Jobless Claims Spike

U.S. jobless claims jumped the most since 2020 after the holiday lull.

Author

Ankit Sinha
December 12, 2025

Silver banana goes to…

Your Daily Dose of Market & Career Clarity

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🎯 In this issue:

  • Banana Bits: Finance headlines that actually matter

  • Market Summary: Stocks hover near highs as Powell’s remarks lift sentiment

  • What’s Ripe / Rotten: The tastiest and most disgusting stocks 

  • Technical Trip: Interview Question with BlackRock

  • Lesson from the Library: Inside look from our Private Equity course—no fluff, just the real playbook.

  • Deal Dispatch: M&A, IPOs, and other transactions 

  • The Daily Poll: See how you stack up

Market Snapshot

📉 Banana Bits

Market Recap

Global Markets Eye Records as Fed Easing Fuels Rally

Global stock gauges have record highs in their sights after a week in which affirmation that the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate easing cycle remains intact helped clear the way for a year-end rally. 

Europe’s Stoxx 600 rose 0.5% to a fresh peak. A measure of Asia's advanced reached below 2% from its all-time high. S&P 500 futures were steady after the benchmark posted a new closing milestone in the previous session, when gauges for blue-chip and small-cap U.S. stocks also pushed into record territory.

Delivering a third consecutive rate reduction on Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell voiced optimism that the U.S. economy will strengthen as the inflationary impact from tariffs fades. While officials have maintained a view of just one cut in 2026, traders have maintained bets on two such moves.

The big debate for 2026 is whether artificial intelligence will keep the markets happy. We can’t settle that question, but we do see bargains below the AI surface and building blocks for another good year for stocks and bonds.

Adding to 2025’s market performance might seem like a tall order. The S&P 500 index is on track to gain more than 17%, following up on two years of returns above 20%. International markets like Europe and China are cruising, up 30%. Even more dazzling have been gold and silver, up 60% and 100%, respectively.

What's Ripe

Planet Labs PBC (PL) 35.0%

  • PL soared 35%. The space-based Earth imaging company reported break-even per-share earnings in the third quarter on revenue of $81.3 million. Wall Street was looking for a loss of 6 cents a share on revenue of $73.5 million.

Gemini Space Station Inc. (GEMI) 32.0%

  • GEMI soared 35%. The space-based Earth imaging company reported break-even per-share earnings in the third quarter on revenue of $81.3 million. 

  • Wall Street was looking for a loss of 6 cents a share on revenue of $73.5 million.

What's Rotten

Oxford Industries Inc. (OXM) 21.2%

  • The owner of the Tommy Bahama and Lilly Pulitzer brands cut its fiscal-year outlook and pointed to a weaker-than-expected start to the holiday shopping season that was driven by tariff-related impacts and “more choiceful” consumer spending.

Oracle Corp. (ORCL) 10.8%

  • ORCL sank 11% after the software and cloud-computing company raised its spending forecast and issued guidance that 

  • Doug Kehring, Oracle’s principal financial officer, said the company’s capital expenditures forecast for its current fiscal year will be $15 billion higher than it had previously projected.

🧠 Technical Trip

Interview Q&A from BlackRock

👉 Want 1-on-1 recruiting help from BlackRock bankers & 2,000+ top mentors? Apply to WSO Academy

📚 Lesson from the Library

🎥 Private Equity Deal Process: From Sourcing to Exit

Inside look from our Private Equity course — no fluff, just the real playbook.

🌟 Student Spotlight

A+ Equity Research Report 📊

Looking for a stellar example of what makes an equity research report stand out?

One of our WSO Academy students, Fawaz Tehami, put together an impressive deep dive on Amphenol, covering valuation, catalysts, and key risks with the kind of insight that turns good pitches into great ones.

🌟 WSO Academy Q4 Update

🔁 On-Cycle Recruiting for 2028 Grads

On-cycle recruiting for 2028 grads is officially kicking off, and we’re here to help them get ready.

  • Investment Banking (IB) – Kicks off earliest and moves fast. For 2028 US grads, networking should be happening now for summer analyst roles. Expect most top firms to launch applications in December/January (some as early as November), with most Superdays typically scheduled around February/March.

  • UK Students – Recruiting has already started, so make sure to book mocks with the mentors.

  • Equity Research – Typically starts a bit later than IB, often in winter or early spring.

  • Sales & Trading (S&T) – Applications can open around the same time as IB, but recruiting is often more rolling through fall and early winter.

  • Asset Management / Hedge Funds – Highly variable. Some structured programs recruit in fall, but many roles are filled off-cycle and closer to graduation.

🦈 Deal Deep Dive

M&A, IPOs, And Other Notable Transactions

📊The Daily Poll

Biggest takeaway from Ellison’s $25B hit?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Previous Poll:

Main driver of the dollar drop?

Fed rate cut: 56.7% // Risk-on sentiment: 16.7% // Weak data: 16.6% // Other factors: 10.0%

Student Success Corner

👉 Are you next? Find out with WSO Academy

Banana Brain Teaser

Previous

In a certain game, a large container is filled with red, green, and blue beads, each worth 7, 5, 3, or 2 points. A number of beads are then removed from the container. If the product of the point values of the removed beads is 147,000, how many red needs were removed?

Answer: 2

Today

[(1/2)^-3] [(1/4)^-2] [1/16)^-1] = ?

❝

Central banks are the biggest players in today’s markets—ignore them at your peril.

Stanley Druckenmiller

How Would You Rate Today's Peel?


Happy Investing,
Chris, Vyom, Ankit, Mitchell, Fernanda, & Patrick