Written by Gary
US stocks are fractionally lower today (SPY -0.1%) after a try to positive ground failed. A drop in crude oil prices has pressured energy shares, offsetting gains in technology and bank stocks.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | North and South American markets are mixed. The Bovespa is higher by 0.03%, while the IPC is leading the S&P 500 lower. They are down 0.26% and 0.04% respectively. |
Traders Corner – Health of the Market
Looking at the last three columns (below), the first one (Actual), is what was reported this morning. The second column (Forecast) is what analysts had forecast and the third column is the previous report. Full calendar HERE.
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
| China to slap additional tariffs on $16 billion of U.S. goodsChina is slapping additional tariffs of 25 percent on $16 billion worth of U.S. imports from fuel and steel products to autos and medical equipment, the Chinese commerce ministry said, as the world’s largest economies escalated their trade dispute. |
| Tesla board evaluating CEO Musk’s idea to take company privateTesla Inc’s board said it was evaluating taking the company private, a day after Chief Executive Elon Musk surprised shareholders with the idea of launching the biggest leveraged buyout of all time. |
| Impact of trade tariffs on European companiesSome European companies are rethinking their strategies to cushion the impact of trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies, the United States and China. |
| Wall St. slips as energy shares dragU.S. stocks were slightly lower on Wednesday as a drop in crude oil prices pressured energy shares, offsetting gains in technology and bank stocks. |
| New York Times’ digital subscriber growth slows, shares dropThe New York Times Co added fewer paid digital subscribers in the second quarter as it cut back on discounts, overshadowing its better-than-expected quarterly results and sending its shares down nearly 5 percent on Wednesday. |
| CVS Health beats profit estimates, defends PBM businessCVS Health Corp beat analysts’ estimates for quarterly profit on Wednesday and the drugstore operator defended its pharmacy benefits management business in the face of the Trump administration’s move to clamp down on escalating drug costs. |
| Indian regulator clears Walmart’s $16 billion acquisition of FlipkartIndia’s antitrust regulator on Wednesday approved U.S. retail giant Walmart Inc’s $16 billion acquisition of Indian ecommerce firm Flipkart, beefing up the competition for rival Amazon.com Inc in the fast growing market. |
| Old-line Kroger shows new moves in grocery delivery driveKroger Co , the nation’s biggest supermarket chain, whose founder delivered groceries by horse and buggy, is using a different kind of horsepower in its race with online grocery sellers. |
| Thomson Reuters on offense as Blackstone deal nearsThomson Reuters Corp said it was thinking about acquisition opportunities after reporting quarterly earnings that were ahead of expectations on Wednesday and reaffirming its 2018 forecast. |
| Rand Paul Delivers Letter From Trump To PutinIn a move that has already gotten him branded as the latest Russian spy by the #resistance, Senator Rand Paul said he delivered a letter from US President Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin’s administration, with Moscow saying that it will consider it in the near future. “I was honored to deliver a letter from President Trump to President Vladimir Putin’s administration,” Ron Paul’s son wrote on twitter.
The letter came just days after both Russia and China effectively said they intend to ignore the reimposed U.S. sanctions on Iran that went into effect Monday, and to continue doing business with the country. Trump had threatened that “anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be doing business with the United States.”
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| Italian Bonds Tumble As Di Maio Threatens “Tough Tactics” Over EU BudgetItalian bond markets and bank stocks are getting battered following remarks by Deputy PM Luigi Di Maio warning that the Italian government is ready to repeat the tough tactics it used to win concessions from the European Union on migration in the forthcoming battle over the budget.
The reaction was instant with BTP yields rising and prices dropping. 2Y BTP prices (the most frequently bought in Italy’s buybacks) are sliding…
And 10Y Yields are jumping… |
| New Hampshire Dems Dump Clinton From Fundraising DinnerIt’s not been a great couple of weeks for former President Bill Clinton. Having been heckled by angry Dutch hookers in Amsterdam, Hillary’s husband has been scrubbed from the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s annual fundraising dinner.
As The Daily Caller reports, New Hampshire Democrats had been under some pressure from left-leaning Democrats as well as Republicans to change the name of the event because of sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations made against Clinton. Bill Clinton will be replaced by Eleanor Roosevelt as the event’s namesake. This is not the first time NH Dems have been “forced” to make changes: The party changed the name of the gala from the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in 2016 amid a wave of criticism over former Presidents Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson’s links to slavery. Daily Caller’s Chuck Ross notes Ray Buckley, the chairman of the New Hampshire Democrat … |
| Whatever It TakesAuthored by Michael Lebowitz via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,
On July 26, 2012, European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi essentially guaranteed the ECB would not allow the markets to cripple the Euro region. This shot across the bow finally remedied the instability caused by the sovereign debt crisis. The markets quickly reversed the damaging trends and uncertainty that had plagued the Euro-zone for months. Draghi’s statement essentially boiled down to a promise that the ECB would print unlimited amounts of money to stop the “harmful” will of investors. Fiat currency, be it dollars, euros, yen, or any other major currency today, are backed by confidence in the government, its ability to tax and the status of its economy. Importantly, however, it is also largely based on the trust and confidence in the central bank that issues those notes. If Draghi did not have the market’s trust and confidence, his statement would have been ignored, and there is no telling what might have happened to Greece or the Euro for that matter. In September 2016, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) introduced Quantitative and Qualitative Easing (QQE) with Yield Curve Control. The new policy framework aimed to strengthen the effects of monetary easing by controlling short-term and long-term interest rates through market operations. The announcement also introduced an “inflation overshooting commitment” with the BOJ committed to expanding the monetary base until the year-over-year inflation rate “exceeds and remai … |
| Tesla’s Go-Private Dream Doesn’t Add UpTesla’s wildest day yet leaves far more questions than answers. |
| NewsWatch: After Kroger strikes back at Visa, battle over credit-card fees may only get worseThe grocery store may not be the only retailer who starts to refuse credit cards. |
| Market Snapshot: S&P 500 aims for fifth straight gain as tech, financials advanceU.S. stock-market indexes edge tentatively higher on Wednesday as investors try to shrug off a fresh round of tariff clashes between the Trump administration and China and instead focus on mostly upbeat earnings. |
| Deep Dive: U.S. companies’ sales growth is accelerating — here are the biggest winnersThirty-seven companies in the S&P 500 increased sales per share by 25% or more while improving gross margins. |
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