Jake Novak's Morning Business Briefing, 12/18

STOCKS/ECONOMY

-Stock futures are flat after Thursday's 149-point gain for the Dow, larger 0.6 percent rise for the S&P 500, and 0.8 percent rally for the Nasdaq. All three indices hit all-time closing highs. Investors remain mostly focused on the COVID-19 stimulus bill talks in Washington.

-The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond is up to 0.93 percent, with the 2-year yield 81 basis points behind at 0.12 percent.

-Gold is at the $1,892 per ounce level. Bitcoin is at the $22,900 level. 

-Asian markets were lower today, led by a 0.7 percent loss for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index. Shanghai's Shenzhen composite lost 0.3 percent and Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.2 percent.

OIL/ENERGY

-U.S. crude prices are flat and holding at the $48 a barrel level.

-Gasoline prices are up to $2.21 a gallon, national average.

CORONAVIRUS LATEST

-Congressional leaders are racing against a midnight deadline to extend COVID-19 relief benefits and pass a new stimulus bill. 

-CVS Health and Walgreens have begun providing COVID-19 vaccine shots at thousands of U.S. nursing homes. 

-A key FDA panel voted Thursday evening to approve Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. Distribution is expected to begin nationwide next week. Moderna shares are flat in the premarket after rising 5 percent Thursday.

-Coca-Cola is cutting 2,200 jobs worldwide as the company responds to reduced demand due to COVID-19 lockdowns at restaurants, stadiums, and movie theaters. Coca-Cola shares are slightly higher in the premarket and down 4 percent for the year.  

CHINA TENSIONS

-Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says the U.S. will add about 80 more companies, most of them Chinese, to a trade blacklist. That includes China's state owned Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC).

EARNINGS SCORECARD

-FedEx reported better than expected quarterly profits and revenues. But it refused to provide earnings guidance for 2021, leading some investors to worry that business may drop significantly when COVID-19 lockdowns end. FedEx shares are down 3 percent in the premarket, but are still up 93 percent for the year. 

-Winnebago reported much better than expected quarterly profits and better than expected revenues. The RV maker's shares are up 6 percent in the premarket and are up 12 percent for the year. 

-Darden Restaurants reported better than expected quarterly profits, but lower than expected revenues. Same-restaurant sales also fell 20.6 percent. Darden shares are down 2 percent in the premarket but up 9 percent for the year. 

TESLA TUMMULT

-Watch for extra volatility, and a possible surge in Tesla shares today, ahead of the electric vehicle maker’s inclusion in the S&P 500 on Monday. Tesla shares are up 1 percent in the premarket this morning and are up 684 percent for the year. 

BREXIT BATTLE

-The chief negotiator for the E.U. says there are only hours left to make a post-Brexit trade deal with the U.K. But the exact results of a so-called "no-deal Brexit" are still not completely clear. 

STEEL WARNING

-U.S. steel says it expects to report a fourth-quarter quarter loss of 85 cents per share, wider than the 57 cents a share loss that Wall Street analysts had been anticipating. U.S. Steel Shares are down 3 percent in the premarket but up 63 percent for the year. 

GAMING WARS

-Sony has has removed the video game Cyberpunk 2077 from its PlayStation Store because of several bugs in the game and other problems. Shares of the game's Polish-based developer, CD Projekt, are down 20 percent today and the company has lost around $6.6 billion in market value since the game’s release last Thursday.

IPO MANIA

-Bitcoin exchange Coinbase has filed for an IPO. This comes as bitcoin is at all-time highs and is up 200 percent for the year. 

-Online second-hand clothing retailer Poshmark has filed for an IPO after posting $30 million in profit over the last two quarters. 

DEFENSE

-President Trump again says he will veto the $740.5 billion defense bill if it does include a move to repeal certain legal protections for Internet companies. 

-GM Defense says it's started renovation of an existing General Motors building to support production of the Infantry Squad Vehicle, an all-terrain troop carrier designed to transport a nine-soldier infantry squad. GM shares are flat in the premarket after gaining more than 1 percent Thursday.