STOCKS HIT ALL-TIME HIGHS, DOW CRACKS 19,000: Here’s what you need to know

Stocks once again topped all-time highs for the second day in a row as the winning streak for equities continued.

Of special note, the Dow Jones Industrial Average cracked the 19,000 level for the first time in its history.

We’ve got all the headlines, but first, the scoreboard:

• Dow: 19.036.37, +79.68, (+0.42%)
• S&P 500: 2,204.56, +6.59, (+0.25%)
• Nasdaq: 5,381.53, 12.55, (+0.23%)
• WTI crude oil: $48.03, -$0.21, (-0.44%)

1. Donald Trump will reportedly name two new Federal Reserve Governors within his first three months as president. According to Bloomberg, citing two transition team sources, Trump will fill the two open seats on the Fed’s Board of Governors that have been open for years.
2. Existing home sales surged. Homes sales jumped by 2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.60 million. The recent jump in mortgage rates may change the dynamic in housing market.
3. Dollar Tree beat on earnings and surged. The discount retailer posted earnings of $0.81 per share after adding back in debt restructuring costs, higher than the $0.77 per share expected by analysts. The firm also raised their guidance for the all-important holiday quarter. The stock gained over 8% for the day.
4. Amazon made up its post-election losses. The online retailer dropped by 9% in the days following the election of Donald Trump as president. The firm broke above the pre-election level for the first time on Tuesday.
5. A market thinks a rate hike is a done deal. The CME Group’s fed funds futures, a market-based measure of investor confidence in a rate hike at the Fed’s December meeting, jumped to 100.2% early in the day.

ADDITIONALLY:

The rotation from bonds to stocks is just getting started

Paul Krugman on the white working class

Donald Trump said Bill Gates and Tim Cook called him after the election

Americans open roughly 500,000 store credit cards on Black Friday