‘Barron’s Roundtable’ panel give reaction and analysis
Stocks sold off sharply after opening higher on the first day of trading in 2021, despite the prospects for continued fiscal stimulus and coronavirus vaccine rollouts aiding investor optimism.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 29921.02 | -685.46 | -2.24% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 3667.77 | -88.30 | -2.35% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 12576.405119 | -311.88 | -2.42% |
All three of the major U.S. averages saw declines of over 1% with the Dow Jones Industrial dropping over 600 points in early afternoon trading.
Despite the drop, Tesla shares continued their record run after the Elon Musk-led company said it delivered almost 500,000 cars in 2020, falling just shy of Musk’s previously stated goal.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TSLA | TESLA INC. | 723.02 | +17.35 | +2.46% |
In other tech news, a small group of Google employees has voted to unionize.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GOOGL | ALPHABET INC. | 1,709.15 | -43.49 | -2.48% |
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WORK | SLACK TECHNOLOGIES INC. | 41.71 | -0.54 | -1.27% |
| CRM | SALESFORCE.COM | 216.04 | -6.54 | -2.94% |
Slack, which Salesforce announced its intention to acquire toward the end of 2020, fell 0.4% as the communications platform is experiencing a service outage on Monday, impacting its users.
The company’s official Twitter account noted that there were issues with connecting and channels loading. The service outage started just shortly after 10 a.m. EST.
INVESTORS BULLISH ON STOCKS, HOPING FOR A BRIGHTER 202
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HLF | HERBALIFE LTD | 48.91 | +0.85 | +1.78% |
Shares of Herbalife may be active on Monday after The Wall Street Journal reported that activist investor Carl Icahn has sold more than half of his stake in the company while also relinquishing seats on its board of directors.
China’s biggest telecom companies, China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, are under pressure after the New York Stock Exchange said it would delist the three, citing an executive order.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHL | CHINA MOBILE LTD. | 27.00 | -1.54 | -5.40% |
| CHA | CHINA TELECOM | 25.54 | -1.99 | -7.23% |
| CHU | CHINA UNICOM LTD. | 5.45 | -0.23 | -4.14% |
In other China news, there are reports China’s richest man, Alibaba founder Jack Ma has not been seen in recent days. FOX Business has learned he is keeping a low profile despite ongoing tensions between his businesses and the Chinese government.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BABA | ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING LTD | 225.36 | -7.28 | -3.13% |
ECONOMIC NUMBERS
Spending on construction projects in the U.S. rose 0.9% in November, according to the Commerce Department. Economists surveyed by Refinitiv expected a gain of 1%. Construction spending in October was revised higher to 1.6%.
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In other asset classes, bitcoin fell nearly 10% to $32,000, after rallying in the final days of 2020 and the first couple of days of 2021, surpassing the $34,000 level.
West Texas Intermediate crude rose nearly 1% to $48.97 per barrel level, while gold jumped higher, gaining more than 2.3% to $1,939.70 an ounce.