The Dow Jones today is off to one of its best starts to a New Year in more than a decade.
Dow futures are down 12 points this morning despite high optimism for technology stocks. Today, one of the most important events in the tech sector, the Consumer Electronics Show, kicks off and will likely fuel significant optimism for the sector all week. Click here to find out the name of the world's most important robotics company trading for just $25 a share.
Here are the numbers from Friday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
The Night Trader's Secret: A former Wall Street insider just revealed a new strategy for executing night trades that could set you up for potential $850, $2,250, or $6,775 paydays - overnight. Click here.
The Five Top Stock Market Stories for Monday
Today, the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) kicks off in Las Vegas. The five-day event gives technology firms an opportunity to showcase their latest gadgets. This year, Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) CEO Brian Krzanich will give the keynote address. While Intel is expected to unveil a suite of new products and devices, the speech could be overshadowed by another major headline. Last week, mainstream news outlets reported Intel processor chips have a major vulnerability to two new malware called Spectre and Meltdown.
This morning, shares of NVIDIA Corp. (Nasdaq: NVDA) popped 2.5% after the company's CEO, Jensen Huang, kicked off the event. Huang gave an extensive speech about the firm's growing power in the autonomous vehicle space. NVIDIA's chief executive also discussed the firm's progress in the development of smart assistants and virtual/augmented reality.
Gold prices closed higher for the 11th day in a row last Friday, the longest up streak in history, according to Charlie Bilello. Gold prices have rallied since December thanks to deficit expansion tied to the recent tax-reform package and increasing expectations for inflation in the New Year. With that in mind, gold prices are still shaping up to have a terrific 2018, offering many investors an excellent profit opportunity.
Crude oil prices ticked higher again Monday morning on news that the number of U.S. rigs in operation declined last week. Oil prices are holding just below three-year highs despite news that U.S. production is getting very close to topping 10 million barrels per day. Rising prices have made production more attractive in the United States. Last week's rig decline could be a one-off event. The WTI crude oil price today added 0.3%. Brent crude gained 0.2%.
Video
Did Jeff Sessions Just Admit He Can't Stop Marijuana Legalization?
The price of Bitcoin fell to $15,225 on Monday after a broad sell-off in the global cryptocurrency space. BTC prices fell by nearly 10% over the last 24 hours, while Ripple slumped a stunning 25%. Ripple recently surged to an all-time high in the mid-$3.00 range and surpassed Ethereum as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. However, nearly every cryptocurrency in the top 20 is in a free fall this morning as traders take gains off the table.
Three Stocks to Watch Today: AAPL, PFE, SNAP
Shares of Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) are under pressure this morning from two prominent investors. Both hedge fund Jana Partners and the California State Teachers' Retirement System is demanding that the firm take a stronger stance on teenage addiction to the iPhone and other electronic devices. The investors point to a string of new studies that highlight the detrimental impact of smartphone addiction on children and teenagers.
Shares of Pfizer Inc.(NYSE: PFE) are off slightly in pre-market hours. Investors are on edge after the pharmaceutical manufacturer announced it was dropping plans to engage in any future research to develop drugs for both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
Shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) fell another 1.2% after the social media firm received a stock downgrade from Jefferies. Analysts said they dropped the stock from a "buy" to a "hold" on concerns about "fundamental execution."
Look for earnings reports from Barracuda Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: CUDA), Helen of Troy Ltd. (Nasdaq: HELE), Schulman Inc. (Nasdaq: SHLM), and Limoneira Co. (Nasdaq: LMNR).
Monday's U.S. Economic Calendar (all times EST)
TD Ameritrade IMX at 12:30 a.m.
Four-Week Bill Announcement at 11:00 a.m.
Three-Month Bill Auction at 11:30 a.m.
Six-Month Bill Auction at 11:30 a.m.
Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic speaks at 12:40 p.m.
San Francisco Fed Bank Chair John Williams speaks at 1:35 p.m.
Consumer Credit at 3 p.m.
Get On the Path to Greater Wealth: When it comes to making money in the market, "getting in" early - before a stock begins to make its decisive move - is the single biggest factor to your success as an investor. That's why we've introduced Money Morning Profit Alerts. This new, free service lets you choose what investing areas you want to follow - and makes sure you get alerted to news from that sector as soon as we publish it. It's easy to get started - just go here.
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.