President Trump has signed the second largest spending bill in history, which piggybacked the misery and suffering of Covid-19 and draconian lockdowns to push through an assortment of pork that amounts to earmarks. The difference was in the past  massive pork spending was added onto bills to gain more ‘yes’ votes.  This bill is more of a jailbreak where there was little opposition to layering on pet projects.  Hence, it was every man and woman for themselves.

The market is happy with the news because the more money sloshing around, the more that will find its way to the bottom lines of income statements.  I just wish it had been more about helping households.  In that regard, I am crestfallen.

That being said, there is already chatter about making it right and passing another bill soon with greater focus on households.  Greater focus doesn’t mean regular Americans will be the priority, giving Congress another bite at the apple (the tell is eviction moratorium only goes one month further out).

The Brothers Grimm couldn’t have come up with a better story.

Meanwhile, Christmas shopping was only 2.4% higher from November 1 to December 24 from a year earlier.  I thought it would be higher and think earlier passage and more household help would have made a huge difference.

After sagging on Christmas Day, Americans took back to the skies with a strong increase over the weekend.  The numbers are still down significantly from a year ago levels, but it is heading in the right direction.

 Portfolio Approach

We are adding a new idea in Industrials, which takes our cash level to only 5%.  This is the kind of rally you want to be long, but also not afraid to take large gains, especially if the individual value proposition is changing.

Today’s Session

Lots fo chatter over the continued meteoric rise in bitcoin and those equity names associated with bitcoin.  Watch the so-called reopening trades. I prefer the term normalcy, which should have a strong session lead by airlines and cruise ships (we put NCLH back on the new buy list).