According to preliminary data from Mastercard SpendingPulse, holiday retail sales climbed 8.5% Y/Y for the period spanning Nov. 1 to Dec. 24, 10.7% increase from the same period in 2019, before the pandemic hit.
This year, $Meta Platforms (FB.US)$ may be one of the biggest winners in Christmas. The app for its Oculus headset hits No. 1 in Apple's App Store. Its virtual reality headset: Oculus quest 2 was also one of the most popular technology gifts over the holidays.
This gives Meta more opportunity to show customers the possibilities of its vision for the metaverse.
Shares of $Meta Platforms (FB.US)$ traded up as much as 3.4% Monday. 
So how much did you spend on holiday shopping this year? What cool stuff did you buy?
It is okay if you spend too much on holiday shopping. 
Money never disappears. It just turns into the forms you like.
Source:
Facebook parent Meta rallies 3% as the app for its Oculus headset hits No. 1 in Apple's App Store

Tuesday, December 21, 2021
By Danilo
$Bank of Montreal (BMO.US)$ $Micron Technology (MU.US)$ $Alibaba (BABA.US)$ $Oracle (ORCL.US)$ $Vuzix (VUZI.US)$ $GoodRx (GDRX.US)$

Right after praising $Dogecoin (DOGE.CC)$ , Elon Musk soon tweeted to announce that Tesla will accept some payments in the digital token on Tuesday. 
Dogecoin skyrocketed as much as 23% on Tuesday. Its price soared as much as 40% compared with Monday's level at 5 p.m. ET.
Being one of the most volatile among cryptocurrencies, it had surged over 15,500% in 2021 at its peak in May and is still up over 3,000% for the year.
Dogecoin was initially started as a joke, and now it may become a real currency that used for car purchasing.
Are you surprised by that?Or you knew this was coming?
Source:
Dogecoin Soars After Elon Musk Says Tesla Will Accept It as Payment for Merchandise

