Good morning investors!
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.
🚨 Black Friday Sale: 30% Off All Annual Plans 🚨
If you’ve been waiting to upgrade, this is the time to do it. It’s our biggest sale of the year and your chance to lock in 30% off annual plans before prices increase in December.
Quick Picks are sitting at +62.5% YTD vs the S&P at +17.3%, Options has banked +$15,800 in profits running just one contract per trade, and Edge+ portfolios are up +26% (Mark) and +20% (Chris) against +15% (SPX). These aren’t backtests or hypotheticals, this is real performance that has helped members stay ahead all year.
But the real value is what this gives you going forward: clearer decisions, real trade ideas you can act on, faster breakdowns during earnings, and a full year of guidance so you’re never guessing what to buy or when to move.
Plus all annual members, new and existing, will be entered to win our limited-edition merch, including a branded YETI tumbler made specifically for this Black Friday deal.
You’ve seen the results. The only question is whether you want access to what’s coming next. Prices rise next month, upgrade now and lock in your spot for the year ahead.
Market Talk
After a hot start to the week, stocks gave up all their gains this week as it was a classic buy the rumor, sell the news event for the government shutdown coming to an end.
3 Stories Moving the Market
These are some of the biggest stories from the second half of the week that had an influence on market action.
Disney stock falls as media giant posts mixed results
Disney $DIS ( ▼ 1.68% ) delivered a mixed quarter with stronger profits and solid streaming momentum, but the stock is down about 4% this week due to softer Entertainment results and lighter revenue.
EPS: $1.11 vs $1.05 est
Revenue: $22.46B vs $22.76B est
Streaming: Disney+ and Hulu added 12.4M subs to 195.7M with DTC income rising to $352M.
Experiences: Parks revenue +6% YoY to $8.77B with operating income +13% YoY.
Entertainment: Segment revenue -6% YoY to $10.21B with operating income -35% YoY.
Cash returns: Disney doubled its buyback target to $7B and lifted its dividend +50% to $1.50.
Guidance: Management expects double-digit adjusted EPS growth in FY26 and FY27.
🔐 Edge Takeaway: Please enjoy this sneak peek of what Edge+ members get every week in these wrap-ups. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Take advantage of our 30% off Black Friday Sale and get all of the benefits today:
Disney delivered a quarter that looks fine at first glance but shows exactly where the pressure still sits. EPS came in at $1.11 versus roughly $1.05 while revenue stayed flat at $22.5B, and segment operating income slipped 5% with Entertainment operating income -35% because the slate was weaker and linear keeps bleeding.
Streaming was the only real area of momentum with Disney+ and Hulu reaching about 196M combined subs, roughly 132M from Disney+ alone, and DTC operating income improving to $352M on better pricing and mix, although management cutting subscriber and ARPU detail from reporting removes visibility investors actually care about.
Experiences kept carrying the company with record full year operating income of $10B and Q4 segment operating income +13%, but free cash flow fell -37% in the quarter to about $2.6B as capex and timing tightened the cash picture.
The stock’s -8% drop reflects a simple message from the market. A beat driven by mix and cost work loses weight when free cash flow is volatile, linear keeps shrinking, and investors are told to trust streaming progress with fewer numbers to verify it.
At roughly $107 the stock trades at ~16x FY26 EPS on Street estimates near $6.50 and implies a trailing FCF yield of ~5% on roughly $10.1B of free cash flow. That multiple is reasonable for a company with this IP base and a Parks division that continues to perform, but it also assumes management delivers a meaningful earnings ramp in 2026 and 2027.
The call leaned heavily into that setup. They guided to double digit adjusted EPS growth for both years, DTC SVOD margins moving toward 10%, high single digit Experiences operating income growth off a record base, more than $19B in operating cash flow and $9B in capex, a 50% dividend increase to $1.50, and buybacks doubling to $7B. That can turn into a strong capital return story if execution lines up, but near term headwinds still matter with weaker political advertising, tougher theatrical comps, softer free cash flow in Q4, the YouTube TV blackout tied to sports rights, and a linear segment that keeps deteriorating.
