Stocks finished up Monday, with the three major U.S. indices posting record highs.
Investors gauged the likelihood of more stimulus spending, while politicians on Capitol Hill debated the details, including $1,400 stimulus check eligibility requirements and a minimum wage hike.
Meanwhile, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office detailed the potential impact of raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. One negative outcome: It could slash employment by 1.4 million over the next four years. A positive outcome: It could decrease the number of Americans living below the poverty line by 900,000.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 237 points, or 0.7%, to finish at 31,385.
Tesla buys $1.5 billion in Bitcoin. The electric car company disclosed Monday that it purchased $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and expects to accept Bitcoin payments in the future.
Tesla (ticker: TSLA) updated its investment policy in January 2021 “to provide us with more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash that is not required to maintain adequate operating liquidity,” according to its annual report.
Bitcoin soared above $44,000 Monday.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has promoted Bitcoin and other digital currencies on Twitter recently, including dogecoin. The dog-themed cryptocurrency is up more than 1,500% year to date.
Palantir and IBM strike a deal. Shares of data-focused software company Palantir Technologies ( PLTR) rose nearly 6% Monday on news that it would join with International Business Machines Corp. ( IBM) in a partnership involving IBM’s cloud data artificial intelligence business platform and Palantir’s operations tools.
The product, called Palantir for IBM Cloud Pak for Data, will be available March 2021.
Reddit stocks retreat. Shares of GameStop ( GME) and AMC Entertainment ( AMC), which had gained momentum recently from an online buying frenzy and subsequent “short squeeze,” continued to recede from their stunning highs. GME fell nearly 6% on the day. AMC dropped almost 10%.
More from U.S. News
Goldman Sachs’ 7 Best Cloud Stocks to Buy
9 Business Development Companies to Buy for Growth
Tesla Buys Bitcoin; Reddit Stocks Retreat originally appeared on usnews.com
