US Stocks Extend Gains, Nasdaq Rises 2%

**December 19: On Thursday, Donald Trump heaped praise on several candidates for Federal Reserve chair. When asked about Fed Board member Christopher Waller, he noted the two had met again the prior day (Wednesday) and called Waller “great.” Trump also praised Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman but did not explicitly name her a final candidate.** **He added he is interviewing “three to four” candidates for the top Fed post and expects to decide “soon” on who will succeed Jerome Powell. “I think each would be a good choice. I’m not sure if an announcement will come by year’s end, but the decision will be made in the coming weeks.”** **Last week, during an interview, Trump hinted that National Economic Council (NEC) Director Kevin Hassett and former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh were leading contenders. At the time, he said: “Both Kevins are great, and there are several others who are too.”**

Dec 19 — The crypto market took another hit overnight. Per HTX market data: - Bitcoin dipped below $85,000 to a low of $84,450, now trading at $85,382 (24-hour drop: 0.68%) - Ethereum briefly fell under $2,800, currently at $2,825 (24-hour decline: 0.02%) - SOL dropped below $120, down 2.81% in 24 hours - Total crypto market cap fell below $3 trillion, now at $2.96 trillion (24-hour decrease: 1.1%) Some altcoins led losses, including: - PUMP: $0.00186 (-11.41% 24h) - GIGGLE: $0.00186 (-11.41% 24h) - AXL: $0.086 (-9.3% 24h) - DOLO: $0.034 (-8.7% 24h) - VELODROME: $0.0197 (-8.8% 24h) U.S. stocks closed higher across the board: - Dow +0.14% - S&P 500 +0.79% - Nasdaq Composite +1.38% Nvidia climbed nearly 2%, Tesla surged over 3%. Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT.O) soared 41.9% after yesterday’s after-hours news that it will merge with TAE Technologies in an all-stock deal (expected to close mid-2026). The merged entity plans to select a site in 2026 an

On December 19, the Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announced U.S. stock markets will open as usual on December 24 and 26. Earlier that same day—just hours before the exchanges’ announcement—Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring the U.S. federal government will be closed on those two Christmas-season days.

As of December 19, CME’s FedWatch Tool shows the U.S. Federal Reserve has a 26.6% probability of cutting interest rates by 25 basis points in January 2024, with a 73.4% chance of holding rates steady.

Dec. 19: Bitwise has filed an S-1 registration statement for a spot Bitcoin ETF with the U.S. SEC, per market reports.