5 big names in business ready to move shares: CCIV, TSLA, ARKX

As we start a shorter trading week, what stock market news should you be watching? And the most important, who should you be watching? InvestorPlace brought together five major stock market drivers and agitators to help you prepare for big moves ahead.

What does all this mean? Well, just as great enthusiasm for a trend like cannabis stocks or electric vehicles can move markets, influential individuals also have a lot of power. These people include politicians, CEOs, business icons and even legendary investors.

Get ready for the week below with these five boosters and shakers.

Stock Market Driver # 1: Joe Biden

Is that too obvious? It looks like everyone on Wall Street is ready to watch President-elect Joe Biden take office. This is largely because his new government promises to end a brief era of chaos that we have seen in Washington, DC since the beginning of 2021. But for investors, Biden also represents some important opportunities in the stock market.

Just take a look at what’s hot today! In his early days in office, Biden promised to dive straight into climate issues. He must immediately join the Paris climate agreement and also dispose of licenses for the Keystone XL pipeline. This signals to alternative energy optimists that Biden will deliver on his historic promises, including a $ 2 trillion investment in clean energy. Today, that means hydrogen names like Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) and Fusion Fuel (NASDAQ:HTOO) are in motion. Tomorrow, we will be able to see more of the same.

Investors should also be aware of marijuana stocks. Now that Democrats have a slight advantage in the Senate, lawmakers are likely to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. However, whether or not legalization depends on Biden and new vice president Kamala Harris. Keep an eye out for important names like Sundial Growers (NASDAQ:SNDL) in the next days.

For more information, read the InvestorPlace.com summary of hydrogen stocks here.

Stock Market Driver # 2: Cathie Wood

Cathie Wood sent a stock bundle to the moon last week after announcing it Ark Invest was launching a new exchange-traded fund. Importantly, the ETF Space Exploration, which will trade under ARKX, offers investors concentrated exposure to the emerging space industry. It is no secret that Wood has made many bold choices in his career, including defense Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) before it looks cool. She and her company are known for innovation, which means that their big bet on space is to attract attention.

What does this mean for investors? Expect the space sector to remain hot. galactic virgin (NYSE:SPCE) shines like a pure game, as well as Maxar Technologies (NYSE:MAXR) In the coming weeks, also look for special purpose acquisition companies to advance the sector’s businesses.

For more information, read InvestorPlace.com’s summary on space SPACs here.

Stock market driver # 3: Elon Musk

There is no way to make a list of people who move the stock market without including Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Even when he is not sharing the company’s news, he still has great power over the market. As evidence, consider the fact that Tesla hires customer service representatives to handle “social media escalations” targeted at the EV leader.

So how will Musk move the market this week? In addition to setting fire to a random penny stock, it looks like Tesla’s CEO will reinvigorate the conversation about Chinese electric vehicle makers. That’s because his company debuted a model Y SUV made in China and started delivering in 10 cities. Experts believe that expansion in the Chinese market is the key to Tesla’s success. This also indicates a growing trend in the automotive world. Companies like Nio (NYSE:NIO) and Xpeng (NYSE:XPEV) are increasingly popular with US investors. Old car manufacturers like General Motors (NYSE:GM) plan to launch fully electric vehicles in China first.

Musk has a head start and this week proves it. Keep an eye on what he does and his social media accounts.

For more information, read InvestorPlace.com information about Musk’s Signal’s craze here.

Stock market driver # 4: Michael Klein

Michael Klein is a heartbreaker. Last week, the man behind the blank check company Churchill Capital IV (NYSE:CCIV) had investors on its fingers. It is because Bloomberg reported that his special purpose acquisition company was in negotiations to bring Lucid Motors public. CCIV’s shares skyrocketed, all because of what Lucid Motors represents.

For those unfamiliar, Lucid Motors is an intriguing electric vehicle manufacturer. Run by a former Tesla engineer, the company sees itself as a true competitor in the luxury passenger market. And perhaps most importantly, Lucid is about to start delivering its flagship.

Unfortunately, Klein did not confirm the SPAC merger. Today, he issued a statement addressing shareholders’ concerns about unusual negotiations. In that message, he declined to comment on Lucid Motors SPAC’s merger rumors and said his blank check company is considering a variety of potential business combinations. As a result, CCIV’s shares fell in intraday trading – let’s talk about stock market movements!

For more information, read InvestorPlace.com’s summary of CCIV’s actions here.

Stock Market Driver # 5: Richard Branson

The last on this list of stock market movers is Sir Richard Branson, and man, he had some good days. The business tycoon behind the Virgin Group saw its Virgin Galactic stage return, announcing that it was addressing issues that caused its most recent test flight to fail. Then, the ARKX news saw SPCE’s stock soar. This is because many investors saw Virgin Galactic shares as an obvious choice for the new exchange-traded fund.

But that is not all. Branson is behind a long list of companies, including other names in the space industry. Their private businesses include Virgin Orbit, which plans to launch small satellites into space to help transform the industry. Over the weekend, Virgin Orbit successfully launched 10 of these satellites into orbit, using a rocket attached to a jet plane to accomplish this feat. It also marks a comeback for Virgin Orbit, which saw its own test flight fail eight months ago. And because Branson also runs his own blank check company, VG acquisition (NASDAQ:VGAC), is leading to some important moves.

Importantly, Branson said CNBC hosts he is considering making Virgin Orbit public via SPAC. Although he did not say for certain whether he would use VGAC to do this, the shares of the Branson-backed blank check company are skyrocketing on their own. As the space race continues to heat up on Wall Street, keep Branson and his various endeavors in mind.

For more information, read InvestorPlace.com’s summary of VGAC’s shares here.

As of the date of publication, Sarah Smith did not (directly or indirectly) hold any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.

Sarah Smith is a producer of web content at InvestorPlace.com.