For: December 23, 2025
>>Ahead Of The Bell
(New York, NY) -- The opening bell rings this morning after stocks closed higher yesterday to start the holiday-shortened trading week. Nvidia shares and other A-I related stocks advanced to boost the broader market as hopes build for a year-end Santa Claus rally. The New York Stock Exchange will close early on Wednesday and be closed on Christmas Day. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 227 points to 48-362. The S&P 500 rose 44 points to 68-78. The Nasdaq climbed 121 points to 23-428.
>>Paramount Skydance Corp. Amends Bid To Buy Warner Brothers Discovery
(Burbank, CA) -- Paramount is not backing down from its efforts to buy Warner Brothers Discovery. Paramount Skydance Corporation on Monday amended its 30-dollar-per-share all-cash offer to buy the media giant. The amended offer comes just days after WBD's board of directors unanimously voted to urge shareholders to reject Paramount's bid. Paramount says its latest offer aims to address the board's concerns. Larry Ellison, the controlling shareholder of Paramount, is now agreeing to provide an irrevocable personal guarantee of 40-point-four-billion dollars in equity financing for the offer. Netflix is still the frontrunner to buy Warner Brothers Discovery and its assets for an estimated 82-point-seven billion dollars.
>>Mercedes-Benz Settlement
(Undated) -- Mercedes-Benz is entering into a nearly 150-million-dollar, multi-state agreement to settle some long-standing allegations. Mercedes-Benz USA and Daimler AG were sued by attorneys general from 50 states for selling diesel vehicles equipped with software designed to deceive emissions testing equipment. The company reportedly hid the devices from regulators while marketing the vehicles as environmentally friendly.
>>Spotify Hacked
(Stockholm) -- Spotify says it has been hacked. A piracy group calling itself Anna's Archive said it has backed up 86 million tracks and the metadata for 256 million tracks, representing more than 99 percent of Spotify listens. It means that in theory the info could be used to create a free music archive, though it would be subject to legal action from rights holders. Spotify said Monday it has disabled accounts linked to the pirates and no users have been impacted.
>>Buffett To Step Down From Role
(Omaha, NE) -- Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is set to step down from his role as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Greg Abel will take over operations of the company on January 1st. The 95-year-old Buffett, aka the Oracle of Omaha, has served as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway since 1970 when he became the company's majority shareholder.
