Wall Street Hangs Near Its Records     12/08 09:25

   U.S. stocks are hanging at the edge of their record heights on Monday as 
Wall Street waits to hear from the Federal Reserve later this week on what it 
will do with interest rates.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are hanging at the edge of their record heights 
on Monday as Wall Street waits to hear from the Federal Reserve later this week 
on what it will do with interest rates.

   The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in early trading and was sitting just 
0.3% below its all-time high, which was set in October. The Nasdaq composite 
was up 0.3%, as of 9:38 a.m. Eastern time.

   Most stocks were falling, but Warner Bros. Discovery rallied 7.8% after 
Paramount took its offer to buy the entertainment giant directly to 
shareholders. Paramount said it's offering $30 in cash for each Warner Bros. 
Discovery share, as well as a quicker and easier way for investors to get their 
payout.

   Paramount wants investors to take its all-cash bid instead of Netflix's 
offer of cash and stock, which Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to last week.

   The Netflix deal is already facing a potentially tough time getting through 
federal regulators because of worries about too much industry power sitting at 
one company. President Donald Trump said Sunday that a Netflix-Warner Bros. 
deal "could be a problem."

   Paramount Skydance's stock rose 2.7%, while Netflix slipped 2.4%.

   Elsewhere on Wall Street, Confluent soared 28.7% to help lead the market 
after IBM said it would buy the company, which helps customers connect and 
process data. IBM said the $11 billion deal will help customers deploy 
artificial-intelligence tools better and faster, and its shares added 1.8%.

   Carvana jumped 6.9% in its first trading after learning it will join the S&P 
500 index on Dec. 22. Many professional investors directly mimic the index or 
at least measure their performance against it, which will push many to buy any 
stocks within it.

   CRH, a provider of building materials, rose 5.3%, and Comfort Systems USA, a 
provider of mechanical and electrical contracting services, added 0.8% after 
likewise learning they'll join the S&P 500 in a couple weeks.

   They will replace LKQ, Solstice Advanced Materials and Mohawk Industries, 
which have all shrunk enough in size that they'll drop down to the S&P SmallCap 
600 index of smaller stocks.

   Trading outside of those few movers, though, was relatively calm.

   The highlight of the week will come Wednesday, when the Federal Reserve will 
announce its latest move on interest rates.

   Stocks have already run to the edge of their records on widespread 
expectations that the Fed will cut its main interest rate for the third time 
this year. Lower interest rates can give the economy and prices for investments 
a boost, though their downside is that they can worsen inflation.

   The big question is what kind of hints the Fed will offer about where 
interest rates will go after that. Many on Wall Street are bracing for talk 
aimed at tamping down expectations for more cuts in 2026.

   Inflation has stubbornly remained above the Fed's 2% target, and Fed 
officials are notably split in their opinions bout whether high inflation or 
the slowing job market is the bigger threat to the economy.

   In the bond market, Treasury yields were relatively steady. The yield on the 
10-year Treasury held at 4.14%, where it was late Friday.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes slid 1.2% in Hong Kong but jumped 1.3% in 
South Korea for two of the world's bigger gains.