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“If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.“ – Abraham Maslow

What was looking like a negative session for equities late last night steadily improved overnight, and futures are firmly in positive territory as the open nears.  Sentiment was already improving, but Pfizer’s (PFE) announcement that its vaccine was actually 95% effective instead of 90% helped the positive tone.  Also, the latest data on Housing Starts and Building Permits was inline to modestly better than expected.

Be sure to check out today’s Morning Lineup for a rundown of the latest stock-specific news of note, European economic data, trends related to the COVID-19 outbreak, and much more.

The big news outside of equities this morning is in cryptocurrencies as bitcoin’s price topped $18K for the first time since late 2017.  After breaking out of its uptrending channel a few weeks back, bitcoin hasn’t looked back.
    

    
From a long-term perspective, bitcoin is now just $600 from its record high closing price, which would set the stage for a pretty textbook breakout if it occurs.
    

     
Given its attractiveness as a store of value, we like to compare bitcoin’s price to the price of gold.  The last time bitcoin’s price was this high, gold was considerably lower, so one bitcoin would buy close to 15 ounces of gold.  Today, the ratio is considerably lower at just under 10 ounces.  So, there’s a way to go before the ratio gets back to record highs, but the recent move has taken the ratio back above its most recent peak in 2019.