A baggage handler drives a cart full of luggage near Southwest Airlines jets at San Diego International Airport on March 4, 2025 in San Diego, California.
- The sell-off has intensified on Wall Street.
- Tesla shares plunged 15%, suffering their steepest drop in five years.
- Southwest Airlines will start charging for checked bags for the first time ever.
Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. Seeing red
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The sell-off continued on Wall Street Monday as investors grow increasingly concerned about the possibility of a recession. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite saw the biggest decline of the major indexes, plummeting 4% and marking its worst session since September 2022. Tech stocks were hit especially hard, as the seven most valuable tech companies lost more than $750 billion in market value on Monday. The S&P 500, meanwhile, dropped 2.7%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 890.01 points, or 2.08%. The drops come as President Donald Trump says a transition period for the economy is likely. Follow live market updates.
2. A bad day
Tesla shares plunged 15% Tuesday, marking their worst trading day since September 2020. The electric vehicle maker's stock has fallen every week since CEO Elon Musk took on a major role in President Donald Trump's White House. On Friday, Tesla marked seven straight weeks of losses, the company's longest losing streak since it debuted on the Nasdaq in 2010. Tesla shares saw a peak of $479.86 on Dec. 17, and have lost more than 50% of their value since then, wiping out upward of $800 billion in market cap.
Money Report
3. Changes in the air
Southwest Airlines is ending its two-free-bag policy. For the first time in the company's history, the airline will start charging passengers to check bags in an effort to increase revenue. Some frequent flyers will still get two checked bags, and co-branded credit card holders will get one free checked bag, according to the airline. It's a major change for the low-cost pioneer, which is also launching an unchangeable basic economy fare, ending its policy of not charging for ticket cancellations and changes.
4. Down and out
Asana stock plunged more than 25% in early trading Tuesday after CEO Dustin Moskovitz announced he's retiring from the software company he launched in 2008. Moskovitz, one of the original founders of Facebook, said he plans to focus more on his philanthropic endeavors. He has a total net worth of more than $16 billion, according to Forbes, in large part because of his early Facebook stake. Asana also released its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report and said sales in the period rose 10% year over year.
5. Shakeup
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida is stepping down from his position less than a month after the automaker terminated merger talks with Honda. Chief Planning Officer Ivan Espinosa, who has worked for the company for more than 20 years, will take over the lead role and will be Nissan's fourth CEO in eight years. The management shakeup comes as the company reported a 78% year-on-year plunge in operating profit for the third quarter ending December 2024.
— CNBC's Lisa Kailai Han, Samantha Subin, Jeff Cox, Lora Kolodny, Leslie Josephs, Jonathan Vanian, Lim Hui Jie and Jenni Reid contributed to this report.
