This week, there was a calmness in the markets.
Although UBS fired its CEO as it prepared to integrate struggling competitor Credit Suisse, no major banks failed as the March crisis in the sector was downgraded to turmoil.
The S&P 500 finished in the green for the fourth time in five days as the first quarter came to a successful conclusion. The S&P 500 gained 7% overall and increased for the second consecutive quarter as the first quarter came to a close, according to Tom Lee of Fundstrat.
The late-night indictment of former President Donald Trump also had no market-moving effects, but experts say it will be closely watched for any implications on the upcoming debt limit debate this summer and the 2024 election.
According to Evercore ISI strategist Tobin Marcus, "at this point, the idea that Trump could profit from his legal difficulties has almost become conventional wisdom, to the degree that "actually it is bad to be charged" is now a contrarian take.
But we've been making this case since the summer of last year, and we still stand by it. We continue to believe that Trump is the clear favorite to win the GOP nomination.
But let's put 2024 aside for the moment and go over a few other significant items that grabbed Yahoo Finance's attention this week instead, especially with the first quarter earnings season just around the corner and the beginning of the second quarter on Monday.
- Running into its destiny is Foot Locker
Mary Dillon, the CEO of Foot Locker (FL), told me at Shoptalk in Las Vegas this week that she has been in the position for seven months and is working to make sure the business is around for the next 50 years to service sneakerheads.
We are the pioneers of sneakers, and we're concentrating on everything footwear, according to Dillon.
As we observed earlier this week, Dillon has wasted no time in setting forth her objectives to Wall Street and mending fences with Nike (NKE). Investors in Foot Locker can feel secure knowing that Dillon, CEO of Ulta Beauty (ULTA) for eight years, is a top-tier executive.
Read more about what we discovered at Shoptalk here.
Shared Stat: Foot Locker shares have increased by 8% since Dillon was named CEO in late August 2022, outpacing the 2.1% decline in the S&P 500.
- Lyft welcomes its new CEO
Lyft (LYFT) has appointed a new head for its corner office following a string of disappointing quarters and market share losses to bigger competitor Uber (UBER).
The decision to change co-founders Logan Green and John Zimmer operationally wasn't entirely shocking to Wall Street given the stock's 77% decline over the past year. (both will stay on the board).
David Risher, a member of the Lyft board since about 18 months ago and a graduate of Microsoft and Amazon, is now on the scene. Risher stated on Yahoo Finance Live that he is concentrated on returning Lyft to its fundamentals, which might entail making additional cost reductions.
Risher also left open the possibility of selling Lyft at some time.
We frequently receive approaches from people and always consider our choices. Right now, we are concentrating on building a service that will be so good that, no matter the setup, either as a standalone business or something else, we will be important and valuable," said Risher.
Investors in Lyft will have to wait until April 17 before seeing Risher's operational wizardry, which he refined while working for Microsoft and Amazon.
- FAANG finally bares its fangs
Big-cap tech stocks, according to ubiquitous tech analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush, are the new safe investment for investors wanting refuge during the bank crisis. Right now, he seems to be on target.
The FAANG complex—more officially known as Meta Platforms (META) (formerly Facebook), Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX), and Alphabet (GOOGL) (formerly Google)—saw a return of fervent purchasing interest in the first quarter. The FAANG company that performed the best during the quarter was Meta, whose shares increased by more than 70% as buyers warmed to the prospect of sizable profits from cost-cutting this year.