The Financials Were Fierce

/ Stocktwits

Tale of the Tape

Good evening, y’all. The market of stocks was mixed on Monday. 

The Dow and Russell managed to rally while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite both closed lower.

Covid cases continue to climb and Washington has yet to vote on the ~6,000 page stimulus deal. See more on the stimulus below.

Financials was the only sector to finish higher. Energy sucked— it was today’s worst-performing sector. Real estate and utilities both lost 2%. 

Apparently, Apple is interested in the EV market. Reuters reported that the company wants a passenger vehicle in production by 2024. The worst part about an Apple Car? No Windows… lol

The sun was hot and solar surged another 3.7%. Invesco’s solar ETF $TAN closed at its highest price in over a decade. 

They say just do it and it just did. 🤭 Nike closed at an all-time high after reporting earnings on Friday afternoon. $NKE +4.9%

Fubo flew while Chewy chugged. Both stocks finished at fresh all-time highs. $FUBO +26% | $CHWY +7.35% 

Mr. President-elect Joe Biden got his first dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine today. Biden broadcasted his vaccine live, and said “he’s looking forward to his second shot.” 🇺🇸

Here are the closing prints: 

S&P 5003,694-0.39%
Nasdaq12,742-0.10%
Russell 20001,970+0.02%
Dow Jones30,216+0.12%

The Financials Were Fierce 

The financials were a source of strength today after the Fed reduced restrictions on banks allowing stock buybacks to resume. It was the strongest sector, which is not something you hear every day. $XLF is still underwater in 2020 but we’re seeing higher highs. 

Even Wells Fargo rallied 2%. 😉

A few of the largest banks in the US closed at new relative highs. Check it out:

JPMorgan Chase $JPM +3.75% – 10-month high 
Goldman Sachs $GS +6.13% – 2-year high 
Citigroup $C +3.67% – 6-month high
Bank of America $BAC +3.73% – 10-month high
Morgan Stanley $MS +5.69% – 13-year high

$XLF’s fluttered under $29 for the last month. Will the financials fly through $30? Place your bets… 

Stimulus is Here 🎁

It’s the most wonderful time of the year— the second stimulus is finally here! ☃️ 💰

Last night, Congress drafted another stimulus deal that provides a second round of checks to US households. The bill gives Americans an additional $600 per adult, $600 per child, and adds $300 to weekly unemployment. 

It will also give $300B in small business relief and administer $50B to support vaccine implementation.

The House’s decision on the bill will be finalized later today. The stimulus document is 5,593 pages long, so it’s taking a while to upload…lol. Senate Majority Whip John Thune said: 

It’s a bad time to have a computer glitch. 

Monday Merger Madness

It was a busy Monday for mergers on Wall Street. 

Thoma Bravo showed it wasn’t afraid to make a move with a lot of bravado when it announced its RealPage acquisition for $10.2B. 

Orlando Bravo, founder of Thoma Bravo, had this to say:

RealPage’s industry leading platform is critical to the real estate ecosystem and has tremendous potential going forward.

Thoma Bravo will be paying out $88.75 in cash per stock. That represents a 30.8% premium over Friday’s closing price.

Meanwhile in a completely different industry, Lockheed Martin acquired Aerojet Rocketdyne in an effort to boost its space expansion division.

This deal, valued at $4.4B, is a 21% premium and will have Aerojet pay a $5 dividend on March 24th. 

Lockheed CEO Jim Taiclet had this to say:

This transaction enhances Lockheed Martin‘s support of critical U.S. and allied security missions and retains national leadership in space and hypersonic technology. We look forward to welcoming their talented team and expanding Lockheed Martin‘s position as the leading provider of 21st century warfare solutions

Military companies getting into space? We’ll call it Star Wars. 👽

Last but certainly not least, Peloton announced after market close that it will acquire fitness equipment maker Precor for $420M.

This acquisition provides Peloton with Precor’s 625k square feet of manufacturing space, and it will close in 2021.

The stock closed at an all-time high and $PTON popped 5.34% after hours. 💪

The Shortest Day in the Longest Year ❄️

It’s officially winter, y’all. 

Today marks the winter solstice, which is the shortest day of the year. 

The solstice has been celebrated for most of humankind’s existence, dating back to 10,200 BC. Whoa 😮

In ancient Roman times, the date was celebrated in a festival that lasted over a week. In 2020, we’re just stoked that the end of the year is near.

Oh, and apparently the date is pretty romantic too — Jupiter and Saturn are coming together for a “cosmic kiss,” something that hasn’t happened since 1623. 🤩

Earnings Round-Up

Earnings This Week

Be sure to know when your stocks report earnings. Here’s the earnings calendar.

Links That Don’t Suck

🌉 Who Else Is Not Leaving San Francisco

🏀 Inside Basketball Star Kevin Love’s Waterfront Tribeca Apartment

🛹 Fast Money, Drugs & Skateboarding: The Jereme Knibbs Story | Santa Cruz Skateboards I True Grit

📈 The Best Is Yet To Come

❄️ Wintry Scenes From a Swedish Wonderland

👀 SolarWinds Hack Victims: From Tech Companies to a Hospital and University

🐯 Tiger And Charlie Woods Wrap Up A Special Week With ‘Memories For A Lifetime’