On this episode of The Morning Filter podcast, Dave Sekera and Susan Dziubinski preview the December inflation numbers coming out this week and cover which other economic reports to watch. They discuss valuations of the big banks reporting in the next few days—including JP Morgan JPM, Bank of America BAC and Citigroup C—and expectations for earnings. President Trump wants to increase the defense budget; tune in to find out what that may mean for popular defense stocks like Lockheed Martin LMT, Northrop Grumman NOC, and others.

Dave shares his stock market outlook for 2026, including whether investors should overweight stocks today or pull back, which parts of the market are undervalued, and what risks could contribute to market volatility this year. They wrap the episode with stock picks to buy in January that Morningstar’s analysts like.

Episode Highlights

00:00 Welcome

05:59 Watching Inflation, Retail Sales, Bank Earnings

15:39 Updates on STZ and Defense Stocks

26:07 2026 Stock Market Outlook

38:32 Stock Picks

Read about topics from this episode.

Register for Dave's 2026 Outlook Webinar. https://www.morningstar.com/business/insights/webinars/quarterly-economic-outlook

Read Dave’s complete archive. https://www.morningstar.com/people/david-sekera

Got a question for Dave? Send it to themorningfilter@morningstar.com.

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