Good morning and welcome to the stock market today! Wall Street is buzzing at the start of a new week, especially as investors eye new mask guidelines and the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines for teens. As we wait to see what impact these changes will have, what will the stock market do today?
- The S&P 500 is down 0.57%
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.55%
- The Nasdaq Composite is down 0.66%
So what else will the stock market do today? Here are some of the top stories.
What Will the Stock Market Do Today? Talk Bitcoin.
Elon Musk and Bitcoin (CCC:BTC-USD) are in a complicated relationship.
Musk made waves earlier this year when he said Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) was adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet and accepting the crypto as a form of payment. His move was seen as a critical endorsement of digital currencies, as has his pro-crypto social media presence. Then, Musk backtracked last week.
He announced that Tesla would no longer accept BTC, citing environmental concerns from its energy consumption. Importantly, he said that he still believed in cryptos as a whole. Musk also announced at the time that Tesla was not looking to offload any of its Bitcoin holdings.
Then, everything got a little chaotic. Social media speculation went rampant over the weekend, suggesting that Musk and Tesla had offloaded their BTC. Bitcoin prices fell to a three-month low, as confidence in the largest cryptocurrency plummeted. Many other altcoins similarly tanked. Musk ultimately confirmed that Tesla had not sold any Bitcoin, sparking somewhat of a rally in BTC.
To clarify speculation, Tesla has not sold any Bitcoin
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 17, 2021
For investors though, the largest story is in the underlying concern with environmental consumption. Although Musk has sparked a wave of interest in so-called green coins, some analysts want to rewrite the narrative with Bitcoin. As Galaxy Digital reported, the banking industry two more times energy than Bitcoin, suggesting that Musk is missing the big picture.
These Tech Stocks Are Hoping to Ride the Crypto Wave
Whether or not Musk is missing the point, a handful of tech stocks is about to cash in on green coins.
According to Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore, Chia (CCC:XCH-USD) will have powerful effects on hard drive makers and storage providers like Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) and Seagate (NASDAQ:STX). That is because the recently launched cryptocurrency promises to be an even more successful — and greener — version of Bitcoin.
One of the largest appeals with Chia is that it uses a proof of space and time consensus protocol. This means that users can mine XCH with extra space on their personal hard drives, as opposed to relying on massive, fossil-fueled mining centers. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) also rolled out Chia mining support through its AWS product in China.
So what is the bottom line? Wall Street is betting that green coins like Chia will continue to grow thanks to interest in eco-friendly cryptocurrencies. Companies like Western Digital and Seagate, as well GPU maker Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), will benefit alongside green coins.
You can read more about XCH-USD here.
What Else We’re Watching
- AT&T (NYSE:T) and Discovery (NASDAQ:DISCA, NASDAQ:DISCB) shook up Wall Street this morning after announcing they would combine their media properties. AT&T will contribute the HBO Max streaming service as well as networks like CNN and Cartoon Network. Discovery will contribute its Discovery+ service and networks like TLC and Food Network. They will share the name of the new company later this week.
- Later this week, oat milk producer Oatly will hit the public markets. Investors expect OTLY stock to hit the Nasdaq Exchange on Thursday. Oatly is hoping to leverage growing consumer interest in plant-based products and shifts toward eco-consciousness.
- All eyes are on the housing market this week. We learned this morning that homebuilder confidence remained unchanged at 83 in May. Anything over 50 is considered a positive reading. Investors should note that rising costs and supply-demand imbalances (like the lumber shortage) are risk factors to this confidence.
On the date of publication, Sarah Smith did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
Sarah Smith is the Editor of Today’s Market with InvestorPlace.com.
