Tale of the Tape
Good evening, folks. Another day, another dollar.
The markets marched higher as the Russell 2000 gained 1.05%. Every other major index finished in the green.
Energy and basic materials both gained over 1%. Healthcare, technology, consumer staples, and communications all closed lower.
Bitcoin continues to bounce. $BTC.X ticked 29K today.🔥👀
Emerging markets moved up. $EEM inched +1.3% and closed at its highest price since January 26, 2018. 🌍
Chinese technology rallied as the country sealed an investment treaty with the European Union. See more below.
Tesla ticked 696.60, but couldn’t close at a new all-time high.
Fubo flopped. The stock has dropped 46% since last Tuesday.
Freeport-McMoRan ran 7% and closed at its highest price since December 4, 2014. Here’s its wild weekly chart:
Mickey Mouse was in the house. Disney dashed 2% and closed at a new all-time high.
Lemonade lept 9.8%. Will all-time highs come next? Place your bets…
Here are the closing prints:
| S&P 500 | 3,732 | +0.13% |
| Nasdaq | 12,870 | +0.15% |
| Russell 2000 | 1,979 | +1.05% |
| Dow Jones | 30,409 | +0.24% |
New Strain, New Vaccine 🦠
Today, the UK authorized the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford.
Amidst the coronavirus chaos in the UK (they have a new variant and it’s more infectious than regular COVID), 2 different vaccines are now available to UK citizens.
Health officials recommend at least 3 months between doses of AstraZeneca’s immunization. This shot is cheaper than Pfizer’s, too.
AstraZeneca’s vaccine is less efficient than Pfizer’s, but with new travel bans throughout Europe due to new virus strains, we need all the help we can get. 🤷 😷
The Great Wall (of Trade) Comes Crashing Down
The EU officially finalized an investment treaty with China today after more than seven years of deliberation (And we thought we were indecisive!).
Critics of the deal, including President-elect Joe Biden, point to concerns of forced labor as their main objections. However, EU officials claim that China has made an “important commitment” to “make continued and sustained efforts” to meet global labor standards.
Now that the deal is done, Beijing will be forced to end unfair trading practices and economic ties between China and the EU will be stronger.
We’d make a joke here, but China has banned wordplay. Seriously.
Done Deal, China Tech Rallied
Chinese tech stocks were rocking today in light of China’s and the EU’s long-awaited deal. The Invesco China Technology ETF ($CQQQ) rallied 4% to close at new highs, up 56% YTD.
Here are a few notable names:
Baidu $BIDU +12.6% – 2-year high
Pinduoduo $PDD +7.77% – all-time high
Bilibili $BILI +14.43% – all-time high
Tencent $TCEHY +2.66%
Wondery x Amazon
Amazon announced Wednesday that it will buy podcasting startup Wondery.
Wondery is set to join Amazon music. The startup comes to Amazon after podcasts were added to Amazon’s platform in September.
Amazon said this in a statement:
Together with Wondery, we will continue to bring more customers to streaming as we expand selection and ensure we are a destination for our customers to find, discover, and listen to the creators and artists they enjoy.
Wondery original podcasts include “Dirty John,” “Dr. Death,” “Business Wars,” and “The Shrink Next Door.”
Pop it like it’s hot
While 2020 was rough in a lot of ways, it was an incredibly good time to be an IPO.
More than $167.2B dollars were raised in 454 offerings through December 24th. This crushes the previous high (in 1999) by more than $59.3B. Not too shabby. 😏
It wasn’t just the initial sale that was hot, though. First day pops averaged to 18%, marking a new record. The hottest area? Tech — it averaged 34%!
Are we in a bubble? Time will tell.. 🔮
I, Robot
The time has finally come…will workers soon be replaced by robots? 🤖
With international businesses trying to automate the supply chain, robotics companies are getting the big bucks. 💰
Recently, the robotics company Flexiv closed a $100B Series B deal with big Chinese investors like Meituan, Meta Capital, YF Capital, Gaorong Capital, and GSR Ventures.
Flexiv’s robots target automation in the food industry, but there’s plenty of robotics companies automating manufacturing, too. Flexiv Founder Wang Shiquan said:
Conventional robotic arms can safely perform tasks when there are no barriers around, but they are less capable of operating in complicated environments… Many seemingly simple tasks such as washing dishes actually require a lot of AI-based recognition and decision-making power
Here’s TechCrunch with the details.
Links That Don’t Suck
🔋*IBD’s Investing Strategies: Top tech stocks trends of 2021 and how high can Chinese EV stocks go?
📸 2020: The Year in Pictures
😬 A Girl Scout Calls out Link to Palm Oil Industry and Child Labor in Girl Scout Cookies
🐶 Do Dogs Really Make Us Happier?
🎶 Peloton Tests its Own Exclusive Music with Three Elvis Remixes
🏎️ Former Aston Martin Execs to Resurrect the ‘Thinking Man’s Ferrari’
🌋 Journey to the Center of the Earth
🏡 Post-Vaccine Vacation Dreamers Plot to ‘Get the Hell Out of Their House’
