TheStreet's Conway Gittens brings the latest business headlines from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as markets open for trading Thursday, May 9.
Related: General Motors is switching gears on its EV strategy
Full Video Transcript Below:
CONWAY GITTENS: I’m Conway Gittens reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here’s what we’re watching on TheStreet today.
Wall Street was handed another mixed bag on Wednesday. The Dow finished in the green for the sixth consecutive day, but the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both finished fractionally down.
Investors are digesting the release of the weekly jobless claims report. The Department of Labor said 231,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits for the week ending on May 4th. That’s an increase of 22,000 from the week before. Wall Street is also looking ahead to consumer sentiment data due on Friday.
In other news, after 60 years, 9 generations, and more than 10 million cars sold, General Motors says it is shutting down production of the Chevy Malibu. The first Malibu was introduced in 1964, but was phased out in the early 1980s as GM switched its focus to selling trucks. The Malibu made a comeback in 1997 and has been in Chevy showrooms ever since. The final Malibu will roll off the production line in November.
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Aside from struggling to make the car more fashionable over the last several years, GM wants to focus on electric vehicles. Its Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas will shift production to two other GM vehicles - the Chevy Bolt and the Cadillac XT4. The company has invested $390 million to revamp the Chevy Bolt, which saw production halted in April of last year.
With the phasing out of the Malibu, Chevrolet has just one gas-powered car remaining - the Corvette. The Camaro, by the way, is still rolling off factory floors, but it too, will be phased out sometime in 2024.
As for GM’s EV strategy, the company fell short of its goal to sell 400,000 EVs between 2022 and the middle of 2024. And even with the industry facing tepid EV demand, GM said it’s on track to produce between 200,000 and 300,000 EVs in North America by the end of the year.
That’ll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m Conway Gittens with TheStreet.
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