Stocks end mixed / lower ahead of FOMC meeting Stocks were higher to kick off the week as a COVID-19 vaccine begins to roll out in the U.S. and news reports indicate that the UK and EU have agreed to extend talks about Brexit. While the U.S. government has yet to deliver additional stimulus, it remains possible, as it has been said that a bipartisan $908B two-part deal is expected to be proposed today. The major averages were positive across the board in early trading, but were not all able to hold onto their gains, leading to a mixed close for the indexes. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the Federal Reserve's FOMC meets Tuesday and Wednesday, with the central bank's asset purchase plan the focal point amid speculation the Fed could extend the duration of its quantitative easing, or QE, bond-buying program. Data from the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering shows there are now 72.4M confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, including 16.3M in the U.S., and 1.62M deaths due to the disease, including about 299,000 in the U.S. TOP NEWS: Shares of Alexion Pharmaceuticals ($ALXN) surged almost 30% higher after the company agreed to be acquired by AstraZeneca ($AZN) for cash and stock in a deal that implies total consideration to Alexion shareholders of $39B, or $175 per share. AstraZeneca shares trading in New York were 6% lower near noon following this weekend's deal announcement. In other M&A news, Electronic Arts ($EA) agreed to acquire Codemasters, the U.K.-based game developer and publisher behind the "Dirt" and "F1" game series, for roughly $7.98 per share in cash, or about $1.2B. Take-Two ($TTWO) had previously agreed to acquire Codemasters $994M in cash and stock last month. Virgin Galactic ($SPCE) shares fell 17.4% after an update following its recent test flight on December 12. During the test flight, the rocket motor did not fire due to the ignition sequence not completing, after which the pilots conducted a safe landing and return to Spaceport America, New Mexico as planned, the company said. Virgin Galactic is now conducting post-flight analysis and can so far report that the onboard computer which monitors the propulsion system lost connection, triggering a fail-safe scenario that intentionally halted ignition of the rocket motor. Disney ($DIS) was 3.6% lower after BMO Capital analyst Daniel Salmon downgraded the stock to Market Perform from Outperform. With the recent multiple expansion for the initial vaccine news and Thursday's direct-to-consumer investor day, stepping to the sidelines is more appropriate, said the analyst, who also noted that improved vaccination rates could help Disney continue to be a solid "reopening" play. Meanwhile, shares of Airbnb ($ABNB) fell 7% after Gordon Haskett analyst Robert Mollins downgraded the stock to Underperform from Buy, saying the valuation is "more than stretched" when compared to other online travel agencies. Additionally, the Federal Trade Commission issued orders to nine social media and video streaming companies, requiring them to provide data on how they collect, use, and present personal information, their advertising and user engagement practices, and how their practices affect children and teens, the Commission confirmed. The orders are being sent to Amazon.com ($AMZN), ByteDance Ltd., which operates the short video service TikTok, Discord Inc., Facebook ($FB), Reddit, Snap ($SNAP), Twitter ($TWTR), WhatsApp, and YouTube ($GOOGL). The companies will have 45 days from the date they received the order to respond. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Arvinas ($ARVN), which skyrocketed over 94% after releasing interim clinical data on ARV-471 and ARV-110. Also higher was Apellis ($APLS), which jumped 8.8% after reporting top-line Phase 3 results of pegcetacoplan in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. Among the notable losers were AMC Entertainment ($AMC) and Cinemark Holdings ($CNK), which declined a respective 18.6% and 3.4% after a Cinemark representative told Barron's that the company has not engaged in any deal talks with AMC or its representatives, denying an earlier report from the New York Post. Also lower was SolarWinds ($SWI), which fell 16.7% after reporting that it is aware of a cyberattack that inserted a vulnerability within its Orion monitoring products which, if present and activated, could potentially allow an attacker to compromise the server on which the Orion products run Nasdaq Composite +38.6% YTDRussell 2000 +14.7% YTDS&P 500 +12.9% YTDDow Jones Industrial Average +4.6% YTDMarket SnapshotDow29861.49-184.82(-0.62%)Nasdaq12439.95+62.17(0.50%)SP 5003647.50-15.97(-0.44%)10-yr Note 0/320.901NYSEAdv 1230 Dec 1907 Vol 1.0 blnNasdaqAdv 1824 Dec 1830 Vol 4.4 blnIndustry WatchStrong: Consumer Discretionary, Information TechnologyWeak: Energy, Materials, Financials, IndustrialsMoving the Market-- Vaccine rolls out, but S&P 500 and Dow roll over-- Cyclical sectors lagged, while growth stocks outperformed-- Energy sector and last week's hot IPO companies succumbed to profit-taking interest-- NYC shutdown concerns Disclosure: I may trade in the ticker symbols mentioned, both long or short. 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