• IPOs Priced or News: None of note.
• New SPACs launched:
  • VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings III (VPCC) to list on the Nasdaq under ticker “DAVE” on or around January 5, 2022, following completion of its business combination with Dave Inc.
  • Zanite Acquisition Corp (ZNTE): Eve, an Embraer (ERJ) company, to list on NYSE through business combination with ZNTE.
  • Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corporation II (DCRN) and Tritium Announce Filing of Definitive Proxy Statement and the January 12, 2022 Special Meeting to Approve Proposed Business Combination.
• Secondaries Priced: None of note.
• Notes Priced of note: None of note.
• Common Stock filings/Notes:
  • CANF: Exercise of Warrants for Cash Proceeds of $10 million.
  • NLSP: Filed Form F-1.. 1,474,853 Common Shares.
  • OBLG: Filed Form 424B3.. 3 million of common shares stock.
  • Qudian (QD) Chairman & CEO to Purchase Up to US$10 million of ADSs.
• Pricing of Over-Allotment: None of note.
• Direct Offering: None of note. 
• Selling Shareholders of note: None of note.
• Private Placement of Public Entity (PIPE): None of note.
• Mixed Shelf Offerings:
  • KZR: Filed Form S-3ASR .. $200 million mixed shelf.
• Convertible Offering & Notes Filed: 
  • Franchise Group, Inc. (FRG) to Repay $400 Million of Debt With Proceeds From the Sale of the W.S. Badcock Consumer Credit Accounts Receivable Portfolio.
  • HP (HPQ) Commences Registered Exchange Offer of its 1.450% Notes due 2026 and 2.650% Notes due 2031.
  • Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV) Refinances and Increases Credit Facility to $1 billion.
  • LCID: Full Exercise of Convertible Notes Greenshoe, Raising an Aggregate Total in Excess of $2 billion USD; Equity Shares Begin Trading Today as Part of Nasdaq-100 Index.
  • Performant Financial Corporation (PFMT) announces $35 million debt refinancing.
• Note Offerings Filed: None of note.

Capital Raise Summary From The TradeXchange, bringing traders and investors real time news and Squawk Box, and other sources.

News After The Close:

• After Hours: 
  • Trading Up: MU +7%, BRZE +6%N ACAD +5%, PSN +4%, NKE +3%
  • Trading Down: ALDX -32%, CTMX -19%, DBVT -15%

• News Items After The Close:
  • London New Year’s Eve celebration canceled over Omicron surge. (NY Post)
  • New York reports 23,391 new coronavirus cases, the biggest one-day increase on record, of which 15,245 are in New York City.
  • Omicron Variant Accounts For 73% Of U.S. Coronavirus Infections Based On Sequencing Data US CDC.
  • Electric vehicle stocks tumble after Senator Joe Manchin rejects President Biden’s climate and social plan. (ELMS, RIDE, RIVN, FFIE, NKLA) (CNBC)
  • Amgen (AMGN) gets FDA approval for Otezla for treating plaque psoriasis.
  • Procter & Gamble (PG) pulls Pantene, Aussie, Herbal Essences and Waterless aerosol products as benzene detected in some products which is cancer causing.
  • Boeing (BA) awarded $330 million Air Force contract.
  • U.S. Army awards Parsons (PSN) $38 million Task Order for Tactical Applications.
• Exchange/Listing/Company Reorg and Personnel News: 
  • China Online Education Group (COE) Announces Receipt of NYSE Non-Compliance Letter.
  • Callon Petroleum Company (CPE) Announces Appointment of Mary Shafer-Malicki to Board of Directors.
  • Stratasys (SSYS) names Eitan Zmair as CFO.
  • Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc (CMCL): Steve Curtis To Step Down as CEO.
  • Glaukos (GKOS) Chairman William Link, Ph.D. to retire effective December 31, 2021.  Company appoints current CEO, Thomas Burns to serve as Chairman.
  • KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (KREF) announces new CFO, Kendra Decious effective March 2, 2022.
  • Edward G. Atsinger III Transitions to Executive Chairman of the Board of Salem Media Group (SALM); David Santrella to Chief Executive Officer and David Evans to Chief Operating Officer.
  • Skechers (SKX) Announces Changes to Its Board of Directors
• Buyback Announcements:
  • Hayward Holdings (HAYW) Announces Authorization of a $450 million Stock Repurchase Program as Component of a Broader Capital Allocation Strategy.
  • TimkenSteel (TMST) Announces $50 Million Share Repurchase Program and Capital Expenditure Budget for 2022
• Stock Splits: None of note.
• Dividends Announcements: 
  • ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (SFBS) Increases Quarterly Cash Dividend by 15%

