What Happened in the Market This Week?

Markets began the first week of 2022 with major losses. This week, the Dow Jones fell 159.78 points (0.44%) to 36,231.66, the S&P 500 fell 90.25 points (1.89%) to 4,677.03, and the NASDAQ fell 735.00 points (4.69%) to 14,935.90. The NASDAQ had its worst week since February 2021. Crypto also had a bad week: this week, Bitcoin fell 4,808.80 points (10.35%) to 41,650.70, Etherium fell 597.87 points (15.88%) to 3,168.14, and Cardano fell 0.1009 points (7.65%) to 1.2186. [1] Also,  the technology sector significantly underperformed as the rise of bond yields have had a significant effect on the sector. In contrast, Energy and Financials were the top performing sectors of the week, as many of these stocks have performed exceptionally well.

Weekly Market Stats

Weekly Market Graphs

This Week’s Equity News

• On Monday, Apple Market Cap broke $3 Trillion when its share price hit $182.86 on Monday. 
• GameStop (GME) reported that it was planning on developing partnerships in the crypto world, as well as establishing a market for NFTs.
• Rivian Automotive (RIVN) fell below its IPO price on Thursday as Amazon (AMZN) made a deal with Stellantis (previously known as Fiat Chrysler) to help develop and utilize the Ram electric pickup truck. This is a major threat to Rivian as Rivian developed the world’s first all-electric SUV and had previously made deals with Amazon.
• Stellantis (STLA) stock rose nearly 5% throughout the week in the wake of its new deal with Amazon (AMZN).
• Walmart (WMT) hopes to expand its “inHome” delivery option, allowing groceries to be delivered right into the orderer’s refrigerator when not home. 
• Ford (F) stock price continues to rise as its development in autonomous vehicles continues improving. This week, Ford share price increased over 15%.
• Beyond Meat (BYND) stock increased nearly 13% on Wednesday and Thursday after its deal with KFC to incorporate Beyond Meat in its menu.

What is Going On With the U.S. Labor Force?

This week, it was reported that there were only 199,000 jobs added in December 2021, well below the expected 422,000 jobs to be added. This means that the U.S. economy is still struggling with job growth. However, unemployment rates have also decreased more than expected, meaning that more people are also being employed. Specifically, it fell to 3.9% from 4.2% in November. This is really good news as unemployment has been falling (it was at 14.7% in 2020) and there are fewer unemployed people.   

This Week’s Gainers

This Week’s Losers

This Week Ahead

Monday January 3:

• Albertsons Companies, Inc. (ACI) Reports Earnings
• Concentrix Corporation (CNXC) Reports Earnings
• U.S. Consumer Inflation Expectations (December)

Tuesday January 4:

• TD Synnex Corp (SNX) Reports Earnings

Wednesday January 5:

• Aritzia Inc. (ATZAF) Reports Earnings
• Shaw Communications Inc. (SRJ) Reports Earnings
• Washington Federal, Inc. (WADF) Reports Earnings
• U.S. Consumer Price Index (December)

Thursday January 6:

• Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) Reports Earnings
• U.S. Producer Price Index (December)

Friday January 7:

• BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) Reports Earnings
• First Republic Bank (FRC) Reports Earnings
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) Reports Earnings
• Citigroup Inc. (C) Reports Earnings
• Wells Fargo & Co (WFC) Reports Earnings

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[1] Stock Market Data is taken from Google Finance once the markets closed  and Crypto Data was recorded on 10/17/21 at 6:45 P.M.

[2] Information sourced from Schwab Market Update

[3] Above information is sourced from Investopedia Week Ahead and Yahoo Finance Financial Calendar