Friday’s big stock stories: What’s likely to move the market in the next trading session

The S&P 500 closed at a record on Thursday, as President Donald Trump’s call for lower rates boosted stocks. Here’s what’s on CNBC’s radar going into Friday.

Recession fears are mounting — Powell’s stances on these 4 issues could dictate America’s economic path in months ahead March 18, 2025
The Federal Reserve will hold its benchmark interest rate steady at its meeting this week, economists say, as it remains in a “wait-and-see” mode until the effects of President Donald Trump’s policies on the economic outlook become clearer.
Greg Robb
Why cruise stocks are a buy now, according to this analyst March 18, 2025
Cruise stocks have been falling, but J.P. Morgan says buy because there have been no signs of reduced demand despite all the macro noise.
Tomi Kilgore
Tesla sales have ‘significantly underperformed’ in all key regions, analyst says March 18, 2025
Mizuho lowers its price target by 16.5% to reflect all of the EV maker’s current woes.
Ciara Linnane
Netflix has won the streaming wars. Now what? March 18, 2025
Analyst firm MoffettNathanson is raising its price target for Netflix, saying it sees huge upside for the platform’s new advertising model as well as continued profit-margin growth.
Lukas I. Alpert
Guess could become the next fashion company to go private after stock price halves in a year March 18, 2025
Guess Inc.’s stock soared 30% on Monday after the maker of clothing, footwear and accessories said it received an offer from New York-based investment company WHP Global to take it private for $13 a share in cash.
Ciara Linnane
Lucid is looking for a new CEO. Why that may be a good thing. March 18, 2025
Change afoot at Lucid might be a chance to play a bigger role in EVs and AI.
Claudia Assis
Pepsi will pay $1.7 billion for a soft-drink company that got its start on ‘Shark Tank’ March 17, 2025
Pepsi looks to boost its healthy offerings with Poppi, a maker of prebiotic drinks.
Steve Gelsi
Reddit’s stock has soared 170% since the IPO. Here’s why the honeymoon may now be over. March 17, 2025
Reddit’s growth is vulnerable to the whims of search giant Google, according to Redburn Atlantic, which has slapped a sell rating on the stock.
James Rogers
Wells Fargo sees path to growth ahead as another regulatory order is lifted March 17, 2025
Wells Fargo & Co. on Monday said that regulators had terminated a 2021 enforcement order related to loss-mitigation issues in its home-lending business, marking the latest such order to be lifted from the bank.
Bill Peters
‘In their last days, our parents changed their will’: They left me $250,000, but gave my sister $1 million. What should I do? March 17, 2025
“How many people maintain a relationship with their siblings after their parents died?”
Quentin Fottrell