Closing Bell - Closing Bell: Stocks Staging an End-Of-Year Run? 12/5/25

Episode Date: December 5, 2025

Can stocks stage an end of year run? We discuss with The Wharton School’s Jeremy Siegel, Requisite Capital’s Bryn Talkington and Neuberger Berman’s Shannon Saccocia. Plus, we hear from Alex Lasry – the CEO of the New York, New Jersey host committee – with what the World Cup in the U.S. could mean for fans, businesses and more. And, Alger’s Ankur Crawford brings us her top stock picks for 2026.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

All right, guys. Thanks so much. Welcome to closing bell. I'm Scott Walker, live from Post 9 here at the New York Stock Exchange. This maker breakout begins with the hunt for a new record high. The SSP, not that far away from yet another market milestone in 2025. We'll ask our experts what's in store for your money moving forward, including the Wharton Schools Jeremy Siegel. He'll join me in just a moment. Let's show you the scorecard here with 60 to go in regulation today. We're still on track for a positive week trying to get a little something going here late on this Friday. and tech are leading the way today. Been a solid week for META on that Metaverse report from a couple of days ago. Micron is up 5% this week and a pretty good one as well for the banks. We're going to have a closer look at that space coming up.

A very, very good performing group this year, the big banks are, and they're looking pretty good today too. It does take us to our talk of the tape. Can stock stage an end of year run? Let's ask the Wharton, Professor of Finance, Jeremy Siegel. He joins us now. Professor, it's always great to talk to. We usually do this on Fridays, which affords us the ability to size up this week and the past few weeks at that. I mean, how does this market look to you here?

The market looks very, very solid. I'll tell you one thing. I don't think we can rely on seasonal predictions. You know, we all said, oh, September, October, normally week months, November, normally the best month of the year, and it just squeaked out a little bit of a gain. December is usually a good month, but can go either way. Actually, one of the most reliable periods for December is the trading days between Christmas and New Year's that's up almost 90% of the time.

So we could reach new records. I'm actually fairly pleased with what I'm seeing in terms of holiday sales. I was a little fearful that tariffs might impact those sales, but Black Friday was good. Cyber Monday was fairly good, not gangbusters, but it shows an economy that, you know, is moving at a, you know, probably two, two and a half percent GDP pace. One thing that's so unusual, Scott, I mean, yesterday, when I saw jobless claims go to more than a three-year low, and the day before that, on Wednesday, seeing the ADP employment report showing the lowest level in almost three years, I mean, that is something that, is just never supposed to happen.

I mean, the labor market is so hard to interpret. This is the most extreme, no-hire, no-fire economy that we've ever seen. It's funny, Professor, you know, there are some notes today that do talk about seasonality being in our favor, as it tends to be, especially when you come into December with such a strong year leading into it. But there's also a mention today of FOMO. that it's in full swing yet again, that there are a lot of portfolio managers who have underperformed this market.

Maybe they couldn't be as large as they otherwise would have wanted to in some of the mega caps. So now the chase is on. Is there something to that? Well, there is. But again, you know, the Mag 7 has been the outperformers and they've been relatively weak, actually, over the last four to six weeks,

which is a little bit surprising. Now, maybe some people will say, I've got to get them on my balance sheet in the last couple of weeks of the year, you do get some of that evening up that's happening. But I'm actually rather pleased to seeing the rally broaden out. And right now I actually see less FOMO than I think I saw maybe four or six weeks ago. Oh, interesting.

You know, the other idea is what Citi puts forth today, Professor, where they say no pain, no gain. and they use the A and the I in pain and gain in caps and talking about a bubble. We think we're in a bubble in U.S. equities, they say, but bubbles are initially quite profitable, so stay long. This is like, well, I guess you have to inflate it before you pop it, so we might as well ride this as long as we can. You know, the biggest question I always get is this like the late 90s? I say, well, just a minute, is this like 96 or 99? a big difference about that. And by the way, that internet bubble was many times what we're

seeing now. You know, not in both the tech stocks and the non-tech stocks. I'm actually pleased to see some caution in the MAG 7 recently. And I'm not saying, you know, I mean, Tesla, Palantir, there's a few of them that do have those triple-digit PE ratios. But the others, you know, PE ratios of 30 when you're growing 20% plus a year and beating on all metrics, I'm not saying they're the ones to own, but certainly I wouldn't say that they are in bubble territory. And once you subtract the MAG 7 or the related tech, you get PEs that are under 20, which in my playbook is absolutely not a bubble. So I am not in agreement with the city group's analysis here.

