Dow stocks hitting 52-week highs include Apple (AAPL) 248.05 (-2.14%) and Visa (V) 309.78 (-2.68%). There are no Dow stock 52-week lows.

The Market

Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to be up +346 points.

Wednesday the Dow closed down -1123.03 (-2.58%) at 42,326.87.

Year-to-date the Dow is up +12.30%.

Wednesday, (1) Dow stock was up, none made 52-week lows, and (2) made 52-week highs.

The lone Dow stock winner Wednesday was UnitedHealth (UNH) 499.72 (+2.92%).

The Dow stock losers Wednesday were led by Amazon (AMZN) 220.52 (-4.60%), American Express (AXP) 287.78 (-4.50%), Goldman Sachs (GS) 550.25 (-4.25%), Sherwin Williams (SHW) 348.66 (-3.89%) and IBM (IBM) 220.17 (-3.84%).

The VIX closed Wednesday at 27.62 (+74.04%) and the 10 YR at 4.518 (+0.40%). The VIX is currently at 21.26 (-23.03%). The 10YR is at 4.554 (+1.20%).

Stocks plunged Wednesday after the Federal Reserve struck a heavy blow to the roaring bull market, signaling that it was likely to only cut interest rates twice next year, down from the four reductions that had been penciled in during their last forecast in September. The central bank also trimmed its benchmark overnight borrowing rate a quarter percentage point Wednesday, to a target range of 4.25% to 4.5%, but the question now is what policymakers will do in 2025.

Initial filings for unemployment benefits fell back to their recent trend last week after briefly spiking higher, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Jobless claims totaled 220,000 for the period ending Dec. 14, a decline of 22,000 from the previous period and lower than the Dow Jones estimate for 230,000. The four-week moving average, which accounts for volatility in the numbers, edged higher to 225,500. Continuing claims, which run a week behind, nudged lower to 1.874 million.

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

The national average price of gasoline is up 1.1 cents at $3.045 per gallon.

Earnings Reports

Nike (NKE) reports earnings on 12/19/24 after the market close.

UnitedHealth (UNH) reports earnings on 1/10/24 before the market open.

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

Goldman Sachs (GS)

Goldman Sachs (GS) 550.25 (-4.25%) is up +42.64% in 2024.

Financial Calendar

08:30 AM ET Continuing Jobless Claims, 1,890K, 1,886K
08:30 AM ET Core PCE Prices (Q3), 2.10%, 2.80%
08:30 AM ET Corporate Profits (QoQ) (Q3), 0.0%, 3.5%
08:30 AM ET GDP (QoQ) (Q3), 2.8%, 3.0%
08:30 AM ET GDP Price Index (QoQ) (Q3), 1.9%, 2.5%
08:30 AM ET GDP Sales (Q3), 3.0%, 1.9%
08:30 AM ET Initial Jobless Claims, 229K, 242K
08:30 AM ET Jobless Claims 4-Week Avg., 224.25K
08:30 AM ET PCE Prices (Q3), 1.5%, 2.5%
08:30 AM ET Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index (Dec), 2.9, -5.5
08:30 AM ET Philly Fed Business Conditions (Dec), 56.6
08:30 AM ET Philly Fed CAPEX Index (Dec), 24.90
08:30 AM ET Philly Fed Employment (Dec), 8.6
08:30 AM ET Philly Fed New Orders (Dec), 8.9
08:30 AM ET Philly Fed Prices Paid (Dec), 26.60
08:30 AM ET Real Consumer Spending (Q3), 3.5%, 2.8%
10:00 AM ET Existing Home Sales (MoM) (Nov), 3.4%
10:00 AM ET Existing Home Sales (Nov), 4.09M, 3.96M
10:00 AM ET US Leading Index (MoM) (Nov), -0.1%, -0.4%
10:30 AM ET Natural Gas Storage, -123B, -190B
11:00 AM ET KC Fed Composite Index (Dec), -2
11:00 AM ET KC Fed Manufacturing Index (Dec), -4
11:30 AM ET 4-Week Bill Auction, 4.240%
11:30 AM ET 8-Week Bill Auction, 4.260%
16:00 PM ET US Foreign Buying, T-bonds (Oct), 77.00B
16:00 PM ET Overall Net Capital Flow (Oct), 398.40B
16:00 PM ET TIC Net Long-Term Transactions (Oct), 216.1B
16:00 PM ET TIC Net Long-Term Transactions including Swaps (Oct), 216.10B
16:30 PM ET Fed’s Balance Sheet, 6,897B
16:30 PM ET Reserve Balances with Federal Reserve Banks, 3.274T