WSJ What’s News - Markets Rally After a Divided Fed Cuts Interest Rates

Episode Date: December 10, 2025

P.M. Edition for Dec. 10. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter point, as concerns about the cooling job market outweighed stalled progress on curbing inflation. Plus, investors are betting that higher bids are coming in the Hollywood megadeal for Warner Bros. WSJ reporter Ben Dummett walks us through the signs, and who investors are betting on to take home the prize. And Nobel laureate María Corina Machado snuck out of Venezuela by boat in an effort to claim her Peace Prize in Norway. Alex Ossola hosts.  For more analysis on the Federal Reserve’s decision, go to wsj.com/video. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Fed cuts interest rates for the third time in a row, but signals that it might be done for now. We are well-positioned to wait to see how the economy evolves. Plus, investors are betting on a bidding war for Warner Brothers, and how the Venezuelan opposition leader secretly made it out of the country by boat to try to collect her Nobel Peace Prize. It's Wednesday, December 10th.

I'm Alex Ocelah for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's Neck. news, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. Today, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates, the third straight meeting where they've made a cut, but suggested that might be it for now. Today's quarter point cut is focused on the jobs market as hiring has slowed down, even as progress on bringing down inflation has stalled. Officials have been unusually divided over whether inflation or the job market should be their bigger worry. The Fed voted nine to three for the rate cut, and it's the first time in six

years that three officials cast dissents. Two thought the Fed should have left rates where they were, while one wanted a bigger cut than the one that was made, which was to between three and a half and three and three quarters percent. The Fed's post-meeting statement signaled a higher bar to additional cuts. Here's what Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at a news conference when asked if the Fed is on hold for more rate cuts. We are well positioned to wait to see how the economy evolves. WSJ's Markets Bureau Chief Aaron Kuraloff said investors were expecting the Fed's move today. This really matched what Wall Street thought was going to happen.

They thought that there would be an interest rate cut. They thought that Powell would come out and suggest that we don't know when the next one is coming. You do not want to get ahead of yourselves. Damian Palletta, WSJ's Washington coverage chief, suspected that the White House wouldn't be happy with the Fed's move. The White House is not going to be happy with this meeting because the White House wants a lot of cuts now. And Powell seems to be in no rush as he's on his way out to give the White House that. And he was right. At an event at the White House this afternoon, President Trump said

that the Fed didn't cut rates enough. For more analysis on the Fed's decision, go to WSJ.com. And to hear more from Aaron and Damien, go to WSJ.com slash video. Powell's concerns about the health of the labor market cheered investors, who took it as a sign that future cuts are still likely. Treasury yield slipped while stocks climbed in afternoon trading. The three indexes closed higher, with the Dow adding 1.1%, the S&P 500 up 0.7%, and the NASDAQ gaining 0.3%. Investors are betting that there's more drama ahead for the Hollywood mega deal. To recap, last week, Netflix and Warner Brothers Discovery agreed to a deal for $72 billion. On Monday, Paramount launched a hostile tender offer for nearly $78 billion. Ben Dumbett, who covers deal-making for the journal,

is here to discuss why markets are signaling there's going to be a bidding war. Ben, what are the signs here? The offers of the bids are very close to where Warner Brothers stock price is trading. So that's a sign that investors are betting there's going to be another bid, a higher bid from either Netflix and or Paramount. If they didn't think a deal was going to happen, the share price of Warner would trade at a huge discount to the offer prices. Paramount CEO, David Ellison, was in meetings with a number of Warner investors yesterday seeking their support for the hostile tender offer.

How is that factoring in here? Ellison is just trying to push his case that their bid is superior because it's an all-cash offer, which is easier to understand than Netflix's cash and stock offer. And there's a view that the Paramount offer won't receive. the regulatory and anti-trust scrutiny that a Netflix often would face because Netflix is the dominant streaming service in the market today. And then there's the relationship that Paramount has is Trump. The Ellisons are close to Trump and the Ellisons are backers include Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of Trump. Now, Trump, for his part, he's sort of sent out mixed signals as to to how he views this deal.

