U.S. stock futures started Tuesday on a downbeat note, extending Monday's losses as investors shifted their focus to a packed economic calendar. The big event? November's delayed jobs report, which was set to drop alongside October retail sales data later in the morning.

Monday wasn't exactly a banner day for equities. The Nasdaq Composite shed more than 100 points, capping off a week where the S&P 500 lost 0.6% while the Dow managed to eke out a 1.1% gain. Now traders are positioned cautiously ahead of the employment figures that could influence the Federal Reserve's next move.

Treasury markets told their own story: the 10-year bond yielded 4.16% while the two-year sat at 3.49%. According to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, markets are pricing in a 73.4% likelihood that the Fed will keep rates right where they are at its next meeting. That's the kind of consensus that suggests investors aren't expecting any major surprises from the employment data.

The major index-tracking ETFs reflected the cautious mood. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500, declined 0.42% to $677.87 in premarket trading. Meanwhile, the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ), which follows the Nasdaq 100, dropped 0.59% to $606.95, according to market data.

Stocks Making Moves

Roku Catches an Upgrade

Roku Inc. (ROKU) shares jumped 4.10% in premarket trading after catching a significant vote of confidence from Wall Street. Morgan Stanley upgraded the streaming platform stock from Equalweight to Overweight on Tuesday, bumping its price target to $135 from $85. That's a substantial boost in conviction from one of the Street's major voices.

The upgrade came alongside some notable insider activity. CFO and COO Jedda Dan sold 3,000 shares of Class A Common Stock on December 15 for $107.44 per share, a transaction totaling $322,320. The timing is interesting given the analyst upgrade, though insider sales don't necessarily signal negative sentiment about a company's prospects.

From a technical standpoint, Roku maintains a stronger price trend across short, medium, and long-term timeframes, with a solid growth ranking according to market analysis data.

Blue Owl Capital Expands Strategic Partnership

Blue Owl Capital Inc. (OWL) rose 1.22% after announcing an enhanced strategic partnership with Finance of America Companies. The deal includes a hefty $2.5 billion commitment along with a $50 million equity injection designed to support the lender's expansion into new home equity-based financial products targeting retirees.

It's the kind of move that signals Blue Owl sees opportunity in the retirement finance space, where an aging population continues to look for ways to tap home equity. The stock maintains a stronger price trend over the short term but shows weakness in medium and long-term trends, with a poor value ranking according to market analysis.

B Riley Financial Posts Dramatic Turnaround

B Riley Financial Inc. (RILY) absolutely soared, surging 25.54% after reporting second-quarter earnings that represented a dramatic turnaround from the prior year. The company posted earnings of $4.50 per share for the quarter, a stunning reversal from the year-ago loss of $14.35 per share.

The revenue story was equally impressive. Sales surged to $225.302 million from $94.885 million in the prior-year period. That's more than doubling revenue year-over-year, the kind of growth that explains why the market rewarded the stock so enthusiastically.

From a technical perspective, RILY maintains a weaker price trend over the medium term but shows strength in both short and long-term trends, though it carries a poor growth ranking according to market analysis data.

Navan Stumbles on Guidance

Navan Inc. (NAVN) tumbled 11.17% despite posting solid third-quarter results. The culprit? Weaker-than-expected guidance for fiscal 2026 that spooked investors focused on future growth prospects.

The company stated it anticipates fiscal 2026 sales of $685 million to $687 million, a range that fell well short of market estimates calling for $830.87 million. That's a significant miss on guidance, the kind that often matters more to traders than backward-looking quarterly results. The stock maintains weaker price trends across short, long, and medium-term timeframes.

Lennar on Deck

Lennar Corp. (LEN) traded 0.025% lower as investors positioned ahead of the homebuilder's earnings report scheduled for after the closing bell. Analysts expected the company to report earnings of $2.21 per share on revenue of $9.02 billion.

The homebuilding sector has faced headwinds from elevated mortgage rates, making Lennar's results a potential bellwether for how builders are navigating the challenging environment. The stock has maintained weaker price trends across short, medium, and long-term timeframes, with a poor quality ranking according to market data.

How Monday Shaped Up

Monday's session painted a mixed picture across sectors. Energy, health care, utilities, and consumer discretionary stocks recorded the day's biggest gains. But the information technology sector bucked the positive trend and closed lower, pulling overall U.S. stock indices into the red.

What the Strategists Are Saying

LPL Research offered an optimistic take on where markets might be headed. Chief Equity Strategist Jeffrey Buchbinder forecasts that the current bull market is "poised to extend its run in 2026."

He identifies two primary drivers for this continued optimism: "ongoing enthusiasm around AI" and the "further easing of monetary policy" from the Federal Reserve. Those are powerful tailwinds if they materialize as expected.

But Buchbinder isn't unreservedly bullish. He warns that potential gains "may be more tempered" compared to previous years due to high valuations and the historical volatility associated with midterm election years. Translation: expect more muted returns than the gangbuster gains of recent years.

On the economic front, LPL Research anticipates a scenario where the economy "slows gradually, enabling additional Fed rate cuts without triggering a recession." It's the Goldilocks scenario every investor hopes for, soft landing rather than hard crash.

This backdrop supports LPL's year-end 2026 S&P 500 fair value target range of 7,300 to 7,400. To put that in perspective, it represents meaningful upside from current levels but nothing like the explosive gains markets have experienced in recent years.

Buchbinder notes that massive capital expenditures in artificial intelligence are projected to reach approximately $520 billion in 2026, and these investments will be crucial for powering earnings growth. That's an enormous amount of capital flowing into AI infrastructure, data centers, and related technologies.

Despite risks such as "potential AI disappointments" or rising interest rates, his advice to investors is straightforward: "maintain current allocations near long-term targets" and use market pullbacks as opportunities to selectively increase exposure. It's classic buy-the-dip thinking, predicated on belief in the bull market's continuation.

What's on the Economic Calendar

Investors had plenty to watch on Tuesday's packed economic calendar. November's delayed U.S. employment report, unemployment rate, and hourly wages were scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, alongside October's delayed retail sales data. These are market-moving reports that could shift expectations for Federal Reserve policy.

Later in the morning, December's S&P flash U.S. services PMI and manufacturing PMI were set to drop at 9:45 a.m., while September's business inventories data was scheduled for 10:00 a.m. ET. That's a lot of data for traders to digest in a short window.

Commodities, Currencies, and Crypto

Crude oil futures traded higher in the early New York session, climbing 1.66% to hover around $55.73 per barrel. Energy markets have been volatile as traders weigh global demand concerns against supply dynamics.

Gold Spot rose 0.58% to trade around $4,280.22 per ounce, well below its recent record high of $4,381.60 per ounce. The precious metal has been range-bound as investors balance inflation concerns against a stronger dollar.

Speaking of the greenback, the U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.09% lower at the 98.2190 level, showing relative stability in currency markets.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading 3.94% lower at $86,329.61 per coin. The cryptocurrency has faced pressure as risk assets generally came under selling pressure.

Global Markets Roundup

Asian markets closed lower across the board on Tuesday. India's NIFTY 50, Australia's ASX 200, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, China's CSI 300, South Korea's Kospi, and Japan's Nikkei 225 indices all fell. The weakness in Asian markets set a cautious tone for the global trading day.

European markets were mixed in early trade, with no clear directional bias as traders there also digested the implications of incoming U.S. economic data.