📈 TL;DR – Last Week in 60 Seconds
Stocks edged higher and sit near records. Small caps beat big caps; tech out front. Bond yields rose as Treasuries had their roughest week since April. The dollar slipped again, helping gold hold its ground. Bitcoin bounced after November’s pullback.
All eyes now on the U.S. central bank. The Fed meets Tue–Wed (Dec 9–10) with a rate decision (2 PM ET) and press conference Wednesday afternoon. Markets lean toward a quarter-point cut; the real story is Powell’s guidance and any dissents. That vote split will steer bond yields, the dollar, and risk appetite into year-end.
Quick Levels → Last week’s change
S&P 500: 6,870.39 | ↑0.31%
Nasdaq 100: 25,692.05 | ↑1.01%
Dow: 47,955.00 | ↑0.50%
Russell 2000: 2,521.48 | ↑0.84%
Gold/oz: $4,198 | ↓0.41%
Bitcoin (BTC): $90,428 | ↑0.05%
DXY (U.S. Dollar Index): 98.99 | ↓0.50%
🚀 Top Movers Last Week
SMX Security Matters (SMX) ↑443.87% — Post–reverse split trading and retail-fueled short covering sparked an extreme squeeze in this micro-cap.
DoorDash (DASH) ↑13.42% — Sequoia’s Alfred Lin disclosed ~$100M share purchase, signaling confidence and attracting momentum buyers.
Salesforce (CRM) ↑13.03% — Dow leader as enterprise demand held up; AI copilots and margins kept buyers engaged.
Tesla (TSLA) ↑5.77% — China November sales rose 9.9% year-over-year; optimism around robotics and AI added tailwind.
SoFi Technologies (SOFI) ↓6.53% — $1.5B common stock offering surprised investors; dilution worries overshadowed strong year-to-date gains.
🗺 Market Map
Source: Federal Reserve Bank
The Fed meets Tuesday–Wednesday; statement and rate decision Wednesday, followed by Chair Powell’s press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET. The vote split and guidance on 2026 matter as much as the size of any cut.
JOLTS* (October) job openings hits Tuesday 10:00 a.m. ET. Markets will parse openings vs. unemployed and quits for wage-pressure clues; prior readings hovered near ~7.2M amid a gradual cooldown. A softer print would support easier policy.
Last week’s core PCE* (the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge) rose 0.2% m/m and 2.8% y/y for September, while real spending was flat—enough cooling to keep rate-cut hopes alive without signaling demand damage.
Megacap earnings cluster midweek: Oracle and Adobe report Wednesday after the close; Broadcom Thursday after the close. Focus: AI infrastructure demand, cloud backlog quality, and subscription momentum—key tells for 2026 tech spending.
🛒 Buy Zone
Long-term investors: Consider rate-sensitive pockets like quality utilities/real estate on “trend pullback.” If the Fed cuts and telegraphs a slow path, lower yields aid cash-flow assets; if guidance sounds cautious, stagger entries and cap position sizes.
Short-term traders: It’s an event week. A “reaction–reversal” setup is common on Fed days—first move on headlines, second on Powell. Define risk using index futures/QQQ daily range; tighten if JOLTS surprises. Tech earnings after hours can gap—trade smaller and fade extremes.
💡 Signal Spotlight
The Fed’s Cut Call, Explained
The Fed’s decision matters, but the dots matter more. With core PCE at 2.8% and labor demand cooler, markets lean to a 0.25% cut. Watch how far 2026 dots shift and how many dissent.
Powell’s remarks Wed. at 2:30 p.m. ET could flip the first reaction. Cut + steady dots favors risk assets; a hawkish dot shift or surprise “no cut” tilts defensive. Watch follow-up Fed speak as well, for expanded commentary on guidance.
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👀 What to Watch
Tue, Dec 9 — NFIB Small Business Optimism*: Confidence guides hiring and pricing plans into 2026.
Tue, Dec 9 — JOLTS job openings (Oct): labor-demand pulse.
Tue–Wed, Dec 9–10 — FOMC meeting and press conference (2:30 PM ET Wed): rate decision (2 PM ET) and guidance into year-end.
Wed, Dec 10 (after close) — Oracle and Adobe earnings: AI spend, cloud demand, margins.
Thu, Dec 11 — Weekly Jobless claims: Fresh read on layoffs and hiring pace.
Thu, Dec 11 — Fed balance sheet: Liquidity trends contextualize financial conditions.
Thu, Dec 11 (after close) — Broadcom earnings: AI networking/ASIC orders; capex signals.
📚 Decoder
Core PCE: Inflation measure excluding food and energy.
JOLTS: Monthly job openings, hires, quits, and separations report.
NFIB Small Business Optimism: Survey of small firms’ hiring, sales, and pricing plans.
🕔 That’s your 5-minute guide to start the week. There’s more info out there…dive in! News is free; risk isn’t.
We’ll be back to check-in on Thursday at 7 AM ET.
Educational only—not investment advice.
Thanks for reading 5 Minute Markets!