2021 is an unusual year for the stock market. Despite the worry of inflation and pandemic, the US stock market is on its longest bull-run in history. Kicked off with the mania of WSB, the market keeps heading north and ends at nearly all-time highs.
Event 1: WSB Beat Hedge Funds
Date: Jan 2021
At the beginning of this year, a group of millennials revolved around $GameStop (GME.US)$, a retail company that struggled with selling video games, to fight against hedge funds. After WallStreetBets pumped GameStop's stock price to unprecedented heights, some institutional investors who shorted the company's stocks almost bankrupted. Following the rule of "Go big or go home", WSB turned to other "meme stocks" such as $AMC Entertainment (AMC.US)$ , whose stock price soared by 455% in Q2.
Mooer's takeaways: What makes you profit or lose from the market?
@GT1982 shared two lingos in particular:
1) DYODD
Do your own due diligence as always. To summarise this, it means never copy or act on an investment idea based on hearsay without studying the company first.
2) FOMO.
Fear of missing out. Many investors, new and veteran alike, are guilty of this. Very often this leads to a painful loss. In short, do not chase a stock just because many are doing it. Study the company fundamentals first which essentially is related to lingo No. 1.
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Event 2: Global Chip Shortages
Date: May 2021
The global shortage of microchips has become a severe problem in 2021. The gap between insufficient supply and surging demand causes dilemmas for companies desperate for chips. Semiconductors are necessary for cars, PCs, smartphones, etc. Manufacturers of these products are facing an unprecedented situation. However, a crisis for one could be an opportunity for another. Since the market crashed in March 2020, the $PHLX Semiconductor Index(.SOX.US)$ has more than doubled.
Mooer's takeaways: What is the "DNA" of technology
@HuatLady said:
In this millennium, our reliance on the use of semiconductor for technological advances is undisputed worldwide. Automobiles, smartphones, home appliances and wireless networks depend heavily on the use of semiconductors. This is what "makes the world goes round", and is the "DNA" of technology.
The key challenges are:
1) The inability to meet the market's demands. Since 2019, there is an acute shortage of chips' supply globally. These high demands for chips may stretch into 2023. This will incur a 27% loss if there is a 3 months' delay in manufacturing.
2) Hence the cost of manufacturing may not meet planned budget. After weighing through both the positive and negative aspects of semiconductor investment, I opt to follow my heart and favours the trading of quality semiconductor shares as a long term investment.
View More>>
Event 3: S&P 500 Doubled amid a Pandemic Dip
Date: Aug2021
In August 2021, the $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ rallied 100% from the pandemic dip since March 2020, becoming another milestone for the US stock market.
Mooer's takeaways: How to invest at a market high?
@Dadacai said:
There is a possibility of market correction and funds being stuck when investing during market highs so my approaches are as follows:
1) Choose stocks I have confidence in and don't mind holding for the long term.
2) Split the purchases into 3 or more lots at different timings to average out the cost.
3) For intraday trading, choose stocks which have a high volume of trading and set a stop loss.
4) Don't invest what I cannot afford to lose.
View More>>
Event 4: Metaverse, the Next Generation of the Internet
Date: Oct 2021
Metaverse is regarded as the next generation of the Internet by some institutions. It's a can't-miss concept in 2021 that may lead to an investing buzz in the next decade. To attract market attention, tech giants have laid out their versions of the metaverse. On October 28, Facebook $Meta Platforms (FB.US)$ officially changed its corporate name to Meta as part of a major rebrand, shaking off the social media by launching new strategies to go "all in" to the metaverse.
Mooer's takeaways: Are Metaverse and playing games with VR the same?
@NANA123 said:
The reason why people distinguish the virtual world from the real world is because the virtual world generated by the platform-style Internet at this stage cannot carry people's asset rights and social identity. The identity achievements and assets acquired by people in the virtual world are in the hands of platform operators. If the operator chooses to close the platform or close the account forcefully, everything you've gained on the platform goes up in smoke. However, the rapid development of blockchain technology in recent years has derived a decentralized Internet form, which effectively guarantees the transparency and certainty of the virtual world rules generated under this form.
View More>>
Event 5: EV Mania
Date: Nov2021
On October 21, $Tesla (TSLA.US)$ released the 2021 Q3 earnings that beat the market's expectations. Its stock price increased by 22% in a week. When Tesla's stock price hit a record high of 1243.49 dollars, the shareholders started to buckle up. Meanwhile, other EV stocks were also growing fast. Rivian, a rival of Tesla, saw its price soared by 120% five trading days after it got listed. Lucid also yielded good results.
Mooer's takeaways: How much risk are you comfortable with?
@HopeAlways said:
The stock market appears to be giving incredibly high valuations to EV stocks, whether the companies have proven themselves effective manufacturers or not. As with the EV stocks, there will be winners and losers, and these investments seem to belong to the more speculative portion of a stock portfolio. Understanding individual risk tolerance level is an important step in determining which EV stock is suitable for investors.
View More>>
Which event do you like the most? Does any of the events above ring the bell?
Feel free to leave your comments below!
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$Phunware (PHUN.US)$
$Bitcoin (BTC.CC)$ is the new track, $Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC.US)$ won’t affect the stock price as much as it used to.
Our new hope is BTC bulling up, if DWAC and BTC together bull up, it will be more than a help for our HODLERS!

$Tesla (TSLA.US)$
Most buyers are short sellers to cover

Value or Growth Stocks? Lots of investors have long argued the dilemma. 
The so-called growth stocks have been through their hard time in recent days. High-flying growth stocks are bordering on correction territory. 
Familiar names like $Palantir (PLTR.US)$, $CrowdStrike (CRWD.US)$, $Snowflake (SNOW.US)$ $Salesforce (CRM.US)$ etc. 
When talking about disruptive innovation, the name that comes up to investors' mind must be "ARK". And it's been a dismal week for Cathie Wood's flagship fund, $ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK.US)$ , that's left nearly all of her holdings in bear market.
ARKK fell 12.6% this week for its worst week since February. It dropped 5.5% on Friday. 
Is this the sign that people are not in favor of growth stocks and disruptive innovation companies? Or maybe it's just because investors need something more solid fundamentally under the risk of Omicron? Would you comment down below and tell mooers about your thoughts?