Financial market research and analysis

Bitcoin has blown through another price milestone, reaching over $16,000 for the first since since January 2018, the month after cryptocurrency markets topped.

MARKETS

News
• Asia-Pacific shares dip as U.S. coronavirus cases surge. An unexpected rise in U.S. crude stockpiles exacerbated virus-linked economic fears in commodity markets, pushing U.S. crude oil 1.63% lower to $40.45 per barrel. Bitcoin continues to soar, flirting with $16,500;
• Donald Trump bans investments in companies that White House says aid China’s military. The ban will take effect starting 9:30 a.m. ET on Jan. 11, 2021 and targets 31 companies;
• Joe Biden projected to win Arizona, the first Democrat to do so since 1996
• US tops 150k Daily COVID-19 cases for first time. Supermarkets limit toilet paper purchases as COVID cases hit new highs. Dr. Fauci said ‘help is on the way’ with vaccines, but doubts Covid can ever be eradicated;
• France keeps lockdown for at least two more week.

What else?
• Fox TV stock tumbled as Trump urges followers to turn way Amid Rumors About Rival Offering;
• Kodak executives received Millions in Stock for options they never owned;
• Sysco drops food delivery minimums to help restaurants cope with virus headwinds;
• Almost half Goldman’s new partners are women or minorities.

Earnings update
• Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech juggernaut Tencent surged 2.77% in early trade on Friday. That came after the firm announced Thursday its quarterly profit rose more than 80% from last year;
• Disney (DIS) shares rose after reporting 73 million paid Disney+ subscribers while losses are not as drastic as expected;
• Palantir (PLTR): reports 52% sales growth in first earnings statement since public market debut. The stock fell more than 4% in extended trading after plunging 8.7% during the regular trading day;
• Cisco Systems (CSCO) jumped more than 8% on earnings beat and strong forecast;
• Farfetch (FTCH) was up +12% after hours as earnings beat. Reported gross merchandise value jumped 62% in Q3 and the digital platform GMC growth rate was 60%;

The Day Ahead
• Earnings: DraftKings (DKNG)
• Macro: French CPI, Eurozone Preliminary GDP, Eurozone Trade Balance, U.S. PPI, Preliminary Michigan Consumer Sentiment.
Quote of the day

"Before you marry a person, you should first make them use a computer with slow Internet to see who they really are.” — Will Ferrell

WRAP

A combination of various state/city lockdown orders, a rise in Coronavirus cases and headlines from Washington that stimulus will be dramatically smaller than hoped for, sent all the major US equity indices lower on Thursday. The Dow Jones dropped 1.1% while the Nasdaq dropped 0.7%. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed about 0.8% lower, with almost all sectors and major bourses slipping into negative territory. Bond traders were in buoyant mode, buying Treasuries across the curve as Fed's Powell hinted at more action required. Bitcoin rallied above $16,000.

On Wednesday alone, a record of more than 144,000 infections were confirmed in the U.S., bringing the nationwide tally to more than 10 million. Chicago issued a stay-at-home advisory Thursday aimed to curb the spread, while New York has imposed a new curfew on restaurants, bars and gyms.