Nothing gets investors more excited than taxes these days. Except maybe for bitcoin, which has past $11,000 as we speak.

Back on the ground, Wall Street stocks look to be gearing up for records as optimism over a Republican tax plan grows. But as you revel in this bull market’s gains, spare a thought for the money managers who are playing catchup as the year ends. And then thank them.

“Their desperate buying will likely keep a bid under this market and keep pushing us higher in the final weeks of the year,” notes Cracked Market’s Jani Ziedins in a blog post.

That could only be good for some of the market’s brightest stars this year, such as Tesla — TSLA, -5.59% which brings us to our call of the day, from Mott Capital Management founder Michael Kramer. Laying down his top predictions for 2018, he says Tesla shares could nearly double to $600 next year and reach a market cap of $100 billion.

It’s a boldish call on the electric car company, which is up 48% this year and has rolled out big announcements, such as a self-driving semi. Plus, this blockbuster year for stocks has left some analysts unconvinced about a repeat of those good times in the year to come.

Here’s Kramer’s rationale: “Investors seem to be willing to forgive Tesla for its massive losses, significant cash burn rates, and the company’s inability to never meet a deadline or hit a delivery target,” he says.

He thinks the market values Tesla much like it does Amazon AMZN, +5.69% , which seems to “pick and choose when it wants to miss, meet or beat analysts earnings estimates.”

Tesla has been just as maverick, but that hasn’t hurt its ability to raise cash in the past, says Kramer, noting that Elon Musk’s baby has traded pretty consistently around 2.75 times one-year forward sales estimates. Amazon is about two times for that metric, he says.

Tesla revenue estimates have risen nearly 20% over the past year, and should that trend continue, its valuation could approach $100 billion as early as next year, says Kramer. “Sales estimates for 2019 could start pricing in the Tesla semi-truck and possibly faster growth,” he adds.

Should you doubt the greatness of this call, then check out these articles: Tesla could become a victim of its own success, says UBS and Morgan Stanley says brace for a wild Tesla ride in 2018.

Key market gauges

The Dow DJIA, +0.51% is moving towards 24,000 at the start. But things are less peppy where the S&P 500 SPX, +1.05% and Nasdaq COMP, +1.71% are concerned. In Asia ADOW, -0.68% , stocks mostly shrugged off that North Korea missile launch. It was in Asian hours that bitcoin BTCUSD, -0.07% cracked $10,000 for the first time. It’s now at $11K and who knows, $12,000?

MarketWatch

Europe stocks SXXP, +0.20% are hitting a 3-week high, thanks to banks. Crude US:CLF8 is down on concerns about U.S. supply data due later, as OPEC looms for tomorrow. Gold US:GCZ7 is off, while the pound GBPUSD, -0.03% is surging again on hopes of a Brexit divorce deal. The dollar DXY, +0.34% is sagging.

See Market Snapshot for more.

The chart

Are GE’s GE, -1.57% hard times over?

“GE appears to have found a bottom for now,” says The Wall Street Journal’s Daily Shot, which offers up the following chart:

As the Daily Shot points out, a pickup in oil prices as of late has boosted shares, given the conglomerate’s business has increasingly focused on energy.

GE shares are down about 41% year-to-date, hitting a low point earlier this month after investors gave the thumbs down to the company’s turnaround plan. Also giving shares a lift recently have been purchases by executives such as CEO John Flannery.

The buzz

North Korea had a bit more to say about that missile it shot off, saying it can hit any point in the U.S., and giving it a name — the Hwasong-15.

Cryptocurrency interest is spiking right now, alongside the rise for bitcoin BTCUSD, -0.07% . Silicon Valley venture capitalist Michael Arrington looks set to be going all in, announcing a $100 million hedge fund tied to bitcoin rival XRP, which was developed by Ripple.

Chipotle CMG, +2.32% is turning higher after initially dropping on news of a search for a new CEO.

Regal Entertainment US:RGC shares are up after U.K.’s Cineworld Group CINE, +2.86% made a $23-a-share cash offer for its fellow movie theater operator.

Aratana Therapuetics US:PETX is cruising higher premarket. The pet-medicine company canceled a stock offering that crushed its shares on Monday.

Autodesk ADSK, +0.84% is diving after the software company late Tuesday announced a restructuring plan along with its quarterly earnings. And Marvell MRVL, +1.25% looks set for an up day after quarterly results and its forecast were upbeat.

Meanwhile, Alibaba BABA, +0.53% says it will issue up to $7 billion of dollar-denominated bonds.

Read: Everything that Wall Street CEOs have said about bitcoin

The European Central Bank says look out for “large asset price corrections.”

As for Wednesday’s data, GDP for the third quarter got bumped up to 3.3% in a revision to the strongest level in three years. Pending home sales and the Fed’s beige book are also en route.

The stat

Saudi Arabian Prince Miteb bin Abdullah Reuters

More than $1 billion — that’s how much one of the top Saudi princes, Miteb bin Abdullah, reportedly paid to settle charges against him after he was caught up in an anti-corruption sweep. An official told Reuters that Prince Miteb was accused of embezzlement, hiring so-called ghost employees and giving his own companies plush contracts.

The quote

Sen. Bernie Sanders Reuters

“Who in their right mind, with all due respect, believes that we should give massive tax breaks to millionaires, billionaires and large corporations?” — That was Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, blasting the Republican tax plan in a Tuesday night debate with Sen. Ted Cruz (R. TX) on CNN.

This all comes after what was seen as progress on taxes Tuesday, after the Senate Budget Committee voted to advance the Republicans’ tax bill.

Here’s Cruz: “What Bernie wants to do is tax the living daylights out of you.”

The back and forth carried on via Twitter:

Meanwhile, this graphic from the New York Times is making the rounds. It predicts what the Republican tax bill would look like for 25,000 middle-class families:

the New York Times

Read:The Trump tax calculator — will you pay more or less?

Random reads

Trump’s latest tweets are raising some eyebrows:

Shockwaves after NBC fires anchor Matt Lauer

Police in Tampa may have caught a serial killer

Reddit AMA with U.K. plumber turned inventor, who holds over six Guinness records, has it all

“I am done being silent,” says woman who accused Roy Moore of molesting her as a teen.

Raw milk enthusiast? Get to a doctor now

The smart condom has arrived

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