You know, when you talk about certain kinds of stocks, and you mentioned Palantir by name, I'm wondering, given the number of markets you've seen over the years, you've seen many stocks that have acted like this one over the years, how do you tell an investor class, so to speak, as the professor, how to judge a company like that? It's a totally legit, real, great business, right? Yeah. With a firebrand CEO who doesn't take any, you know what. And this company's got some real stuff going on.

Yes, it trades at a high P, but it also has a very loyal cohort of investors behind it, not only institutionally but retail. Well, Scott, everything you're saying right now could be said of Tesla, right? I mean, you know, a very CEO that's in the limelight who's done, amazing things, P.E. ratio, well over 100. We know if it is just on the, if Tesla was just a car company, you know, it would be selling it about $30 or $40 to share. It's all those options on what Elon Musk can do, might do. Of course, that's a $64 question. All the things that car can do might do. But these, both of these companies, Palantir and Tesla, show so much more substance than the crazy internet companies that were being bought in 2000. I guess that's kind of my point, right? Is you have to make a distinction, even while we make analogies to different periods of time and market caps and valuations, et cetera, there are clear differences that need to be pointed out.

Let me ask you this, the backup and interest rates, concerning to you in any way? Yeah, well, you know, we're going to see the Fed next week. You know, I've always said that even if the Fed lowers, I actually see the tenure between four and four and a quarter. I mean, I think you have to lower the short end because the short end is usually one percentage point below the long end, and that's why it belongs on the low threes. We'll see how the bond market reacts. What's causing some of this backup today? It's hard to say.

Are they worried about Kevin Hassett, that he might, you know, kowtow to Trump a little bit too much, lower interest rates a little too fast, a little too much? It could be a little bit of, you know, the oil market has ticked up a bit. I wouldn't call, you know, 411 to be something to be concerned, about certainly quite yet. I'll ask you this then about the Fed since you bring it up.

I think people think they're going to cut next week. Oh, I think it's, yeah. Absolutely, you say. Well, nothing is absolute. I think it's going to be a very hawkish cut, which means they're going to cut, but put in the language that they're apt to hold in January unless they see the economy

you know, significantly deteriorate or inflation come down dramatically. So that is what I think the message is going to be next week. I wonder if you're getting into a cutting sweet spot of sorts where, as evidenced by the inflation data today, you had core coming in lower than expected, and yet you do have concerns about the labor market. So those who are arguing for multiple rate cuts might just get their way, no? Yeah, well, I mean, multiple, you know, what's going to happen next year? I mean, early next year, Trump says it's going to, you know, name the new chairman, and that makes Powell kind of a lame duck.

What does that mean? You know, I wouldn't want to go beyond predicting next week too easily at this particular juncture. But, you know, my call is for a, you know, a hawkish cut. I think there's going to be dissents, two, maybe even three, saying no cut. Certainly, I think Myron wants a 50-bases point cut. He will continue to dissent on that other side. This would be the most dissents if this happens that the Fed has had in many years, if not decades, which might be a sign of, you know, the disagreement and on what the transition that if it is Kevin Hassett is going to be facing when he becomes a new Fed chair.

Or if he becomes the new Fed chair. I asked Muhammad L. Erie in this question yesterday, who the equity market, not the bond market, not the credit market, who the equity market would prefer as being Fed Chair. And he had a tough time answering that question. Can you answer it? What do you think the market would want? I think they would want Kevin Hassett. The equity market tends to want towards an easier side because it rides inflation much easier. I mean, we're not talking about inflation, 6, 7, 7, 8%, but, you know, tending a little bit on that easy side rather than let's squeeze it down to 2. Clearly, that's not going to be good for the bond market, but, you know, when we take a look at things, if you, easier money that might be a bit inflationary is actually much more of a sweet spot for the equity markets. So I think that Kevin would be better in that sense, and Waller, particularly, who did vote for that, you know,

in a quarter point when they held earlier this year, or maybe how worse would be. So I don't think there'll be a negative reaction on the equity markets to Kevin. There might be a little bit of volatility in the bond market. Okay. Stay with me, Professor. Let's bring in our other panelists,

if we could requisite capitals, Bryn-Tockington, Newberger, Berman, Shannon Sikosha. It's great to have both of you contributors with us, of course. Bryn, you first. Hawkish cut with dissents. That's the prediction from the professor for next week. Seems like the market's in kind of wait-in-see mode for what the Fed says.

