The Dow Jones today will push higher after U.S. Trade Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the United States and China will return to the trade table in two weeks in Washington.
My take: Investors should be patient before piling back into stocks. But a "fear of missing out" is driving momentum and pushing share prices higher. More on what's moving the Dow today, below.
Here are the numbers from Friday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
Index
Previous Close
Point Change
Percentage Change
Dow Jones
26,949.99
+14.92
+0.06
S&P 500
2,991.78
-0.29
-0.01
Nasdaq
8,112.46
-5.21
-0.06
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
Pay close attention to the Federal Reserve this week. A few days ago, the U.S. central bank cut interest rates for the second time this year. Now, chatter is picking up that the Fed may need to cut rates yet again in 2019. St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said that the Fed might need to cut rates again due to weak inflation figures and ongoing trade conflicts. The move comes at a time when more than $20 trillion in global debt is already paying negative returns to investors. The threat that the United States may face negative interest rates in 2020 or beyond is rising. And still, too few people are talking about what this could mean.
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Oil prices continue to retreat Tuesday as Saudi Arabia scrambles to recover its domestic output. WTI crude fell 1.1% to reach $58.00 per barrel, while Brent crude dipped 1.4% to hit $63.89. A drone strike knocked out about 5% of global production in Saudi Arabia last weekend. The country has worked to bring that production back online and expects to be back to capacity in the coming weeks. This event, however, raised the possibility of new attacks in the region and continues to accelerate risk in the markets. Watch for additional statements and warnings from Iranian officials, who have demanded that the Western nation leave the region.
The quest to win the hearts and minds of redistributionists is now at the center of the Democratic nomination process. This morning, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) released his wealth tax proposal to expand his massive social programs like "Medicare for All." Sanders' proposal calls for a 1% tax on all net worth over $32 million. That figure scales up to as much as an 8% tax on a net worth over $10 billion.
Stocks to Watch Today: NKE, GOOGL
Shares of Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) are in focus today as the apparel giant prepares to report earnings after the bell on Tuesday. Look for additional earnings reports from Blackberry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BB), AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO), CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX), Jabil Inc. (NYSE: JBL), Cintas Corp. (NASDAQ: CTAS), and IHS Markit (NYSE: INFO).
Investors are looking for ways to make money in the alternative energy market. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced its plans to buy 100,000 electric delivery trucks from Rivian. It's part of an effort to cut the company's carbon footprint. A lot of investors are chatting about the possibility of Rivian going public. Should you invest in Rivian stock? We answer that question, right here.
Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) received a boost after it received an upgrade from RBC. The firm hiked its price target of Alphabet from $1,425 to $1,500 on increased optimism over its Google Maps division. The investment firm expects that Google may be able to monetize this segment into new products.
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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.