Here are the top news, trends, and analysis investors need to get their trading day started:
1. Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq aim to hit record highs
Traders work on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
NYSE
US stock futures rose Tuesday, adding to the record close on Friday for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq. The US stock market was closed Monday for Presidents Day. All three stock benchmarks rose last week, continuing February’s strength. At the close of trading on Friday, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up nearly 2.8%, 4.8% and 9.4%, respectively.
The 30-year Treasury yield was above 2% early Tuesday as investors responded to progress on President Joe Biden’s proposed $ 1.9 trillion Covid stimulus package on Capitol Hill and calls for a broader one Coronavirus vaccine spread in the US waited more than 1.26%.
CVS Health reported quarterly earnings of $ 1.30 per share, 6 cents above estimates. The revenue also exceeded Wall Street projections, aided in part by Covid-19 testing and vaccinations at pharmacies.
2. Bitcoin hits a new high of over $ 50,000
In this photo illustration, a visual representation of the digital cryptocurrency, Bitcoin can be seen in Paris, France on February 9, 2021, ahead of the Bitcoin rate graph.
Chesnot | Getty Images
Bitcoin hit a new record high on Tuesday, rising above $ 50,000 per unit for the first time before reducing some of those gains. Big companies announced support for digital currencies last week. Tesla announced that it had purchased $ 1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin. Mastercard announced on Thursday that it would support certain cryptocurrencies later this year, while BNY Mellon announced the following day that it would open its custody services to digital assets. Bitcoin more than quadrupled in 2020 and is up over 60% this year.
3. Freezing in Texas causes massive energy crisis
Cattle shelter from the cold wind on the side of a pump jack array Saturday February 13, 2021 in Midland, Texas.
Eli Hartman. | Odessa American | AP
More than 3.8 million households in Texas were in the dark Tuesday morning as record temperatures spiked electricity needs for heat, pushing the state’s power grid to its limits. Texas has imposed rolling power outages that typically occur on 100-degree summer days.
- The power shortage was so great that spot prices for wholesale power in the Texas power grid rose by more than 10,000% on Monday.
- Natural gas futures rose more than 6% on Tuesday morning. However, RBC analysts said, “Certain regional spot prices for natural gas have increased 10 to 100 times in a matter of days.”
- U.S. oil prices also surged to a pandemic high of over $ 60 a barrel as wells and refineries shut down due to the cold.
The cold weather was part of a massive winter explosion that brought snow, sleet, and freezing rain to the southern plains across parts of the Ohio Valley and the northeast.
4th Congress to establish a Capitol Insurrection Commission
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks about instigating the fatal attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington during a press conference with the House’s impeachment managers on the fifth day of the impeachment trial of former U.S. President Donald Trump. USA, February 13, 2021.
Al Drago | Reuters
House spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi said Monday that Congress will set up an independent 9/11-style commission to deal with last month’s deadly riot in the U.S. Capitol. The investigation into the riots was already planned. The Senate hearings in the Regulatory Committee are scheduled for later this month.
The House impeachment officials, who spoke out in favor of Donald Trump’s conviction of inciting the attack, said Sunday they had proven their case. Democrats also railed against Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans, saying they tried “both” by finding the former president not guilty while acknowledging that he had instigated the insurgency.
5. Biden to make first official domestic trips
President Joe Biden speaks about his Covid-19 relief plan during a meeting with a non-partisan group of governors and mayors on February 12, 2021 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC.
Almond Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
Biden is trying to move beyond Trump’s impeachment acquittal last week and plans to keep a busy coronavirus schedule for the coming week. Biden will make his first official domestic tours of his presidency, beginning at a CNN city hall in Wisconsin on Tuesday, to speak to Americans affected by the pandemic. Biden visits a Pfizer Covid vaccine facility in Michigan on Thursday as the drugmaker’s and Moderna’s two-shot regimen hit pharmacies across the country.
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