In this episode of Beat the Bell, host Dominique Broadway provides a rapid‑fire market commentary covering four major themes. First, she explains the U.S. military strike in Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, noting that instead of a market sell‑off the Dow surged to a record high, driven by expectations of a boost to Venezuelan oil production. She details the rally in energy‑related equities (Chevron, ExxonMobil, Halliburton, SLB) and the simultaneous rise in gold and silver as investors hedge. Second, she previews the CES 2026 tech show, highlighting upcoming AI‑chip announcements from Nvidia, AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm and why those could move stock prices. Third, she outlines the upcoming December jobs report, its macro‑economic significance, and how the data could trigger volatility. Finally, she offers concrete portfolio‑management advice—monitor sector exposure, prepare an opportunity list, avoid emotional trading, and consider joining her Demystified Collective for a systematic wealth‑building framework. The episode blends market analysis, actionable guidance, and a promotional call‑to‑action.
Chapters
Hey, Money Family! Welcome back to your episode of Beat the Bell. I am Dominique Broadway, and if you thought that we were easing into 2026, the market just said absolutely not. We've got geopolitical drama that moved the Dow to an all-time high, energy stocks going absolutely crazy, big tech showing off their latest AI chips as we speak, and the most important jobs report in months is dropping Friday morning. So whether you're trying to figure out what this weekend or week so far news means for your portfolio, or if you're just trying to stay ahead of the curve, then you are in the right place. Okay, so let's get into it. All right, let's talk about what happened this weekend because it's still moving the markets Midweek as we speak, the United States conducted a large-scale military strike in Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro. Yesterday morning, he appeared in a New York federal court facing narco-terrorism charges. This is the first major US military intervention in Latin America since Panama in 1989. Now, normally when you hear military operation and geopolitical uncertainty, you think that the market's going to freak out, right? No, wrong, it didn't. Yesterday, or Monday, the Dow gained almost 600 points in an all-time high, all-time high, breaking above 49,000 for the first time ever before closing at 48,977. S&P 500 gained 0.64%, the Dow rose 0.69%. So why did this happen? Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, about 300 billion barrels. Right now their oil production is only about 1.1 million barrels a day because of years of sanctions and mismanagement. But analysts are saying that production could double or triple fairly quickly if the U.S. gets involved in rebuilding their energy infrastructure. So look at these moves in energy stocks. First, we have Chevron. They jumped over 5%. They already have operations in Venezuela. ExxonMobil's up 2.2%. Halliburton surged 7.8%. SLB is up nearly 9%. Those last two are oil field services companies, okay? They don't just pump oil, they build the infrastructure and equipment to rebuild entire energy sectors. That's why they moved even more than the oil majors. But here's the smarter part of this story. Gold prices shot up almost 3% to over $4,400 an ounce. Silver jumped 6%. Why? Because smart money is starting to hedge. They're buying the opportunity in energy stocks and buying insurance through precious metals. One strategist called it confidence with the hedge, not euphoria. That's professional-level thinking right there. What does this mean for you? So if you own energy stocks or ETFs, then this could provide a tailwind. But the story is not over. The Senate is expected to vote on limiting war powers in Venezuela later this week, and international reactions could create tons more volatility. So the bottom line is that the market is betting that this won't escalate into something bigger, bigger, bigger. But stay informed because this situation is definitely still developing. Now let's talk about what's happening right now in Las Vegas. I'm clearly— I'm a little upset I'm not there. I'm usually there. But anyway, CES, the biggest tech show of the year. So today's, or this week's, major keynotes— we have Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is speaking, um, And after closing 2025 with a $4.5 trillion market cap, expectations are sky high for new gaming chips and AI product announcements. We also have AMD CEO Lisa Su who follows later in the day. Um, and with AMD's response, Intel is updating everyone on their Core Ultra Series 3 chips, which are critical for their turnaround story. And Qualcomm's CEO is talking about AI PCs and expanding beyond smartphones. So why this matters for your money: these announcements can move stock prices significantly. The entire AI narrative that