Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:

• China Accuses Walmart of ‘Stupidity’ Over Missing Xinjiang Goods.
  
• Kim Jong Un Prioritizes Food Crisis Over Nuclear Talks in 2022.  
• Five Things to Watch in Asia Stocks Amid 2022 Reversal Hopes.  
• South Korea Exports Gain as Annual Shipments Reach Record.
• Cases Rise ‘Through the Roof’ as Omicron Sweeps Across U.S.  
• U.S. Schools Push Covid Tests After Anxiety of Holiday Surge.
• Three Monster Years for the S&P 500 Set a Towering Bar for January.
• Bitcoin Ends Its Bang of a 2021 With a December Whimper.
• Bull Market Overcame Virus Waves, Fed Pivot in Tempestuous 2021.
• Investing in 2022 Will Be More Challenging, CalSTRS’ Ailman Says.  
• Commodities Notch Their Best Year Since Financial Crisis Rebound.  
• Exxon in Danger of Being Next Blockbuster, Kodak, CalSTRS CIO Says.  
• For First Time, All 11 S&P 500 Sectors in Double Digits: Chart.

Wall Street Journal:

• Many Hospitals Fail to Comply With Price-Disclosure Rules.
• Chief Justice Roberts Pledges to Bolster Judicial Ethics.
• Beijing Fell Short on Trade Promises, Creating Dilemma for Biden.
• Omicron Blurs Oil Outlook After Demand Roars Back.
• Who Won in Afghanistan? Private Contractors.

Fox News:  

• Legendary actress Betty White, known for decades of iconic roles and beloved as national figure, dies at 99.
• EXCLUSIVE: What DeSantis was doing when critics claimed he was 'missing'.

CNBC:

• S&P 500 ends 2021 with a nearly 27% gain, but dips in final trading day.
• Bought your kid a VR headset for Christmas? You might end up regretting it.
• FDIC chair intends to resign in February, giving Biden more say over regulation.
• From SPACs to chips: Five ways 2021 may have forever changed the auto industry.
• China warns Walmart over alleged removal of Xinjiang-sourced products from stores.

Zero Hedge: 

• China Launches Mineral Hunting Satellite To Maintain Rare Earth Monopoly.
• China Phasing Out All NEV Subsidies By 2023.
• Fauci Goes There: Finally Admits Kids Not Being Hospitalized From COVID.
• Mapped: Top Trending Searches Of 2021 In Every US State.
• Hate-Crime Hoaxes Of 2021.
• COVID Testing Has Become Ridiculous & Even Counterproductive.
• COVID-19 Explained In 10 Sentences.
• The Biggest Junk Science Of 2021.
• CDC Sued For Withholding Post-Licensure V-Safe Data On COVID Vaccines.
• Goldman's Top Charts For 2021. 
• Oil And Gas Discoveries Plunge To Lowest Level In 75 Years.
• The 10 Most Ridiculous Stories From The Past Year.
• Watch: Kamala Harris Gives Bizarre Answer To Inflation Question.
• Is The Peak Of NYC's Omicron Wave Just Around The Corner?
• The Fall Of The Mainstream Media And The Biggest Lies They Told In 2021.
• Cryptos & Crude Soar As Stocks End 2021 At Most Expensive Level Ever.

MarketWatch.com:       

• These are the best-performing S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 stocks of 2021.   
• Wall Street’s favorite stocks for 2022 include Alaska Air, Caesars and Lithia Motors.

NewsMax:

• Experts Warn Pfizer Antiviral Pills May Pose Risks With Other Medications.   
• Retired Gen. Holt: Vax Mandate Sows Division in Military Ranks.

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• JUST IN: Federal Prosecutors Drop Case Against Epstein Jail Guards.
• New York Gov. Hochul Declares Racism A ‘Public Health Crisis’ Then Withholds COVID Treatments From White Patients.
• WTH? Biden Regime Signs $137 Million Deal with GERMAN Company to Make COVID Test Strips — Will Start Producing in Late 2024 at the Earliest.
• Without Warning The Gateway Pundit Is Banned from Paypal.
• Despite Entire Team Being Fully Vaccinated – Two Thirds of Antarctic Polar Researchers Have Contracted COVID-19.
• Part 2: Canada COVID Care Alliance Analysis Shows Pfizer’s Vaccination for Kids is ‘ALL RISK’ and No Benefit – Pfizer Acknowledges it Will Cause Myocarditis in Children (VIDEO).
• NEW REPORT REVEALS the Ruthless, Efficient Strategy Used By Detroit Election Officials, Paid Workers and Outside Agitators To Prevent GOP Poll Challengers From Uncovering Voter Fraud.

The Epoch Times:

• China Pursues ‘Brain Control’ Weaponry in Bid to Command Future of Warfare.
• Chinese Regime Brings Back Public Humiliation by Parading COVID-19 Rule Breakers in Southwest China.

