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• Makeup and perfume maker Coty said Monday that Procter & Gamble veteran Markus Strobel will take over as interim CEO at the start of 2026.
• The CoverGirl parent company's stock has lost more than half its value since the start of the year, as its business took a hit in the face of macroeconomic uncertainty and higher tariffs.

Cosmetics maker Coty's leadership is getting a makeover.

The owner of CoverGirl, Rimmel, and Sally Hansen brands said Monday that Procter & Gamble (PG) veteran Markus Strobel is set to take over as its executive chair and interim CEO in the new year.

Current CEO Sue Nabi will step down after a five-year tenure at Coty (COTY), and executive chair Peter Harf is set to retire from the company's board after over three decades of service. The company said the change will mark a "pivotal moment" for Coty, which has seen sales slide in the face of macroeconomic uncertainty and higher tariffs.

Coty shares have lost more than half their value since the start of this year as sales suffered. A shakeup in the company's leadership could mean more changes for the company in the new year.

Strobel joins Coty after serving as president of consumer products giant Procter & Gamble's skin and personal care segment, which includes Gillette razors and the Olay and Old Spice brands, among others. The move could mean more changes ahead for Coty, which in September launched a strategic review of its consumer beauty business.

Last month, Coty posted fiscal first-quarter earnings that missed estimates as sales fell. The company said it still expects to return to growth by the second half of the fiscal year, but warned retailers are being cautious in their ordering habits.

Coty shares slipped about 2% in recent trading, leaving them down about 53% for 2025. They lost more than a fifth of their value in one session in August after Coty reported a surprise loss for its fiscal fourth quarter.

News of the day for Dec. 22, 2025

Stock futures are rising Monday as the market looks to open the holiday-shortened trading week on a positive note; gold and silver prices hit record highs early this morning; crude oil prices are surging as the U.S. Coast Guard is reportedly pursuing another Venezuelan oil tanker; Tesla CEO Elon Musk's 2018 pay package has been reinstated by the Delaware Supreme Court; and fintech software maker Clearwater Analytics will be taken private in a deal worth over $8 billion. Here's what you need to know today.

Stock futures are pointing to a higher open at the start of a trading week that will be abbreviated due to the Christmas holiday. Futures tied to the benchmark S&P and the tech-focused Nasdaq were recently up 0.4% and 0.7%, respectively, as tech stocks gained ground, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures tacked on 0.1%. The major indexes are coming off of two consecutive days of big gains, fueled by a rally in tech stocks following a recent slump amid concerns about a possible AI bubble. Bitcoin was trading at $90,100 this morning, up from a low over the weekend below $88,000. Crude oil futures and gold futures jumped more than 2% and 1%, respectively. (See more below) The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was at 4.17%, up from 4.15% at Friday's close.

The prices of precious metals jumped to record highs this morning amid hopes that the Federal Reserve could be in a position to continue cutting rates next year. Gold futures surged above $4,400 an ounce for the first time and were trading at $4,445 recently, up 1.3% from Friday's close. Silver futures were up 2.2% at $69 an ounce. Inflation data released last Thursday came in cooler than expected, and Fed officials will be looking for more signs of easing inflationary pressure as they weigh the possibility of rate cuts in the coming months. The price of gold has surged nearly 70% since the start of this year, while silver has more than doubled. The precious metals are typically seen as safe investments when things like inflation, trade tensions or the potential for global conflict create uncertainty that can make stocks and other investments more volatile.

Oil futures are sharply higher Monday morning as the the U.S. is reportedly ramping up its pressure campaign on Venezuelan oil. The Wall Street Journal reported late Sunday that the Coast Guard was pursuing another oil tanker shipping oil out of the South American country. The Trump administration has already seized two tankers from Venezuela in recent weeks, saying that the tankers were operating under a false flag to conceal their true country of origin. The tanker currently being pursued by the Coast Guard is part of a "dark fleet" of oil tankers that have previously been sanctioned by the U.S. or one of its allies, but are still operating with a false flag, the Journal reported. The seizure of the tankers is helping to drive crude oil prices higher, as anything that can limit the supply of oil on the market can send prices higher. WTI futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, were up 2.1% at $57.70 per barrel in recent trading.

