FINANCIAL MARKETS
Stocks move broadly higher following big job gains in March
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose broadly in afternoon trading on Wall Street as the economy showed more signs that it’s continuing to recover.
The government reported last week that employers went on a hiring spree in March, adding 916,000 jobs, the most since August. Investors had a delayed reaction to the encouraging job growth news, which was released on Friday when stock trading was closed. The services sector also showed strong growth in March.
Tesla surprised investors with a report that vehicle deliveries doubled during the first quarter.
The S&P 500 rose 1.4% and is on track to beat the record high it set last week.
ECONOMY-SERVICES
ISM survey: U.S. services surge to record high in March
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. services sector, which employs most Americans, recorded record growth in March as orders, hiring and prices all surged.
The Institute for Supply Management, an association of purchasing managers, reported Monday that its nonmanufacturing index rose to an all-time high 63.7 last month from 55.3 in February. Anything above 50 signals growth, and the services sector is on a 10-month winning streak since rebounding from the economic impact of the coronavirus last spring.
The reading was much higher than economists had expected.
Although debate on economic policy often focuses on manufacturing, services — such as banks, retailers and restaurants — account for 71% of all U.S. jobs and 83% of private jobs.
SUPREME COURT-GOOGLE-ORACLE
High court sides with Google in copyright fight with Oracle
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is siding with Google in an $8 billion copyright dispute with Oracle.
The justices sided with Google 6-2 on Monday. The case has to do with Google’s creation of the Android operating system now used on the vast majority of smartphones worldwide. To create Android, which was released in 2007, Google wrote millions of lines of new computer code. But it also used 11,330 lines of code and an organization that’s part of Oracle’s Java platform.
Google says what it did is long-settled, common practice in the industry, a practice that has been good for technical progress, and the Supreme Court agreed.
YELLEN-GLOBAL CORPORATE TAXES
Yellen calls for minimum global corporate income tax
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is urging the adoption of a minimum global corporate income tax, an effort to offset any disadvantages that might arise from the Biden administration’s proposed increase in the U.S. corporate tax rate.
Citing a “thirty-year race to the bottom” in which countries have slashed corporate tax rates in an effort to attract multinational businesses, Yellen said the Biden administration would work with other advanced economies in the so-called G20 to set a minimum.
CRUISE LINES-CDC
Norwegian Cruises asks CDC to allow trips from US in July
UNDATED (AP) — Norwegian Cruise Line’s parent company wants to resume sailing from U.S. ports in July.
The company today asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for permission to return to U.S. waters for the first time in more than a year, since the early days of the pandemic. Norwegian says its cruise lines will require that all passengers and crew members vaccinated against COVID-19 at least two weeks before the trip. The company says its safety measures go beyond steps taken by others including airlines, hotels and restaurants.
Norwegian plans to start U.S. cruises at 60% of capacity and raise that to 80% in August and 100% in September.
GAMESTOP-SHARES
GameStop to sell 3.5 million shares after stock frenzy boosts price
UNDATED (AP) — Two months after a market phenomenon took shares of GameStop to the moon, the video game retailer says that it will sell up to 3.5 million of its shares.
The announcement sent shares of GameStop, up 850% this year, down 8% at the opening bell.
The GameStop saga has been one of the biggest stories on Wall Street this year, initially pitting big hedge funds betting company shares would fall, against an online army of smaller investors who challenged that thinking. So far, the latter has been winning. Yet the GameStop story has veered from what most would consider reality for four months now and it remains to be seen if those smaller investors will continue to pile in.
PHILANTHROPY-GIVING COMMITMENT
Billionaires John, Laura Arnold to give 5% of wealth yearly
UNDATED (AP) — Billionaire philanthropists John and Laura Arnold have committed to donate 5% of their wealth annually as part of an effort to encourage increased, timelier donations to charities.
The Arnolds, who live in Houston, are the first billionaires to sign on to the advocacy organization Global Citizen’s “Give While You Live” campaign, which calls on the world’s billionaires to give at least 5% of their wealth every year to a cause.
The Arnolds’ pledge Monday came as part of an alliance between Global Citizen and the Arnold-led Initiative to Accelerate Charitable Giving — a coalition of donors and experts who want Congress to raise giving requirements.
