December 30, 2021

Markets:

U.S. stock futures ticked up ahead of open on Thursday after the S&P 500 and Dow each extended a rally to close at all-time highs amid a thinly-traded last week of 2021 on Wall Street.

This week's market swings were exaggerated by the low trading volumes. Economic and earnings calendars remain light for the final two trading days of the year, though investors will turn their attention on Thursday to fresh data out of Washington on weekly jobless claims.

The Labor Department released its latest report on initial and continuing jobless claims. First-time unemployment filings fell further from last week’s reading, coming in at 198,000 — below the expected 206,000. Earlier in December, jobless claims fell to 188,000 — its lowest level since 1969.

Despite a good week for markets, airline stocks continued to falter amid further flight disruptions caused by rising COVID-19 cases and winter weather. Delta Air Lines (DAL) reported cancellations of an additional 250 flights on Wednesday after thousands of halted and delayed flights by major airlines reported during the Christmas weekend.

December was a volatile month for investors who weighed the strain’s impact on the economy, but recent developments that indicate Omicron may cause milder disease helped markets shake off earlier concerns.

Portfolio:

Good morning!  We enter today's trading session holding positions in SFIX, CPG, PINS, PETV, F, and holding ITRM.  We feel we are well positioned for the next few weeks and the moves we see coming for this market to start 2022.  As stated above, December has been a very volatile month for investors and traders as we dealt with the Fed's tapering schedule, Omnicron, Tax harvesting, Congress, and so much noise calling for corrections and tops and even folks calling for lockdowns.  I don't recall such a crazy month for the market regarding different events in a months’ time frame.  In looking back now, we had to deal with so many different narratives and obstacles during this month and we still have two sessions to go!  We will welcome January and the beautiful start to a new year along with earnings season set to begin in two weeks.  Earnings will be a blessing, as investors / traders will once again focus on results and forecasts. We have some growth stocks that are down almost 80% from their highs.  We personally cannot wait to see the opportunities brewing there.  But, let's end 2021 strong.  Continue to stay the course and let's have a great session.  Please be ready today for further updates as well as a potential new trade alert should one materialize.  We will be watching trade volume closely as well.