December 23, 2021 – Santa paid a visit to markets today, giving an across-the-board lift to most major markets. Stocks, precious metals, oil, and Bitcoin were among the beneficiaries of this year end gift. Of particular interest, gold breached resistance at $1,800 and Bitcoin has inched above $50,000.
Helping to support this move up is a sense that the messages of fear regarding Omicron are more lethal than the mutation itself. As such, markets are anticipating that global economic growth will continue in 2022. Risk still remains that governments could still shut down, disrupt, or otherwise hamper commerce with mandates, regardless of facts or consequences. This risk is far greater than generally weighed by the consensus, in my opinion.
Nonetheless, with just a few trading days to go, the normal low volume holiday trading, and the natural sense of optimism inherent this time of year, it appears that was enough for Santa to finally show up. All the best and Happy Holidays.