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Stock Market Today: Dow Jones, S&P 500 Tumbles After Russia Attacks Ukraine; Alibaba Stock Down After Earnings Report

Stocks fell sharply in the stock market today as Russia attacks Ukraine
The post Stock Market Today: Dow Jones, S&P 500 Tumbles After Russia Attacks…

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Stock Market Today Mid-Morning Updates

On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has sunk by 650 points. Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, signaling the beginning of the invasion. The Donbas region is home to separatist movements and many Russian-speaking Ukrainians. Explosions were also heard across the country, from the capital Kyiv to Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Blasts have also been heard in the southern port city of Odesa. There are reports of casualties in some cities, but they could not be verified independently.

Despite being a down market today, Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) is up by over 4% on today’s opening bell. This comes after reporting better-than-expected quarterly revenue. The company also says that it has already sold 45 million tickets for 2022 events even as ticket prices continue to rise. Shares of Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) also rose by over 5% today after reporting strong earnings. The company also raised its full-year coronavirus vaccine sales forecast and announced a $3 billion share repurchase program.

Among the Dow Jones leaders, shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) are down 2.44% today while Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is also down by 0.91%. 3M (NYSE: MMM) and Nike (NYSE: NKE) are also trading lower on Thursday. Among the Dow financial leaders, Visa (NYSE: V) is down by 3.98% while JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) also opened lower at 4.33%.

Shares of EV leader Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) are down by 2.28% on Thursday. Rival EV companies like Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) are up by 1.97%. Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) is trading lower at 2.80%. Chinese EV leaders like Nio (NYSE: NIO) and Xpeng Motors (NYSE: XPEV) are trading lower today.

Dow Jones Today: 10-year Treasury Yield Fell Below 1.9% & Oil Prices Breach $100 Per Barrel

Following the stock market opening on Thursday, the S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq are trading lower by 1.50%, 1.98%, and 1.31% respectively. Among exchange-traded funds, the Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) and SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA: SPY) are both trading lower at 1.46% and 1.59% as well.

As tensions continue to escalate between Ukraine and Russia, yields continue to retreat. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield fell to 1.89% today as investors are after the perceived safety of bonds, pushing prices higher and yields lower on Thursday. The Dow today also joined the S&P 500 and Nasdaq in correction territory. U.S. crude and international oil prices rose by more than 8% today, both topping $100 per barrel for the first time since 2014. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could unravel the far-reaching implications it has on the energy markets. The reason for this surge is because of Russia being a major global producer of oil and natural gas.

Today, the Labor Department also released its latest weekly jobless claims report. Initial jobless claims for the week that ended February 24 were 232,000 against the 235,000 expected. This is a dip compared to the prior week, at 248,000 claims. These claims continue to come at a range that was seen in pre-pandemic levels, with jobless claims averaging around 220,000 throughout 2019.

[Read More] Top Stock Market News For Today February 24, 2022

Alibaba Shares Tumble On Lowest Revenue Growth In 8 Years

Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) appears to be especially feeling the heat from today’s tech-led sell-off in the stock market. Alongside geopolitical pressures weighing on stocks now, the company posted disappointing figures in its latest quarterly update. Diving in, Alibaba posted earnings per share of $2.65 on revenue of $38.06 billion for the quarter. For reference, this is versus consensus estimates of $2.56 and $38.93 billion respectively. Despite the beat on the earnings per share front, investors are likely focusing on the company’s year-over-year revenue growth. Namely, Alibaba’s total revenue is up by 10% year-over-year, the slowest rate since the company’s 2014 U.S. listing.

By and large, Alibaba has and continues to experience economic pressures in China. This would entail a recent slowdown in consumer retail spending in the fourth quarter among other things. Not to mention, this would be after it navigated regulatory pressures from the Chinese government earlier in 2021 as well. In fact, Alibaba’s antitrust fines throughout 2021 add up to a whopping $2.8 billion. Because of all these major headwinds in play for Alibaba now, BABA stock is down by over 6% today.

Regardless, the company does not seem to be sitting idly by amidst all this. Weighing in on the topic of BABA stock’s current decline is CFO Toby Xu. He notes, “Our current share price does not fairly reflect the value of the company. At current price levels, we plan on continuing our share repurchases. At the same time, we will maintain a strong cash position that gives us the financial flexibility for future investments.” After taking this into consideration, some could be looking to buy on the current dips in BABA stock.

BABA stock
Source: TradingView

[Read More] Tech Stocks That Insiders Are Buying? 4 To Watch This Week

Cheniere Energy Gains On Record Quarterly Revenue Following Rising Gas Demands Globally 

Meanwhile, energy industry player Cheniere Energy (NYSEAMERICAN: LNG) is among the gainers in the stock market today. After posting stellar figures in its latest quarterly earnings call, this appears to be the case. As it stands, LNG stock is up by over 6% at today’s opening bell. For the most part, the focus in this report would be Cheniere’s total revenue for the fiscal year. Notably, the company posted revenue of $15.9 billion for the full year. According to CEO Jack Fusco, solid execution from the Cheniere team and a “fundamentally strong global LNG [liquefied natural gas] market,” is to thank for this.

Additionally, the company is also raising its 2022 earnings guidance significantly as well. For now, Cheniere is expecting a total net income of between $7 billion to $7.5 billion for fiscal 2022. To put things into perspective, this is a massive increase from its initial forecast range of $5.8 billion to $6.3 billion. Overall, the company cites early completion of its Sabine Pass train 6, sustainable natural gas market demands, and optimal delivery cargo timing for all the guidance raise. Also, Fusco argues that LNG market strength is once again a provider of “significant long-term growth tailwinds,” for Cheniere. After pairing all this with surging oil prices amidst the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflicts, LNG stock could be worth noting today.

LNG stock
Source: TradingView

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Angry Shouting Aside, Here’s What Biden Is Running On

Angry Shouting Aside, Here’s What Biden Is Running On

Last night, Joe Biden gave an extremely dark, threatening, angry State of the Union…

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March 8, 2024

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Angry Shouting Aside, Here's What Biden Is Running On

Last night, Joe Biden gave an extremely dark, threatening, angry State of the Union address - in which he insisted that the American economy is doing better than ever, blamed inflation on 'corporate greed,' and warned that Donald Trump poses an existential threat to the republic.

But in between the angry rhetoric, he also laid out his 2024 election platform - for which additional details will be released on March 11, when the White House sends its proposed budget to Congress.

To that end, Goldman Sachs' Alec Phillips and Tim Krupa have summarized the key points:

Taxes

While railing against billionaires (nothing new there), Biden repeated the claim that anyone making under $400,000 per year won't see an increase in their taxes.  He also proposed a 21% corporate minimum tax, up from 15% on book income outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), as well as raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% (which would promptly be passed along to consumers in the form of more inflation). Goldman notes that "Congress is unlikely to consider any of these proposals this year, they would only come into play in a second Biden term, if Democrats also won House and Senate majorities."

Biden also called on Congress to restore the pandemic-era child tax credit.

Immigration

Instead of simply passing a slew of border security Executive Orders like the Trump ones he shredded on day one, Biden repeated the lie that Congress 'needs to act' before he can (translation: send money to Ukraine or the US border will continue to be a sieve).

As immigration comes into even greater focus heading into the election, we continue to expect the Administration to tighten policy (e.g., immigration has surged 20pp the last 7 months to first place with 28% in Gallup’s “most important problem” survey). As such, we estimate the foreign-born contribution to monthly labor force growth will moderate from 110k/month in 2023 to around 70-90k/month in 2024. -GS

Ukraine

Biden, with House Speaker Mike Johnson doing his best impression of a bobble-head, urged Congress to pass additional assistance for Ukraine based entirely on the premise that Russia 'won't stop' there (and would what, trigger article 5 and WW3 no matter what?), despite the fact that Putin explicitly told Tucker Carlson he has no further ambitions, and in fact seeks a settlement.

As Goldman estimates, "While there is still a clear chance that such a deal could come together, for now there is no clear path forward for Ukraine aid in Congress."

China

Biden, forgetting about all the aggressive tariffs, suggested that Trump had been soft on China, and that he will stand up "against China's unfair economic practices" and "for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."

Healthcare

Lastly, Biden proposed to expand drug price negotiations to 50 additional drugs each year (an increase from 20 outlined in the IRA), which Goldman said would likely require bipartisan support "even if Democrats controlled Congress and the White House," as such policies would likely be ineligible for the budget "reconciliation" process which has been used in previous years to pass the IRA and other major fiscal party when Congressional margins are just too thin.

So there you have it. With no actual accomplishments to speak of, Biden can only attack Trump, lie, and make empty promises.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/08/2024 - 18:00

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United Airlines adds new flights to faraway destinations

The airline said that it has been working hard to "find hidden gem destinations."

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11 hours ago

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March 8, 2024

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Since countries started opening up after the pandemic in 2021 and 2022, airlines have been seeing demand soar not just for major global cities and popular routes but also for farther-away destinations.

Numerous reports, including a recent TripAdvisor survey of trending destinations, showed that there has been a rise in U.S. traveler interest in Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and Vietnam as well as growing tourism traction in off-the-beaten-path European countries such as Slovenia, Estonia and Montenegro.

Related: 'No more flying for you': Travel agency sounds alarm over risk of 'carbon passports'

As a result, airlines have been looking at their networks to include more faraway destinations as well as smaller cities that are growing increasingly popular with tourists and may not be served by their competitors.

The Philippines has been popular among tourists in recent years.

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United brings back more routes, says it is committed to 'finding hidden gems'

This week, United Airlines  (UAL)  announced that it will be launching a new route from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Morocco's Marrakesh. While it is only the country's fourth-largest city, Marrakesh is a particularly popular place for tourists to seek out the sights and experiences that many associate with the country — colorful souks, gardens with ornate architecture and mosques from the Moorish period.

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"We have consistently been ahead of the curve in finding hidden gem destinations for our customers to explore and remain committed to providing the most unique slate of travel options for their adventures abroad," United's SVP of Global Network Planning Patrick Quayle, said in a press statement.

The new route will launch on Oct. 24 and take place three times a week on a Boeing 767-300ER  (BA)  plane that is equipped with 46 Polaris business class and 22 Premium Plus seats. The plane choice was a way to reach a luxury customer customer looking to start their holiday in Marrakesh in the plane.

Along with the new Morocco route, United is also launching a flight between Houston (IAH) and Colombia's Medellín on Oct. 27 as well as a route between Tokyo and Cebu in the Philippines on July 31 — the latter is known as a "fifth freedom" flight in which the airline flies to the larger hub from the mainland U.S. and then goes on to smaller Asian city popular with tourists after some travelers get off (and others get on) in Tokyo.

United's network expansion includes new 'fifth freedom' flight

In the fall of 2023, United became the first U.S. airline to fly to the Philippines with a new Manila-San Francisco flight. It has expanded its service to Asia from different U.S. cities earlier last year. Cebu has been on its radar amid growing tourist interest in the region known for marine parks, rainforests and Spanish-style architecture.

With the summer coming up, United also announced that it plans to run its current flights to Hong Kong, Seoul, and Portugal's Porto more frequently at different points of the week and reach four weekly flights between Los Angeles and Shanghai by August 29.

"This is your normal, exciting network planning team back in action," Quayle told travel website The Points Guy of the airline's plans for the new routes.

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Walmart launches clever answer to Target’s new membership program

The retail superstore is adding a new feature to its Walmart+ plan — and customers will be happy.

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11 hours ago

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March 8, 2024

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It's just been a few days since Target  (TGT)  launched its new Target Circle 360 paid membership plan. 

The plan offers free and fast shipping on many products to customers, initially for $49 a year and then $99 after the initial promotional signup period. It promises to be a success, since many Target customers are loyal to the brand and will go out of their way to shop at one instead of at its two larger peers, Walmart and Amazon.

Related: Walmart makes a major price cut that will delight customers

And stop us if this sounds familiar: Target will rely on its more than 2,000 stores to act as fulfillment hubs. 

This model is a proven winner; Walmart also uses its more than 4,600 stores as fulfillment and shipping locations to get orders to customers as soon as possible.

Sometimes, this means shipping goods from the nearest warehouse. But if a desired product is in-store and closer to a customer, it reduces miles on the road and delivery time. It's a kind of logistical magic that makes any efficiency lover's (or retail nerd's) heart go pitter patter. 

Walmart rolls out answer to Target's new membership tier

Walmart has certainly had more time than Target to develop and work out the kinks in Walmart+. It first launched the paid membership in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, when many shoppers sheltered at home but still required many staples they might ordinarily pick up at a Walmart, like cleaning supplies, personal-care products, pantry goods and, of course, toilet paper. 

It also undercut Amazon  (AMZN)  Prime, which costs customers $139 a year for free and fast shipping (plus several other benefits including access to its streaming service, Amazon Prime Video). 

Walmart+ costs $98 a year, which also gets you free and speedy delivery, plus access to a Paramount+ streaming subscription, fuel savings, and more. 

An employee at a Merida, Mexico, Walmart. (Photo by Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images

If that's not enough to tempt you, however, Walmart+ just added a new benefit to its membership program, ostensibly to compete directly with something Target now has: ultrafast delivery. 

Target Circle 360 particularly attracts customers with free same-day delivery for select orders over $35 and as little as one-hour delivery on select items. Target executes this through its Shipt subsidiary.

We've seen this lightning-fast delivery speed only in snippets from Amazon, the king of delivery efficiency. Who better to take on Target, though, than Walmart, which is using a similar store-as-fulfillment-center model? 

"Walmart is stepping up to save our customers even more time with our latest delivery offering: Express On-Demand Early Morning Delivery," Walmart said in a statement, just a day after Target Circle 360 launched. "Starting at 6 a.m., earlier than ever before, customers can enjoy the convenience of On-Demand delivery."

Walmart  (WMT)  clearly sees consumers' desire for near-instant delivery, which obviously saves time and trips to the store. Rather than waiting a day for your order to show up, it might be on your doorstep when you wake up. 

Consumers also tend to spend more money when they shop online, and they remain stickier as paying annual members. So, to a growing number of retail giants, almost instant gratification like this seems like something worth striving for.

Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024

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