How do you see it? I like that phrase a lot. I think that's totally on point. And I will say when I look at my Robin Hood prediction market, It shows 74 cents that it is Kevin Hassett, and I think the market has digested that. I do think that we are going to get GDP growth continued to be stable to growing next year. And also, especially in Q1, I think there's going to be really good tax refunds, really good for the consumer. The data center part of growth in GDP is close to 50 percent, plus we have the fiscal side of stimulus from the OBBB.

And so I think to talk what you're talking about rates backing up on the long end, as the long end rates come up, that can also tell you that the economy is strengthening. And so I think right now today we have some issues with Japan. Obviously the yen JGBs continue to go higher on the JGB side, which I think is putting some upward pressure. But I do think that steepening of the yield curve a bit while short rates are coming down is a positive thing because it's telling you that the economy is doing well. Sharon, size this market up for me. Well, in the short term, Scott, there doesn't seem to be much that can upset the momentum to the professor's comments earlier. If we look at the last couple of weeks of December, there is going to be some window dressing. And I think there could be some window dressing, frankly, Scott, on some of the lower quality names. I mean, we've seen quality really suffer, especially in this last three or four months. And so I think, you know, those quality managers might be reaching for some of those names that are lower quality. But I think most importantly, I do think the positioning going into 2026 and the broadening out, the health of the market, I think we're poised for that broadening to continue to some of these other sectors.

And if you think about the importance of AI CapEx next year, it's going to come from companies that have strong balance sheets that actually can invest in these innovations outside of technology. And so I think we're on the precipice of what could be a really interesting period. There is this liquidity infusion, as Bryn mentioned, coming into the market in April or so. There's been over withholding from a tax perspective for many higher income households. And so there are some catalysts outside of just lower rates and economic growth that could create a liquidity infusion that could allow for this additional broadening out and not be in either or scenario with mega cap tech. I'll tell you where there's been a liquidity infusion, it's the financials. If you look at what these stocks have been doing, certainly over the last month, it's been pretty exciting to see if you're longed that group. Leslie Picker's been following it.

Les, what's behind this do you think? That was the perfect pivot there, Scott. KBWB, that is the KBW Bank ETF, hitting a new all-time high today. And that ETF pulling in gains of about 26% year-to-date. It's five largest holdings, the biggest banks, each up at least 22% this year. City has a smaller weighting in the ETF,

but it's the best performer of those big bank cohort this year, up 54% thanks to progress on its turnaround plan. Investment banking, of course, has been busy and the macro and regulatory backdrops have been conducive for banks as well, and the likelihood of rate cuts next week at the highly anticipated FOMC meeting, helping ease some credit quality fears that were sitting there at the margin. And also next week, Goldman Sachs is hosting its financial services conference starting on Tuesday. We will be there in person to track the insights from management teams on how the fourth quarter is shaping up and any guidance for for 2026, Scott.

All right. Well, good. We look forward to seeing you there. Leslie Picker, thank you so much with the perfect setup for it. So, Professor, if I told you, you could not pick anything related to AI technology or what have you, where would financial stocks rank in your list of areas of this market that you like? I think I think what just been said is true. First of all, lower interest rates would stimulate loan demand.

We've actually seen a turn down in delinquencies. Remember, the rising delinquencies is a problem, October, November. The latest data is actually better on that. That's absolutely good for banks. So that is certainly one of the sectors that could benefit, as well as any sector that really begins to use AI, you know, in a way to save costs and increase margins. the AI adoption, all these great possibilities,

but it's been a little on the slow side. There's a lot of room for margin gain and cost cutting here. You know, Bryn, you get a little net interest income Nirvana, the steeper the yield curve gets, right? For these stocks, they love that. Sure. And I also think within our business, within our industry, you know, AI is absolutely working.

I think we all see all of the efficiencies we're getting from being able to do things already inside of our ecosystem. But I also think if the economy is doing well, if rates are coming down, you could also have a play in the regional banks. And so I know we're talking about the money centers and the really mega-cap banks. But as rates are coming down, that could also be very stimulative for some of the regional, the healthier regional banks. Well, I'll tell you what, it's probably one of the reasons why the Russell 2000 is up 2.5% over a month. I mean, they obviously have a lot of regional banks in there. Shan, what about you on the financials? Leslie gave us a good setup, and these stocks, if you look at their performance,

certainly on a year-to-date basis, it's pretty impressive. Yeah, I mean, I think Bryn's spot on with her points. But the other thing that we haven't talked a lot about because there hasn't been as much of it as expected is really on the M&A front, Scott. And so not only do you get that infusion from an investment banking perspective, but you also, for those businesses that have a wealth arm, you know, being able to take those liquidity events, convert them on the investment banking side, and then be able to move that over to the other side of the ledger from a wealth perspective.

