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.
UNITED AUTO WORKERS ON STRIKE
The Big 3 automakers could be in a bind after 13,ooo autoworkers went on strike at midnight Friday morning. It's the first time in union history that its members have walked out on General Motors, Ford and Stellantis at the same time, but for now this is less than 10 percent of the union's total membership. The UAW is currently targeting a few factories rather than staging a full walkout, although it could still have a huge impact on the supply chain. Workers are demanding a number of improvements, including significant wage increases in light of the automakers making huge profits. The strike doesn't seem to have spooked investors: stock for all three automakers ended the week up.
IPHONE 15 REVEAL
Apple fans now know what to expect from the next generation of iPhones. When the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro come out on September 22, users ready to upgrade (or switch to Apple) smartphones will get to enjoy new camera technology, faster processing, and the much-talked-about USB-C charging system that the rest of the world uses. Pre-sales began Friday. The iPhone 15 Pro Max, the top model, will set you back $1,200 the basic iPhone 15 will run $800. Investors weren't thrilled - the stock dropped 2 percent on the news. Meanwhile, Apple says it will update the iPhone 12 after France claimed the phones were giving off too much radiation. Also, an update from last week: We told you about reports that China planned to ban Apple and other foreign-branded phones for government officials. This week, the government said it didn't do that. Apple stock ended the week down about 2 percent.
ARM IPO
Investors hope the roaring success of Arm Holdings, which began trading on the Nasdaq Thursday, indicated a new wave of IPO success. The chip designer backed by Softbank closed the first day of trading with shares up almost 25 percent and a $68 billion valuation. Wall Street hasn't seen those numbers from an IPO in two years.
SMUCKERS BUYS HOSTESS
This deal should be a piece of cake! J.M. Smucker, the conglomerate famed for jelly, is buying snack cake maker Hostess in a deal valued at more than $5 billion. Hostess began back in 1925, but things really took off when it introduced Twinkies in 1930. The company began to struggle in recent years and it has been selling off its brands like Wonder, the bread company, and Drake's Cakes in the last decade or so. Smucker's stock dropped 7 percent when the deal was announced, but Hostess stock skyrocketed 19 percent.
CASINOS CYBERATTACK
Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts were at the mercy of cyberattackers this week. Caesars reportedly paid millions to get access to their systems back, but not before the hackers stole customers' private data. MGM tried to preemptively shut down some of its systems over the weekend to try to cordon off any damage but kept its resorts open.
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.
At the core of the ongoing government shutdown is a fight over the decision to end subsidies that let some 12 million Americans get health coverage.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
