Was Airbnb's IPO A Flop?

By Nicholas Jasinski |  Thursday, December 10 Game Theory. U.S. stocks hovered around the break-even line today, as investors thought through a bit of game theory. The latest weekly initial jobless claims rose sharply, and continuing claims also climbed for the first time in months. But those signs of recent economic weakness might spur Congress to act on a proposed $916 billion fiscal stimulus bill, the thinking goes. It remains difficult for most investors to be meaningfully bearish on this market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.2%, while the S&P 500 finished about flat, down just over 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.5% and the Russell 2000 added 1%. Economically sensitive oil and copper prices both rose, implying continued bets on a recovery The bond market, on the other hand, doesn’t seem convinced that a stimulus bill is in the cards just yet. The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note slipped about 3 basis points, or a hundredths of a percentage point, to 0.907% today. Yields would be moving higher if it looked as if another $1 trillion of borrowing was on the horizon. Not only did initial jobless claims jump to 853,000 last week, their highest level since mid-September, but continuing claims for the latest week rose to 5.8 million, above the 5.5 million consensus forecast. It’s the first time since August that continuing claims increased week over week. On the fiscal stimulus front, reporting from Washington implies that the $900-some billion price tag for a potential bill seems to be acceptable to both Democrats and Republicans. But sticking points remain on state and local government budget support and Covid-related liability protections for businesses. Congress leaves for its holiday break on Dec. 18. The biggest news of the day came after the closing bell. Food and Drug Administration officials held a meeting today to discuss the risks and benefits of the Covid-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech. This evening, the panel recommended giving the vaccine an emergency use authorization. The FDA could give the final necessary thumbs up in the next few days, allowing the U.S. to join the U.K. and Canada and begin distributing the vaccine. Needless to say, that's a big deal for the market, for the U.S., and for the world.

 

DJIA: -0.23% to 29,999.26 S&P 500: -0.13% to 3,668.10 Nasdaq: +0.54% to 12,405.81 The Hot Stock: Occidental Petroleum +9.9% The Biggest Loser: Lumen Technologies -4.0% Best Sector: Energy +3.1% Worst Sector: Industrials -1%