1. Coronavirus chaos with Sydney cluster

The Sydney northern beaches cluster was the curve ball that business didn’t need to see thrown, just when Christmas parties were about to roll into holiday getaways across borders that have been snapped shut.

Victoria, WA, South Australia, Queensland, and the ACT have introduced quarantine impositions and Tasmania has understandably stood in the way of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race that has been cancelled. Anyone wanting to travel interstate anywhere will need to check out what restrictions apply, with the travel and hospitality sectors again thrown into chaos, with cancellations disrupting business and ultimately leading to requests for rebates on upfront fees and charges already paid.

Lawyers are bound to see a surge in business to deal with the consequences of disputes over who pays for this Coronavirus hit to the business of Christmas.

2. Covid cancels UK Christmas

The British Prime Minister has bitten the bullet and imposed stricter levels of coronavirus restrictions to curb rapidly spreading infections. Millions of people must cancel their Christmas get-togethers and most shops have to close in London and much of southern England. The capital and large areas in southern England are already under tough restrictions but they have been taken to the Tier 4 level, that requires all non-essential shops, hairdressers and indoor leisure venues to close.

Restaurants, pubs, bars and theatres in much of the UK are already shut and prepared for a bleak Christmas. Now all shops in many areas that do not sell food or medicine have been closed down until December 30. The Coronavirus has effectively scrooged Christmas in the UK.

3. Buying opportunity for stocks?

The futures on the Australian stock market tells us what to expect today and it isn’t pretty. An 85 point sell-off or 1.27% down is the early call but as professional investors and retail stock players rush for the exit doors today on stocks that were set to do well as the economy opened up to Christmas, parties, flying and holidays, the overall market index will sink like a stone. This will be a temporary sell off. For the courageous, there will be buying opportunities for stocks that will eventually do well when vaccines cancel this Coronavirus threat. But right now, fear and loathing about the Christmas restrictions will not be ignored by the stock market today.

4. Fauci vaccinates Santa

When asked whether Santa will be able to visit children this Christmas, Dr Anthony Fauci confirmed he has taken care of things. "I took a trip up there to the North Pole. I went there and I vaccinated Santa Claus myself. I measured his level of immunity, and he is good to go," Fauci told a town hall hosted by CNN and Sesame Street.

5. US markets up for the week

Despite falls on Friday, the three major Wall Street indexes all ended the week up higher, with the standout being the Nasdaq which rose 3.05% for the week to 12,755.64. The S&P 500 was up 1.25% for the week to 3,709.41 and the Dow Jones rose 0.44% to 30,179.05.