Good Evening! On Friday, stocks saw a strong upward movement, ensuring another week of positive returns. This occurred shortly after an increase in bond rates and a more assertive stance from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which ended the longest period of consecutive gains for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq in the last two years.
The S&P 500 witnessed solid gains of 1.56%, while the Dow Jones increased by 1.15%. The Nasdaq Composite, however, surged by 2.05%, ending the week off.
CRASHES HARD
Plug Power (PLUG) had a significant decline of 40% on Friday, concluding at $3.53 per share. This drop occurred due to the hydrogen fuel cell developer’s release of financial data that were below expectations, along with the issuance of a notice expressing concerns about its capacity to finance operations in the next year.
How bad was it? Plug Power, a company specializing in the production of fuel cells and hydrogen devices reported a third-quarter loss of $0.47 per share. This loss was greater than the projected $0.30 per share loss by Wall Street analysts. On top of that, Renewable energy equities have seen significant declines this year due to the prevailing high interest rates. The Global Clean Energy ETF (ICLN), which has Plug Power as one of its holdings, has seen a decline of almost 30% since the beginning of the year.
A walk down memory lane… Plug Power stock gained popularity among retail traders amid the “meme stock” frenzy that occurred during the pandemic. The value of shares surged from around $4 in 2020 to $66 by January 2021. However… over the last year, the stock price has seen downward pressure, with the short interest on the stock reaching 26% of the float, which is considered a pretty significant level. Plug Power’s stock has seen a decline of more than 70% since the beginning of the year.
THE YEAR OF STRIKES!
The actors union and the studios struck a preliminary agreement on Wednesday evening to conclude the 118-day strike, which was the longest in the union’s history. This walkout, together with a writer’s strike that concluded in September, caused a months-long shutdown of Hollywood. The little information available about the contract suggests that the performers will get substantial salary increases and that there will be regulations regarding artificial intelligence.
However, there were many more strikes!
- The United Auto Workers successfully negotiated an agreement with vehicle manufacturers, which included a significant increase of 30% in wages for the majority of workers.
- Kaiser Permanente workers achieved a significant pay rise of 21% over four years, as well as a minimum wage of $25 per hour in California and $23 per hour in other parts of the U.S., during the biggest healthcare strike ever recorded in the country.
There were even threats that led to great benefits as well! UPS provided pay and benefits packages worth $175,000 to prevent a significant interruption in service. American Airlines has reached an agreement to raise pilot salaries by more than 46%. MGM Resorts in Las Vegas will provide wage increases to 25,400 members of the Culinary Union.