Why BlackBerry, Plug Power, and USG Jumped Today
The stock market mostly treaded water on Wednesday, as investors were largely content to wait and see what comes next for the U.S. economy. The Federal Reserve concluded its two-day meeting earlier in the afternoon, deciding to leave rates unchanged but announcing the general format that it will follow in starting to allow its balance sheet to shrink from its currently level of about $4.5 trillion. Some investors are concerned that the Fed's move will amount to a tightening that could slow economic growth, but most market participants seemed satisfied that the central bank will be slow in its movements. Most major benchmarks finished in the green, and a few stocks managed to post even better gains. BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY), Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG), and USG (NYSE: USG) were among the best performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so well.
Shares of BlackBerry climbed 8% on news that the mobile device company will work with a major player in the automotive sector toward the goal of coming up with an autonomous driving system. Delphi Automotive (NYSE: DLPH) said that it had signed an agreement with BlackBerry under which the smartphone pioneer will provide the operating system for Delphi's self-driving system, with the goal of improving software performance in order to make the vehicles safer. One BlackBerry executive noted that with cybersecurity threats to self-driving vehicles, "[I]t is imperative that auto manufacturers are provided with software that is safety certified, reliable, and secure." BlackBerry can do so, and that could give it an edge against rivals as the race to autonomous cars continues.
Image source: BlackBerry.
Source: Fool.com
