A Tesla vehicle is plugged into a Tesla charging station in a parking lot on September 22, 2022, in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Allison Dinner/Getty Images)
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.
JOBS REPORT
The stock market had its eyes trained on the job market this week, as multiple bullish employment reports clashed narratively with a series of layoff announcements from large tech firms such as Amazon and Salesforce. The Labor Department on Friday reported that the U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in December, and unemployment ticked down to 3.5 percent. The news might have sparked a sell-off — given investors' expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue raising interest rates until job and wage growth slows — but the opposite happened. The Dow Jones jumped 700 points following the news. That's because wage growth slowed in December, even as unemployment fell, suggesting that inflation in services could start coming down, or at least slowing, without a large spike in unemployment. That's the hope anyway.
BED BATH & BANKRUPT
Bed Bath & Beyond warned earlier this week that it's weighing a possible bankruptcy after reporting lower-than-expected sales in the third quarter. The former meme stock had quite the year, rising stratospherically over the summer and then crashing just as quickly after GameStop board chair Ryan Cohen sold his 10 percent stake. The retailer has struggled in recent months to keep shelves stocked, and customer traffic has fallen as a result. Now expenses are beginning to outpace cash flow, and something has to give for the embattled big box chain. The company said other financial options such as restructuring debt or selling assets are on the table, but some industry experts are now predicting a bankruptcy filing could come as early as next week.
TESLA DISAPPOINTS
Tesla is having a tough time easing into the new year. The company on Monday reported that it missed its delivery goal for the year, and the stock plunged around 12 percent. Things didn't improve much from there. The stock is down more than 5 percent for the week, and got dinged again on Friday after reports that Tesla was cutting prices again in China and other Asian markets. The big concern now for investors is whether demand for Tesla cars is flagging and what this could mean for the company's bottom line. CEO Elon Musk's preoccupation with his Twitter purchase hasn't helped either, especially with some critics saying that Tesla is losing momentum.
GE SPLITS
In 2021, General Electric announced that it was spinning off into three different companies. On Wednesday, the first of those new companies debuted on the stock market. GE HealthCare, which comprises the conglomerate's medical technology and pharmaceutical departments, started trading at around $54 per share, and is now up more than 8 percent for the week. The next spin-off is set for 2024 and will encompass GE's renewable energy and power units. The remaining company will focus on aviation.
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.
