STOCKS TICK UP: Here's what you need to know
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 closed up, while the Dow finished slightly negative.
First up, here's the scoreboard:
- Dow: 19,874.36, -16.64, (-0.08%)
- S&P 500: 2,273.59, +3.15, (0.14%)
- Nasdaq: 5,572.28, +24.76, (+0.45%)
- US 10-year yield: 2.387%, +0.026
- WTI Crude: $52.45, -0.56, (-1.1%)
1. Americans have never been this conflicted about the economy's direction. Various surveys of consumer and business confidence have shown decisive improvement in sentiment since the election. But Republicans are a lot more excited than Democrats, according to the University of Michigan.
2. Retail sales jumped in December on strong car sales and online shopping. Retail sales increased by 0.6% in December from a revised 0.2% pace in November. "Consumers are actually in pretty good shape," said Scott Anderson, chief economist at Bank of the West, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas.
3. Wells Fargo missed on earnings in its first full quarter since its accounts scandal. The bank reported earnings per share of $0.96 on revenue of $21.58 billion on Friday. Those numbers were lower than the $1.00 and $22.45 billion that analysts were expecting.
4. JPMorgan beat on earnings, and had a record-breaking quarter. Meanwhile, Bank of America beats on the bottom line, but missed on the top line.
5. The oil rig count fell for the first time in nearly 3 months. The number of active oil rigs fell by seven to a total of 522. One gas rig was added, taking that total to 136.
6. Trump's tweets are driving millennials to make a rookie investing mistake. In a survey of 904 people, E-Trade found that 60% of those ages 25 to 34 had traded off a Trump tweet. "Older investors have lived through many more market environments, and they are cognizant of the fact that what the president-elect says is much less meaningful in the longer term," said Mike Loewengart, E-Trade's vice president of investment strategy.
ADDITIONALLY:
Bernie Madoff reportedly dominates the hot chocolate market in prison.
Man who says he "would be dead" without Obamacare confronts Paul Ryan on the law's repeal.
GOP lawmaker uses bizarre goat metaphor for Obamacare while arguing for repeal.
CITI: Here's the key level to watch for oil.
Here's the memo the CEO of JPMorgan's giant investment bank just sent to staff.
Evan Spiegel is selling his vision to investors ahead of Snap's huge IPO.