Tale of the Tape

Good evening, everyone. Happy hump day. 🐪 The market was mixed, but we did see some major moves. 

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both closed in the green while the Russell 2000 and Dow Jones settled in the red. 

Utilities nearly gained 2% while real estate caught a bid and bounced 1.37%. Basic materials, energy, and industrials all lost more than 0.50%.

The cryptos were calm. Bitcoin bopped 6.5% while Ethereum emerged back above 1100. Is this the calm before the storm? 🌩️ 🌪️ Time will tell.

Gamestop gained 57% a few days after adding Chewy Co-Founder Ryan Cohen to its board. $GME is up over 1000% since its low close on April 3, 2020.

Intel announced a new hire for its highest position. The stock popped and filled the gap from last summer. See more below. 

$PTON popped 7.29%. Airbnb and DoorDash both dashed to a new all-time high.

Shake Shack surged another 7% after yesterday’s Q4 status update. $SHAK broke out to blue skies. Here’s its monstrous monthly chart:

Pot stocks were hot. The US Cannabis ETF $MSOS marched 4.78%.

After the close, the house voted to impeach President Trump for the second time. Mitch McConnell said a Senate vote won’t take place prior to Biden’s inauguration on January 20. Here’s the Wall Street Journal with more. 

Here are the closing prints: 

S&P 500	3,809	+0.23%
Nasdaq	13,129	+0.43%
Russell 2000	2,111	-0.75%
Dow Jones	31,060	-0.10%

GameStop Had A Great Day

Game Stop has been hot. As of today’s close, $GME has already gained 63% in 2021. 🎮 💪

On Monday, the company announced an agreement with RC Ventures to refresh the company’s board of directors. Three new directors were appointed – Alan Attal, Ryan Cohen and Jim Grube.

GameStop also reported its holiday sales results. Holiday sales rose 4.8% YoY, and e-commerce sales jumped 308%. Full quarter guidance was not provided, but the company expects comparable store sales and profits to rise in 2020’s fiscal Q4.   

George Sherman, GameStop’s CEO, said:

GameStop maintained its status as the omni-channel destination for gaming and entertainment with unprecedented demand for the new gaming consoles and a significant increase in E-Commerce sales.  Demand for the new generation of consoles remains very strong, and as a result, we anticipate the consumer’s excitement for the new console technology will benefit us going forward well through 2021.

Today, $GME gained 57.4% on insane volume. 144M shares were traded— more than 8x its 20-day average. 🤯

Will this short squeeze turn into a turnaround success story? Place your bets…

Swan’s Swan Song

Intel announced today that CEO Bob Swan is out, and VMWare CEO Pat Gelsinger is in. 

Swan had a remarkably difficult tenure while at Intel, including Apple’s removal of Intel chips, a massive loss of market share, and a couple of failed acquisitions. Oof.

The leadership change will happen February 15th, and so far, investors are loving it. Intel’s stock was up 6.97% on the day, while VMWare’s was down 6.79%. 

$INTC filled last year’s gap down following the news. Here’s the daily chart:

That stock price swing reminds us of when Steve Ballmer’s net worth jumped $786M after he announced his retirement. 😅

A-Firm Start to an IPO 

‘Tis the season for IPOs!

The financing company Affirm began trading today under the ticker $AFRM, kicking off what many expect to be a record year for public offerings.

The stock priced above its expected range yesterday, coming in at $49. It still popped to $90.90 before it started trading, though. Someone needs to help these underwriters out, lol.

Other than the Affirm team, the company most excited about today was Shopify— it gained an 8% stake in the company that’s now worth more than $2B. Not too shabby.

With the stock’s progress today, maybe people should use Affirm to purchase shares…

As if today wasn’t enough, we’ll see another major IPO tomorrow. Poshmark will begin trading under ticker $POSH.

Target Holiday Sales 🎁

Target provided an update on holiday sales, and it didn’t disappoint. 

The retail chain saw comparable sales in the combined November/December period grow 17.2%, while comparable digital sales grew 102%.

Sales growth was strongest in Home and Hardlines. Brian Cornell, Target’s CEO, said: 

The momentum in our business continued in the holiday season with notable market share gains across our entire product portfolio. We’re very pleased with our results, and the strength of our performance is a reflection of the tireless work of our team to support our guests through a safe, convenient and inspirational experience. Throughout the holidays, we delivered joy for holiday shoppers while focusing on safety— adjusting promotions to reduce crowding while delivering easy, contactless fulfillment options through Drive Up and Shipt.

US Bans Chinese Tomatoes, Cotton

The US just declared a ban on all cotton products and tomatoes from Xinjiuan, China in response to Beijing’s oppression of the Muslim Uighur population. 

Forced labor in Chinese tomato and cotton plants is the official reason for the ban. The US also cites the forced internment of Uighur Muslims in Chinese re-education camps as motivation for prohibiting Chinese imports. 

Last year, the US imported $19B worth of cotton and tomatoes from China. Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kenneth Cuccinelli commented: 

Forced labor is a form of modern slavery. ‘Made in China’ doesn’t just indicate country of origin— it’s a warning label.

Here’s Bloomberg with the details. 

Earnings This Week

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

Links That Don’t Suck

🤝 Meet symbol: ETHE – an easy way to get Ethereum exposure in your brokerage account*

📸 The Best Photography of 2020

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🏒 Welcome to the 2020-21 NHL Season – The Hockey News on Sports Illustrated

🌆 Saudi Arabia to Build 170 Kilometres-Long City as Part of Neom Project

💎 Tiffany & Co. Releases a Collection in Tribute to their Iconic New York Flagship

🏡 In Greece, a Radical Triangular House Brings the Outdoors Inside

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