The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 25 points in pre-market trading this morning. Markets are again on edge over trade relations between the United States and China. According to The Wall Street Journal, U.S. President Donald Trump is planning to move forward with another round of tariffs on roughly $200 billion in Chinese goods.
The Journal said Sunday that the tariffs will be set at 10%, which is lower than the original 25% figure that the Trump administration previously floated. Trump is also considering a hike to existing tariffs in order to bring China to the negotiating table, although Beijing leaders have remained steadfast in their unwillingness to bend.
Here are the numbers from Tuesday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
Index | Previous Close | Point Change | Percentage Change |
Dow Jones | 26,154.67 | 8.68 | 0.03% |
S&P 500 | 2,904.98 | 0.80 | 0.03% |
Nasdaq | 8,010.04 | -3.67 | -0.05% |
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Now here's a closer look at today's Money Morning insight, the most important market events, and stocks to watch.
The Top Stock Market Stories for Monday
- In deal news, Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) CEO Marc Benioff and his wife will purchase Time Magazine from Meredith Corp. (NYSE: MDP) for $190 million. The deal is raising eyebrows due to the ongoing consolidation between leading U.S. media outlets and Silicon Valley billionaires. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos purchased The Washington Post for $250 million in 2013.
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- Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) issued an interesting recommendation to Amazon on Monday: Split into two companies. Citi Research reiterated its "Buy" rating on the e-commerce giant but recommended that it split its retail and web services divisions into separate companies in order to avoid antitrust scrutiny from the Trump administration. Citi said that the technology giant is its "top pick" in the internet sector; however, the report's author says that Trump is "obsessed" with Amazon and believes that the Trump administration may target Amazon over antitrust issues.
Money Morning Insight of the Day
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Three Stocks to Watch Today: ORCL, FDX, TSLA
- Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) leads a light day of earnings reports in New York. Wall Street analysts project that the cloud computing giant will report earnings per share of $0.68 per share on top of $9.29 billion in revenue. Investors will be keeping a close eye on its Cloud Services division, keeping an eye on any fall in sales.
- FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) will also report earnings after the bell Monday. The average analyst projection calls for earnings per share of $3.78 on top of $16.88 billion in revenue. Investors will be focusing on the company's strategy to bolster e-commerce demand, particularly ahead of the busy Holiday season. The company said last month that it will not add residential surcharges during the holiday months, with the exceptions of unauthorized or bulky items.
- Shares of Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) are under pressure Monday. Over the weekend, CEO Elon Musk said his automotive company was in "delivery logistics hell." However, the executive said that the issues will be "solved shortly." Musk has faced significant criticism in recent weeks after his interview with comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan. During the interview, Musk smoked marijuana on camera. This controversy occurred right around the same time that several top executives had resigned for unknown reasons.
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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.