5 Top Stories in the Stock Market Today

Stock market today, April 1, 2014: The markets jumped again on Tuesday after car manufacturers reported stronger than expected sales in March. The auto industry's big month may be attributed to higher demand in March, after the weather hampered sales in January and February.

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 74.95 points to finish at 16,532.61. The Nasdaq increased 69.05 points finish at 4,268.04, while the S&P 500 hit a new record today before settling at 1,885.52.

Here's a recap of other major events in the stock market today:

stock market today

  1. Under the Microscope: This afternoon, General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra and federal regulators testified before Congress over the company's handling of safety defects in the Chevrolet Cobalt and other cars. Yesterday, the company recalled another 1.5 million vehicles over a defect in its electronic power steering assistance. GM has now recalled more than 6.3 million vehicles since February. GM plans to charge nearly $750 million against its first-quarter figures to cover the costs of these recalls. Here's why GM's 2014 recall is a legacy issue for years to come...
  2. Trading Halt: The floor of the New York Stock Exchange froze for nearly 20 minutes while two stock exchange CEOs sparred in an epic debate over high-frequency trading (HFT) on CNBC. William "Bill" O'Brien, the CEO of BATS, and Brad Katsuyama, the CEO and president of IEX, disrupted traders as they debated the impact of HFTs in today's market and Michael Lewis' new book "Flash Boys." O'Brien argued that Katsuyama, positioned as a hero in Lewis' book, and the author were falsely accusing thousands of traders of rigging the markets. Katsuyama shot back that he believed the markets were rigged and that O'Brien is "part of the rigging." Get the full story on IEX here.
  3. A Last Minute Surge: White House spokesperson Jay Carney announced that more than 7 million Americans had signed up for healthcare insurance the day after its March 31 deadline. A last-minute surge showed that Healthcare.gov received more than 4.8 million visits and that Americans made 2 million calls to the call center. U.S. President Barack Obama plans to speak from the White House Rose Garden on the news at 4:15 p.m. EST today. If you think Obamacare premiums are high now, wait until they skyrocket in 2015...
  4. Tax Dodging: The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations announced that Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), an industrial equipment manufacturer, avoided or deferred $2.4 billion in taxes over a 13-year period. The company did so by shifting profits to its Swiss affiliate, prompting allegations that the company violated U.S. tax laws. The investigation is one of several by the U.S. Senate on how American companies are able to offshore their profits to avoid paying Uncle Sam.
  5. A Dollar Goes a Long Way: The 22nd richest person in the world earned a $1 salary, making him the latest CEO to join the infamous "Dollar Club." Despite the paltry salary, Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg earned $3.3 billion in stock options in 2013. Rather than take money out of the company each year in high salaries, the company is using the same strategy as Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) when it comes to its executive's payday. What's the next big move for Facebook stock?

Tuesday's Top Three Profit Opportunities

  1. The Clock Is Ticking: There's an immense new challenge to the U.S. role in the global economy that few are watching. It's a dominant role we've held since the latter part of World War II, and for 70 years it's gone largely unchallenged. Until now. As Shah Gilani explains, the story isn't complicated, but it will be disturbing to some... and profitable to others...
  2. Cash In on Russia's Booming Tech Market: Everyone is bearish on the Russian markets following the Crimean crisis. That's a big mistake. Russian stocks - especially Russian tech stocks - offer some of the biggest profit opportunities we see today. And as our Bill Patalon explains, there's one tech stock to buy now that offers a massive potential upside...
  3. A Metal Surge: It's been five months since we last checked palladium, the precious metal so critical to consumer electronics. Back then, Peter Krauth was bullish for several reasons. But now, he's picked up on a few other bullish forces set to create a massive spike in profits...

About the Author

Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, consultant, and political risk analyst with decades of trading experience and degrees in economics, cybersecurity, and business from Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Indiana University, and Northwestern.

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