Santa Claus Rally -- Day 4 -- December 29, 2020

Firster things firster: seasonal flu disappeared this year.

CDC: MMWR. seasonal flu map -- all green: minimal activity. Headline, 30-second elevator speech and not being reported by the mainstream media: the number of influenza positives reported by public health labs remains much lower than normal despite a higher than normal number of tests performed.

First things first: "CLR upgrade helping energy rebound: at the open"-- SeekingAlpha. 

Oil and gas E&P stocks are getting a lift as KeyBanc Capital upgraded Continental Resources to Overweight from Sector Weight this morning, noting higher future Bakken activity and refocus to oil in Oklahoma.

Analyst Leo Mariani said the company will see “improved leverage next year, significant FCF generation in 2021, and nice exposure to higher oil prices,” Bloomberg reports. The price target of $20 would be a 23% rise from current prices. 

The Santa Claus Rally, 2002, is tracked here. 

Three links:

• AAPL: upside;
• AAPL: close to $138;
• Apple is tracked here;
• So, where is AAPL today?  $138.15, up $1.46; up over 1% in pre-market; 7:42 a.m. CT
• But then this, fifteen minutes ago: Apple eyes breakout -- Investor's Business Daily;
• at the open: here we go -- even ZeroHedge noticed --
  
  
  
  

Energy:

• most under-reported international story in past month: cold snap in China
• previously mentioned in passing on the blog twice:
• now this: China secures coal, gas and power supplied ahead of another cold wave -- S&P Global;

Chart of the year and that's saying a lot. I normally don't like these guys but this morning, worth a look. I might come back to this; looks like a stand-alone post warranted. Link here.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site, but I'm curious. Can readers suggest to me their favorite blog for daily chatter about the market? I'm looking for a Louis-Rukeyser-like daily synopsis. Good writing, a sense of humor, a fair amount of sarcasm.

Earnings explosion in 2021: the "buzz" on CNBC this morning.

Chinese flu watch: link here.

• Coronavirus: statistics. By country. By state.

• The World In Data.
  

• WSJ - Johns Hopkins data.  

• CDC: MMWR. seasonal flu map -- all green: minimal activity. Headline, 30-second elevator speech and not being reported by the mainstream media: the number of influenza positives reported by public health labs remains much lower than normal despite a higher than normal number of tests performed.