US stocks continued their hot streak Monday, as investors pushed past cautious remarks form Federal Reserve officials pumping the breaks on chatter around interest rate cuts.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose just over the flatline, recording another all-time close, but just barely. The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained nearly 0.5% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) advanced about 0.6%.

Last year, Airbnb introduced a new program that permits renters to sublet their apartments part-time on Airbnb (ABNB). It appears to be gaining traction.

The company launched its "Airbnb-friendly apartments" platform, which allows renters of certain apartment buildings to sublet their unit on the platform while they are away, about a year ago. So far, more than 900 renters have earned a total of about $7 million, the company said.

“Consumers are looking for more flexibility,” Jesse Stein, global head of real estate at Airbnb, told Yahoo Finance Live on Monday. “Consumers are looking for ways to keep up with the cost of living.”

Most renters would be violating their lease by listing their units as short-term rentals, but through the program, landlords of building complexes enter into an agreement with Airbnb beforehand.

Partners include Greystar, UDR, Inc. (UDR), Equity Residential (EQR), Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (STWD), and other real estate investment trusts that allow hosting opportunities to renters.

“The response from the institutional real estate community has exceeded our expectations, and renters are now looking for apartments which allow them to host part-time,” Stein added.

The platform is available for renters in more than 400 buildings and across over 40 markets and 17 states. Airbnb estimates that local renters are able to rake in about $3,500, with some hosting 60 nights a year, said Stein, and continued growth on the horizon.

Airbnb stock is up about 70% this year amid a strong year for travel.

Amazon (AMZN) is reportedly in talks to invest in bankrupt Diamond Sports Group (DSG).

According to the Wall Street Journal, the two entities are "actively" in negotiations regarding a strategic investment and multiyear streaming partnership. If a deal is made, Amazon's Prime Video service would become the official streaming home for Diamond's games.

Diamond, a regional sports network (RSN) operator and subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March. The company is currently in court proceedings until a decision is made about Chapter 11 versus liquidation.

Diamond acquired the the broadcasting rights for 42 teams across MLB, NBA, and NHL in a $9.6 billion deal with Fox back in 2019. But the struggling RSN took on more than $8 billion of debt in order to do so, which, coupled with overall cable declines, led to its March filing.

Amazon shares ticked up 3% while shares of Sinclair (SBGI) inched up more than 2%.

Amazon declined to comment as it "doesn’t comment on rumors and speculation." Sinclair Group also declined comment.

Read more here.

Labor unions enjoyed an extraordinary year in 2023.

The president joined a picket line for the first time in history, the public broadly supported unions through a volatile economy, and a wave of high-profile strikes won significant bargaining victories for workers, signaling a resurgence of the US labor movement.

From the start of the year through mid-December, workers have organized strikes nearly 400 times, according to the Labor Action Tracker from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Those labor actions pulled in hundreds of thousands of workers.

But how does a historically low unionization rate square with labor’s recent popularity and amped-up organizing activity?

“Is this going to instantly raise the unionization rate? No, not instantly,” said Ileen DeVault, a professor of labor history at Cornell University. "It will be small and it will take a long time. But I think we are heading into something.”

Read Yahoo Finance’s How labor unions found their footing in 2023

Netflix's release of more detailed viewership data marks a turn for greater transparency that the streaming giant had long resisted, thanks in part to writers and actors demanding greater insight into the business.

Like other streamers, Netflix had not shared specifics on viewership data, but the Hollywood guilds secured transparency provisions in their latest contract negotiations with the studios, reports Yahoo Finance's Alexandra Canal.

Last week, the streaming giant released its first-ever biannual viewing report dubbed "What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report." The report covers six months of data and includes hours viewed for every title watched for over 50,000 hours, representing 99% of all viewing on Netflix.

Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said in a press call last week that the company's prior secrecy around viewership data helped the company compete as a new business. But as Netflix matured, he said, the lack of transparency "created an atmosphere of mistrust over time with producers and creators and the press."

Netflix's move could prompt more transparency among other streamers as more consumers cut the cord, or drop their cable packages, and the media world evolves past third-party ratings services.

Here are some of the stocks leading Yahoo Finance’s trending tickers page during afternoon trading on Monday:

NIO (NIO): Shares of the Chinese electric automaker rose almost 5% Monday following news that Abu Dhabi-based CYVN Holdings will invest $2.2 billion into the company. Once the deal closes, CVYN will own close to a 20% stake in NIO.

US Steel (X): The steelmaker surged 27% in afternoon trading after Japan's Nippon Steel said it would buy the company in a deal worth $14.9 billion. Its offer of $55 a share represents a premium of more than 40% compared to the $30 range it's been trading in since September.

Apple (AAPL): Shares of the tech giant slipped nearly 1% Monday as the company prepared to halt sales of its smartwatch to comply with a US import ban after a federal trade agency found the company violated patents of a competitor. Apple will pause online sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 starting on Dec. 21, with in-store sales halting on Dec. 24.

Adobe (ADBE): The software company advanced 2% after ending its $20 billion acquisition of Figma over concerns the deal wouldn't get the needed regulatory approvals. In a joint statement, the two companies said the deal was terminated "based on a joint assessment that there is no clear path to receive necessary regulatory approvals from the European Commission and the UK Competition and Markets Authority."

Stocks moved higher in mid-afternoon trading on Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) inched up roughly 0.1%, or more than 50 points, as the index eyes another record close. Both the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) climbed about 0.5%.

More homebuilders think housing conditions are getting better.

