For July 20, 2015, here are your stock market futures, earnings reports, the top stock market news, and stocks to watch...
Stock Futures Today
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures for Monday, July 20, forecast a 33-point gain from Friday's close. This morning, Greek banks reopened for the first time in more than three weeks. The country's government hopes that its economy will be able to recover after a three-week period that fueled concerns the nation may leave the Euro. Its government has placed strict withdrawal limits on its citizens and higher taxes have pushed the price of almost everything higher.
On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped nearly 34 points. The Nasdaq hit a fresh record after several prominent components reported strong earnings or introduced new features that could boost future revenue.
Shares of Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, GOOGL) surged more than 16% and hit intraday records on news the company crushed earnings expectations. The company's Class A stock briefly jumped above $700 per share. The company added nearly $60 billion on Friday after the company said it boosted revenue from its mobile and ad divisions.
Top News in the Stock Market Today
- The Stock Market Today: This morning, a light economic calendar will place an increased emphasis on the start of a busy earnings season. Most Wall Street analysts are bearish on U.S. equities, with consensus expectations calling for corporate profits to decline by 2.9% over the June-ending quarter.
- Oil Outlook: Oil prices were mixed this morning on news that Saudi Arabia's export volumes fell. WTI crude futures for September were flat today at $50.92 per barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil prices were down 0.4% to hit $56.87 per barrel. Oil prices have been on the decline for the last three weeks as the markets anticipate the return of Iran's energy production to the global markets following a deal between the nation and the West over its nuclear program.
- Earnings Reports: Companies reporting earnings on Monday include Brown & Brown Inc. (NYSE: BRO), Genuine Parts Co. (NYSE: GPC), Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Unisys Corp. (NYSE: UIS), and Zions Bancorp. (Nasdaq: ZION).
Pre-Market Movers in the Stock Market Today: YHOO, BABA, PYPL, EBAY, GG, NEM, RGLD
- Pre-Market Movers 1, YHOO: Shares of Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) were up nearly 2% this morning on news that it has filed to spin off its holdings of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) in order to boost shareholder value. The new company will be called Aabaco Holdings and will maintain 15% of Alibaba's stock. Yahoo said it will complete the spin-off in the fourth quarter.
- Pre-Market Movers 2, PYPL: Shares of PayPal Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: PYPL) are up more than 4% in pre-market hours. Today, the company will split from parent company eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY). The company had its original IPO in 2002, but was quickly purchased by the e-commerce and auction giant for $1.5 billion. In the spin-off, eBay shareholders will receive one share of PayPal stock for every share of eBay they own. In addition, PayPal will knock eBay off the S&P 100 list.
- Pre-Market Movers 3, NEM: Gold prices hit a five-year low this morning, pulling down shares of major gold mining stocks. Shares of Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) were down nearly 5% this morning, while Goldcorp Inc. (USA) (NYSE: GG) and Royal Gold Inc. USA) (Nasdaq: RGLD) were down more than 4.2% and 9.9%, respectively. In addition to mutual fund managers selling off the metal, China's official report on its gold holdings were far below what the global markets expected.
Stocks to Watch Today: LMT, UTX, IBM
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- Stocks to Watch No. 1, LMT: Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) is about to finish a deal to purchase the Sikorsky helicopter division of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), according to Bloomberg. The deal is expected to cost Lockheed roughly $8 billion. Shares of UTX were up more than 1.1% in pre-market hours.
- Stocks to Watch No. 2, IBM: Technology giant International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is expected to report earnings today of $3.79 per share. That's well below last year's quarterly per-share earnings of $4.32 for the same period.
Today's U.S. Economic Calendar (all times EDT)
- 4-Week Bill Announcement at 11 a.m.
- 3-Month Bill Auction at 11:30 a.m.
- 6-Month Bill Auction at 11:30 a.m.
- Treasury Budget at 2 p.m.
What Investors Must Know This Week
- The Top Three High-Return Investments to Buy Today
- Is Netflix Stock a Buy After Stock Split and Earnings Beat?
- The Real Impact of the Iran Nuclear Deal on U.S. Oil Prices
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.