Tale of the Tape
Good evening, everyone. A mob made its way into the Capitol today and the markets marched on.
The small-caps soared to a record high, gaining 4%. The Dow also finished at a fresh all-time high while the Nasdaq was the only major index to close negative.
Financials and basic materials both flew 4%. Energy wasn’t far off with a 3% day, but tech tumbled 1.7%.
Clean energy and pot stocks popped as results from Georgia’s Senate runoff indicate a blue wave. See more below.
The regional bank ETF $KRE surged 7.8% and closed at its highest price since February 13, 2020.
Cryptos continue to crank higher. Bitcoin broke through 37,000 and Ethereum ticked 1,200.
US officials may expand the blacklist of companies prohibited to US investors. Alibaba and Tencent could be in the bunch. $BABA dropped 5.3%.
Here are the closing prints:
| S&P 500 | 3,748 | +0.57% |
| Nasdaq | 12,740 | -0.61% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,057 | +3.98% |
| Dow Jones | 30,829 | +1.44% |
Georgia’s Runoff Results
Early this morning, Democrat Raphael Warnock won the first of 2 Georgia state Senate races, becoming the first black Senator ever to represent his state.
Democrat Jon Osoff was also just declared the winner of Georgia’s second election, but his winning margin over Republican David Perdue is enough to request a vote recount.
Perdue signaled that he would follow through with a recount. Ossoff’s message to the people? He said:
This campaign has been about health and jobs and justice for the people of this state, for all the people of this state, and they will be my guiding principles as I serve this state.
Ossoff accepted his victory by thanking Georgian voters— he assured Georgians “I’ll be there for you.”
Sector Strength
Some areas of the market were significantly strong following Georgia’s runoff results.
Marijuana, solar, and financial stocks all saw relative strength.
The Marijuana ETF $MJ got to an 11-month high and closed up 8%. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a proposal to legalize and regulate cannabis in New York in 2021.
Here’s the $MJ daily chart:
Other notable weed names include:
Canopy Growth Corp $CGC +11.5%
Cronos Group $CRON +15%
GrowGeneration $GRWG +10%
The sun was hot again. Invesco Solar ETF $TAN surged 8.7% on record volume.
Here are a few of today’s leading solar stocks:
Sunrun $RUN +16.5%
SunPower $SPWR +20%
Enphase Energy $ENPH +12%
Lastly, the financial ETF $XLF flew 4% and nearly filled its February 2020 gap.
Here’s the $XLF weekly chart:
Some financials for funzies:
Goldman Sachs $GS +5.4% *new all-time high
Bank of America $BAC +6.25%
Wells Fargo $WFC +7%
Armed Standoff at the US Capitol
Following Georgia’s runoff election today, an armed standoff took place at the doors of the Capitol building in Washington DC.
Protesters and Trump supporters stormed the Capitol at 1 pm ET. The crowd chanted “Let us in” as several protesters broke into the building.
Senators and VP Mike Pence were evacuated. One woman is in critical condition after being shot, and riot police, the National Guard, and the FBI were all called.
President-elect Joe Biden addressed the nation virtually during the standoff, condemning the protest and calling on Americans to unite. President Trump also asked protesters to “go home, go home in peace.”
The Mayor of Washington DC encourages all DC residents to stay home and follow its 6 pm curfew. Stay safe, y’all.🕊☮️
“Just kidding” -The NYSE
Less than two days after reversing the initial decision on Chinese telecom stocks, the NYSE once again changed its mind.
In case that’s confusing to you (it sure is to us), this means the NYSE has decided to delist Chinese telecom stocks (China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom) starting Monday at 4pm ET.
The NYSE says this decision was spurred by guidance issued from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
At this point, we won’t believe it until we see it.
Vaccine ✌️ for the EU
Earlier today, EU health officials approved Moderna’s vaccine for widespread distribution.
This makes Moderna’s vaccine the second to be approved in the EU after Pfizer’s received authorization on December 27th.
As of now, the EU has pre-ordered more than 160 million doses of the two-shot vaccine. This surge of new doses should help with the rollout, which has been struggling recently.
Good news for all of our friends in Europe!
Earnings This Week
Be sure to know when your stocks report earnings. Here’s the earnings calendar.
Links That Don’t Suck
🌌 Stocktwits After Hours: It’s a Blue Wave 🌊
🚔 Hong Kong Police Arrest 53 Opposition Figures over Alleged Subversion
💰 How to Become a Professional Investor | Matt Caruso | 2020 US Investing Championship Contender
📈 Chart of the Day – Wednesday, January 6th, 2021
🏈 NFL Awards 2020: MVP, Rookies of the Year, More
🧰 Rome’s Colosseum Arena Set to Be Reconstructed with Retractable Floor
🚬 What 2020 Revealed about the Future of Marijuana Legalization in the US
💸 DraftKings, MGM, Other Gaming Stocks Rise as New York Gov. Cuomo Eyes Legalizing Online Sports Betting
🚫 Macy’s Will Close Another 37 Stores This Year. Here’s the List.
