As expected, congress passed their funding bill today which avoids a Government shutdown for now. President Trump also officially signed into law the new tax bill with surprisingly little pomp and circumstance. All of the major indices traded with extremely low volume which is to be expected going into the three day, holiday weekend.
The Dow 30 was lower by 26, but still just off highs. The S&P 500 lost 1, and the Nasdaq 100 was lower by 5 as well. The markets are closed on Monday for Christmas, but will reopen as normal on Tuesday. Fun fact, history suggests that the first trading day after the Christmas holiday is positive 71% of the time.
Bitcoin and Bitcoin Futures (/BTC) were a big focus today as the price of the popular crypto-currency fell below 12,000. Futures fell over 7% on the day and are now lower by 35% since opening this past Sunday at 20,650. Popular bitcoin marketplace, coinbase announced that buying and selling were temporarily disabled due to volume. Competition, and system stability continue to be a major deterrent from educated investors participating.
Papa John's (NASDAQ: PZZA) sold off 4.00% today as the company announced Papa John is out at the CEO position. The worlds third largest pizza delivery company announced that Steve Ritchie would take over the CEO role effective Jan. 1. The company is hoping to get back to Pizza as the main focus to consumers following the CEO's comments about NFL protests hurting their sales on the last conference call.
Nike (NYSE: NKE) weighed on the S&P 500 and Dow 30 today as shares fell 2.29% on earnings. The company announced revenue of $8.6 billion for the previous quarter which was slightly better than analysts expectations. Earnings were better than expected but Wall Street had already lowered their expectations so investors focused on slower sales and competition. Nike has seen more efficient competitors gain market share recently. Adidas is one name who's been able to regain market share and continues to perform well.