Our top 10 things to watch Friday, Dec. 29 1. It’s the final trading day of the year. Can the S & P 500 surpass its all-time closing high 4796.56? CNBC’s Bob Pisani is letting readers know that closing the year at a historic high is a fairly rare event — it has only happened eight times since 1926, and only four times since 1963, according to S & P Global. 2. Alphabet has agreed to settle a lawsuit claiming it secretly tracked user activity of people who thought they were browsing privately. Settlement terms were not disclosed, but the lawsuit had sought at least $5 billion. 3. Nomura downgraded Uber to hold from buy, saying most catalysts now priced in to shares. 4. Nvidia shares were up slightly after the company announced the launch of a slower gaming chip to be sold in China — part of the chipmaker’s strategy to comply with new U.S. exports restrictions. 5. Boeing told airlines to check 737 Max plans to look for a “possible loose bolt” in the rudder control system, the latest quality issue to affect the jetliner. The inspection will take about two hours per plane. 6. Maine became the second state to disqualify former President Donald Trump from its primary ballot. The ruling follows a similar one from Colorado last week. 2024 is certainly shaping up to be an interesting election year. Stocks tend to do well in election years, though as CNBC’s Sarah Min reported earlier this month , not quite as good as they do in the year prior to an election. On average, stocks during pre-election years advance 10.4%, while in election years, they gain 6%. 7. Goldman Sachs reiterated its “conviction buy” call ahead of Constellation Brands earnings next week, citing a positive risk-reward setup heading into the print. 8. Analysts at William Blair believe Lululemon ‘s “broad-based strength” continued in December and will result in an increase to Q4 sales and earnings guidance at the ICR Conference held Jan. 8 -10. 9. It’s the last day of the year to take advantage of some…
Read the full article here