Bitcoin 100K, Intel CEO ousted, job growth rebounds: 3 big stories in markets this week

It was a long, grueling path for many in the crypto world, but it finally happened: The price of bitcoin crossed the $100,000 mark for the first time. Beyond making bitcoin holders quite happy, given the digital currency has risen more than 50% in the past two months, the milestone reached on Wednesday provided some validation that digital assets are here to stay. President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to ease crypto regulations and his nomination of Paul Atkins for chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission spurred the massive rally that brought ether (ETH=F), XRP (XRP-USD), and crypto-related stocks along for the ride. “They’re calling it the ‘Paul Haul,’ which pulled bitcoin over the $100K,” Digital Chamber founder Perianne Boring told Yahoo Finance, referring to Atkins, who many crypto fans see as an ally to digital assets compared to outgoing SEC Chair Gary Gensler. “CONGRATULATIONS BITCOINERS!!!” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform early Thursday.

Intel CEO ousted

Chipmakers didn’t feel the same euphoria this week, especially Intel (INTC), whose stock took a hit after the company announced CEO Pat Gelsinger’s sudden retirement on Monday. The company forced out Gelsinger amid a slumping stock price and uncertainty over a turnaround plan focused on its foundry business. Gelsinger’s efforts to transform Intel into a manufacturer of chips for rival chipmakers helped the company secure $7.8 billion in CHIPS Act funding. “There was clearly some sort of disagreement between Pat Gelsinger and the board,” Bloomberg Intelligence senior technology analyst Mandeep Singh said. “Part of the reason Pat is gone is his insistence on trying to make foundry work,” added Christopher Danely, Citigroup’s head of US semiconductor research. As Yahoo Finance’s Daniel Howley wrote, Intel’s foundry business has been hemorrhaging money, which it plans to operate as an independent subsidiary. “They just got the CHIPS Acts money, and if you look very closely at the details, it basically says that Intel cannot sell more than a controlling share of the manufacturing footprint,” Mario Morales, IDC vice president of enabling technologies and semiconductors, told Yahoo Finance. “So that means that Intel will have to maintain manufacturing control of their capacity.” Intel CFO David Zinser and CEO of Intel Products Michelle Johnston Holthaus were named interim co-CEOs as the company searches for a new chief executive.

Job growth bounces back from October

Broadly in markets, another dose of good cheer came Friday from the monthly nonfarm payrolls report. The US economy added more jobs than forecast in November, a sign that economic growth continues to chug along and that the Federal Reserve won’t be dissuaded from lowering its benchmark interest rate at its final meeting of the year on Dec. 17-18. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday showed 227,000 new jobs were created in November, above the 220,000 expected by economists. The unemployment rate increased to 4.2%. “We’re getting an unemployment rate that’s kind of staying in the low 4%-range, and that’s sort of the definition of a soft landing,” Citi senior global economist Robert Sockin told Yahoo Finance. Wage growth increased slightly more than forecast, rising 0.4% month over month in November and 4% over the prior year. “For the Fed, these numbers are going to be right in the spot of what they were looking for and they’re comfortable with to continue easing policy at least at the December meeting,” Sockin said. Investors widely expect the Fed to reduce the benchmark fed funds rate by another quarter percentage point to a range of 4.25%-4.5%, according to the CME FedWatch tool.