Written by Gary
Markets closed off its afternoon highs as expected on moderate volume while investors mull over China’s woes. U.S. stocks ended in the red, mostly flat today as investors focused on U.S. growth after two days of concerns about China and a drop in energy shares offset a rebound in retail sales and stronger-than-expected results from Cisco.
China’s devaluation probably won’t derail a September Fed rate increase, but its effect on import prices could help blunt their trajectory.
Todays S&P 500 Chart
The Market in Perspective
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
Wall St. ends flat as energy shares drag NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks ended near flat on Thursday as a drop in energy shares offset a rebound in retail sales and stronger-than-expected results from Cisco. | |
FTC offers first-ever guidance on ‘unfair competition’ NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Thursday released unprecedented guidance on a section of business antitrust law that bars “unfair competition,” but stopped well short of offering the level of detail long sought by businesses. | |
3 Things: Freight, Deflation, No HikeSubmitted by Lance Roberts via STA Wealth Management, Freight Volumes Suggest Weak Growth We often look at broad measures of the economy to determine its current state. However, we can often receive clues about where the economy may be headed by looking at data that feeds into the broader measures. Exports, imports, wage growth, commodity prices, etc. all have very important ties to the health of the consumer which is critical to an economy that is nearly 70% driven by their consumption. While I have discussed the importance those issue in the past, there are other indicators that can also provide valuable clues. One such example is the Cass Freight Index. From the Cass website:
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U.S. Invokes Threat to Dollar in Pitching Iran DealPresident Obama and Secretary of State Kerry have warned that walking away from the Iran nuclear deal would create financial complications that would diminish the dollar’s elite global status. | |
Solid U.S. retail sales bolster Fed rate hike expectations WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. retail sales rebounded in July as households boosted purchases of automobiles and a range of other goods, suggesting the economy was growing solidly early in the third quarter and bolstering the case for a Federal Reserve interest rate hike. | |
Coca-Cola names Quincey president, fuelling succession speculation (Reuters) – Coca-Cola Co on Thursday named James Quincey president and chief operating officer, setting up the long-time company veteran to possibly one day take the helm of the world’s largest soda maker. | |
Oil Trades Under $42 To 6 Year Lows, Gundlach Sees “Terrifying Geopolitical Consequences” LoomingFor the first time since March 2009, the front-month WTI crude futures contract has traded with a $41 handle. As it draws ever nearer the 2009 lows, we are reminded of the ominous warnings that DoubleLine’s Jeff Gundlach issued in January. – “I hope it does not go to $40 because then something is very, very wrong with the world, not just the economy. The geopolitical consequences could be – to put it bluntly – terrifying.” As we previously discussed in January, in a recent interview with FuW, DoubleLine’s Jeff Gundlach explained his concerns about the oil market not being “unequivocally good” for everyone…
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Musk to invest $20 million in Tesla’s $500 million share sale (Reuters) – Tesla Motors Inc CEO Elon Musk will invest $20 million as part of the company’s $500 million stock offering in a show of confidence at a time when the electric car maker is burning through cash. | |
Broker Edward Jones Settles With SEC Over Pricing of Muni BondsBrokerage firm Edward Jones has agreed to pay $20 million to settle charges that it overcharged clients in new municipal-bond sales, the Securities and Exchange Commission said . | |
Submerging MarketsNew lows in Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia, and Thailand… but apart from that – Fed rate hikes and Yuan devaluation are irrelevant? Americas… AsiaPac… Charts: Bloomberg | |
Google has until August 31 to reply to EU antitrust charges BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Google Inc , the world’s most popular Internet search engine, has been given an extra two weeks to counter European Union charges of abusing its market power in a dozen EU countries and stave off a possible billion-euro fine. | |
Solid U.S. Retail Sales Bolster Fed Rate Hike Expectations U.S. retail sales rebounded in July as households boosted purchases of automobiles and a range of other goods, suggesting the economy was growing solidly early in the third quarter and bolstering the case for a Federal Reserve interest rate hike. |
Summary of Economic Releases this Week
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