There's also $8 trillion sitting in money market funds right now, Scott. And so if you think about trading volumes and the opportunity to put that money to work in 2026, especially in a, you know, stronger economic backdrop, there's a lot of opportunities in different parts at the financial sector to take advantage of that. All right. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much. We'll see you soon. Look forward to our next conversation, Bryn, Shannon, and the professor. Meantime, Space X, reportedly kicking off a secondary share sale that would boost its valuation, $800 billion. $800 billion.

Morgan Brennan is here with those details. Step aside, Open AI. Hello, SpaceX. 100%. That is the headline here. And yes, let that sink in. $800 billion valuation. This is according to the Wall Street Journal, which is reporting that SpaceX is kicking.

taking off a secondary sale, and it would be a doubling of the valuation for SpaceX since its last secondary sale, which was back in July. Just a little bit of context here. Twice a year, give or take, usually around the summer, and then usually again around this time of the year, SpaceX offers these secondary share sales for investors, for employees. I have reached out to the company. I have not heard back for comment. I'd also just note for context, I don't, in recent memory, ever actually, seeing SpaceX

comment on one of these sales. But at $800 billion, it would be the most valuable U.S. private company. It would surpass OpenAI with that valuation as well. And in terms of SpaceX, it obviously has different parts of its portfolio. But the one that investors have continued to be most excited about is Starlink, which is that broadband satellite constellation. They now have upwards of 9,000 satellites in low Earth orbit. It is a very profitable business, from my understanding. And as we show you, rocket launches on the screen, They continue to surpass all of the records around rocket launches with that business as well. They're upwards of 160 launches so far this year, Scott.

All right, good stuff. Morgan, thank you. That's Morgan Brennan. So Musk versus Altman in a yet another arena. We'll have to pay close attention to that one for sure. We're just getting started here on the bell. Up next, soccer's biggest event headed to the United States for the first time in more than 30 years. We're going to hear from Alex Lazarie, CEO of the FIFA World Cup, New York, New Jersey host commission with what this?

year's tournament means for fans, businesses, and more. He's here post-9 next. Welcome back to 2026 FIFA World Cup finalizing its draw today in Washington. The host United States will compete in Group D and we'll meet Paraguay on June 12th at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles to kick things off. landing in Group L, which means they'll play opening games on the East Coast, including in the New York area. Alex Lazzery is CEO of the New York, New Jersey host committee. He is back with us today as we take a very big step forward to this tournament kicking off. Yeah, it's finally becoming a reality. It's gone from a theoretical idea to now a reality. We can actually now move into the next stage of our planning.

We've been planning the last year plus on just kind of the idea. Now with the teams here and getting the match times tomorrow, we'll be able to move into the next phase. So now you're looking through the groups, obviously, and you're seeing who is going to be available in this area. You're signaling Group C. You're going to get a Group C, Group L, Group I, and Group E. What is notable about all of that, you're hoping for Group C, Brazil, Morocco, which would be key. Group L, England. Be great.

Can't even imagine the scene around MetLife for England. How do you think about all of that, the kind of teams that you could have in this area and how you would meet the excitement for that? Yeah, I mean, like, this is what the games are about, right? The host, the nations that are playing here are going to what drive, you know, the excitement, the energy, and who's going to be coming. And so for us having the potential for, you know, Morocco, Brazil, Morocco especially, with my dad being from there. Group I has France leading it, so having a French game, French game would be amazing. France, Senegal, Norway, so you could have? Man, could you imagine having the guys who are going to be part of that,

Mbapé and Holland, potentially play each other in New York? I mean, that game would be all-time. Having two of the best players in the world playing here, and that hopefully is what's going to inspire the generation of athletes to come play soccer and eventually take our U.S. men's national team. You guys can be able to handle these crowds? I'm thinking about traffic. Somebody was asking me earlier,

We can be able to handle this traffic. We can barely deal with this on a regular day. We can handle anything in New York. This is not a problem. That's what they say. This is not a problem. We've handled Taylor Swift concerts. We can handle a World Cup.