Tesla (TSLA) has won its yearslong legal battle over CEO Elon Musk's 2018 pay package, with the Delaware Supreme Court saying late Friday that a lower court decision revoking the package was incorrect. Tesla gave Musk the package in 2018, made up of potential stock awards that were valued at $2.3 billion and have since grown as Tesla's stock price has surged, making the package worth about $139 billion, per The Wall Street Journal. The Delaware Court of Chancery previously ruled in favor of a shareholder that said the package was invalid because it was created and granted with too much influence from Musk. The EV maker has said an ambitious pay plan is needed to keep Musk's attention at Tesla over his other companies, which is why it recently gave him a new shareholder-approved deal that could put Musk on track to eventually become a trillionaire. Tesla shares were up more than 1% ahead of the opening bell.

Shares of Clearwater Analytics (CWAN) jumped Monday morning after the company announced an $8.4 billion deal to be acquired and taken private by an investor group led by private equity firms Permira and Warburg Pincus. Clearwater shareholders will get $24.55 per share, a premium of about 10% from the stock's $22.25 closing price on Friday and 47% compared to Nov. 10, just before shares started to surge following reports of a potential deal. Clearwater, a maker of financial services software, said the deal includes a "go-shop" period where it will be able to entertain any other offers for the next month, and that the deal is expected to close in the first half of next year if no other deal is made. Clearwater shares were up 8.5% at $24.15 in recent premarket trading.

• The U.S. economy is forecast to have grown at an annual rate of 3.2% in the third quarter after adjusting for inflation, a fast pace by historical standards.
  
• Healthy consumer spending continued to drive the economy's growth, but a downturn in the labor market could dampen growth in the months ahead.
  
• The GDP data was originally expected in October but was delayed by the government shutdown.
  

Forecasters believe the economy grew at a fast pace in the third quarter, though the report was delayed by the government shutdown and the data is getting stale. 

A long-delayed report on Gross Domestic Product is expected to show that the economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.2% in the third quarter, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. If proven true, it would be a slowdown from the 3.8% growth in the second quarter, but higher than the average of 2.6% since the third quarter of 2021.

The government shutdown in October and November delayed the widely watched economic indicator. An advance estimate of the third-quarter GDP growth was scheduled to be released in October, but was canceled because workers at the BEA and other statistical agencies were furloughed. The preliminary figures released on Tuesday will be revised once more as additional data becomes available.

Rapid economic growth generally means rising standards of living, although the data has been distorted lately by changes in trade brought on by tariffs.

The GDP hasn't been as accurate a measure of economic growth lately as it usually is, because of President Donald Trump's tariff campaign. Imports count against economic growth in GDP, and a surge of imports in the first quarter, as companies rushed to buy goods before the import taxes took effect, sent the GDP into negative territory. The on-paper slump was reversed in the second quarter, as imports declined.

Beneath all the turmoil, economists believe the economy continued to expand in the third quarter, powered by the main engine of economic growth: consumer spending.

"Available data suggest that the economy maintained robust momentum in the third quarter," economists at Wells Fargo wrote. "Consumers came back with a vengeance in the second half of the year."

That vengeance may prove to be fleeting. Jobs have become scarcer in the second half of the year, as the unemployment rate has risen to its highest level since the pandemic, leading some economists to speculate that a consumer spending slowdown is ahead, which would harm overall economic output.

"It’s hard to believe that kind of spending growth can be maintained given the rise in the unemployment rate," Robert Fry, an independent forecaster, wrote in a commentary.

• Analysts at Bank of America and Jefferies said they’re still bullish on semiconductor stocks heading into 2026. 
• AI stocks have pulled back lately amid worries about an AI bubble, but the analysts said semiconductor shares are likely to keep benefiting from spending on data centers.

AI stocks have had a tough time lately. Some analysts say they're sticking by their favorite chip stocks anyway.

AI is "still the place to be" heading into 2026, with chip stocks among the best ways to play the AI boom, Bank of America analysts told clients in a note last week, anticipating growing sales as cloud-computing giants continue to buy up hardware to build out data centers.

While shares of many of the bank's top large-cap picks for 2026 have taken hits in recent weeks during a broader pullback in tech, they remain leaders in a space that has already seen substantial gains this year, far outperforming the S&P 500. Many of them also overlap with semiconductor stocks highlighted by Jefferies analysts, who said they're "sticking with AI into 2026."

Worries about an AI bubble have weighed on the tech sector in recent weeks, though some stocks have fared better than others. Jefferies and Bank of America suggested they see some of this year's biggest beneficiaries still being winners next year.

