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If this is your first time reading, welcome to The Investor’s Edge — a thriving community of over 26,000 subscribers striving to be better investors with an edge in the market.

Every weekend we publish “The Weekly 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.

Grab your coffee and let’s dive in.

Another week down, and now there’s only a few more weeks left in 2025. The major indexes all ended the week higher as SaaS stocks and tech overall led the markets, while healthcare and utilities took a hit.

These are some of the biggest stories from the second half of the week that had an influence on market action.

Netflix $NFLX ( ▼ 2.89% ) agreed to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s $WBD ( ▲ 6.28% ) film studio and HBO Max in a $72 billion cash and stock deal, ending a competitive bidding process that included Paramount Skydance and Comcast. The acquisition adds Warner Bros.’ extensive franchises and HBO’s prestige catalog to Netflix’s ecosystem. The companies expect the transaction to close within 12 to 18 months following the planned Discovery Global spinoff.

🔑 Key Points

👀 What You Need to Know

This deal marks a major shift for Netflix as it moves from relying on licensed content to owning world class IP that strengthens its long term pricing power and competitive moat. The move accelerates consolidation in a streaming market under pressure to scale efficiently and monetize more effectively. Paramount’s objections raise real antitrust questions that could influence deal timing. Investors should focus on regulatory reactions, integration planning, and how Netflix leverages Warner Bros. and HBO to drive future growth.

The September PCE report, delayed by the shutdown, showed another step down in inflation, with core PCE easing to 2.8% year over year and holding at 0.2% month over month. Headline PCE matched expectations at 0.3% on the month and 2.8% on the year, while income and spending delivered a mixed read. Markets are now pricing in a near certain quarter point cut at next week’s Fed meeting.

🔑 Key Points

👀 What You Need to Know

This print gives the Fed exactly what it wanted to see before the upcoming meeting, with inflation moderating while the consumer shows modest resilience. The sticking point remains division inside the FOMC, which reflects a growing tension between softening labor signals and lingering inflation worries tied to tariffs and energy. Markets are treating this report as confirmation that policy is moving toward an easier stance.

📚 Edge-ucation: What is the PCE report (and why it matters)?

The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index tracks how much Americans spend and how fast those prices are rising. It’s the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, viewed as more comprehensive and flexible than CPI.

PCE directly shapes expectations for Fed cuts or hikes, making it one of the most market-moving reports each month.

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Levanta surveyed 1,000 US consumers to understand how AI is influencing the buying journey. The findings reveal a clear pattern: shoppers use AI tools to explore options, but they continue to rely on human-driven content before making a purchase.

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Download the full report to see what this shift means for brands navigating the AI era.

Salesforce $CRM ( ▲ 5.3% ) delivered a mixed quarter, but the stock is up about 13% this week as investors respond to accelerating AI ARR, improved profitability, and strong guidance.

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.

We continue to push out more and more content every week to give investors that edge. Here are the posts Investor’s Edge+ subscribers received this week.

Mondays are for the investors. Every Monday morning we share exactly what we’re watching in the week ahead, how we’re positioning, and even share a sneak peek into our systems and models. This week we discussed the upcoming PCE report, as well as earnings from Salesforce, CrowdStrike, and more. See the latest full report here:

This report is a breakdown of every options trade we made last month—what we opened, what we closed, and how our open trades are performing. Each edition gives you full transparency on our strategy, including entry points, premiums collected or paid, trade rationale, and risk/reward setups. See this month’s recap:

Every month we break down 5 stocks that we believe are attractive from a valuation perspective right now. Here’s a look at how we’ve performed so far this year:

See the 5 stocks we are buying in December:

Next week has a number of key earnings on the calendar but the main focus of the week will be Wednesday’s interest rate decision from the Fed.

Next week is loaded with earnings with two key names in the AI and chips sector set to report, along with several companies that will give us insights into the consumer. Overall, 5 of the names we cover are set to report:

Here is the full calendar of scheduled earnings releases:

Next week is all about the Fed as markets await the next interest rate decision on Wednesday.

We also get initial jobless claims, JOLTS job openings, and ADP employment.

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Our Discord server is tailor-made for investors like you who want to dive deeper into stocks, share insights, and engage directly with us. And it’s completely free!

Here’s what you’re missing in the Discord:

🗨️ Chat rooms: Investors discussed the the huge moves from mega cap tech. Members also dove into the number of jobs reports and shared their views on the overall economy.

📊 Earnings / Economic reports: No more waiting for our newsletters to hit your inboxes - see earnings results and economic data as they are released. And more importantly, get our reactions and insights immediately.

🚨 Trade Alerts: Chris and Mark shared several trades, including additions to the portfolio and trades that set up their portfolios for the week.

Join us on Discord and let's level up our investing game together. The future of trading awaits—and you're invited to be a part of it! 🌟

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Thank you for reading this edition of the Weekly Wrap-Up. Have a great weekend!

Until next time investors!

Mark & Chris

The Investor’s Edge

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.