It was a choppy day in the stock market today, with the S&P 500 shedding 0.78%. Investors are still trying to weigh the constantly changing headwinds, which is quite difficult under the circumstances.
U.S. states and many countries are taking steps to gradually — or quickly, depending on the location — reopen their economies. That’s good news provided we don’t get another surge in cases of the novel coronavirus. These steps are also why the markets are rallying.
However, with tensions resurfacing between the U.S. and China, investors have more inputs to configure. Then there’s the economic data.
Over the past eight weeks, reports show that roughly 25% of the U.S. workforce is now without work. Total jobless claims now exceed 39 million, after logging another 2.4 million in the past week. That was worse than expected, with estimates sitting at 2.375 million.
While the numbers are slowly improving after peaking, there’s still a long way to go to recovery.
Best Cruiser?
According to Wedbush analyst James Hardiman, Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL) is in the best financial position. That’s ahead of its competitors Carnival Cruise (NYSE:CCL) and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NYSE:NCLH).
“We would argue that RCL had the best momentum headed into the pandemic and see no reason this will not be the case coming out of the pandemic,” states Hardiman.
This thinking is why Wedbush gave Royal Caribbean an “outperform” rating and a 12-month price target of $63.
Movers in the Stock Market Today
Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB) surged 34.6% in the stock market today. The move came on news that it will be making its way into the U.S. Reliva and Aurora made an all-stock deal valued at roughly $40 million. The deal with Reliva — a debt-free, U.S.-based CBD company — is expected to close next month. Reliva chief Miguel Martin will become the new president of Aurora USA.
Ford (NYSE:F) had to halt production in Dearborn, Michigan, and Chicago shortly after reopening. Employees in both facilities tested positive for Covid-19. The Chicago plant saw a temporary halt for the second time in two days after two people tested positive for the virus. Both plants are expected to resume production today after being thoroughly cleaned and enforcing two-week quarantines for staff members who came in close contact with the infected persons.
According to reports, Uber (NYSE:UBER) and Grubhub (NYSE:GRUB) are “quite close” to finally agreeing on a deal. Grubhub has come down a little on the price, while Uber is sticking close to its roughly 1.9 shares per each share of Grubhub. As talks continue, there’s still no guarantee that it will be a done deal, but the price gap between the companies seems to be getting a bit closer.
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is planning five new solar projects. The company hopes to reach 80% renewable energy by 2024 and 100% by 2030. Its first of the five utility-scale solar projects will be in Shandong, China. Following China, projects will be in Australia, Ohio and Virginia.
In other Amazon news, as the company has struggled to keep up with a surge in online orders, its annual Prime Day event will be postponed from July to September.
Bret Kenwell is the manager and author of Future Blue Chips and is on Twitter @BretKenwell. As of this writing, Bret Kenwell did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.