Written by Gary
US stocks steady amid worries over US-China tensions and economic recovery (SPY +0.2%). US housing starts surge 22.6% and Walmart’s Q2 boosted 97% by skyrocketing web sales.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | European markets are mixed today. The DAX is up 0.46% while the CAC 40 gains 0.17%. The FTSE 100 is off 0.02%. |
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | A Dow buy signal says Warren Buffett’s gold stake came too late for the precious metalThe price of gold is at a record, and even Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway got in on the action. But gold traded down last week, and history says when that happens, buy the Dow Jones Industrial Average. |
| Coronavirus live updates: WHO says world is far from herd immunity; Quest Diagnostics says it has ‘ample capacity’ for new testsThe coronavirus has infected more than 21.9 million people around the world as of Tuesday, killing at least 774,600 people. |
| 5 things to know before the stock market opens TuesdayThe S&P 500 tries to close at a record high again after Walmart and Home Depot report stronger earnings. |
| Kohl’s shares jump as quarterly sales hold up better than expected in pandemicKohl’s revenue fell 23% during the fiscal second quarter, the retailer said Tuesday, which was not as bad as analysts were fearing. |
| Latest electric-vehicle IPO Canoo will raise funds to build its ‘loft on wheels’This is the fourth electric-vehicle company to use a SPAC to go public since March. Nikola, which plans to sell hydrogen fuel-cell trucks and all-electric pickups, merged with a SPAC named VectoIQ Acquisition ahead of its IPO. |
| Walmart second-quarter results crush estimates, as e-commerce sales jump 97%Walmart’s e-commerce sales in the U.S. shot up by 97% as customers had packages shipped their homes and used curbside pickup. |
| Home Depot quarterly sales soar 23% as consumers take on more DIY projects in pandemicHome Depot’s profit and U.S. same-store sales soared 25% in the quarter as consumers visited the retailer more and spent more money. |
| UNC abruptly halts in-person classes after coronavirus outbreak on campus“As of this morning, we have tested 954 students and have 177 in isolation and 349 in quarantine, both on and off campus,” the university said. |
| Ram 1500 TRX: Fiat Chrysler unveils 702-horsepower Hellcat pickupThe Ram 1500 TRX is expected to go on sale this year ” starting at $71,690 ” as a new halo vehicle for the brand in an attempt to greater differentiate it from Chevrolet and Ford, the industry’s truck leaders by sales. |
| Why Hertz landed in bankruptcy court when its rivals didn’tHertz was a pioneer in car rental and a highly recognized brand. But the company’s attempts to address its challenges left it unprepared for the Covid-19 pandemic, unlike its rivals. Now it is in bankruptcy court and struggling to survive. |
| New York Gov. Cuomo warns of ‘difficult’ flu season as coronavirus spreads throughout U.S.New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said state health authorities are concerned about the upcoming flu season, warning it will make the coronavirus pandemic more difficult. |
| Flight attendants turn to dog walking, contact tracing for extra income as they brace for job cutsAmid the coronavirus, thousands of flight attendants are preparing for a potential furloughs this fall when the terms of federal aid expire. |
| A flood of job losses looms as airline industry struggles in pandemicA cascade of job losses loom for aviation amid the coronavirus pandemic as manufacturers work through cuts and airline aid is set to expire. |
| US Housing Starts, Permits Explode Higher In July With Builder Sentiment At RecordUS Housing Starts, Permits Explode Higher In July With Builder Sentiment At Record Tyler Durden Tue, 08/18/2020 – 08:40 After screaming higher in May and June (after a 3-month collapse), Housing Starts’ rebound was expected to slow drastically in July (while Building Permits were expected to re-accelerate after a disappointing slowdown in June. However, the analysts could not have been more wrong as both starts and permits exploded higher in July (up 22.6% vs +5% exp, and 18.8% vs +5.4% exp respectively)… This is the biggest MoM rise in permits since June 2008 (that didn’t end well) and biggest MoM rise in starts since Oct 2016… |
| DNC ‘Infomercial’ Night 1 Post-Mortem: Trump Mocks Michelle Obama’s “Snooze” Speech; Even Leftists PuzzledDNC ‘Infomercial’ Night 1 Post-Mortem: Trump Mocks Michelle Obama’s “Snooze” Speech; Even Leftists Puzzled Tyler Durden Tue, 08/18/2020 – 08:16 “It was like watching an infomercial,” mocks Epoch Times’ Roger Simon as ne reflected on last night’s first two-hour segment of this week’s ‘Virtual’ Democratic Convention.
