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Good morning investors!

If this is your first time reading, welcome to The Investor’s Edge — a thriving community of over 20,000 subscribers striving to be better investors with an edge in the market.

Every Wednesday we publish “The Mid-Week Wrap-Up” — your ticket to being well informed and staying ahead in the investment game!

This report is designed to help investors of all skill levels break down important stories/topics within the stock market. And best of all, we cut through all of the BS and give you exactly what you need to know in easy to digest, bite sized pieces of content.

This article is designed to truly give you that EDGE in the day ahead!

Grab your afternoon pick me up and let’s dive in.

In Case You Missed It…

Huge thanks for the amazing response to our new Edge+ Options Membership! 🙌

This week, we dropped the first Edge Options Report for our members—packed with actionable insights and strategies.

Don’t miss out—see what members are buzzing about:

Market Talk

Markets are mixed to start the week as tech and Mag7 continue to move higher while the rest of the market struggles.

3 Stories Moving the Market

These are some of the biggest stories so far this week that are having an influence on market action.

Annual inflation rate accelerates to 2.7% in November

Consumer prices rose at a 12-month rate of 2.7% in November, with a 0.3% monthly increase, slightly up from October's annual rate of 2.6%, according to the latest CPI report. Core CPI, excluding food and energy, remained steady at 3.3% YoY and 0.3% MoM, aligning with Dow Jones estimates.

Shelter costs, a significant contributor to inflation, rose 0.3% month-over-month and 4.7% year-over-year, accounting for 40% of the November CPI increase. Vehicle prices also reversed recent declines, with used cars rising 2% and new vehicles increasing 0.6% monthly. Food prices grew 0.4% month-over-month and 2.4% year-over-year, while the energy index edged up 0.2% monthly but remained 3.2% lower than a year ago.

Inflation-adjusted hourly earnings were flat for the month but rose 1.3% YoY, reflecting continued wage pressures despite moderating inflation in some areas.

The data bolstered expectations for a 0.25% Federal Reserve rate cut at their Dec. 18 meeting, with traders assigning a 95% probability, though a January pause is anticipated to assess the impact of prior cuts.

Alphabet shares jump after Google touts ‘breakthrough’ quantum chip

Alphabet shares rose 6% on Tuesday following the announcement of its new quantum computing chip, "Willow," which Google described as a breakthrough.

Willow outperforms its 2019 predecessor on quantum benchmarks and addresses error reduction, a major hurdle in quantum computing. With 100 qubits, it marks the second step in Google’s six-phase plan to develop a system with 1 million qubits for practical applications like drug discovery and energy solutions.

CEO Sundar Pichai highlighted Willow as a significant milestone toward building commercially relevant quantum computers.

While quantum technology remains years away from full maturity, Google’s efforts compete with those of Nvidia, Microsoft, IBM, and other researchers. The announcement received praise from tech leaders, including Elon Musk and Sam Altman, underscoring its impact on the field's future.

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Albertsons says it is terminating merger agreement with Kroger

Albertsons announced it is terminating its $20 billion merger agreement with Kroger and has filed a lawsuit accusing Kroger of breaching its contractual obligation to secure federal approval for the deal.

The lawsuit, filed in Delaware chancery court, seeks billions in damages, alleging Kroger failed to address regulators’ concerns with adequate divestiture proposals and prioritized its own financial interests.

The decision follows a federal court ruling siding with the FTC, which argued the merger would make Kroger the dominant player in the traditional grocery market.

Albertsons has exercised its right to terminate the deal and is entitled to a $600 million breakup fee from Kroger.

Kroger has not yet commented on the lawsuit.

In Other News

In this section we'll be curating a selection of news headlines we think you'll find interesting. If a topic catches your eye, click the provided links to read more about it.

• Nvidia stock slides as China opens antitrust probe against AI chip heavyweight

• Apple launches its ChatGPT integration with Siri

• Oracle shares suffer steepest drop of 2024 after earnings miss

• Micron Receives $6.2 Billion in Chips Act Funding

• Netflix Stock Hits All-Time High as JPMorgan Raises Price Target

• Mondelez says to focus on 'bolt-on' deals amid report of Hershey buyout talks

• U.S. Steel's proposed $14.9 billion merger with Nippon Steel in question

• Walgreens shares pop on report pharmacy chain could sell itself to PE firm Sycamore

• Boeing restarts 737 MAX production a month after strike ended

• GM exits robotaxi market, will bring Cruise operations in house

• Macy's delayed Q3 results show sales decline as its stock drops

• Arthur J. Gallagher to Acquire AssuredPartners for $13.45 Billion

• AutoZone misses first-quarter profit, revenue estimates

• GameStop’s stock jumps on surprise third-quarter profit

• NYC ad agency titans Omnicom and Interpublic to form $30 billion marketing powerhouse

The Second Half

There’s still a few key earnings to watch this week as well as important inflation and jobless claims data.

Earnings Reports

We will be watching earnings reports from Adobe, Broadcom and Costco.

Here is the calendar of earnings releases scheduled for the rest of the week:

Economic Reports

Though it’s been a relatively quiet week on the economic front, we still have the PPI report and jobless claims data due out tomorrow.

Here is the full calendar of events scheduled for the remainder of the week:

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Thank you for reading this edition of the Mid-Week Wrap-Up.

Until next time investors!

Mark & Chris

The Investor’s Edge

Disclosure

This is not investing advice. It is very important that you do your own research and make investments based on your own personal circumstances, preferences, goals and risk tolerance.