What Did the Stock Market Do? Jan. 29, 2021

Want the latest stock market news? Follow the day in real time with InvestorPlace for the top takeaways.

Latest Updates:

Major Indices End Friday in the Red

[Friday, January 29, 4:20 pm]
Contributed by Sarah Smith

  • The S&P 500 closed lower by 1.93%
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower by 2.03%
  • The Nasdaq Composite closed lower by 2%
  • The Russell 2000 closed lower by 1.57%

Robinhood Places Restrictions on 50 Popular Reddit Stocks

[Friday, January 29, 4:18 pm]
Contributed by Sarah Smith

Robinhood has expanded its list of trading restrictions, citing ongoing market volatility. The list now creates aggregate limits on how many new shares investors can acquire of hot Reddit stocks. However, this list affects 50 different names. Beyond top fliers like GameStop (NYSE:GME) and AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC), the bans have extended to other popular names like Churchill Capital IV (NYSE:CCIV) and Jaguar Health (NASDAQ:JAGX).

For more, read the InvestorPlace.com brief on the Robinhood bans here.

Midday Update: Dow Lags Down 600+ Points

[Friday, January 29, 1:57 pm]
Contributed by Sarah Smith

  • The S&P 500 is down 2.01%
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 2.02%
  • The Nasdaq Composite is down 2.15%
  • The Russell 2000 is down 1.15%

Coinbase Suffers Outages After Direct Listing News

[Friday, January 29, 12:49 pm]
Contributed by Sarah Smith

Riding a wave of enthusiasm in the cryptocurrency market, Coinbase shared on Friday that it will come public via a direct offering. However, things soon took a turn for the worse.

Following the news, customers started reporting difficulty trading cryptos on the platform. As the largest digital currency exchange in the United States, those concerns are not exactly minor. But trading outages happen, right?

Although Coinbase and its peer crypto exchanges have never been immune to such outages, retail investors are especially sensitive right now. That is because Robinhood and other brokerages intentionally blocked trading on high-flying stocks like GameStop (NYSE:GME) and AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) yesterday. With cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin (CCC:DOGE) and Bitcoin (CCC:BTC) rocketing higher today, platform outages feel eerily similar. However, Coinbase appears to be suffering from high market volatility and technical issues. According to the latest company updates, services are back up and the team is monitoring for further issues.

For more, read the InvestorPlace.com brief on Coinbase here.

What Will Happen to the Robinhood IPO?

[Friday, January 29, 12:30 pm]
Contributed by Sarah Smith

Not too long ago, investors were celebrating the potential for a Robinhood IPO. In December, news that the trading platform was working with Goldman Sachs to navigate an initial public offering had the market excited. That is because with a $20 billion valuation and a track record of disrupting finance, many saw such an offering as a great way to make money.

That argument adds up. Robinhood, up until recently, was synonymous with retail investors and the rise of trading communities like r/WallStreetBets. That all changed yesterday, when the company seemed to side with hedge funds and other short-sellers. Robinhood bans on GameStop (NYSE:GME) and AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) have prompted bipartisan political anger, a class-action lawsuit and a whole lot of trust issues. As InvestorPlace contributor William White highlighted, many customers simply do not trust Robinhood anymore.

Will a Robinhood IPO still happen? And if it does, will that $20 billion valuation still be relevant?

Read more about what the experts have to say on a Robinhood IPO here.

3 Big Stories to Watch Today

[Friday, January 29, 11:08 am]
Contributed by Sarah Smith

  1. GameStop sparks a revolution? Yesterday Robinhood sent the financial world into a tizzy when the trading platform blocked new purchases of GameStop (NYSE:GME), AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) and a whole host of other high-flying equities. The rationale behind the controversial move was that Robinhood wanted to protect retail investors. Critics were quick to tear apart that defense, with some like Dave Portnoy calling for the founders to serve prison time. Where do things stand now? Robinhood and other brokers are allowing some trading of those stocks today. GME stock, perhaps spurred on by the Robinhood revival, is up 80% and back over $300. Investors should also keep a close eye on Washington, where talks of investigation are growing. Rep. Maxine Waters and Sen. Sherrod Brown have announced plans to hold a hearing on the state of the stock market.
  2. Cryptocurrencies. The next wave of the r/WallStreetBets rally is hitting the cryptocurrency market. Celebrities like Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey are championing Bitcoin (CCC:BTC), and Musk and a cult of Redditors are aiming to get Dogecoin (CCC:DOGE) to $1. The big story here is that after the Robinhood bans, many investors are craving the decentralized finance that cryptocurrencies promise. With that in mind, a handful of crypto names are soaring Friday.
  3. Covid-19 vaccines. Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) has also been off to the races today, after sharing that its Covid-19 vaccine candidate proved 89% effective against the virus. Shares remain up more than 60% on Friday as investors rally behind the underdog pandemic play. One possible point of concern is that the candidate does not seem as effective against the United Kingdom strain. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) also shared vaccine data today, announcing that its candidate is 72% effective in the United States. Like Novavax, Johnson & Johnson shared that its one-shot vaccine is less effective in other regions.

Dow Sheds 200 Points at Market Open

[Friday, January 29, 9:32 am]
Contributed by Sarah Smith

  • The S&P 500 opened lower by 0.62%
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened lower by 0.68%
  • The Nasdaq Composite opened lower by 0.44%
  • The Russell 2000 opened lower by 0.1%

Cryptocurrencies Launch Reddit-Fueled Rally

[Friday, January 29, 8:43 am]
Contributed by Sarah Smith

Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey and the retail investor army known as r/WallStreetBets are inspiring a major rally in cryptocurrencies today. Perhaps the story is as simple as the fact that yesterday was a lesson in centralization and regulation. Short-selling hedge funds were losing serious money while Redditors were racking up gains. Robinhood, allegedly to keep those Redditors from losing their money, halted trading in popular stocks like GameStop (NYSE:GME) and AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC). Investors, celebrities and a bipartisan group of lawmakers united in response.

As the news cycle evolved, cryptocurrencies became the real winners. Musk and Dorsey took to Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) to share their support. Dogecoin (CCC:DOGE) became the top-mentioned crypto on that same social media platform. As DOGE and its larger crypto peers rocket higher, investors should be paying close attention.

For more, read the InvestorPlace.com brief on crypto news here.

Stock Market Futures Stumble Lower on Friday

[Friday, January 29, 8:22 am]
Contributed by Sarah Smith

  • S&P 500 futures are down 0.99%
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 1.05%
  • Nasdaq Composite futures are down 1.02%
  • Russell 2000 futures are down 1.03%

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