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.
APPLE POWER
The stock market rallied on Friday after Apple reported its quarterly earnings, which showed a decline in revenue but solid iPhone sales. The stock rose 5 percent, buoying the rest of the market, with some help from the latest job report as well. The U.S. economy added 253,000 jobs in April and the unemployment dropped to 3.4 percent, despite reports of layoffs across industries and continued fears of a recession. The rally comes just two days after the Federal Reserve announced a quarter-percent rate hike as expected, with many expecting the central bank to now ease up on tightening. Still, the labor market staying tight could change that.
BANK STOCKS RALLY
Regional bank shares also rebounded at the end of the week. Shares of struggling banks such as PacWest and Western Alliance jumped 81 and 49 percent respectively. Bank stocks had dropped precipitously in recent sessions, as investors braced for more bank failures. Data indicating strength in the economy helped temper those fears, and bank stocks rose accordingly. Shares of First Horizon were also up, despite its recent announcement that a planned merger with TD Bank was collapsing. Relatedly, JPMorgan earlier this week agreed to purchase the ailing First Republic bank.
FORD EARNINGS
Ford, meanwhile, benefitted from the rally, but nonetheless is down for the week due in part to a mixed earnings report. The automaker posted strong first-quarter revenue and profit, as demand for trucks and SUVs remains robust, but had a less optimistic outlook for the year in response to continued losses in its electric vehicle unit. This doesn't bode well for the ongoing EV transition, but Ford has warned previously that the division could see losses for the foreseeable future.
RIDESHARE FIRMS DIVERGE
Shares of Uber are up more than 17 percent for the week after the rideshare giant reported strong earnings and a 29 percent jump in revenue. At the same time, shares of Lyft tanked 16 percent, as investors responded to a dim outlook for the coming year.
Doug Flynn, Certified Financial Planner and Co-Founder of Flynn Zito Capital Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says he believes the news of the infrastructure bill was already priced into the market and that inflation continues to loom large on Wall Street.
The Giving Block's Co-founders, Pat Duffy and Alex Wilson, join Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss how their crypto-centric platform is helping big and small nonprofit firms across the world at a time when the demand for digital assets has never been higher.
Virtual reality startup Sandbox VR recently announced it raised $37 million Series B funding round. It is a location-based VR company, a space that was hit hard during the pandemic. Sandbox was eventually forced to file for bankruptcy; however, the company is emerging from the pandemic with a fresh round of funding and plans to open new retail locations around the world. Sandbox VR CEO Steve Zhao joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
President Joe Biden signed into law today his landmark $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, and it includes approximately $550 billion in new funding for increased broadband access, improving the power grid, and more. But what does this mean for the American economy, and American workers? Eliza Collins, Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss what's included in the bill, which former mayor has been tapped to oversee how the bill is implemented, and how these new infrastructure investments will impact the economy.
It's been a job hunters market of late, as a mass resignation amid the pandemic has added to millions of openings across businesses. ZipRecruiter co-founder and CEO Ian Siegel explained what people currently are looking for in the labor market. "Survey after survey after survey, whether it's on ZipRecruiter or it's a third-party source, is telling us the same piece of information: over half of job seekers right now are looking for work that is either fully remote or hybrid," he said. "They got a real taste of it during COVID, and they liked it a lot. It's the number one perk that's being requested and you can already see employers starting to shift in that direction."
Celebrity butcher and the third-generation owner of Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors, Pat LaFrieda, joined Cheddar to dive into the rapid price surges for beef, poultry, fish, and eggs dubbed a "meatflation" by Bloomberg. LaFrieda noted that the increases were being accelerated by high fuel prices and a shortage of labor like truck drivers. However, he did express some hope that the post-holidays/pre-barbecue season lull in the meat sales market will help reset the market.
Booking.com has unveiled a first-of-its-kind sustainable travel designation for properties that might be on the itinerary of a climate-conscious traveler. CEO Glenn Fogel explained to Cheddar the key metrics a location has to achieve to earn a sustainability badge. Waste handling, energy and greenhouse gases, water usage, local community support, and protection of nature were the five top areas of concern he addressed, with an additional subset of 32 measures that properties can implement.
