What Trump's Threat to NAFTA Means for the Dow Jones Today

Garrett Baldwin

The Dow Jones today is falling after President Donald Trump threatens to undo NAFTA, the trade agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Dow futures are down 23 points this morning while major banks are reporting third-quarter earnings today. But earnings reports aren't the only focus for banks today, check out how North Korea's new weapon targets the financial sector...

Here are the numbers from Wednesday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:

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

The Five Top Stock Market Stories for Thursday

• The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) could be on the ropes. Today, leaders of the United States, Mexico, and Canada will sit down for their fourth round of deliberations on the North American deal. Yesterday, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pushed President Trump on the importance of free trade in a meeting in Washington. However, Trump remains convinced that the agreement is hurting American workers and has said that he would be fine if the deal was terminated. So far, Mexico has responded with threats to purchase less corn from U.S. producers, a trend that would significantly hurt the American agricultural sector.

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• JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon has a message to the markets. He isn't going to talk about Bitcoin any longer. "I wouldn't put this high on the category of important things in the world, but I'm not going to talk about Bitcoin anymore," Dimon said during his company's third-quarter earnings call. The CEO has made waves in the cryptocurrency industry after he called Bitcoin a "fraud" and predicted that it would end "worse than tulip bulbs."

• The markets will continue to digest minutes released yesterday by the U.S. Federal Reserve from its September policy meeting. In those minutes, the central bank hinted that it will raise interest rates one more time in 2017. However, they did note that inflation remains stubbornly low. Keep an eye out for several key speeches by Fed members this week who will make their views known on both the timing of the next interest rate hike and plans to begin the unwinding of the bank's massive balance sheet.

• The price of Bitcoin surged above $5,200 this morning. The rally comes despite news that Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for more regulations in the cryptocurrency industry to prevent money laundering. But there's plenty of reasons to be bullish on the currency. Former fund manager and Goldman Sachs alum Michael Novogratz predicted that Bitcoin would hit $10,000 per coin in 10 months or less. Here's more on why Bitcoin continues to rise.

• Crude oil prices were falling in pre-market hour as more traders prepare for today's inventory report from the Energy Information Administration. Markets anticipate that we will see an uptick in crude oil stocks in the wake of Hurricane Nate. Many refiners were forced to shutter operations in preparation for the Tropical Storm, which hit last weekend. Concerns about a glut in supply continue to weigh on sentiment after one of the strongest third quarters for oil prices in more than a decade. The WTI crude oil price today fell 1.4%. Brent crude dipped 1.0%.

Three Stocks to Watch Today: JPM, C, AMZN

• Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) were off slightly in pre-market hours after the firm reported quarterly earnings. The stock is still hovering near an all-time high as it reported earnings per share of $1.76. Wall Street had anticipated that earnings would come in around $1.66. The company's profits were boosted by strong commercial banking results.

• Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) are up 0.2% in pre-market hours after the investment bank reported stronger-than-expected earnings in the third quarter. The firm saw a 2% jump in quarterly revenue thanks to improving results from its consumer banking division. The firm reported weakness in its trading operations. Total profit for the bank increased by 8% compared to the same period last year. That number could have been higher if its trading results had been better. Wall Street traders have been negatively impacted by record-low volatility over the last few quarters.

• Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) is looking to dominate the holiday e-commerce shopping season. The firm announced plans to hire up to 100,000 new employees in preparation for the holiday sales rush. This figure is very similar to the number of people that the company hired last year. Company officials also said that many of these employees will eventually stay on full time.
• Look for additional earnings reports from Domino's Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ), Lindsay Corp. (NYSE: LNN), Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp. (NYSE: VAC), and Winnebago Industries Inc. (NYSE: WGO)

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

• Jobless Claims at 8:30 a.m.
• PPI-Final Demand at 8:30 a.m.
• Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index at 9:45 a.m.
• EIA Natural Gas Report at 10:30 a.m.
• Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell Speaks at 10:30 a.m.
• EIA Petroleum Status Report at 11 a.m.
• Three-Month Bill Announcement at 11 a.m.
• Six-Month Bill Announcement at 11 a.m.
• 30-Year TIPS Announcement at 11 a.m.
• 30-Year Bond Auction at 1 p.m.
• Treasury Budget at 2 p.m.
• Fed Balance Sheet at 4:30 p.m.
• Money Supply at 4:30 p.m.
• Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic speaks at 9:15 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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