Twitter:

• @DiscloseTV - JUST IN - 89.7% of people infected with #Omicron in Denmark are either "fully vaccinated" or had their first booster, per report from today. 77.9% of the population is fully vaccinated.
• @JackPosobiec - Are you paying attention yet? The DOJ and Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyers have made a deal that her “little black book” of contacts will never be made public.

OpenVAERS:

• VAERS US COVID Vaccine Adverse Event Reports. 709,083 Reports(+7,757 from prior week) Through December 24, 2021.
  

SKirsch.com:

• Using the MGH numbers with our own VAERS queries, we have 247 cases per million doses from the MGH study divided by 5.97 cases per million doses from VAERS. 247/5.97 = 41. This suggests that the VAERS under-reporting factor (URF) is 41X.

Covid-19(Data, Maps, Graphs):

• Our World in Data:  New Global Covid-19 Cases(7-day rolling average graphs). New US Covid Hospital Admissions/ICU Admissions/Deaths
  
• FT.com:  Fully Vaccinated by Country(graph). Global Lockdown Stringency Index(map).
• Bloomberg.com:  International Travel Restrictions.  Case Graphs by State.
  
• NYTimes.com:  County Trends and Clusters. Local ICU Occupancy.
  
• Brown School of Public Health:  Covid Severity by State/County(map).  US Hospital Capacity(region).
  
• CovidActNow:  Covid Severity/Infection Rate by Metro Area.
  
• KFF:  US Vaccinations by Race/Ethnicity.
  
• Carnegie Mellon: Covid-Like Symptoms in Community. Covid Symptom Searches on Google. Covid-Related Dr.Visits.  Restaurant Visits. Wearing Masks. (graphs)
  
• Safegraph.com:  Commerce Patterns(graphs).

Weekly Scoreboard*

S&P 500 4,779.42 +1.1%*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Weekly Wrap by Briefing.com. 

Indices

• DJIA 36,452.0 +1.1%

• NASDAQ 15,697.44 +.43%

• Russell 2000 2,252.90 +.39%

• S&P 500 High Beta 79.28 +.74%

• Goldman 50 Most Shorted 272.28 -3.1%

• Wilshire 5000 48,772.34 +.94%

• Russell 1000 Growth 3,086.06 +.55%

• Russell 1000 Value 1,660.68 +1.5%

• S&P 500 Consumer Staples 803.23 +1.8%

• MSCI Cyclicals-Defensives Spread 1,415.09 -.57%
  

• NYSE Technology 4,386.93 -.01%

• Transports 16,498.76 +1.5%

• Utilities 981.01 +1.9%

• Bloomberg European Bank/Financial Services 78.4 +2.4%

• MSCI Emerging Markets 49.03 +.47%

• HFRX Equity Hedge 1,496.1 +.5%

• HFRX Equity Market Neutral 925.10 +.02%

Sentiment/Internals

• NYSE Cumulative A/D Line 484,004 +.88%

• Bloomberg New Highs-Lows Index 226 +276

• Crude Oil Commercial Bullish % Net Position -34.3 unch.

• CFTC Oil Net Speculative Position 340,255 -2.0%

• CFTC Oil Total Open Interest 1,892,701 -3.1%

• Total Put/Call .77 -7.6%

• OEX Put/Call 1.76 +3.3%

• ISE Sentiment 126.0 unch.
  

• NYSE Arms 1.27 +33.7% 
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk-Off Index 3,161.0 +669.0 points
• Bloomberg Financial Conditions Index + Bubbles 4.57 +.75%
  

• Volatility(VIX) 17.3 -2.3%

• CBOE S&P 500 Implied Correlation Index 28.5 -3.4%

• G7 Currency Volatility (VXY) 6.05 -.95%
  

• Emerging Markets Currency Volatility (EM-VXY) 11.3 +.54%

• Smart Money Flow Index 14,263.83 +4.6%

• ICI Money Mkt Mutual Fund Assets $4.705 Trillion +.84%

• ICI Domestic Equity Long-Term Mutual Fund/ETFs Weekly Flows -10.011 Million

• AAII % Bulls 37.7 +27.4%

• AAII % Bears 30.5 -10.0%

Futures Spot Prices

• CRB Index 233.96 +1.3%

• Crude Oil 75.32 +3.6%

• Reformulated Gasoline 222.85 +2.7%

• Natural Gas 3.74 -2.8%

• Heating Oil 233.01 +1.9% 
• Newcastle Coal 151.75 (1,000/metric ton) unch.
  

• Gold 1,827.60 +.78%
• Silver 23.27 +.98%
  

• S&P GSCI Industrial Metals Index 499.08 +.3%

• Copper 446.0 +1.3%

• US No. 1 Heavy Melt Scrap Steel 467.0 USD/Metric Tonne +.4%

• China Iron Ore Spot 120.74 USD/Metric Tonne -5.3%

• Lumber 1,139.40 +7.4%

• UBS-Bloomberg Agriculture 1,346.18 +1.11%
• US Gulf NOLA Potash Spot 685.0 USD/Short Ton unch.
  

