Stocks Soar into Christmas as Santa Claus Rally Arrives

A Santa Claus rally is officially in play. Stocks skated into the holiday season in style, with all three major indexes nabbing comfortable wins. The Dow added 390 points for a fourth-straight win, while the S&P 500 reclaimed the 6,000 level. The tech-heavy Nasdaq logged a third-straight triple-point pop thanks to an outsized move from Big Tech, closing the shortened session above 20,000.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including:

• How did our Top Stock Picks of 2024 fare?
• Airline stock brushes off massive grounded flights.
• Plus, a lofty note for NFLX; a red-hot chip stock; and a VIX level to watch.

5 Things to Know Today 

1. A Russian cargo ship has sunk in the Mediterranean. (Reuters)
2. The Federal Reserve just got sued by U.S.-based banks. (MarketWatch)
3. Analyst sets big target for Netflix stock.
4. Broadcom stock pads its December gains.
5. Wall Street's "fear gauge" at a key pivot point.

There were no earnings of note today.

There is no unusual options activity chart today.

Commodities Ready for Christmas Break

Oil prices were cautiously higher today but gains were capped by geopolitical pressures. February-dated West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude added 58 cents, or 0.8%, to settle $69.82 per barrel.

Gold prices were also steady, as the safe-haven asset adds 0.1% to settle at $2,631.60 an ounce.