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.
INFLATION COOLS
The stock market got a jolt this week, as inflation continues to slow. The consumer price index showed prices rising 3 percent year-over-year in June, the lowest pace since March 2021. Month-over-month, prices rose 0.2 percent in June, and the producer price index was up just 0.1 percent, which is half what economists expected. The data gives credence to the argument that the U.S. economy could experience a soft landing as inflation returns to normal. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are up 2 and 3 percent respectively for the week, while the Dow Jones Industrial Index rose 2 percent.
META RALLIES
Meta's Threads app is benefitting from a mass exodus of Twitter users, who are jumping ship amid Elon Musk's controversial efforts to make the social media platform profitable. The number of users on Threads surpassed 100 million users, blowing past industry expectations. Meta's stock ended the week up 4 percent following the news. The bullish sentiment benefited other tech stocks as well. Amazon's stock is up 4 percent, and Google parent Alphabet is up 6 percent. The rally builds on the gains already attained by the sector, which has been riding a wave of enthusiasm around artificial intelligence.
DISNEY CEO STAYING ON
Disney's stock ticked up after the company extended CEO Bob Iger's contract for another two years. The executive also told CNBC that Disney was open to selling off its linear TV assets, saying they may no longer be core to the company. Meanwhile, the Screen Actors Guild officially went on strike alongside the Writer's Guild after their contract negotiations also broke down, and Iger isn't happy about it. He said the unions' demands are "not realistic." This is the first so-called "double strike" of both writers and actors since 1960.
ACTIVISION BLIZZARD POPS
Videogame maker Activision Blizzard popped 10 percent on Tuesday after a federal judge gave the okay to Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition. The decision came after the court found that the merger was not likely to substantially reduce competition. However, the Federal Trade Commission is appealing the decision in a last-ditch effort to stop the combination. The appeal raises the possibility that the whole deal falls apart Tuesday when the agreement between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard expires. Alternatively, both sides could agree to extend or Microsoft could be on the hook for $3 billion to Activision Blizzard for not getting the deal done in time.
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.
