Twitter (TWTR +0.00%) jumped into the spotlight today and soared more than 80% from its $26 IPO price to $45.10 when trading opened. That puts Twitter's market capitalization at roughly $30 billion compared to Facebook's and LinkedIn's respective capitalizations of about $118 billion and $26 billion. However, not everyone is sold on Twitter's rocketing price.
"We're entering a pretty extended period of optimism," said Rick Summer, an equity analyst at Morningstar, according to USA Today. "There is a lot of downside risk at these levels," he added, referring to Twitter's opening price.
In other news, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI +1.19%) is trading 0.67% lower this afternoon despite the Department of Commerce's initial reading of third-quarter GDP expanding at a 2.8% annual rate -- higher than the anticipated 2% mark. Investors are also awaiting the Bureau of Labor Statistics' jobs report on Friday, hoping to see further improvement. With those trends in mind, here are some of the movers and shakers in the market today.
Boeing (BA +3.22%) has done more than its fair share of pushing the Dow higher this year, but today the stock is taking a breather, trading 0.7% lower. However, things are far from quiet at Boeing right now, as a record deal on Boeing's next-generation 777X looms in the near future. Boeing and Emirates are negotiating the specifics of the aircraft, as the airline plans to swap out its current 777 fleet, which numbers 170 aircraft, with an order by the end of the month.
Closer to home, Boeing is also in negotiations with the Machinists union on where the company will commit to building the 777X. Washington state lawmakers have scrambled to put together a package of incentives to ensure Boeing will bring production to its plants there. The package, which has yet to be voted on, includes more than $8 billion in tax savings for Boeing to build its next generation of 777 wide-body jets near Puget Sound.
"If we can do this in the next seven days, we can be certain that Washington's aerospace future will be as bright as its past," Washington Governor Jay Inslee said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "Everyone in Washington has a stake in what we're doing here."
Ford's Focus sells extremely well in China. Photo Credit: Ford
Outside the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Ford (F -2.75%) continues its surge in China, where it recorded a 55% sales increase in October. That's been the story for Ford all year, as its year-to-date sales in China have surged 52% for a total of nearly 742,000 units. The biggest story in the country for Ford has been its new and old Focus models, which combined for almost 40,000 sales in October -- its year-to-date sales are up an impressive 48%. Not only are older models selling well in the region, but Ford also recently launched the Mondeo (known here as the Fusion) and sold nearly 8,000 units last month. In addition to Ford's success with smaller vehicles, it's capitalizing on China's growing demand for SUVs with a lineup that includes the Explorer, Edge, Kuga (Escape), and EcoSport. Ford is continuing to march toward its market share goal in China of 6% by 2015; currently the company has attained a 4.3% share.
