Dow stocks hitting 52-week highs include Cisco (CSCO), Coca Cola (KO), McDonald’s (MCD), Procter & Gamble (PG) and UnitedHealth (UNH). There are no Dow stock 52-week lows.

The Market

Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to open up +45 points.

Wednesday the Dow closed up +90.42 (+0.25%) at 36,488.63.

Year-to-date the Dow is up +19.22%.

There were 22 Dow stocks up Wednesday.

The Dow stock winners Wednesday were led by Walgreens (WBA) 52.25 (+1.59%), Nike (NKE) 168.78 (+1.42%) and Home Depot (HD) 410.84 (+1.14%).

The Dow stock losers Wednesday were led Boeing (BA) 203.66 (-1.20%), Verizon (VZ) 52.36 (-0.68%) and Chevron (CVX) 117.95 (-0.51%).

Not much happening again. However here in the Pacific Northwest we are getting more snow. Already have another 4″ or so this morning.

A booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Covid-19 vaccine was found to be 85% effective in preventing hospitalizations in a South African study, which has yet to be peer-reviewed.

President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin are due to have a call at 3:30 p.m. Eastern, according to the White House schedule, to discuss tensions in Ukraine.

Unemployment insurance weekly claims in the week ending December 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 198,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 205,000 to 206,000. The 4-week moving average was 199,250, a decrease of 7,250 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since October 25, 1969 when it was 199,250. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 206,250 to 206,500. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.3 percent for the week ending December 18, 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 18 was 1,716,000, a decrease of 140,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since March 7, 2020 when it was 1,715,000. The previous week’s level was revised down by 3,000 from 1,859,000 to 1,856,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,859,500, a decrease of 59,500 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 down by 750 from 1,919,750 to 1,919,000. The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending December 11 was 2,177,355, an increase of 39,363 from the previous week. There were 20,492,081 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 mostly higher.

The national average price of gasoline is up two-tenths of a cent at $3.285 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.

Walgreens (WBA) reports earnings on 1/6/2021 before the market open.

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

Cisco (CSCO)

Cisco (CSCO) 63.96 (+0.68%) is up +42.93% in 2021.

Financial Calendar

08:30 AM ET Continuing Jobless Claims
08:30 AM ET Initial Jobless Claims
08:30 AM ET Jobless Claims 4-Week Avg.
09:45 AM ET Chicago PMI (Dec)
10:30 AM ET Natural Gas Storage
11:30 AM ET 4-Week Bill Auction
11:30 AM ET 8-Week Bill Auction