The New York Stock Exchange has traders on it.
Spencer Platt is a photographer.
The S&P 500 could mark 12 consecutive months of notching a new record high, but worries about the Omicron coronaviruses strain could put the longest streak of records in years at risk.
The benchmark of large-cap stocks has 66 record highs during the year and is in rare air in making new highs each month.
"If the S&P 500 makes new highs in December that would be a perfect 12 for 12 matching the previous record of 14 in the year of 2014," the note said.
The S&P 500 has risen 22% this year, driven by profit growth for companies listed on the index.
The Omicron threat was underscored Wednesday as US stocks gave up strong gains after the first US case of the new variant was confirmed.
"December is historically a pretty solid month for stocks, but now we have the Omicron variant wreaking havoc on markets," said Ryan Detrick, the chief market strategist for LPL.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 lost 2% of its value after the CEO of Moderna warned that vaccines could be less effective against Omicron. The World Health Organization last week named the variant of the coronaviruses.
There are still questions about the variant's impact on financial markets. We think that stocks will sidestep the new variant worries, but we think investors should be prepared for a bumpy end to the year.
The S&P 500 has historically gained 1.5% in December, the third-best month of the year after April and November.
The majority of December's gains occur in the second half of the month, as the holiday good feel vibes start to come out.
Business Insider has an original article.
