Now that the ghosts of Christmas Eve 2018 are exorcised, stocks look poised to hop on Santa’s back and rally out 2019.

The upward momentum continued on this low volume, post-Christmas session, which also included a new round of all-time highs and another psychological milestone.

At this time of year, everyone wants to know about the holiday shopping season. Will the U.S. consumer, who makes up the lion’s share of our economy, be able to keep the good times going?

Well, Amazon says… yes! (And when it comes to shopping, you REALLY want to listen to what Amazon has to say.)

Shares of the e-commerce giant jumped nearly 4.5% on Thursday as it boasted a record holiday shopping season. It’s no wonder that that NASDAQ had a historic session (but more on that in a minute).

If you want more evidence of the consumer’s strength, Mastercard came out with a report today that U.S. retail sales rose 3.4% year-over-year from the start of November through Christmas Eve.

Not bad for a shorter-than-normal holiday shopping season!

The NASDAQ got a nice boost from Amazon on Thursday as it jumped 0.78% (or nearly 70 points) to 9022.39. Therefore, not only did the index reach a new record, but it also closed above 9,000 for the first time ever.

And one more thing… the NASDAQ now has an 11-day winning streak!

Meanwhile, the S&P rose 0.51% to 3239.91 and the Dow jumped 0.37% (or nearly 106 points) to 28,621.39. These results marked new all-time highs as well.

It might not feel like it due to the holiday, but tomorrow is Friday. The major indices each have a good shot at another positive week.

If so, the S&P would have a fifth straight week in the green, while the other two indices would continue their own winning streaks.

Today's Portfolio Highlights:

Marijuana Innovators: This portfolio easily had the best performer of the day, as Akerna (KERN) jumped 11.6%. That’s nearly twice the runner up. The stock was added just a little over a week ago. It’s a regulatory compliance technology company primarily in the cannabis space that Dave warned was VERY speculative.

Until Tomorrow,
Jim Giaquinto

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