• Steady Gains Across Major Indexes: The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all continued their upward trajectory, marking their seventh week of gains. The Dow even hit a record high.

• Trading Volumes Spike: There was a significant increase in trading, with a focus on stocks that had been heavily shorted.

• Lower Market Volatility: The VIX, Wall Street's "fear gauge," dropped to its lowest level since the COVID era, indicating a calmer market.

• Inflation Eases: Inflation reports were more benign than expected. Core inflation rates remained steady, and producer price inflation was lower than anticipated.

• Fed's Future Rate Cuts: The Federal Reserve hinted at more substantial rate cuts in 2024, signaling a shift in monetary policy.

• Retail Sales Rise: Retail sales in November were better than expected, suggesting a strong start to the holiday shopping season.

• Bond Yields Decline: Long-term U.S. Treasury yields fell sharply, influenced by the inflation data and the Fed's outlook.

• Tech Sector's Resilience: The tech sector showed strength, particularly in certain sub-sectors like semiconductors, as companies adapt to the changing economic landscape.

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Thanks for reading, guys!

Ideas, trends, and analysis

• Three innovative EV companies not named Tesla.

• China’s economic slowdown has become a big problem for banks that serve the rich.

• Streaming wars: How Disney, Apple, Amazon and Alphabet battle for the next leg up.

📊 Income

• You can grab Bank of America preferred shares yielding 6.24%.

• Three attractive pharma dividend plays.

📊 Crypto

• It was a tough week for crypto, but it seems to have leveled off over the weekend.

• Another bullish prediction for Bitcoin: $75k in 2024.

• Crypto-adjacent: Nearly $3 million worth of Bored Apes were stolen from NFT Trader. Nearly all of them were recovered.

🌍 Global Perspectives

🇨🇳 China’s real estate meltdown is battering middle-class wealth.

🇨🇳 Undeterred: Officials predict a 2024 recovery.

🇭🇰 Related: Hong Kong, long a destination for Chinese luxury shoppers, is suffering.

🇨🇦 The Canadian government is poised to pass rules requiring all new vehicles sold in the country to be zero-emissions by 2035.

🇭🇺 🇪🇺 Will Hungary and the EU break up?

🇷🇺 Delegates from Russia’s ruling party unanimously backed President Vladimir Putin’s bid for reelection.

🇷🇺 🇺🇦 🇺🇸 How a Putin victory in Ukraine could devastate the United States.

🇺🇦 The world’s largest shipping companies are pausing operations through the Suez Canal because Iran-backed Houthis keep shooting missiles at their ships.

💎 Wealth Watch

• Buy Now Pay Later is getting more popular. It’s dangerous for both the shopper and the economy.

🦹🏻 Scam Watch

Tis the season for scams.

• How to protect your credit and bank cards from getting hacked.

• The Philippines is Asia's new epicenter for online shopping scams.

• How to avoid gift card scams.

• WTF is “smishing?”

• What are missed delivery scams?

• How to talk to older people in your life about scams.

🗳️ Outside the Box

• A brave soul tried the Doritos booze, so you don’t have to.

• An Italian family who hid a Botticelli masterpiece for generations gave the painting to the police.

📈 Trends you need to know

Search results are from our friends at Glimpse, my favorite way to spot trends.

You’ll never guess which American metro searches for the word “fraud” most often.

That’s all for today. Did we miss anything? Smash the reply button to let us know.

Cheers,

Wyatt