The night was ‘diverse’ for sure, signaling the “wide net” Biden’s campaign is hoping to narrate. |
| Futures Inch To Record High After Walmart Earnings Smash Expectations; Dollar Hits 2 Year LowFutures Inch To Record High After Walmart Earnings Smash Expectations; Dollar Hits 2 Year Low Tyler Durden Tue, 08/18/2020 – 08:00 Equities reversed initial losses in a morning devoid of economic data, which saw the Eurostoxx 50 turn solidly green after having dropped as much as 0.9% in early trading, while S&P futures also turned lower at first, before following Europe’s rebound to trade in the green. However, it was Walmart blowout earnings report at 7am that pushed the Emini back to the edge of all time highs despite fresh tensions between U.S. and China over Huawei. Elsewhere, treasuries edged higher and gold climbed back above $2,000 an ounce. Iron ore futures rallied to highest since 2014. Â |
| World’s Largest Gold ETF Continues To Source More And More Gold From The Bank Of EnglandWorld’s Largest Gold ETF Continues To Source More And More Gold From The Bank Of England Tyler Durden Tue, 08/18/2020 – 07:44 Submitted by Ronan Manly, BullionStar.com One of the biggest trends in the gold market this year, apart from the rapid rise in the gold price, has been the large investor inflows into gold-backed Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), and the corresponding swelling of gold holdings in these ETFs. As highlighted by the World Gold Council, the sponsor of the mammoth SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) through its fully owned subsidiary World Gold Trust Services, gold-backed ETFs had their eighth consecutive monthly inflow during July.
And none more so than … |
| M&S to cut 7,000 jobs over next three monthsThe High Street retailer says the coronavirus pandemic has meant a “material shift in trade”. |
| Thousands of migrants denied help in the pandemicMigrants in casual roles have lost work under lockdown – but they are unable to access benefits. |
| Former Chancellor Javid returns to JP MorganSajid Javid quit as chancellor in February after refusing to sack his advisers. |
| From Amazon to Tesla, SoftBank bets $3.9 blnFrom Amazon to Tesla, SoftBank bets $3.9 blnSoftBank founder Masayoshi Son is expanding the company’s investment activities from private startups to publicly traded equities at a time the biggest technology stocks are near record highs. |
| Flipkart forges collaboration with IIT PatnaFlipkart forges collaboration with IIT PatnaSkyline of 5 major Gujarat cities, Ahmedabad-Vadodara-Surat-Rajkot-Gandhinagar, to be transformed soon with the decision of CM Vijay Rupani to permit construction of 70+ storey buildings: CMO Gujarat |
| 3 factors to lead to bank stocks going up again3 factors to lead to bank stocks going up againMarket cap of banks in the last one, two, three years got destroyed because profit contribution did not keep pace with the increase in market cap. |
| July 2020 Residential Building Growth Continues To ImproveWritten by Steven Hansen Headline residential building permits and construction completions improved – and the rolling averages showed a similar result. No coronavirus effect is seen in this data.
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| Futures Movers: Oil edges lower as traders await supply data, OPEC+ committee meetingOil futures edge lower in quiet trade, looking for direction as attention turns to U.S. supply data and a meeting by an OPEC+ committee monitoring the effect of production cuts by major producers. |
| The new coronavirus is mutating, but that ‘may be a good thing,’ says top expertThe strain of coronavirus common in Europe, North America and parts of Asia may be infecting more people, but killing fewer. |
| Bond Report: Treasury yields hold lower as investors watch for housing data and China-U.S. tensionsU.S. Treasury yields slipped for a second day early Tuesday as fixed-income investors picked up bonds amid rising animosities between China, while equities market bullishness appeared to be fading even though stocks again neared record levels after better than expected corporate earnings despite the coronvirus pandemic. |
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