STOCKS FALL, TESLA SURGES: Here's What You Need To Know
REUTERS/Regis Duvignau
A man holds up a pack of macaroons containing dehydrated insects at the Micronutris plant in Saint Orens de Gameville, southwestern France, February 24, 2014.
Once again, the stock market wasn't able to break through its all-time closing high of 1,850.
First, the scoreboard:
Dow: 16,179.6 (-27.4, -0.1%)
S&P 500: 1,845.1 (-2.4, -0.1%)
Nasdaq: 4,287.5 (-5.3, -0.1%)
And now the top stories:
The S&P 500 got as high as 1,852.9 today, but it wasn't able to break yesterday's intraday record high of 1,858.7.
Electric automaker Tesla had a pretty great day. And so did its shareholders. Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas gave the stock a huge upgrade in an extremely bullish research note to clients. "Tesla’s quest to disrupt a trillion $ car industry offers an adjacent opportunity to disrupt a trillion $ electric utility industry," he wrote. "If it can be a leader in commercializing battery packs, investors may never look at Tesla the same way again." Jonas raised his price target on the stock to $320 from $153.
Later in the day, Consumer Reports named Tesla's Model S the best overall car of 2014. From the report: "The Tesla is brimming with innovation. Its massive, easy-to-use 17-inch touch screen controls most functions. And with its totally keyless operation, full Internet access, and ultra-quiet, zero-emission driving experience, the Tesla is a glimpse into a future where cars and computers coexist in seamless harmony."
Moving on to the bigger picture, the Conference Board said that their consumer confidence index fell to 78.1 in February from 79.4 in January. "Consumer confidence declined moderately in February, on concern over the short-term outlook for business conditions, jobs, and earnings,” said the Conference Board's Lynn Franco. “While expectations have fluctuated over recent months, current conditions have continued to trend upward and the Present Situation Index is now at its highest level in almost six years (April 2008, 81.9). This suggests that consumers believe the economy has improved, but they do not foresee it gaining considerable momentum in the months ahead."
According to S&P/Case-Shiller, U.S. home prices climbed 0.75% month-over-month and 13.42% year-over-year in December. "However, gains are slowing from month-to-month and the strongest part of the recovery in home values may be over," noted S&P's David Blitzer. "Year-over-year values for the two monthly Composites weakened and the quarterly National Index barely improved. The seasonally adjusted data also exhibit some softness and loss of momentum."
In the world of digital cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox is shut down. Here's the brief statement Mt. Gox eventually posted on their stripped-down site: "In the event of recent news reports and the potential repercussions on MtGox's operations and the market, a decision was taken to close all transactions for the time being in order to protect the site and our users. We will be closely monitoring the situation and will react accordingly."
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