BY THE NUMBERS
IN THE NEWS TODAY
Shares of Dow component Honeywell (HON) dropped 3.5% in the premarket after the company on Thursday reported mixed fourth-quarter results, beating estimates on earnings and missing on revenue. Honeywell issued forecasts for full-year earnings and revenue that were light of what analysts had been expecting. (CNBC)
Dow stock Merck rose 1% in the premarket after the drugmaker on Thursday reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter. Merck said its full-year guidance includes expected sales of $5 billion to $6 billion from Covid pill molnupiravir, developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. (CNBC)
One day after ADP reported that U.S. companies unexpectedly cut 301,000 jobs in January due to the omicron variant surge, the Labor Department reported 238,000 initial jobless claims for the week ended Jan. 29. That’s lower than the previous week and not as many as had been forecast. (CNBC)
Friday brings the government’s January employment report, with estimates for nonfarm payrolls growth of 150,000 jobs. However, Wall Street is starting to wonder whether those additions might be lower or even decline. (CNBC)
The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing Thursday on President Joe Biden’s nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin to be the next Federal Reserve vice chair for supervision. Raskin has become a lightning rod for criticism from business groups and fiscal conservatives. (Reuters)
U.S. forces killed the leader of terrorist group ISIS, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, during a counterterrorism operation in Syria, the White House said Thursday. President Joe Biden is slated to address the nation on the details of the raid at 9:30 a.m. ET from the White House. (CNBC)
One of the most popular bridges linking the ethereum and solana blockchains lost more than $320 million Wednesday afternoon in an apparent hack. It’s decentralized finance’s second-biggest exploit ever, just after the $600 million Poly Network crypto heist. (CNBC)
* FBI confirms it bought spyware from Israel’s NSO Group (AP)
Jeff Zucker resigned as CNN president Wednesday for failing to disclose a romantic relationship with a high-ranking colleague who once served as communications director to ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Zucker wanted to stay in the role temporarily, but he faced a possible firing if he did not step down, the network’s journalists reported, citing two people involved in the matter. (CNBC)
A major winter storm with millions of Americans in its path spread rain, freezing rain and heavy snow further across the country on Thursday, disrupting travel as roads in many states were left icy by the wintry mix and airlines canceled thousands of flights due to the weather. (AP & FlightAware)
STOCKS TO WATCH
Eli …….
