Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Hot streak
Monday brought only slight market gains, but a win’s a win. The Nasdaq is on a seven-session positive streak, its longest such run since January. The S&P 500 and the Dow are on six-day streaks, as well. Stocks squeezed out the positive session Monday after a big week capped by a monster Friday, driven by the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold steady on rates and a soft monthly jobs report. This week brings more from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, as well as several key earnings reports, including Disney on Wednesday. Follow live market updates.
2. Didn’t work
View of the WeWork building in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 16, 2022. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP) (Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)
Valerie Macon | Afp | Getty Images
WeWork was once valued at $47 billion. Now, the office-sharing company is in the throes of the bankruptcy process after its Monday filing. It has about $16 billion in long-term leases, which the company has been renegotiating. (Other than being the latest buzzy company to fall from grace, WeWork has been a key client for commercial real estate landlords already struggling with an inconsistent return-to-office patterns due to Covid.) The move plunged WeWork into a troubling new chapter of its staggeringly sharp and quick downfall, which was already fodder for a miniseries starring Jared Leto as founder Adam Neumann. For his part, Neumann, who stepped down as CEO in 2019 and received hefty payouts, called the bankruptcy filing “disappointing.”
3. Still on strike
Protesters join the picket line outside Walt Disney Studios on October 30, 2023 in Burbank, California. SAG-AFTRA has been on strike since July 14, 2023 and has not yet reached a deal with AMPTP, the trade association representing the Hollywood Studios.
David Livingston | Getty Images
The Hollywood actors’ strike drags on. Over the weekend, studios made their “last, best and final” offer to SAG-AFTRA, the union representing the actors. It wasn’t good enough, the union said Monday, citing artificial intelligence protections as one of the main issues holding up a deal that would allow movie and TV productions to start rolling again. The strike started in mid-July and has weighed on the economy that surrounds the film industry, and it threatens the mojo media companies are feeling after healthy stock gains last week – adding pressure on both sides to reach a deal. (Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney are set to report earnings Wednesday.) The actors and the studios will reportedly resume negotiations Tuesday.
4. Super smash, bros
Chris Pratt and Charlie Day voice Mario and Luigi in Universal and Illumination’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”
Universal
Nintendo powered up its outlook for the fiscal year as the Japanese video game giant rides a wave of demand for two of its stalwart franchises, Super Mario and the Legend of Zelda. In Mario’s case, Nintendo continues to benefit from “The Super Mario Bros.” movie, which has grossed more than $1.3 billion at the global box office. The rejuvenated Mario craze, in turn, sparked higher sales of “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe” for the Switch this year, even as Nintendo faces calls to release a new console. (Similarly, Mattel last month reported juiced up Barbie sales following that character’s own blockbuster movie, which has made more than $1.4 billion.)
5. The Green Monster looms
The controversial agreement to merge the business operations of the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf isn’t finalized yet, so that’s opened the door to other potential investors. Chief among them, according to the latest buzz, is Fenway Sports Group, owner of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC. Fenway’s chairman, Tom Werner, confirmed some of the speculation Monday, when he told CNBC’s Scott Wapner that the company did indeed have talks with the tour. He declined to provide more details, but nonetheless set the stage for even more speculation with the future of professional golf up in the air.
– CNBC’s Brian Evans, Rohan Goswami, Sarah Whitten, Arjun Kharpal and Drew Richardson contributed to this report.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of Universal Pictures, which produced and distributed “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” and CNBC.
— Follow broader market action like a pro on CNBC Pro.