The Dow Jones now could slip today as the U.S. hit 2.63 million coronavirus cases.
Wall Street had its best quarter in decades after a sharp rebound from the COVID-19 market crash in March.
Investors must now face a slate of potential threats in a resurgence of coronavirus cases, ongoing geopolitical worries out of China, and the upcoming election.
More on these developments below...
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) has been in the news this week as over 180 advertisers are boycotting the social media giant.
Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg triggered the exodus last week when he said his company won't monitor hate speech and violence on the platform.
The stock dropped 11% in the two trading days following dropouts from mega-cap companies like Verizon (NYSE: VZ), Unilever (NYSE: UN), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), and Starbucks (NYSE: SBUX).
Some analysts expect up to one third of Facebook's total advertisers will join the revolt.
So, what do you do if you own the stock? And is this correction a buying opportunity or time to steer clear?
The WorldWide Developers Conference has certainly been a tailwind for tech stocks as the Nasdaq Composite hit another all-time high today.
Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), and Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) lead the way (the latter two also hit record highs).
Since everyone knows about the moves in these mega-cap tech stocks, our experts – D.R. Barton, Jr. and Shah Gilani – gave advice on some other names.
by Don Yocham
Take a hard look at the cannabis market.
Look closely, and you'll see the single biggest market to hit the global economy in decades.
It's bigger than the global PC market. It's bigger than gaming. In fact, consumers spend more money on cannabis each year than what hits the top lines of social media companies like Facebook and online marketplaces like Amazon combined.
It's almost as big as one of the most predominant, innovative, and disruptive sectors of the 20th century.
Now, I expect everyone reading this would happily hop in a time machine and buy shares in Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon for a second chance to get in early on those unexpected but remarkably high growth industries.
Imagine the wealth you could have built.
But with cannabis now on the scene, you don't need a time machine.
You just need to appreciate the massive size of the cannabis market today and how much bigger it will get as legalization inevitably spreads.
Because once it does, cannabis will overtake some of the most significant industries to emerge in the 21st century… Full Story
We're in the middle of the worst global health crisis since 1918. That in turn has precipitated the worst economic crisis in 12 years, though it may very well prove to be worse than the decade-long Great Depression of 1929.
Unemployment is at record highs; Thursday's print of 1.877 million new claims was worse than expected, and would've been unthinkable as recently as Presidents Day.
The world is wracked by the worst geopolitical tension since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, and our cities are inflamed by the worst civil unrest since Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in 1968.
And the markets are within sight of their February highs. The Nasdaq is up almost 8% for the year; the Dow Jones and S&P 500 are off just 8% and 4%, respectively.
And still the Nasdaq is up almost 8% for the year, while the Dow and the S&P 500 are down only about 8% and 4%.
The market is a big, complicated, discounting mechanism. In Business 101, we're taught stock prices reflect future earnings.
But, on balance, companies are not going to make 4% or 8% less than they would during good times. No, the drop in earnings for the second quarter of 2020 is going to be much, much steeper.
But if you listen to the news media, or investment banks' analyst desks, or to government officials, they'll repeat this old story about "future earnings" anyway.
Folks, this is probably the biggest Reality Gap in the country right now. It's the Reality Gap of the decade. And, as always, there are big profits to be had in that gap.
You see, stock markets are no longer about owning a share of a company's future earnings. It's no longer an arena where investors win by making the best long-term predictions, and traders win by predicting what investors will do next.
The truth is that the Big Four – News Media, Madison Ave, Big Government, and the Wall Street Heavyweights – have together turned stock markets into something else altogether.
The Big Four have turned rising markets into a good, much like tap water, public libraries, or electric utilities.
Once you see how and why that's happened, profits await… Full Story
Once you see how and why that's happened, profits await... Full Story
Stocks surged to close the week after a historic increased in U.S. jobs further fueled investors' confidence that the reopening of the economy will be successful following the COVID-19 lockdowns.
The 2.5 million jobs added in May was the largest one-month increase on record.
Investors were expecting an 8 million job loss.
The U.S. unemployment rate slid to 13.3% when it was expected to reach nearly 20%.
And stocks rallied big time.
The Dow was up 3.15%, the S&P 500 closed 2.62% higher, and the Nasdaq rose 2.06% to a new all-time high.
Here's what our experts - Chris Johnson and Shah Gilani - saw on this historic day...
The Dow traded 1% higher today despite a triple whammy of events working against logic.
Social unrest continues to be prevalent as protests ensued across the country.
Signs are showing the coronavirus recovery may be slower than expected even as summer gets under way.
And tensions between the world's two largest economies in the United States and China prolonged as China continues using Hong Kong as a political pawn in the trade war.
But either way the market breaks next, our experts – Chris Johnson and Shah Gilani – are prepared to help investors make money now.
Here's what they saw today, June 2...
by Alex Kagin
Everyday when I wake up, I read The Wall Street Journal.
See, a large part of my day involves looking for new ideas to invest in.
Whether it is reading the Journal, a recent earnings transcript or a company's website, I am always on the lookout for my next big idea.
But four times a year, I get to read a set of reports that are chock full of ideas.
The Dow Jones will have another volatile day in the wake of several protests happening around the country.
It gained more than 140 points at the starting bell, but it's sure to fluctuate with a fast-changing news cycle…
We're also dealing with a pandemic and a trade war with China.
More on these stories moving the Dow, below...
Stocks rose sharply today as investors bet on a successful economic recovery with more states easing their stay-at-home policies.
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) led the way, both closing at new all-time highs.
The Dow was up 1.5%, the S&P 500 closed 1.7% higher, and the Nasdaq rallied 2.1%.
Here's what our experts – Chris Johnson and Shah Gilani – saw live at the open and close of the trading day.
