Today's Markets gm all:)
In Asia, Japan +0.1%. Hong Kong +1.4%. China +1.4%. India +0.8%.
In Europe, at midday, London +0.1%. Paris +0.1%. Frankfurt flat.
Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.1%. S&P +0.1%. Nasdaq +0.2%. Crude +0.4% to $46.79. Gold -0.2% to $1239.20.
Ten-year Treasury Yield +1 bps to 2.27%
Today's Economic Calendar
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
8:30 Housing Starts
10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories
Despite some of the slowest trading of the year over the past few sessions, U.S. stock indexes continue to notch record highs, with the summer sun heating up markets. Futures now look poised to continue their bullish run amid a quiet day of economic releases, while investors turn their attention to another slew of corporate earnings. Banking heavyweight Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is among the companies slated to post results before the open.
Economy
The risk of deflation has been removed from the eurozone, according to ECB Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau. "We have made progress, but we have not yet reached the [two percent] target and so there is still a need for our accommodative monetary policy," he declared. "We are adapting its intensity depending on the economic situation."
Top Chinese and U.S. business leaders are urging their governments to quickly solve bilateral trade issues. The appeal came during the U.S.-China business leaders summit, co-hosted by Alibaba's (NYSE:BABA) Jack Ma and Blackstone's (NYSE:BX) Stephen Schwarzman. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross responded by saying that the private sector is well placed to resolve "serious trade imbalances."
The Trump administration is considering a ban on oil imports from Venezuela, sources told Bloomberg, as part of a spate of sanctions to punish President Maduro. Potential disruptions? Venezuela is the third-biggest supplier of oil imports to the U.S., and Gulf refiners like Valero (NYSE:VLO), Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) have spent millions tailoring their plants to use its unique brand of heavy, tar-like crude.
Stocks
Toshiba has resumed blocking access by Western Digital (NYSE:WDC) to data at their memory chip joint venture, amid a feud over the Japanese company's planned auction of the business. Toshiba (OTCPK:TOSYY) previously allowed partial access after a U.S. court ordered a temporary restraining order, but it won an appeal in California on Tuesday.
Apple just announced a new major executive post: Engineering leader Isabel Ge Mahe will be taking on a role as managing director of Greater China, reporting to CEO Tim Cook and COO Jeff Williams. Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) China business has boomed over the past half decade, peaking at $61B in 2015, but it has recently stumbled, declining to $46B in 2016 and shrinking for the past five quarters.
Qualcomm is facing a fresh set of antitrust allegations from a group of four companies that assemble the iPhone and other products on behalf of Apple. The accusations, made in a filing late Tuesday, are counterclaims to a Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) lawsuit filed in May seeking to force the contractors to pay license fees that Apple directed them to stop paying.
"People say ICOs [initial coin offerings] are great for ethereum because, look at the price, but it's a ticking time-bomb," former Ethereum CEO Charles Hoskinson told Bloomberg in interview. "There's an over-tokenization of things as companies are issuing tokens when the same tasks can be achieved with existing blockchains," he said. "People are blinded by fast and easy money." Related: COIN, OTCPK:BTCS, OTCPK:BTSC, OTCPK:GAHC
Google Glass is back from the dead, but this time it's targeting corporate customers. Dubbed Glass Enterprise Edition (GOOG, GOOGL), the product has been in testing at about 50 companies, including Boeing (NYSE:BA), General Electric (NYSE:GE) and Volkswagen (OTCPK:VLKAY). The device allows workers to see instructional content and permits them to broadcast what they are viewing to others.
Baidu first revealed its open source self-driving tech platform back in April, but Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) just threw its weight behind the initiative, providing cloud services to companies using "Apollo" outside China. More than 50 groups have signed on to build and improve Baidu's (NASDAQ:BIDU) project, including top Chinese carmakers Chery Auto, Great Wall Motors (OTCPK:GWLLY) and Changan Automobile.
More autonomous news? General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Softbank (OTCPK:SFTBY) are among the latest investors in Nauto, a Silicon Valley startup developing self-driving software. "Our aim is to provide the data, intelligence and a cloud platform" to automakers that plan to begin putting self-driving cars on the road from 2020," said CEO Stefan Heck. Previous investors included BMW (OTCPK:BAMXF) and Toyota (NYSE:TM), as well as Allianz (OTCQX:AZSEY).
Daimler is seeking to head off a growing crisis over potential emissions cheating by voluntarily recalling more than 3M Mercedes-Benz diesel vehicles in Europe. The plan, which involves a software patch and avoids complex component fixes, will cost the automaker about €220M. If accepted by officials, it could help Daimler (OTCPK:DDAIF) avoid the massive penalties that beset Volkswagen (OTCPK:VLKAY).
BP is considering spinning off some of its U.S. pipelines into a publicly traded MLP. Tentatively called BP Midstream Partners, it would house its Gulf Coast and Midwest pipeline assets that transport its crude oil, natural gas and refined products. Out of the global oil giants, only Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) has an MLP, launching Shell Midstream Partners in 2014.
Akzo Nobel CEO Ton Buechner is stepping down due to health reasons, and will be replaced by the company's current chemicals division chief, Thierry Vanlancker. It's the second time he resigned on his doctor's advice, having announced his departure in September 2012, before resuming work a few months later. Earlier this year, Buechner repelled an Akzo (OTCQX:AKZOY) takeover attempt from U.S. rival PPG.
Time for another made-up food holiday. Today is National Hot Dog Day, which means restaurants across the country have free or discounted dogs. It comes in the middle of barbecue season. The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council estimates Americans will eat 7B hot dogs between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day. Related tickers: TSN, KHC, NATH, CAG, OTCPK:NSRGY
Pass the mustard. McCormick (NYSE:MKC) is set to buy Reckitt Benckiser's (OTCPK:RBGLY) food business for $4.2B, adding French's to the company spice rack by beating out several competitors. The American seasonings maker hopes the move will help it achieve "meaningful accretion" to margins and adjusted earnings per share, while Reckitt said it will use the funds to pay down debt.
NBC News is launching a twice-per-day news show called Stay Tuned on Snapchat (NYSE:SNAP) as part of its push to attract younger viewers who tend to watch TV on mobile devices. "This is a concerted effort that is crucial to our future," said Nick Ascheim, head of digital at NBC News. NBCUniversal (NASDAQ:CMCSA) invested $500M in Snap during its initial public offering.
Deal time! Discovery Communications (NASDAQ:DISCA) and Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE:SNI) are in merger talks, revisiting a deal that was scrapped three years ago. Stocks of both companies shot up in AH trading on the news. Separately, Broadcom's (NASDAQ:AVGO) $5.9B deal to merge with Brocade Communications (NASDAQ:BRCD) has been delayed to allow more time for a governmental review of the transaction.
AT&T is in talks about acquiring the balance of Otter Media, their 3-year-old joint venture, sources told the NY Post. The move is part of a wider effort by AT&T (NYSE:T) to clean up a host of joint ventures ahead of its expected acquisition of Time Warner (NYSE:TWX). Those JVs include stakes in the MLB Network, the NHL Network and the Game Show Network.
Tuesday's Key Earnings
BofA (NYSE:BAC) -0.5% posting a drop in net interest income.
CSX (NYSE:CSX) -1.9% AH following disappointing guidance.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) -2.6% stung by its trading division.
IBM (NYSE:IBM) -2.7% AH with revenue down for another quarter.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) +1.8% raising its profit forecast.
Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) -0.6% on strong F-35 sales.
United Continental (NYSE:UAL) -3.6% AH issuing flat guidance.
UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH) +0.3% beating earnings estimates.
