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Here's your midday brief for Friday, December 19th. I'm Danny Lewis for the Wall Street Journal.

Existing home sales rose in November for the third straight month, reaching their highest level since

February after lower mortgage rates boosted activity. The National Association of Realtors

says sales increased half a percent to an annual rate of 4.13 million

last month, though volume remains near three-decade lows. Economists say that while high prices

are still frustrating buyers, the market could finally show signs of life in 2026 if borrowing

costs fall further. Biomerin Pharmaceutical has agreed to acquire fellow biotech

company Amicus Therapeutics for about $4.8 billion in cash. Biomerin will pay $15 and 50

a share, a 33% premium to Amicus stock's closing price on Thursday. Biomerin says the move will

expand its rare disease portfolio by adding treatments that

have generated nearly $600 million in revenue over the past year. And the U.S. Navy is

commissioning a new class of frigates as the first warships in President Trump's envisioned

Golden Fleet. In a social media post, the Navy says HII's Ingalls Shipbuilding will build the new vessel,

which is designed to counter threats from China. The ship is based on the Coast Guard's

legend-class national security cutter, and it replaces the Constellation-class program that the Navy

canceled last month after years of delays. The Navy wants to have the first ship in the water

by 2028.

Heads up, an artificial intelligence tool helped us make this episode by creating

summaries that were based on WSJ reporting and then reviewed and adapted by an editor.

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