Wall Street pulls back from its record heights

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks pulled away from their record heights on Monday.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% for just its second loss in the last 11 days, but it remains within 0.6% of its all-time high set in October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 215 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite edged down by 0.1%.

Berkshire Hathaway weighed on the market and fell 1.4% after announcing a shake-up of some of its top leadership. Todd Combs, who had been CEO of the company’s GEICO insurance business, is leaving for a job at JPMorgan Chase, while Chief Financial Officer Marc Hamburg will retire next year.

Netflix dropped 3.4% after Paramount announced a bid in hopes of trumping Netflix’s deal to buy Warner Bros., which was announced last week.

Paramount said it’s offering $30 for each Warner Bros. Discovery share, as well as a quicker and easier way for investors to get their payout. Paramount is offering to buy all of Warner Bros. Discovery in cash, unlike Netflix’s offer of cash and stock for just Warner Bros. following its pending split with Discovery.

The board of directors for Warner Bros. Discovery had agreed to Netflix’s offer last week, but it’s already facing potential scrutiny from federal regulators. President Donald Trump said Sunday that a Netflix-Warner Bros. combination “could be a problem” amid worries about too much industry power sitting at one company

Warner Bros. Discovery rose 4.4% following the hostile buyout bid, and Paramount Skydance’s stock climbed 9%.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Confluent soared 29.1% after IBM said it would buy the company, which helps customers connect and process data. IBM said the $11 billion deal will help customers deploy artificial-intelligence tools better and faster, and its shares added 0.4%.

Carvana jumped 12.1% in its first trading after learning it will join the S&P 500 index on Dec. 22. Many professional investors directly mimic the index or at least measure their performance against it, which will push many to buy any stocks within it.

CRH, a provider of building materials, rose 5.9%, but Comfort Systems USA, a provider of mechanical and electrical contracting services, slipped 1.2% after likewise learning they’ll join the S&P 500 in a couple weeks.

They will replace LKQ, Solstice Advanced Materials and Mohawk Industries, which have all shrunk enough in size that they’ll drop down to the S&P SmallCap 600 index of smaller stocks.

CoreWeave sank 2.3% after the AI cloud company said it’s raising $2 billion in debt that it could repay in stock and cash.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 23.89 points to 6,846.51. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 215.67 to 47,739.32, and the Nasdaq composite gave back 32.22 to 23,545.90.

The U.S. stock market has become much more calm recently following weeks of sharp and scary swings. It could remain quiet as traders await the highlight of this week, which will arrive Wednesday when the Federal Reserve announces its latest move on interest rates.

Stocks have already run to the edge of their records on widespread expectations that the Fed will cut its main interest rate for the third time this year. Lower interest rates can give the economy and prices for investments a boost, though their downside is that they can worsen inflation.

The big question is what kind of hints the Fed will offer about where interest rates will go after Wednesday. Many on Wall Street are bracing for talk aimed at tamping down expectations for more cuts in 2026.

Inflation has stubbornly remained above the Fed’s 2% target, and Fed officials are notably split in their opinions about whether high inflation or the slowing job market is the bigger threat to the economy.

In the bond market, Treasury yields climbed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.16% from 4.14% late Friday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes slid 1.2% in Hong Kong but jumped 1.3% in South Korea for two of the world’s bigger moves.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Trader Edward Curran works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top right, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader watches monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State elevated its chief academic officer to president Thursday, moving swiftly past the abrupt resignation of former President Walter “Ted” Carter Jr. following revelations about his “inappropriate relationship” with the female host of a podcast for military veterans.

Trustees voted unanimously to appoint Executive Vice President and Provost Ravi Bellamkonda as Carter’s successor — bypassing the traditional nationwide search — and Ohio State's fourth president since 2020.

The trustees want what's best for the university, board chair John Zeiger said.

“The right leader is already at our university," he said during a special board meeting, “and his vast experience, his personal values and management skills, his strong record here at Ohio State and his ability to inspire excellence in all those around him give this board great confidence” that Bellamkonda is the right fit.

Days earlier, the board of trustees confronted Carter about a tip from outside the university. He disclosed that he had “made a mistake in allowing inappropriate access to Ohio State leadership,” according to his public statement, and submitted his resignation. The retired Navy vice admiral was just two years into a five-year contract under which he made more than $1.1 million a year, plus bonuses and residency at Ohio State’s president’s mansion.

He did not elaborate on the nature of the relationship and his statement indicated he and his wife, Lynda, are still together.

Expressing surprise and disappointment, Zeiger accepted his resignation Sunday and the university said it was investigating Carter’s “inappropriate relationship with someone seeking public resources to support her personal business.”

JobsOhio, the state’s privatized economic development office, said Carter’s resignation was “possibly connected” to his relationship to Krisanthe Vlachos, host of what was supposed to be a four-episode veterans’ podcast pilot, The Callout, for which it paid $15,000 an episode. Only one episode was delivered and the state is trying to claw back its $60,000, the office said.

“Ohio State is a trusted partner and Admiral Carter, sharing our passion for military and veterans, recommended The Callout Podcast as an opportunity to build and engage a military and veteran audience in Ohio,” the office posted on X, “and connect them to the massive job opportunities coming to Ohio’s super sectors like advanced aerospace/defense and energy.”

VetEarnUSA LLC, an Ohio business registered by Vlachos on Dec. 20, is part of the investigation, said Ohio State spokesperson Ben Johnson. She listed the address of the operation as that of WOSU Public Media. WOSU has said Vlanchos had a contract with them to record her podcast inside their studios in Columbus. The business filing also listed a St. Louis ZIP code.

Carter was a guest on the first podcast and JobsOhio said it supplied Vlachos a vendor pass to attend the Consumer Electronics Show - CES, to “meet people and identify angles for the remaining three podcasts.”

The office further said it paid Vlachos $10,000 toward a theater production for veterans called “Last Out: Elegy of a Green Beret.” It was part of the office's Hometown Heroes program, which brings free programming to military, veterans and their families.

Lastly, Vlachos had submitted a proposal to JobsOhio, the Ohio State president's office and others for a mobile job-search app for Ohio veterans.

“We conducted due diligence and decided not to move forward with any investment,” the office said on X, asserting it followed all appropriate protocols in its partnerships with Carter's office and Vlachos, and that there were “no irregularities in our contracting or our vetting process.”

After the board meeting, Bellamkonda told reporters that stakeholders are certain to have a spectrum of reactions to Carter’s swift departure and potential misconduct, and he pledged to move forward and hold the university to a high standard.

The university brought Carter on board in 2023 from the University of Nebraska system. He is also a former superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy and he attended the Navy Fighter Weapons School, known as Top Gun.

Bellamkonda, a bioengineer and neuroscientist, joined the university after holding leadership, research or teaching positions at Emory University, Duke, Georgia Tech and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. He earned his Ph.D. in medical science and biomaterials at Brown.

He pledged to redouble the university's commitment to excellence.

“Looking ahead, knowing our collective strengths, I promise you this: Together we will take on hard things that are worth doing,” he said. “Hard things that are worth doing in athletics, in healthcare, in education, in fact in all the things we do. We will lead and we will not be afraid to lead.”

This story has been corrected to show the new president is Ravi Bellamkonda, not Ballamkonda.

The Ohio State University head football coach Ryan Day, left, shakes hands with the university's new president, Ravi Bellamkonda, at Ohio State University on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Patrick Aftoora-Orsagos)

New Ohio State University President Ravi Bellamkonda speaks at the university on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Patrick Aftoora-Orsagos)

FILE - This May 8, 2019, file photo, shows a sign for Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Angie Wang, File)