The Dow Jones today fell more than 200 points after a decline in Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) stock. The plane manufacturer is reeling from a deadly crash involving its 737 Max 8 in Ethiopia over the weekend.
Additionally, talks of the U.S. budget proposal and a trade deal with China keep investors on the edges of their seats. More on this below... with some hot stocks to watch and this one stock Warren Buffett keeps buying.
Here are the numbers from Friday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
Index
Previous Close
Point Change
Percentage Change
Dow Jones
25,450.24
-22.99
-0.09%
S&P 500
7,408.14
-5.86
-0.21%
Nasdaq
2,743.07
-13.32
-0.18%
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
U.S. President Donald Trump will release his budget proposal for 2020 on Monday. Inside, the president will ask for a whopping $8.6 billion for a wall along the Mexican border. But that won't be the only big battle between the White House and Congress. The White House budget proposes $2.7 trillion in cuts to education, environmental, and health protections; meanwhile, Trump wants to hike defense spending by 4.7% to $750 billion. The chair of the House Budget Committee said the Trump budget has "no chance in the House."
On the trade front, the United States and China are close to a currency deal as part of the broader ongoing trade discussions. According to The Wall Street Journal, China has agreed that it will not devalue its currency to boost exports, a commitment that its trade officials have honored in other deals with G20 nations. Investors expect that President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will host a summit in the coming weeks to announce a deal on trade.
Finally, pay close attention to developments out of the United Kingdom. The "Brexit" - or United Kingdom's departure from the European Union - could be reversed, should parliament fail to approve Prime Minister Theresa May's deal on Tuesday. The country is just 18 days away from its planned date to exit the EU.
Shares of Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) plunged more than 8.5% after China and Ethiopia grounded all its 737 Max 8 planes from the manufacturer. The decision comes after a deadly crash involving the new plane killed 157 people over the weekend. This is the second accident involving the 737 Max 8 in five months. Boeing is weighing the Dow Jones by 250 points this morning as investors are doubting the future of this plane model.
In deal news, Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) has agreed to engage in informal merger talks with Commerzbank AG (OTC MKTS: CRZBY). The merger would marry two of Germany's largest financial institutions, both struggling with serious performance issues and stock price declines.
Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) are in focus on news that Warren Buffett bought more of the company's stock. According to an SEC filing, a subsidiary of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A) bought more than 5.36 million more shares of DAL stock at an average of $49.40 per share. The Buffett-backed conglomerate now owns 70.9 million shares of DAL stock.
Finally, in breaking news, another huge deal is shaping up in the semiconductor industry. Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) announced plans to buy Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: MLNX) in an all-cash deal worth $125 per share or $7 billion in the aggregate. The deal will help bolster Nvidia's high-performance computing (HPC) division and future data centers. The deal is a huge win for activist hedge fund Starboard, which struck a settlement last June to add new members to Mellanox's board of directors.
Look for other earnings reports from Tenneco Inc. (NYSE: TEN), Coupa Software Inc. (NASDAQ: COUP), Stitch Fix Inc. (NASDAQ: SFIX), PetIQ Inc. (NASDAQ: PETQ), Zynerba Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ZYNE), and Casey's General Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: CASY).
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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.