TheStreet's J.D. Durkin brings the latest business headlines from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as markets open for trading Monday, December 18th.
Full Video Transcript Below:
I’m J.D. Durkin - reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here’s what we’re watching on TheStreet today.
Stocks are coming off a seven-week winning streak to kick off the last full trading week of 2023. This comes as investors bet that the Federal Reserve will pull off a soft economic landing after indicating interest rate cuts in 2024.
Investors are looking ahead to jobless claims Thursday and the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge out Friday.
In other news - Southwest Airlines (LUV) -) has been served with a $140 million fine by the Department of Transportation for its 10-day service meltdown during the 2022 holiday season. The fine is the largest civil penalty ever handed down by the D.O.T.
During December 2022, Southwest canceled roughly 17,000 flights which stranded more than 2 million passengers due to scheduling and technology issues. The airline said the disruption cost the company $1.2 billion between Q4 of last year and the early part of 2023. Thus far, Southwest has paid out more $600 million in refunds and reimbursements to affected customers.
Of the fine, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said, quote, “Taking care of passengers is not just the right thing to do — it’s required, and this penalty should put all airlines on notice to take every step possible to ensure that a meltdown like this never happens again.”
According to the D.O.T, $90 of the $140 million will be used to create a new fund that will help compensate future Southwest passengers who experience significant delays or cancellations. $35 million will be paid to the U.S. Treasury.
That’ll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m J.D. Durkin with TheStreet.