The index reading rose to 37 from 34 in December, ending a four-month decline in builder confidence, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). However, confidence remained below a key break-even measure of 50. Economists polled by Bloomberg anticipated an index reading of 37 for December.

The biggest boost of confidence came from mortgage rates falling below 7% — the first time since August, reigniting some life in the housing market. Adding to the optimism, the Federal Reserve also hinted that significant rate cuts are on the way next year.

“With mortgage rates down roughly 50 basis points over the past month, builders are reporting an uptick in traffic as some prospective buyers who previously felt priced out of the market are taking a second look,” said NAHB chair Alicia Huey, a custom homebuilder and developer from Birmingham, Ala.

Despite the dip in rates, some would-be buyers are still stuck on the sidelines. Builders continue to slash prices to boost sales. In December, 36% of builders reported cutting home prices, similar to the previous month’s high. The average price reduction remained at 6%, unchanged from the previous month, the NAHB reported.

Builders had been riding high this year as the resale market suffered from low inventory, but the shock of mortgage rates in the fall caused aggressive concessions to aid housing activity. In fact, 60% of builders rolled out other incentives to help sales, similar to November’s results, but slightly lower than October.

“With the nation facing a considerable housing shortage, boosting new home production is the best way to ease the affordability crisis, expand housing inventory, and lower inflation,” Huey added.

The index measuring current sales conditions rose three points to 24, while the sales expectations for the next six months increased six points to 45. And the gauge measuring current sales condition held steady at 40.

The Federal Reserve expects to cut rates next year with the majority of FOMC members expecting interest rates to tick down to 4.6% in 2024, implying a 75-basis-point cut. That prompted Bank of America (BAC) to revise its rate cut target "in the direction of faster growth, lower inflation, and less unemployment."

On Monday, the bank said it now expects 100 basis points' worth of rate cuts next year.

"Previously we had the Fed easing by 75 basis points (bp) in 2024 with quarterly 25 basis point cuts beginning in June," Bank of America US economist Michael Gapen wrote in a new note. "We now look for four-25bp cuts in March, June, September, and December, or 100bp of cuts for the year."

"This would bring the target range for the federal funds rate to 4.25-4.50% in December 2024 and 3.25-3.50% in December 2025."

Gapen noted the BofA projection is for fewer rate cuts than markets currently expect. According to data from the CME Group, markets were pricing in a nearly 40% chance the Federal Reserve will cut rates to 3.75-4.00% in December 2024.

"We attribute the gap between our funds rate forecast and market pricing to a combination of market expectations of a faster slowdown in inflation and/or higher recession risk," Gapen said. "We have shifted in the direction of lower recession risk while maintaining a forecast for inflation that is stickier than the market-implied path."

The projection comes after Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said Sunday it’s too early to declare victory over inflation, while his New York counterpart, John Williams, said Friday that talk of rate cuts is "premature."

"We’ve made a lot of progress in 2023, but I still caution everyone, it’s not done,” Goolsbee said in an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation. "And so the data is going to drive what’s going to happen to rates."

Wall Street's upbeat outlook on interest rate cuts is working its way through to calls on stocks, too.

With a inflation falling faster than many initally projected, a dovish turn from the Federal Reserve and bond yields falling, Goldman Sachs now sees the S&P 500 hitting 5,100 in 2024.

In its initial outlook released about a month ago, Goldman Sachs had projected the benchmark index to end at 4,700, which at the time had reflected about 5% upside for stocks in the next year.

The firm specifically cited recent economic data that included softer-than-expected inflation for producers and better-than-expected November retail sales numbers.

"Above-consensus retail sales growth further evidenced economic resilience, while lower-than-expected jobless claims affirmed that the labor market remains healthy," the Goldman Sachs equity strategy team led by David Kostin wrote in a research note over the weekend.

The S&P 500 recently surpassed Goldman's initial 2024 target with the S&P 500 initially closing in on its record high of 4,796. The move comes as markets have increased expectations for interest rates cuts significantly amid inflation falling faster than expected and the Federal Reserve adding an additional interest rate cut to its own forecast for next year.

These movements, including falling inflation for producers, had already influenced Goldman's economics team to shift is projections for the Fed Funds Rate in 2024. A month, ago, Goldman saw interest rate cuts beginning in the fourth quarter. But last week, Goldman amped up its rate hike expectations, projecting the first cut to come in March. This would be a welcome sign for stocks with weaker balance sheets, per Goldman.

"An environment of falling interest rates and improving economic growth expectations historically has been supportive for small-caps, which have recently traded at depressed valuations," Kostin's team wrote.

Apple (AAPL) stock was down as much as 1.4% early Monday following a report from 9to5Mac that said sales of the company's latest Apple Watch models will be halted later this week.

The publication reported that sales of its Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 will be paused as the result of a patent dispute over the blood oxygen sensor incorporated into the new devices.

According to 9to5Mac, the devices won't be available online as of Thursday afternoon and Apple stores will stop selling the products after Christmas Eve.

Read the full story from 9to5Mac here.

US stocks inched higher to kick off the last full trading week of the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) ticked up a modest 0.1% after closing Friday at a fresh all-time high. The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.2%, while contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also edged up about 0.2%.

Stock futures ticked slightly higher on Monday with the Dow eyeing yet another record.

In premarket trading, Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) futures were up about 0.1% after closing Friday at another all-time high. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) were also up about 0.1% while S&P 500 (^GSPC) futures rose roughly 0.2%.