Tale of the Tape
Good evening, folks. Once again, the market of stocks was madness. Traders got restricted from trading and the internet went absolutely insane.
The Russell 2000 was the only major index to finish in negative territory. The Dow nearly gained 1%.
Every sector settled in the green. Financials and basic materials both flew over 1.5%. Real estate was the weakest sector. $XLRE only advanced 0.27%.
The high-flying, heavily-shorted stocks got smoked today. 🔥$AMC dropped 56% and GameStop ticked a high of $483 before free falling to $112.25 in about an hour. Check out the intraday chart:
Microsoft was the only stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to close at an all-time high. $MSFT marched 2.6%.
Gamblinig stocks saw strong gains and social stocks were hot. $PENN popped 9.5%. The stock is within 3% of all-time highs.
Here are the closing prints:
| S&P 500 | 3,787 | +0.98% |
| Nasdaq | 13,337 | +0.50% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,106 | -0.10% |
| Dow Jones | 30,603 | +0.99% |
No Buying For You
Well.. today was crazy.
After the chaos of the past couple trading days, the internet gang was looking at another sky-high day of gains. That is, until the premiere of Stock Wars V: The Brokers Strike Back.
Robinhood was the first broker to limit trades on “high risk” securities like $GME, $AMC, $KOSS, and the others shown below.
This limit only allowed traders to sell equities, prohibiting them from opening any new positions. Naturally, investors panicked and began to sell stocks, driving prices lower and lower. As the day continued, more and more brokers and clearing firms followed.
After intense backlash from the halt (including Ted Cruz and AOC agreeing!), Robinhood later issued a statement indicating they would begin to reverse the change starting tomorrow.
The Senate plans to hold a hearing on what happened today. We’ll wait and see if Washington takes action.
Social Stocks Were Hot
Social stocks were strong during today’s psychotic session. The Global X Social Media ETF $SOCL surged 2.4%. The ETF is up 8.3% YTD.
Here’s the daily chart:
Snap sailed 8.5% and Twitter ticked its highest price since January 8th. Pinterest propelled 6%, but Facebook flopped 2.6% after last night’s earnings.
Here’s a 1-year performance chart featuring Facebook, Pinterest, Snap, and Twitter:
GM’s Going Green ✨ 💚
Psycho-stocks aside, GM announced its plans to go green today!! 💚
GM says the company intends to be carbon neutral by 2040, hopes to get rid of vehicle tailpipe emissions by 2035, and joined the Ambition Pledge for 1.5 ⁰C.
GM CEO and Chairman Mary Barra commented:
General Motors is joining governments and companies around the globe working to establish a safer, greener and better world. We encourage others to follow suit and make a significant impact on our industry and on the economy as a whole.
GM even partnered with the Environmental Defense Fund to discuss a future all-EV business model, and the possibility of EVs for consumers at all price points.
These plans sound electric.⚡🙌 Check out the press release.
Finland’s Financially Free
The first step to tackling a problem lies in understanding it, something the Finnish government seems to get.
Today, Finland announced the introduction of a financial literacy strategy aimed at educating its population. This move is a direct result of increasing consumer credit defaults, a dangerous statistic for economic health.
The new program will rely on help from industry experts like bankers and insurance companies to create a curriculum. Social media influencers and TV personalities will help spread knowledge, too.
Finland seems to understand that you never really stop learning. 🤓
Here’s Bloomberg with more.
Earnings Roundup
American Airlines reported better-than-expected Q4 losses before the bell.
Here are the stats:
EPS: ($3.86)vs ($3.92) est.
Revenue: $4B, -64% YoY
Doug Parker, CEO of AmericanAirlines, said:
As we look to the year ahead, 2021 will be a year of recovery. While we don’t know exactly when passenger demand will return, as vaccine distribution takes hold and travel restrictions are lifted, we will be ready. We are confident that the actions we have taken to improve our customer experience, enhance our network and increase our efficiency position us well for the future.
$AAL ascended 9.24%.
McDonald’s missed on earnings as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rack up costs.
Here are the numbers:
EPS: $1.70 vs $1.78 est.
Revenue: $5.31B, -2% YoY
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said:
2020 will be remembered as one of McDonald’s most challenging, yet inspiring, moments in our long history. The resilience of the McDonald’s System was on display – making safety and service a priority, putting our customers and people first, and running great restaurants.
$MCD fell 0.09%.
Earnings This Week
Be sure to know when your stocks report earnings. Here’s the earnings calendar.
Links That Don’t Suck
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