The United States attacked Venezuela and President Donald Trump is threatening to take Greenland “the hard way.” All the while, the US has an uncertain economic outlook and a weak jobs report.

The upshot is that the CPI data may overstate the monthly price increase and understate the 12-month inflation rate. Wall Street economists expect a 0.3% monthly rise in core prices, with an annual increase of 2.7%, according to Econoday estimates.

The S&P 500 and Dow start the new year with record high closes. Investors shrug off Venezeula to focus on tech and the economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average got its first all-time high of 2026—but fell just short of closing above 49000 for the first time. The index was up as much as 1.7% in midday trading, then faded a bit to end the day at 48977.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average itself yields modestly, but the Dogs of the Dow 2026 pack more dividend bite.

The U.S. stock market closed higher Monday, in a rebound from earlier losses that saw the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average climb to fresh record peaks as investors shrugged off renewed worries over the Federal Reserve’s independence.

Despite a more than 14% year-to-date gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average as of market close on Dec. 26, there are five Dow stocks that are down 10% or more in 2025: Home Depot ( HD 0.65%), Procter & Gamble ( PG 0.51%), Nike ( NKE +4.12%), Salesforce ( CRM 0.38%), and UnitedHealth Group ( UNH 0.62%).

Dow Jones and Polymarket said Wednesday that they signed an exclusive agreement under which Polymarket’s real-time prediction market data will be made available across Dow Jones’ US financial media properties. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Stocks advanced further Tuesday, a day after major equities indexes ended sharply higher following the weekend capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.

Today, the top three high-yield stocks in the Dow are Verizon Communications ( VZ +0.17%) with a lofty 6.8% yield, Chevron ( CVX 4.29%) with an attractive 4.5% yield, and Merck ( MRK +1.33%) with a somewhat more pedestrian 3.2% yield. Here's a quick look at each one.

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