Early Look

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Stock futures are looking higher, getting a boost on yet more stimulus relief related news. Now Congress passed a $890B package a few nights ago after months of back-and-forth negotiations that appeared to ease market fears into the end of the year. However, President Trump overnight called the $892B package a “disgrace” and demanded changes to the bipartisan legislation approved by Congress. The President said “I am asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000, or $4,000 for a couple,” Trump declared. “I‘m also asking Congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation.” The news lifted futures on hopes of more money to the American public, but it also means the process could delay Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s promise that stimulus checks could begin reaching American households next week. Meanwhile, U.S. government operations are being funded on a temporary basis through Dec. 28, waiting for the $1.4T in federal spending for fiscal 2021 that is also attached to the stimulus bill. Stocks closed mixed on Tuesday as the Dow Jones underperformed, with Goldman Sachs and Amgen weighing while the Nasdaq touched a fresh intraday record high along with a record closing higher for the SmallCap Russell 2000 Index. Disappointing data on U.S. new home sales and consumer confidence added to concerns about more economic troubles related to the pandemic, while today marks a very busy day of economic data, trying to get a bunch in ahead of the half day Christmas Eve session tomorrow and as markets are closed Friday for Christmas. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index rose 88 points to 26,524, the Shanghai Index gained 25 points to 3,382 and the Hang Seng Index jumped 223 points to 26,343. In Europe, the German DAX is up around 90 points above 13,500, while the FTSE 100 is down about 15 points to 6,440. In Europe, Brexit fears remain as the UK and EU have still not clinched a Brexit trade deal to avoid a turbulent split in just eight days’ time because of serious disagreements about competition and fishing.

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index slipped 7.66 points, or 0.21%, to 3,687.26

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -200.94 points, or 0.67%, to 30,015.51

·     The Nasdaq Composite gained 65.40 points, or 0.51%, to 12,807.92

·     The Russell 2000 Index advanced 19.55 points, or 0.99% to 1,989.88

Economic Calendar for Today

·     7:00 AM EST      MBA Mortgage Applications Data

·     8:30 AM EST      Personal Income MoM for November…est. (-0.3%)

·     8:30 AM EST      Personal Spending MoM for November

·     8:30 AM EST      PCE Price Index MoM for Nov

·     8:30 AM EST      Core PCE Price Index MoM for Nov…est. 0.1%

·     8:30 AM EST      PCE Price Index YoY for Nov…

·     8:30 AM EST      Core PCE Price Index YoY for Nov…est. 1.5%

·     8:30 AM EST      Durable Goods Orders, for Nov…est. 0.6%

·     8:30 AM EST      Weekly Jobless Claims…est. 885K

·     8:30 AM EST      Continuing Claims…est. 5.558M

·     10:00 AM EST    University of Michigan Sentiment, Dec-F…est. 81.3

·     10:00 AM EST    New Home Sales MoM for November…est. 995K

·     10:30 AM EST    Weekly DOE Inventory Data

Sector News Breakdown

Energy, Industrials and Materials

·      The American Petroleum Institute (API) reportedly shows an unexpected build of 2.7M barrels oil for the week ending Dec. 18; gasoline inventories show a draw of 224K barrels, distillate inventories show a build of 1.03M barrels and Cushing inventories show a build of 341K barrels

·     Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE) rises 12%; U.S. Congress passes an alternative fuel tax credit which will continue to support the expansion of renewable natural gas; legislation includes the Alternative Fuels Tax Credit, which extends the $0.50/gal fuel credit/payment for the use of RNG as a transportation fuel, and the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit, which extends the 30%/$30K investment tax credit for alternative vehicle refueling property (also watch shares of FCEL, PLUG, FTEK)

·     SolarWinds (SWI) shares slipped on Tuesday off earlier gains after President-elect Joe Biden says the Russia-linked data breach poses a “grave risk” to national security that can’t “go unanswered”, saying his administration will take steps to address the breach.

·     Martin Midstream Partners L.P. (MMLP) announces sale of mega lubricants; sale of some assets used in connection with mega lubricants shore-based terminals business to john w. stone oil distributor for $22.4M

·     Xinjiang Daqo New Energy, a subsidiary of Daqo New Energy (DQ), signed long-term high-purity polysilicon supply agreements with a subsidiary of JA Solar and with another leading solar company.

·     Air Lease Corporation (AL) announces delivery of new Airbus a320-200neo aircraft

Financials

·     PayPal (PYPL) check-cashing fees waived for second round of government-issued stimulus checks; customers can cash their second round of government-issued paper stimulus checks remotely, typically within minutes, free-of-charge using the PayPal app cash-a-check feature

·     The SEC’s approval of the NYSE’s “direct” listing plan threatens to overhaul the U.S. initial public offering market, by allowing aspiring public companies to sell shares directly to investors. Companies can raise capital on the NYSE through direct listings, without losing gains if their stock pops or forking out hefty fees

Healthcare

·     Neurocrine Biosciences (NBIX) and collaboration partner Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR) have announced that the FDA has put a clinical hold on RESTORE-1 trial evaluating NBIb-1817 (VY-AADC) in Parkinson’s disease. The independent Data Safety Monitoring Board has requested additional patient level data from the trial, which it plans to review in early 2021.

·     Pfizer (PFE) is close to an agreement with the Trump administration in which the company would add to the supply of its coronavirus vaccine for the U.S. by at least tens of millions of doses next year in exchange for a gov’t directive giving it better access to manufacturing – NYT

·     Sorrento Therapeutics (SRNE) submitted Emergency Use Authorization application to the FDA for its COVI-STIX rapid diagnostic test for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus nucleocapsid antigen in nasal samples of patients.

·     Supernus Pharmaceuticals (SUPN) shares rise 30%; said a phase III study for its SPN-812 met the primary endpoint in improving the symptoms of ADHD from baseline to end of study as measured by ADHD Investigator Symptom Rating Scale, and the phase 3 study met the key secondary efficacy endpoint with statistical significance

·     Dare Bioscience (DARE) files to sell 7.05M shares of common stock for holders

·     Evoke Pharma (EVOK) files $100M mixed securities shelf

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     LG Electronics Inc. and automotive supplier Magna International Inc (MGA) are launching a joint venture that will make key components for electric cars, the companies announced

·     Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) has received government approval to go ahead with the first phase of a new plant in the U.S. state of Arizona with an initial investment of $3.5 billion