Overnight Summary: The S&P 500 closed Wednesday higher by 0.14% at 4781.58 from Tuesday higher by 0.42% at 4774.75. The overnight high was hit at 4841 at 3:30 a.m. EST while the low was hit at 4831 at 7:15 a.m. EST. The range overnight was 10 points as of 7:25 a.m. EST identical to yesterday. The…
Executive Summary: Happy New Year!! Look for volatility to return next week as players come back to their desks.
Earnings Out After The Close:
Capital Raises:
Capital Raise Summary From The TradeXchange, bringing traders and investors real time news and Squawk Box, and other sources.
News After The Close and Over the Weekend:
What’s Happening This Morning: Futures value reflects the change with fair value.
Sector Action – (1/3/6/12/YTD Updated Daily this week):
Stocks inched higher Thursday, putting the S&P 500 on pace for its longest weekly winning streak in nearly 20 years. The broad index gained 0.04. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.03, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%, or 54 points. Markets are ending 2023 on a hot streak. All three indexes are on pace for a ninth consecutive weekly gain. For the S&P 500, that would mark the longest streak since January 2004. The index is now within 0.3% of its all-time high, set in January 2022. With one trading session remaining in 2023, the S&P 500 is up 25%.
Optimism that the Federal Reserve can successfully cool inflation without inducing a major economic slowdown has powered the market’s recent advance. Now, some investors say the looming end of the calendar year is giving markets an extra boost. “Nobody who has caught this rally wants to incur a taxable event,” said Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management. “If nobody wants to sell, prices will push higher on low volume.”
Stocks often rise at year-end because investors typically wait to sell stocks that have appreciated to avoid paying taxes. Trading volume is usually lower near the holidays, which can exacerbate market moves. Initial jobless claims, considered a proxy for layoffs, were 218,000 in the week ending Dec. 23, the Labor Department said Thursday. That was slightly more than the 215,000 that economists expected, and marked the latest sign that the economy is cooling at a gradual pace.
“As the data has come in this year, you have to acknowledge that the soft landing probability has increased,” said Matt Dmytryszyn, chief investment officer at Telemus Capital. “But a lot is still to be determined” regarding the economy’s ultimate fate. He said his fund is boosting its position in shares of energy and industrial firms. Bond yields rose as prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.849%, up from 3.788% Wednesday. The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage dropped to 6.61%, down more than a percentage point from a 23-year high of 7.79% in late October, according to data released by mortgage giant Freddie Mac on Thursday. The rate has declined for nine consecutive weeks.
Crude oil prices fell 3.2% to settle at $71.77 a barrel. The S&P 500 energy sector slipped 1.5%. Gold futures fell 0.5%, snapping a four-session winning streak.
The S&P 500’s top performer Thursday was Match Group, which advanced 2.6%. Tesla was the index’s biggest laggard, dropping 3.2%. In overseas trading, Asian stocks rallied after Beijing appeared to soften a crackdown on videogame makers, which roiled markets last week. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 2.5% and the Shanghai Composite gained 1.4%.
(WSJ – edited by QPI)
Upcoming Earnings Of Note: (From Chartroom Software – sorted by market cap, highest to lowest with most visible names)
Earnings of Note This Morning:
Company Earnings Guidance:
Erlanger Research Advance/Decline Chart:
Gap Ups & Down In Early Pre-Market:
Insider Action: Several stocks sees Insider buying with dumb short selling (rating of 4 or 5). FDX see Insider buying with smart short sellers (rating of 1 to 3).
Rags & Mags.: Repeated stories from prior days never listed, i.e. “rehashed news”. Sorted by Global, U.S. and stock specific.
Moving Average Update:
Geopolitical:
Economic:
Federal Reserve / Treasury Speakers: None of note.
M&A Activity and News:
Meeting & Conferences of Note:
Top Tier Sell-side Upgrades & Downgrades:
The recommendations listed below in this “Upgrade/Downgrade” section are compiled from what we believe are Tier I, II and III firms. Recommendations posted are taken from a variety of sources each day and we only post upgrades or significant initiations as well as downgrades to underweight or sell. The purpose of this posting is to make the reader aware of market-moving recommendations. None of these recommendations should be interpreted as actual recommendations from CAPIS or its employees.
Today’s Upgrades and Downgrades:
Previous Day’s Upgrades and Downgrades:
