Dow Jones Now Sliding on Congress Stimulus Battle

The Dow Jones now is on the decline as investors continue to watch the ongoing stalemate between Congressional Democrats and Republicans over the next round of COVID-19 stimulus.

Democrats have said they will not restart negotiations with the GOP until the latter hikes its latest offer by $1 trillion. More on everything moving the Dow today, below...

First, here are the numbers from Thursday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:

Now here are what I think will be the most important market events and stocks on Friday morning.

The Top Stock Market Stories for Monday

• U.S. President Donald Trump pushed through an extension of unemployment benefits and other COVID-19 related provisions to support the United States last week. But Congressional leaders are still a long way from reaching a plan. New reports state that it could take several weeks before GOP and Democratic leaders in Congress break their stalemate and introduce new legislation. No talks have been scheduled. Congress has headed home, and major parties' conventions will transpire over the next two weeks. In addition, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she will not start conversations with GOP leaders until they agree to increase any potential aid package by $1 trillion. The GOP has said this is a nonstarter.

Unstoppable: Our new Premium Stock Pick kept climbing while the rest of the market tanked. And as a leader in a new billion-dollar market, the gains are just getting started. Don't miss out - get this pick for free here...

• COVID-19 cases in California alone have now topped 600,000. That represents a large percentage of the 5.2 million cases across the United States. With Democrats and Republicans still very divided on a potential coronavirus stimulus deal, investors will continue to monitor the efforts of the U.S. Federal Reserve to provide liquidity to the markets. Meanwhile, the U.S. government aims to provide at least 300 million doses of a vaccine to Americans by 2021. The big question is whether these drugs will be given to people for free or healthcare companies will charge for the cost of delivering these vaccines.
• Epic Games - the company behind the popular video game Fortnite - is suing Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Alphabet Inc.'s Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) after the companies removed Fortnite from their app stores. The two tech giants accuse Epic Games of violating its guidelines to avoid fees tied to in-app purchases. Fortnite had included an update that allowed iPhone and Android game users to pay Epic directly instead of using the officially sanctioned system for the two payment platforms. The news comes as Apple is barreling toward a $2 trillion valuation.

Stocks to Watch Today: DKNG, AZO, BIDU

• Shares of Draftkings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG) were off nearly 3% after the online sports gaming website came in short of revenue expectations. The firm reported a loss per share of $0.55. That was worse than the expected loss of $0.19 per share. The firm said that it topped revenue expectations during the quarter despite a limited amount of sports around the globe.
• Shares of AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) are in focus after the auto-parts seller announced plans to hire more than 20,000 employees. The company cited the rising demand for auto parts from retail and commercial customers.
• In earnings news, Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) beat both top- and bottom-line expectations for the June-ending quarter. Shares of BIDU stock, however, were off more than 5% due to new pressures over an SEC investigation. The U.S. agency is looking into the company's video streaming service iQIYI over financial records dating back to 2018. The SEC is also requesting documents tied to the company's acquisitions and investments in recent years.

How to Look for Low-Cost, High-Potential Opportunities Outside the Stock Market

In this kind of financial turbulence, we recommend you pad your portfolio with opportunities that live outside of the greater markets.

That's why we've brought in these two experts to show you the ropes.

Go here to learn more.

Follow Money Morning on Facebook and Twitter.