In partnership with

Anna's Markets Recap

_{Just facts, you think for yourself}

Saturday, 5:13 AM

November 15, 2025

Good morning news friend! Here is a quick recap of what happened in the markets this week. 📰🌟

The Gmail app usually clips the bottom quarter of our emails, we recommend you reading our full article online here.

What do lawmakers know that you don't?

What if you knew what the most powerful insiders in the country were really doing with their own money?

Not what they say on TV, but what they're actually buying and selling.

This week, we tracked 20 trades from 6 members of Congress.

A Vice-Chair on the House Financial Services committee just made ten separate trades. A Senator's spouse dumped up to $250,000 of Goldman Sachs. Another member, sitting on the Energy & Commerce Committee, just sold a major consumer brand and moved into T-Bills.

These aren't random guesses. They're signals.

While most people trade on public headlines, a very small group trades on better information. This is your chance to see what they see. We've analyzed every move.

If you're making financial decisions without this intelligence, you're trading at a disadvantage.

Click here for the full story.

What Moved Markets Last Week

The market experienced a violent reversal, driven by the end of the 43-day government shutdown and the beginning of a critical "data blackout."

The week began with a surge of optimism. On Monday, November 10, with a deal to end the shutdown appearing close, the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 2.3% and the S&P 500 rose 1.5%. By Wednesday, November 12, a broad market rotation out of high-growth tech and into "old economy" value stocks (like healthcare and industrials) pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average to close above 48,000 for the first time in history.

The reversal came on Thursday, November 13. President Trump signed the bill ending the shutdown, and the market immediately "sold the news." The Dow shed 800 points from its record high, and the Nasdaq Composite collapsed 2.3%.

This was not simple profit-taking. The sell-off was a reaction to the 43-day shutdown halting the collection of crucial economic data. The October Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, scheduled for November 13, was not released. The September and October jobs reports were also missed. This data drought means the Federal Reserve is "flying blind" ahead of its December 10 meeting.

This new uncertainty killed investor expectations for a near-term rate cut. By the end of the week, market odds for a 25-basis-point cut in December fell from 67% to 49.6%. The removal of this expected "easy money" was the primary driver for Thursday's sharp sell-off. The 10-year Treasury yield reflected this, rising from 4.11% to 4.15% as rate-cut optimism evaporated.

Consumer sentiment captured the national mood. The University of Michigan's preliminary November report showed sentiment falling to 50.3, its lowest level since June 2022, with the shutdown cited as the explicit cause.

Commodities were driven by the shifting expectations for Federal Reserve policy.

• Gold: The metal surged early in the week, hitting $4,200 an ounce on high (over 95%) expectations of a December rate cut. When the data blackout killed the "easy money" trade, the speculative gold rally liquidated. The metal fell 1% on Thursday and another 2.5% on Friday to finish near $4,090.

• Crude Oil: WTI crude oil prices rose during the week, advancing 2.2% on Friday to finish near $59.95 per barrel, supporting energy stocks.

Tech and Growth

The technology sector led the market's volatility. The narrative flipped from "AI is growth" to "AI is a bubble."

• Microsoft (MSFT) & Alphabet (GOOGL): Both companies announced massive new AI spending ($10B from Microsoft in Portugal, $6.3B from Alphabet in Germany). In the new risk-off environment, this was re-interpreted not as growth but as a costly "capex arms race" and evidence of an "AI bubble," sending the stocks lower.

• Meta (META): The stock was hit by reports on November 11 that chief AI scientist Yann LeCun is leaving the company. Sources claim CEO Mark Zuckerberg pivoted the company's AI strategy, placing LeCun under the leadership of ScaleAI's founder. This signals a deep, strategic conflict and that Meta's AI strategy may be in chaos.

• Tesla (TSLA): The stock's movement was driven by market mechanics, not news. The voting period for Elon Musk's pay package closed on November 12. With no new narrative, the stock was pinned almost perfectly to its $440 "Max Pain" level for the November 14 options expiration, wiping out value for both call and put holders.

