The daily business briefing: December 26, 2018

(Image credit: Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)

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1. Stock futures gain after record Christmas Eve plunge
2. Amazon reports record holiday sales
3. Nissan's Kelly released after Japanese court approves bail
4. Aquaman continues to dominate the box office on Christmas
5. GoFundME refunds donors for alleged hoax fundraising campaign

published 26 December 2018

1. Stock futures gain after record Christmas Eve plunge

U.S. stock futures edged higher early Wednesday, struggling to rebound after heavy Christmas Eve losses. All three of the main U.S. indexes were up by about 0.6 percent before the bell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was coming off a 2.9 percent plunge that broke the 1918 record for the worst Christmas Eve performance. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped by 2.7 percent in a shortened trading day before the Christmas holiday, and the Nasdaq lost 2.2 percent. U.S. stocks are on track to post their worst year since 2008 during the Great Recession, and their worst December since 1931, during the Great Depression. President Trump blames the market dive on the Federal Reserve's four interest rate hikes this year.

Amazon on Wednesday reported record holiday-season sales, boosted by strong demand for its Echo Dot, Echo, and Fire TV Stick devices. The online retail giant said other strong sellers included Amazon's Kids Edition devices and toys, including the L.O.L. Surprise! Glam Glitter Series Doll with 7 Surprises, Nerf N-Strike Elite Strongarm Blaster, and LEGO Creator Mighty Dinosaurs Toy. Early data showed that holiday sales were strong all around. Total U.S. sales, excluding automobiles, rose by 5.1 percent from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24 compared to a year earlier, the biggest gain for U.S. retailers in six years, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse, which tracks online and in-store spending with all payment methods.

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A Japanese court on Tuesday rejected prosecutors' efforts to keep Nissan executive Greg Kelly in detention over the alleged underreporting of pay to the carmaker's former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, clearing the way for Kelly to be released on $635,000 bail after 37 days in custody. Kelly left the Tokyo Detention House in a car and was taken directly to a hospital for treatment for a chronic neck problem. Kelly, who is American, was arrested along with Ghosn on Nov. 19. Both were charged with underreporting Ghosn's pay by $44 million in 2011 through 2015. Ghosn remains in detention.

Aquaman continued to lead the holiday box office through Christmas Eve, adding $11.2 million to its dominant weekend performance and bringing its global total above $500 million. The blockbuster's domestic total was expected to stand near $100 million once Christmas Day ticket sales are tallied. The DC superhero movie, starring Jason Momoa, easily beat out Mary Poppins Returns and Transformers prequel Bumblebee over the weekend in its debut. On Christmas Day, the box office champion ran into fresh competition from newcomers Vice and Holmes and Watson.

GoFundMe said Tuesday that it had reimbursed 14,000 people who contributed to a campaign billed as a fundraiser for a homeless veteran from Philadelphia who had given his last $20 to a New Jersey woman after she ran out of gas. The GoFundMe campaign raised more than $400,000 before it was exposed as a scam. Burlington County prosecutors say in a criminal complaint that Johnny Bobbitt conspired with Katelyn McClure and her then-boyfriend Mark D'Amico to make up the story as a means to raise the money, which was spent on luxury items and casino trips. Prosecutors started investigating last summer after Bobbitt sued saying he wasn't getting any of the money. GoFundMe spokesman Bobby Whithorne said the company has a "zero tolerance policy" for fraud.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.