Stocks Rise, Leaves Fall

Tale of the Tape

Good evening, everyone. It’s the first day of fall. 🍁

We’re almost through 2020. 😅

Stocks closed higher. The Nasdaq led while the Dow lagged.

Consumer Discretionary closed up 2%. It was the best performing sector. Financials and energy were the weakest.

Pinterest, Zillow, and Zoom made new all-time highs.

Exxon and Chevron closed at 5-month lows.

Tesla hosts its Battery Day. More on this below.

Notre Dame postponed this weekend’s football game after 7 athletes tested positive for COVID. Are we heading for another lockdown? Time will tell.

Here are the closing prints:

S&P 500	3,315	+1.05%
Nasdaq	10,963	+1.71%
Russell 2000	1,496	+0.79%
Dow Jones	27,288	+0.52%

Stocktwits After-Hours

Tonight on After Hours:

The Lockdown Trade
Tesla Battery Day
Nike Earnings Review

Listen: Spotify | Apple Podcast | Google

Nike Earnings

Nike reported earnings today after the close.

Here are the numbers:

EPS: $0.95 vs $0.48
Revenue: $10.6B ▼ 0.6% Y/Y

Nike President and CEO John Donahoe had this to say:

Our results this quarter continue to demonstrate NIKE’s full competitive advantage, as we strengthen our position in the midst of disruption. In this dynamic environment, no one can match our pace of launching innovative products and our Brand’s deep connection to consumers. These strengths, coupled with our digital acceleration, are unlocking NIKE’s long-term market potential.

See the press release here.

To Infinity, and Beyond

On Monday, NASA announced the first woman and next man to go to the moon.

NASA’s $24B expedition Artemis is expected to launch in 2024 to prepare the space agency for future travel to Mars. NASA also plans to build a lunar base on the Moon with the help of Bezos and Elon.

While some question the plan’s 2024 launch date, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said:

2024 is an aggressive timeline. Is it possible? Yes. Does everything have to go right? Yes.

This is exciting. Here’s BBC with more.

Tesla Battery Day

Tesla is holding its highly anticipated Battery Day.

To get started, the company reiterated its mission to accelerate the transition to renewable energy.

See Tesla’s investor relations here.

This story is still developing.

Here’s Seeking Alpha with more.

Bridgewater’s Bizzare Strategy

Ray Dalio is known to be an unconventional guy. Here he is at Burning Man in 2019:

Now, Dalio’s hedge fund, Bridgewater Capital, turns to the great outdoors to deal with COVID.

The firm set up tents in the woods so traders can continue to work during the pandemic. Quite the recruitment strategy. 😂