Good morning. Dow Jones futures today were pushing higher this morning after Pfizer reported 95% efficacy on its latest COVID-19 vaccine. That figure suggests that the new vaccine is more successful than previous data noted. The Dow Futures added another 147 points in premarket hours.
Let’s take a look at the numbers from Tuesday before we get into the headlines driving the futures market.
The Rundown: Today’s Top Market Stories
- This morning, Pfizer (PFE) reported that its latest vaccine had a 95% efficacy rate. That figure was higher than the previous estimate and signals positive development for the pharmaceutical market. In addition, the FDA has approved the first emergency kit for at-home COVID-19 testing. Lucira Health has created a test that produces results within minutes. It will cost about $50 and will be available by the spring 2021. This has been quite a year for the pharmaceutical sector as it continues to innovate at an incredible rate. The previous record for a vaccine to a new pathogen was 4 years. It appears we’ve reached that finish line in less than nine months.
- Next up, problems continue in Washington D.C. In addition to Congress’ inability to work on a deal to address stimulus, President Trump has refused to provide President-Elect Joe Biden with classified intelligence briefings that offer an assessment of threats to the United States. While Trump continues to hold up the election results in court, Biden has been forced to accept intelligence briefings from dozens of private experts outside of the U.S. government.
- Job cuts are coming. Goldman Sachs Group (GS) announced it will cut another 400 jobs on Wall Street. The company had started making cuts back in September. Even with Wall Street booming in 2020, we’re expecting to see a big cut in annual bonuses and the acceleration of job cuts at other banks and alternative investment firms across the nation.
Today’s Top Stocks to Watch: TGT, LOW, BA
TGT: Shares of Target Corporation are pushing higher this morning afte the company reported stronger than expected Q3 earnings. The firm saw an EPS of $2.79, which crushed consensus estimates of $1.60. The company said that same-store sales rocketed more than 20% higher from the same time last year. Revenue was also well ahead of expectations. The latest updates show that U.S. retail spending remains strong despite concerns about the underlying economy. It will be interesting to analyze how much grocery market share that Target has been able to wrestle away from competitors during this COVID outbreak.
LOW: Shares of Lowe’s Companies are off more than 6% in premarket hours after a tough earnings report for the home retailer. The company only missed earnings by a penny this morning and same-store sales surged by 30% over the same period last year. That said, the company issued a lower forecast than most expected for the fourth quarter.
BA: Shares of Boeing rallied another 6.6% in premarket hours after the FDA approved the return of the 737 MAX jet back to the skies. The company has been under pressure after two of the planes crashed in 2019. American Airlines (AAL) will be the first airline company to put the aircraft back into its schedule. The first flights will take place in December.
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