Seven trading days don’t tell us much about price trends, but if we plead temporary insanity and restrict our view of performance to the 2019 calendar the numbers look encouraging. What can we do with this information? Not much, but as financial entertainment goes it’s amusing. Let’s throw caution to the wind and consider how some key markets are shaping up so far this year, if only as a brief distraction from the chaos unfolding in Washington and its shutdown soap opera.
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Senate Majority Leader McConnell blocks House bills to reopen gov’t: The Hill
Gov’t workers will miss their first paychecks today due to shutdown: TPM
Trump says he may use emergency powers to build wall: Reuters
Fed Chairman Powell: prolonged gov’t shutdown could pinch economy: CNBC
Fed debate about its portfolio of bonds and other assets heating up: WSJ
Survey of economists: US recession risk at 25% –a 6-year high: Bloomberg
Flu season expected to cost employers $17 billion: CG&C
US jobless claims continue to point to strong labor market: Reuters
Oil rallies for 9th straight session–longest winning streak on record: MW
Dec marked 59th straight month of net inflows into ETFs/ETPs globally: ETFGI