How Eli Lilly Became the First Pharma Company to Reach a $1 Trillion Market Cap

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Here's Vanguard's Andy Reed, Head of Behavioral Economics Research, explaining why humans aren't necessarily wired for investing success.

Andy Reed (0:08)

Being an expert in investing is rare. It's the exception to the rule. The average American lacks foundational knowledge and they don't teach this stuff in schools. We're working out though, we've got people who are, let's say, unskilled and unaware. So they're overconfident. They make really risky bets, they make more trades, and they get worse performance.

SPEAKER_1 (0:24)

Get more insights from Vanguard on how you can navigate an uncertain market at vanguard.com.

Alex Ossola (0:33)

President Trump says he wants Ukraine's answer on the US peace plan by Thanksgiving. The Ukrainian leader calls it a very difficult choice. Plus, how booming demand for weight loss drugs has helped Eli Lilly become the first pharmaceutical to join the trillion dollar company club.

David Wainer (0:49)

What we're seeing right now is that Lilly has just the most potent drug and the strongest pipeline.

Alex Ossola (0:53)

And why social media influencers are pushing people to start taking social security early. It's Friday, November 21st. I'm Alex Ossola for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

US stocks turned higher today after a top Federal Reserve official made the case for a near-term cut to interest rates, leading investors to boost expectations of a December rate cut. The Dow led the gains in the three indexes, closing up 1.1%. But the rally hasn't been enough to make up for the sharp declines from earlier in the week, driven by worries about an asset bubble in technology stocks and the value of aggressive artificial intelligence spending plans. Bitcoin remains under pressure and is down 23% this month, and some traders say the drop in Bitcoin may be forcing some other selling in stock markets. For the week, the Dow closed down 1.9%, the S&P fell 2% and the NASDAQ dropped 2.7%. Speaking of tech stocks, heads up that we dropped a new bonus episode of What's News in Earnings earlier today, looking at the chip sector, the AI boom and investors' back and forth feelings about both. That's in your What's News feed now. A number of financial influencers, or Finfluencers, are saying people should start claiming Social Security as early as possible, at age 62, and invest it in the stock market.

SPEAKER_6 (2:25)

Here is yet another reason why I will be taking my Social Security at 62, and I double dog dare you to challenge me on this one.

SPEAKER_7 (2:32)

I want the money sooner, the flexibility, and if I don't need it, I will invest it where I would never break even by waiting. I'm taking Social Security at 62, how about you?

Alex Ossola (2:43)

That flies in the face of the traditional advice to delay Social Security as long as possible, until 70, if you can. Jason Zweig, who writes the Intelligent Investor column, says in this case, the traditional advice is completely correct. Jason, walk us through the math here. Why do these influencers advise taking your Social Security as early as possible?

Jason Zweig (3:03)

The return on Social Security is low, and the historical return on stocks is high. So you should take the money from Social Security, where it's going to get a low return, and put it in the stock market, where it's going to get a high return. Over the long term, the stock market has returned an average of 7% a year after inflation. And if you do the math, let's say you get $2,000 a month in Social Security, if you retire at the age of 62, and you just take all that money and you pump it into stocks, if you start doing that at age 62, and you live until age 85, you're going to end up with pretty close to a million dollars. If you delay Social Security until age 70, and then put the same amount of money into stocks every month, you'll end up with a little over $800,000. So you come out ahead.

Alex Ossola (4:01)

So what's the catch?

Jason Zweig (4:02)

There's just one problem with this, which is that stocks don't always return 7% a year. Sometimes they go down. And if this just so happens to be the case right around the time you're retiring, you'll end up with less money if you take your Social Security early and put it into the stock market than if you waited until, say, age 70

Alex Ossola (4:27)

That was WSJ Investing columnist Jason Zweig. Thanks, Jason.

Jason Zweig (4:31)

Thanks, Alex.

Alex Ossola (4:38)

Now that the US has presented Ukraine with a deal to end its war with Russia, President Trump is pressing for a quick answer. Today, he told Fox News Radio that he wants Ukraine to respond by Thursday on the 28-point US plan, which includes territorial concessions, a cap on the size of Ukraine's active duty military, and other provisions that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously rejected. Zelensky acknowledged the challenges facing his country. In a video address, Zelensky said his country now faced a quote, very difficult choice between losing its dignity or losing the support of the US.