Ever have one of those trading sessions where everything seems to happen at once? That was Tuesday, December 9 – the kind of midday move-fest that reminds you why we keep our watchlists glued to the screen. Oil giants flexed, takeover targets exploded higher, and a couple of household names took painful tumbles. Let’s unpack the chaos while it’s still fresh.
What Caught Fire Midday – And What Got Burned
I’ve been around markets long enough to know that midday isn’t usually when the real fireworks start, but today felt different. Maybe it’s the end-of-year positioning, maybe it’s just December doing December things. Whatever the reason, some massive names made moves you couldn’t ignore.
Exxon Mobil Roars Back
Let’s start with the big dog. Exxon Mobil added a quick 2.7% after dropping its updated corporate plan through 2030. And honestly? The numbers are kind of jaw-dropping.
They’re now guiding for $25 billion in earnings growth and $35 billion in cash-flow growth from 2024 levels. That’s not a tweak – that’s a full-on upgrade from prior forecasts. In a world obsessed with energy transition headlines, seeing an oil major this confident feels almost contrarian.
In my experience, when Exxon starts talking cash flow in tens of billions, the street listens. And buys.
Ares Management Joins the S&P 500 Club
Six percent doesn’t sound like much until you realize Ares Management just got the golden ticket: inclusion in the S&P 500 effective Thursday. They’re replacing Kellanova (yes, the Pringles people) after its takeover by Mars.
Passive funds have to buy. Period. That mechanical inflow almost always creates a nice pop, and today delivered exactly that. If you’ve followed alternative asset managers the past few years, Ares has quietly built itself into a powerhouse. Today the market finally gave it the mainstream stamp of approval.
Staar Surgical – Takeover Drama Pays Off
Sometimes the best trades are the ones everybody already knows about – they just sweeten the deal. Alcon came back to the table and bumped its bid for Staar Surgical from $28 to $30.75 cash per share. That’s over a 30% premium to Monday’s close.
Result? Shares rocketed more than 12%. I’ve watched enough of these situations to know that when the acquirer blinks and raises, the deal usually gets done. Staar holders are smiling today.
Alexander & Baldwin Goes Private – 38% in a Flash
Speaking of buyouts, Hawaii-based REIT Alexander & Baldwin delivered the single biggest move of the session – up nearly 38% after announcing a $2.3 billion take-private transaction. When a stock gaps that hard on deal news, you know the premium was juicy.
Real estate names have been volatile all year, but privatization deals tend to put a floor under price fast. This one certainly did.
Teleflex Cleans House for $2 Billion
Medical device company Teleflex rose more than 9% after announcing it’s selling three business units for a combined $2.03 billion. They’re offloading acute care and interventional urology to Intersurgical for $530 million and an OEM business to private equity for $1.5 billion.
Classic portfolio pruning – get rid of the decent assets to double-down on the great ones.
Management explicitly said proceeds will go toward share buybacks and debt reduction. Investors love hearing that sentence.
The Ones That Stumbled
Not everything was rainbows. A few notable names took it on the chin.
AutoZone dropped 6% after missing first-quarter expectations. Earnings came in at $31.04 per share versus the $32.51 the street wanted, with revenue a hair light too. Retail automotive parts has been a tough neighborhood lately – inflation, mileage trends, you name it. Today the market decided to punish the miss instead of applauding the still-decent numbers.
SLM – better known as Sallie Mae – plunged 16% after an investor day that left analysts yawning. Morgan Stanley even downgraded the stock, citing higher expenses and lack of clarity on forward earnings. Student loans will always be a polarizing sector, and today the skeptics won.
Gogo, the in-flight Wi-Fi folks, fell 10% after announcing an investment in satellite player Farcast. Details were light, and the market hates uncertainty more than almost anything.
Quick Hits Worth Knowing
- CVS added over 2% after guiding 2026 profits above consensus – rare good news in the managed-care wars
- AeroVironment up 2% on an $874 million Army contract for drones and counter-drone tech
- Viking Cruises gained 2% after Goldman turned bullish; Norwegian slipped after the opposite call
- Toll Brothers dipped 1% on a modest earnings miss – luxury homes still selling, just maybe not quite as fast
- Colgate-Palmolive up 2% after RBC said 2026 setup looks favorable
There’s something fascinating about watching all these different stories collide in one three-hour window. Energy looking ahead six years. Private equity rewriting indexes. Medical companies reshaping themselves in real time. That’s the market doing what it does best – pricing new information, instantly and mercilessly.
And the best part? Tomorrow we get to do it all over again.
Look, I don’t have a crystal ball (if I did, I’d be on a beach right now), but days like today are why I still love this game after all these years. You get a front-row seat to corporate strategy, investor psychology, and macro themes all playing out live.
Keep your watchlist tight, your risk defined, and maybe – just maybe – we’ll catch the next 38% gap together.
