Dow stocks hitting 52-week highs include Cisco (CSCO). There are no Dow stock 52-week lows.

The Market

Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to open up +100 points.

Wednesday the Dow closed up +261.19 (+0.74%) at 35,753.89.

Year-to-date the Dow is up +16.82%.

There were 26 Dow stocks up Wednesday.

The Dow stock winners Wednesday were led by Caterpillar (CAT) 202.15 (+1.94%), Microsoft (MSFT) 333.20 (+1.81%) and Apple (AAPL) 175.64 (+1.53%).

The Dow stock losers Wednesday were led by Nike (NKE) 165.44 (-0.71%), Travelers (TRV) 154.69 (-0.53%) and 3M (MMM) 172.64 (-0.16%).

Indices are looking higher this morning.

The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s Covid pill, the first antiviral drug against the virus for at-home use.

The omicron variant is less likely to result in hospitalization and appears milder than earlier strains of the virus, according to early data released by research teams this week. On Tuesday, a new study from South Africa showed that people infected with omicron are 80% less likely to be admitted to a hospital than if they contract other strains. On Wednesday, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that omicron accounted for 90% of the cases in some parts of the country. The CDC said the variant made up more than 73% of the cases in the U.S. as of Saturday.

Unemployment insurance weekly claims in the week ending December 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 206,000, an increase of 18,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 4,000 from 184,000 to 188,000. The 4-week moving average was 203,750, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since November 15, 1969 when it was 202,750. The previous week’s average was revised up by 1,000 from 218,750 to 219,750. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.4 percent for the week ending December 4, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 4 was 1,845,000, a decrease of 154,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since March 14, 2020 when it was 1,770,000. The previous week’s level was revised up 7,000 from 1,992,000 to 1,999,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,963,250, a decrease of 66,000 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 1,730,750. The previous week’s average was revised up by 1,750 from 2,027,500 to 2,029,250. The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending November 27 was 2,458,419, an increase of 510,808 from the previous week. There were 21,316,898 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

U.S. futures are higher, European stocks are higher and Asian markets ended higher.

The national average price of gasoline is down three-tenths of a cent at $3.293 per gallon.

Earnings Reports

Nike (NKE) reported earnings on 12/20/2021 after the market close with $0.83, beating estimates of $0.626 per share.

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

American Express (AXP)

American Express (AXP) 162.47 (+0.97%) is up +34.37% in 2021.

Financial Calendar

08:30 AM ET Continuing Jobless Claims
08:30 AM ET Core Durable Goods Orders (MoM) (Nov)
08:30 AM ET Core PCE Price Index (YoY) (Nov)
08:30 AM ET Core PCE Price Index (MoM) (Nov)
08:30 AM ET Durable Goods Orders (MoM) (Nov)
08:30 AM ET Durables Excluding Defense (MoM) (Nov)
08:30 AM ET Goods Orders Non Defense Ex Air (MoM) (Nov)
08:30 AM ET Initial Jobless Claims
08:30 AM ET Jobless Claims 4-Week Avg.
08:30 AM ET PCE Price index (YoY) (Nov)
08:30 AM ET PCE price index (MoM) (Nov)
08:30 AM ET Personal Income (MoM) (Nov)
08:30 AM ET Personal Spending (MoM) (Nov)
08:30 AM ET Real Personal Consumption (MoM) (Nov)
10:00 AM ET Michigan 5-Year Inflation Expectations (Dec)
10:00 AM ET Michigan Consumer Expectations (Dec)
10:00 AM ET Michigan Consumer Sentiment (Dec)
10:00 AM ET Michigan Current Conditions (Dec)
10:00 AM ET Michigan Inflation Expectations (Dec)
10:00 AM ET New Home Sales (MoM) (Nov)
10:00 AM ET New Home Sales (Nov)
10:30 AM ET Natural Gas Storage
11:30 AM ET 4-Week Bill Auction
11:30 AM ET 8-Week Bill Auction
12:00 PM ET Dallas Fed PCE (Nov)
13:00 PM ET U.S. Baker Hughes Oil Rig Count
13:00 PM ET U.S. Baker Hughes Total Rig Count