Optimism over firming U.S. economy lifts stocks to record high
CBSN
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs on Monday, with stocks sustaining their momentum amid a rebound in corporate profits and brightening outlook for the U.S. economy.
Along with lifting bullish investors, stocks' strong performance will reassure the White House as it pushes ahead with an ambitious agenda to invest trillions of dollars in infrastructure and to reform taxes. Stocks have had their best run during President Joe Biden's first 100 days in office than since the Eisenhower administration in the 1950s, according to CNBC, citing FactSet data. With millions of vaccines going out daily and trillions of dollars worth of government-led economic support being paid out, investors have turned much of their attention to how well the global economy — and corporate earnings — will do in the recovery. Corporate profits in the S&P 500 are expected to be up 24% from this time a year ago, according to FactSet.Two Native Hawaiian brothers who were convicted in the 1991 killing of a woman visiting Hawaii allege in a federal lawsuit that local police framed them "under immense pressure to solve the high-profile murder" then botched an investigation last year that would have revealed the real killer using advancements in DNA technology.
In one of his first acts after returning to the Oval Office this week, President Trump tasked federal agencies with developing ways to potentially ease prices for U.S. consumers. But experts warn that his administration's crackdown on immigration could both drive up inflation as well as hurt a range of businesses by shrinking the nation's workforce.
Meta is denying claims circulating on social media that it forced Facebook and Instagram users to follow President Trump's official accounts, saying the changes some users noticed were standard practices tied to the transition of the POTUS account from the previous administration to the incoming one.