91¶¶Òõ

Good morning and welcome to the stock market today! Rihanna is officially a billionaire, Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) is seeing its stock slip thanks to insider selling, and weekly jobless claims are steadily improving. Beyond all this, what will the stock market do today?

Source: Shutterstock

• The S&P 500 is up 0.35%
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.51%
• The Nasdaq Composite is up 0.44%

So what else will the stock market do today? Here are some of the top stories.

What Will the Stock Market Do Today? Talk Web 3.0.

One of the largest stories in the cryptocurrency world is the London hard fork — a series of upgrade packages for No. 2 Ethereum (CCC:ETH-USD). These proposals aim to , and generally, to improve the user experience. Ahead of the implementation today, Ethereum prices have been gaining and miners have been raking in rewards.

However, Omkar Godbole wrote for CoinDesk that it is not Ethereum that houses the next big opportunity. Instead, it is a handful of .

So what do you need to know?

Web 3.0 refers to a third generation of internet services wherein . This would give individual users more data ownership, and according to experts, usher in a new era of storage, finance, identity verification and computing solutions. It also has given rise to cryptocurrencies known as Web 3.0 tokens.

According to the latest data, cryptocurrencies associated with decentralized internet applications have been some of the top gainers. Year to date, their average rise is near 250%. With Web 3.0 still gaining steam, that positions this group have cryptos to be even bigger and better than Ethereum — and Bitcoin (CCC:BTC-USD).

The bottom line: Cryptocurrencies have been in a state of limbo thanks to regulatory threats, price volatility and a summer slump across the market. However, top names like BitTorrent (CCC:BTT-USD),

Livepeer (CCC:LPT-USD) and Helium (CCC:HNT-USD) offer real promise in a world that will inevitably shift from memes to utility.

Vaccines, Antibodies and the Delta Variant

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) and Regeneron (NASDAQ:REGN) are each making the news this morning amid renewed Covid-19 concerns. This follows efforts by Moderna and its vaccine-maker peers to nab a second slot in the spotlight.

Kicking things off, Regeneron shared that for the second quarter, revenues increased 163% to $5.14 billion. A nice chunk of that — $2.76 billion — . Regeneron said on its earning call that it was during this quarter that it fulfilled its entire order from the U.S. government.

Importantly, the company also indicated that demand for its antibody cocktail could hold steady. Regulators have tapped it as a key treatment for unvaccinated individuals, as well as others at risk of developing severe Covid-19 cases. Plus, it is expanding into international markets such as Japan.

For Moderna, the interest this morning also comes from its second-quarter earnings call. There, the biotech company shared that it has been testing a third booster dose of its Covid-19 vaccine. Findings suggest the third dose produces a “robust” response. Moderna also . Analysts were calling for earnings of $5.96 on revenue of $4.2 billion.

So what comes next? While , rising fears around the Delta, Delta-Plus and Lambda variants may be changing that. These companies promise to help the U.S. navigate an evolving pandemic, and could continue to earn investor favor.

What Else We’re Watching

• Bill Ackman is not giving up on his Universal Music Group dreams. Bloomberg reported this morning that the billionaire is . He would combine this with $3 billion of capital from hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management. Pershing Square Tontine Holdings (NYSE:PSTH), his blank-check company, is still on the hunt for a new target.
• Mexican officials filed a lawsuit yesterday against 10 U.S. gun companies, accusing them of . Companies named include Sturm, Ruger & Company (NYSE:RGR) and Smith & Wesson (NASDAQ:SWBI).
• United Kingdom regulators are considering blocking the $40 billion acquisition of Arm Holdings by Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA). According to Reuters, officials fear the deal .
• With so much focus on education and tech companies amid the Chinese government crackdown, investors may have missed the impact on food delivery firms. At the end of July, officials announced they wanted to protect delivery workers from “digital exploitation.” To do so, they have and are examining the effects of app algorithms on workers. Meituan (OTCMKTS:MPNGY), one of the hardest-hit companies, is down 30% over the past month.

On the date of publication, Sarah Smith did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.