Another day of high volatility in short squeezed names. Shares of GameStop (GME) dropped 40%, and have been halted several times, after brokers restricted users from buying the stock. This price action looks like it is intensifying the “retail versus hedge funds” narrative, attracting interest from politicians and regulators.

Meanwhile, major indices jumped, roaring back from a sharp sell-off on Wednesday. The Dow Jones is up 560 points, the S&P 500 increased by 74 points and Nasdaq soared 209 points.

All sectors are in the green amid the broad market rally. Defensive sectors such as Utilities and HealthCare are up more than 2%.   The latter is higher as President Biden signed executive order to strengthen Medicaid and The Affordable Care Act.

Leading Economic Indicators increased on December +0.3%; the results were in-line with consensus. Ataman Ozyildirim, Senior Director of Economic Research at the Conference Board, says “the resurgence of COVID-19 and weak labor markets remain barriers to growth.”

New Home Sales

New Home Sales rebounded modestly in December at 842k, after tumbling in November, but came significantly below expectations of 871k. For the year, an estimated 811k new homes were sold, the best level in more than a decade.

We are not going to force the issue this afternoon.