2021: A Super Year for Stocks and Cryptos, A Dismal Year for Mr. Biden

#SantaClaus #rally #stocks #retail #commodities #memes #crypto #economy #politics #Biden #Putin

$DIA $SPY $QQQ $RUT $VXX $USO $GLD $USD $DXY $GME $NIO $OCGN $HOOD  $TSLA $KNIGHTSUSD

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end"-- Seneca

"2021 has been a Good Year For IPOs and SPACs, more coming in 2022" - Shayne Heffernan, PhD.

"Investors added $2.5 and 2.6-T to High Tech and Crypto respectively in 2021, more coming in 2022" -- Paul Ebeling

DJIA-59.78 to 36338.30, NAS Comp -96.59 to 15644.96, S&P 500 -12.55 to 4766.18

Friday, the major indices declined a bit into the close wrapping up Y 2021 with double-digit percentage gainers

There were no specific catalysts, and Friday soft finish coincided moderate trading volume. 

6 of the 11 S&P 500 sectors closed higher while 5 closed lower. The consumer staples sector (+0.7%) was the only sector that gained more than 0.5%, while the communication services sector (-1.2%) declined more than 1.0% on the day.

On the Year

• S&P 500 +26.9% YTD

• NAS Comp +21.4% YTD

• DJIA +18.7% YTD

• Russell 2000 +13.8% YTD

Key Commodities

WTI Crude Oil futures settled lower by 2.2%, or $1.70, to $75.15/bbl, Gold futures settled $14.50 higher (+0.8%) at $1,828.60/oz to end higher by +2.9% in December and +4% in Q-4, but losing about -3.6% overall in Y 2021, while US Dollar Index finished -0.4% to $95.60.

Memes

Friday, the most mentioned stock on WallStreetBets is GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME). Researchers at Quiver Quantitative counted 350,000 mentions on the stock. 2nd in line is AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE:AMC) with 200,000 mentions, while BlackBerry Ltd. (NYSE:BB) was 3rd with around 140,000.

We looked at just 1 meme stock Friday. Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) issued recall notices on about 475,000 Model 3 and Model S sedans Thursday.

Cryptocurrencies: It was a terrific year!

Bitcoin marked new all-time highs on the approval of the 1st bitcoin futures ETF in the US, institutional investors diversified their investments into ether, alternative layer 1's marked new market caps, and dog-themed tokens made many millionaires.

Y 2021 was busy for the entire crypto market. Click here for our archive.

Notably this week

The Knightsbridge DAO is the 1st-of-its-kind, a DAO with a Broker, Exchange, Chain, Consultancy, Service Provider, NFT Hub and an extensive and growing portfolio of Tech, DeFi and real world assets. The Knightsbridge DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) as an organization represented by rules encoded as a transparent computer program, controlled by the organization members, and not influenced by a central government. As the rules are embedded into the code, no managers are needed, thus removing any bureaucracy or hierarchy hurdles. Taking the very best technology from a cross-section of industries to deliver the next step change in decentralization for financial services.

Governments around the world have been looking at adopting, regulating cryptocurrencies since the inception of Bitcoin. Ever since, the crypto ecosystem has been a Super ride North.

The US Economy

Investors did not receive any economic data Friday. Looking Ahead, Investors will receive Construction Spending for November Monday.

Politics

Mr. Biden's approval rating showed no sign of rising in the New Year, he had a consensus 43.3% approval rating Friday, according to FiveThirtyEight, which offers a real-time, updated tracking of the president's approval rating by analyzing a wide variety of polls and operating its own system of pollster ratings. FiveThirtyEight said Mr. Biden's approval rating had been "underwater" since 30 August, the 1st day more people disapproved than approved of his job as president.

Best wishes for a healthy, prosperous, Happy New Year, Keep the Faith!