Unilever Virtually Rings The Opening Bell on Tuesday, May 19, 2020, in New York. The NYSE's Honorary Opening Bell ringer today is Unilever's Hammond, Indiana factory employees. As pictured today on the NYSE Bell Podium, Unilever's Hammond, Indiana factory employees continue to make essential beauty and personal care products for the community during these times. The NYSE joins millions of others who stand in awe and gratitude of the way people around the world have responded to the COVID-19 crisis - from medical professionals to workers who ensure food supply, and those who keep streets safe. They honor some of those people through their #Gratitude campaign. (New York Stock Exchange via AP Images)
By Alex Veiga
Stocks are mixed in morning trading on Wall Street Tuesday, a day after the market had its biggest jump in more than five weeks.
The S&P 500 was wavering between gains and losses in the first hour of trading. Technology stocks rose, offsetting losses in financial stocks and elsewhere in the market. Bond yields were mostly headed lower.
Investors sent shares in Walmart up 1.9% after the retail giant reported a surge in sales as people stocked up on crucial supplies while sheltering in place due to the coronavirus. Kohl's, whose stores have been closed during the outbreak, fell 5.6% after reporting that it swung to a $541 million quarterly loss as its revenue sank more than 40%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 34 points, or 0.2%, to 24,561. The Nasdaq composite added 0.6%. The Russell 2000 index of small-company stocks was down 1.1%.
Oil prices continued to climb, benefiting from production cuts and a pickup in demand as the U.S. and other countries ease some of the restrictions aimed at stemming the spread of the outbreak.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil was up 3.9% to $33.05 a barrel. Brent crude oil, the international standard, was up 1.2% at $35.24 a barrel.
Bonds yields were mostly lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a benchmark for interest rates on many consumer loans, fell to 0.72% from 0.74% late Monday.
The mixed action on Wall Street followed a pullback in stock markets in Europe after a record jump in jobless claims in Britain and a 76% slide in new car sales across Europe. The downbeat economic data reinforced the challenges the world faces in recovering from the recession induced by the coronavirus.
France’s CAC 40 fell 1.4%, while Germany’s DAX lost 0.8%. Britain’s FTSE 100 dropped 1.3%. Markets in Asia finished higher.
U.S. stocks had their biggest gain in more than five weeks Monday as investors became hopeful that more progress was being made in getting countries past the worst of the pandemic. Investors are hoping that a working vaccine for COVID-19 can be developed and that it will help reassure people and businesses as the economy reopens.
A safe, effective vaccine for the new coronavirus would help reinforce confidence as economies reopen after shutdowns to contain the pandemic. Experts have warned, however, that development of such a vaccine will likely take many months, and possibly years.
Investors also have been encouraged by remarks over the weekend from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who expressed optimism that the U.S. economy could begin to recover in the second half of the year.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
William Falcon, CEO and Founder of Lightning AI, discusses the ongoing feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, and how everyday people can use AI in their lives.