And that's what we're working on over the next six months. It's finalizing our transportation plan and making sure that we're going to be able to get people to and from the games, while also not inconveniencing the people living here. How do you do that? Can you give me an idea? Well, there's only a few ways you can actually get to MetLife Stadium. So we're going to work on, you know, we're going to make sure that our public transportation is ready to go. They've, MTA, New Jersey Transit's been incredible to work with.

You know, we're going to have ride share. We're going to have a bus system. So we're going to be making sure that there are plenty of ways and different options. And it's why we were chosen to host the finals because we've got the best public transportation system in the country. What about for the people who not only live here, but the people who are going to come here, what kind of experience can they expect? Well, I think for especially the millions of people who are going to be coming here, you're going to be getting an authentic New York, New Jersey experience.

And, you know, I think that is a big responsibility for us to make sure that, We live up to the hype of people coming to New York, New Jersey. It's one that we take very seriously and one that we're going to execute on. How do you gauge the economic impact from something as big as this? So we did a study, and it's going to be over $3 billion of economic impact for the region. Over $30 billion for the United States. We're going to have a few million people coming to our region over 40 days. We've got a FIFA fan fest at Liberty State Park, the official fan village at Rock Center.

We're going to be activating across all five boroughs of New York City. This is going to be the biggest thing that New York's ever hosted. How about the stadium itself? It's obviously not that old. Do you have to do any enhancements to get it ready for an event like this? You've got to make sure that the dimensions are set for a soccer pitch. You know, there will be some upgrades that we're making to MetLife. But that's one of the great things about this region is MetLife Stadium's already a premier top-tier stadium. Oh, yeah, there's friendlies there all the time. Yeah, we're going to slide right in. We'll play here all summer.

Going to slide right in, be no problem. And it's going to be, you know, we'll put a new pitch so that it's a real grass and it'll be great. What's the earliest that the U.S. national team could play in this area? The finals. Really? Is that a bummer for you not to have our guys here in the area? Look, I think would we love to have them earlier? Sure, but I'm excited to have them for the finals. It's going to make the finals that much better.

Yeah. Are you thinking about what it would mean to you to have their greatest performance in an awfully lot? I mean, obviously, they've never won the World Cup, but to show the world that we have entered a different arena, so to speak, is it when it comes to soccer and we actually see our guys out here? I can't imagine what it would be like to have the men's national team in the final. You know, they're starting to play a lot better. I feel really good about their chances of being able to advance. And then you've got the home field advantage the entire time and anything can happen.

And so having the U.S. men's national team playing at MetLife Stadium for the final, having a parade like that through Times Square would be a once-in-a-lifetime type of experience and that we hope happens. We still have to wait a little bit, too, which I didn't realize. Of course, we have some playoffs that have to be figured out, which is not going to happen really until the spring. So you're not going to be able to fill out the rest of the draws, really, until then. I mean, you may have some really exciting teams being added to these groups that are going to play. I'm thinking like Italy is still on the fence as to whether they even get in. Could you imagine the Italian national team in New York City?

It would be incredible. And they were here in 94, I think, for one of their opening matches, having them back here 30 years later. would be incredible. And, you know, we lucked out. When you look at the draw and the potential matches that we have here, I think it just shows that,

you know, if you want to put the biggest game on the biggest stage, you're going to do it right here. All right, you got a big job. We're certainly going to be watching you and we're excited about it. Take care. It's good to see you again.

Thank you. That's Alex Lazzre right here post nine. Still ahead, Alger's, Anker Crawford breaks out her 2026 playbook for us. So give us her top three stock picks for the new year. We'll be right back. Welcome back. AI stocks are not in a bubble. So says our next guest who runs a tech heavy portfolio at Alger Management.