While shares of AI chip leader Nvidia (NVDA) have slipped over 12% from their October highs, they're still up more than 30% this year through Friday's close, as demand for its most advanced chips sent sales to new records.

Bank of America analysts said they see Nvidia's torrid growth continuing next year, pointing to a strong pipeline of new products. They called Nvidia a top large-cap pick for 2026, along with custom AI chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO), Lam Research (LRCX), KLA (KLAC), Analog Devices (ADI), and Cadence Design Systems (CDNS).

Jefferies also highlighted Nvidia, Broadcom, Lam Research, and KLA in a note last week, along with semiconductor manufacturing equipment company Applied Materials (AMAT) and inspection equipment provider Camtek (CAMT).

Jefferies said Broadcom remains its top AI pick after replacing Nvidia earlier this year. "We haven’t given up on [Nvidia] given the technology moat and valuation," Jefferies said, but suggested Broadcom could have more room to rise based on expected growth in its custom chip business.

Jefferies said longtime Broadcom customer Google's recent decision to sell its custom chips to third parties such as Meta (META) and Anthropic could represent a "greenfield opportunity" for Broadcom, along with a growing number of custom chip customers that could include Apple (AAPL).

Shares of Broadcom have added close to half their value in 2025 through Friday's close just above $340, with Jefferies' Street-high target of $600 suggesting over 75% upside.

• President Donald Trump could boost global economic growth by 0.5 percentage points if he negotiated away his "Liberation Day" tariffs by striking free trade deals with other countries, an analysis found.
  
• There's no indication that tariffs will suddenly be removed, but the paper highlighted the extreme impact they've had on the global economy.
  
• U.S. consumers would see lower inflation in the coming years if the tariffs went away, the analysis found.
  

President Donald Trump could invigorate the global economy and stamp out inflation quickly. All it would take would be scrapping his signature economic policy.

That's according to an analysis this week by Daniel Harenberg, lead economist at Oxford Economics, who found that a reversal of the tariffs Trump imposed this year would drive the global economy to grow at a rate of 3% in 2026 and 3.4% in 2027, compared to 2.7% and 2.9% if there's no change. That's a boost of 0.5 percentage points per year, all while reducing inflation for U.S. consumers.

Trump has shown no sign that he would remove or negotiate away his beloved tariffs, but Harenberg's analysis highlighted the potential impacts if 2026 delivered yet another surprise on par with 2025's trade policy shock.

In this scenario, Trump could strike deals with other countries to remove tariffs ahead of the 2026 elections.

"In our extreme upside scenario, President Trump pushes for a series of bilateral trade deals to create a positive news-flow ahead of upcoming mid-term elections," Harenberg wrote. "One year after "liberation day," the U.S. administration starts lowering U.S. tariffs back to the levels at end-2024."

Tariffs are likely to remain in place for now. But inflation could ease and growth could get a meaningful boost if Trump or a future administration reverses these policies.

Liberation from "Liberation Day" would not only reinvigorate global trade, but would help household budgets for U.S. consumers. The analysis found it would push down the Consumer Price Index by 0.4 percentage points annually through 2029.

While a sudden reversal of tariffs is a long shot, it does seem more plausible that import tax levels will dwindle over a longer period of time. Drawing on analysis from the Yale Budget Lab, Harenberg noted that in the long run, U.S. tariff rates have historically tended to trend lower, and that this trend could reassert itself in the coming years. In other words, Trump's tariffs may prove to be a temporary blip if U.S. trade policy gets back on its former course.

"After the recent rise, the U.S. effective tariff rate should fall, but it will take at least ten years to return to pre-liberation day levels," he wrote.

Traders will get some time off this week with the Christmas holiday ahead, though there is some economic data to watch for in the days to come.

Markets will be closed Thursday and will wrap up early the day before. Stock markets will close at 1 p.m. EST on Wednesday, while bond markets close at 2 p.m. EST.

Investors will still have a handful of economic reports to follow, including a first look at third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP).

Read to the bottom for our calendar of key events—and one more thing.

A trio of reports delayed by the government shutdown are set to be released this week, led by the initial report on third-quarter GDP. 

Initially scheduled for release Oct. 30, the delayed report means that the Bureau of Economic Analysis will only put out two GDP reports for the third quarter two estimates and a final report—rather than its usual three. After Tuesday’s GDP release, which follows second-quarter growth rebounding to 3.8% after a 0.6% decline in the first quarter as tariff threats pushed imports higher, the BEA is scheduled to release the final third-quarter GDP report on Jan. 22.

