Dow Jones News Today: The Index Slides as Investors Weigh Trump Immigration Ban

Dow Jones News TodayThe Dow Jones news today is filled with earnings reports as the Dow slides ahead of trading.

The U.S. dollar is retreating and is off to its worst yearly start since 2009. With earnings season in focus, Money Morning Chief Research Analyst Sid Riggs explains a quick way how you can make money before the market opens Tuesday.

Global stocks continued to slide this morning as concerns about President Trump's executive order on travel and immigration from seven countries has weighed on investor sentiment. Concerns accelerated Tuesday after Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates, a holdover Obama appointee, for "refusing to enforce" the executive order. Trump accused Yates of betraying her agency after she directed Justice Department employees to stand down and not enforce the order. Yates had said she didn't believe the travel ban was lawful.

On Monday, the Dow slipped below 20,000 as investors weighed President Trump's executive order and a busy day of earnings reports. It was the largest one-day downturn since October before the 2016 election.

Let's look at the numbers from Monday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:

Dow Jones: 19,971.13; -122.65; -0.61%

S&P 500: 2,280.90; -13.79; -0.60%

Nasdaq: 5,613.71; -47.07; -0.83%

Here's a look at today's most important market events and stocks, plus a look at Tuesday's economic calendar.

What's Ahead for the Dow Jones Industrial Average Today

The Dow Jones Industrial Average projected a 31-point decline ahead of a very busy day of earnings reports. Technology stocks are in focus as Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) reports earnings today. Here's what you need to know about Apple's report.

A busy economic calendar includes the Case Shiller Home Price Index, the January Consumer Confidence report, and the Chicago PMI Index.

The U.S. Federal Reserve kicks off its first two-day policy meeting of 2017. The central bank is expected to leave its benchmark interest rates unchanged. Investors will be speculating on statements by the Fed to determine the timing of the next rate hike. Fed Chair Janet Yellen and several other members of the Fed Open Market Committee have hinted that the central bank will raise interest rates up to three times this year.

Trending: The Essential Guide to Buying Gold & Silver

Crude oil prices were mixed in pre-market hours as rising U.S. production continues to offset deep cuts created by OPEC. At a time that OPEC is expected to cut roughly 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd), American producers have been increasing crude production at a breakneck pace since July 2016. Domestic production increased by 6.3% to nearly 9 million bpd, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The WTI crude oil price today dipped 0.2%. Brent crude added 0.2%.

But the big story is Snap Inc., the owner of the popular messaging service Snapchat.

The company has selected Intercontinental Exchange Inc.'s (NYSE: ICE) New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to handle its initial public offering (IPO), according to Reuters.

But how soon can investors buy Snapchat stock?

According to Recode, Snap Inc. plans to file for an Snapchat IPO at the end of this week. That means Snapchat stock could publicly trade as early as March.

Here's everything you need to know about the Snapchat IPO.

Don't Miss: The Top 10 2017 IPOs to Watch

Stocks to Watch Today, Jan. 31, 2017

  • Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is taking direct aim at Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN). The company has announced the launch of a two-day shipping service that doesn't include a membership fee. That program is an expansion of a test subscription service called ShippingPass that challenged Amazon's Prime service. Walmart said the service, which was $49.00 per year, was successful. However, Walmart decided to eliminate the cost of the program and lower its free shipping minimum from $50.00 to $35.00 per order.
  • Germany's largest financial institution, Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE: DB), is facing more regulatory scrutiny. This week, the company has been fined $203 million by Britain's financial watchdog. The company allegedly engaged in mirror trades that enabled its customers to launder money from Russia. This announcement follows a $7.2 billion settlement with the U.S. government in December over mortgage assets and a $2.5 billion settlement in 2015 over interest rate manipulation.
  • In earnings news, Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) gained more than 1.5% as the global credit card giant prepares to report quarterly earnings.
  • Keep an eye out for additional earnings reports from Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UAA), Arconic Inc. (NYSE: ARNC), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (Nasdaq: AMD), Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq: EA), Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE), Illumina Inc. (Nasdaq: ILMN), United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X), Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG), Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC), and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO).

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

  • Employment Cost Index at 8:30 a.m.
  • Redbook at 8:55 a.m.
  • S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller HPI at 9 a.m.
  • Chicago PMI at 9:45 a.m.
  • Consumer Confidence at 10 a.m.
  • State Street Investor Confidence Index at 10 a.m.
  • Four-Week Bill Auction at 11:30 a.m.
  • 52-Week Bill Auction at 11:30 a.m.
  • Farm Prices at 3 p.m.

Don't Wait - This Great Depression-era "Secret" Helped Transform Two Teachers into Millionaires: Donna and Dave R. were both teachers in Boston. But today they're retired millionaires who are also earning $10,000 a month in income. Their secret? Much of their wealth is due to a Great Depression-era "program" most have no idea exists. Full Story

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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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