The Dow Jones today is down on the first major day of Q3 earnings reports. Investors also await updates from Washington on a potential stimulus plan.
Markets remain in a holding pattern as Congress and the Trump administration continue to haggle over the size of a new deal. Trump has said that he will approve a deal worth $1.8 trillion. Democrats are hoping for a larger plan before the election.
Here are the numbers from Monday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
| Index | Previous Close | Point Change | Percentage Change |
| Dow Jones | 28,837.52 | +250.62 | +0.88 |
| S&P 500 | 3,534.22 | +57.09 | +1.64 |
| Nasdaq | 11,876.26 | +296.32 | +2.56 |
Now here are what I think will be the most important market events and stocks on Monday morning.
The Top Stock Market Stories for Tuesday
- On the coronavirus front, Johns Hopkins University reported that the number of new COVID-19 cases surpassed 49,000 on Monday. The virus continues to sweep across the Midwest just weeks before the 2020 election. Over the last week, the number of U.S. cases increased by 11%. On the global front, South Korea has reported an uptick in cases over the last few days. The uptick raises concerns about another possible resurgence across Asia at a time that investors are worried about all global economies.
- Look for an update today from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). The company will unveil its latest iterations of its iPhone with analysts calling this the "most important" event of its type in years. The company will reportedly unveil new phones to account for the next phase of the 5G rollout. In addition, we'll look for updates on the company's growing service division, which includes Apple Music, Apple Pay, and Apple TV.
Stocks to Watch Today: JPM, JNJ, AZN, DIS
- Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) are in focus after the bank reported earnings before the bell. Shares climbed about 1% after the company reported earnings per share of $2.92. That figure easily beat consensus estimates of $2.23. Revenue of $29.94 billion topped expectations by $1.5 billion. JPM also said it had set aside a few hundred million for loan-losses tied to COVID-19. Still, JPM stock is off about 27% this year through Monday. Bank stocks are experiencing the biggest gap in performance between the sector and the S&P 500 in 80 years.
- Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) fell 1.3% after the company announced plans to pause its latest vaccine trial. The firm paused the vaccine after a participant reported an "adverse" event in the last 36 hours. The company's specialists are investigating the illness, according to its CFO. J&J is conducting a 60,000-patient trial and started phase 3 for a vaccine last month. The pause is similar to a recent event that halted Astrazeneca Plc.'s (NYSE: AZN) trials due to an unexplained illness in the United Kingdom. The AZN trial has since restarted, but the patient is believed to have developed transverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord.
- Shares of Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) added another 5% after the company announced a major overhaul of its corporate operations. The firm plans to make its streaming platform the center of its business. The company will centralize its entire media arm into a single organization and will focus on ad sales, content distribution, and its new platform, Disney Plus.
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About the Author
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.