drove the market in 2025 is being put to the test. So can these companies actually deliver the next wave of innovation that justifies their valuations, right? So if you own NVIDIA, AMD, INTC, or QCOM, which is Qualcomm, pay attention to what gets announced about how Wall Street reacts over the next few days. All right, so here's the big, big, big one, and honestly the most important thing happening this week will take place Friday morning at 8:30 AM Eastern Standard Time. We get the December jobs report. So why this matters so much: the unemployment rate hit 4.6% in November, a 4-year high. We went from 4 unemployment in January to 4.6% by the year end. The job market lost an estimated 41,000 jobs in October and November combined. That's significant, right? It— that means it's weakening, okay? And the Federal Reserve cut interest rates 3 times in late 2025 specifically because of labor market softness. Now we're at 3.5% to 3.75% rates, and the market is pricing in an 85% chance that the Fed keeps rates unchanged at their January 29th meeting. Friday's reports will tell us, are we headed for a soft landing where the economy cools without crashing, or is the labor market cracking rather than just thawing, right? Economists expect December to show 55,000 jobs added and unemployment potentially dropping by 1% to 4.5%. But honestly, in reality, can be very, very different. This number will create tons of volatility Friday morning, okay? One way or another, don't make emotional decisions. Um, have your plan ready before the report drops. That's what we need to do, okay? So here's your game plan for the rest of the week, and it's going to be an interesting week, all right? So what we need to do, we want to watch, see what's happening at CES, right? Some of your friends may even be there and sharing what's going on, some of the people you're following on social or the companies you follow. So if you own some of these chip stocks, these can move prices, right? Monitor your energy exposure. The Venezuelan situation creates both opportunity and risk. So review your portfolio allocations, make sure you're not overweight in any one sector. Okay, Wednesday and Thursday of this week we have economic data dropping, uh, the ISM Services PMI on Wednesday, we have job opening data, and then our weekly jobless claims comes out Thursday as well. So create your opportunity list now. Write down 3 to 5 quality stocks that you love to own at better prices and prepare for Friday's volatility knowing what you're buying if there happens to be a dip. Okay, um, also the jobs report, uh, will take place at 8:30 AM. This will create market movement either way. Okay, if it's good, if it's bad, it's going to create some movement. So don't react emotionally. Assess the full picture before making moves. Look at the market's reaction. Okay, are investors relieved or concerned? And big banks start reporting earnings next week. All right, so next week starting January 13th with JP Morgan. With stocks trading at historically high valuations, we're banking on strong, uh, earnings growth in the S&P 500. Earnings are expected to have grown about 13 to 15% in 2025, with another 15% growth expected for 2026, right? And companies need to deliver on those expectations. So here's what I need you to remember: the market is sending tons of mixed signals, y'all. It's just really the first week we got a lot of mixed signals. We got optimism in earnings and economic resilience, but also caution through gold buying and sensitivity to jobs data. Your job isn't to predict what happens next with Venezuela, right? It's not your job. Or whether the Fed cuts rates, your job is honestly, honestly to just build a portfolio that can handle multiple situations. Wealth isn't built by those who react the fastest. It's built by those who understand the patterns. They stay disciplined and they take calculated action when others are emotional. Okay, so if you're serious about turning market knowledge into actual wealth, this is exactly some of the things that we teach inside of our Demystified Collective and our Wealth Demystified community. We break down these market moves, analyze what they mean for different investment strategies, and help you build a system, okay? A system that works whether the markets go up, down, sideways, whatever they want to do, okay? So I'll put the link in the show notes for you guys to join. You can join our Demystified Collective right now for a dollar and jump right into our 30-day sprint. As always, you can text me at 202-217-1035 and I will respond. All right, Friday I'm gonna be back with our week in review, breaking down the jobs report and what it means as we head into one of my favorite earning seasons. All right, until then, stay informed, stay invested, and remember that you You are not trying to beat the market. You are building generational wealth, my friends. This is Dominique with Beat the Bell, and let's make this money work for us. See you soon.
