All three major U.S. stock indices finished higher again on Wednesday, the third consecutive day this week. Wall Street has its eyes set largely on two things: corporate earnings and another highly anticipated round of pandemic-related stimulus.
House Democrats are wrangling with the GOP on details of the deal, which the parties hope to straighten out by the end of the week — a timeline that’s been pushed beyond the original goal, the end of July.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 373 points, or 1.4%, to finish at 27,201.
Disney: making magic. Shares of Walt Disney Co. (ticker: DIS) remained true to the company’s image on Wednesday, providing a magical one-day return of 8.8% on the heels of its quarterly earnings announcement. The highlight was Disney’s remarkable success in streaming video, led by its Disney+ subscription service.
In eight months, the company reached its five-year goal of getting between 60 million and 90 million subscribers for the streaming platform, which is going up against the likes of Netflix ( NFLX) and Amazon ( AMZN) in the battle for on-demand streaming video content.
Disney now has more than 100 million paid streaming subscribers worldwide across Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu.
Telehealth consolidation. Teladoc ( TDOC) is acquiring digital health company Livongo ( LVGO) in an $18.5 billion cash-and-stock deal. Telemedicine has become an increasing area of focus as the pandemic encourages people to stay home as much as possible and avoid public places like doctor’s offices if at all possible.
Mortgage lender IPO. The parent of Quicken Loans, Rocket Companies, is reportedly expected to price its initial public offering at $18 a share, below the low end of its $20 to $22 target range. It’s also expected to sell just two-thirds of the 150 million shares it hoped to offer, instead of selling 100 million shares to the public.
Despite the economic chaos, 2020 is currently one of the hottest years on record for mortgages and refinancing as rates hit record lows. It seems institutional investors have some reservations over the sustainability of that trend, however, given the early disappointing demand for shares.
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Disney Stock Soars, Teladoc Merger originally appeared on usnews.com
