MARKET WRAPS
STOCKS: Stock indexes fell, led by a drop in big technology shares, including Oracle, Nvidia and Tesla.
TREASURYS: Treasury yields declined ahead of Fed minutes and following indications of strength in the U.S. housing market and weakness in manufacturing.
FOREX: The U.S. dollar held steady.
COMMODITIES: Oil futures rallied after U.S. talks with Ukraine and Russia failed to deliver an agreement on ending the war. Gold and silver futures both dropped after exchange operator CME Group increased margin requirements for the two metals in response to recent volatility.
HEADLINES
Lululemon Founder Chip Wilson Launches Proxy Fight to Overhaul Board
Lululemon Athletica founder Chip Wilson is launching a proxy fight at the athletic-apparel retailer in an effort to remake the company's board while Lululemon searches for a new chief executive.
Wilson said Monday that he has nominated three director candidates to the company's board, confirming an earlier report by The Wall Street Journal.
The nominees are former On Running co-CEO Marc Maurer, former ESPN Chief Marketing Officer Laura Gentile and former Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg.
November Pending-Home Sales Had Fourth Consecutive Monthly Rise
The number of homes going under contract in the U.S. rose for a fourth-straight month in November, according to a monthly index, with the strongest performance observed in the West Region.
Here are the main takeaways from the National Association of Realtors' report released Monday:
SoftBank to Buy Data Center Investment Firm DigitalBridge for $4 Billion
SoftBank Group agreed to buy DigitalBridge Group for $4 billion, including debt, part of the Japanese conglomerate's strategy to take advantage of an AI-driven boom in digital infrastructure.
Under the terms of the deal, SoftBank will purchase all of DigitalBridge's outstanding shares for $16 apiece. The price represents a 15% premium to DigitalBridge's closing share price Friday, and a 50% premium to its unaffected 52-week average closing price as of Dec. 4, the companies said Monday.
Shares of DigitalBridge jumped 9.8%, to $15.28, in premarket trading Monday. Through Friday's close, the stock is up almost 25% over the past year.
Nvidia Closes $5 Billion Purchase of Intel Shares
Nvidia on Monday completed a $5 billion purchase of Intel shares, paying $23.28 each. The purchase price was 36% below Intel stock's Friday closing price. The deal was approved by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission earlier this month.
Intel shares have risen 45% since the deal was announced. In early trading on Monday, Intel shares fell 0.5% and Nvidia stock was down 1.5%.
The deal includes plans for Intel CPU chips to be paired with Nvidia's industry-leading artificial intelligence accelerators in Nvidia AI servers, mirroring the role currently played by Nvidia's own Grace CPUs and its upcoming Vera CPUs later this year. The companies also announced that Nvidia graphics technology will be integrated into Intel PC chips. Intel's embedded graphics have long been a sore point for customers.
Trump Says the U.S. Attacked Venezuelan Docks Where Drugs Are Loaded Onto Boats
President Trump said Monday that the U.S. recently carried out an attack on a dock area in Venezuela where drugs are loaded onto boats and trafficked across international waters, claiming that a "major explosion" had occurred.
"They load the boats up with drugs. So we hit all the boats, and now we hit the area," Trump said at his Mar-a-Lago resort in response to a question from a reporter. "It's the implementation area. That's where they implement and that is no longer around."
Trump didn't provide details of the alleged attack, which would represent a major escalation of the U.S. pressure campaign against Venezuela, but it was the second time in the past few days he had referred to such an operation in vague terms. He also declined to say whether the military or a U.S. intelligence agency was responsible for the attack.
Trump Threatens New Military Action With Israel on Iran's Missiles, Nuclear Program
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.-President Trump said he would support an Israeli attack to halt Iran from restocking its missile arsenal and would take U.S. action if Tehran sought to rebuild its nuclear program.
Trump made the comments Monday afternoon at the start of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "If they will continue with the missiles, yes," Trump said. He was more emphatic about the nuclear program, saying the U.S. would take action "immediately" if necessary.
"I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we're going to have to knock them down," Trump said, standing outside his Mar-a-Lago club with Netanyahu before they began a private meeting. "We'll knock the hell out of them. But hopefully that is not happening."
TALKING POINT Dogs of the Dow Had a Strong Year. Here Are the 10 Stocks for 2026.
It's been a good year to be a Dog of the Dow-especially for dividend investors. The ten highest-yielding stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average are up an average of 17.8% in 2025 through Friday, Dec. 26, beating the Dow 30's 14.5% gain.
Healthcare giants Amgen and Johnson & Johnson, as well as old tech leaders IBM and Cisco, helped push the Dogs of the Dow higher. These four stocks are up between 28% and 44% this year.
The remaining Dogs also delivered solid returns. In fact, only one-Procter & Gamble-is on track to end 2025 in the red. According to research from Bespoke Investment Group, the ten Dogs of the Dow are on track to notch their best year on an equal-weighted basis since 2019.
Dividend-paying stocks, particularly ones with above-average yields, could continue to outperform in 2026, especially if the Federal Reserve keeps lowering interest rates next year. Long-term bond yields have tumbled from a year-to-date high of around 4.8% for the 10-year U.S. Treasury in early January to about 4.1% currently. If bond yields fall further, investors may flock to dividend-paying stocks for income.
The lineup is likely to change next year. Based on current dividend yields, IBM and Cisco would no longer be Dow dogs, mainly because of how well their stocks did in 2025, which puts downward pressure on their dividend yields. That's obviously not a bad thing. And both stocks still yield more than 2%. McDonald's would also be out of the club.
Those three stocks would be replaced by a trio of underperformers this year: Nike, UnitedHealth, and Home Depot. But Wall Street is betting on a comeback for these Dow laggards. According to FactSet, the 12-month consensus price targets for Nike, UnitedHealth and Home Depot call for an average increase of 21% from their current levels.
--Paul R. La Monica, Barron's
Expected Major Events for Tuesday
06:00/RUS: Dec Russian Services PMI
13:55/US: 12/27 Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index
14:00/US: Oct U.S. Monthly House Price Index
14:00/US: Oct S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Indices
14:45/US: Dec Chicago Business Barometer - ISM-Chicago Business Survey - Chicago PMI
All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.
Expected Earnings for Tuesday
Compass Diversified Holdings (CODI) is expected to report for 2Q.
Loop Media Inc $(LPTVQ)$ is expected to report for 4Q.
Office Properties Income Trust $(OPITQ)$ is expected to report for 3Q.
Scully Royalty Ltd (SRL) is expected to report for Interim.
Wilhelmina International Inc $(WHLM)$ is expected to report for 3Q.
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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 29, 2025 16:40 ET (21:40 GMT)
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