The View at Two – 15 December 2020

Back On Track… It was beginning to look like a “here we go again” type of Tuesday, with equities again opening the day green and then beginning to fade, but US indices are now seemingly determined to snap the S&P’s 4-day losing streak (only the 2nd this year) as they push higher into the afternoon. As NYC battens down the hatches for an impending snowstorm, the bulls are charging ahead once again thanks to (what else?) progress on stimulus talks. To be fair, a deal does seem to be getting closer as the two-part deal garners wider support and Senate and House leaders are set to discuss at a 4pm meeting later today (need to save some optimism for another green day tomorrow). The one-track stim focus has brushed aside any concern around a lighter than anticipated Empire Manufacturing print (Nov Industrial Prod’n data was inline) and allowed rising virus cases and the threat of stricter lockdowns to continue to be treated as old news. “Technology” is leading the way among S&P sectors, but looks can be deceiving. NYFANG index is trading up +1.2%, but 8/10 names trade lower: the space is standing on the weighty shoulders of Apple (AAPL +4.2%) which announced plans to increase iPhone production and in lesser part due to Baidu (BIDU +10%) roaring higher on a report it will make its own EVs. Otherwise FB, AMZN, and GOOGL all sit in the red after the EU announced tougher anti-trust regulation on the tech giants (what else is new?) leaving Media and Software as underperformers (*update* of course GOOGL and AMZN pushed into the green in the last 45 mins). Value is putting in a decent showing, with gambling names carrying Hotel/Leisure, and Energy is following Crude’s recovery from early losses despite as less than rosy demand outlook from OPEC+.