Bears in Retreat as a Majority of Americans Feel Life is Heading Back to Normal

#stocks #bullish #memes #crypto #bitcoin #GBITS #inflation #jobs #Bulls #bears #risk #VirusCasedemic

$SPY $QQQ $RUT $DIA $VXX $BTCUSD $ETHUSD $GBITS

"The large-cap indexes posted good gainers Friday thanks to strong leadership from the mega-caps"-- Paul Ebeling

DJIA +179.08 at 36100.31, NAS Comp +156.68 at 15860.96, S&P 500 +33.58 at 4682.85

The S&P 500 gained 0.7%, the NAS Comp gained 1.0%, and the DJIA gained 0.5%. The small-cap Russell 2000 increased 0.1%

The VIX readings below 20 favor a "risk on/bullish" approach to markets. Volatility has been trading around 14/17 the last few wks.

As the stock market has surged to records, the Bearish action has fallen to 20yrs lows for the short sellers, who make killings betting stocks will fall.

No 1 is saddened by this turn in events as critics paint short sellers as merchants of pain. People around the world celebrated early this year when GameStop’s stock suddenly spiked due North causing billions of dollars in losses for short sellers, it was an over-due comeuppance.

• S&P 500 +24.7% YTD

• NAS Comp +23.1% YTD

• Russell 2000 +22.1% YTD

• DJIA +18.0% YTD

The Weekly AAII Sentiment as of 11 November shows Bullishness jumped +6.5% higher, now +10% above its historical average. 

Bearishness slipped another -2%,  keeping it about -6% below its historical average. 

The Fear & Greed Index sits around the 82, moving further into "greed" territory and its highest readings for the year.

Thee huge international retail trade may make the indicator worthless.

The Memes

Since reporting Quarterly earnings Thursday evening, Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB) added about 15% to its share price. CEO Chesky said Thursday that the effect of the US lifting its ban on international travelers was a 44% increase in bookings for the company. 

On the Crypto Front

AMC announced during its Q-2 earnings announcement last August that bitcoin (BTCUSD) for online ticket and concession purchases would be accepted before the end of this yr.

Cryptocurrencies were mostly lower Friday after buyers failed to sustain the all-time price highs reached in bitcoin and ether earlier this week.

Analysts expect trading activity to advance next week following the Bitcoin Taproot upgrade, which aims to improve privacy and efficiency on the blockchain network.

GBITS conversely traded up to and around $400/each, marking $404.74536 and currently trading at 398.93588.

The People

A new Axios/Ipsos poll reveals that Americans are shifting to a more positive attitude about the state of COVID-19 and its effect on their lives. A 55% majority now believe there is little risk associated with returning to everyday activities even in the light of MSM's continuous fearmongering.

The poll conducted 5-8 November included 1,003 US adults. The results showed that 38% of respondents felt that resuming normal pre-VirusCasedemic activities posed a small risk to their health and well-being, while 17% believe there is no risk at all.

As far as specific events, a full 61% said they were comfortable dining at a restaurant gathering with friends and family. Back in August and early September of this yr, just 47% of respondents said they felt at ease gathering in person and going out to eat. Most respondents qualified that they would still wear masks (66%) and socially distance (69%) when they return to normal activities.

The US Economy

• The preliminary November University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment (MSI) dropped to 66.8 from the final reading of 71.7 for October. It is the lowest reading for the index since November 2012.The Key takeaway from the report is the reporting that escalating inflation is negatively affecting consumer attitudes due to reduced living standards and a growing belief that effective policies are not being developed to reduce the damage from surging inflation.

• Job openings (JOLTS) decreased to 10.438-M in September from a revised 10.629-M in August.

• And notably 4.4-M workers quit during the frame.

Politics: Continuous Shredding; A US appeals court Friday upheld its decision to put on hold an order by Mr. Biden for companies with 100 workers or more to require COVID-19 vaccines, rejecting a challenge by his administration.

Have a healthy, prosperous weekend, Keep the Faith!