The Dow Jones today could lose 200 points after China warned about repercussions over U.S. efforts to stop shipments to Huawei. That makes it an ugly morning for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), and Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO).
In addition, Chinese officials may retaliate against White House efforts to stop Americans from putting Chinese stocks into their retirement accounts. Here is everything moving the Dow today.
We'll start with the numbers from Thursday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
Index
Previous Close
Point Change
Percentage Change
Dow Jones
23,625.34
+576.28
+2.5
S&P 500
2,852.50
+57.96
+2.1
Nasdaq
8,943.72
+155.68
+1.7
Let's take a look at the most important market events to start your day.
The Top Stock Market Stories for Friday
We're back into a barking match with China. The White House has blamed its rival for the spread of COVID-19. The Chinese media is now arguing that if the United States blocks supplies of semiconductors to tech firm Huawei, China will launch its "unreliable entity list" and "restrict or investigate" companies like Apple, Cisco, and other tech firms. It will also stop buying Boeing planes, according to reports. The news pummeled other U.S. companies operating in China. This is the kind of news that has me eyeing industrial real estate like Stag Industrial Inc. (NYSE: STAG). U.S. production is going to need to move back here to prevent the coming long winter in economic tensions between the two nations.
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In Washington, the House of Representatives will push a $3 trillion stimulus relief plan. The bill would send $1,200 to every American, boost support for state and local governments, and offer money for COVID-19 testing. The U.S. Senate would likely challenge most of the provisions, which includes a variety of things they oppose - like bailing out the postal service and increasing SNAP benefits. That said, U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly supports sending another round of stimulus checks to Americans and may be more willing support local and state governments. U.S. coronavirus cases topped 1.4 million on Friday. Roughly 86,000 Americans have died from the virus.
On the data front, we learned today that U.S. retail sales plunged by a record 16.4%. That was way higher than what economists had anticipated (12.3%) and raises new concerns about how deep the downturn in GDP could be during the second quarter. Roughly 68% of U.S. GDP comes from consumer purchases. This retail downturn is the largest since we started keeping track back in 1992.
Stocks to Watch Today: ABT, DKNG, ACB
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) announced that the FDA is reviewing its latest COVID-19 test. There are concerns about its accuracy among patients who may have the virus. The company plans to test its product in different settings in attempt to course-correct the issues raised by the U.S. agency.
Shares of DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG) were off more than 2% this morning after the company reported a larger profit loss than expected on Wall Street. The news shouldn't be surprising due to the ongoing shutdown in sports around the globe. However, the firm did report a 30% jump in annual revenue. Shares of DKNG have climbed more than 170% since it went public last year. This week, the stock popped after billionaire George Soros took a large stake in the company.
On the cannabis front, shares of Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB) are surging thanks to a solid earnings report from the company. Shares popped 30% after the firm said that sales increased by 39% from one year ago. The firm benefited from strong purchases among consumers during the COVID-19 lockdown.
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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.