Financial market research and analysis

The Dow Jones has closed at another record high thanks to trial results showing that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is nearly 95% effective.

MARKETS

News
• Asia-Pacific shares were mixed on Tuesday as vaccine hopes once again lifted Wall Street to record highs. Airline stocks got a boost;
• Oil prices edge higher ahead of OPEC+ meeting, vaccine hopes;
• Airbnb on Monday released its prospectus to debut on public markets. The company made a $219 million profit last quarter on revenues of $1.34 billion last quarter. That was down nearly 19% from $1.65 billion in revenue a year prior;
• Coronavirus updates: California pulls an ‘emergency brake’ on reopening as U.S. cases cross 11 million;
• Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway reveals stakes in AbbVie, Merck, Pfizer, and other 'big pharma' stocks;
• Spanish bank BBVA in merger talks with Sabadell.

What else?
• CNBC's Jim Cramer says he’s never seen such resilient stock buyers before in the market;
• Longtime hedge fund manager and activist investor Daniel Loeb, manager of Third Point, continued to bet on Disney and e-commerce giants in the third quarter, and added new positions in Pinterest, Palantir and Microsoft;
• Saudi Aramco plans debt market comeback with multi-tranche bond deal;
• PNC to buy U.S. operations of Spanish bank BBVA for $11.6 billion. This is the second-largest U.S. banking deal since 2008 crash;
• Goldman investment bank co-head Gregg Lemkau quits for Dell fund;
• The creator of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine says life could return to normal by next winter;
• Sweden unveils tougher coronavirus restrictions. Europe’s outlier on Covid-19 is forced to step up measures to fight the virus as cases surge.
Earnings update
• Vodafone Group PLC: met expectations with a 2.6% rise in full-year core earnings to 14.9 billion euros ($16.10 billion), but said it could not predict the current year outcome. The stock rose by nearly 7% during regular session;
• Tyson Foods Inc posted solid fourth-quarter fiscal 2020 results, with the top and the bottom line increasing year over year and surpassing consensus estimates. The stock gained nearly 4% in the regular session.
The Day Ahead
• Earnings: Walmart (WMT), Home Depot (HD), Experian PLC (EXPN LN), Imperial Brands plc (IMB LN), NIO ADR (NIO);
• Macro: U.S. Retail Sales, U.S. Industrial Production, Japanese Trade Balance.

Quote of the day
"Never under any circumstances take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.” – Dave Barry.

WRAP

U.S. stocks jumped on Monday after preliminary coronavirus vaccine data from Moderna further lifted expectations of a strong economic recovery. The S&P 500 rose 1.2%, posting an all-time closing high. Stocks that would benefit from the economy reopening led the way higher. United Airlines was up 5.2%, and Carnival closed 9.7% higher. Moderna shares jumped nearly 10% on the day. European stocks close higher on vaccine hopes; BBVA up 15% as it agreed to sell its U.S. business to PNC for $11.6 billion. Bitcoin soared to over $16,800, its highest level since $16,800. Oil prices ended the day higher on vaccine hopes presumably, but once again staled at $42 and faded back.

Moderna said Monday that its coronavirus vaccine was more than 94% effective during a late-stage trial. The promising announcement makes the Massachusetts-based biotech firm the second drug maker to say it has a potentially effective vaccine.