Consumer Discretionary Strong, Cryptos Up, Gold Follows Suit

#stocks #bullish #retail #cryptos #blockchain #metals #economy #politics #memes #money

$SPY $QQQ $RUT $DIA $VXX $USO $GLD $DXY $USD $BTCUSD $ETHUSD $GBITSUSD

"Consumer Discretionary outperformed on the day, as Christmas holiday shopping has spiked"-- Paul Ebeling

DJIA -211.17 to 35931.05, NAS Comp-52.28 to 15921.58, S&P 500-12.23 to 4688.67

Wednesday, the S&P 500 declined 0.3%, the NAS Comp (-0.3%) and DJIA (-0.6%), while the Russell 2000 (-1.2%) underperformed.

Decliners outpaced advancers by a 2:1 margin at the NYSE and NAS, and 7 of the 11 S&P 500 sectors closed in the Red. The energy (-1.7%), financials (-1.1%), materials (-0.6%), and industrials (-0.6%) sectors underperformed. 

• S&P 500 +24.8% YTD

• NAS Comp +23.5% YTD

• Russell 2000 +20.4% YTD

• DJIA +17.4% YTD

Memes

Camber Energy Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:CEI) stock Topped Wednesday’s advancing meme stocks, as a company that has licensed its technology to Camber has defended itself against a short seller report calling the license “nearly worthless.”

Shares of Camber Energy traded up about 30%, at $1.44 in a 52-wk range of $0.33 to 4.85. The trading volume came in at 271-M/shares.

Cryptos

Cryptocurrencies can be relied upon to do 1 thing, polarize investors. The crypto Bull market is far from over.

With bitcoin (BTCUSD) and Ethereum (ETHUSD) hovering near all-time highs, we are Bullish that the Top cryptocurrencies, and the crypto space as a whole, will continue its rapid growth and ascension for the remainder of the yr. And according to Blockchain.com founder Peter Smith, Y 2022 will see more competition emerge in the industry.

“It's very hard to have lost money in crypto over the last year,” Mr. Smith said. “Some people have managed to do it, but it's quite hard. And so we're going to get into a harder, more competitive environment, I think, over the next year. And that's actually going to be net good for the market because it's going to start separating the good from the bad.”

And GBITSUSD is a good example, having opened in Q-1 of Y 2021 at $00,50/each and are now trading at $446.939.

The market will gravitate towards crypto platforms that are seeing the highest growth from a usage perspective rather than solely from an investment standpoint. This dynamic will distinguish the momentum machines from crypto platforms with “real technical value.”

Key Commodities

WTI Crude Oil futures settled lower by 3.1%, or $2.46, to $78.31/bbl.

Gold futures settled $16.10 higher (+0.9%) at $1,870.20/oz, as lower dollar and treasury yields provided a boost.

The US Dollar Index is down about -0.1% to $95.81.

The Economy

• October housing starts declined 0.7% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.52-M units (consensus 1.59-M) from a downwardly revised 1.53-M (from 1.55-M) in September. 

• Building permits brought a positive surprise, rising 4.0% to 1.65-M (consensus 1.64) from a downwardly revised 1.586-M in September.The Key takeaway from the report is that there was strength in permits, a leading indicator for single units and multi-family units in all regions. Single-unit permits were up 2.7% month-over-month, led by gains in all regions except the West (-0.4%).

• The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index decreased 2.8% following a 5.5% increase in the prior week.

Looking Ahead: Investors will receive weekly Initial and Continuing Claims, the Philadelphia Fed Index for November, and the Conference Board's Leading Economic Index for October Thursday. 

Politics

Mr. Biden asked the FTC to "further examine what is happening with oil and gas markets," and the EIA reported an unexpected draw in weekly crude inventories.

Have a prosperous day, Keep the Faith!