General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) announced today it will combine its power and energy distribution businesses. According to Reuters, this will be the company's largest unit by revenue. Shares of GE climbed nearly 1% on the day.
The Federal Reserve elected to raise interest rates today. In a statement after the June FOMC meeting, central bank Chair Janet Yellen championed U.S. economic growth and the improving job market as justification for raising rates by 25 basis points. Although the interest rate is a temporary boost to the U.S. dollar, investors should keep an eye on silver. A profit opportunity is emerging, and you could see a 27.5% boost to the metal in 2017.
Crude oil prices cratered and hit a seven-month low on news of a huge spike in U.S. gasoline inventory levels. The 2.1-million-barrel spike in inventories stunned traders. The WTI crude oil price today fell 3.7%, and Brent crude dipped 3.5%.
Retail sales fell by 0.3% in May, the largest decline since January 2016. The biggest victims of the sales slump were brick-and-mortar retail locations, which saw a 1% drop in monthly sales.
Things keep going from bad to worse for Uber. The ride-sharing company and world's most valuable startup announced yesterday that CEO Travis Kalanick will be taking an indefinite leave of absence on Tuesday as the company continues a massive investigation into sexual harassment at the executive level. Now, the firm has announced that David Bonderman, a member of Uber's board, has resigned after making a comment about women that he later described as "careless, inappropriate, and inexcusable" when apologizing. Now, the markets are wondering if these self-inflicted wounds and rising competition from firms like Lyft could derail the company's IPO plans.
Three Stocks to Watch Wednesday: BA, HRB, RIG
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) added more than 0.6% after the company announced plans to fire roughly 50 executives as the company begins to restructure its defense, space, and security business. The company plans to cut the division from seven units to five units. Boeing stock has been on an incredible run this year, and it is now up 47.42% in the last 12 months. It remains a favorite of Money Morning Executive Editor Bill Patalon, and for good reason...
In earnings news, shares of H&R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB) rallied more than 8% after the tax preparation firm reported a huge fiscal fourth-quarter report. The firm reported earnings per share (EPS) of $3.76 on top of $2.32 billion in revenue. Wall Street had expected EPS of $3.51 on $2.316 billion. The firm's profit levels increased by a whopping 11.8% year over year.
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It was a terrible day for investors in the energy space. Shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG), Murphy Oil Corp. (NYSE: MUR), and National Oilwell VarcoInc. (NYSE: NOV) all fell more than 4% on the day.
Look for an earnings report from Jabil Inc. (NYSE: JBL) after the bell Wednesday. Wall Street expects earnings per share (EPS) of $0.29 on top of $4.04 billion in revenue.
Thursday's U.S. Economic Calendar (all times EDT)
Jobless Claims at 8:30 a.m.
Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey at 8:30 a.m.
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.