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These five are great starting points for nearly surefire bets for 2026.

After more than two years of negotiations, one of the biggest credit-card deals of all time will see Goldman replaced by JPMorgan on the Apple credit card.

CoreWeave is risky but it trades at a surprisingly low valuation.

At a stroke, the company has become notably larger and more powerful in scope.

Stocks edged higher at the start of the week as investors chose to focus less on the continuing saga at the Federal Reserve and more on the coming fourth-quarter earnings season—another potential blockbuster that could boost the nascent 2026 rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each rose 0.2% to new records, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3%. Stocks got off to a rocky start after the government launched a criminal probe into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, issuing grand jury subpoenas related to his Senate testimony last June about a multiyear project to renovate the Fed’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. (More on that below.) Nonetheless, stocks rebounded as investors looked ahead to the start of fourth-quarter earnings season.

Microsoft has promised to pay higher utility bills for all of its U.S. data centers powering artificial-intelligence models, President Trump said Monday, accelerating plans by the tech industry and administration to respond to local fears that AI is pushing up electricity prices. The software giant “will make major changes beginning this week to ensure that Americans don’t ‘pick up the tab’ for their power consumption,” Trump said on Truth Social.

STORY: U.S. stocks gained ground Monday with the Dow and S&P 500 rising fractionally but notching record closing highs, while the Nasdaq climbed a quarter of one percent. Shares of technology companies and Walmart advanced. The retail giant rose three percent as it prepares to join the Nasdaq 100 index next week, a shift that could draw in billions of dollars from passive index funds.Investors brushed aside concerns about the U.S. Justice Department’s criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, ostensibly focused on comments he made to Congress about a building renovation project.Powell called the move a “pretext” to gain more influence over interest rates that President Donald Trump has pressed to cut sharply since he returned to office.Investors are looking ahead to the fourth-quarter U.S. earnings season, which unofficially begins Tuesday with results from JPMorgan Chase and other big banks.Todd Ahlsten, chief investment officer with Parnassus Investments says he expects corporate profits to remain solid.“You know, the first thing is earnings growth looks really strong. We look at the S&P and as of today, it looks like it’s slated for 14 to 15% earnings growth. And so that’s good. Number 2 is while the AI, Magnificent Seven, part of those earnings, seems still positioned to grow high teens this year, we still see a broadening this year of the S&P, shall you call it, 493. And that should be a positive as the earnings growth strengthens to low double digits for the remainder of the S&P. So the earnings picture looks pretty solid.”Other stocks on the move included Abercrombie & Fitch which plunged nearly 18% after the retailer lowered its annual sales outlook.It was one of several retailers that indicated sales during the key holiday quarter were affected by cautious discretionary spending.That impacted the stocks of other chains like Macy’s which fell more than 5%.

Dow Jones Futures: Broadcom, Nvidia, Palantir, Tesla and Walmart were key movers Monday. The CPI inflation report is due Tuesday.

Futures on the major gauges are holding in a data-packed week against a tumultuous backdrop of local and foreign political disruption.

What Happened in Markets Today Stocks shrug off latest Powell threat. Major U.S. stock indexes posted some mild gains Monday despite earlier pressure following news that the Trump administration has launched a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

On Jan. 12, 2026, investors weighed a forceful CEO rebuttal, fresh Wall Street views, and mounting leverage behind CoreWeave’s AI build-out.

The “Magnificent Seven” was constantly in the spotlight last year, but many of the stocks ultimately failed to outperform the broader market.

Paramount wants to know how Warner valued its networks business. CEO David Ellison outlined his strategies to keep fighting the Netflix offer.

Zoetis (ZTS) reached $125.32 at the closing of the latest trading day, reflecting a -1.45% change compared to its last close.

Kroger (KR) reached $61.11 at the closing of the latest trading day, reflecting a +2.69% change compared to its last close.

In the closing of the recent trading day, Western Union (WU) stood at $9.51, denoting a -1.86% move from the preceding trading day.

MPLX LP (MPLX) concluded the recent trading session at $53.84, signifying a +1.58% move from its prior day’s close.

In the latest trading session, Lyft (LYFT) closed at $19.7, marking a +2.52% move from the previous day.

In the closing of the recent trading day, Halliburton (HAL) stood at $31.9, denoting a -2.24% move from the preceding trading day.

In the most recent trading session, Fortuna Mining (FSM) closed at $10.48, indicating a +2.14% shift from the previous trading day.