>>Ahead Of The Bell
(New York, NY) -- The opening bell rings this morning as an abbreviated trading week starts to wind down. Wall Street was dark on Thursday as a national day of mourning was observed in honor of former President Jimmy Carter. When trading resumes today it will come after Wednesday's mixed close following the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's meeting last month. The data added to investor concerns that there may be fewer rate cuts this year than previously expected. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 106 points to 42-653. The S&P 500 rose by 9 points to 59-18. The Nasdaq fell by 10 points to 19-478.
>>Jobs Report Out Today
(Undated) -- The monthly jobs report is due out this morning. Most analysts are expecting to see the addition of 155-thousand new jobs in December, versus the previous month's 227-thousand. Look for the unemployment rate to hold steady at four-point-two percent. The report is set to be released at 8:30 am Eastern.
>>Supreme Court To Hear TikTok Case
(Washington, DC) -- The future of TikTok in the U.S. will be up to the Supreme Court, which hears arguments today over an impending ban of the massively popular video platform. Under a law signed last spring, ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, must sell the platform by January 19th or be banned in the United States over national security concerns. TikTok is arguing that the law violates its First Amendment rights.
>>Damage Estimates Top $50 Billion In California Wildfires (Undated) -- Many of the nation's big insurance companies are closely monitoring the deadly Southern California wildfires. Analysts at JP Morgan say the economic impact could reach 50-billion-dollars and insured losses could be about 20-billion-dollars. State Farm has the largest market share with eight million policies. Farmers runs a close second with Travelers, Allstate, Chubb and USAA all in the top ten for the state.
>>Four In Ten Companies Plan Job Cuts Over AI
(Washington, DC) -- At least four in ten companies across the world are planning job cuts as artificial intelligence continues to advance. A survey in the World Economic Forum's latest "Future of Jobs Report" showed that those employers said they'll tighten their workforce within the next five years if technology can do the same work. The survey also found that over three in four employers said they'll work on "reskilling and upskilling" their existing workforce to use AI.
>>Google, Boeing Donate To Donald Trump's Inauguration
(Washington, DC) -- Google and Boeing are adding themselves to the list of companies donating to President-elect Donald Trump. Both companies have each given a-million-dollars to Trump's inaugural committee. They join other corporations including Meta, Amazon, and Uber that have donated large amounts to Trump ahead of his inauguration on January 20th. Toyota and Ford have also contributed one-million each to the fund. Along with financial contributions, top executives including Google's Sundar Pinchai and Amazon's Jeff Bezos have met privately with Trump at his home in Mar-a-Lago.
>>JCPenney Merges With Company Owning Forever 21
(New York, NY) -- JCPenney is merging with a company that owns several other once-bankrupt clothing stores like Forever 21. They will form a new company that could hold significant control over the future of malls in the U.S. The over century-old department store chain filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and was later bought by Simon malls. The new company JCPenney will anchor is called Catalyst Brands, combining with other brands that have faced trouble including Brooks Brothers, Aeropostale, Lucky Brand and Eddie Bauer.