Economy

• Atlanta Fed GDPNow Forecast +7.6% +.4 percentage point
  

• ECRI Weekly Leading Economic Index Growth Rate +4.3% -.6 percentage point
  
• Bloomberg US Recession Probability Next 12 Months 15.0% unch.
  

• NY Fed Real-Time Weekly Economic Index 7.9 +12.4%

• US Economic Policy Uncertainty Index 127.4 -44.5%

• S&P 500 Blended Forward 12 Months Mean EPS Estimate 222.24 unch.

• Citi US Economic Surprise Index 19.5 -4.1 points

• Citi Eurozone Economic Surprise Index 29.8 +3.2 points

• Citi Emerging Markets Economic Surprise Index -1.3 +4.9 points

• Fed Fund Futures imply 95.0%(n/a) chance of no change, 5.0%(n/a) chance of rate hike on 1/26

• US Dollar Index 95.63 -.41%

• MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index 1,733.51 +.03%
  

• Bitcoin/USD 46,964 -5.4%

• Euro/Yen Carry Return Index 134.96 +1.15%
  

• Yield Curve 77.75 -2.5 basis points
  

• 10-Year US Treasury Yield 1.52% +3.0 basis points
  

• Federal Reserve's Balance Sheet $8.719 Trillion -.38%

• U.S. Sovereign Debt Credit Default Swap 12.99 +11.9%

• Illinois Municipal Debt Credit Default Swap 106.61 -2.8%
  

• Italian/German 10Y Yld Spread 135.0 -1.0 basis point
  

• China Sovereign Debt Credit Default Swap 40.3 -2.6%
  

• Brazil Sovereign Debt Credit Default Swap 204.97 -3.6%
  

• Israel Sovereign Debt Credit Default Swap 40.19 +3.4%

• South Korea Sovereign Debt Credit Default Swap 21.21 -.6%

• Russia Sovereign Debt Credit Default Swap 124.49 -7.4%

• China Corp. High-Yield Bond USD ETF(KHYB) 32.91 -.47%

• 10-Year TIPS Spread 2.59% +10.0 basis points

• TED Spread 18.0 +1.75 basis points

• 2-Year Swap Spread 19.5 -4.25 basis points
  

• 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap 1.25 +2.0 basis points

• N. America Investment Grade Credit Default Swap Index 49.55 -.5%
  

• America Energy Sector High-Yield Credit Default Swap Index 325.0 -1.7%

• European Financial Sector Credit Default Swap Index 54.75 -.55%
  

• Emerging Markets Credit Default Swap Index 188.03 -.12%
  

• MBS 5/10 Treasury Spread 69.25 -2.5 basis points
  
• Markit CMBX BBB-6 71.75 -.5 basis point

• M2 Money Supply YoY % Change 13.1 +.1 percentage point
  

• Commercial Paper Outstanding 1,087.3 +.4%

• 4-Week Moving Average of Jobless Claims 199,250 -3.5%
  

• Continuing Claims Unemployment Rate 1.3% -.1 percentage point
  
• Kastle Back-to-Work Barometer(entries in secured buildings) 30.3 -23.2% 

• Average 30-Year Mortgage Rate 3.11% -1.0 basis point

• Weekly Mortgage Applications 588,400 -.56%

• Langer Consumer Comfort 47.9 -2.4 points

• Weekly Retail Sales +17.3% +1.4 percentage points
  
• OpenTable US Seated Diners % Change from 2019 +9.5% +60.2 percentage points

• Nationwide Gas $3.29/gallon unch.

• Baltic Dry Index 2,217 -6.8%

• China (Export) Containerized Freight Index 3,344.24 +1.3%

• Oil Tanker Rate(Arabian Gulf to U.S. Gulf Coast) 20.0 unch.
• Truckstop.com Market Demand Index 145.82 +.44%

• Rail Freight Carloads 219,151 -18.7%
• TSA Total Travelers 1-Year Ago Same Weekday 874,406 -22.5% 
• US Covid-19:  696 infections/100K people(last 7 days total) na/100K people
• US Covid-19:  New patient hospital admissions per 100K -38.3% from peak 7-day avg. of 1/3/21-1/9/21
  

Best Performing Style

• Mid-Cap Value +1.8%

Worst Performing Style

• Small-Cap Growth +.1%
  

Leading Sectors

• REITs +3.5%

• Homebuilding +2.7%
  

• Disk Drives +2.2%

• Networking +2.1%

• Road & Rail +2.1%
  

Lagging Sectors

• Internet -.4%
  

• Biotech -1.0%

• Oil Service -1.3%

• Gambling -1.5%

• Airlines -2.1%
  

Weekly High-Volume Stock Gainers (4)

• XPDI, CONN, APTS and ARCB
  

Weekly High-Volume Stock Losers (3)

• DMTK, NVAX and PRCH
  

ETFs

• High-Volume Gainers

• High-Volume Losers

Stocks

• High-Volume Gainers

• High-Volume Losers

*5-Day Change