It took 218 trading days for the Dow to hit the latest 1,000-point milestone.

Why it matters: Dow 30K is a purely symbolic milestone. The Dow hitting 30,001, for instance, is no less significant.

It's the time of year when Wall Street shops are rolling out predictions for where they see the stock market headed in the coming year. There's one common theme: Widespread distribution of a vaccine is the reason to be bullish.

Why it matters: Analysts say vaccines will help the economy heal, corporate profits rebound and stock market continue its upward trajectory.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded above 30,000 for the first time ever on Tuesday.

Between the lines: The milestone is symbolic — the Dow hitting 30,001, for instance, is no less significant. However, it underscores the stock market's meteoric rebound from the onset of the coronavirus pandemic: just 8 months ago, the Dow traded below 19,000.

Tesla is soaring past General Motors in market capitalization — even as electric vehicles remain still a tiny slice of vehicle sales and FM's overall sales far outstrip Tesla's.

Why it matters: Tesla's enormous market value helps to show how investors see vehicles with a plug as the future, even though internal combustion vehicles will dominate for a long time to come.

Fund managers surveyed by Bank of America are more optimistic about the stock market now than they’ve been in more than two years. The bank surveyed 216 fund managers who collectively oversee $573 billion.

Worth noting: The survey began as U.S. election results trickled in. It was still in progress when Pfizer and BioNTech released promising data about the efficacy of their coronavirus vaccine.

Affirm, a fintech company that lets online retailers provide pay-later options for customers, has filed to go public.

Why it matters: The company, founded by PayPal co-founder Max Levchin, is the latest Silicon Valley "unicorn" to file for an IPO as the year draws to a close. A number of tech companies are rushing to go public before the end of the year, including Airbnb and DoorDash, with Roblox and others also rumored to be in the pipeline.

In filing for a $1 billion stock offering Monday, Airbnb is betting investors will look past the company's coronavirus-induced struggles and see a brighter future.

Between the lines: Airbnb faces pressure to go public despite the pandemic so it can deliver liquidity both to investors and to early employees, whose options will eventually expire.

Here’s one thing Wall Street investors can say that other Americans can’t: Things are looking really good.

Why it matters: The backdrop is the worst rate of coronavirus infections since the pandemic began. But that’s no match for a prospective vaccine down the line, which adds to already favorable conditions for investors.

Tesla will join the S&P 500, the index's committee said on Monday.

Why it matters: After years of ineligibility, one of the most valuable U.S. companies by market cap (and the most valuable automaker in the world) is joining the main benchmark of the stock market as its biggest new member ever.