Stocks go higher as COVID-19 vaccine rollout begins in the U.K. Stocks were weaker in the early going as rising virus cases in the U.S. and the resultant increase in shutdowns, the lack of stimulus, and frustration over the seemingly endless Brexit talks prompted some profit taking. However, stocks regained those early losses and closed the day at new record levels as the S&P 500 climbed above 3,700 for the first time. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., Q3 nonfarm productivity was revised to a 4.6% annualized growth rate, slowing from the 4.9% in the preliminary report. In COVID-19 news, data from the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering shows there are now 67.92M confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, including over 15M in the U.S., and 1.55M deaths due to the disease, including about 285,000 in the U.S. On the stimulus front, the Washington Post reported that White House officials are urging Republican leadership in the Senate to include stimulus checks worth $600 in the economic relief package currently being debated. TOP NEWS: Shares of Pfizer ($PFE) closed 3.2% higher after the FDA posted briefing documents online ahead of the Dec. 10 FDA advisory committee meeting to discuss potential Emergency Use Authorization for the company and BioNTech's ($BNTX) COVID-19 vaccine candidate BNT162b2. After reviewing the documents, Goldman Sachs analyst Terence Flynn reiterated his previously expressed positive outlook on the odds of U.S. approval of the vaccine, which is already being administered in the United Kingdom. Shares of Stitch Fix ($SFIX) surged 39.2% after the company reported a surprise profit in the first quarter, along with better than expected revenue for the period. In addition, the company announced that Dan Jedda, formerly of Amazon ($AMZN), has been named CFO and provided better than expected revenue guidance for fiscal 2021. Northrop Grumman ($NOC) announced that it an affiliate of Veritas Capital signed a definitive agreement to acquire the federal IT and mission support services business of Northrop Grumman for $3.4B in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2021. In other M&A news, Tarena International ($TEDU) shares jumped 12.1% after the company announced a proposal to be acquired by Shaoyun Han, its founder and chairman of the board, for $4 per American depositary share. The company cautioned that the board has just received the proposal letter and has not made any decisions with respect to the proposal letter and the proposed transaction. Meanwhile, Tesla ($TSLA) filed to sell $5B in common stock through an at-the-market program. Following the move, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said that another capital raise was a "smart strategic move" for the electric car maker. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers were Smartsheet ($SMAR), which gained a respective 11% after reporting quarterly results. Also higher was Curis ($CRIS), which jumped 355% after the company reported preliminary data from the ongoing Phase 1 study evaluating monotherapy CA-4948 in relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes. Among the notable losers was Penumbra ($PEN), which declined 8.9% after Quintessential Capital Management, or QCM, stated in a follow-up report that it has reason to believe that Penumbra's "core scientific research" is "authored by a fake person" as part of a "sophisticated, multi-year gross deception." In response to the short seller report, Penumbra said the claims are "false" and "baseless." Also lower was Conn's ($CONN), which fell over 17% after reporting quarterly results. Reviewing Tuesday's economic data:Productivity in the third quarter increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.6% (Briefing.com consensus 5.0%) on today's revision versus the preliminary estimate of 4.9%. Unit labor costs decreased at an annual rate of 6.6% (Briefing.com consensus -8.9%) versus the preliminary estimate of -8.9%.The key takeaway from the report is that it reflects the strong rebound in the third quarter, as the economy rebounded from the depths of the pandemic-related shutdown.The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index decreased to 101.4 from 104.0 in October.Nasdaq Composite +40.2% YTDRussell 2000 +14.9% YTDS&P 500 +14.6% YTDDow Jones Industrial Average +5.7% YTDMarket SnapshotDow30173.82+104.09(0.35%)Nasdaq12582.69+62.83(0.50%)SP 5003702.26+10.29(0.28%)10-yr Note +1/320.921NYSEAdv 1981 Dec 1122 Vol 911.2 mlnNasdaqAdv 2323 Dec 1308 Vol 4.7 blnIndustry WatchStrong: Energy, Materials, Health Care, Consumer StaplesWeak: Real Estate, Utilities, Financials, Communication ServicesMoving the Market-- S&P 500, Nasdaq, Russell 2000 close at record highs-- FDA said it saw no safety concerns for the Pfizer (PFE)-BioNTech (BNTX) vaccine that would preclude issuance of an emergency use authorization-- Peer-reviewed data indicates AstraZeneca (AZN)-Oxford vaccine is safe and effective-- Hopeful-sounding stimulus concession from Senate Majority Leader McConnell Disclosure: I may trade in the ticker symbols mentioned, both long or short. 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