Anker Crawford is back at Post 9. It's nice to see you. Good to see you too. So we're not in a bubble? Are we inflating it? Are we inflating one? I think I may have been asked this question every time I've been on this show since like two years ago. That's fair. Guilty is charged. So, well, did we start inflating one two years ago? No. Look, we're not in a bubble as we speak today. I don't think we'll be in a bubble through 26, 27. And then it depends on how much we add. It's a function of, you know, the capacity that is added. It's almost like in 1996, if you asked, are we in a bubble, will we be in a bubble in 2000? It's also a function of how much capacity you add during that time frame. Are you worried that we'll end up in a bad place, but today it doesn't really matter? You know, today it doesn't matter. I don't know if we'll end up in a bad place. You know, at $4 trillion of spending that Jensen has kind of pontificated about, it might be a bubble at

$4 trillion. But at, you know, a more normalized $2 trillion in 2030, which is really what most of the models are taking into account today, we are not going to be in a bubble. So, you know, there's another aspect to this as well. The debt markets, I think, are going to be. going to hinder us from going into a bubble because I don't think... Really? Some say they're helping to ignite it. Well, let's see, right? So if you look at even a $3 trillion number of CAPEX that needs to be spent, it will require on the order of $800 billion of debt.

Now, in a $2 trillion bond market, corporate bond market in the U.S., $800 billion on top of that is a pretty big number. So, you know, I think that the debt markets actually may moderate the build a little bit from those very high, bubbly numbers. I'm looking at the stocks you own, and we mention them all the time, and you own most of the hyperscalers. Broadcom jumps out to me because Broadcom reports next week. What are your thoughts going into that? Look, I think that he's built a beautiful platform and a franchise as a alternative. Hocktown, yeah.

Making sure we're all the same thing. So he's built this great platform to allow people to build their own internal chips. And so, you know, there is a nice runway for him. Google's TPU is built with Broadcom. And, you know, there's other companies that are trying to build their own internal chips. All of the hyperscalers are. And he's the net beneficiary of that. How do you view Alphabet and their TPUs versus Nvidia and their GPUs?

Are we setting ourselves up for a pretty good battle between these two? I think, like, look, the market's big. The market is very, very big. And I think we always want to think of, like, if I win it, you don't. But if the market is so big, it's actually everyone can win. I think the way we should think about it is if the market is X, what percentage of that does TPU take and what percent does GPU take? We think it's 2575.

XPU, TPU, and 75% GPU. And the reason that we have so much confidence in that is because it is actually difficult to take workloads from a GPU and put them onto a TPU in an environment where those workloads are changing. So for a singular kind of workload like search, it's easy to use a TPU. For multiple workloads like you'd see on GBT,

it's harder to use TPU. How do you think about if there can be more than one winner, right? There could be a lot, everybody's going to win. I think it's sort of how you said it. The dispersion that we've seen in performance among the mega-cap names, among the hypers, does that continue? Are we just going through a moment? What is that?

Yeah, I think each hyperscaler has their own challenge, right? For, you know, I've talked a lot about, like, Google's challenge on search, and they were able to overcome it. That's different than meta's challenge, and meta doesn't have an L-LLLM. that is kind of worth, you know, they have to invest a lot to have a, you know, one of the best LLMs. Microsoft has a different challenge and Amazon has a, so each of them has their own challenge to overcome in this new AI world. And as they overcome them, I think the bifurcations kind of close. How do you feel about meta, since you bring it up? They make the announcement

this week, scaling back allegedly according to a report, more of their metaverse ambitions, The stock has one of its best days that we've seen in many months. What's the story with that stock? Look, meta as a platform is a great platform. I think the challenge that they have is that they need an LLM in order to execute on the next decade of growth. Right. We're showing what I was referencing, right?

The stock has had a sort of a steady decline. Really, the earnings report was the thing that did it. and then it goes through this really malaise, and then this week, all of a sudden, it wakes up. Yeah, and I think it's, you know, people want to understand and want to have comfort that, you know, they're not going to spend willy-nilly. There is higher risk with their spending because they don't have a large language model that is one of the better ones, and he's investing heavily, and that is not without risk. And that's why you're seeing that.

Are you okay with the investing heavily, and that's not without risk? because that's what upset people on the earnings. Yes, absolutely. Am I okay with it? I'm less okay with it than I would have been before. Well, we'll see how it all plays out. It's good to see again. Happy holidays if we don't see it prior.

It's Anka Crawford here post-9. Up next, we track the biggest movers as we head into the close today, Christina Parts of Nevelos. It's standing by with that. What do you see? A massive streaming deal. I know you know about it.

Sending Shockways through Hollywood plus beauty spending proves resilient and a, cybersecurity company posted its best day ever. Those stop movers when we come back. We're about 15 from the bell. Let's get back now to Christina Parts of Nevelos for the stocks you see watching. High on your list today is what?

