The Dow Jones is projecting a 78-point gain at open this morning as investors cheer the news that Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet with U.S. trade delegates this Friday.
That comes just as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes back the deadline for spiking tariffs on China.
Here are the numbers from Tuesday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
Index
Previous Close
Point Change
Percentage Change
Dow Jones
25,425.76
+372.65
+1.49%
S&P 500
2,744.73
+34.93
+1.29%
Nasdaq
7,414.62
+106.71
+1.46%
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 Wednesday
President Trump said on Tuesday that he might postpone the March 2 deadline for hiking tariffs on China. Markets rallied yesterday after the White House and Congress reached a tentative deal to avoid another government shutdown. Now, the Trump administration plans to focus on an agreement with China with another round of talks this week.
Last week, Democratic leaders rolled out the Green New Deal, an ambitious plan to make the U.S. economy carbon-neutral. However, a handful of gaffes drew attention to the desire to give money to those people who are "unwilling to work" and replace commercial aviation with extensive rail travel. Now, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will look to force the Senate to vote on the measure. This vote would push several Democrats to take a public stance on a massive plan that would affect every facet of the U.S. economy and every American citizen.
The U.S. national debt topped $22 trillion for the first time this week. The daunting figure hit that level less than a year after it topped $21 trillion. The United States will pay $7 trillion in interest over the next decade, according to the Peterson Foundation. Many economists are blaming the 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for creating larger deficits and more debt for the country.
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Shares of Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) popped 3% in pre-market hours despite news of layoffs and missed estimates for the holiday shopping season. The video game maker reported a record performance in 2018; however, its outlook falls well short of Wall Street expectations. ATVI shares are now off 22% in the last three months. New concerns have emerged about the broader video game sector. The firm is engaging in a large restructuring project that will see an 8% reduction in its workforce.
Shares of TripAdvisor Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) slumped more than 4.5% after the travel and restaurant website operator reported mixed earnings on Tuesday. The firm reported earnings of $0.27 per share, a figure that was $0.02 short of expectations. The company did top revenue forecasts with $346 million (about $3 million higher than Wall Street's projections). It's a rare miss for a company whose stock popped 60% over the last year.
Shares of Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) plunged another 11% after the firm reported weaker-than-expected earnings yesterday. The firm reported earnings per share of $0.10, which was $0.03 below expectations. Revenue did beat estimates. However, the firm said that its active customer base slipped by 2.5% to hit 30.6 million.
Today, look for more earnings reports from American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG), CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL), Fossil Group Inc. (NASDAQ: FOSL), Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT), Hyatt Hotels Corp. (NYSE: H), Louisiana-Pacific Corp. (NYSE: LPX), SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR), and Yelp Inc. (NASDAQ: YELP).
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.