The Week's Top Stories is a guided tour through the biggest market stories of the week, from winning stocks to brutal dips to the facts and forecasts generating buzz on Wall Street.
CYBERATTACKS
The September cyberattack on MGM Resorts may have cost the company $100 million, but the company reportedly refused to pay the hackers. Caesars was also hit with an online attack, but reports at the time said the company paid the hackers $15 million. The stock was down for the week until Friday, when it announced the company had enough insurance to cover the damages.
Meanwhile, Clorox announced it was the target of a recent cybersecurity attack that caused widespread disruption to its systems. The result will be a 23-28 percent hit to net sales in Q1 of 2024. Clorox stock closed the week down 5 percent.
GOOGLE IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The ups and downs of Google's week: On the upside, the tech giant started presales of the new Pixel 8 line, which has gotten positive reviews. On the downside, the tech giant has been accused of being too giant, and the anti-trust case against it opened this week. The star witness against Google was Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who testified that Google's dominance in the world of search engines has stymied Bing from gaining market share. Google stock closed the week up almost 5 percent.
UNITED ORDERS
Boeing and Airbus received big orders from United Airlines this week. The airline will add 110 new aircraft to its fleet by 2031. The new order includes 50 Boeing 787-9s and 60 Airbus A321neos. This comes on top of 100 Boeing 787s it ordered last December and 270 other aircraft ordered in July 2021. "The new planes will hold more passengers than one aircraft that will be retired and it's all part of the company's plan to take full advantage of our growing flying opportunities both internationally and domestically," said CEO Scott Kirby. United Airlines stock closed the week down 1 percent and Boeing and Airbus closed down about 2 percent.
HP HAD A WEEK
HP shares jumped on Tuesday after Bank of America gave it a double upgrade, moving from an underperforming stock to a buy rating. Warren Buffett seemed to pay no mind, though. That day, he sold off shares in a move that was closely watched by investors who like to see what the Oracle of Omaha is doing. He now owns less than 10 percent of the company, so he will no longer need to report his investments as frequently. HP stock ended the week up 1 percent.
JOBS SAVE THE DAY
An unexpectedly strong jobs report pulled up the markets on Friday. The September stats show 336,000 jobs we added last month. It's the largest number we've seen since the beginning of 2023, but even the August number was stronger than expected - it was revised up to 266,000 jobs. The unemployment rate remains at 3.8 percent. Of course, a strong jobs market indicates a strong economy…and that is behind inflation. So the takeaway for the Federal Reserve may be that it's time to raise interest rates.
Nvidia reported a 56% increase in second-quarter revenue and a 59% rise in net income compared to a year ago.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos claims audiences don't want to watch Netflix movies in theaters, but that seems not to be the case recently.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