Netflix. Because that stock is falling roughly 3% after the company announced, it has reached a deal to buy Warner Brothers Discovery film and streaming assets for roughly $72 billion. The deal puts an end to just the dramatic bidding process that saw Paramount Skydance and, Comcast as well vying for those legacy assets. Warner Brothers shares are up roughly 6%. Paramount

or Peace Sky down about 10% on that news. We have shares of Alta soaring right now, almost 13% after the retailer hiked sales and earnings outlook for the second quarter in a row. The company said, despite tight budgets, consumers are just continuing to spend on beauty products. Shares are up nearly 40% year to date. And last but not least, Rubrik shares are popping roughly 23% right now, almost 23, 22, after the data cloud management company posted blowout third quarter results and boosted its revenue guidance for the fiscal year. The results really sent this stock to its second best day on record, not first. Scott. Thank you very much, Christina, Christina Pertzanovelas. Coming up next, we'll tell you what has shares of Victoria's secret soaring today,

plus HSBC's Max Kettner. He is standing by. He's going to break down these final moments of this trading week. The market zone is next. We are now in the Closing Bell Market Zone, CNBC's senior markets commentator. Mike Santoli and HSBC's Max Kettner are here to break down these crucial moments of this trading day. Plus, Mackenzie Segalis is tracking the action once again for us in crypto. Courtney Reagan is watching a big move today in Victoria's Secret. Michael, I'll begin with you. What do you make of how we're going to end this week?

Look, we're holding the gains. I think that's the story of the week. We had this nice kind of five plus percent comeback in the S&P 500. The market kind of got back in gear in terms of cyclical leadership, banks, even consumer cyclicals this week did outperform. Small caps did better than big caps. So it is the market sort of migrating to this view that we might get a reacceleration in growth.

Also, probably appropriately for this time of year, you've kind of bled volatility away. So you kind of went back to a 15 and change VIX. We were right there at the end of October when the market was pretty much at these levels. So you've done the round trip, and now it's about, you know, do you have the upward drift because it's December? And really, I guess the question is, what's your starting point going into 2026 in terms of valuation and expectations for earnings growth? That'll settle how things get moving from here. I'm going to get some McKenzie in a minute on what Bitcoin's actually been doing. Sure.

But are we still tied up in that Bitcoin not a bit as it remains weak? I mean, less so. We're trying to kind of disengage from that to a fair degree. In fact, if you plotted like the NASDAQ 100 against Bitcoin on a one-year basis, NASDAQ 100 is sort of like lifted off. So I don't think you can have Bitcoin under liquidation in an aggressive way and have the rest of the market hang in there effortlessly. But it's been relatively impressive that we've been able to shake off the fact that Bitcoin still remains a little bit stalled.

Tell us more about that, Mac. I mean, it just can't seem to get out of its own way right now. That's exactly right. cryptocurrencies are back in sell-off mode. Bitcoin, again, below 90K, and Ether is barely holding onto that 3K line with almost half a billion dollars and mostly long positions liquidated over the last day. And that break lower, you were talking about it with Mike. It stands in sharp contrast equities. The S&P 500 is edging toward new highs on growing bets of a third Fed rate cut this year, but anything tied to tokens is trading like it is risk off miners,

like CleanSpark, BitFarms, and Hive Digital, as well as centralized, exchanges, including Coinbase, Bullish, and E. Toro are all ending the day in the red. You see that same pressure in the crypto treasury names. Tom Lee's Bitmine immersion and strategy key proxies for Ether and Bitcoin are both sliding today and spot Bitcoin ETFs just ended yet another week of net outflows, led by BlackRock's Ibit, which just logged its biggest month of outflows since launching. Scott? Yeah, we'll watch this closely, of course. Mackenzie, thank you, McKenzie Segalis. Courtney Reagan now. What has Victoria's Secret soaring? Tell us. Yeah, I mean, Victoria's Secret is out, right?

