Money Minute: Netflix's Star-Studded Quarter; American Dream Still Alive?

Netflix is the new "it" stock on Wall Street.

Netflix (NFLX) posted another blowout quarter. Its net surged six-fold from a year ago, as the company added 2.3 million new subscribers for its streaming service. That brings the total in the U.S. to more than 34 million. Netflix also hinted that it may soon raise prices -- something that has haunted it in the past -- but said existing subscribers would get grandfathering benefits on their existing plans. Netflix shares are set to rally today. They've more than tripled in price over the past year.

The American dream of upward mobility is alive and well. A major new academic study finds that despite the growing wealth gap, the ability of Americans to climb the income ladder remains the same as it was several decades ago. %VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks%But the report also found the chance of escaping poverty are greater in Canada and parts of Western Europe than they are in the U.S.

Instead of reporting about layoffs, we have news about new hiring plans at two big companies.

Boeing (BA) is adding 300 temporary mechanics and inspectors to help boost production of its troubled 787 Dreamliner at a plant in South Carolina. It could end up hiring as many as 1,000 of the contract workers.

And United Continental (UAL) has told 685 junior flight attendants that they may not lose their jobs after all. The United Airlines workers had received layoff notices earlier this month. Now they're being told they are eligible for open jobs at the company's Continental division.

Here on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) fell 41 points Wednesday, but the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) gained 17 and he Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) added a point.

IBM (IBM) was the big drag on the Dow after reporting disappointing earnings and revenue growth. And it's likely to be in focus again today after agreeing to sell its low-end server business to Hong Kong-based Lenovo for $2.3 billion dollars. That's considerably less than IBM has originally sought for the unit.

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg.