The S&P 500 is looking to make it four straight days of near 1% gains ahead of Thanksgiving and Friday’s early close. The index is currently up just under 1% and breath is solid with equal-weight, mid and small caps all tracking closely. Yesterday the S&P 500 finished just under 1% higher while regaining the 50 and 20d ma. Several retailers were sharply higher following earnings: KSS +43%, ANF +38%; EAT +7% BBY +5%. Meanwhile a big divergence trade in tech continued as Nvidia fell >2% while Alphabet’s AI-fueled momentum continued. 2y treasury yields fell 4bp with reports that White House Sr. Adviser Kevin Hassett was the front runner to replace Fed Chair Powell, given his alignment with the administration’s policy outlook. Inline with the broad strength, several sectors are up around 1%, with Tech and Materials at the top. Oracle is bouncing from oversold levels while semis are strong across the board. Dell is up ~5% after reporting results last night. According to management, “AI momentum is accelerating in H2 of the year, leading to record AI server orders…” However the company also noted that unprecedented cost increases are impacting all product categories, centered on memory. HPQ is trading lower after its earnings. Chemicals and miners are pushing Materials higher. Comm Services is lagging as Alphabet takes a breather after a 20%+ gain over the past month. Healthcare is another laggard with recent gainers like Life Sciences and Eli Lilly taking a holiday break. In today's data, Regarding today’s data, Initial Jobless Claims continue to remain at relatively low levels and declined to 216K from 222K, coming below estimates. Continuing claims were a bit higher than last week, but that comp was revised lower from 1974K to 1953K. Bitcoin moved up from earlier losses, then took another leg up to challenge $90K. Ether saw similar action, getting north of $3000 and closer to the 20d ma ~$3140. Happy Thanksgiving.

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