The Dow Jones today slipped as the coronavirus case numbers tick upward.
Chinese stocks popped yesterday for their seventh straight day, adding 177 points to the Dow and 148 points to the Nasdaq. But much is still uncertain with the pandemic spread and rising inflation. More on these developments below.
Before we dive into the latest stories and more, here are the numbers from Wednesday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
Index
Previous Close
Point Change
Percentage Change
Dow Jones
26,067.28
+177.10
+0.68
S&P 500
3,169.94
0.00
0.00
Nasdaq
10,492.50
+148.61
+1.44
Now here's a closer look at what I'm following today. These are the most important market events and stocks.
The Top Stock Market Stories for Thursday
On Thursday morning, the U.S. Labor Department will release its weekly update on Americans filing for unemployment for the first time. The bigger question is how either U.S. President Donald Trump or his 2020 competitor, Democrat Joe Biden, plan to boost the American economy and hiring in the future. This morning, Biden announced a $700 billion "Buy American" campaign that aims to use the federal government's regulatory and spending power to increase the strength of domestic manufacturing.
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Johns Hopkins University announced another big surge in COVID-19 cases. New data from the university said that American cases surpassed 3 million, while Brazil is sitting at more than 1.7 million cases. Right now, Florida holds the second worst rate of contractions in the world, following only by Arizona at this moment. But new threats are emerging in the East. Tokyo, the capital of Japan, reported its highest contraction levels for a day, one month after the city lifted its state of emergency. The bulk of the cases are among individuals under the age of 30. Meanwhile, Ivy League Universities have canceled their fall sports season, an ominous sign for other college sports.
Meanwhile, gold prices are back above $1,800, and the rally could continue for an extended period. Analysts are bullish on investor sentiment on the yellow metal, which breached this price level for the first time since 2011. The ongoing COVID-19 crisis around the globe has prompted central banks to pump record levels of stimulus into their economies, with the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Peoples Bank of China taking the lead.
Stock to Watch Today: BBBY, TWTR, UAL, FDX, AMZN
Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) fell 7.8% after the company announced plans to close at least 200 stores after store sales slumped by nearly 50% during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company will close the locations over the next two years as part of an effort to save between $250 million and $350 million. The company's stock slumped more than 11% after the firm reported a huge quarterly loss of $1.96 on top of revenue of $1.31 billion. Wall Street had expected a smaller loss of $1.22 on top of $1.39 billion.
Shares of Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) popped more than 7.3% after the company announced a job listing for a new subscription platform code-named "Gryphon." The company removed the listing on Wednesday, but then re-added the listing and a mention about a subscription.
The job cuts are coming again to the airlines. According to reports, United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) may furlough upwards of 40% of its staff - or 36,000 employees around the globe. The furloughs could come as soon as Oct. 1, the same period when federal aid expires. The brunt of the cuts will fall upon flight attendants, as about 15,000 of these crew members face these furloughs. The company also said that the furloughs will begin with its most junior employees.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) hit a fresh high of $3,100 this morning as the company continues to dominate the e-commerce and cloud computing sectors. The company announced that it will begin listing the names and addresses of Marketplace sellers starting in September. The initiative is to combat counterfeiting and help customers make better-informed decisions. Meanwhile, the company also announced that it will suspend the sales of Washington Redskins gear and has asked the team to change its name. The decision complements a growing effort among team sponsors like FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and other businesses to alter the name to something less controversial.
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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.