Good morning and welcome to the stock market today! Wall Street is talking about roads, bridges, electric vehicle chargers and so much more this morning. So what will the stock market do today? You can dive in with InvestorPlace below.
To start, the major indices are split this morning. The S&P 500 is up 0.48%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.08%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is up 1.62%.
So what else will the stock market do today? Here are the top three stories.
What Will the Stock Market Do Today? Watch Biden.
President Joe Biden will publicly reveal his roughly $2 trillion infrastructure spending plan later today.
The plan, which he has dubbed the American Jobs Plan, follows the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan focused at providing Covid-19 economic relief. His infrastructure spending bill allocates money for roadway and bridge improvements, expanded high-speed broadband access and upgraded infrastructure for schools, child care facilities, and hospitals.
Importantly for investors, the plan also calls for investment in clean energy infrastructure. Biden has called for $174 billion in spending to help the U.S. win the electric vehicle market — acknowledging that China currently has the lead. This money would provide sale rebates and tax incentives for consumers, help create a national EV charging network of 500,000 chargers by 2030 and electrify at least 20% of public school buses through a new program.
This morning, we are seeing gains in electric vehicle stocks, and EV charging play ChargePoint (NYSE:CHPT). As these companies work to expand their reach independently, some investors are excited for the large-scale push from Biden.
But there is another takeaway thus far. Some investors are worried that Biden is about to take their money. Why? Although the American Rescue Plan was funded with deficit spending, this time around he is talking about tax hikes to bring in some of the money. This could further spur the rotation to defensive stocks.
What Is Happening in Georgia?
Republican lawmakers in Georgia recently passed a bill that overhauls voting and elections in the state. The new law limits drop boxes, strips the secretary of state of some election-related authority, restricts who can vote with provisional ballots and criminalizes the act of offering food or water to voters waiting in line. As Nick Corasaniti wrote for the New York Times, Democrats and voting rights groups have been quick to condemn the bill, highlighting its negative impacts on Black voters.
Now, Republican lawmakers are working on similar bills in 43 other states, and some want corporate America to take more concrete action.
A group of 70 Black executives have signed on to a letter asking companies to more actively fight against these voting-rights bills. The letter did not call out specific companies, but it asks them to publicly oppose such bills and to use their money and lobbyists against them.
At the same time, activists are calling for a boycott of Delta (NYSE:DAL) and Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Atlanta-headquartered businesses. Other relevant Georgia-based businesses include Home Depot (NYSE:HD). Activists are also calling for big sporting events such as the MLB All-Star Game to be moved or cancelled. In response, Delta CEO Ed Bastian sent a memo to employees calling the restrictions “unacceptable.”
What should investors be watching? Besides the pressure from boycotts on these Georgia-headquartered companies, look for one of these big firms to potentially pack its bags.
Importantly, there is a precedent for this. Economists have highlighted significant lost revenue in North Carolina in the wake of laws that limit protections for LGBTQ individuals. One estimate says the so-called bathroom bill cost North Carolina $3.76 billion, with companies and sporting events halting activity and new construction in the state.
Put Vaccines On Your Back-to-School Shopping Lists
Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and partner BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) announced Wednesday that their Covid-19 vaccine was 100% effective in preventing disease in a roughly 2,000-person trial focused on children ages 12 to 15.
While the Pfizer vaccine is already protected under emergency-use authorization in the United States, it has thus far only been approved for people 16 and older. Pfizer is hoping to expand its reach, and public health officials like this idea. As former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb tells it, the U.S. will need to immunize children in order to achieve herd immunity. That is because children make up roughly 20% of the population.
So where do things stand now? Pfizer said it plans to submit this clinical trial data to the FDA and the European Medicines Agency. From there, it hopes to begin rolling out doses by the start of the fall academic year. The companies are also beginning vaccine trials in children ages six months to 11 years.
One possible complication: Retail investor favorite Ocugen (NASDAQ:OCGN) has been eyeing children and teenagers as a potential niche for COVAXIN. That company is hosting a fireside chat to discuss its vaccine progress this morning. In anticipation, investors are hoping for an emergency-use authorization request to be filed early in April.
On the date of publication, Sarah Smith did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
Sarah Smith is a Web Content Producer with InvestorPlace.com.
