Stocks rally, erasing losses from turbulent week
Wall Street finally found a foothold Friday, rebounding from days of back-to-back declines with its biggest gain in 18 months as investors grabbed on to glimmers of good news: a strong earnings report from Apple and data on wage growth that came in lower than expected. The S&P 500 rose 2.4%, its biggest one-day jump since June 2020, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 3.1%. Friday’s gain snapped a three-day streak of losses and left the S&P 500 up 0.8% for the week, its first weekly gain this year. The S&P 500 is still down 7% for January.
US labor movement is popular, prominent and also shrinking
In 1983, about 20% of employees belonged to a union; by 2021, that number had dropped to just over 10%, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Union membership among government workers at the federal, state and local levels has stayed fairly consistent — about a third of workers, give or take a few percentage points — since the 1970s. Among workers at private companies, union membership has steadily declined, falling to 6% last year from 17% in 1983. But the labor movement’s popularity is the highest it has been in decades — 68% of Americans approve of labor unions, according to a poll from Gallup.
Chevron, reflecting industry rebound, has best quarter since ‘14
Chevron, one of the nation’s largest oil companies, reported a fourth consecutive quarterly profit Friday as oil and natural gas prices continued to recover from the pandemic slump. It was the company’s best financial performance since 2014, reflecting the sharp turnaround for the entire industry. Chevron has shifted its emphasis from expanding exploration as prices rise to a more disciplined approach to avoid a new glut and renewed slump in prices. Chevron said it made $5.1 billion in the final three months of the year on revenue of $46 billion. The profit compared with a loss of $665 million for the period in 2020 on revenue of $25 billion.
France’s economy bounces back, while Germany’s remains strained
France assumed Germany’s traditional role as the driving economic force in Europe after a strong finish to last year, while the German economy contracted in the final three months as it grappled with a resurgence of the coronavirus, official data showed Friday. The French economy grew 7% in 2021 — its fastest pace since 1969 — buoyed by government subsidies that fed investment and production, both of which surpassed pre-pandemic levels, according to official data released by the Insee statistics institute in Paris. Overall, the German economy grew 2.8% in 2021, slightly above the 2.7% expected by officials. Germany relies on exports for more than 46% of its economy.
McDonald’s topped $23B in revenue in ‘21
Price increases on menu items helped McDonald’s more than offset sharp rises in food and labor costs and propelled the company’s revenues for 2021 to the highest level since 2016. McDonald’s said in a financial report Thursday that global revenues topped $23.2 billion last year, a 21% jump from 2019 and the highest level since reaching $24.6 billion in 2016. Profit soared 59% from a year earlier, to $7.5 billion. Chris Kempczinski, the CEO and president of McDonald’s, deemed 2021 a “banner year for McDonald’s, despite the continued disruptions” of the pandemic.
By wire sources