U.S. Stock Markets On Track for 3% - 4% August Gain

Stock market news today, August 29, 2014: U.S. stock markets today (Friday) are on track to post their fourth consecutive week of gains, and 3% to 4% gains in August. The S&P 500 has hit several record highs over the course of the month. After major indexes closed down on Thursday, U.S. stock futures this morning are edging higher.

Here's what you should know to make your Friday profitable:

us stock marketsThe Google delivery drone releasing a package (Google)
  • The Drone War Begins: In an effort to establish itself in the lucrative e-commerce and home-delivery segment, Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, GOOGL) revealed a two-year, ongoing project to bring delivery drones to the skies under the name "Project Wing." The company has been testing unmanned aerial drones with the hope that the machines will be able to deliver packages to consumers and businesses in the future. The secret project is a direct attempt to compete in the aerial delivery market against e-commerce competitor Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), which is also testing drones. Google anticipates it will still be several years before these machines are capable of flying in domestic skies.
  • Banks Behaving Badly: Shares of Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) ticked up a bit in pre-market hours, despite its ongoing sagas in the courtroom. Yesterday, the company asked a federal judge to toss out a jury verdict that found it responsible for a $1.27 billion penalty levied over faulty mortgages issued by its Countrywide unit. The company argued that prosecutors failed to provide clear evidence that the faulty mortgages products originated from Countrywide. Bank of America recently agreed to pay a record $16.65 billion settlement with the Department of Justice over charges it misled customers into buying faulty mortgage-backed securities.

  • Down in the Gulf: Shares of Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) were unchanged yesterday, but the company announced positive results in its surveying of untapped acres in the Gulf of Mexico. NBL announced it had located oil and gas at two wells in the open water which can both produce up to 100 million barrels of energy in each. Energy in the Gulf of Mexico is a topic that is heating up after the U.S. Interior Department auctioned off drilling rights to more than 430,000 acres off the Texas coast that are ripe for oil and gas production.
  • Merger Mania: The Wall Street Journal reports that holding company Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is trying to find a buyer for its medical device manufacturing unit Cordis, which makes products like catheters and heart stents. According to the report, a buyer could likely obtain the division for roughly $1.5 billion to $2 billion.
  • Today's Economic Calendar: Today's light schedule features the Chicago PMI, an update on Consumer Sentiment, and an update on Personal Income and Outlays.
  • Earnings Reports: Stay tuned for an earnings report from Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG).

Full U.S. Economic Calendar August 29, 2014 (NYSE: all times EDT)

  • Personal Income and Outlays at 8:30 a.m.
  • Chicago PMI at 9:45 a.m.
  • Consumer Sentiment at 9:55 a.m.

At the recent central banker conclave in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the two most powerful central bankers in the world, Janet Yellen, chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, and Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), gave back-to-back addresses on the same subject. A close examination of the two speeches is a master class in the current state of central banking and a window into a distressing economic situation facing the world today...

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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