Last night the futures sold off as news hit that Republican Ray Moore lost the Senatorial election in Alabama. That had some of the anti-Trump bears excited but, as usual, the negative narrative didn't last long. Apparently the loss of the vote won't impact passage of the tax bill which is expected to come to the floor for a vote on Monday.
This tax bill is the gift that keeps on giving. Every time there is a new headline about it making progress in Congress the computer algorithms trigger their buy programs and we see a spike in the indices. The news is never fully discounted because the buyers aren't interested in valuations. They are focused only on news flow and price action.
Bitcoin continues its frenzy with the Bitcoin Fund (GBTC) hitting the $2500 market this morning. It was around a $1000 in late November and now trades with a substantial premium to the actual bitcoin. I'm sure there are plenty of traders trying to arbitrage that spread but it may not be easy to find the right vehicles to do it efficiently.
The blockchain and crypto stocks are calming down and I'm watching for entry points. My main two plays remain Overstock (OSTK) which is blockchain play and US Growth (GROW) which is a play on cryptos. OSTL is my Stock of the Week and is up on news that it may sell off its retail operations to fund its blockchain program. I'm adding back some shares I've flipped. MGT Capital (MGTI) which is the vehicle used by the founder of MacAfee is another play I like but that trades OTC which I don't like.
I am having a hard time finding many new setups right now with the indexes extended and rotation taking place. I'm not going to chase financials and many of the technology and biotech names need to rebuild their charts after pullbacks. One biotechnology name I added back today is Aimmune Therapeutics (AIMT) .
We are drifting a bit as we await the Fed decision this afternoon at 2 pm. While that news will not hold many surprises it will trigger some program trading and give us some movement.
