Here's Why the Dow Jones Industrial Average Is Rocketing Higher Today

By Garrett Baldwin, Executive Producer, Money Morning • January 25, 2019

The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened more than 200 points higher Friday, as markets geared up for a busy day of earnings reports and hopes for an end to the government shutdown.

Here are the numbers from Thursday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:

Now here's a closer look at today's most important market events and stocks, plus Friday's economic calendar.

Here's What's Moving the Dow Jones Industrial Average Today

• The government shutdown continues to create havoc for investors and Americans. More than 800,000 federal employees will miss a second paycheck today, creating even more uncertainty for the U.S. economy. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is facing backlash this morning after an interview with CNBC. Ross is stoking controversy after he failed to understand why federal workers are struggling to pay bills and suggested that they should obtain loans. The federal shutdown is now in its fifth week.
• This morning, a longtime associate of U.S. President Donald Trump was indicted on seven counts. The FBI arrested Roger Stone at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., before the sun rose. Stone faces one count of witness tampering, one case of obstruction, and five counts for false statements. The indictment from special counsel Robert Mueller states that Stone was in contact with high-ranking Trump officials during the 2016 campaign on matters to leak damaging material about Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton before the election.
• Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg went on the offensive (by being defensive) on Thursday. The social media giant has faced increasing scrutiny over its security issues since the 2016 election. Zuckerberg penned a 1,000 word editorial in The Wall Street Journal emphatically claiming that the social media firm did not sell customer data. "In an ordinary transaction, you pay a company for a product or service they provide," the CEO wrote. "Here you get our services for free - and we work separately with advertisers to show you relevant ads. This model can feel opaque, and we're all distrustful of systems we don't understand." He added: "Sometimes this means people assume we do things that we don't do. For example, we don't sell people's data, even though it's often reported that we do.

Three Stocks to Watch Today: INTC, SBUX, MSFT

• Shares of Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) were off 7% in pre-market hours after the company reported a rare miss on revenue for the fourth quarter. The company also slashed its first-quarter guidance thanks to ongoing geopolitical and economic concerns in China. The firm did top Wall Street earnings expectations.
• Shares of Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) were up 3% in pre-market hours after the coffee chain topped Wall Street earnings expectations on Thursday. The company reported earnings per share (EPS)of $0.75 and hiked its forward guidance for 2019. Wall Street had expected an EPS figure of $0.65 and was pleasantly surprised by the 7% in year-over-year revenue gains.
• Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) reports that its Bing search engine is back online in China. A disruption occurred earlier this week, prompting fears of a tech shutdown by Chinese authorities. The firm says it is investigating why Bing went offline. The search engine facilitates roughly 2% of searches in the world's second largest economy. Microsoft is the only major U.S. search engine operator in China after Google pulled out. Microsoft had agreed to censor search results as a condition to operate in China.
• On Friday, look for earnings reports from Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD), Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL), D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI), NextEra Energy Inc. (NYSE: NEE), Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF), and Vodafone Group Plc. (NYSE: VOD).