Top Story
Markets Continue to Recover From Losing Streak
• US stocks were up for the second day in a row Wednesday. The market continued to recover after a three-day selloff brought on by concerns about the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
• Data showed that consumer sentiment was up in December, exceeding economists’ expectations. Americans appeared to be less concerned about inflation and the pandemic, but this data only reflects responses from up until December 16 — before the Omicron variant was as widespread as it is currently.
• The Biden administration is putting measures in place to mitigate the impact of the surge in COVID-19 cases. The White House will distribute 500 million free at-home COVID-19 tests. It will also place military doctors and nurses in hospitals around the country this winter to alleviate staffing shortages.
What to Be on the Lookout for Today
• Initial and existing unemployment claims for the week earlier are released. Jobless claims have been steadily declining as people return to work again. After hitting a low not seen since 1969, initial unemployment claims have climbed, largely due to the Omicron variant.
• Real consumer spending and core inflation for November will be published. The final University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for December will also come out.
• There are no major earnings reports scheduled for today.
The Importance of Credit Scores
Data analyst Cynthia Frelund breaks down the basics of credit scores. Watch the video to learn about what a credit score is, what makes up your score, and why it matters.
A Few Headlines That Should Be on Your Radar
CES, the tech sector’s annual conference, will take place in-person, despite rising cases of COVID-19. Some big names including Amazon, Meta, Twitter, and T-Mobile have pulled out, but CES is forging ahead. The conference will test sentiment among business travelers. How it turns out could impact the way businesses approach larger gatherings in 2022. Read more >> Web3, a futuristic, decentralized internet powered by blockchain, has received a lot of attention in recent days. Proponents of Web3, otherwise known as Web 3.0, say the internet of today is centralized and controlled by a handful of big internet companies. With a decentralized internet, the power would lie with individuals rather than with these corporations. Read more >> Maersk is transforming into a full-service logistics company. To do this, the company is buying LF Logistics for $3.6 billion. By acquiring LF Logistics, Maersk can expand into ground logistics and hopefully boost sales by moving products from Asia to the US. With the purchase, the company also said it can gain more control in the last-mile delivery market. Read more >> How to Build Credit Over Time Making every payment on time is the ideal way to build credit successfully. Broadly, the basic strategy for good credit is actually quite straightforward and intuitive: Be the kind of borrower you would want to lend to. Tactically, these seven steps might help. Read more >>Not-So-Breaking News
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The White House is extending the moratorium on federal student loan payments until May 1, 2022. Rising cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 prompted President Biden to push back the deadline.
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Amazon’s (AMZN) web services unit suffered its third outage in recent weeks yesterday, temporarily impacting Slack (WORK), Epic Games, and other popular services. Amazon was able to restore service more quickly than it was during the previous outage.
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Under Armour (UAA) is teaming up with basketball legend Stephen Curry to launch a non-fungible token offering. The collection consists of 2,974 NFTs, celebrating Curry’s new status as the top three-point shooter in NBA history.
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Safety regulators in the US launched an inquiry into the more than half a million Tesla (TSLA) vehicles sold over the past five years. Regulators are investigating the company’s decision to enable game playing from the vehicle’s main front touchscreen.
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With the holidays a few days away, consumers are having a tough time finding COVID-19 tests. Walgreens (WBA), CVS (CVS), and Amazon (AMZN) have limited the number of tests a customer can purchase in response to the surge in demand.
Financial Planner Tip of the Day
“The further away a person is from hitting their credit limit, the healthier their credit score will be, in most circumstances. A borrower’s debt-to-credit ratio, also known as the credit utilization rate, should ideally be no more than 30%. Higher utilization rates can negatively affect a person’s credit score. Paying revolving credit lines in full each month can have a positive impact on a person’s credit score because doing so essentially lowers the credit utilization rate.”
Brian Walsh, CFP® at SoFi