And is there a sign that the market has a sense of who might be the winner? If you're a follower of prediction markets, like Polly Market, for example, that allows users to bet on the outcome of future events. Deals, you know, the Nobel Prize winner, sports, that platform is saying that it's too close to call. They're running neck and neck. Guess we'll have to just wait and see there. That was WSJ reporter, Ben Dumbit.

Thanks so much, Ben. Thanks for having me. This afternoon, President Trump told reporters that he thought CNN should be sold and its leadership changed, no matter which company buys Warner. Warner owns CNN, but Netflix isn't looking to acquire the unit CNN is in. Trump's desire to see CNN change hands could be a setback for Netflix. I think CNN should be sold because I think the people that are running CNN right now are either corrupt or incompetent. Warner, Netflix, and Paramount didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on Trump's. remarks about CNN.

In two other media news items today, YouTube TV, the paid online TV service with about 10 million subscribers, is going to offer smaller, cheaper bundles of channels starting early next year. That gives customers more flexibility on which channels they get. Sports remains a huge draw of traditional TV, and one skinny bundle will include a sports plan with major broadcasters and ESPN's networks, FS1, and and the NBC Sports Network. YouTube hasn't released prices yet, but they'll be below YouTube TV's $83 a month base plan. And Tony DeCopal will move from CBS Mornings, where he's a co-host to anchor CBS Evening News.

His new job was announced on this morning CBS show. So we're in a unique position to clear up some rumors about him. That's right, this guy right here. Can we cue that music up again? That's right, moving on up. Tony DeCopal. It's part of a major transformation for the, News Network under its new editor-in-chief, Barry Weiss.

In a press release, Weiss praised Ducopal's journalistic approach and said that he would help win back trust that Americans have lost in the media. Ducopal will begin his new assignment on January 5th. Coming up, how a Nobel laureate secretly left Venezuela, and a regulator finds that financial institutions debanked politically sensitive industries. Those stories after the break. Canada's Wonderland is bringing the holiday magic this season with Winterfest on select nights now through January 3rd. Step into a winter wonderland filled with millions of dazzling lights, festive shows, rides, and holiday treats.

Plus, Coca-Cola is back with Canada's kindness community, celebrating acts of kindness nationwide with a chance at 100,000 donation for the winning community and a 2026 holiday caravan stop. Learn more at canadaswunderland.com. A top banking regulator says it's found that J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and seven other big U.S. banks refuse to do business with some industries that are politically sensitive, such as oil and gas and gun manufacturers. There's an investigation into claims from President Trump that U.S. banks debanked or dropped some customers for political reasons, and he said, that he and his businesses themselves were debanked after his first term and the January 6th riots.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency today said that the investigation continues and that it could send its findings to the Attorney General. Banks have said they don't close accounts for religious or political reasons. We're exclusively reporting that Venezuelan Nobel laureate Maria Corina Machado left the country yesterday by boat and traveled to the Caribbean island nation of Kurosci. That's according to U.S. officials. It was part of a secret effort to reach Norway and collect her peace prize. The Venezuelan opposition leader and advocate for democracy spoke with Nobel Committee Chair Jorgon Watney-Friedness on a call posted online today.

Hello. Hello. Jorgon. Hi. Hi, Jorgon. Is it Maria Corina? Yes. The head of the Nobel Institute said getting Machado to Norway was more complicated than expected.

On the call, Machado spoke about her journey. So many people that risk their lives in order for me to arrive in Oslo. And I am very grateful to them. And this is a measure of what this recognition means to the Venezuelan people. She didn't make it to Oslo in time to accept her prize in person today. And her daughter accepted the award on her behalf. In Norway, Machado will reunite with her three children who live outside Venezuela for their safety. The trip also risks forcing her into exile.

She spent most of the past year in hiding in Venezuela to avoid arrest. And this afternoon, President Trump said that the U.S. had seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, a major escalation in his administration's pressure campaign against Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro. We've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large. Pentagon officials with knowledge of the matter said that the U.S. Coast Guard led the operation, assisted by the Navy. One official says that it's a warning to other tankers waiting to dock and load up on Venezuelan oil. Brokers in Singapore told the journal, a tanker called The Skipper, was seized off Venezuela early today. And that's what's news for this Wednesday afternoon.

Today's show is produced by Pierre Bienname, with supervising producer Tali Arbell. I'm Alex Osloff for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening. I'm going to be able to be.