WSJ Your Money Briefing - What’s News in Markets: FuboTV Scores, Vaccine Bets, Insurers Stumble
Episode Date: January 11, 2025What drove FuboTV’s gains? And how are bird-flu worries affecting vaccine makers? Plus, why did insurance shares drop? Host Francesca Fontana discusses the biggest stock moves of the week and the ne...ws that drove them. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Hey, listeners. It's Saturday, January 11th. I'm Francesca Fontana for the Wall Street Journal,
and this is What's News in Market, our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the
news that drove them. Let's get to it. We had another short trading week this week, with markets closed Thursday for
our national day of mourning in honor of former president Jimmy Carter. But during the four trading
sessions we did have, there was plenty of action. Primarily, we saw the markets react to the
devastating wildfires that broke out on Tuesday in Los Angeles and have wreaked havoc across the region.
In the case of this kind of natural disaster, we can see investors' concerns affecting
stocks like the local utilities, such as Southern California Electric Company, Edison International.
And there are the home and auto insurance stocks like Allstate, AIG, and others.
Their shares fell on Friday as analysts estimate
that the devastation will cost insurers billions of dollars.
On Friday, we also got the December jobs report, which topped expectations. Way more jobs were
created than anticipated, which suggests that the labor market has recovered and it might
even be gaining steam.
As we've discussed before on this podcast, the jobs report is
an important consideration for the Federal Reserve and for traders' guesses as to where
interest rates are headed. So now, investors are pricing in just one rate cut this year.
All three major indexes, the Dow, the S&P 500, and 1.9% and the NASDAQ lost more than 2%.
Now first up, let's talk Fubo.
That's F-U-B-O.
FuboTV, the sports streamer that announced a big deal with Disney at the start of the
week.
So Disney agreed to combine its Hulu Plus Live TV streaming service with Fubo. It's a deal that will also end
pending litigation between them. Now full disclosure, I am NOT a big sports guy
myself, though I do tune into some hockey now and again, but I have been keeping up
on the Fubo Disney drama because there has been drama. Beef even. Quick play-by-play.
Last year, Disney's ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox Corp. say they're creating a joint
streaming service, a supergroup of live sports, named VENU.
Venu?
Venu?
No, it's pronounced Venu.
Then, Fubo sued all three companies to try and block the venture.
It alleges that Disney at all
wouldn't let Fubo carry a small bundle
of sports-focused channels
that the big three partners wanted to include in venue.
The judge comes in with a preliminary injunction,
blocking the watch.
And now Disney and Fubo are mending fences
slash joining forces.
And on Friday, Disney, Fox, and Warner Brothers
called off their big venture.
No more venue.
Quick side note, Fox and Wall Street Journal parent
News Corp share common ownership.
So, how big a win was this week for Fubo stock?
Well, it was huge.
On Monday, Fubo TV shares surged 251%.
The stock then added a relatively modest 7.9% to that on Tuesday and
made some smaller moves lower Wednesday and Friday.
Next up, let's talk about vaccines.
No, not for COVID like we're all used to hearing about.
No, this time for the H5N1 bird flu.
And we're going to talk about the biotech firms that are making these shots,
like Moderna and Novavax.
Specifically, they're developing experimental vaccines against pandemic
influenza, including this avian strain that has infected more than 60 people in
the US in the past year.
So on Monday, US health officials confirmed the first American death caused
by this flu, which put these stocks into focus
because this death could spur more federal funding
for the vaccine's development.
Moderna's efforts are part of a $176 million federal contract
that it received last year.
It could also prompt purchase orders up the shots,
that is, if the vaccines succeed in testing
and are authorized by regulators.
As a result, Moderna shares jumped more than 11.5% on Tuesday, and Novavax gained 10.9%.
And now you know what's news in markets this week.
You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in The Score, my column
in the Wall Street Journal's Exchange section.
Today's show is produced by Pierre Bienamé, with supervising producer Taliar Bell.
I'm Francesca Fontana, have a great weekend, and see you next Saturday!