Weekly Stock Market Review – 12/11/2020

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This week the S&P 500 closed at 3,663.46, a loss of 0.96%, the NASDAQ finished at 12,377.87, a loss of 0.69%, and the Dow ended at 30,046.37, a loss of 0.57%.

Summary

All three major indexes hit record highs Tuesday but then all ended negative for the week. Vaccine news dominated headlines as the United Kingdom began distributing Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday. In the United States, the FDA advisory panel endorsed Pfizer’s vaccine Thursday evening. And Friday evening the FDA approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. The FDA will also be meeting next week to discuss Moderna’s potential vaccine.

And lastly, another week has passed without a new stimulus bill. On Friday the Senate passed a one-week government funding extension to keep the government running one more week in hopes of reaching a stimulus deal.

Worth Mentioning

• DoorDash sold shares in its IPO at $102 a share, valuing it at $32.4 billion. Airbnb sold shares at $68 a share in its initial public offering, giving the company a valuation of $47 billion. Both companies saw their share prices soar their first day of trading
• Jobless claims for the week totaled 853,000. This is the highest number since mid-September
• The Federal Trade Commission and attorney generals from 48 states filed two lawsuits against Facebook seeking remedies for alleged anti-competitive conduct in two of Facebook’s biggest acquisitions, Instagram and WhatsApp. Facebooks stock was down for the week
• The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released Consumer Price Index data for November. The CPI (inflation) increased by 0.2% for the month and increased 1.2% over the last twelve months
• Tesla is planning to offer new shares to raise $5 billion. The company’s stock has been one of the best performers of the year
• Uber is selling its self-driving unit, Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), to Aurora Innovation
• Computer security company FireEye disclosed details of a recent cyberattack. Their stock was down for the week from the news
• The European Central Bank increased its stimulus program by $605 billion
• Chewy announced 45% revenue growth during their latest quarterly earnings release. They also announced beating EPS and revenue expectations. The stock was up for the week
• Lululemon reported quarterly sales were up 22% compared to last year and its direct to consumer revenue increased 94% but the stock price took a hit this week
• Costco beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates as online sales grew 86%
• Oracle reported revenue and earnings above estimates, as well as issuing better than expected guidance. Their hardware and service businesses were down but their cloud services and license support business was up
• Adobe beat estimates for this quarter and issued better than expected guidance for next quarter and fiscal year 2021
• Starbucks held its investor day Wednesday announcing they expect a strong rebound next year and introduced new drinks
• Disney’s stock was up big Friday after their investor day Thursday where they announced they anticipate solid growth from their streaming service, Disney+

Looking Ahead to Next Week

• Attention will be on DC as the government tries to come to an agreement on a second stimulus plan
• The FDA will meet regarding Moderna’s potential vaccine
• The Pfizer vaccine is expected to be rolled out and distributed immediately
• The Federal Reserve will meet Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss policy changes
• Data on retail sales for November will be released Wednesday

Weekly Change in Each Sector:

Treasury Yield Rates

The 10-Year ended the week at 0.90%, compared to last week’s end of 0.97%

The 2-Year ended the week at 0.11%, compared to last week’s end of 0.16%