Stocks tanked Wednesday, couldn’t hold early gains yesterday, and are on the ropes again this morning. Gold and silver are mixed, crude oil is down marginally, and Bitcoin is sliding further. Treasuries are rising after harsh losses.
Washington has collectively conspired to put coal in the stock market’s stockings – with the Federal Reserve, President-elect Donald Trump, and Congress gumming things up. First, the Fed followed up its 25-basis point cut with projections of only two additional reductions in 2025. Markets were hoping for more.
Meanwhile, President Trump and his hand-picked Department of Government Efficiency co-chair Elon Musk torpedoed a bill that would’ve kept the government open fully through mid-March. They said it was too packed with pork at 1,547 pages.
SPY, QQQ, DIA (4-Day % Change Chart)
But Congress later failed to pass a slimmed-down, Trump-backed compromise bill (that was “only” 116 pages!) Dozens of Republicans joined Democrats in rejecting it. Unless Washington figures things out by 12:01 am Saturday, non-“essential” government functions would end and workers would be furloughed. That would have widespread impacts, though it’s not like Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints at airports would go unmanned.
Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) shares are shedding a ton of value after the pharmaceutical giant’s CagriSema weight-loss treatment failed to meet expectations. The next-generation drug helped patients lose just over 20% of their body weight in a 68-week clinical trial, less than the hoped-for 25%. Novo and Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) are the two biggest players in the GLP-1 anti-obesity space, and a more-successful trial could’ve given NVO an edge.
As a side note, this will be the last MoneyShow Market Minute column through New Year’s Day due to office closures and vacation time. I have thoroughly enjoyed helping guide you through this sometimes-tumultuous market – and I look forward to doing so each and every trading day in 2025.
We’ll still be sharing some article digests in your newsletters, though. Plus, keep your eyes peeled for some exciting news about the MoneyShow 2025 Top Picks Report soon. You can get on the list to receive it as soon as it drops Monday, Jan. 6, 2025 at 8 am Eastern by clicking HERE!
