The Dow Jones news today features a new chief of staff for U.S. President Donald Trump and rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Dow Jones futures are up 60 points as investors prepare for another busy day of earnings reports. A busy week of economic data will culminate with Friday's official July jobs report.
Here are the numbers from Friday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
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The Five Top Stock Market Stories for Monday
Crude oil prices ticked higher than $50.00 in overnight trading, before settling lower on Monday morning. Traders are increasingly optimistic after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries announced plans to meet next week to discuss its members' struggles in meeting their obligations to curb excess oil production. The global oil cartel will meet in Abu Dhabi on Aug. 7 to explore additional ways to bolster crude prices. The WTI crude oil price today fell 0.4%. Brent crude dropped 0.2%.
On the international front, the United States could announce sanctions on Venezuelan oil imports as soon as today. The sanctions would come after the Venezuelan government held a vote that has effectively ended democracy in the nation. The most oil-rich nation in the world has descended into economic collapse.
Elsewhere, markets are keeping a close eye on the development between the Russian and U.S. governments. On Friday, Vladimir Putin expelled 755 U.S. diplomats and staff from Russia. The decision is a reaction to a new Russia sanctions bill overwhelmingly passed by Congress.
Discovery Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: DISCA) announced a $14.6 billion, all-cash deal for the "real-life" entertainment production giant Scripps Networks Interactive (Nasdaq: SNI). The deal will allow Discovery - which owns Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, ID, Velocity - to create a massive entertainment giant. Shares of DISCA and SNI were both up in premarket hours.
Finally, the Bitcoin pricewent from $2,875 last weekend to as low as $2,433 Wednesday before bouncing back to $2,796 this morning. The recent volatility has been tied to events related to the Bitcoin civil war. The Bitcoin civil war centers on the so-called "scaling debate." Bitcoin has grown to the point that the network has reached its limit in the number of transactions it can process. The "Hard Fork" is on tap for this week, and investors need to know what to expect next. Read more, here.
Four Stocks to Watch Today: TSLA, HSBC, RDFN, AAPL
Can Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) become profitable as an automotive company? That's what we're about to find out. Company CEO Elon Musk announced that his firm's Model 3 now has more than 500,000 advance reservations. The company also released the vehicle to the first 30 employees who purchased the vehicle. Now, Tesla will attempt to scale up and meet buyer expectations.
Shares of HSBC Holdings Plc. (ADR) (NYSE: HSBC) gained more than 1.9% after the financial giant topped Wall Street's earnings estimates and hiked its stock buyback program by $2 billion. The company's plan has now surpassed $5.5 billion.
Redfin Corp. (Nasdaq: RDFN) shares will be in focus after their massive IPO debut on Friday. Shares rallied more than 44% after the stock debuted on the Nasdaq. The real estate broker company was expected to price in a range of $12 to $14 during its debut and reach a valuation of $1.2 billion. But Wall Street was far more enthusiastic, pricing shares at $15 a piece. Shares will open Monday at $21.70.
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Facebook Stock Soars on Earnings Report
Markets are turning their attention to Tuesday's report from Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL). Traders are interested in the company's iPhone sales, which slipped to roughly 51 million in the previous quarter. The company hasn't introduced many new products in recent months. However, investors will be looking for clues into the timing of the iPhone 8 release. Apple is expected to post earnings per share of $1.57, a 10% increase from the same period in 2016. Wall Street expects sales to increase by 6% to $44.9 billion.
Look for earnings reports from Texas Roadhouse Inc. (Nasdaq: TXPH), Atwood Oceanics Inc. (NYSE: ATW), Olin Corp. (NYSE: OLN), Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO), Roper Industries Inc. (NYSE: ROP), Integrated Device Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: IDTI), Nautilus Inc. (NYSE: NLS), Sohu.com Inc. (Nasdaq: SOHU).