For anyone holding this long term, the focus over the next few quarters comes down to three items. DTC margins hitting that 10% target without subscriber softness, Experiences sustaining high single digit operating income growth while cruise and park capex rises, and whether management uses that $7B authorization aggressively while the stock sits in the low one hundreds.
Near term, the chart leans neutral to bearish, with $102-$104 as the next level to defend. A failure opens the door to fill the gap down to $93, while a hold most likely pushes the stock back towards $110.
📊 Edge Score: Disney scores a 64, supported by strong financial health and solid past performance, but weighed down by weak future growth metrics and only moderate dividend strength, leaving the stock attractively valued at ~16× fwd earnings and trading below DCF, fair value, and relative value estimates despite ongoing pressure in linear and softer long term revenue expansion.
💪 CMG Strength: The ratio is rolling lower again after earnings and remains below its long term mean, confirming fresh distribution and weak near term momentum as the stock gaps down and struggles to find buyers.
Michael Burry of ‘Big Short’ Fame Shuts Down His Hedge Fund
Michael Burry is shutting down Scion Asset Management and deregistering the fund after years of contrarian investing that often put him at odds with dominant market narratives. His exit follows months of sharp criticism toward the AI infrastructure boom and what he views as aggressive cloud accounting. He hinted at a personal pivot beginning November 25, signaling his next move will happen privately.
🔑 Key Points
Fund liquidation: Scion will return capital to investors as Burry ends SEC oversight after managing ~$155 million earlier this year.
AI accounting criticism: He argues tech giants stretch depreciation schedules to smooth earnings on massive Nvidia hardware spending.
Palantir options bet: Burry disclosed ~50,000 long-dated Palantir puts, signaling sharp skepticism toward current valuations.
Profit concerns: He estimates depreciation could be understated by $176 billion across major cloud platforms in coming years.
Short-seller backdrop: His exit mirrors a broader pullback among short sellers as markets punish sustained bearish positioning.
👀 What You Need to Know
Burry’s shutdown highlights how hard it has become to maintain skepticism in a market driven by AI optimism, retail momentum, and stretched valuations. His warnings about cloud accounting point to deeper concerns about the reliability of tech earnings as capital intensity accelerates. For investors, the timing underscores how sentiment has become one-directional and is a reminder that crowd conviction often peaks when underlying risks start building.
🔐 Edge Takeaway: Burry shutting Scion and structuring long-dated puts on Palantir and Nvidia reads less like a tantrum and more like a timing call on an AI regime that is late innings but still juiced by cheap capital. Palantir is trading near…upgrade to Edge+ to read the Full Edge Takeaway. Our Black Friday Sale is going on now - lock in the 30% discount before it’s too late!
📚 Edge-ucation: What is a Hedge Fund?
A hedge fund is a private investment pool that manages money for wealthy individuals and institutions using flexible strategies that traditional mutual funds cannot use. These funds often pursue higher returns by taking both long and short positions, using leverage, and shifting across asset classes with fewer regulatory constraints.
Fee structure: Hedge funds charge management fees plus performance-based incentives tied directly to returns.
Strategy flexibility: Managers can short stocks, trade derivatives, use leverage, and move globally across markets.
Investor requirements: Access is restricted to accredited investors who meet income or net-worth thresholds.
Manager impact: Outcomes rely heavily on manager skill rather than simply following market direction.
Think of hedge funds as flexible, lightly regulated vehicles built to pursue opportunities unavailable to most investors.
Sponsored by Masterworks
Here’s an un-boring way to invest that billionaires have quietly leveraged for decades
If you have enough money that you think about buckets for your capital…
Ever invest in something you know will have low returns—just for the sake of diversifying?
CDs… Bonds… REITs… :(
Sure, these “boring” investments have some merits. But you probably overlooked one historically exclusive asset class:
It’s been famously leveraged by billionaires like Bezos and Gates, but just never been widely accessible until now.
It outpaced the S&P 500 (!) overall WITH low correlation to stocks, 1995 to 2025.*
It’s not private equity or real estate. Surprisingly, it’s postwar and contemporary art.