According to its CEO, Hillary Super, its product, brand, and experience are working together to soar past the street's expectations for the quarter. The intimate apparel retailer, putting up stronger than expected results with growth across brands and categories, albeit still posting and earnings loss for the quarter. Comparable sales, though, growing 8% with merchandise selling at higher prices due to less discounting. Super told me it's raised its outlook as a result of, yes, the strong third quarter, but also some conservatism with regard to consumer spending in the holiday quarter because you just never know, though she's seen no sign of consumer spending strain in her business in any income bracket. Now, she said Victoria's

Secret did grow its customer file for the first time in a while with the key 18 to 24 year old cohort coming in for the product, not the promotion. Super told me the fashion show during the quarter had a, quote, measurable and significant impact on all of its key performance metrics. Several analysts, too, are raising their price targets as shares move higher to the tune of 17% today. Scott? All right, court. Thank you. Ms. Courtney Reagan. All right, Max, we're heading into a pivotal week. We're going to hear from the Fed share. What do you think is going to happen? Yeah, look, I think it's a bit of a nothing burger next week. I think probably, you know,

with sort of 50-50 labor market weakness that we've got, we've got a couple of better data points this week from the labor market, but there are still these cracks, I think, particularly in the Bangeberg from the Fed a couple of weeks ago, that is probably enough evidence for the Fed to cut next week. That's obviously fully priced. And I don't think that this sort of hawkish narrative that seems to be more and more consensus that the Fed is going to go for that next week. Why should they be cutting a third time in a row and then suddenly say, well, actually, you know what? We're not really convinced of this. And actually, we think things are way better and we're completely done here. No, they're still going to hide.

like probably downside risks. And that should be enough to keep probably the front end pinned down. That should be enough also for risk assets to take quite a bit of relief from that. Top of our program today, though, the professor of the Wharton School, Jeremy Siegel, suggested we're going to get a hawkish cut, he said. You just dismissed that as a real possibility? No, I mean, look, it is a risk, fair enough. But why would they do that?

Why would they cut a third time? And then absolutely nail the door and say, look, you know what? No, we're completely done here. And we're going to raise, you know, maybe something like the 2026 dot or the 2027 dot or indeed maybe even the long run. Why would they do that when, you know, actually we have seen quite a bit of weakness in some of the preferred labor market data from the Fed? I think it's a different thing when we go towards Q1, perhaps, you know, around March, if we then start to see some of the government shutdown related data weakness come out and possibly see some a bit of a bit rebound in Q1 activity data, if by then the Fed says, hold on, you know what? This is not just a rebound from Q4 weakness. This is a genuine reacceleration. Then perhaps by then it's time to be a bit more hawkish. I think that is too early

to do that right now. What if rates continue to back up? That can't be a nothing burger, can it? Yeah, I don't think that is a nothing burger, but it will take time until we call this the danger zone until it really hits that danger zone. So we've got one model where we look at really windspread valuations, when EM assets, when equity multiplies, when equity multiplies, are really being hit from higher yield and higher treasury yields, particularly on the back end. That only starts from sort of 450, 460 on the 10 years. So we've got an awful lot of room to go.

I think what will be hit, if indeed that is the case, that it's probably a bit more the speculative corner of the market, the small caps and so on, that would be hurt by that. But again, that is absolutely not our base case. This sanguine view, Mike, sounds, that Max is obviously espousing sounds like, I'm hearing from a lot of people. Yes, I do think that's the case, that people are basically sort of believing in the reacceleration story. Obviously, consensus earnings growth looks like it's going to be low teens at minimum into next year from what we know right now.

Maybe the market can broaden. We can hold our valuations. Don't worry about credit. Don't worry about the Fed. So, yeah, I do think there's a concern. And maybe it's something that really doesn't come back to bite the market until somewhat deep into the first quarter where everyone builds up a lot of optimism. and then you have something of a rethink. But I think you have to be aware of what assumptions people are working with.

I also don't think the Fed is going to be assertively hawkish, but they may be non-committal. I mean, they cut twice in a row, and Powell came out and said, don't expect another one necessarily. So I think it's much more about we can live with that if we're talking about the economy perking on. I'm still remembering what he said word for word last time. It's not a foregone conclusion, dot, dot, dot, far from it. And he still has a committee that's probably conflicted, and he probably has to reflect. that he's going to have the dot plot to explain away. So plenty, plenty to talk about. We'll see if the market's looking for an excuse to back off. To me, that's what always

matters. You wait for the Fed, you see the reaction. It meant the market needed to do one thing or another. Yeah, well, they're going to ring the bell in a moment. Mike, it's good having you. Max Ketner, thanks to you. Good weekend to you both. We'll finish positive on the S&P 500 this week for stocks. It's been an interesting story, certainly, to tell. We'll go out higher across the board today. And next week, we will turn our eyes to the Fed. And we will keep our eyes on the bond market, too, because raids have been backing up just a bit. The third Stephen Ingottsman just for the bank's rate and some others, too. Have a great one. I'll see on the other side into O.T.