Dow Jones Industrial Average Today Slides Despite Huge Facebook Earnings

Dow Jones Industrial Average

Dow Jones Industrial Average News, 7/28/2016: The name to know today is Esther George.

Trending: A Backdoor Way to Profit Now on a New $240 Billion Market

She is the President of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. She is also the only member of the Fed Open Market Committee to vote for an interest rate hike this week.

What does she know that the rest of the central bank doesn't about the health of the U.S. economy?

Yesterday, the central bank decided to keep interest rates at current levels, but it teased the possibility of an interest rate hike in September. The markets largely don't anticipate a rate hike despite the Fed's intentions.

According to CME FedWatch, there is a just an 18% probability of a rate hike that month.

One can anticipate a lot of chatter today about the Federal Reserve today. But too much focus could lead you to miss a number of different profit opportunities.

We're going to introduce a few of them, right now.

Here is today's top stock market news, stocks to watch, ways to profit, and economic calendar for July 28, 2016.

What's Moving the Dow Jones Industrial Average Today: The Federal Reserve

Dow Jones futures projected a 12-point decline as investors eye a busy day of earnings reports and economic data. This morning, the U.S. Labor department reported that 266,000 Americans sought unemployment benefits last week. That's slightly above the 260,000 projected by analysts.

In earnings news, it's a bad morning for owners of Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F). Shares of F stock are off roughly 6% after the automotive giant badly missed Wall Street earnings expectations. Weak North American sales were countered by strength in Europe, the Asia Pacific, South America, the Middle East, and Africa.

Investors are waiting for a critical earnings report from Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN). The online e-commerce giant is looking to maintain momentum as it trades near $738 per share. The Amazon stock price has retreated 2.1% from its all-time high of $753.78 reached on July 11. If the company misses earnings estimates today, investors could panic and sell off their shares. Here's everything you need to know about AMZN before earnings.

On the political front, day three of the Democratic National Convention wrapped up last night. President Barack Obama offered a spirited speech in support of the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. But the star of the show is former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In a prime-time speech, Bloomberg called Republican nominee Donald Trump both risky and reckless. His trending quote that attracted the most attention: "I'm a New Yorker, and I know a con when I see one."

Oil prices were hovering near three-month lows as concerns about oversupply continue to rattle investor sentiment. WTI crude oil prices were up 0.3%, while Brent crude oil prices were flat.

Now here's your list of top stocks to watch in today's market, plus today's economic calendar:

Companies to Watch in the Stock Market Today

  • Shares of Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) rallied more than 5% in pre-market hours, a tally that has earned CEO Mark Zuckerberg a cool $3.5 billion over night. The social media behemoth reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.97, topping Wall Street expectations by $0.16. That's up more than $0.50 from the same period last year. The company also beat revenue expectations of $6 billion, reporting a figure of $6.4 billion. The Facebook stock price is trading at an all-time high. Find out if now is the right time to own Facebook stock.
  • Shares of Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE: DB) are back in focus after the German financial giant announced that its second-quarter net income fell by nearly 100% compared to the same period last year. DB is still trying to say that the Brexit is not a serious concern over the long term, but the reality is that DB stock is under incredible pressure. Money Morning Global Credit Strategist Michael Lewitt has a warning for owners of DB stock.
  • In deal news, Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) has announced it will purchase NetSuite (NYSE: N) for roughly $9.3 billion.
  • Look out for additional earnings reports from Baidu Inc. (Nasdaq ADR: BIDU), Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL), Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA), Wynn Resorts Ltd. (Nasdaq: WYNN), and Expedia Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE).

Today's U.S. Economic Calendar (all times EDT)

  • International Trade in Goods at 8:30 a.m.
  • Jobless Claims at 8:30 a.m.
  • Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index at 9:45 a.m.
  • EIA Natural Gas Report at 10:30 a.m.
  • Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index at 11 a.m.
  • 3-Month Bill Announcement at 11 a.m.
  • 6-Month Bill Announcement at 11 a.m.
  • 7-Year Note Auction at 1 p.m.
  • Fed Balance Sheet at 4:30 p.m.
  • Money Supply at 4:30 p.m.

Up Next: The Internet of Things revolution will create a $6 trillion market - and these five stocks are the best way to grab a piece of those gains for yourself.

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About the Author

Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, consultant, and political risk analyst with decades of trading experience and degrees in economics, cybersecurity, and business from Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Indiana University, and Northwestern.

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