Shutdown..... AVERTED

Mergers - Auto Industry big move

Lots of Trump Talk

The Market's new favorite stocks

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Warm-Up

- Shutdown..... AVERTED

- Mergers - Auto Industry big move

- Lots of Trump Talk

- Deli Stock Scheme - Update

- Holiday Tidings!

- Markets

- S&P 500 Equal weight down 6% MTD, Small Caps down 8%

- The New favs? Quantum Computing Stocks - Santa Like them.....

- Index inclusion has become a thing

Checking out the early CTP Cup Standings

EVERYONE IS IN! - 7 Contestants....

Fed Meeting Dec 18th

- Fed freaked out markets

- All of a sudden they are projecting that inflation is not going to come down to their 2% level into 2026

- DJIA was donw 1000 points and it was an ugly day overall.

- Onc day later, PCE comes out not too far aay from assumptions and market takes off

- Just goes to show that

DJIA - Records?

- Follow up - it was 10 days and the last time that happened was 1974

Meanwhile - XMAS Rally

- Once big day down, then a test and BOUNCE

- Most of the Fed Day losses have been wipe out - still much damage in December

--- Once again - Mega cap holding things up

---- EVEN though 10Yr >4.6%  - this is an important price point... Failed  couple of times before.

Quantum Computing Stocks

- Ever since Alphabet (Google) announced that they made progress, been some crazy moves on a few names - with YTD returns

-- D-Wave Quantum Inc  QBTS  (825%)

-- Rigetti Computing Inc   RGTI  (1,050%)

-- Quantum Computing Inc   QUBT  (1,900%)

-- Defiance Quantum ETF   QTUM (51%)

-- IONQ Inc    IONQ   (240%)

---(none seem to be making any money  - actually losing a ton)

More Quantum

- Willow's speed is almost incomprehensible — according to Google, it's able to perform a computation in under five minutes that would take one of today's fastest supercomputers 10 septillion years to solve. Ten septillion is 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years.

- Concern has turned to the potential for this technology to break down crypto (or other) cryptography.

--- It may take years - but this could be something we need to watch as a byproduct, the need for better security from quantum hacks

Auto Merger

- Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda on Monday announced they had entered into official talks to merge and create the world's third-largest automaker by sales.

- The deal would aim to share intelligence and resources and deliver economies of scale and synergies while protecting both brands

- Nissan's strategic partner Mitsubishi has been offered the chance to join the new group and will take a decision by the end of January 2025.

- Lots of things to iron out before this deal gets done

Index Traders - Hang on...

- Huge moves to reset these days

- Companies are competing to get to NASDAQ and NYSE to gain inclusion as they know share prices will potentially pop

- Palatntir is banking on that as they said in their recent announcement and one reason was to get inclusion in the NASDAQ 100

- These kind of index changes has buig impacts on stocks

- - ALSO, there should be some movement over the next month as there will be re-balancing going on as 2024 big run for markets/stocks

Trump Talk/Plans

- Trump said he will not let the canal fall into the 'wrong hands'

- Trump accused Panama of charging excessive fees to use the canal

- Panama's President Mulino defends canal's independence and fees

- US handed over control of the canal in 1999

- Talk that we could take it back

- Twitter: "Every square meter of the Panama Canal and the surrounding area belongs to Panama and will c...