Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine News Sparks Market Rally, Dow 30,000 Watch, And In M&A: A $11.6B Banking Deal

Carl Quintanilla, Jim Cramer and David Faber discussed a big start to the week for the markets: The Dow and S&P 500 rally after drug maker Moderna announced that preliminary analysis of a phase 3 trial showed its experimental COVID-19 vaccine had an efficacy rate of 94.5-percent and saw no significant safety concerns. The Moderna news putting the Dow closer to hitting the 30,000 mark for the first time ever while giving a boost to travel, leisure and restaurant stocks -- but putting pressure on "stay-at-home" stocks such as Zoom Media and Peloton. The anchors also took a closer look at today's M&A developments, including PNC agreeing to buy the U.S. unit of Spain's BBVA for $11.6 billion in cash. The deal is the second-biggest U.S. banking transaction since the 2008 financial crisis, trailing only last year’s acquisition of SunTrust Banks by BB&T for $28.2 billion, which resulted in the creation of Truist Financial.