Stock Market Today Mid-Morning Updates
On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down by another 60 points. We begin the week with potentially another round of sanctions on Russia as it continues its invasion of Ukraine. However, Western allies’ sanctions against Russia have started to form repercussions. This comes in the form of large potential losses for their own banks, companies, and investors. Also, Russia was a no-show at the United Nations’ highest court on Monday as Ukraine sought an emergency order to halt hostilities on its territory.
Citigroup (NYSE: C) is down by over 3% on today’s opening bell after receiving a downgrade from Jefferies. The firm says that Citi appears unlikely to hit its financial targets that it detailed at an investor conference last week. Meanwhile, Palantir Technologies (NYSE: PLTR) is up by over 11% on Monday after Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) upgraded the data analytics software company, noting that its fundamentals are getting better. Today, Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER) has also raised its outlook for the first-quarter core profit, citing faster recovery than expected and better delivery growth.
Among the Dow Jones leaders, shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) are up by 0.15% today while Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is down by 1.80%. Meanwhile, 3M (NYSE: MMM) and Nike (NYSE: NKE) are also trading lower on Monday. Among the Dow financial leaders, Visa (NYSE: V) is down by 1.81% while Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is also down by 1.78%.
Shares of EV leader Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) are up by 2.25% on Monday. Likewise, rival EV companies like Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) are down by 0.09%. Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) is up by 4.29% today. Chinese EV leaders like Nio (NYSE: NIO) and Xpeng Motors (NYSE: XPEV) opened higher today.
Dow Jones Today: Oil Prices Briefly Soared To Pandemic Highs While Bitcoin Dips Below $40,000
Following the stock market opening on Monday, the S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq are trading lower by 0.77%, 0.86%, and 0.68% respectively. Among exchange-traded funds, the Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) is down by 0.82% while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA: SPY) is also down by 0.80%.
The 10-year Treasury yield hovers at around 1.79% today. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that the U.S. and its European allies are exploring banning imports of Russian oil. The White House was also coordinating with congressional committees to move forward with a U.S. ban. This has sent oil prices to new pandemic-era highs. For instance, the West Texas Intermediate crude briefly breached over $130 per barrel on Sunday. Today, it still trades at an elevated level of roughly $118 per barrel. Traders are driving up crude on concerns about supply disruptions from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Bitcoin also dropped below $40,000 as commodities surged and investors shedding risk as the war rages on.
[Read More] Top Stock Market News For Today March 7, 2022
BBBY Stock Skyrockets On News Of GameStop Chairman Ryan Cohen’s Latest Stake
Share of Bed, Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) are currently up by over 95% at today’s opening bell. For the most part, the current movement in BBBY stock follows news of a notable stakeholder in the company. In detail, Ryan Cohen, the co-founder of Chewy (NYSE: CHWY) and GameStop (NYSE: GME) chairman is turning heads with his latest announcement. According to the billionaire investors, his investment firm RC Ventures currently holds a 9.8% stake in BBBY.
More importantly, Cohen and his firm argue that BBBY should “narrow its focus to fortify operations and maintain the right inventory mix to meet demand, while simultaneously exploring strategic alternatives that include separating buybuy Baby, Inc. (“BABY”) and a full sale of the company.” To highlight, a key part of Cohen’s letter could be the mention of a sale. Should BBBY take his advice on selling the core business and spinning off its BABY division, it could be big for the $1.6 billion firm. Accordingly, some investors could be looking to jump on the BBBY train in the case that this happens.
At the same time, Cohen’s board seat at GameStop and his current position in BBBY could stir up some hype in the meme stock community. In fact, BBBY stock was a former key name in the meme stock mania last year. With the company’s shares trailing well behind the broader stock market before today’s gains, we could be looking at another round of retail investors buying. Regardless, investors may want to keep an eye on BBBY stock today.
[Read More] Best Stocks To Invest In Right Now? 5 Energy Stocks To Note As Oil Prices Surge
Occidental Petroleum (OXY) Gains Following News Of Berkshire Hathaway’s $5 Billion Position In Company
In other news, Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) is another notable gainer to consider in the stock market today. Aside from the broader tailwinds in the energy industry, Occidental is gaining attention thanks to Warren Buffett. Over the weekend, Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) revealed a new $5 billion stake in Occidental. To put things into perspective, this adds up to over 61 million of OXY stock. According to the SEC filings, the firm made these purchases at prices ranging from $47.07 to $56.45. All in all, Berkshire Hathaway now owns 91.2 million common shares of Occidental. This translates to a 9% stake in the company. Not to mention, this is prior to Berkshire Hathaway exercising its warrants for another 84 million shares.
After this significant piece of news, OXY stock is now looking at year-to-date gains of over 80%. This would put it well ahead of its industry peers as the global energy crunch persists. For one thing, the company seems to have a lot going for it now. With even the Oracle of Omaha being keen on Occidental, investors looking towards value could follow suit. As oil prices rise on news of Russian oil bans and investors seek defensive value plays, OXY stock could be worth noting.
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