A broad stock market rally was the hallmark of last week’s trading action. The Federal Reserve signaled a pause on interest rate hikes and three possible rate cuts next year.
To that end, the CE 100 Index was swept up in the optimism and was 4.2% higher for the week and into its last full trading week before the year-end holidays.
Banking names led the surge, up 7.7% as a group.
The prospect of rate cuts may stimulate demand for loans, while the banks themselves may face less pressure to offer higher interest rates on loans — with an attendant boost to net interest margins and profitability.
Within that pillar, LendingClub was up 20.4%, Ally Bank gained 15.8% and Goldman Sachs rallied 8.4%.
In Goldman-related news, and as detailed here, the bank is reportedly aiming to double the size of its $110 billion private credit business. Bloomberg reported that Goldman has traditionally been ahead of other big banks in the $1.6 trillion private credit market. Elsewhere, Goldman has been anticipating a substantial increase in trading volumes of blockchain-based assets in the next one to two years.
There is also growing interest in cryptocurrency derivatives trading among clients as the market awaits the approval of a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) by the U.S. securities regulator, Mathew McDermott, the investment bank’s global head of digital assets, told Reuters.
Within the Work pillar, which was 4.8% higher, DocuSign soared 26.9% as headlines swirled about a potential sale of the company. A DocuSign spokesperson told PYMNTS, “as a matter of policy, DocuSign does not comment on market rumors or speculation.” According to media reports, including outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, DocuSign is considering a leveraged buyout, with suitors including private equity firms and technology companies. The company went public in 2018.
In the Enablers segment, which added 2.7%, gains were muted by Vodafone’s 6.4% loss. As reported by Reuters this week, the French telecom Iliad has sought to finalize a proposal to Vodafone Italy to combine their Italian operations in a joint venture by the end of next month. The British telecom has reportedly been reviewing options for those operations in a bid to improve profitability. Reuters also reported that Vodafone is mulling a combination of some of its assets with Swisscom’s Italian unit Fastweb.
Elsewhere, iRobot shares sank 5.2%. As noted here, on Monday (Dec. 18), Amazon is set to defend its $1.4 billion acquisition of the robot vacuum maker in front of senior officials from the European Commission and national regulators. The regulators have expressed concerns over how the competitive landscape for robot cleaners might be impacted by the Amazon/iRobot combination — and whether a monopoly might result from the deal.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has faced an unprecedented period of upheaval since the transition from the Biden to the Trump administration in January 2025, culminating with Friday’s move to rescind Rule 1033. Below is a detailed timeline highlighting the key events, regulatory rollbacks, legal battles and the current uncertain status of the agency.
November 2024–January 2025: In the final months of the Biden administration, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra led a surge of regulatory activity, finalizing rules that:
January 2025: President Trump takes office and immediately issues a regulatory freeze, halting the implementation of all pending and recently finalized CFPB rules.
Feb. 1, 2025: President Trump fires CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is appointed acting director.
Feb. 3–9, 2025: Acting Director Russell Vought orders the CFPB to:
Feb. 14, 2025: A federal judge issues a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from:
March 28, 2025: Judge Amy Berman Jackson grants a preliminary injunction, blocking the Trump administration from dismantling the CFPB and ordering the reinstatement of the Student Loan Ombudsman. The court finds plaintiffs likely to succeed in their challenge against the administration’s efforts to shutter the agency.
April 16–17, 2025: CFPB leadership, under Acting Director Russ Vought, announces plans to lay off nearly 1,500 of the bureau’s 1,700 employees — an 88% reduction in staff. An internal memo signals a dramatic scale-back of supervision, enforcement, and regulatory priorities, with a focus only on depository institutions and a retreat from nonbank oversight.
April 18, 2025: Judge Jackson temporarily bars the agency from cutting off employee access to work systems and suspends the layoffs until further court review, citing concerns that the administration’s actions would “decimate the agency and render it unable to comply with its statutory duties.”
April 28–29, 2025: A federal appeals court panel blocks the Trump administration from proceeding with mass layoffs, partially lifting a previous order but allowing Judge Jackson’s injunction to stand while litigation continues.
March 5, 2025: House and Senate committees advance Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions to overturn two major Biden-era CFPB rules:
March 27–April 9, 2025: Both chambers of Congress pass CRA resolutions to repeal these rules, reflecting strong partisan divides.
May 9, 2025: President Trump signs into law the repeal of the CFPB’s overdraft fee cap and the digital payments oversight rule. These actions not only nullify the rules but also bar the CFPB from issuing similar regulations without explicit congressional authorization.
May 25, 2025: CFPB informs court it will rescind Rule 1033.
CFPB drops multiple lawsuits initiated under Biden, including actions against major banks and payment platforms such as JPMorgan Chase and Zelle.
Congress debates further reforms, including:
