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.
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.
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.
