Stock Market Today: Big Tech Gets Grilled; KODK, Stocks Keep Cooking
Big Tech stocks pushed higher Wednesday as their CEOs were questioned on Capital Hill, and Kodak's (KODK) incredible ascent continued.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Delivered daily
Kiplinger Today
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more delivered daily. Smart money moves start here.
Sent five days a week
Kiplinger A Step Ahead
Get practical help to make better financial decisions in your everyday life, from spending to savings on top deals.
Delivered daily
Kiplinger Closing Bell
Get today's biggest financial and investing headlines delivered to your inbox every day the U.S. stock market is open.
Sent twice a week
Kiplinger Adviser Intel
Financial pros across the country share best practices and fresh tactics to preserve and grow your wealth.
Delivered weekly
Kiplinger Tax Tips
Trim your federal and state tax bills with practical tax-planning and tax-cutting strategies.
Sent twice a week
Kiplinger Retirement Tips
Your twice-a-week guide to planning and enjoying a financially secure and richly rewarding retirement
Sent bimonthly.
Kiplinger Adviser Angle
Insights for advisers, wealth managers and other financial professionals.
Sent twice a week
Kiplinger Investing Weekly
Your twice-a-week roundup of promising stocks, funds, companies and industries you should consider, ones you should avoid, and why.
Sent weekly for six weeks
Kiplinger Invest for Retirement
Your step-by-step six-part series on how to invest for retirement, from devising a successful strategy to exactly which investments to choose.
Investors turned to Washington on Wednesday, where the Federal Reserve made its latest policy statement, and where Big Tech chiefs gathered to face Congress in a historic antitrust hearing. It also saw Eastman Kodak (KODK) continue its sudden sizzling run.
The House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee questioned Amazon.com's (AMZN, +1.1%) Jeff Bezos, Apple's (AAPL, +1.9%) Tim Cook, Facebook's (FB, +1.4%) Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet's (GOOGL, +1.3%) Sundar Pichai on Wednesday, but the hearing did little to shake confidence in their respective shares.
Likewise, America's central bank did little to rock the apple cart, stating it would keep interest rates near zero to support the economy, though Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged "the pace of the recovery looks like it has slowed since mid-June."
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
"The key to near-term monetary policy will be all about the Fed’s dual mandate, but with one side of the mandate being the primary target (employment) and the other governing how far the central bank is willing to go (inflation)," says Rick Rieder, BlackRock's Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income. "The fact is that the Fed likely has an impressively long runway yet, as it could be a very long time before we regain full employment, which didn’t even appear to be inflation-accelerating at a 3.5% unemployment rate."
The major indices finished broadly higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.6% to 26,539, the S&P 500 up 1.2% to 3,258, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closing 1.4% higher to 10,542.
Wall Street's Hottest Growth Story: Kodak?
But Wednesday's major index leader was the the small-cap Russell 2000, which sprinted ahead by 2.1% to 1,500. That was in part thanks to Wednesday's biggest story: the continuing surge of photography (er, pharma?) stock Eastman Kodak.
KODK shares, which more than tripled Tuesday after the company announced it received a $765 million Defense Production Act loan to open pharmaceutical production factories in America, shot another 318% higher Wednesday, tripping well more than a dozen circuit-breakers during the day.
The once-great photography firm, worth less than $100 million by market value to start the week, now is worth roughly $1.5 billion.
Most investors weren't quick enough to jump on KODK's flash success, of course, but that doesn't mean you still can't tap red-hot growth – if you're willing to wait for more than a couple days for these opportunities to ripen, anyway.
Investors who prefer to stay diversified while chasing growth can do so in traditional growth funds, or even look overseas with these 10 emerging-markets ETFs.
If you're looking to take a shot with individual funds, however, sometimes it's best to look where everyone isn't (yet.) The tech sector, for instance, is filled with stocks that sit in the shadow of the Apples and Microsofts of the world but have explosive growth potential nonetheless.
Actually, tech isn't alone in that respect. Here, we look at 19 stocks that probably aren't on your radar … but are doing more and more to deserve your attention.
-
The New Reality for EntertainmentThe Kiplinger Letter The entertainment industry is shifting as movie and TV companies face fierce competition, fight for attention and cope with artificial intelligence.
-
Stocks Sink With Alphabet, Bitcoin: Stock Market TodayA dismal round of jobs data did little to lift sentiment on Thursday.
-
Betting on Super Bowl 2026? New IRS Tax Changes Could Cost YouTaxable Income When Super Bowl LX hype fades, some fans may be surprised to learn that sports betting tax rules have shifted.
-
Stocks Sink With Alphabet, Bitcoin: Stock Market Today
A dismal round of jobs data did little to lift sentiment on Thursday.
-
Nasdaq Slides 1.4% on Big Tech Questions: Stock Market TodayPalantir Technologies proves at least one publicly traded company can spend a lot of money on AI and make a lot of money on AI.
-
Stocks Close Down as Gold, Silver Spiral: Stock Market TodayA "long-overdue correction" temporarily halted a massive rally in gold and silver, while the Dow took a hit from negative reactions to blue-chip earnings.
-
If You'd Put $1,000 Into AMD Stock 20 Years Ago, Here's What You'd Have TodayAdvanced Micro Devices stock is soaring thanks to AI, but as a buy-and-hold bet, it's been a market laggard.
-
Nasdaq Drops 172 Points on MSFT AI Spend: Stock Market TodayMicrosoft, Meta Platforms and a mid-cap energy stock have a lot to say about the state of the AI revolution today.
-
S&P 500 Tops 7,000, Fed Pauses Rate Cuts: Stock Market TodayInvestors, traders and speculators will probably have to wait until after Jerome Powell steps down for the next Fed rate cut.
-
S&P 500 Hits New High Before Big Tech Earnings, Fed: Stock Market TodayThe tech-heavy Nasdaq also shone in Tuesday's session, while UnitedHealth dragged on the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average.
-
Dow Rises 313 Points to Begin a Big Week: Stock Market TodayThe S&P 500 is within 50 points of crossing 7,000 for the first time, and Papa Dow is lurking just below its own new all-time high.
