday after the cloud computing company said it would sell $2 billion in convertible senior notes.

The shares were down close to 5% in recent trading.

The data center provider backed by AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) said the convertible senior notes coming due in 2031 will be made in a private offering, and initial investors would have the option to purchase an additional $300 million worth within a 13-day period from the issuance date.

CoreWeave said that a portion of the proceeds will be used for capped call transactions, with the rest for general corporate purposes.

The move comes after a recent pullback in CoreWeave’s shares amid worries about an AI bubble, after a big run-up in its stock following its public debut in March.

Even with CoreWeave’s recent losses, the stock has more than doubled from its initial public offering price.

–Bill McColl

Tesla Stock Just Got Downgraded by a Major Wall Street Firm. Here’s Why

4 hr 22 min ago

The ranks of Tesla (TSLA) bulls have shrunk, as Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating on the company. Shares of the electric vehicle maker fell sharply on Monday. 

“Tesla is a clear global leader in electric vehicles, manufacturing, renewable energy, and real world AI and thus deserving of a premium valuation,” analysts led by Andrew Percoco wrote in a note to clients over the weekend. “However, high expectations on the latter have brought the stock closer to fair valuation.”

Morgan Stanley lowered its rating on Tesla stock to “equal-weight” from “overweight” previously, while raising their price target to $425 from $410. Telsa shares were down 4% at around $437 in mid-afternoon trading Monday.

Tesla stock faces near-term risks such as potentially falling short of quarterly earnings estimates as its EV business struggles, which could make its next year of trading “choppy,” the analysts wrote.

Read the full article here.

–Aaron McDade

Why 84% of Wealthy Investors Shun These Popular Retirement Funds—What You Can Learn From Them

5 hr 3 min ago

More than two-thirds of 401(k) account holders have money in target-date funds (TDFs), which shift investments from riskier to more stable assets over time as a person gets closer to retirement.1

According to the 2025 Retirement Survey from Allspring Global Investments, however, a whopping 84% of investors nearing retirement with at least $200,000 in household investable assets prefer other options over target-date funds. The result is that only 35% of their 401(k) assets and 2% of their individual retirement account (IRA) assets are invested in TDFs.

Nate Miles, head of retirement at Allspring, said that wealthier adults nearing retirement are “different than the average person for whom target-date funds are modeled.”

Take taxes. Miles points to an example of a wealthier W-2 employee for whom taxes have automatically been deducted from regular paychecks for an entire career. While “there are ways in which [that person] can manage their tax burden via charitable deductions or mortgage interest,” Miles said, “for the most part, taxes are just something they pay, not manage.”

So at retirement, they may have to face something that comes as a surprise—which accounts should they withdraw from to minimize their taxes? Miles points out that “only 53% of retirees have a preference for withdrawal by tax status, and yet tax-efficient withdrawal plans can greatly affect retirement outcomes.”

Read the full article here.

–Nathan Reiff

Why Shares of AI Data Software Company Confluent Are Soaring on Monday

6 hr 1 min ago

Shares of Confluent (CFLT) surged Monday morning after IBM (IBM) announced a deal to acquire the software maker for $31 per share, valuing Confluent at $11 billion.

Confluent’s software helps companies manage and organize large amounts of data, an in-demand service as many companies are looking to manage massive data sets that are used in the training and running of artificial intelligence models.

IBM said that Confluent “excels at preparing data for AI, keeping it clean and connected across systems and applications, eliminating silos inherent in agentic AI.” IBM said that the company’s total addressable market has doubled in the last four years to $100 billion.

IBM will acquire Confluent with cash on hand, and said it expects the deal to close by the middle of next year as Confluent’s largest shareholders, which control about 62% of the stock’s voting power, have agreed to vote in favor of the deal.

Read the full article here.

–Aaron McDade

These 3 Stocks Are Set to Join the S&P 500 Soon and Rising

6 hr 24 min ago

Carvana, CRH, and Comfort Systems USA shares climbed Monday after S&P Dow Jones Indices said the stocks are set to join the S&P 500.

Shares of used car retailer Carvana (CVNA) were up over 10% in recent trading, while construction materials provider CRH (CRH) jumped 6%, and mechanical and electrical services company Comfort Systems USA (FIX) added about 2%.

The three stocks will join the benchmark index prior to the opening of trading Dec. 22, S&P Dow Jones Indices said Friday, as part of its quarterly rebalancing. The companies will be replacing auto parts distributor LKQ (LKQ), specialty materials maker Solstice Advanced Materials (SOLS), and flooring manufacturer Mohawk Industries (MHK), shares of which were little changed Monday morning.

Stocks that are added to major indexes like the S&P 500 often benefit from the move, as it may be taken as a vote of confidence in their returns and boost awareness among investors. Index funds that track stocks added to the indexes will also be driven to buy the shares.

