A second round of stimulus remains elusive but major stock indexes still managed to gain this week. The Nasdaq (COMP) added 2.8% while the S&P 500 (SP500) was up 1.5% and Dow Industrials (NYSEARCA:DIA) gained 1%.
Positive news on coronavirus vaccines buoyed markets early in the week before initial jobless claims dampened enthusiasm. There was volatility on quadruple witching Friday and a sell-off to close the week.
Winners & Losers
Cybersecurity companies were among the biggest winners this week after news of Russia-linked hackers breaking into federal agencies. Solarwinds (NYSE:SWI) was one of the main companies affected by the hack and saw its shares sell off dramatically.
Bitcoin was a big gainer, briefly surpassing the $24,000 milestone. “Bitcoin proxies” like Marathon Patent (NASDAQ:MARA), Riot Blockchain (NASDAQ:RIOT), and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) all saw significant rallies.
Energy was a loser, with the iShares Global Energy ETF (NYSEARCA:IXC) dropping more than 5% this week. Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY), Baker Hughes (NYSE:BKR), and HollyFrontier (NYSE:HFC) were among notable names to record losses in that sector.
Surprisingly, some of the pharmaceutical names linked to coronavirus vaccines had tough weeks. Shares of Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) dropped by 9%, partly due to a downgrade, while BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) gave up twice that amount. Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) was off 7.5%.
Of course Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) was also a winner, with shares rallying to an all-time high ahead of its inclusion in the S&P 500.
What Caught Our Eye(s) This Week

Stephen: Bitcoin worth $400K says Guggenheim's Scott Minerd;

Kim: HBO Max headed to Roku, seven months after launch;

Brad: Aphria and Tilray to merge, creating a near-$4B market cap cannabis player;

Nat: Why Investors Should Be Buying MLPs Hand Over Fist Today


About This Podcast
Alpha TALKS Wall Street Breakfast is a weekly roundtable covering what moved markets this week (WMMTW), featuring a panel of Seeking Alpha editors.
Hosted by Nathaniel E. Baker, Senior Editor, Strategic Contributors, and featuring:

Bradley Olesen, VP News;

Kim Khan, Senior News Editor;

Stephen Alpher, Managing Editor News, co-host of Seeking Alpha's Alpha Trader podcast.



AlphaTALKS videos, featuring highlights of this podcast, publish every Friday by close of trading. Watch this week's here.
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