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🛍️ Nordstrom To Go Private

+ New Year, New Fed Votes

December 23, 2024

Good afternoon! Netflix is stepping into the NFL’s arena with a Christmas Day doubleheader featuring the Chiefs vs. Steelers and the Ravens vs. Texans. It’s not just football, though—Netflix is bringing its signature style to the event, with BeyoncĂŠ performing at halftime and Mariah Carey belting out her holiday classic in a pre-recorded segment. The streaming giant is clear: It’s not diving into full-season sports broadcasting but instead focusing on “eventizing” moments that spark global conversations.

MARKETS

*Stock data as of market close*

  • Stocks climbed Monday as tech heavyweights Nvidia, Meta, and Tesla powered the Nasdaq to a nearly 1% gain. The S&P 500 rose 0.7%, while the Dow squeaked out a 0.2% bump after shaking off earlier losses. Investors, it seems, are hunting for year-end bargains ahead of a potential Santa Claus rally.

  • Despite the cheerful start to the week, Wall Street remains cautious about what’s ahead. With the Fed signaling rates could stay higher for longer, the path into 2025 feels a bit foggy. For now, though, the market is keeping its holiday glow.

STOCKS
Winners & Losers

What’s up 📈

  • Traws Pharma skyrocketed 150.40% after announcing that its treatment for H5N1 bird flu showed safety and tolerability in a Phase 1 trial, with plans for a Phase 2 study next year. ($TRAW)

  • Rumble soared 81.22% after securing a $775 million investment from cryptocurrency company Tether. ($RUM)

  • Honda gained 12.73% on news of merger talks with Nissan, with a goal of concluding discussions by June 2025. ($HMC)

  • Xerox climbed 12.63% after announcing its acquisition of Lexmark in a $1.5 billion deal expected to close in the second half of 2025. ($XRX)

  • Broadcom advanced 5.52%, continuing its December rally and bringing its month-to-date gain above 41%. ($AVGO)

  • Novo Nordisk rose 4.36%, rebounding from an 18% drop on Friday after disappointing late-stage trial results for its experimental weight-loss drug. ($NVO)

What’s down 📉

  • TerraWulf fell 12.10% after initially jumping on news of long-term data center lease agreements for AI-driven high-performance computing hosting. ($WULF)

  • MicroStrategy dropped 8.78% after disclosing it had sold 1.3 million shares to buy additional bitcoin, marking its debut session in the Nasdaq 100. ($MSTR)

  • Arm Holdings slipped 4.00% after a mistrial in its legal battle with Qualcomm over licensing agreements, despite the jury ruling that Qualcomm had not violated its agreement. ($ARM)

  • Nordstrom declined 1.47% after agreeing to a $6.25 billion buyout by its founding family and El Puerto de Liverpool, with shareholders receiving $24.25 per share in cash. ($JWN)

RETAIL
Nordstrom Checks Out of Wall Street

Nordstrom is saying goodbye to public markets. The founding family, with a little help from Mexican retailer El Puerto de Liverpool, has agreed to take the department store private in a $6.25 billion deal.

Back to Basics

The Nordstrom family isn’t new to this game. Their first attempt to take the company private in 2018 flopped, but this time, they’ve got backup. Liverpool will grab a 49.9% stake, while the family holds the majority. Shareholders will get $24.25 per share in cash—a nice premium for a stock that’s struggled to keep up with the times.

Why now? The public markets haven’t been kind. Nordstrom’s revenue never fully recovered after the pandemic, and the company has faced increasing competition from online players and discount chains.

Private Mode: Engaged

Taking Nordstrom private could give the company the room it needs to make changes without shareholders breathing down its neck. Department stores are no stranger to activist investors pushing for cuts, closures, and spin-offs—an escape from that pressure might be just what Nordstrom needs.

Nordstrom Rack, its off-price chain, has been one bright spot lately, recovering from past missteps. But with department stores overall in decline, even Rack’s resurgence isn’t enough to make public investors swoon.

New Partnership, New Hope

Liverpool, a retail heavyweight in Mexico, sees the deal as an opportunity to expand its footprint beyond Latin America. Known for running some of Mexico’s biggest department stores and franchises like Pottery Barn, Liverpool could bring a fresh perspective to Nordstrom’s playbook.

For now, the Nordstrom family is betting big on their legacy—and hoping private life gives the chain a much-needed second wind. Whether they’ll thrive or just escape the spotlight remains to be seen.

NEWS
Market Movements

POLICY
New Year, New Fed Votes

The Federal Reserve is shaking things up in 2025, with fresh faces joining the committee that sets the country’s interest rates. And with inflation still sticking around like an unwelcome party guest, their decisions are bound to get tricky.

Who’s In?

This year’s rotation brings four new voters onto the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC): Boston’s Susan Collins, St. Louis’s Alberto Musalem, Kansas City’s Jeff Schmid, and Chicago’s Austan Goolsbee. These officials will weigh in on how fast to lower rates—a hot topic as inflation remains above the Fed’s 2% target.

Outgoing members like Cleveland’s Beth Hammack have made headlines for dissenting in recent months, highlighting growing divides within the Fed. Expect more disagreements next year as policymakers tackle thorny questions about the economy.

Slow and Steady

Incoming members seem inclined to pump the brakes on rapid rate cuts. Musalem has already flagged concerns that inflation progress could stall, while Schmid has emphasized the need for cautious moves to avoid financial market chaos.

Collins and Goolsbee, meanwhile, lean toward gradual easing but stress that the final destination for rates remains uncertain. Goolsbee summed it up: “Inflation is way down, but rates still have a fair amount to drop over the next 12-18 months.”

A Wild Card Year

The backdrop for these decisions? Potentially inflation-boosting policies from the incoming Trump administration, including higher tariffs and tax cuts. Add in a labor market under pressure, and 2025 could be the Fed’s most challenging year yet.

Chair Jerome Powell, fresh off a quarter-point rate cut in December, has signaled that future moves will depend entirely on the data. Translation: Don’t expect much action at the January meeting, but buckle up for a year of debates, dissents, and careful recalibration.

NEWS
The Daily Rundown

  • 🚗 Car attack at German Christmas market kills five: A 50-year-old Saudi doctor rammed a car into a crowded Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, killing five and injuring 200. Police arrested the suspect, but a motive remains unclear.

  • 🚨 Mangione pleads not guilty as defense criticizes public spectacle: Luigi Mangione, charged with the murder of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson, entered a not guilty plea in Manhattan court. His attorney accused NYC Mayor Eric Adams of violating Mangione's rights and using the case for political distraction, while federal and state charges create legal conflicts.

  • ⚖️ Biden commutes death sentences for 37 federal inmates: President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates to life without parole. This decision leaves only three individuals on federal death row.

  • 🚨 Harvard faces mounting pressures from critics and government leaders: Prominent detractors, including conservative activist Christopher Rufo and members of the incoming Trump administration, aim to reshape higher education policies with Harvard as their prime target. President Alan Garber anticipates challenges tied to federal funding, free speech, and diversity programs.

  • ⚾ Baseball legend Rickey Henderson dies at 65: Known as the "Man of Steal," Rickey Henderson, MLB's all-time stolen base and runs leader, passed away. He was a 10-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion.

    🔭 NASA probe makes historic approach to the sun: The Parker Solar Probe will get within 3.8 million miles of the sun's surface, enduring temperatures of 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking records for proximity to the sun.

  • 🤖 OpenAI unveils advanced reasoning models: OpenAI introduces "o3," its next-generation AI models, claiming progress toward human-like reasoning capabilities in math, science, and coding.

RESOURCES
The Federal Reserve Resource

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