And since 2019, over 70,000 people have started investing in SHARES of artworks featuring legends like Banksy, Basquiat, and Picasso through a platform called Masterworks.
23 exits to date
$1,245,000,000+ invested
Annualized net returns like 17.6%, 17.8%, and 21.5%
My subscribers can SKIP their waitlist and invest in blue-chip art.
Investing involves risk. Past performance not indicative of future returns. Reg A disclosures at masterworks.com/cd
Verizon to Cut 15,000 Jobs in Largest Restructuring to Date
Verizon $VZ ( ▼ 0.12% ) is preparing to cut roughly 15,000 jobs, its largest reduction ever, as mounting subscriber losses push the company into a deeper cost reset. New CEO Dan Schulman is moving to streamline operations, exit weaker legacy units, and convert select stores into franchises to reduce overhead. The cuts arrive as the labor market cools after years of aggressive corporate hiring.
🔑 Key Points
Record reduction Verizon plans to eliminate about 15% of its workforce through layoffs and store franchising to lower operating costs.
Subscriber pressure The carrier lost 7,000 postpaid consumer phone lines last quarter after analysts expected a meaningful gain.
Leadership shift New CEO Dan Schulman is focused on simplifying the business and reversing multi-quarter subscriber softness.
Industry cuts UPS, Target, Paramount Skydance, Meta, Amazon, and Rivian have all announced sizable workforce reductions in recent months.
Labor climate Tech hiring has pulled back sharply since 2022 as employers emphasize efficiency and restructuring over expansion.
👀 What You Need to Know
Verizon’s restructuring underscores how competitive the wireless and home internet markets have become, with AT&T and T-Mobile gaining share as Verizon loses traction. Schulman’s plan signals a shift toward cost discipline and operational clarity after multiple quarters of subscriber pressures. The broader labor backdrop also reflects a pivot toward efficiency as hiring surges unwind. Challenger data shows layoffs at the highest October level in two decades.
🔐 Edge Takeaway: Verizon’s move to cut roughly 15,000 jobs, its largest reduction ever, is Schulman pulling the cost lever hard to defend earnings in a business that just posted another quarter of postpaid phone losses. The company is relying on…upgrade to Edge+ to read the Full Edge Takeaway, and use the Black Friday Sale to get 30% off.
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.
Edge+ Posts of the Week
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.
The Edge Report
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 our thoughts on what to expect into year end, the lack of economic data, and the potential for the shutdown to end. See the latest full report here:
Portfolio Update - November
Every month we share a full access look into our portfolios, including holdings, performance, activity and our watchlists for the upcoming month. You can see both of our portfolios here and see what moves we made in October:
The Week Ahead
Next week sets up as a clean test for both consumer strength and the AI trade, with a wave of major retailers reporting and Nvidia’s commentary positioned to dictate the market’s price action. We also get the first meaningful batch of economic data in weeks, giving investors fresh reads on housing, labor, and sentiment after a long stretch of uncertainty.
Earnings Reports
Next week is loaded with retail earnings, but the focus will land squarely on Nvidia on Wednesday as investors look for confirmation that the AI cycle still has juice. Overall, 6 of the names we cover are set to report:
Monday 11/17: --
Tuesday 11/18: Home Depot
Wednesday 11/19: Nvidia, Palo Alto, Lowe’s, and Target
Thursday 11/20: Walmart
Friday 11/21: --
Here is the full calendar of scheduled earnings releases:
Source: Earnings Whispers
Economic Reports
We should finally get some economic data next week, but it still unclear which reports exactly will be released. As of right now, we will get several housing reports, some labor data, a PMI report and consumer sentiment. Here is the full calendar:
The Investor’s Edge Discord is a HUGE benefit of being a subscriber - don’t miss out, it’s FREE!
If you are only reading the newsletter, you are only getting a fraction of the benefits of being an Edge subscriber.
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! 🌟
Want more? Check out our other resources
If you haven’t done so, check out the social media pages of our collaborators and give them a follow:
Mark (Dividend Seeker)
Chris (CMG Venture)
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
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.
