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.
RETAIL SALES RISE
Retail sales shot up 3 percent in January, blowing past Wall Street estimates and providing further evidence of the U.S. economy's resilience despite macroeconomic uncertainty. One big driving factor was food and drink sales, which soared 25.2 percent from the year before. In addition, general merchandise sales were up 4.5 percent. The data put downward pressure on markets, which saw it as a sign that the economy is still overheated.
MONTHLY INFLATION RISES
The latest consumer price index came out on Tuesday, and the results left markets uncertain about the future course of inflation. While annual inflation ticked down from 6.5 percent to 6.4 percent, monthly inflation jumped from a 0.1 percent decline to a 0.5 percent increase. The gains were mostly fueled by shelter, food, and a rebound in energy prices after months of declines. The debate continues over how the Federal Reserve will respond to the data, and in particular whether the latest number will push the Fed to double down again on rate hikes.
AIRBNB BUMP
Airbnb's stock is up almost 20 percent this week, seeing its biggest one-day gain on Wednesday after reporting its first annual profit and forecasting a strong 2023. The home rental service reported $1.9 billion in profits in 2022, after losing $352 million the year before. It is now expecting a first quarter profit of between $1.75 billion and $1.82 billion, which is up from $1.5 billion in 2022. “We’re particularly encouraged by European guests booking their summer travel earlier this year, the market share gains we are seeing in Latin America, as well as the continued recovery within Asia Pacific," Airbnb said in a shareholder letter.
ROKU RALLY
Roku saw an even bigger rally after reporting a bump in streaming hours and revenue. While profits were down slightly, revenue increased from $865 million in the same quarter last year to $867 million. Streaming hours also hit 23.9 billion, up from 21.9 billion in the third quarter. In addition, Roku benefited from easing supply chain issues. “U.S. smart-TV unit sales were better than expected, benefiting from lower TV-panel prices and freight costs," said the company in a shareholder letter. Shares of Roku were up more than 30 percent at the end of the trading week.
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!
