The Dow Jones now is falling after several protests have escalated to violence across the nation. The domestic crisis comes amid a global pandemic and a trade dispute with China. Fear runs high again...
Markets are preparing for this Friday's official jobs report from the U.S. Department of Labor. Economists anticipate that the United States lost 9 million jobs last month. That figure would come on top of the 20 million jobs lost in April. The average forecast anticipates that the official unemployment rate will hit 19.6% for May. Let's get into these stories and everything else moving the Dow today.
First, here are the numbers from Friday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
Index
Previous Close
Point Change
Percentage Change
Dow Jones
25,383.11
-17.53
-0.07
S&P 500
3,044.31
+14.58
+0.48
Nasdaq
9,489.87
+120.88
+1.29
Now, here are what I think will be the most important market events and stocks on Monday morning.
The Top Stock Market Stories for Monday
This morning, the United States is picking up the pieces from a destructive weekend. Peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd devolved into riots and looting by opportunists exploiting the public gatherings. Mayors of cities across the country instituted curfews. At least 12 states activated their National Guard troops in an effort to restore stability across the nation. In New York City alone, the NYPD arrested 350 people, reporting injuries to at least 30 officers.
Over the weekend, the number of U.S. coronavirus cases topped 1.7 million, with the death total now surpassing 103,000. The ongoing uncertainty created by COVID-19 has created a new problem for the economy: Not enough Americans are consuming and spending money. According to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the personal savings rate of Americans hit an all-time high of 33% in April. While cash-hoarding surged, consumer spending dropped by a record 13.6% for the month. Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) announced that the average amount of money in consumers' checking accounts increased by 30% to 40% over the last three months.
Finally, we will continue to focus on trade tensions between the United States and China. Relations between the two nations could be deteriorating yet again on reports that Beijing may retaliate against the United States over its announcement to end special treatments for Hong Kong. We'll especially keep an eye on the technology sector, which could face renewed revenue and margin pressures due to supply chain concerns. Many analysts are concerned that China may use anti-monopoly laws to affect U.S. companies in industries where state-owned companies lack a large market share. This could target firms like Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).
Shares of Merit Medical Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: MMSI) are in focus after activist hedge fund Starboard Value announced a 9% stake in the firm and pushed for four members of the board of directors to resign. The company produces medical devices that center on peripheral intervention, cardiac intervention, breast cancer localization, and endoscopy.
Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings (OTCMKTS: TCEHY) is reportedly in talks to purchase a large stake of Warner Music Group ahead of the record company's planned IPO next week. The music company had delayed its IPO due to COVID-19 earlier this year. Shares of Warner Music Group will trade on the NASDAQ starting this week under the symbol WMG. Tencent plans to help the company reach a fundraising goal that could range between $1.0 billion and $1.8 billion.
Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) were off more than 5% after the company announced it had halted drug trials for a new breast cancer drug that had previously showed promise. The firm said that the study of palbociclib - also known as Ibrance - halted its phase 3 trial that was happening in 400 centers across 21 nations. The firm said that the drug had failed to reach the anticipated change in survival rates.
Look for earnings reports from EnerSys (NYSE: ENS), ProPetro Holding (NASDAQ: PUMP), Thermon Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE: THR) NGL Energy Partners LP (NYSE: NGL), and AutoHome Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHM).
5G Companies Were Sitting Silent... So the FCC Launched a Multibillion-Dollar Initiative to Wake Them Up
5G isn't just an Internet upgrade anymore. The FCC just injected an unprecedentedamount of money to roll it out faster than 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G combined.
But this isn't just a positive sign for the roughly 162 million Americans who've recently experienced slowing Internet. If our projections hold, you could net a huge payout by year's end.
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.