Stock Market Live December 23, 2025: S&P 500 (SPY) Flat into Holidays

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

As we get into the holiday season and the last few days of 2025, markets are flat. The S&P 500 is up just two points. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is up about 40 cents. The Dow is up about four points, with the Nasdaq up about nine.

For the year, it’s been another record-setter.

In fact, “As the year draws to a close, the S&P 500 is on the precipice of netting a ‘three-peat,’ having rallied 24% in 2023, and 23% in 2024,” according to CNBC.

2026 could be just as explosive on key catalysts

Next year could bring more of the same – especially if the Federal Reserve cuts rates even more at its next meeting. Plus, we could see a new Fed boss who could significantly cut interest rates. In fact, President Trump may be leaning toward Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is reportedly an advocate for aggressive interest rate cutting.

While lower rates may sound attractive, they can also stoke inflation, followed by the potential for aggressive tightening to get inflation under control.

There’s the artificial intelligence boom, where analysts expect to see even more upside for the AI story, especially with an increase in capex.

Microsoft said its capex hit $16.75 billion in the third quarter. Moving forward, the company plans to spend $80 billion in 2025.

Meta also increased its 2025 capex to reflect an “increase in the expected cost of infrastructure hardware” from suppliers around the world. According to reports, the company increased its 2025 capital expenditures to come in the range of $64 billion to $72 billion, up from its prior outlook of $60 billion to $65 billion.

“There are a number of positive forces supporting the bull case for stocks. In addition to an encouraging fiscal and monetary backdrop, 2026 is the year when the U.S. is expected to post a more than 2% rise in real GDP, helped by an expansion in labor and strong productivity gains thanks to AI adoption. Early AI adoption could lead to a 0.4% boost in earnings growth in 2026, and a 1.5% support in 2027, according to estimates from Goldman Sachs,” added CNBC. 

In short, there’s a lot to contend with in the new year. 

Dogs of the Dow 2026 Out Soon 

The new list of Dogs of the Dow isn’t up just yet.

But let’s take a quick look back and see how the 2025 Dogs are doing.

• Verizon (VZ), which yields 6.9%, started the year at around $38. It’s. now up to $40.
• Chevron (CVX), which yields 4.57%, has run from about $142 to $150 so far.
• Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), which yields 2.51%, ran from $142 to $207.32.
• Amgen (AMGN), which yields 3.04%, ran from about $258 to $331.40.
• Merck (MRK), which yields 3.25%, ran from about $98 to $104.72.
• Coca-Cola (KO), which yields 2.91%, jumped from $61 to $70.21.
• IBM (IBM), which yields 2.22%, ran from about $215 to a high of $302.80.
• Cisco (CSCO), which yields 2.1%, ran from about $58 to $78.
• McDonald’s (MCD), which yields 2.35%, ran from about $293 to $316.22.
• Procter & Gamble (PG), which yields 2.96%, fell from about $264 to $142.70.

Nine out of 10 isn’t bad at all. Not only do investors make a good deal of money year to date from the stocks, but they also make good money from the dividends so far.

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