Wall Street climbs, Netflix buys Warners

The week ended with the American indices gaining modestly: the S&P 0.19%, the Nasdaq 0.31% and the Dow 0.22%. For the week, the S&P rose 0.3%, the Nasdaq 0.9% and the Dow 0.5%. Major movers included Ulta Beauty surging 12.65% and Moderna 8.67%, but the biggest news came from Netflix announcing it will buy Warner Bros. Discovery in an historic deal that will further enlarge the streaming juggernaut. In a rare moment of unity, both the White House and Democrats immediately opposed the deal, making the merger’s outcome uncertain. The street boosted Warner shares by 6.28%, but sold Netflix by 2.89% and sank the losing suitor, Paramount Skydance, by 9.82%. 

Despite a surprisingly lower unemployment rate of 6.5% in November, the Canadian index declined 0.53% on Friday and slipped 0.25% for the week. However, the TSX made a new record close just the day before. Only two sectors saw gains on the TSX, while healthcare and materials led the other nine sectors upwards. Key names: Aecon 4.93%, Suncor -2.5%, ATS 2.98%, Orla Mining -11.08% and Bausch Health -6.88%. In commodities, gold hovered around US$4,198 after slipping US$9, silver held at record levels of US$58.25, and WTI added 50 cents to US$60.15. Bitcoin fell 3% to US$89,430. The U.S. 10-year yield edged up to 4.139%.

💄 Ulta Salon Cosmetics and Fragrance Inc. (ULTA-Q) +12.65%

💉 Moderna (MRNA-Q) +8.67%

📺 Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD-Q) +6.28%

📺 Netflix Inc. (NFLX-Q) -2.89%

🎞 Paramount Skydance Corporation (PSKY-Q) -9.82%

🏛 Aecon Group Inc (ARE-T) +4.93%

⚡ Suncor Energy Inc (SU-T) -2.5%

🚚 ATS Automation Tooling Systems (ATS-T) +2.98%

⛏ Orla Mining (OLA-T) -11.08%

👨‍⚕️ Bausch Health Companies Inc. (BHC-T) -6.88%

🅱 Bitcoin (BTCUSD) (CRYPTO:BTC) -3%