Medicare beneficiaries may benefit from a potential savings of $1.5 billion on ten prescription medications.
In market news, the Nasdaq index climbed by 1.5%, gaining 277 points on Monday afternoon. This surge followed President Joe Biden’s announcement to withdraw from the presidential race on Sunday and his endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris. The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw an increase of 0.3%, while the S&P 500 rose by 1.1%.
On the political front, the crypto-based betting platform Polymarket is backing Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee, with PredictIt from New Zealand forecasting her as the 47th president of the United States.
In technology, Nvidia experienced a nearly 4% boost in its shares after reports surfaced that the company is working on a version of its new Blackwell AI chips specifically for the Chinese market. Nvidia plans to collaborate with local distributor Inspur to introduce the chip, designated as the “B20,” with shipments expected to start in the second quarter of 2025. The company has not provided further comments on the matter.
Tesla’s stock surged almost 5% in anticipation of its upcoming earnings report, where CEO Elon Musk is expected to discuss the delay of the company’s robotaxi project. Musk has stated that Tesla will produce humanoid robots in limited quantities for internal use next year, with hopes for broader production for other companies by 2026.
Meanwhile, CrowdStrike, known for its cybersecurity services, is still recovering from a recent global tech outage. The company reported that a significant number of the 8.5 million impacted Windows devices are back online. However, CrowdStrike’s stock was down over 13%, trading around $263 on Monday afternoon.
Verizon’s stock dropped nearly 6% following the release of its quarterly earnings report, which revealed a shortfall in revenue estimates. The telecommunications company attributed this to customers holding onto their old phones longer, negatively affecting upgrade rates. Verizon’s revenue for Q2 was reported at $32.8 billion, just below analysts’ expectation of $33.06 billion, with earnings per share matching forecasts at $1.15.