Although the broader stock market was relatively subdued on Monday, the financial media’s most oft-quoted index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, had itself a banner day to start the week.
Indices like the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are weighted by the market capitalization of the companies they contain, giving larger companies more sway and reflecting their larger economic influence.
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The Dow, however, not only contains just 30 stocks but is also weighted by the share prices of its components — an arbitrary number easily manipulated by stock splits and other financial maneuvers.
Driven by a rally in its eighth-largest component, Boeing (ticker: BA), the Dow jumped 357 points, or 1.3%, to finish at 27,791 on Monday.
Don’t call it a comeback (seriously). Take a mental picture of this moment because it’s unlikely to happen again. According to the Transportation Security Administration, air traffic is down roughly 70% from the same time last year — a fact that Wall Street cheered on Monday.
In another example of just how low the bar has been set, the fact that TSA traffic numbers hit their highest level since mid-March was reason to celebrate, and investors bid shares of airline stocks and aerospace companies higher. Boeing was a natural beneficiary, as shares of the beleaguered aircraft manufacturer picked up 5.5%.
Hopes over additional government aid to the airline industry, the current round of which forbids layoffs until the aid runs out in October, also buoyed this corner of the markets.
Turning on the turnaround artist. Ex-McDonald’s ( MCD) CEO Steve Easterbrook, a former marketing executive who helped reignite growth at the fast-food chain through a combination of its All Day Breakfast, increased digitization and a wave of refranchising, is now being sued by the company.
The company has reportedly come across information suggesting Easterbrook had sexual relationships with multiple employees and lied about it, and is seeking to recoup what could amount to around $40 million in severance and benefits.
After taking the reins in 2015, McDonald’s stock more than doubled by the time of Easterbrook’s ouster in late 2019, when he was let go without cause following revelations of a text and video relationship with an employee.
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Boeing Wings Up, McDonald?s Ex-CEO Under Fire originally appeared on usnews.com