What’s Happening This Morning: Futures value reflects the change with fair value.

S&P 500 +44 Dow Jones Industrial Average +300 NASDAQ +184 Russell 2000 +29. Asia lower and Europe lower. VIX is at 23.50 from 24.10 yesterday morning. Gold, Silver and Copper higher. WTI Crude Oil and Brent Oil Futures higher. Natural Gas is lower. $ is lower vs Euro, lower vs Pound and higher vs Yen. US 10 year Treasury price is at $130.95 from $131.41 with yields at 1.451% from 1.383% yesterday morning. Bitcoin at $48,725 from $47,060.51 yesterday morning and +4.00%. As of 8:00 a.m. EST.

Monday’s Action – 12/20 Close:  

• Daily Positive Sectors: none of note.
• Daily Negative Sectors: Consumer Cyclical, Financial, Industrials, Basic Materials, Technology, Energy, Real Estate, Communication Services, Healthcare of note.
• One Month Winners: Utilities, Consumer Defensive, Real Estate of note.
• Three Month Winners: Energy, Basic Materials, Technology of note.
• Six Month Winners: Technology, Real Estate, Utilities of note.
• Twelve Month Winners: Energy, Real Estate, and Technology of note.
• Year to Date Winners: Energy, Technology, and Real Estate  of note.

Lets get that Clausometer turned up (shout out Elf). Markets had another big red candle day.  All indexes down over 1%. Updated 12/20 close.

Upcoming Earnings Of Note: (sorted by market cap, highest to lowest with most visible names)

Gap Ups & Down In Early Pre-Market:

• • Gap Up: CTXS +9%, MU +8%, OSH +6%, TRMB +5%
  • Gap Down: GIS -4%

Insider Action: No stock sees Insider buying with dumb short selling and no stock has smart short sellers with insider buys. 12/20 close

Rags & Mags: Highlighted Stories may be clicked through to the original story.  Repeated stories from prior days never listed, i.e. “rehashed news”.

• Five Things To Know To Start Your Day. (Bloomberg)
• Stocks Making the Biggest Moves: NKE MU BRZE CTXS GIS MRNA NKLA (CNBC)
• Covid-19 cases continue to rise as U.S. reported 88.379 cases against 46,143 cases a week ago. 58,793 Hospitalizations versus 54,333 a week ago. Tuesday numbers are always lower.
• NIH Director Dr. Fauci notes that travels restrictions could be eased to South Africa soon as Omicron cases continue to drop. (Reuters)
• The Northeast continues to cancel events and buckle down due to Omicron while the South and Midwest continue life as normal. (WSJ)
• House leaders want President Biden to move forward with Build Back Better through Executive Orders. (Bloomberg)
• U.S. will deploy troops to help hospitals during omicron wave, distribute 500 million free Covid tests starting in January. (CNBC)
• Gilead Sciences (GILD) receives European Commission (EC) expands Remdesivir use for adults not on Supplemental Oxygen and considered high risk for Covid-19.
• NHL begins its holiday break early and will resume practice on Sunday. (NHL)
• Tesla (TSLA) is rumored to be behind giant deal to bring LFP battery cell production to the US.  (Electrek)
• Vista Partners and Elliott Associates may bid for Citrix (CTXS). (Reuters)
• Russia’s President Putin Says West Is To Blame For Global Tensions.
• Robinhood looks at the death of Build Back Better.

Moving Average Update:

• Green Good!  Red Bad.  We are getting too red!  Score pulls back to 13% from 26%. Updated 12/20 close.

Geopolitical: