Stock Market Futures Tumble As Russian Forces Push Into Eastern Ukraine
U.S. stock futures are sliding as Russian President Vladimir Putin calls for troops to advance into breakaway regions in Ukraine. The current order follows an announcement from Putin, recognizing their independence yesterday. At the same time, prices of commodities such as gold and oil are surging as well. In general, it seems that investors are once again turning to more defensive areas amidst times of crisis.
In fact, anticipating this is Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist over at Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW). She posits, “We know in the past that surging oil prices, especially in a waning growth environment, alone, have caused recessions. You add that into the mix the energy crisis happening around the globe already, and the fact we are now heading into a Fed tightening cycle, I think it would probably elevate fears about recession if, indeed, we see some sort of protracted military event.” Despite the less-than-ideal environment, there remains plenty of stock market news to consider alongside all this. As of 5:46 a.m. ET, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures are trading lower by 0.07%, 0.02%, and 0.45% respectively.
TRUTH Social Platform Begins Rollout On Apple App Store; DWAC Stock In Focus
Digital World Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ: DWAC) could be worth keeping an eye on in the stock market today. For the most part, this would be thanks to the latest news surrounding its TRUTH Social platform. Before going into the details, DWAC is set to bring former U.S. President Donald Trump’s media firm public via a SPAC merger. Moreover, the media firm, Trump Media & Technology Group, is currently behind the TRUTH Social app. As such, investors looking to bet on Trump’s upcoming social media platform would be keen to jump on DWAC stock now. This would not be surprising after considering the massive attention it got when news of the merger first broke.
More importantly, on to today’s update. Namely, TRUTH Social reportedly had its soft launch late on Sunday over the weekend. The app is currently somewhat available on Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) App Store. This would be well ahead of the company’s initial plans to launch in late March. However, for now, at least, users are reportedly having some difficulty signing up to the app while some are being added to waitlists. For those that pre-saved the app to their devices, it was automatically installed.
Providing some insight into all this is CEO Devin Nunes. He says, “Our goal is, I think we’re going to hit it, I think by the end of March we’re going to be fully operational at least within the United States.” Overall, I could see this news putting DWAC stock in the limelight at today’s market open.
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Disney Raises Theme Park Ticket Prices For First Time Since Pre-Pandemic Era
Elsewhere, Disney (NYSE: DIS) is officially raising ticket prices for its core in-person entertainment offerings. Mainly, the current ticket fare increase is for its multi-day and Park Hopper tickets. For starters, the multi-day tickets from between 4 to 10 days are 2% to 6% more expensive. However, ticket costs for 1 to 3 days’ stays remained mostly unchanged. Naturally, the multi-day tickets are for visitors looking to take their time exploring all that Disneyland has to offer. Secondly, Disney is also making similar changes to prices for its Park Hopper tickets. These tickets allow travelers to, as the name suggests, move between theme parks throughout their stay.
In the larger scheme of things, this would be a timely move by Disney as consumer demand picks up. This is apparent seeing as the company recently had a blowout quarter earlier this month. Notably, Disney’s parks, experiences, and consumer products division has and continues to rebound tremendously. In its latest quarter, the company saw revenue on this end double year-over-year to a whopping $7.2 billion. It seems that Disney is keen to strike while the iron is hot on this front. Additionally, investors should also consider that the company’s streaming services continue to gain momentum as well. With Disney firing on all cylinders now, DIS stock could be worth looking out for.
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Palo Alto Earnings On Tap After Today’s Closing Bell
In other news, cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) will be reporting its latest quarterly results today. After today’s market close, tech investors could be tuning in to the company. This comes amid the recent decline in the broader tech industry. As it stands, Wall Street analysts are expecting Palo Alto to post an earnings per share of $1.65 on revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter. Should this be the case, it would represent year-over-year gains of 6.5% and 25.5% respectively. Considering all of this, it seems like consensus estimates point towards Palo Alto continuing to grow its operations.
For one thing, investors looking to jump on PANW stock could be inclined to do so later today thanks to all this. After all, the fact remains that Palo Alto is a prominent player in an increasingly vital field. With more organizations and businesses going digital now, this is becoming more apparent by the day. Aside from its core firewall offerings, the company is also actively expanding into other cybersecurity fields. This includes Cortex, its extended detection and response (XDR) module, and zero-trust solutions. Both of which would put it in direct competition against rivals like CrowdStrike (NASDAQ: CRWD) and Zscaler (NASDAQ: ZS) respectively. Nevertheless, PANW stock would be one to note in the stock market today.
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Notable Earnings To Consider In The Stock Market Today
On top of all that, we also have a solid lineup of companies set to host their latest earnings calls today. In the pre-market, we have several consumer-focused names. This includes Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Macy’s (NYSE: M), Krispy Kreme (NASDAQ: DNUT), and Tempur Sealy (NYSE: TPX) among others. Aside from that, we also have Medtronic (NYSE: MDT), Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE: LPX), and TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) on tap.
Alternatively, in the post-market hours, there is a wide spread of diverse firms to note as well. For today, Teladoc (NYSE: TDOC), Virgin Galactic (NYSE: SPCE), Mercado Libre (NASDAQ: MELI), and Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ: FANG) are among the ones on deck. Between developing political situations, earnings, and inflation talks, investors have plenty of news to digest in the stock market today.
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