With Rubio and Corker Backing Tax Plan, Stocks Take Off

Maybe the scuttlebutt about Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bob Corker (R-TN) being persuaded to vote for the long-awaited tax reform plan circulating in the congress caused stocks to career higher on Friday, but the more likely catalyst was probably much more mundane: the expirations of options on a quad-witching day.

There were certainly a boatload of long bets on individual stock and index options, and, since the market is so overtly controlled by a handful of "whales" it was simple business to boost stocks throughout the day no matter what the news of the day portended.

Anybody who doesn't believe the market is rigged to go higher - incessantly - in support of central bank plans to intercede in global markets by buying assets and printing fiat, is simply fooling themselves.

Thus, bears have been declawed, pension funds and IRA are becoming whole (or, at least less underfunded) and top stock holders have been handed capital gains on a silver platter with little to no effort or brainpower on their parts.

Since congress appears poised to pass the pending tax legislation in the coming week, investors are sure to get a gift-wrapped Christmas present in advance of the give-away holiday.

2017 will go down in history as one of the best ever for stock market investors. The major averages are well into the green and some individual stocks are boasting gains of 30, 40, 50 percent or more.

Happy Holidays. Keep Dreaming.

At the Close, Friday, December 15, 2017:
Dow: 24,651.74, +143.08 (+0.58%)
NASDAQ: 6,936.58, +80.06 (+1.17%)
S&P 500: 2,675.81, +23.80 (+0.90%)
NYSE Composite: 12,699.68, +70.61 (+0.56%)

For the Week:
Dow: +322.58 (+1.33%)
NASDAQ: +96.50 (+1.41%)
S&P 500: +24.31 (+0.92%)
NYSE Composite: +56.62 (+0.45%)