The report on durable goods orders for October, initially scheduled for a November release, is also set for Tuesday. Other delayed reports coming out that day include the Federal Reserve's industrial production and capacity utilization data for both October and November.

Tuesday's December consumer confidence survey comes at its regularly scheduled time. Weekly jobless claims, due Wednesday, will also be in the spotlight following last week’s employment report, which showed that unemployment rose in November. 

Quick Links: Recap Last Week’s Trading | Read Investopedia’s Latest News

Monday, Dec. 22

• Nothing scheduled

Tuesday, Dec. 23

• Gross Domestic Product - initial estimate (Q3)
• More Data to Watch: Durable-goods orders (October), Industrial production & capacity utilization (November), Consumer confidence (December)

Wednesday, Dec. 24

• Initial jobless claims (Week ended Dec. 20)
• Stock markets close at 1 p.m. EST; bond markets close at 2 p.m. EST

Thursday, Dec. 25

• Stock, bond markets closed for Christmas holiday

Friday, Dec. 26

• Nothing scheduled

The holidays are supposed to be a time for peace and happiness, but for many, it’s also a season of debt and financial stress. Investopedia’s Daniel Liberto has more on the impact that holiday spending has on many people's finances. 

The trading year is winding down, with a few holidays and shortened sessions still ahead.

The next break comes around the Christmas holiday. The stock market will close at 1 p.m., and the bond market at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 24, for Christmas Eve, and remain closed through the holiday on Dec. 25.

Both markets are closed on Jan. 1, 2026, for New Year's Day. Stock traders have a full day on New Year's Eve, though bond trading ends at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 31.

The next trading holiday comes on Monday, Jan. 19, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Both stock and bond markets will be closed.

• Grocery prices have climbed during President Donald Trump's administration, contrary to his claim this week that they are "falling rapidly."
  
• Although overall food prices are rising, they are doing so more slowly than they did earlier in the year.
  

President Donald Trump says grocery prices are "falling rapidly" under his economic policies, but the government's own data says otherwise.

On Wednesday evening, Trump took to the airways to defend his economic policies, responding to criticism from Democrats and others that the cost of living has risen too quickly under his administration, and has been exacerbated by his tariff campaign. Trump said he is tackling inflation, blamed his predecessor, Joe Biden, for the problem, and singled out groceries as an example of his success.

"Democrat [sic] politicians also sent the cost of groceries soaring, but we are solving that too," Trump said. "The price of a Thanksgiving turkey was down 33 percent compared to the Biden last year. The price of eggs is down 82 percent since March and everything else is falling rapidly and it's not done yet, but boy, are we making progress."

If you have noticed your groceries have gotten more expensive this year, the government's consumer price surveys back up your gut feeling with hard data.

Reports on the price of turkey are mixed. An annual report on Thanksgiving prices from the American Farm Bureau lobbying group showed frozen turkey cost $1.34 a pound in 2025, down 16% from 2024. However, the Consumer Price Index category that includes turkey ("Other uncooked poultry including turkey") was up 0.8% in November compared to 2024.

Egg prices are one category that is down, after jumping sky-high in 2024 due to a bird flu pandemic that is now fading.

Still, other items are clearly up quite a bit. Ground beef is up 16% compared to last year, while coffee has risen 35% according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But grocery inflation is typically measured by combining prices for many products rather than singling out individual items. And overall grocery prices were up 1.9% over the 12 months ending in November, according to the Consumer Price Index. That's down from 2.7% in September, but still above the 1.6% annual growth for grocery prices in November 2024.

In other words, grocery prices are not in fact falling. However they are climbing at a slower pace than earlier in the year.

• Nike shares, which are down 10% today, are stuck below the prices that predated Elliott Hill's days as CEO.
• Investors initially welcomed the news that Hill would return to Nike. Today's drop indicates that they're looking for more before declaring the turnaround a success.

Nike hoped a new CEO could get its stock rising again. So far, the change just hasn't done it.

Shares of Nike (NKE) have fallen some 20% since the beleaguered athleticwear-and-gear company said it would bring back legendary leader Elliott Hill—counted since their close the night before the announcement—in September 2024. More than a year later, it's unclear when the slide will stop.

