Here are the most important news, trends and analysis that investors need to start their trading day:
- House passes bill for $2,000 stimulus checks
- Boeing 737 Max set to return to U.S. skies
- Stock market set to extend record-setting rally
- Qualtrics files for IPO
- Trump toughens order barring U.S. investments in Chinese firms
1. House passes bill for $2,000 stimulus checks
The House voted Monday to increase the second round of federal direct payments to $2,000, a day after President Donald Trump signed the $2 trillion pandemic aid and full-year government spending bill into law.
The House passed the payments in a fast-track procedure with just enough support to meet the two-thirds threshold needed. The chamber approved the measure in a 275-134 vote. Despite Trump's calls for $2,000 payments, the GOP-held Senate may not pass the larger amount, though Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he will push for a vote.
Money Report
2. Boeing 737 Max set to return to U.S. skies
American Airlines is set to operate the first U.S. commercial flight of Boeing's 737 Max on Tuesday after nearly two years of grounding following two deadly crashes.
American Airlines Flight 718 is scheduled to depart Miami International Airport at 10:30 a.m. ET for New York's LaGuardia Airport. The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier is operating a once-daily roundtrip flight between the two airports and then plans to increase service to other cities in coming weeks.
United Airlines plans to resume Max flights on Feb. 11 from its Denver and Houston hubs. Southwest Airlines has said it would start flying the planes in the second quarter.
3. Stock market set to extend record-setting rally
U.S. stock futures climbed Tuesday morning after the major averages all reached fresh record highs in the previous session.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures traded 130 points higher. S&P 500 futures gained 0.4%, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.5%.
Monday's rally brought the S&P 500's 2020 gains to 15.6%, while the blue-chip Dow is up 6.5% this year. The Nasdaq Composite has surged more than 43% in 2020 as investors flocked into major tech names such as Apple, Amazon and Facebook.
4. Qualtrics files for IPO
Qualtrics filed for an initial public offering two years after SAP acquired the cloud software vendor. The initial pricing range of $20 to $24 a share would value Qualtrics at $12 billion to $14.4 billion, up from the $8 billion SAP paid.
Qualtrics will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker XM. Qualtrics sells software that helps businesses gauge how customers use their products so they can improve their offerings. Ryan Smith co-founded the company in 2002 with his brother and father, giving the family a 40% stake at the time of acquisition.
5. Trump toughens order barring U.S. investments in Chinese firms
The Trump administration strengthened an executive order preventing U.S. investors from buying securities of alleged Chinese military-controlled companies.
The Treasury Department on Monday published guidance clarifying the order, which was released in November. It said the order would apply to exchange-traded funds and index funds as well as subsidiaries of Chinese companies designated as owned or controlled by the Chinese military.
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