The Dow Jones Today Is Already Down 100 Points Thanks to the Retail Ice Age

The Dow Jones today is already down 100 points in pre-market hours as the "Retail Ice Age" rears its head again…

Brick-and-mortar department retailers like Kohl's Corp. (NYSE: KSS), Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M), and Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) are set to report earnings today, and traders are not optimistic about their performance. Fortunately, the Retail Ice Age is creating a profit opportunity for savvy investors…

Here are the numbers from Wednesday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:

Now here's a closer look at today's most important market events and stocks, plus Thursday's economic calendar.

The Five Top Stock Market Stories for Thursday

• Is Donald Trump coming for CNN? In deal news, the U.S. government is stepping in and making an interesting demand should AT&T Corp. (NYSE: T) want to merge with Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX). Federal antitrust regulators are now demanding that Time Warner sell CNN as a condition to receive approval for the deal.

• Positive news is coming out of China today. U.S. and Chinese officials have committed to $250 billion in trade deals in the wake of U.S. President Trump's visit to the country this week. U.S. companies like Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM) have announced large deals.

• In Washington, get ready for the U.S. Senate to release its version of a tax reform bill. Wall Street may not like what it sees when this version – which will be much different than the one released by the House of Representatives – hits the airwaves. This is just the second step in a long and potentially hazardous change to U.S. policy. Even though the S&P 500 has rallied more than 20% in the year since Trump took office, Republicans have done very little to implement their policies.

• The price of Bitcoin hovered just below $7,200 this morning. Prices fell over the last 24 hours despite news that SegWit2x suspended plans for an upcoming fork. Yesterday, the price hit an all-time high. So, what's next for Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency community? Each day, we take you inside the world of Bitcoin with a daily recap on the global cryptocurrency market. Here's what you need to know today.

Don't Miss: Here's the Best Cryptocurrency to Buy Now

• Crude oil prices are hovering near two-year highs as traders continue to weigh the impact of geopolitical hot spots around the globe. The price of Brent crude is now up 40% since July thanks to aggressive steps by OPEC to cap excessive production around the globe. However, the rally could be stalling due to rising U.S. production. The WTI crude oil price today added 0.1%. Brent crude dipped 0.1%.

Three Stocks to Watch Today: DIS, NVDA, SNAP

• Shares of Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) are in focus as the global entertainment giant prepares to report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings. Wall Street analysts have set a consensus expectation of $1.12 per share on top of $13.149 billion in revenue.

• Shares of NVIDIA Corp. (Nasdaq: NVDA) fell 1.5% ahead of the company's earnings report. The firm's stock has been on a meteoric rise over the last year, particularly as it taps into the growing demand of Bitcoin miners. Analysts project that the company will report earnings per share of $0.94 on top of $2.364 billion in revenue.

• Snap Inc. (Nasdaq: SNAP) is off more than 2% in pre-market hours as the social media giant and owner of Snapchat continues to reel from its dismal earnings report from earlier this week. The company is generating some headlines because China's Tencent Holdings Ltd. has taken a 10% state in the firm. In addition, Snapchat has said it plans to overhaul its interface in the coming month. Money Morning readers have long been warned to avoid this company, which remains unprofitable and has seen its popularity wane compared to its rival, Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB).

• Look for additional earnings reports from Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M), Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN), News Corp. (Nasdaq: NWSA), Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ), Kohl's Corp. (NYSE: KSS), Ubiquiti Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: UBNT), Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI), Dish Network Corp. (Nasdaq: DISH), Perrigo Co. (Nasdaq: PRGO), D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI), Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd. (Nasdaq: NCLH), and Omeros Corp. (Nasdaq: OMER).

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