FOLLOW US

The U.S. stock markets experienced rough trading on Monday as investors are weighing President Joe Biden's proposals including the $1.9 trillion stimulus plan and the $15 federal minimum wage, which are facing opposition from Republicans.

Investors are also focusing their attention on the fourth-quarter financial performances of tech giants including Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA). The tech giants are set to release their fourth-quarter earnings reports later this.

Despite the choppy and volatile trading day, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite rose to record highs. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slightly declined

The S&P 500 climbed 0.36% to 3,855.35. the NASDAQ went up by 0.69% to 13,635.99 while Dow Jones fell0.12% to 30,960.

Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities told Reuters, “We are trying to calibrate not just the amount but the timing of new stimulus, and both of those, side by side are almost impossible to analyze. If you look at the market’s reaction post-election, part of the ramp we have seen, and it’s been pretty significant, has been on the back of likely stimulus and the timing, which is sooner rather than later. Now we have to reset our thinking.”

On the other hand, Megan Horneman at Verdence Capital Advisors told CNN Business that she is not worried about the sell-off in the stock market today. She said, "I expect to see more days like this in [Biden's] first 100 days."

Several trading platforms experienced problems

Several trading platforms including Charles Schwab, E-Trade, TD Ameritrade, Robinhood, and Vanguard suffered outages or technical problems.

We understand that some clients may have experienced difficulty accessing their accounts. Those issues have been resolved & we apologize for the inconvenience. Please try clearing your browser's cache & cookies, close out your browser, reopen a new page, & try logging on again.

— Vanguard (@Vanguard_Group) January 25, 2021

We are experiencing longer than normal wait times. Another option is to initiate a secure chat session on https://t.co/qhBf0xBV2z

— Charles Schwab Corp (@CharlesSchwab) January 25, 2021

We are here to help if you are having trouble logging in! For recovering a user ID or resetting a password: https://t.co/livTM4jAvc If still unable to log in, we will need to provide further login help by phone at 1-800-669-3900 for 24/7 support. ^ZR

— TD Ameritrade (@TDAmeritrade) January 26, 2021

Stock market winners

The stock price of AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE: AMC) surged 25.93% to $4.42 per share. The stock climbed an additional 10.18% to $4.87 per share after-hours.

Investors were pleased by the announcement AMC Entertainment obtained a $917 million capital infusion to avoid bankruptcy.  Between April and November last year, the company raised $1 billion in cash.

In a statement, AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron said, “Today, the sun is shining on AMC...We are proud to announce today that over the past six weeks AMC has raised an additional $917 million capital infusion to bolster and solidify our liquidity and financial position. This means that any talk of an imminent bankruptcy for AMC is completely off the table.”

Apple (NASDAQ: APPL) shares gained 2.77% to $142.99 each. The tech giant promoted its hardware chief, Dan Riccio to a new position "focusing on a new project."

In a note to investors, Wedbush Managing Director Dan Ives wrote, “The Street is anticipating robust results from Apple on Wednesday after the bell with Cupertino expected to handily beat Street estimates across the board."  He is expecting Apple to report that it sold 240 million iPhone units, higher than the 220 million consensus estimate.

The stock price of BlackBerry (NYSE: BB) gained 28.42% to $18.05 per share. The stock went up by an additional 10.15% to $19.86 per share. The Candian tech company told the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada that it was not aware of any new material information that would push its stock price higher.

Stock market observers suggest that BB shares may be benefiting from speculative buying. Investors are probably encouraged by the news last week that it sold 90 patents to Huawei.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) climbed 4.03% to $880.80 per share. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Mr. Paul Pelosi invested around $1 million in the electric vehicle manufacturer based on its financial disclosure.

On January 2, Tesla reported that it produced and delivered around 500 million vehicles last year. The company also announced that its Model Y production in Shanghai has started and expected to begin its deliveries soon.

Have a story you want USA Herald to cover? Submit a tip here and if we think it’s newsworthy, we’ll follow up on it.

Want to contribute a story? We also accept article submissions — check out our writer’s guidelines here.