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Robinhood Markets (HOOD) shares advanced Monday after the online trading platform announced that its customers could now make trades on the outcome of the race for U.S. president.

The company said it was launching presidential election event contracts starting Monday. It said an event contract allows participants to trade on how specific events will turn out, "such as whether a candidate will win an election."

Robinhood noted that customers who meet certain requirements “will be able to trade based on their prediction for ‘who will win the 2024 presidential election’ ” — with one contract for Vice President Kamala Harris and one for former President Donald Trump. To trade the election contracts, Robinhood customers must be a U.S. citizen and meet other criteria to be approved for an account issued by the platform's derivatives trading arm.

The company added that it believes “event contracts give people a tool to engage in real-time decision-making, unlocking a new asset class that democratizes access to events as they unfold.”

Robinhood joins Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR) and Kalshi in offering contracts through which investors can bet on the results of the Nov. 5 vote. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) attempted to block Kalshi’s move, but a federal appeals court denied the CFTC’s emergency request on appeal, permitting Kalshi to offer the event contracts.

Robinhood shares rose about 3.8% around 1 p.m. ET and have more than doubled this year.

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Shares of companies impacted by the price of oil were among the biggest movers in the S&P 500 Monday as crude futures sank after a weekend retaliatory strike against Iran by Israel didn’t hit Iran's oil facilities.

The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude plunged nearly 6% in late-morning trading as Iranian production wasn't disrupted. Iran makes up about 4% of the global oil trade, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The targeted attack by Israel also eased concerns about a greater escalation of Middle East fighting that would further impact supply.

Shares of drillers such as APA (APA), Diamondback Energy (FANG), and Devon Energy (DVN) fell, along with oilfield services firms Halliburton (HAL) and SLB (SLB).

The SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration and Production exchange-traded fund (ETF) fell to its lowest level this month.

On the flip side, shares took off for Carnival Corp. (CCL), Delta Air Lines (DAL), and other cruise lines and airlines, which stand to benefit from lower fuel costs.

Bank of America analysts on Monday raised their price targets on both Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) and Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL), noting that Carnival "was very constructive on booking trends when the company reported in September," and that "we expect RCL and NCLH to echo this commentary into 2025."

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Boeing (BA) on Monday launched the sale of around $19 billion in stock and depositary shares, as the troubled plane maker seeks to shore up its finances.

Boeing said it had kicked off the sale of 90 million shares of common stock. That would amount to $13.95 billion if the shares are valued at their Friday closing price of $155.01 each.

Boeing is also offering $5 billion in depositary shares for sale, which it said it intends to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol "BA.PRA."

The plane maker, which is grappling with a crippling strike by its union machinists, will also offer the deals' underwriters a 30-day option to buy an additional 13.5 million common shares and $750 million of depositary shares.

Boeing said net proceeds would go toward the "repayment of debt, additions to working capital, capital expenditures, and funding and investments" in its subsidiaries.

earlier reported plans by Boeing to raise more than $15 billion in capital as it seeks to keep its investment-grade rating and fund its recovery from the strike.

Earlier this month, the company wrote in a regulatory filing that it plans to raise as much as $25 billion through the sale of debt or stock. It also said that it had struck a deal with several big banks to receive a $10 billion credit line.

Boeing is struggling with a cash drain worsened by the strike, with the union last week rejecting a contract that would have given members a 35% pay hike over four years. The company has said it is preparing to lay off about 10% of its workforce, or 17,000 people, and has postponed the launch of its first 777x jetliner.

The company posted an enormous third-quarter loss last week and has said that the ongoing cash burn will continue into 2025.

Boeing stock has lost 40% of its value this year through Friday's close, and is falling 1.5% an hour before the opening bell Monday.

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American depositary receipts (ADRs) of Koninklijke Philips (PHG) are tumbling more than 15% in premarket trading Monday after the Dutch conglomerate cut its 2024 sales outlook amid a "significant deterioration" in Chinese demand.

The company also posted quarterly results that mostly missed analysts' consensus forecasts.

Philips said it now expects 2024 comparable sales growth between 0.5% and 1.5%, down from its previous forecast of between 3% and 5%.

"In the quarter, demand from hospitals and consumers in China further deteriorated, while we continue to see solid growth in other regions," Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Roy Jakobs said. "We have adjusted our full-year sales outlook to reflect the continued impact from China."

Philips' third-quarter sales of 4.38 billion euros ($4.74 billion) were down from the 4.47 billion euros posted last year, and also lagged the consensus estimate of 4.55 billion euros from analysts polled by Visible Alpha. 

Its third-quarter net income of 181 million euros and earnings per share (EPS) of 0.19 euros also fell short of estimates, although adjusted earnings of 0.32 euros per share narrowly beat expectations. 

The company's ADRs had been up 40% this year through Friday's close but are 16% lower in premarket trading. 

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Amazon (AMZN) reports earnings after the bell Thursday, with investors likely to be watching the tech giant's margins amid concerns consumer weakness, growing labor costs, and higher spending on artificial intelligence (AI) could squeeze profits.

Amazon shares took a hit after the company released its second-quarter report in July, as its quarterly sales and outlook missed expectations. Since then, shares have largely recovered to their level before the report, leaving them about 24% higher for the year so far at $187.83 as of Friday's close.

Analysts expect Amazon's third-quarter revenue to come in at $157.24 billion, up from the prior quarter and year-ago period. However, profits are projected to fall sequentially to $12.32 billion as expenses climb, despite rising roughly 25% year-over-year.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and a growing advertising business for showing ads on Prime Video have been key sources of revenue growth so far this year. A migration to cloud storage and growing use of AI products have helped boost AWS revenue. Jefferies analysts said recently their checks suggest growing AWS revenue in the third quarter.

The analysts also said they have seen "solid & improving" demand for ad spending with Amazon. Wedbush analysts said they believe high-margin ad revenue could help offset big spending from Amazon to fuel its AI efforts, along with things like Project Kuiper, its planned satellite broadband project.

A number of big tech companies including Amazon face pressure from investors to show that their spending on AI is paying off. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in the company's first-quarter earnings call that it wouldn't be spending so much on AI if it didn't see "very clear signals" that Amazon could monetize it.

JPMorgan analysts told clients earlier this month it will be important for Amazon, along with Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) and Meta Platforms (META) to "highlight their early returns on AI spending" in their coming earnings calls.

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The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has condemned the alleged a§§ault meted out on a cab driver by Alex Ikwechegh, the member representing Aba North and South Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mazi Ejimofor Opara, disclosed this in a statement on Monday, October 28.

“The attention of our great party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, has been drawn to a viral video of alleged a§§ault meted out to a citizen by the Honourable member representing Aba North and South Federal Constituency, Alex Ikwechegh.

As a political party founded on respect for Human Rights, we roundly condemn the action of our said member and Federal Parliamentarian, Alex Ikwechegh, representing Aba North and South Federal Constituency, on the platform of our great Party.

As a party, we are founded on the basic principles of upholding the dignity of all humans, irrespective of class, creed and/or ethnicity. The recent video allegedly showing Ikwechegh a§§aulting a cab driver is totally unacceptable and runs counter to what our Party – APGA – represents.

In line with APGA’s constitution, the Leadership of the Party shall set up a disciplinary committee to investigate the act, and if found wanting, appropriate sanctions shall be meted on him in line with the Constitution of APGA.

Our party shall not tolerate any verifiable conduct that is not in tandem with the ideals of our founding fathers. In APGA, we are our Brother’s and Sister’s keeper and it cannot be any other way,” the statement reads.

🎥: X/ @Yucee_

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