WSJ What’s News - What’s News in Markets: Disney Shines, Cleveland-Cliffs Slides, Boeing Climbs

Episode Date: May 10, 2025

Why did Disney’s Middle East expansion wow investors? And how is steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs slowing down its operations? Plus, how did Boeing benefit from the U.S.-U.K. trade agreement? Host Francesca Fontana discusses the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them.Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Because they matter to you. Because they matter to us too. Toyota. For what matters most. Hey listeners, it's Saturday, May 10th. I'm Francesca Fontana for the Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News in Markets, our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it.

The stock market started this week pretty gloomy, as the S&P 500 and the Dow both snapped nine-day winning streaks on Monday. Trade jitters, of course, continued to be at play for investors, and those jitters weren't calmed by President Trump's meeting with Canada's Prime Minister or promises of trade deals. But things turned around on Wednesday, as the Federal Reserve held rates steady. And we got a nice rally on Thursday on the announcement of a trade pact between the U.S. and the U.K., which had some good news in it for Boeing, but more on that later.

All in all, though, all three major indexes ended the week slightly lower. although all three major indexes ended the week slightly lower. First up, let's talk Disney. The entertainment company announced plans for a new theme park, and investors were certainly celebrating. Disney said that its new park, which will be its seventh global park, will be built in Abu Dhabi. So it's expanding its lucrative experiences business into a new market. The company also posted strong earnings, saying

that its U.S. theme parks attracted more guests and higher spending from visitors in the latest quarter. Disney's experiences unit, which is the home of its theme parks and cruises, has helped boost its other businesses, including its streaming platforms and its film and TV studios. And those areas, at Disney and at its rivals, have an array of issues that they're facing, like declining cable TV and underperformance at the box office. And of course, a new threat has also emerged. President Trump's recent comments calling for 100% tariffs on films produced outside the U.S.

So how'd the stock do on Wednesday? Well, Disney shares jumped 11%, making it the best performer in the Dow that day. And on the week, the stock gained about 15%. Now let's talk steel. Of course, as we've seen, President Trump has been trying to build up American steel demand with tariffs on foreign metal. Meanwhile, as we learned this week, one of the major U.S. steelmakers is shrinking. Cleveland Cliffs on Wednesday said it will pause or slow operations at six plants after posting a wider first quarter loss and lower revenue. These production cuts

and changes in its operations are expected to affect about 2,000 jobs and save the company some $300 million a year. The future for steel demand in the U.S., it seems, is still unclear. Steel prices climbed as customers were buying up steel ahead of Trump's tariffs on imported metal. But now that rally has stalled, and buyers are holding off on placing big orders in an uncertain U.S. economy. Cleveland Cliff shares ended up plummeting 16% on Thursday and on a weekly basis lost

more than 20 percent. And we finally got a big trade deal development this week, with the U.S.-UK agreement announced on Thursday. And, like I said earlier, it contained good news for Boeing. $10 billion worth of good news, you might say. Because during the announcement, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said a British airline would buy $10 billion worth of Boeing planes. And in exchange for the UK buying these jets as well as doing other things like cutting

tariffs on some US beef imports, the Trump administration agreed to roll back tariffs imposed on British steel and cars. And we got more specifics on Friday when British Airways owner IAG said it's ordered 32 Boeing planes. So, after making some smaller moves in both directions earlier in the week, Boeing shares gained 3.3% on Thursday and notched a weekly gain of 5.1%. And now you know what's news in markets this week. You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in The Score, my column

in the Wall Street Journal's Exchange section. Today's show was produced by Zoe Kolkin and Pierre Bienamé, with supervising producer Talia Arbel. I'm Francesca Fontana. Have a great weekend, and I will see you next Saturday.