What Did the Stock Market Do Today? 3 Big Stories to Catch Up On. (2024)

What a busy day in the stock market! The Federal Reserve kicked off its June meeting, bringing inflation fears once again into the spotlight. TikTok creators are marrying astrology and cryptocurrencies, and Reddit stocks got another boost. Besides all that, what did the stock market do today?

• The S&P 500 closed down 0.2%
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.27%
• The Nasdaq Composite closed down 0.71%

So what else did the stock market do today? Here are some of the top stories.

What Did the Stock Market Do Today? Flip Flip on DKNG.

Reddit may be taking aim at short-sellers, but Hindenburg Research is not content sitting on the sidelines. Today, the firm released a new short report on post-SPAC company DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG). At the heart of the allegations is the idea that DraftKings — while popular with the retail investor audience — represents black-market and other illegal dealings.

Essentially, Hindenburg outlines how exactly DraftKings came public. Everything occurred through a three-way merger featuringDiamond Acquisition, DraftKings and the gaming firmSBTech. This last entity is the one in question. As Hindenburg writes, despite efforts to distance itself, SBTech is involved with criminal actors, money laundering, black-market dealings and other illicit activities.

It seems the bottom line then is that as DKNG stock rockets on hype, this shady context could quickly bring DraftKings crashing back down.

AsInvestorPlace contributor Chris MacDonald highlighted, this news rocked the DraftKings boat at the start of the day. Investors saw shares dip as much as 10% in pre-market.

However, things quickly turned around, largely thanks to the backing of r/WallStreetBets. Considering how the investing subreddit despises short-sellers, it makes sense that Hindenburg would be the bad guy here. Posters claimed the short report was “fake news” and argued that DraftKings represents a promising business.

So what do you need to know? Like other companies that have come public through the SPAC route, it seems that DraftKings has a rocky road ahead. However, it also seems that the retail crowd is ready to go to bat against high-profile short-sellers.

Coinbase Is Welcoming Shiba Inu With Open Arms

Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) made crypto fans happy today, announcing that its Pro platform would welcome three new names on June 17. This list features Chiliz (CCC:CHZ-USD), Keep Network (CCC:KEEP-USD) and most importantly, Shiba Inu (CCC:SHIB-USD). The popular crypto exchange says this decision is in response to user requests for more trading options.

For those unfamiliar, Coinbase is one of the largest exchanges in the world, and one of the most popular. Its direct listing in April 2021 gripped Wall Street, with many experts calling it a milestone for the cryptocurrency world. Various studies show that cryptocurrencies outperform in the days following their Coinbase listings, due to the exposure and legitimacy associated with the exchange.

With that in mind, it was huge news when Coinbase finally rolled out Dogecoin (CCC:DOGE-USD) training. Investors took it as a vote of confidence in the meme coin, and a reason for a major rally.

Now, the Dogecoin spinoff SHIB token is seeing a similar fate. Shiba Inu was a top trending cryptocurrency on Tuesday, according to data from CoinMarketCap. At the time of writing, the token was up more than 20%.

Now,InvestorPlace analyst Luke Lango is not so sure Shiba Inu is a solid long-term investment. However, he recognizes the hype that this token holds. That is why, ahead of its Coinbase Pro listing, Lango has identified SHIB as an appealing trade. He says:

“Shiba Inu coin looks like Dogecoin 2.0. That’s good and bad. The good is that Dogecoin was a wild success from a trading perspective because it gained the popularity of the masses, and Shiba Inu coin is basically Dogecoin plus more features, so it has potential to steal popularity and momentum from Dogecoin. But the bad is that the underlying tech here isn’t revolutionary, and from a core tech perspective, this is just a hype coin that will likely fade once the retail crowd moves on. The investment implication?Looks like a solid near-term trade and poor long-term investment.”

Are CCIV Stockholders the Butt of the SPAC Joke?

Churchill Capital IV (NYSE:CCIV), the blank-check company bringing Lucid Motors public, had another rough day. CCIV stock closed down more than 6% as investors process the latest merger hiccups.

Since confirmation of the Lucid Motors deal, one of the biggest points of contention has been its valuation. Now, thanks to the latest U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, retail investors have even more reason to worry. As InvestorPlace Markets Analyst Joanna Makris highlighted, the transaction now values Lucid at $38 billion. While that is still a lofty figure, it is down from the previous $42 billion estimate. It also places a lot of pressure on PIPE investors — if they cash in when the lock-up period ends in September, Lucid shareholders could see serious downside moves.

Granted, some retail investors still see reason to like CCIV stock here. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) walked away from its Plaid+ model, sparking hope for its electric vehicle competitors. Plus, news that Rivian could come public at nearly $70 billion makes Lucid look cheap.

Makris sees through this hype, and ultimately thinks CCIV stockholders are at the butt of a bad SPAC joke. Whether you agree or not, the latest Lucid valuation is certainly worth a closer look.

Read more about CCIV stock here.

On the date of publication, Sarah Smith did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.

Sarah Smith is the Editor of Today’s Market with InvestorPlace.com.