Chapter 1: What are the initial market predictions for 2026?
Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Breakfast, where we cover the top news for investors every morning. It's good to have you here on this Friday, January 2nd. I'm Julie Morgan. Wall Street is hoping to start off the new year on a positive note. Stock index futures are higher on this first day of trading for 2026.
NASDAQ futures are up 1.1%, S&P 500 futures are up three-quarters of 1%, and Dow futures are in the green by 0.5%. Top gainers in pre-market trading include TKO up 2.2%, Hershey up nearly 1.9%,
Chapter 2: How are tariff delays affecting the furniture industry?
and Exelon up 1.7%. Decliners include Equity Residential, Entergy, and Xcel Energy, all down at least 1%. In today's edition of the Wall Street Breakfast newsletter, we're covering the outlook for 2026. And as you prepare to update your portfolio this year, we're also having a Top Stocks 2026 event. There's still time to register.
It's for members only, and it's coming up on Tuesday, the 6th of January, so just around the corner. It starts at noon.
Chapter 3: What changes occurred in Berkshire Hathaway's leadership?
I'll leave a link to register in the show notes section. President Trump has delayed tariff hikes for upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities for an additional year. These tariff hikes were previously slated to begin on New Year's Day. The 25 percent tariff on certain upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities, which was imposed last September, will remain in effect.
The White House said the tariff hikes were delayed to allow for further negotiations with other countries, given ongoing productive talks regarding imports of wood products. Warren Buffett's tenure as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway came to an end on Wednesday. The stock closed slightly lower on his final day, which was also the final day of 2025.
Its Class B shares ended at $502.65, down 0.21%, while Class A shares closed at $754,800, down 0.1%.
Chapter 4: What significant deals are shaping the market landscape?
Buffett's six-decade era in global investing began in 1965. Greg Abel, who is 63 years old, assumed the CEO role on New Year's Day, succeeding the 95-year-old Buffett, who remains chairman. Now for a look at what's trending on Seeking Alpha. We have a look at what analysts are predicting for this year.
Bain Capital enters a $344 million deal to buy parent company of South Korea's athleisure brand. and Chinese AI chipmaker Byron jumps 100% on its Hong Kong IPO debut. On Wall Street at this early hour, we've talked about the fact that the Dow S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the green. Crude oil is down 0.1% at $57 a barrel.
Chapter 5: What economic indicators should investors watch today?
Bitcoin is up 1% at $89,000. Gold is up 1.5% at $43.86. The FTSE 100 is up 0.6% and the DAX is up 0.5%. Of course, today is our news quiz day. I'll tell you one of the questions. It's actually the first question. It says the S&P 500 finished 2025 with a gain of 16%. How much did the index rise in 2024? Of course, it's multiple choice, so I'll give you the four options.
About 5%, about 23%, about 52%. The S&P 500 declined in 2024. I look forward to seeing how well you did. A link to the news quiz is in the show notes section. And on today's economic calendar at 10 a.m., construction spending. That's it for today's Wall Street Breakfast. Thanks for listening.
To take full advantage of Seeking Alpha with coverage on significant stocks and ETFs, become a premium subscriber. Check out seekingalpha.com slash subscriptions. I'm your host, Julie Morgan. Go out and make it a great day.