Stocks make record highs as Biden officially becomes president of the US Stocks opened higher and finished at record levels amid stimulus hopes after Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States. In addition to bets on more forthcoming government assistance, expectations for more solid earnings gave stocks a boost following a number of high-profile beats last night and this morning. Potential investor concerns over a disorderly transfer of power were eased as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn in as president and vice president without any noteworthy disturbances at the nation's capitol or any state capitols. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the NAHB housing market index fell 3 points to 83 in January TOP NEWS: Shares of Netflix ($NFLX) rose almost 17% after the company reported fourth quarter results and said it had surpassed 200M subscribers for the first time. The better than expected subscriber growth last quarter, as well as management commentary that the company no longer needs outside capital to fund its business, prompted upgrades of Netflix to Overweight at Wells Fargo and to Buy at UBS along with a wealth of price target hikes from other Wall Street firms. In other earnings news, Procter & Gamble ($PG) reported fiscal Q2 core EPS and revenue that topped consensus and raised its FY21 core EPS view, UnitedHealth ($UNH) beat expectations on the top and bottom lines and backed its FY21 outlook and Morgan Stanley's (MS) headline earnings and revenue topped consensus forecasts. In COVID-19 news, Amazon ($AMZN) said in a letter addressed to President Joe Biden that it is ready to turn its facilities into COVID-19 vaccination sites and is offering other resources to the U.S. government, according to media reports. In the letter, Amazon executive Dave Clark said the Seattle tech giant wants to help the Biden administration reach its goal of vaccinating 100M Americans in the next 100 days. Meanwhile, Tesla ($TSLA) shares were fractionally higher despite Kynikos Associates founder Jim Chanos stating during an interview on CNBC that the firm has transformed its short position in Tesla shares into a put position, but is continuing to bet against the electric carmaker amid the stock's rise. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Collectors Universe ($CLCT), which jumped 17.8% after it amended its merger agreement with an investor group to $92 per share. Also higher was Aptorum Group ($APM), which gained 26.4% after receiving clearance from the Public Health Agency of Canada regarding the clinical trial application to commence a Phase 1 study of ALS-4, an orally administered small molecule drug intended to treat infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus including MRSA. Among the notable losers was Ceragon Networks ($CRNT), which declined 15.6% after Needham analyst Alex Henderson double-downgraded the stock to Underperform from Buy. Also lower was U.S. Bancorp ($USB), which fell over 5% after reporting quarterly results. Reviewing Wednesday's economic data, which were non-events:The NAHB Housing Market Index decreased to 83 in January (Briefing.com consensus 88) from 86 in December.The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index decreased 1.9% following a 16.7% spike in the prior week.Russell 2000 +9.4% YTDNasdaq Composite +4.4% YTDS&P 500 +2.6% YTDDow Jones Industrial Average +1.9% YTDMarket SnapshotDow31188.38+257.86(0.83%)Nasdaq13457.25+260.07(1.97%)SP 5003851.85+52.94(1.39%)10-yr Note 0/321.089NYSEAdv 1990 Dec 1119 Vol 992.2 mlnNasdaqAdv 2102 Dec 1651 Vol 6.7 blnIndustry WatchStrong: Communication Services, Information Technology, Consumer DiscretionaryWeak: Financials, Consumer StaplesMoving the Market-- Mega-caps power market to fresh record closes-- Netflix (NFLX) shares climbed 17% after earnings report-- Joe Biden inaugurated as the 46th president Disclosure: I may trade in the ticker symbols mentioned, both long or short. My articles represent my personal opinion and analysis and should not be taken as investment advice. Readers should do their own research before making decisions to buy or sell securities. Trading and investing include risks, including loss of principal. If you liked this article, please click the LIKE (thumbs up) button. Feel free to leave any comments, question, or opinions. (Sign-up if you haven't already done so). Follow us/bookmark us and check back occasionally for additional articles or comments on our page... Wild Tiger Trading - start/main page. .