With Monday’s gains, shares of Carvana and Comfort Systems USA have more than doubled in value in 2025. CRH shares have climbed close to 40% this year so far.

–Bill McColl

Boeing Stock Leads Dow Gainers After Finally Completing $4.7B Deal to Reacquire Spirit AeroSystems

7 hr 9 min ago

It took nearly a year and a half, but Boeing (BA) finally reacquired key supplier Spirit AeroSystems (SPR). Investors seem pleased.

Boeing was the top-performing stock in the Dow on Monday morning, with shares up some 1.5%, after it announced it had completed its $4.7 billion deal for Spirit AeroSystems announced on July 1, 2024.

As part of the deal, rival plane manufacturer Airbus will receive $439 million compensation and certain Spirit assets, including facilities in the U.S., France, Northern Ireland, and Morocco.

“This is a pivotal moment in Boeing’s history and future success as we begin to integrate Spirit AeroSystems’ commercial and aftermarket operations and establish Spirit Defense,” Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said.

Boeing had spun off Spirit AeroSystems in 2005.

Americans Plan to Give Fewer Holiday Tips This Year—But Not for These Two Jobs

8 hr 10 min ago

Do you plan to tip anyone this holiday season? Many Americans may skip the ritual this year.

Fewer people expect to tip their childcare providers, mail carriers, teachers and trash collectors, according to a new report, though for those who do, the median holiday tip is expected to remain mostly unchanged from a year ago. There’s a silver lining for some types of workers, however, who may get bigger gratuities in 2025. 

The high-level trend reverses last year’s findings from Bankrate, which showed more Americans—especially GenZers and Millennials, who are comparatively unenthusiastic tippers—were keen to offer holiday tips.

“The pressure on consumers’ wallets from tariffs, inflation and other things can overshadow their generosity,” Bankrate credit cards expert Ana Staples told Investopedia. “While there is this social pressure to tip, people are also very aware of the limitations on their budgets this season.”

Surveys and other sources have indicated a growing frustration with tipping culture in the U.S., with many Americans feeling like they’re being asked to tip more, and more frequently, than they’d like. That’s particularly pronounced among younger Americans, Bankrate found earlier this year. 

Read the full article here.

–Parija Kavilanz

Marvell Technology Leads Early Nasdaq Decliners on Report of Microsoft-Broadcom Talks, Benchmark Downgrade

8 hr 24 min ago

The opening minutes of the trading week were not kind to Marvell Technology (MRVL) shares.

Marvell stock sank 8% soon after the opening bell following a report in The Information that its partner Microsoft (MSFT) was discussing custom chips with its rival Broadcom (AVGO).

In addition, Benchmark downgraded the company to “hold” from “buy,” saying it is concerned that Marvell has lost Amazon (AMZN) chip designs.

Including today’s sharp early declines, Marvell shares are down about 18% this year.

Todd Combs, Warren Buffett’s Investment Manager at Berkshire Hathaway, to Leave for JPMorgan Chase

11 hr 3 min ago

Warren Buffett’s investment manager at Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A; BRK.B) is leaving the conglomerate for a job at JPMorgan Chase (JPM). Buffett said the world’s largest bank “has made a good decision.”

Early Monday, JPMorgan announced that it had hired Todd Combs, the CEO of GEICO and investment manager at Berkshire Hathaway, to “head the $10 billion Strategic Investment Group of the firm’s new Security and Resiliency Initiative (SRI).” The bank said the unit was “recently launched to help companies enhance their growth, spur innovation and accelerate manufacturing, primarily in the United States.”

Combs, a former member of the bank’s board, will serve as a special advisor to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon.

“Todd Combs is one of the greatest investors and leaders I’ve known, having successfully managed investments alongside the most respected and successful long-term investor of our time, Warren Buffett,” Dimon said. “Having served nine years on our Board, he truly understands all aspects of our company, and he supports the role we play helping make the world better and safer for all its citizens.”

In a separate press release announcing leadership changes at Berkshire Hathaway, the 95-year-old Buffett—who will be retiring at the end of the year—said Combs “made many great hires at GEICO and broadened its horizons. JPMorgan, as usually is the case, has made a good decision.”

Nancy Pierce, GEICO’s COO, will be taking over as CEO from Combs, effective immediately, Berkshire said.

In addition, CFO Marc Hamburg will retire from the company after 40 years of service on June 1, 2027. Charles Chang will Hamburg as CFO on June 1, 2026, and they “will work together to ensure a smooth and seamless transition period,” the company said. 

Stock Futures Tick Higher to Begin Week Featuring Fed Decision on Interest Rates

11 hr 41 min ago

Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed.

S&P 500 futures were up 0.1%.

Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.2%.