Single-stock futures start trading
Single-stock futures began trading today, giving investors a new way to place leveraged bets on more than 50 of the market's biggest companies. The list includes Nvidia and SpaceX, which only recently went public. These contracts offer leveraged long or short exposure, trade 23 hours a day, and let traders take bullish or bearish positions using less money than buying the shares outright.
CME Group is betting that the current boom in retail trading and the demand for capital-efficient investing will make these products work this time. Single-stock futures first launched 24 years ago and failed to catch on. The debut also shows how hard the exchanges are competing to roll out new products as more investors want advanced trading tools.
Amazon expands its satellite plans
Amazon filed with the FCC to launch a new group of more than 5,100 satellites. Starting in 2028, they would provide direct-to-smartphone voice, messaging, data, and emergency services. This pushes Amazon's satellite strategy past broadband internet and sets up a more direct fight with SpaceX's Starlink in the fast-growing satellite-to-phone market.
Amazon plans to work with wireless carriers and use spectrum from Global Star, which it agreed to buy earlier this year, to connect users in areas with no normal cellular coverage. The plan shows how fast competition in space-based communications is speeding up, with Amazon betting satellite connectivity will become a key part of the wireless future. It is not alone in that view.
Amazon finished unchanged on the day, closing just below flat. SpaceX ended down about 1.3%, and touched a new low since it began trading publicly today.
What's ahead
Tomorrow brings a heavy earnings day. In the morning: PayPal, Boeing, UPS, Corning, Coca-Cola, JetBlue, and Royal Caribbean, among others. In the afternoon: Bloom Energy, Visa, Seagate, KLA Corp., Avis, Ford, and Caesars Entertainment, and these are not even half the names reporting. The FOMC meeting also kicks off, with the interest rate decision set for Wednesday afternoon.
