Markets Unphased By Treasury Nominee

The market has been in a holding pattern after leaping out the gate ahead of the confirmation hearing for Janet Yellen to become the first woman to head up Treasury Department. 

It has been intriguing. The questions have been anticipated, and the event is more of a tug of war over President Elect Joe Biden plans to tax and spend.  She has held up well, although a little iffy on the topic of taxing assets before they are sold.  Yikes! 

I will have more on her comments in the morning Hotline commentary.  Meanwhile, investors haven’t been frightened by what they’ve heard thus far, as they have eschewed the three key traditional haven sectors (Utilities, Real Estate and Consumer Staples).

Instead, the big move in Energy keeps going followed by Communication Services, which took it on the chin last week.  Despite the controversy, and certain revenue losses at Facebook (FB) and Twitter (TWTR), the latter got its third upgrade since booting President Trump, and then purging tens of thousands of additional users, the stocks are up today.

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The action reminds me of those sessions when the FOMC wraps up its meeting.  Kind of sideways, but hinting at being a coiled spring, and at the conclusion, the market takes off big time.   We could see that today.  Of course, there is a big event tomorrow, too, that the market might be waiting for. 

Big shoutout to Mary Barra of General Motors (GM), which is getting another big lift today.  This time on news Microsoft (MSFT) has made an investment in the Cruise. 

Financials are holding up well despite wishy-washy reactions to earnings from more industry giants this morning.

Energy

The big move today in Energy is being led by refiners. The next big resistance point for the XLE is 46.0.