Tesla traders bet its shares could rise 13% by Christmas to a new record. Bets are on for the Fed to cut rates next week. MicroStrategy to boost Bitcoin

US stocks hit brand-new record highs as jobs data gave investors confidence the Federal Reserve will cut rates next week at their Dec 17-18 meeting. Traders are betting there is an 85% chance of a 0.21% cut. That’s great news for investors at a time when we have gained further evidence the consumer is strong. A consumer-sentiment indicator (preliminary University of Michigan consumer sentiment) rose to its highest level since April, and online retail spending after Black Friday rose almost 8% in the week. The optimism drove the S&P 500 $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ to its 57th record closing high for the year. The index is now up almost 30% in 2024, marking its best gain since 2019.

Its shares rose 5.3% to $389.22. We’ve been speaking about Tesla $Tesla (TSLA.US)$ being a pin-up stock that seems to benefit the most from incoming President Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s friendship, while Musk is heading up DOGE to drive economic growth and cut wasteful spending. However, what’s really telling is that the options traders are betting Tesla shares could rise to $400 by December 20. While there’s a smaller amount of bets for Tesla to hit $440. That will be a nice early Christmas present and imply a 13% gain from Friday’s close.

Michael Saylor the CEO of MicroStrategy $MicroStrategy (MSTR.US)$ posted on X hours ago, that his fund, which is the biggest listed company holding bitcoin, could be buying more. His fund owns 400,000 bitcoins. If MicroStrategy fund buys more, it will could probably boost Bitcoin’s further above the key $100,0000 milestone. So keep an eye on MicroStrategyshares. Its shares are already up 529% this year. Keep an eye on the world’s biggest holder of bitcoin as well, the Blackrock ETF, IBIT $iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT.US)$

While investors will now consider selling out of oil stocks as oil prices are down 1.6%—their third day of losses...as OPEC+ is forecasting an oversupply in 2025. Shares in the Australia's biggest oil and gas company,  Woodside $Woodside Energy (WDS.US)$ have now fallen 22% this year. But I don't think some investors will be selling out of Woodside in a hurry, as it pays the fourth biggest dividend in Australia, of 8%.