It was a monster holiday shopping season for online retail plus stocks to watch today in the Money and Markets Wall Street Wake-Up.
The Market Open
U.S. markets are up Thursday, setting the pace for another record-setting day.
Despite the anticipation of light trading volumes for the rest of the year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.1% while the S&P 500 is up 0.2% and the Nasdaq opened up 0.3% as of 9:50 a.m.
The Opening Bell
Online retail sales saw a huge bump during the holiday season, according to a report from Mastercard.
E-commerce sales accounted for 14.6% of all retail sales during the holiday season — an 18.8% jump from 2018. The report tracked sales from Nov. 1 to Christmas Eve.
Overall holiday retail sales, not counting automobiles, increased by 3.4%, drawing praise from President Donald Trump.
2019 HOLIDAY RETAIL SALES WERE UP 3.4% FROM LAST YEAR, THE BIGGEST NUMBER IN U.S. HISTORY. CONGRATULATIONS AMERICA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 25, 2019
Stocks to Watch Today
Boeing Inc. (NYSE: BA) — After a rough end to Monday, Boeing is still not out of the woods after reports surfaced that a company pilot “basically lied” to government regulators about the 737 Max aircraft.
Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) — It was a good holiday shopping season for the online retailer as it reported breaking records with “billions” of items ordered globally and “tens of millions” of its own products purchased.
Paypal Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: PYPL) — The online payment company’s stock was up 0.4% in premarket trading Thursday after the company won approval to purchase a majority stake in China’s GoPay online payment system. The company also said it was continuing to look for other takeover opportunities in 2020.
In the News
U.S. markets were up in premarket trading Thursday morning.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were all up around 0.1 to 0.2% about 45 minutes before the opening bell.
The Santa Rally Could Lead to January Selling
It appears 2019 is going to end on a high note for investors, but some analysts believe that will lead to a pullback in January.
However, even with a potential January sell-off, the stock market will continue to rise, James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Leuthold Group, told CNBC.
“I suspect we’re going to cool the jets of bullishness in the first quarter. … It wouldn’t surprise me if we had a pullback,” said Paulsen, adding that investors have become a little too bullish.
Oil Prices Rise Thursday
The price of Brent crude oil — the global benchmark for oil prices — jumped above $67 a barrel Thursday.
A report showed U.S. inventories lower as well as OPEC’s efforts to hold back supply and cooling of the U.S.-China trade war led to the price hike, according to Reuters.
Other Morning Reads
Minimum Wage Hike Hits 21 States in 2019 — and More Are On the Way in 2020 (CNBC)
Shiller: Trump Effect Means Record Rally Likely Lasts Through 2020 (Money & Markets)
China Commerce Ministry Says It’s in Close Touch With U.S. on Signing Trade Deal (Reuters)
Earnings Report
Here are the companies releasing earnings reports today:
Neogen Corp. (Nasdaq: NEOG)
YaYo Inc. (Nasdaq: YAYO)
Chart of the Day
Due to the 2019 trade war between the U.S. and China, China has lost its status as the No. 1 trading partner to the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Imports from and exports to China total about $419 billion to date — down from the $660 billion in 2018. Imports and exports from Mexico totaled around $518 billion so far and trade with Canada was worth approximately $514 billion.
Check back each morning before the opening bell for stocks to watch today with the Wall Street Wake-Up, here on Money and Markets.