Friday, 6 December 2024
by BD Banks
Conway Gittens: I’m Conway Gittens reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here’s what we’re watching on TheStreet today.
One day after the Dow, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq all closed at record highs investors are wondering how much higher stocks can go without a correction. Meanwhile, investors are digesting a bigger-than-expected rise in weekly jobless claims. Applications for unemployment benefits rose to 224,000 for the week ending November 30th. Any sign of labor market weakness is seen as bolstering hopes for a December interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
Related: Bitcoin could reach $420,000 by 2030, crypto bull says
In other news, bitcoin is trading above $100,000 for the first time ever. The cryptocurrency broke the psychologically important milestone on Wednesday thanks to Donald Trump’s latest administration pick.
Paul Atkins has been tapped to take over the Securities and Exchange Commission from outgoing SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. While Gensler was seen as a restricting force in the crypto world, Atkins is expected to be quite the opposite. Atkins is already on record as a crypto believer who thinks there should be clear regulations that don’t tie the industry’s hands or engage in meddling oversight.
The crypto industry is basking in its glory – of sorts. In the past election, it backed crypto-friendly candidates, including Donald Trump, with major donations. $131 million dollars flowed to super PACs, which then deployed that money to push crypto-backing politicians. In addition, millions of dollars in crypto donations went directly to Trump’s campaign coffers.
Now with Trump headed to the White House and a friend likely headed to lead the SEC, crypto investors are giddy. Bitcoin is up 130 percent year to date. last year this time it was only at $44,000.
That’ll do it for your Daily Briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m Conway Gittens with TheStreet.
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