How New Trade Drama Will Keep the Dow Jones Industrial Average Flat Today

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has the opportunity to soar on another round of solid earnings reports, but new trade tensions with the European Union may hold it back.

U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to reciprocate against EU tariffs hurting U.S. firms like Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG). This comes as yet another threat of a trade war with the world's largest economic bloc.

More on what's affecting the Dow today below. Plus: find out how soon we can expect to ride Elon Musk's robo-taxi.

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

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 Tuesday

• The 2020 Presidential Race is heating up, and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has a radical plan to... win votes. Warren has proposed a plan to cancel or reduce the student loans of roughly 95% of borrowers across the country. Warren's plan would knock out debt for 75% of student loan borrowers but phase out anyone who earns more than $250,000 a year.
• With Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) reporting earnings on Wednesday, CEO Elon Musk is back to his usual tricks ahead of his firm's quarterly report. With concerns about deliveries of vehicles again on investors' minds, Musk has projected that he will somehow get one million robo-taxis on the road by 2020. Musk told investors that even though he is sometimes not on time, "I get it down."
• Oil prices are back at a six-month high after President Trump cracked down further on crude exports out of Iran. The Trump administration announced that all buyers who had waivers must stop purchasing Iranian crude by May 1 or face sanctions themselves. This ends an eight-month waiver period for Iran's largest buyers - most of them from Asia - that allowed them to purchase oil from that nation for eight months. WTI crude is sitting at $65.68 per barrel, while Brent rose to $74.17.

Stocks to Watch Today: KO, TWTR, XOM

• Shares of Twitter Inc. (NASDAQ: TWTR) popped more than 8% after the social media giant topped Wall Street earnings expectations. The firm reported that total users came in at 330 million people. That figure easily topped consensus expectations of 318 million. TWTR reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.37, topping consensus expectations of $0.15. The firm also easily beat revenue forecasts.

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• Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) added another 0.3% thanks to higher oil prices. But the bigger news today is that the firm has struck a 20-year liquefied natural gas supply deal with China's Zhejiang Energy.
• The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) is in focus after a tax bill on sugary drinks failed to pass in California (the firm also beat earnings expectations before the bell). The law, which would raise taxes on sugar-sweetened drinks across the entire state at $0.02 per fluid ounce, has been shelved until next year. The state says the revenue would be used to fund programs to fight diabetes and other health issues. Of course, it would likely fall short of the $3 billion in projected new tax revenue. KO stock is up 2.5% this morning.
• Look for earnings reports from Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (NYSE: CP), Centene Corp. (NYSE: CNC), eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB), Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG), Hasbro Inc. (NYSE: HAS), Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT), Sherwin-Williams Co. (NYSE: SHW), Snap Inc. (NASDAQ: SNAP), State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT), and Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN).

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