The Dow Jones today is ticking higher after a 333-point sell-off fueled by the Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. Details further down.
Plus: This is the most Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) stock Jeff Bezos has ever sold...
Here are the numbers from Wednesday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
Index
Previous Close
Point Change
Percentage Change
Dow Jones
26,864.27
-333.75
-1.23
S&P 500
2,980.38
-32.80
-1.09
Nasdaq
8,175.42
-98.19
-1.19
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 Thursday
The U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the first time since before the 2008 financial crisis. Fed Chair Jerome Powell called the rate cut a "mid-cycle" adjustment and suggested that additional rate cuts would not come this year. Stocks fell then, since traders had largely priced in another 2019 cut. But Wall Street still expects the central bank to cut rates at least one more time. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) released a report stating an 80% probability of more rate cuts to complete the Fed's cycle of monetary easing.
You Have to See This to Believe It: America's favorite "shark" debuts the Angels & Entrepreneurs Summit. Watch now...
Investors are keeping a close eye on trade developments between the United States and China. The two nations restarted talks this week, but trade officials failed to achieve any significant progress in a deal to halt the brewing trade war.
With the Fed's rate cut in the rearview mirror, the next major data point will be the July jobs report. On Friday, the U.S. Labor Department is expected to report the official unemployment rate of 3.7%. Analysts project that the jobs report will show the creation of 164,000 new jobs for the month. This morning, the Labor Department said the number of Americans seeking jobless benefits hit 215,000 for the week ending July 27. That said, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday the labor market remains strong. He said "people who live and work in low- and middle-income communities tell us that many who have struggled to find work are now getting opportunities to add new and better chapters to their lives."
Stock to Watch Today: GM, AMZN, QCOM
Shares of General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) are up more than 2.8% in pre-market hours after the auto giant topped Wall Street earnings expectations for the second quarter. Despite a sharp drop in sales in China, the firm reported a big boost in pickup truck and crossover sales across North America. GM reported adjusted EPS of $1.64, well ahead of the $1.44 projected by analysts. On the revenue side, the firm registered $36.1 billion, a figure that topped consensus forecasts of $35.98 billion.
Shares of Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) were off 1.3% on news that its founder and CEO sold $1.8 billion in shares. According to an SEC Filing, this could be Jeff Bezos' largest sale of Amazon stock ever.
Shares of Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) fell nearly 6% after the firm reported third-quarter earnings on Wednesday. The chip manufacturer issued a weak outlook for the fourth quarter. The tech giant blamed the ongoing U.S. export ban on China's Huawei Technologies for its lackluster outlook.
Look for additional earnings reports from Square Inc. (NYSE: SQ), Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ: SHOP), GoPro Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO), First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), Arista Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: ANET), and Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY).
America's Favorite Angel Investor Shows How Easy It Is for Anyone to Invest in Ground-Floor Startups
You've probably seen stories about this person or that person making an absolute fortune from some unknown startup suddenly becoming a household name... like Uber, Airbnb, SpaceX, or Bird.
Now, it's your turn.
Shark Tank's Robert Herjavec is showing how easy it is for anyone to turn as little as $50 into what can be life-changing windfalls... all from investing in startups.