This week isn’t looking so good for the stock market, at least starting out. The three major stock markets actually saw mixed results, but trending in the wrong direction. The Dow Jones managed to get a win today, rising by 0.09% to close at 31,521.69 while the NASDAQ closed down 2.46% at 13,533.05. The S&P came in down the middle, down 0.77% to close at 3,876.50. STOXX Europe also fell today by 0.44% to close at 413.06.
Kohls shares are trending up today after news that an activist group of investors is looking to change up the board in a bid to get even more younger customers into the store. The deal that the company made with Amazon, getting the opportunity to accept returns, did seem to help a little, but not enough. And now investors want to see improvement for the brand that has chronically underperformed and continued to lose market share and sales. In fact, they’re saying the company has repetitive merchandise, disappointing brand launches and failure in their private labels and that’s only the start.
The vaccine news going around is most definitely causing some questions for business owners who are trying to decide what to do about getting their employees vaccinated. Some are looking to mandate the vaccine, while others are looking simply to incentivize the vaccine for their team. The UK as a whole says they will not venture into the field of ‘vaccine passports’ which have been discussed in other countries. But companies are most definitely considering the options.
“One option under consideration is that staff who refuse the vaccine on non-medical grounds will, by reason of their own decision, make themselves unavailable for work,” Barchester Healthcare said in a statement. “This is part of an ongoing dialogue we are having, we are constantly reviewing this as more information is available, and are very aware of concerns around possible discrimination which is in no way our intention.”
Oil prices managed a turnaround today, rising 3.80% to close at $61.49 per barrel. This even after the downfall that hit after the rush of bad weather in Texas shut things down. Gold prices were up today, rising 1.49% to close at $1,810.69 per ounce. The treasury yield also is on an upward swing, finally seeming to thwart the downtrend from the previous few weeks. The 10 year yield came in at 1.37 while the 30 year yield came in at 2.19.
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