Tuesday,
January 4, 2022
Market recap
Dow Jones
36,585.06
+246.76 (+0.68%)
S&P 500
4,796.56
+30.38 (+0.64%)
Nasdaq
15,832.80
+187.83 (+1.20%)
Top Story
Stocks Gain on the First Trading Day of the Year
• US stocks climbed on the first trading day of 2022. Some of this momentum came from gains for two tech giants: Apple (AAPL) and Tesla (TSLA).
• Appleās market cap reached a new record of $3 trillion, making it the first US company to hit this milestone. Appleās valuation has tripled in under four years.
• The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is continuing to spread, which is weighing on investor sentiment. Reported daily cases in the US have recently hit record highs. Some businesses and schools are opting to move operations online for several weeks to curb the spread of the virus.
What to Be on the Lookout for Today
• The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey or JOLTs for November will be published. This tracks the number of job openings in a given month. In October the number of job openings increased by 11 million. That is down from September when people quit their jobs at a rapid pace.
• Simply Good Foods (SMPL) will share its latest results. The company owns a number of nutrition products and protein bar brands. Investors will be eager to see how it has navigated supply-chain issues recently.
Start the Year Off Right by Learning the Money Skills You Need
A mere half of Americans grasp personal finance concepts like managing debt, risk management, and saving for retirement. Over the last five years, financial literacy has improved by only 3% among Americans.1
Introducing āThe Fundamentals of Personal Finance,ā a Specialization by SoFi in partnership with Coursera, one of the worldās leading online learning platforms. The program, comprising five courses created by SoFi and our team of in-house financial planners, will provide members with the basic fundamentals of personal financeāincluding an introduction to personal finances, saving for the future, managing debt, fundamentals of investing, and the basics of risk management.
There are only 1500 licenses left for SoFi members. Enroll now to gain a better understanding of personal finance topics and how to implement strategies to meet your own financial goals.
A Few Headlines That Should Be on Your Radar
Economists lower 2022 growth expectations as rising COVID-19 cases cause disruptions across industries. Generally speaking, consumers who stay home to avoid catching the virus arenāt out buying goods or services. Businesses like restaurants will likely ramp up to-go and delivery options, both of which lower profit margins. Earnings also take a hit when stores reduce their hours, but businesses are wary of overworking employees given ongoing staffing issues. Read more >> Automakers are following Teslaās move, bringing battery development in-house. Industry leaders say this trend not only helps profitability, but also sustainability. Partnerships that keep more production in-house will help companies meet the environmental goals that they have outlined for investors. Read more >> In order to grow the metaverse, Meta Technologies needs to sell the hardware and convince users that it is trustworthy. Industry analysis shows that the 2021 holiday season provided a boost to sales of the companyās Oculus VR headset, with corresponding app downloads up over 90% when compared to last year at this time. But Facebook is dealing with a series of recent challenges that threaten to erode the companyās standing with the public and diminish trust. Read more >> Financial wellness is something that must be worked for. But financial wellness is worth every ounce of effort. We all want to achieve financial wellness, but to do so, we must first understand what financial wellness is (and is not). Read more >>Not-So-Breaking News
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During 2021, Tesla (TSLA) delivered 936,172 cars ā 308,600 of which were distributed in the fourth quarter. Inventors were impressed with the strong performance, which helped push shares of the electric-vehicle maker higher on Monday.
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AT&T (T) and Verizon Communications (VZ) denied a request from federal officials to push back the introduction of a new 5G wireless service after the airline industry raised concerns about safety. The communications giants say they will temporarily adopt new safeguards instead. For example, they will not roll out 5G near airports for the next six months.
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Despite the surge in COVID-19 cases, traffic at gyms is holding up, according to the CEO of Planet Fitness (PLNT). Since vaccination became widespread, new memberships havenāt slowed down, and cancellations havenāt increased.
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Consumers can now get plant-based chorizo at Chipotle (CMG). This marks the fast-food chainās first vegan offering since tofu-based sofritas was added in 2014.
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Wearable technology drove Appleās (AAPL) sales this holiday season in a big way. The tech giant sold 90 million pairs of AirPods. Wearable tech sales overall grew 20% year-over-year.
Financial Planner Tip of the Day
āOne place to begin when striving to nurture good financial habits is to write out individual money goals. Financial goals can serve as āexternalā guideposts for kickstarting (and then sticking with) new habits.ā
Brian Walsh, CFPĀ® at SoFi