More trouble for Boeing, tech giants possibly headed to court plus stocks to watch today in the Money and Markets Wall Street Wake-Up.
The Morning Open
U.S. markets are mixed Tuesday morning.
As of 10:05 a.m., Eastern time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up just 6 points or 0.01% to 28.914. The S&P 500 slipped down 0.1% while the Nasdaq opened down 0.2%.
The Opening Bell
The Labor Department said Tuesday that its consumer price index rose 0.2% last month, lifted by a 2.8% increase in gasoline prices. Over the past year, consumer inflation is up 2.3%. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core consumer inflation rose just 0.1% in December and 2.3% over the past year.
Inflation is running close to the Federal Reserve’s 2% annual target. The Fed cut short-term interest rates three times last year, partly to protect a record-breaking U.S. economic expansion from the effects of President Donald Trump’s trade war with China.
Stocks to Watch Today
Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) — Shares of the major airline jumped 3.8% in premarket trading Tuesday after it reported beating analysts’ revenue and earnings estimates.
McKesson Corp. (NYSE: MCK) — The health care and pharmaceutical company raised its full-year outlook and said it will provide more company information at the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco today. Shares were up 3.7% in Tuesday premarket trading.
GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) — The video game retailer saw its stock drop 9% in Tuesday premarket trading after the company reported a 25% drop in its holiday sales and forecast a larger drop in same-store sales in 2019.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) — The investment bank reported a 21% jump in profit for its fourth quarter. As a result, shares were up 1.4% in premarket trading Tuesday.
In the News
Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) plans to ask a federal court to temporarily block Microsoft Inc. (Nasdaq: MSFT) from working on a $10 billion cloud-computing contract with the Defense Department, according to CNN Business.
Microsoft was awarded the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract in December, but Amazon claimed there was influence from President Donald Trump to award Microsoft the contract due to the president’s “personal dislike” of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
Boeing Mocked Calls for More 737 Max Training
Indonesia’s Lion Air wanted more pilot training from Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) on its 737 Max aircraft in 2017, but the aircraft manufacturer said it was unnecessary, according to a report from Bloomberg.
In 2018, a Lion Air 737 Max crashed into the Java Sea, killing 189. The crash is partially blamed on inadequate training of the crew on the new flight control system that malfunctioned.
The report found Boeing employees mocking Lion Air officials for asking for additional training. And, it’s not the first time Boeing officials have had issues with released documents.
BlackRock Shakes Up Sustainable Investing Business
The world’s largest money manager plans to expand its range of sustainable energy investment products, according to The Wall Street Journal.
BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) — which has nearly $7 trillion in assets under management — said it “would assess environmental, social and governance factors with the same liquidity and credit risk.”
Other Morning Reads
Tesla Stock Surpasses $500 Mark, But Analysts Still Not Sold (Money and Markets)
Visa to Pay $5.3 Billion for Fintech Startup Plaid (Wall Street Journal)
Bonner: Feds Are Killing the Market With ‘Quick Fix’ Policies (Money and Markets)
Earnings Report
Here are the companies releasing earnings reports today:
Aphria Inc. (NYSE: APHA)
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C)
Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL)
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM)
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC)
Chart of the Day
In January 2000, Bill Gates relinquished his day-to-day responsibilities of Microsoft Corp.
Since then, the company has had two CEOs. After a drop in share price under Steve Ballmer, the company skyrocketed when Satya Nadella took over in 2014.
Now the company is trading shares at more than $163.
Check back each morning before the opening bell for stocks to watch today with the Wall Street Wake-Up, here on Money and Markets.
