Dow Jones News Today: Stock Prices Flat as EU Threatens Brexit with Citizens' Rights Argument

Garrett Baldwin

In Dow Jones news today, European Union (EU) leaders threatened to veto Brexit negotiations over concerns about the rights of EU citizens leaving the United Kingdom.

Here are the numbers from Monday before the closing bell for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:

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

The Five Top Stock Market Stories for Monday

• Crude oil prices pushed higher on news that OPEC producers may consider increasing their efforts to cap excessive suppliers. OPEC officials are set to meet with Russia on July 24 to discuss the state of their deal to cap excessive production through 2018. However, Russia has said it is not interested in additional cuts at this time. It remains to be seen if Russian ministers can be convinced of the benefits to balance supply and demand. The WTI crude oil price today added 0.4%, and Brent crude also added 0.4%.

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• The markets anxiously await testimony by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who will speak before Congress on Wednesday and Thursday. The central bank is still on pace to raise interest rates one more time by December thanks to optimism over the U.S. economy, the job market, and the inflation target.

• Earnings season kicks into swing this Friday with quarterly reports from Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM). But first, markets are digesting news that a California judge has provided initial approval for Wells Fargo to pay customers impacted by a massive scandal involving fraudulent accounts at the organization. The total settlement is expected to cost roughly $142 million. The WFC stock price was slightly down on the day.

• Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) will kick off its third annual Prime Day, a 30-hour online shopping event expected to bring in up to $1 billion in sales for the company. It was just two years ago that the first Prime Day raked in $475 million in sales, so a doubling of this year's sales would offer a greater glimpse into the power and scale of Amazon.

• On the international front, markets are eyeing the ongoing geopolitical threat along the Korean Peninsula after last week's launch of a test ICBM missile that landed in Japan's economic zone. Though President Donald Trump has threatened harsh retaliation against North Korea's rogue leaders and asked China to put more economic pressure on the Hermit Kingdom, there's one scenario most likely to happen. The United States will most likely continue to allow North Korea to build its nuclear arsenal. Here's why.

Four Stocks to Watch Monday: MYCC, TSLA, COST, FB

• In deal news, shares of ClubCorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE: MYCC) added 30% after news broke that the operator of country clubs will sell itself to private-equity giant Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE: APO). The all-cash deal is worth roughly $1.1 billion.

• Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) shares were on the move after CEO Elon Musk sent out images of the new Model 3 on Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR). The release came at the same time that The Wall Street Journal reported that the company is struggling in Hong Kong, where the government slashed tax breaks for electric vehicles.

• Shares of Costco Wholesale Corp. (Nasdaq: COST) fell more than 1% after an analyst at BMO Capital Markets lost his bullish enthusiasm for the wholesale giant. The BMO analyst downgraded the stock and slashed her price target for COST stock from $185.00 to $160.00 per share due to "Amazon fears" and the influence on the industry's fundamentals.

• While Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) has been celebrating its huge user growth from Instagram, one of its ventures continues to struggle with user demand: Oculus VR. According to various reports, Facebook has slashed the cost of its Oculus virtual reality headset for the second time in two months. The headset, motion controllers, and a package of games is now selling for a $200 discount, or 33% off from its original price. Shares of FB stock were still up slightly on the day.

• After the bell, look for earnings reports today from Barracuda Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: CUDA) and WD-40 Co. (Nasdaq: WDFC).

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

• NFIB Small Business Optimism Index at 6 a.m.
• Redbook at 8:55 a.m.
• JOLTS at 10 a.m.
• Wholesale Trade at 10 a.m.
• Four-Week Bill Auction at 11:30 a.m.
• Fed Governor Lael Brainard speaks at 12:30 p.m.
• Three-Year Note Auction at 1 p.m.
• Minneapolis Fed Bank President Neel Kashkari speaks at 1:20 p.m.

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Garrett Baldwin

About the Author

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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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