December 20, 2016 Market Wrap Up

The markets continued to push higher today as it seems almost inevitable that this will be the path we take up until the end of the year. The only drama at the moment is if and when the Dow Jones Industrials close above the 20k mark. At the close of the day, the Dow Jones Industrials closed at 19,974, close, but no cigar.

Judging by the VIX, there isn’t much fear at the moment, it closed below 12, at 11.45.

Now, here is how some of the other closely followed ETFs did on the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) +1.04%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) -0.50%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) -.74%.

Stocks in play today included: Rite Aid (RAD) +5.39% and Fred’s, Inc. (FRED) +81.08%.

It was announced early in the morning that Fred’s would be buying 865 stores from Rite Aid at what many market participants viewed as a deal. In addition, this likely eliminates antitrust issues facing the Walgreens purchase of Rite Aid.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Webster Financial Corporation (WBS), which traded 19.2 times normal option volume. In addition, we saw heavy put buying in Endurance International Group Holdings (EIGI), which saw 153 times normal options volume.

Here’s what’s on tap for the rest of the week:

Key Economic Data:
21 Dec 2016- Existing Home Sales 10:30 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
22 Dec 2016- Durable Goods Orders 8:30 AM ET, GDP 8:30 AM ET, Philly Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, Personal Income and Outlays 10:00 AM ET
23 Dec 2016- New Home Sales 10:00 AM ET

Key Earnings:
19 Dec 2016- LEN
20 Dec 2016- BBRY, CCL, DRI, FDS, GIS, KMX, NAV, FDX, NKE, SCS
21 Dec 2016- ACN, FINL, LNN, PAYX, CAMP, BBBY, MU, RHT
22 Dec 2016- CAG

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