Happy Monday afternoon to everyone on The Street. Here's a snapshot of where markets ended the trading session, plus tomorrow's trade idea delivered to you today.

• 🟨 | US stocks were mixed today, with the Dow notching its eighth straight day in the red ahead of the Federal Reserve’s final interest rate decision of 2024, slated for Wednesday. The Nasdaq Composite, however, rose to a fresh record.

• 📈 | One Notable Gainer: It was the tale of two chipmakers today, as Broadcom paced the S&P 500 and continued its rally. Its shares added another 11.2% amid what one analyst called its “NVIDIA moment”.

• 📉 | One Notable Decliner: Meanwhile, Super Micro Computer’s volatile year showed no signs of slowing. Its stock shed 8.3% after losing its spot in the Nasdaq-100 to Palantir Technologies.

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MARKET MOVERS

Tesla, Ford, Match Group

TSLA (+6.1%) Elon Musk Solves Tesla, SpaceX's Worst Problems in a Week: Andreessen (Business Insider)

F (-3.9%) Ford Stock Is Falling on a Downgrade. Why This Analyst Turned Bearish. (Barron’s)

MTCH (+2.9%) Match Group: Shares Look Deeply Undervalued With 12% Yield Through 2027 (SeekingAlpha)

GOOGL (+3.6%) Google names its new India chief (TechCrunch)

MU (+5.6%) What Wall Street Analysts Think of Micron's Stock Ahead of Earnings (Investopedia)

OVERHEARD ON THE STREET

CNBC: NVIDIA officially entered correction territory today, falling more than 10% from its record close.

WSJ: President-elect Donald Trump and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son announced plans to invest $100B in US projects over the next four years.

AP: Despite finding a link between worker speed and injuries, Amazon rejected safety recommendations, fearing they would reduce productivity, per a Senate report.

Reuters: TikTok asked the US Supreme Court to temporarily block the law requiring its China-based parent, ByteDance, to divest the app by Jan. 19 or face a ban.

BI: Bitcoin surpassed $107,000 for the first time today, continuing its series of all-time highs as investors grow increasingly bullish on crypto's 2025 prospects.

TOMORROW’S TRADE IDEA, TODAY

JPM Bets on the Dark Horse

Dark Horse

JPMorgan (JPM) has placed a bet on a dark horse in the sports gambling sector: PENN Entertainment (PENN).

The investment firm recently upgraded the stock from Neutral to Overweight, and lifted its price target to $27 per share. That represents more than 36% upside from current prices.

According to analyst Joseph Greff, the stock has strong risk/reward and potential growth, stemming from its current projects.

Growth Scenarios

Last year, PENN made headlines for its blockbuster deal with Disney to launch EPSN Bet, the entertainment juggernaut’s exclusive sportsbook.

Greff said that he believes the growth of ESPN Bet will be the biggest catalyst for the stock, but added he expects the company to improve its EBITDA, which the analyst does not believe is currently priced in. 

He also cautioned investors against assigning too much weight to the success of PENN Interactive, the company’s interactive gaming division. Greff said that if Interactive fails to achieve profitability, it will most likely shut it down, and PENN will stand to rake in some $60 million in market access fees.

Betting on the Underdog

The stock has fallen nearly 24% YTD. According to JPM, that’s not a bad omen, but a buying opportunity.

The firm forecasts PENN’s fundamentals to improve over the next year or two — and predicts that the stock price could follow suit.

PENN’s stock has struggled of late. But betting on the underdog can pay off big time.

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ON OUR RADAR

WSJ: After abandoning Trump following the Jan. 6 riot, CEOs have spent the past week jockeying for favor as he prepares to return to the White House.

AP: The Federal Reserve is likely to signal fewer interest rate cuts next year after this week's meeting, thanks to persistent inflation.

Bloomberg: Canada's Finance Minister resigned unexpectedly amid a rift over fiscal policy and her role in countering Trump's 25% tariff threat.

CNBC: Trump said he would consider pardoning NYC Mayor Eric Adams after the mayor pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges.

BI: Dozens of suspected "mystery drones" spotted over the East Coast have raised concerns among local officials. Here’s what we know.

FRIDAY’S POLL RESULTS

Are you bullish or bearish on ExxonMobil (XOM) over the next 12 months?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🐂 Bullish

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🐻 Bearish