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

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Major drug corporations finally settled with some angry litigators over their involvement in the opioid crisis. Meanwhile, Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk exchanged ideas about digital currency in front of a live audience. So what did the stock market do today?

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

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  • The S&P 500 closed up 0.82%
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.83%
  • The Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.92%

So what else did the stock market do today? Here are some of the top stories.

What Did the Stock Market Do Today? Drug Companies Settled in Court.

The opioid crisis is one of the worst epidemics in the history of the United States. At this point, 500,000 lives have been lost to opioid addiction in the two decades since this crisis began. And while how much or how little of a role drug manufacturers have played in this crisis is up for debate, what’s undeniable is that they do have some role in it.

That’s what over 3,000 plaintiffs argue across just as many lawsuits levied at drug manufacturers over the last few years. Local and state governments, hospitals, Native American tribes and many more have taken on the three largest drug manufacturers in the country: Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), AmerisourceBergen Corp. (NYSE:ABC) and McKesson (NYSE:MCK).

Today is marking a pivotal moment, in which these companies are settling the thousands of lawsuits and providing money for the government to begin addressing the drug crisis. The three companies are settling after two years of discussion, and paying up a cumulative $26 billion to begin the restoration process.

These payments have been a long time coming; accusations have come in by the truckload, accusing these companies of unnecessarily pushing people toward opiates and getting them addicted. Pushback from the companies says that the distribution of these highly addictive drugs is in fact medically necessary. What a jury would have decided, we’ll never know; the corporations sought settlement with quickness after realizing the implications of having private documents and employee testimony in court.

All in all, the settlement is looking good for both those affected by the opioid crisis as well as shareholders in those drug manufacturers’ stocks. All three stocks are trading in the green today on the news.

‘B Word’ Conference Bolsters Cryptocurrency

Today was the B Word Conference, brought to you by Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) magnate Jack Dorsey. The conference took place over a series of prerecorded conversations. But, there was one live session that investors tuned into with more excitement than anything else: a “debate” about Bitcoin (CCC:BTC-USD) between Dorsey himself and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk.

This conversation was a long time coming. Musk and Dorsey have been two figures in the limelight of Bitcoin, especially since Musk’s turning bearish on the currency and removing it as a payment mode for Teslas. The two have also teased this conversation for a while now, heating up interest around the conference when it was announced they would finally sit down and have a talk.

Today’s talk is seeing Dorsey and Musk accompanied by Cathie Wood of Ark Invest. The three met at 11am EST for the live conversation, and it revealed some telling details about Musk especially. For example, the billionaire revealed his stake in Ethereum (CCC:ETH-USD), which was unknown prior to this talk. Additionally, Musk revealed his stake in Bitcoin, as well as investments by both Tesla and SpaceX in the digital currency.

Both Dorsey and Musk waxed poetic on the coin, Musk even adorning a shirt suggesting it is the currency of the future. Dorsey is looking more like a hippie and less like a billionaire executive, sporting a tie-dye shirt and long beard while saying he hopes Bitcoin can “create world peace.” Overall, the conversation was fruitful, suggesting support from Musk regarding bringing Bitcoin payments back to Tesla and making the currency more green.

What Else We’re Watching

  • Senators are voting today to halt the infrastructure bill until the bipartisan committee can definitively flesh out the details of the package. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is voting “no” in order to bring the vote up again in the coming days.
  • The U.S. women’s soccer team took the Olympic stage today for their opening match. And, in a bit of deja vu, they ended up getting trounced by the Swedish team.
  • AMC (NYSE:AMC) selected CEO Adam Aron as its chairman. The news didn’t lead to anything good; rather, the stock dipped 5.5% on the day’s session.

On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick 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.

Brenden Rearick is a Financial News Writer for InvestorPlace’s Today’s Market team. He mainly covers digital assets and tech stocks, with a focus on crypto regulation and DeFi.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2021/07/what-did-the-stock-market-do-today-3-big-stories-to-catch-up-on-10/.

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