What Did the Stock Market Do Today? 3 Big Stories to Catch Up On.

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Another busy day in the stock market flew by and now the trading week is over! Thursday brought a new record for the S&P 500, as well as a variety of funny and not-so-funny April Fool’s Day pranks from market leaders. So what else did the stock market do today? Dive in with InvestorPlace below.

Street sign for Wall Street pictured in front of several American flags representing american stocks

Source: Shutterstock

To start, the major indices stayed in winning mode all day. The S&P 500 gained 1.18%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added on 0.52%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite tacked on 1.76%.

So what else did the stock market do today? Take a look at these three top stories, and then prepare yourself for a day off. The market is closed tomorrow in recognition of the Good Friday holiday.

What Did the Stock Market Do Today? Invest in Clean Energy.

The race to find winning clean energy stocks continues after President Joe Biden revealed his roughly $2 trillion American Jobs Plan. We saw more electric vehicle and EV charging stocks gain on Thursday, with several top names also fueled by company-specific success.

That hunger for clean energy investments expanded, touching on uranium and lithium stocks today. Where does this interest come from?

As InvestorPlace contributor William White wrote, the interest in lithium stocks is a bit indirect. Lithium is a key component in the batteries for electric vehicles. Because Biden has called for a $174 billion investment to make the U.S. an EV leader, investors are looking for other ways to profit. Considering that the U.S. may be looking to ramp up production of EVs, lithium stocks are one bet. Today we saw names like Livent (NYSE:LTHM) and Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) gain.

Also getting a boost today were uranium stocks. This is because Biden specifically shared a plan to invest in restoring and reclaiming uranium mines. Uranium Energy (NYSE:UEC) and Denison Mines (NYSEMKT:DNN) were some of the gainers.

Keep these more creative clean energy stocks on your radar moving forward. We will likely see investors continuing to search for creative ways to cash in on infrastructure spending.

Add a Covid-19 Test to Your Grocery Cart

According to the latest estimates, health officials have administered more than 590 million Covid-19 vaccine doses across 141 countries. In the United States, the rollout continues, with states eyeing a May 1 deadline to make all residents eligible for vaccination.

While widespread vaccination is largely considered key for reopening, there is something else to consider: mass testing.

One vision for the post-pandemic future is mass testing with near-immediate results. Want to go to a concert, wedding, sporting event or even into your office? Get a Covid-19 test onsite and get your results back in just a few minutes. In this vision, easily available at-home testing (some compare it to a pregnancy test) is also critical.

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration took a step toward enabling this easy, widespread testing. The regulatory agency approved at-home tests from Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) and Quidel (NASDAQ:QDEL). Consumers will be able to purchase these tests at grocery stores and convenient stores, allowing for routine testing.

So what should you watch? Overall, ABT stock and QDEL stock look to be solid picks in the testing world. However, the road ahead is not perfectly smooth. These tests will not be immediately available, and health officials are already warning of delays and shortages that could impact at-home test supply. Plus, at-home options like the BinaxNOW test from Abbott are antigen tests, putting them below the gold-standard PCR tests.

Risky AeroCentury Really Took Flight

Aircraft leasing company AeroCentury (NYSEMKT:ACY) was ready for take off today, with ACY stock gaining more than 170% in Thursday trading.

Unfortunately, there is a catch.

AeroCentury filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections earlier this week, citing losses due to Covid-19. The company primarily leases aircraft to foreign and domestic air carriers, and in the middle of the pandemic, those carriers had little reason to demand new leases. AeroCentury was already struggling, and its debts quickly surpassed its assets in 2020. Although the company plans to auction off its assets as part of its plan to pay back its debt, investors are acting like they just hit the jackpot.

So did they? As InvestorPlace Markets Analyst Tom Yeung said today, the Chapter 11 restructuring process typically wipes out equity investors. However, rare instances where those investors walked away with exponential gains are inspiring. Looking at the Covid-19 recovery narrative, Yeung thinks some investors may be betting on a bailout for AeroCentury. That is a big bet, and one that comes with big risks. Here is his advice:

“Investors in bankrupt companies not only need to believe that the company’s asset value exceeds its liabilities, but that the courts will also recognize that truth.”

In other words, before you board ACY stock expecting big gains, make sure you are committed to the AeroCentury story.

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. 


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2021/04/what-did-the-stock-market-do-today-3-big-stories-acy-stock-clean-energy-stocks/.

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