Nike says the business is midway through a turnaround. This message is largely resonating with analysts, but Friday’s 10% drop in stock prices shows that investors may not be as convinced that a comeback is just around the corner.

Nike's efforts to improve "brand equity" and drive full-price sales come at a time when consumers are particularly price-sensitive. The company is pulling back on promotions while retailers and restaurants report that even high-income households are curtailing their spending.

Nike reported a “mixed bag” of results Thursday after what was “very much a ‘show me’ quarter,” said David Bartosiak, a stock strategist at Zacks Investment Research.

Nike’s second-quarter numbers beat analysts’ expectations, but highlighted several challenges facing the company. Revenue rose 1% year-over-year to $12.4 billion, but profit declined 32% to $792 million. The company is contending with slow sales in China and roughly $1.5 billion in annual costs stemming from tariffs.

“This was not a ‘clean’ quarter,” Bartosiak said.

Hill said Thursday that he is confident Nike is headed in the right direction, but it is being nuanced about adapting its approach in some 190 countries.

“It's just going to take time," Hill said on a conference call Thursday, according to a transcript made available by AlphaSense. "So I will just sort of point to the place we focus first, which is North America, and we're having great success there.”

Revenue rose 9% year-over-year in North America, with sales to wholesalers—a company priority—growing 24%, Hill said. Investors may be spooked about consumers spending 10% less at Nike’s website and stores, but Bank of America suggested this was a reaction to the company cutting promotions and focusing on full-price sales.

“We view this quarter's results as a successful execution of this strategy,” Bank of America said.

Investors may be less optimistic about Nike's latest numbers, but they contained “redeeming” data points, Kevin McCarthy, senior research analyst at Neuberger Berman, said on CNBC. Profit margins would have grown, he said, if not for tariffs.

“I’d be a buyer on a day like today,” Berman said.

• Tech stocks have lagged value and small-cap stocks this quarter, a reversal of the trend that prevailed earlier this year.
• Investors are increasingly anxious about big tech's AI investments, while interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve have shifted sentiment toward small-caps and financials.

Tech investors are smiling today, but they've had a tough time lately. Many value-oriented assets, meanwhile, have been feeling the love. 

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, despite gains in the back half of this week, has underperformed the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average and the small-cap Russell 2000 over the past several months. As of Friday, the Nasdaq had fallen 1.8% since the start of November, while the Dow and Russell gained 1.2% and 2.1%, respectively. While the benchmark S&P 500 is off its October highs, Deutsche Bank wrote this week, the average stock in the index is higher.

That marks a sharp reversal from the rest of the year: The Nasdaq rose more than 17% through the first three quarters, while the Dow and the Russell added about 9%.

The mega-cap tech stocks that powered stock market gains throughout the year have faltered in recent months as investors upped their scrutiny of the AI boom. Their underperformance has diminished the returns of capitalization-weighted stock indexes, while value stocks and small caps have risen.

Tech stocks have been pressured in recent months by increased scrutiny of the AI rally. Investors grew more worried this quarter that tech companies may not see a return on their massive AI investments anytime soon, if at all. Wall Street is increasingly demanding that tech companies justify their high stock valuations with evidence AI is sustainably increasing sales or expanding their margins. Anything short of a historic earnings report has lately failed to impress investors.

Healthcare stocks have been among the biggest beneficiaries, with the sector up more than 13% over the past three months. Financial stocks have also gained ground recently: The sector is up more than 6% over the past month. Adam Turnquist, Chief Technical Strategist at LPL Financial, in a note this week cited "rising demand for smaller-cap and value stocks."

Some investors expect the rotation to continue into the new year. “I still think tech is going to remain the leader,” Mary Ann Bartels, chief investment strategist at Sanctuary Wealth, told CNBC on Friday. "I just think it needs a period of rest, consolidation."

The Federal Reserve earlier this month cut interest rates for a third time this year, and after this week's surprisingly tepid inflation report, Wall Street is expecting more cuts next year. That should benefit small caps, which tend to have more debt and thus are more sensitive to interest rates. It could also further boost the financial sector by stimulating borrowing and corporate mergers.

“Factors such as reduced regulation [and] lower capital requirements, an improving environment for deal-making, and a favorable macroeconomic backdrop for trading may provide further tailwinds for banks in the coming year,” LPL's Turnquist wrote in a note last week. 

This article has been updated since it was first published to reflect more recent stock prices.