Stocks Soar As Traders Reassess Omicron, And Refocus On Strong Economy And Earnings

Plus 5 New Strong Buys for Today Stocks Soar As Traders Reassess Omicron, And Refocus On Strong Economy And Earnings [Kevin Matras - EVP - Photo] Profit from the Pros By Kevin Matras Executive Vice President Stocks Soar As Traders Reassess Omicron, And Refocus On Strong Economy And Earnings [Stocks Soar As Traders Reassess Omicron, And Refocus On Strong Economy And Earnings]Image: Bigstock Stocks soared yesterday and are now up for the week. In spite of rising Omicron case counts, and some new restrictions and closures to mitigate the spread, the mild symptoms the variant has presented has come as a bit of a relief. Catching it is still a serious issue, but the death rate from the Omicron variant, which is now the dominant strain, has so far been a fraction of the other variants. As such, the U.S. will not be going into a nationwide lockdown. Moreover, with reports that the Omicron variant in South Africa, where it was first detected, is now 'over the curve,' with case counts on the decline, that could very well foreshadow good news for the U.S. and the rest of the world. And stocks wasted no time bouncing back from the Omicron-induced sell-off which began late last week. While the markets will continue to monitor developments with the virus, the strong fundamentals for both the economy and stocks have come back into focus. And that remains bullish. That was underscored with yesterday's Redbook report which showed same store retail sales up 16.4% y/y vs. last week's pace of 15.7%. Today we'll get a further look at the economy with the final estimate for Q3 GDP (the consensus is unchanged from the previous estimate of 2.1%), MBA Mortgage Applications, Existing Home Sales, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index, Corporate Profits, and Consumer Confidence. We'll also have a busy day of economic reports tomorrow as well, as everything was packed into this week's shortened trading week. Remember, the markets will be closed on Friday for Christmas. But trading resumes as normal on Monday. And we have a full 5-day trading week next week to close out 2021. In the meantime, stocks are near their all-time highs. And with December typically being a strong month for stocks, it looks like there's more upside to go before the year comes to a close. So make sure you're taking full advantage of it. See you tomorrow, [Kevin Matras - Signature] Kevin Matras Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research Sponsor [7 Best to Buy and Hold Forever]( Have you ever passed over a company and later regretted not buying it? MarketBeat has identified 7 stocks that appear to be nothing special at first glance but have truly incredible long-term prospects. These companies print billions of dollars in cash each year, yet many investors are ignoring them. 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