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Stock Market Today Stock Rally Continues Twitter Soars on Musk U-Turn

The Tesla CEO said he now wants to buy Twitter at his original offer price. (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) Newsletter sign up Newsletter (Image credit: Getty Images) By Karee Venema published 4 October 2022 Stocks ran higher for a second straight day, building on Monday's gains which saw the three major indexes each rally more than 2%. There were two different catalysts behind Tuesday's surge. Both raised hopes that the streak of aggressive Fed rate hikes could end sooner rather than later. One came from the Reserve Bank of Australia, which overnight issued a lower-than-expected rate hike. The other was this morning's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) that showed job openings in the U.S. declined by 10% in August while layoffs edged higher.

Tesla Deliveries Miss Estimates. Is the EV Market at Risk? "A hot labor market continues to be a challenge to the Fed's goal," says Matt Dyer, investment analyst at institutional asset management firm Penn Mutual Asset Management. But while "this morning's JOLTS data release shows some signs of cooling, the labor market is still running extremely hot with job openings outweighing the number of job seekers," Dyer adds.

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Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail. Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's expert advice - straight to your e-mail. Sign up Sign up for Kiplinger's FREE Investing Weekly e-letter for stock, ETF and mutual fund recommendations, and other investing advice. The day's headlines weren't all about global central banks and economic data, though. In single-stock news, Twitter (TWTR, +22.2%) rallied after Bloomberg reported that Tesla (TSLA, +2.9%) CEO Elon Musk will reverse course and go through with his original $44 billion bid to buy the social media company. The two parties were scheduled to go to court later this month after Musk in August accused Twitter of fraud and said he wanted to walk away from the deal. "It's the latest twist in the dramatic takeover saga, and comes just two days before he was set to be deposed by Twitter's lawyers, raising speculation that 'Team Musk' believe the chances of the court ruling in his favor were slim," says Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. "If Elon Musk loses, it could mean he'd be forced to complete the deal or be made to pay billions or more for breach of contract."

Kim Kardashian's $1.3 Million Crypto Fine Is a Warning to Investors At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2.8% at 30,316. The S&P 500 Index (+3.1% at 3,790) and the Nasdaq Composite (+3.3% at 11,176) also finished with solid gains. (Image credit: YCharts) Other news in the stock market today:The small-cap Russell 2000 rocketed 3.9% to 1,775.U.S. crude futures jumped 3.5% to finish at $86.52 per barrel ahead of tomorrow's highly anticipated OPEC+ meeting.Gold futures gained 1.7% to end at $1,730.50 per ounce.Bitcoin rose 3.4% to $20,220.13. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m.)Poshmark (POSH) popped 13.1% after the online second-hand apparel marketplace said it will be acquired by South Korean internet firm Naver for $1.2 billion, or $17.90 per POSH share. Today, the stock closed just below here at $17.61. "E-commerce has been one of the toughest sub-groups in our coverage over the past 12-18 months, with the average of our six e-commerce names trading ~80% below their 52-week highs," says Wedbush analyst Tom Nikic (Neutral). "This deal, however, may have created a 'floor' for this beaten-down group. Admittedly, POSH does have some key advantages that make them relatively more attractive to potential acquirers (healthy cash balance, asset-light business model, large user base, 'social network' characteristics, etc.), but some of the other e-commerce names in our coverage look particularly cheap in light of the proposed takeout."Rivian Automotive (RIVN (opens in new tab)) soared 13.9% after the electric vehicle (EV) maker said production in the third quarter was up 67% from Q2. The company also confirmed that it is on pace to reach its 2022 goal of building 25,000 vehicles.

Midterm Elections and Stocks

Another potentially positive driver for the stock market is right around the corner: the midterms. Congressional midterm elections will occur on Tuesday, Nov. 8, and determine which political party controls the House of Representatives and the Senate for the next two years.

16 Dividend Kings for Decades of Dividend Growth A lot can happen between now and the midterm election races, but odds seem increasingly likely for a split Congress – which tends to be the most bullish outcome for the stock market. "Historically, split governments have been the best for equities," says Savita Subramanian, head of equity and quantitative strategy at BofA Securities. "Q4 has seasonally been the strongest quarter (+4.5% on average and positive 81% of the time), particularly in midterm years (+7.7% on average and 86% positive hit rate)." But returns aren't the only impact elections can have on the stock market. Here, we explore what else the midterms could mean for investors.

11 Stock Picks That Billionaires Love Explore More Stock Watch Markets Stock Market Today Tesla (TSLA) Twitter (TWTR) Rivian Automotive (RIVN) Karee VenemaContributing Editor, Kiplinger.comWith over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is an investing editor and options expert at Kiplinger.com. She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at Schaeffer's Investment Research. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis. Latest Inflation Scrooge Won't Humbug Holiday Shopping, Retail Group Forecasts The National Retail Federation maintains a sunny outlook even as consumer confidence wanes amid the crush of inflation. By Bob Niedt • Published 10 November 22 What Tech Layoffs Mean for Investors News of massive tech layoffs is making the rounds on Wall Street, but investors shouldn't be too worried. By Will Ashworth • Published 10 November 22 You might also like Stock Market Today: Stocks Snap Win Streak as Midterm Results Roll In A continued selloff in cryptocurrencies and crypto-related stocks put pressure on the broader market today, too. By Karee Venema • Published 9 November 22 Stock Market Today: Huge Crypto Deal Shakes Up Nasdaq News that crypto exchange Binance will buy its rival sent Bitcoin and several tech stocks into a tailspin. By Karee Venema • Published 8 November 22 Stock Market Today: Stocks Rise Ahead of Midterms The Dow outperformed thanks to a major M&A-related boost for drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance. By Karee Venema • Published 7 November 22 Stock Market Today: Stocks Swing Wildly After October Jobs Data The major indexes ended with their first win of the week thanks to the latest jobs report. By Karee Venema • Published 4 November 22 Kiplinger's Weekly Earnings Calendar (Nov. 7-11) stocks Check out our earnings calendar for the upcoming week. By Karee Venema • Last updated 9 November 22 Stock Market Today: Stocks Fall Again as Fed Hangover Persists The major market indexes notched a fourth straight loss as Powell's rate-hike warning kept investor sentiment in check. By Karee Venema • Published 3 November 22 Stock Market Today: Stocks Post-Fed Pop Reverses After Powell Takes the Mic It was a volatile session on Wall Street as investors parsed over the Fed's latest policy statement and Powell's presser. By Karee Venema • Published 2 November 22 Stock Market Today: Stocks Retreat After Strong Job Openings Data The latest jobs data comes as the Fed kicked off its two-day meeting, with another jumbo-sized rate hike expected to be announced tomorrow. By Karee Venema • Published 1 November 22 View More ▸ kiplinger About Us (opens in new tab) Terms and Conditions (opens in new tab) Privacy Policy (opens in new tab) Cookie Policy (opens in new tab) Kiplinger is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.
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