Charlie Munger, Q4 GDP, Disney: 3 Things to Watch By Investing.com

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com — Stocks surged again as travel companies and chipmakers got a boost from rising optimism about the reopening trade.

Good news on the vaccine front may account for part of the gains. The Food and Drug Administration, which is going to vote to authorize emergency use for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s Covid vaccine later this week, said the single shot dose was safe and effective.

Millions of vaccine doses are going to roll out next week, improving the outlook for a faster economic recovery. That sent shares of airlines higher. Also getting a boost: hotels, movie theater chains and cruise lines, all up on optimism about business returning to normal.

To that end, the House is preparing a floor vote on President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic relief package. 

The weekly unemployment claims data comes out on Thursday. Analysts are expecting a slight improvement though still-elevated levels of both initial claims and continuing claims. 

Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:

1. Charlie Munger on bubbles and speculation

Charlie Munger, the Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) B (NYSE:BRKb) executive who has long been Warren Buffett’s sidekick, holds court at the Daily Journal Corp (NASDAQ:DJCO)’s annual shareholder meeting. It’s sort of a precursor to the annual Buffettpalooza known as the Berkshire shareholder weekend (virtual again for the second year).

On Wednesday, Munger had some things to say about current trends in the market. The ever-popular blank check companies, he said, are a “sign of a bubble.” Commission-free trading apps like Robinhood also are responsible for the speculation in the markets, he said. 

“It’s really stupid to have a culture which encourages as much gambling in stocks,” he told Daily Journal shareholders. “It’s a dirty way of making money.”

2. Economic output revision for the fourth quarter

On Thursday morning at 8:30 AM ET (1330 GMT), the government will release the second print of the fourth quarter economic output. Analysts tracked by Investing.com expect the reading to be 2.0%, which would be up slightly from the first print of 1.9% in January.

3. Happiest place on Earth once more?

Speaking of reopening trades, Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) stock hit a record high on Thursday around $197 on a couple of positive developments. The company has both a big travel and theme park-related business, which has been hurting during the pandemic, and a studio business that has been lifted lately by its Disney + streaming service.

On Thursday, Bloomberg reported Disneyland, the theme park in Southern (NYSE:SO) California, is bringing back 1,000 cast members, a bullish sign that reopening is ahead. Its “Touch of Disney” limited capacity ticketed experience kicks off at its California Adventure park next month.

Disney also announced it would stream the next part of the Star Wars franchise over Disney+ in May.