Doge days are not over yet, and investors saw the altcoin frenzy continue today on Wall Street. So in the midst of all this puppy-themed chaos, what did the stock market do today?
- The S&P 500 closed down 0.87%
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 1.36%
- The Nasdaq Composite closed down 0.09%
So what else did the stock market today? Here are the top three stories.
What Did the Stock Market Do Today? Tesla Stumbled.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had a bad day, shedding nearly 2% at the closing bell. The electric vehicle giant has been caught up in a broader tech rout, but news out of China today made that pain more personal. Tesla reported that it sold 26,000 Chinese-made cars in April, a drop from 35,000 in March. Reports also started to swirl that the company was backing away from acquiring property in Shanghai.
So what is happening to the EV giant?
As InvestorPlace contributor Chris MacDonald highlighted, the April performance could simply be a result of growing competition. Plus, Tesla did show promising sales figures in Europe, exciting some on Wall Street. However, there are a few other things at play. Tesla has been caught in government crosshairs thanks to its in-vehicle cameras and concerns over safety that came up at the Shanghai Auto Show. Musk has been trying to warm up officials, but tensions remain high. With all this in mind, investors did not react well to the April sales news.
There is a silver lining. Nio (NYSE:NIO), its Chinese rival, broke its losing streak today and reversed course from this morning. One theory for the turnaround is the slip by Tesla. If the American company loses market share and faces restrictions, bulls could see Nio filling in the gaps. That sounds like a win for NIO stock.
Meet Internet Computer, the New No. 8 Crypto
For some investors, it may seem like Internet Computer (CCC:ICP-USD) shot out of nowhere.
The cryptocurrency, considered by its founders to be the top blockchain invention after Bitcoin (CCC:BTC-USD) and Ethereum (CCC:ETH-USD), rocketed higher on Monday. After touching a new high above $730, it became the No. 8 crypto by market capitalization.
So what is this crypto? And where did its rocket rally come from?
Internet Computer, or ICP, is the cryptocurrency from the Dfinity Foundation. It aims to be a smart contract platform that processes transactions at internet speeds. Its founders also say that it can run all applications from the open web and other blockchains. Broadly, the ICP coin is for governance, decision making and network transactions. Its smart contract platform just launched on Friday.
Although its innovative approach may be intriguing to investors, it seems a handful of exchange listings are responsible for the rally. ICP started trading on the Coinbase Pro platform yesterday. Today, a handful of exchanges including Huobi, OKEx and Binance also rolled out Internet Computer as an option. Given the power of the Coinbase effect and growing interest in altcoins, this is definitely a crypto story you want to keep on your radar.
You can read more about Internet Computer (ICP) price predictions here.
Puppy Power Takes Ethereum Fees Sky High
Someone let the dogs out on Wall Street, and they are causing chaos for Ethereum.
Everything started with Dogecoin (CCC:DOGE-USD), which hit a new all-time high last week. Before Elon Musk hosted SNL, investors were hoping that his celebrity endorsement would power Dogecoin prices to $1 or beyond. While his appearance had the opposite effect, a handful of dog-themed cryptos were waiting in the shadows. Now, these Dogecoin competitors are barking to new heights.
Yesterday investors started piling into Shiba Inu (CCC:SHIB-USD) and Doge Killer (CCC:LEASH-USD), sister tokens designed to take on DOGE. Then, alternatives like Australian Safe Shepherd (CCC:ASS-USD), Kishu Inu (CCC:KISHU-USD) and Shih Tzu (CCC:SHIH-USD) popped up. All embrace dog imagery and ideals of community-focused cryptocurrencies.
Some have voiced concerns about $SHIB listing. We follow users. There is a large number of users demanding it, to the point where we ran out of ETH deposit addresses due to SHIB today. Never happened before for any other ERC20 coin.
Not endorsing it. Super high risk. NFA.
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) May 10, 2021
While these pups have delivered huge gains, they are having a twofold impact on exchanges. Binance reported that SHIB caused its exchange to run out of ETH deposit addresses. CEO Changpeng Zhao said that no other ERC-20 token had ever caused that. Ethereum transaction fees are soaring, up to an average of $64. This is causing pain for users of other decentralized projects, but bringing Ethereum miners record transaction revenue.
The bottom line? ETH miners are making a pretty penny, and not for the first time. However, this time, the driving force is a serious of cartoon dog tokens instead of serious smart contracts.
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 the Editor of Today’s Market with InvestorPlace.com.
