Stocks Rise on Cooling Inflation and Fed Moderation. That Doesn’t Mean the Bear Market Is Over.

Christmas came early this year for the stock market. Is there a Grinch waiting to ruin it?

It was a week of surprises both good—Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell essentially confirming a smaller interest-rate increase this month—and bad—the November jobs report confirmed that a strong labor market remains. Still, it was a solid week for the indexes. The


S&P 500


rose 1.1% this past week and is now nearly flat over the past six months, while the


Nasdaq Composite


gained 2.1%, and the


Dow Jones Industrial Average


ticked up 0.2%.