Today's Markets gm all:)
In Asia, Japan flat. Hong Kong flat. China +0.4%. India +0.7%.
In Europe, at midday, London -1.2%. Paris +0.5%. Frankfurt +0.8%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.1%. S&P +0.3%. Nasdaq +1.1%. Crude +1.1% to $43.07. Gold +1% to $1997.60. Bitcoin +2.6% to $11917.
Ten-year Treasury Yield +3 bps to 0.72%
Today's Economic Calendar
8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
9:45 PMI Manufacturing Index
10:00 ISM Manufacturing Index
10:00 Construction Spending
1:00 PM Fed's Brainard Speech
Companies reporting earnings today »
Top News
Stock split mania
Shutterstock
Shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) are up another 7.5% to $533 premarket, adding to the 12.5% rally seen yesterday after the company split its stock 5-for-1. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares are meanwhile ahead by 2.6% to $132 in early trade, following their 3.4% advance on Monday (the two stocks are up 34% and 81%, respectively, since announcing the splits just a month ago). In fact, the high trading volumes of the "Retail Bros." appear to be taking down popular brokerages like Robinhood and TD Ameritrade, with outages reported for many users at the market open on Monday.
Top News
Out with the fundamentals
Prior to the stock breakups, some were saying that splits are not impactful anymore as fractional shares are becoming widely available at brokerages, while market caps of the companies essentially stay the same. Regardless of the rationality, that doesn't seem to be the sentiment of the new trader, which has created frustration for the old guard. "Look at Tesla and Apple: Everybody understands that [stock] splits don't create value," said Leon Cooperman, who founded Omega Advisors. "My dad once told me if you gave me five singles for a $5 bill, I'm no better off."
Go Deeper: Are price targets now passé?
Futures
Cue the tech music
Overnight, S&P 500 and Dow futures rose 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively, though contracts tied to the Nasdaq powered ahead by 1.1%, led by outsized gains for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA). Zoom Video (NASDAQ:ZM) also brought cocktails to the party, jumping 27% AH after quarterly revenue more than quadrupled due to stay-at-home trends, while the video-conferencing company raised its sales outlook. The results cemented the Nasdaq's best monthly performance since 2000, while the S&P recorded one of its best Augusts since the 1980s.
Outlook
Increasing chances of a Trump win - JPMorgan
Position your portfolio for the rising odds of President Trump winning re-election, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co., which says the spread between him and challenger Joe Biden is now nearly even. That's largely due to the impact on public opinion of violence around protests, as well as potential bias in polls, said strategist Marko Kolanovic. "Implications could be significant for the performance of factors, sectors, COVID-19 winners/losers, as well as ESG, though certainly a lot can happen in the next ~60 days."
Covid
Phase 3 trials
AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) is starting Phase 3 trials of its experimental coronavirus vaccine in the U.S., becoming the third company to start late-stage trials to prevent COVID-19. Trial centers across the nation are recruiting up to 30K adults aged 18 years or over. AstraZeneca's vaccine, known as AZD1222, was developed in partnership with Oxford University and has the backing of the U.S. government. Rivals Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)/BioNTec (NASDAQ:BNTX) already have Phase 3 trials under way, also with federal funding.
Tech
Pulling the plug on news sharing
Escalating tensions with Canberra, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) said it will stop Australians sharing news content on its platforms if a proposal to make it pay local media outlets for their content becomes law. The country would become the first to make the giant social network and Google (GOOG, GOOGL) - which is also opposed to the legislation - pay for news sourced from local providers under a royalty-style system. "We don't respond to coercion or heavy handed threats wherever they come from," Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said in response, adding that the proposed law was in the national interest and followed 18 months of public inquiry.
Consumer
Walmart announces membership service
Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is finally going head to head with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) via a nationwide membership program, though the retailer says the new service is "really about doubling down with the customers we have and getting more share of wallet and more share of mind." The program, which costs $98 annually, or $12.95 a month, will launch on Sept. 15. Biggest difference: Walmart+ customers will have to spend a minimum of $35 for each online order to avoid fees, while rival Amazon Prime touts free two-day (and some same-day) shipping on every item.
Automation
Drone deliveries
Amazon (AMZN) has received approval from the FAA to operate its fleet of Prime Air delivery drones, allowing the e-commerce giant to expand autonomous packaged delivery. It's not alone. UPS (NYSE:UPS) and Wing, a unit of Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) have already gained clearance to operate unmanned air fleets in the U.S. While routine drone deliveries to American consumers are still years away, Amazon is targeting package delivery to customers in 30 minutes or less (it began testing in 2018).
What else is happening...
Eurozone inflation turns negative for first time since 2016.
J.C. Penney (OTCPK:JCPNQ) plans sale to lenders after talks hit stalemate.
Eastman Kodak (NYSE:KODK) up 20% premarket as D.E. Shaw takes stake.
Cowen sees big demand for Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) spaceflights.
Anthem (NYSE:ANTM), Cigna (NYSE:CI) can't collect damages over failed merger.
Delta (NYSE:DAL) and American (NASDAQ:AAL) follow United (NASDAQ:UAL) in dropping U.S. change fees.
Monday's Key Earnings
Rackspace (NASDAQ:RXT) +4.9% AH in first earnings since new IPO.
Zoom (NASDAQ:ZM) +27% AH boosting outlook on remote work trends.
