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

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What a busy day in the stock market. Cryptocurrencies were on the move once again, as were renewable energy stocks. The Robinhood initial public offering is hitting a roadblock, and investors were also watching a wide variety of economic factors. So what else did the stock market do today?

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

Source: Shutterstock

To start, the major indices each ended the day in the green. The S&P 500 added 1.11%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.9%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also added 1.31%.

So what else will the stock market do today? Here are the top three stories.

What Did the Stock Market Do Today? Watch Dogecoin Prices.

Crypto bulls are barking for Dogecoin (CCC:DOGE-USD) today, as the meme coin soars to new heights.

In fact, DOGE is up more than 170% over the last seven days, surpassing the 18-cent mark for the first time on Thursday. This comes as cryptocurrency sentiment strengthens, thanks to the Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) direct listing and other mainstream backers. Dogecoin in particular is benefiting from celebrity endorsements and a powerful social media following that touts itself as the DOGE army.

So what do investors need to know about DOGE and Dogecoin price predictions after Thursday? Importantly, the first takeaway is that the meme crypto is now an even more legitimate play. Its market capitalization has climbed above $21 billion, earning it the No. 8 spot according to CoinMarketCap. This puts Dogecoin above Uniswap (CCC:UNI-USD) and Litecoin (CCC:LTC-USD), and just under Polkadot (CCC:DOT-USD). One of the key catalysts for Dogecoin in the past has been increased visibility and legitimacy — the idea that as Dogecoin grows larger, it will earn itself even more support, and then grow further. The new record on Thursday supports that case.

However, InvestorPlace Markets Analyst Thomas Yeung has an even more insightful takeaway on DOGE. He wrote today that even experienced investors should put $500 into Dogecoin as part of their training at Reddit university. Why? The success of Dogecoin comes from community support more than it does any sort of traditional investing rule. If you can learn to understand that, you can profit further.

Read more about why you should put $500 into Dogecoin now here.

Where Do Things Stand With Covid-19 Vaccines?

On Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that states pause the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) vaccine. In the wake of that news, investors have been closely watching Covid-19 vaccine stocks.

So where do things stand? On Wednesday, the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) vote to discuss the recommended pause. Committee members agreed that they needed more data, and therefore voted to extend the pause until they could complete further analysis. ACIP will reconvene following that analysis.

There are also two new stories emerging that have these vaccine stocks on watch.

The first is commentary from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) CEO Albert Bourla, who said on Thursday that recipients will likely need a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine within 12 months of getting fully vaccinated. He also said people may need to receive Covid-19 shots annually. Although many public health experts have speculated on this, it is certainly sparking investor commentary.

The second story is based off an emerging new study from the University of Oxford. Researchers there found that the change of developing the blood clotting disorder known as cerebral venous thrombosis following Covid-19 infection is 100 times higher than normal. This is much higher than the risk following vaccination. The study also found that the risk of developing CVT is higher in recipients of mRNA vaccines like those from Pfizer or Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) than in recipients of the AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) shot. However, researchers also noted that they are still accumulating data in this study.

What does this mean right now? Covid-19 vaccine conversations are not going to end any time soon, especially as the U.S. is juts days away from its new vaccine eligibility deadline. Watch the stock market for any volatility around the news.

Scorpion Capital Hits the Brakes on EV Stocks

Today, Scorpion Capital slapped QuantumScape (NYSE:QS) with a short-seller report, sending QS stock down more than 12%. In the report, Scorpion alleges that QuantumScape is a pump-and-dump scheme, and it even says that the solid-state battery company rivals Theranos.

Unfortunately for investors, QS stock did not suffer that blow alone.

Instead, it seems that Scorpion Capital was able to shake confidence in EV stocks in general. Raising doubts about the legitimacy of these growth-focused businesses, investors were questioning what to believe. Factor in an ongoing chip shortage and trade tensions, and several top names dropped. The Chinese EV trio Nio (NYSE:NIO), Xpeng (NYSE:XPEV) and Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI) all ended the day in the red. So did SPAC star Churchill Capital IV (NYSE:CCIV).

Importantly, the QuantumScape extended even beyond traditional EV stocks. Investors lost confidence in fuel cell stocks like FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ:FCEL) and Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG). New debut TuSimple (NASDAQ:TSP), which specializes in self-driving truck offerings, also stumbled.

What does this mean? Many of these green names came public in 2020 through a SPAC boom. QuantumScape shows that a moment of truth is coming, and short-sellers will be lurking in the shadows. As InvestorPlace contributor Chris MacDonald writes, it may also be a good opportunity to pick up EV stocks on the dip.

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-dogecoin-price-predictions-qs-stock/.

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