Nothing Rallies Like a Deere 🦌

Tale of the Tape

Happy freakin’ Friday, folks!! 🥳🥳

The market was mixed to close the week. The small-caps snapped back 2.2%. Can the Russell continue its rally? See the weekly charts below.  

Basic materials was the strongest sector. $XLB bounced 1.83% and closed at its highest price since January 20, 2021. Energy and industrials also gained more than 1.5% while utilities lost 1.5%.

Bitcoin bounced to another all-time high. The crypto is worth more than $1T in market cap. 💰 🤑 Meanwhile, Ethereum continues to close in on 2K.

JPMorgan jumped another 1.67%. The stock nearly gained 5% this week. 

$TLT tumbled to a 1-year low. The 20-year Treasury Bond ETF closed at its lowest price since February 12, 2020. 

Baidu blasted 14% and closed at a new all-time high. $BIDU is up 142% since December 1, 2020. Here’s the crazy daily chart: 

Deere dashed to blue skies. 🦌 ☀️ The tractor company soared to all-time highs after it reported earnings early this morning. 

Here are the closing prints: 

S&P 5003,906-0.19%
Nasdaq13,874+0.07%
Russell 20002,266+2.18%
Dow Jones31,4940.00%

Weekly Charts

It was a wild week on Wall Street. 

The Russell 2000 finished the week down 1%, but the small-caps bounced back from lows down as much as 3.5%. Will the Russell rally to new all-time highs next week? Time will tell… 

Financials flew to another all-time weekly high. $XLF advanced 2.82%— the ETF is up 10% in 2021. 

Energy surged 3.38% as $XLE closed at its highest weekly price since February 2020. ⚡

The US Global Jets ETF jumped 5.35%. $JETS also closed at its highest weekly price since February 2020, but the ETF is still down 23% from its January 2020 high.  

Bitcoin bopped to blue skies. The cryptocurrency cruised 15% and cleared $1T in market cap. 🤯 💸

Ethereum continues to creep towards 2,000. $ETH.X ticked a high of 1974 earlier on Friday. 

Lumber futures flew to 4 figures this week, ticking a high of 1,004. 🌳 💥 Check out this wacky weekly chart:

iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF tumbled 2.6% for its third consecutive down week. 

That’s A Lot Of Zeros

In case you haven’t already heard, the cryptocurrency officially surpassed one of the biggest round numbers in its history: a $1,000,000,000,000 market cap. Yes, that’s a trillion, with a T. 🤑

Osprey Funds touched on the importance of this moment:

Long-term, round numbers don’t have much meaning… It is a signpost along the adoption curve, a narrative that grabs attention and raises awareness which, in turn, drives more awareness… So it’s a reflexivity thing. People caring about the story increases the significance of it.

The coin crossed the mark earlier today right before it blew through $54K. $BTC.X now trades above 56,000. 🙌

Moscow Goes Green 💚 🇷🇺 

Moscow’s going green. 💚 ♻️

The Russian city plans to have a fully electric bus fleet by 2030— Moscow will add 400 additional electric buses to its transportation department by the end of this year, 420 buses in 2022, and 855 the following year. 

Artyom Burlakov, head of innovative projects for Moscow’s public transportation, said:

Every year the plan will be to replace all wheeled public transport vehicles with electric buses.

Moscow is famous for its traffic jams, but city officials hope green initiatives will encourage local drivers to become more environmentally-conscious. 🌎 🔋

Big Bets in the Big League

Recently, shortstop Fernanado Tatís Jr. signed the longest and third-biggest deal in MLB history. 💰 His contract is worth $340M over 14 years, which is a great reason to celebrate… but Tatís and the Padres aren’t the only ones partying. 

Four years ago, Tatís inked a deal (before he was famous) with Big League Advance, a firm that pays Minor League players up front for a chunk of their Majors earnings. Although deal specifics are unknown, Big League Advance might make ~$30M on Tatís’ contract (assuming the firm’s 8% average on its deals).

Big League Advance CEO Michael Schwimer (a former Phillies pitcher) had this to say: 

It’s 2021, and this is the first time we’ve seen it pay off in an actual way instead of a theoretical way.

It’s always nice when theoretical money becomes real, lol. 💸 😅

The NHL Takes on Tahoe

The Winter Classic has been popular since its debut in 2008. Traditionally, though, it’s been played at football or baseball stadiums. This year, it’ll be held at beautiful Lake Tahoe on the 18th hole of a golf course. 🏌️‍♂️⛰️

There’s one man to thank for that— Jon Miller, an NBC Sports executive. After Covid cancelled the original event plans, Miller got to work convincing NHL and its sponsors to host the event at Tahoe, instead.

Without fans, this will be one of the most secluded pro hockey games ever, making it a once-in-a-lifetime experience for everyone involved. 🎉

This is just a little fancier than the pond hockey we all played growing up. 😂

Earnings Round-Up

Deere reported earnings early this morning. The big green tractor company raised full-year guidance and cited improved conditions in the agricultural and construction sectors. 🚜 🌾

Here are the numbers:

EPS: $3.87 vs $2.17 est.
Revenue: $8.05B, + 23.3%

Chairman and CEO John C. May shared:

John Deere started 2021 on a strongly positive note. Our results were aided by outstanding performance across our business lineup and improving conditions in the farm and construction sectors. In addition, our smart industrial operating strategy is making a significant impact on the company’s results while it also helps our customers be more profitable and sustainable.

$DE dashed to all-time highs on the results. The stock is up ~200% since its March 2020 low. 👀 Here’s the daily chart:

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