Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Broken record
Maybe you’ve heard this one before in 2024: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a new record high on Monday. The 30-stock Dow ended the day up 125.69 points, or 0.33%, to hit 38,797.38. The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 both fell slightly, at 0.3% and 0.09%, respectively. Looking ahead, investors (and the Federal Reserve) will be watching Tuesday for the January consumer price index report, which will give the latest indication into how inflation is affecting the economy. Follow live market updates here.
2. Taking off
An Airbus A320 passenger aircraft of JetBlue airlines arrives from Tampa at JFK International Airport in New York as the Manhattan skyline looms in the background on February 7, 2024.
Charly Triballeau | Afp | Getty Images
Shares of JetBlue spiked 15% in extended trading Tuesday morning after activist investor Carl Icahn reported he was taking a nearly 10% stake in the company. Icahn, who accumulated the position over January and February, said the airline’s stock is undervalued. Over the past 12 months, JetBlue’s stock has fallen more than 27%. It’s not Icahn’s first venture into the airline industry. He famously took TWA private in the late 1980s, but that airline struggled and eventually filed for bankruptcy. The news dropped the same day that JetBlue’s new CEO, Joanna Geraghty, took the helm, and also comes as the carrier is facing issues with profits, cost control and reliability.
3. Fat Tuesday
A person walks out of a Tim Hortons store on Yonge St. in Toronto.
Lance Mcmillan | Toronto Star | Getty Images
Tuesday morning brought a fresh slate of earnings from food and beverage companies. Coca-Cola‘s sales topped Wall Street’s estimates, pulling in revenue of $10.85 billion versus the $10.68 billion analysts surveyed by LSEG had expected. The drink giant said higher prices helped offset a volume decline in North America. Restaurant Brands International, which operates restaurants including Tim Hortons and Burger King, also beat top- and bottom-line estimates. Coffee chain Tim Hortons was a bright spot for the company, as its same-store sales increased 8.4% during the quarter, topping StreetAccount estimates of 4.7%.
4. Buoyant bitcoin
Bitcoin keeps climbing. The flagship cryptocurrency topped $50,000 on Monday and at one point hit its highest level since December 2021. It’s being helped by a variety of factors, experts say, including the upward trend on the stock market, as well as more relaxing of monetary policy in China. ″$50,000 is a significant milestone for bitcoin after the launch of spot ETFs last month not only failed to elicit a move above this key psychological level but led to a selloff and some deep soul searching about these new bitcoin products,” said Antoni Trenchev, co-founder of crypto services firm Nexo.
5. Most of all time
Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs holds the Lombardi Trophy after defeating the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime during Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Steph Chambers | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images
Super Bowl 58 was the most-watched television show ever. An estimated 123.4 million people tuned in to watch the game, which went into overtime for only the second time in NFL history. CBS Sports said that number included viewers on all platforms and was up 7% from last year’s 115.1 million average viewers, which set the previous record. CBS also said it was the most streamed Super Bowl in history as people tuned in to Paramount+ to watch the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers.
— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han, Brian Evans, Sara Salinas, Amelia Lucas, Tanaya Macheel, Sarah Whitten and Christine Wang contributed to this report.
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