(Photo Illustration by Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Big Business This Week 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.
MEET GEMINI
Alphabet stock jumped about 5 percent on Thursday when Google introduced Gemini, the latest in AI which will probably move the technology forward quite a bit…and also bring up plenty of questions about how far is too far when it comes to human-like tech. Nvidia also got a boost on the news and, thinking about the logistics, its CEO said Friday that Malaysia could be a great manufacturing hub for AI computing. Google ended the week up 4 percent and Nvidia ended up 3 percent.
SUNSETTING SMOKES
Smoking made quite a few headlines in the business world this week. British American Tobacco, the UK-based parent company of Camel and American Spirit, announced it is going to sunset its U.S. cigarette division to focus on smoke-free products. For menthol makers, though, they got a reprieve this week when the federal government decided to delay a ban on the minty smokes. The news wasn't as good for Elf Bar and other fruity vapes after a congressional committee this week said it wants to look into why so many of these e-cigarettes are ending up in the hands of minors. British American Tobacco stock ended the week down 8 percent.
PRESCRIPTION PRICE CLARITY
If you have ever gone to pick up a prescription only to find out it costs five times as much as it did a month ago (true story), this news is for you. CVS Health announced it is planning to make prices more transparent so that customers can be better prepared when they show up at the drugstore. CostVantage will be available to some third-party companies that offer cash discount cards starting in 2024 and should be rolled out in CVS stores in 2025. CVS stock was up nearly 10 percent at the end of the week.
AIRLINE MERGERS
Consolidation in the airline industry was on tap this week. Alaska Airlines says it wants to buy Hawaiian Airlines for a billion dollars. It's a much smaller deal than the JetBlue/Spirit acquisition which had its final days in court this week. The $3.8 billion deal has been under intense scrutiny. Federal regulators are very concerned that the acquisition of budget airline Spirit is going to kill affordable options for travelers. However, JetBlue argues that it's already struggling to compete with the country's biggest airlines so it needs the additional market share to survive. Alaska Airlines ended the week up nearly 6 percent, Hawaiian was down 2 percent, JetBlue was up 16 percent and Spirit was down almost 7 percent.
UBER ON THE S&P 500
First Uber took over our streets. Now it's taking over the S&P 500. The ride-sharing giant will become a part of the index beginning December 18th. It's a big win for Uber, not just because it's a generally big deal, but just a few years ago the company struggled through the pandemic (when people didn't want to be sharing rides with anyone). The stock closed the week up nearly 3 percent, and will probably get stronger once it joins the S&P (which is up 20 percent in 2023); many funds tried to mirror the index which means Uber could get you a more pickup.
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
