**__ Diplomatt’s Daily Digest – January 19, 2022__**
Good morning and happy Wednesday, everyone! U.S. stock futures were slightly higher early this morning following a sell-off on Wall Street triggered by surging bond yields. U.S. futures broadly moved higher Wednesday even though government bond yields again were slightly higher, with the 2-year note rising to 1.06% and the benchmark 10-year Treasury near 1.89%. The move, which comes after a market holiday in the U.S. Monday, indicates that investors are preparing for the possibility of more aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 ended nearly on top of its 100-day moving average. With a light economic calendar this week, all eyes will be on key technical support levels, earnings reports, and whether bond yields keep surging toward 2% or finally take a breather.
**StockTwits Top 10 Trending Tickers of the Day:**
1. BBIG
2. SOFI
3. DWAC
4. ATVI
5. BAC
6. AQUAGOAT
7. SPY
8. BKKT
9. IBRX
10. PLUG
Quote of the week: „The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.“ – Marcus Aurelius.
**General News:**
• In addition to the at-home testing kits that people may order, the Biden administration will make 400 million N95 masks available for Americans to pick up for free at thousands of pharmacies and community health centers.
• The World Health Organization on Tuesday said the pandemic would not end as the omicron variant subsides in some countries, warning the high levels of infection worldwide will likely lead to new variants as the virus mutates.
• Procter & Gamble on Wednesday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street’s expectations as price hikes helped offset higher commodity and freight costs.
• Chinese domestic smartphone shipments recovered from the hit they took during the pandemic but have still not recovered to pre-Covid levels, according to government data.
• Shares of SoFi rallied by more than 16% in after-hours trading on Tuesday following news that the fintech cleared its final regulatory hurdle in becoming a bank.
• Microsoft is purchasing Activision Blizzard for a deal close to $690 billion, a price that would narrowly eclipse the richest U.S. tech deal in history.
• Several foreign airlines are canceling flights to the U.S. over concerns about 5G interference, despite a last-minute commitment from telecom giants Verizon and AT&T to delay the deployment of the new service near some airports.
• TikTok owner ByteDance has disbanded its investment department, a company spokesperson told CNBC on Wednesday.
**Cryptocurrency News:**
• Early-stage venture firm Inflection has launched a new $40 million Mercury Fund to invest in companies building the „open economy.“
• Proof-of-work crypto mining should be banned in the European Union (EU), according to the vice-chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).
• Ethereum’s dominance in NFTs is shrinking because of congestion and high gas fees – losing out to Solana.
• The MiamiCoin project has generated $22.5 million for the city.
• NFT marketplace OpenSea confirmed its acquisition of Dharma Labs on Tuesday, a deal that could help the $13 billion crypto firm expand its technological prowess.
• Crypto exchange Coinbase and payments giant Mastercard have teamed up to simplify the buying experience of NFTs.
• Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency is reportedly seeking to block websites dealing in cryptocurrency.
• Crypto.com, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, experienced an incident on January 17 when some users reported strange activity in their accounts. Auditing firms $15 million was lost due to the „strange activity.“