• Netflix (NFLX): The company executed its 10-for-1 stock split after the market closed on Friday, November 14. The buzz and price support during the week were driven by investors buying in anticipation of new retail and options-driven demand for the more accessible $110 post-split stock.

• NVIDIA (NVDA) & Broadcom (AVGO): Positive news from both companies was ignored. As the poster child for the AI trade, NVIDIA was one of the first stocks sold when the "AI bubble" narrative took hold, falling sharply on Thursday.

• Apple (AAPL): Apple announced its "Mini Apps Partner Program" on November 13. This move cuts App Store commissions to 15% for "mini apps" inside host apps (like WeChat). This is a brilliant strategic maneuver. It creates a new revenue stream (estimated $800M from WeChat alone) and forces developers deeper into Apple's ecosystem to get the lower rate, all while outmaneuvering regulators on the 30% fee debate.

Did you know we also write in-depth deep dives? They are long, packed with insights, and have received rave reviews. If you’re up for a detailed, action-packed read, check them out:

• Muscle-Centric Medicine

• 2026 Tax Sunset

• Social Security Squeeze

• The Widowhood Penalty

• The Asset Protection Blueprint

• The Retirement Tax Bomb

• Inflammation Crisis

• The Gut Brain Axis

• AI Proof Professionals

Banks and Financials

• Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B): Warren Buffett released a major shareholder message on Monday, November 10, announcing he is "going quiet." He formally confirmed Greg Abel will become CEO at year-end and stated his children and the board are "100% behind Greg." This letter was a transfer of credibility that resolves the long-standing "key-man risk" for Berkshire.

• Visa (V) & Mastercard (MA): On November 10, both companies announced a new proposed settlement to resolve the 20-year-old "swipe fee" antitrust lawsuit. The stocks were "little changed" as the market "faded" the news. The National Retail Federation immediately rejected the deal, arguing it fails to fix the core issues. The market concluded the settlement will fail and the legal risk remains.

• JPMorgan Chase (JPM) & Bank of America (BAC): Both banks were beneficiaries of the week's "value rotation," with JPM hitting a record high on Wednesday.

Consumer Goods and Healthcare

• Eli Lilly (LLY): The stock surged 5.34% on Monday, November 10, hitting a new all-time high of $973.77. This rally was a delayed reaction to a November 6 announcement that Eli Lilly had struck a deal with the Trump administration to provide its GLP-1 weight-loss drug, Zepbound, at a steep discount, securing its coverage under Medicare. This smashed the primary barrier to the drug's Total Addressable Market (TAM).

• Walmart (WMT): On Friday, November 14, Walmart filed a notice of CEO Doug McMillon's surprise retirement, effective January 2026. The stock immediately fell ~2% in premarket trading on "key-man risk" concerns but recovered all its losses to close flat. This price action shows the market quickly digested the "whisper" narrative that successor John Furner, a company veteran, represents "strategic continuity."

• Procter & Gamble (PG): The stock hit a new 52-week low of $144.09 on Monday, November 10. The low was not event-driven but rather a sign that its "investor story" of stability is broken, weighed down by soft consumption and value-conscious consumers.

• UnitedHealth Group (UNH): New CFO Wayne DeVeydt presented at a UBS conference on November 10. He delivered a "turnaround" pitch to reset the narrative, stating that the company's operational and margin issues "can be fixed as early as next year."

Energy and Industrials

• Exxon Mobil (XOM): The stock benefited from rising crude oil prices and the "value" rotation. Friday, November 14, was the shareholder of record date for its recently increased dividend. This served as a timely reminder of XOM's core "investor story" built on massive cash flow and strong shareholder returns.

• Home Depot (HD): The stock was in a holding pattern with no company-specific news. With the government data drought and Q3 earnings scheduled for the following week, its story was on hold.

We don’t take shortcuts, chase headlines, or push narratives. We just bring you the news, straight and fair. If you value that, click here to become a paid subscriber—your support makes all the difference.

Baked with love,

Anna Eisenberg ❤️