In Case you missed out our Weekend Special Bitcoin article make sure to catch up with it.
The North-Korean conflict is staining the stock markets. European stocks fell sharply across the board today as investors around the world piled cash into safe-haven assets amid increasingly dangerous rhetoric between North Korea and the United States. President Trump presented a statement warning North Korea that any threats to the United States would be met with “fires and fury.” Gold and Silver are up 1,26% and 2,84%respectively.On the other hand all major European Stock Indices ,with a few exceptions such as the ATHEX, are quoting a negative net change. The DAX is no different and as such is down 1,17%, two hours before close. After a pretty slow week, the DAX opened by climbing a little and reaching the 12226 point mark 30 minutes after opening. After reaching the intraday high, the DAX went crashing and is now down 1,17%.
Following a mostly higher beginning to the trading week on Monday, Wall Street got off to a somewhat weaker start yesterday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a 26-point winner on the first session of the week, moving down to a 40-point loss in early dealings. With the economic calendar light and no new political headlines of note until late in the day, the focus was again on earnings, which continue to pour in for the second quarter. To be sure, most of the nation’s larger companies have reported already. Now, we are starting to hear from some smaller names, as well as results from a few retailers, which often have July ending periods. As has been the case almost uniformly, however, the bulls didn’t stay down for long, and as we ended the first half hour of trading, the early setback was pared, although the indexes remained a bit under water. That would change in the next half hour, as the Dow would make it back into the black, with the bulls hoping for a 10th straight record close. Meantime, the big item of note on the earnings calendar was yesterday afternoon’s pending quarterly release from Dow stock Walt Disney, which is noted below. Some retailers also were on the docket, as noted above. Indeed, with respect to the latter item, the retail reports made surprisingly good reading, with better-than-expected results from both Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors Holdings helping to turn things around as the morning wound down. In fact, as we approached the noon hour in New York, all three large-cap indexes were securely in the green, with the Dow seemingly on course for a 10th straight record close, with a mid-session gain of some 50 points. All told, corporate earnings have been up some 10% for the second quarter, which is well ahead of the 6% increase that has been forecast. Little wonder stocks are strong. The good news would continue into the first part of the afternoon, affirming that when the focus is on earnings, rather than politics and even the economy, this overbought stock market has continued to do well. And yesterday, the gains extended to the S&P 400, the mid-cap benchmark and the small-cap-dominated Russell 2000. Meantime, the gains increased in the first part of the afternoon, with the Dow’s intraday uptick reaching 60 points. But that would prove to be the high water mark for stocks, and as the afternoon moved along, the sellers entered the fray. However, there was little intensity to that pullback. The mid-afternoon selloff, albeit modest, did continue into the close, with the energy and basic materials sectors leading the way lower, with an assist from health care. Few groups showed any noteworthy strength, although recently soaring Apple Inc. shares did press ahead to an all-time high of just over $161. Still, while the Dow and the S&P 500 Index both set intraday peaks, each fell back below the neutral line in the final hour of trading–especially during the closing half hour. Also, losing stocks held a plurality on winning issues on the Big Board and the NASDAQ. The late selloff, meanwhile, was driven largely, it would seem, by President Trumps statement.The weakness then accelerated somewhat into the close, with the Dow at one time dropping by some 60 points. So, when all the numbers were added up, the blue chip composite was off by 33 points; the S&P 500 Index was lower by six points; and the NASDAQ’s deficit was 13 points, as more stocks fell than gained on the session. Then, after the close, Disney chimed in with a profit beat, but a shortfall on the revenue side, causing that stock to falter in after hours trading.
Walt Disney will stop providing new movies to Netflix starting in 2019 and launch its own streaming service as the world’s biggest entertainment company tries to capture digital viewers who are dumping traditional television. Walt Disney will launch two Netflix-like streaming services, one for sports and another for films and television shows. As a reaction to these news Disney is up 0,19% and Netflix is down 2,61%, as these move could be a predecessor for further pullbacks.
Office Depot‘s profits fell on weaker sales in the second quarter, missing analysts’ estimates. Second-quarter sales declined 9 % to $2.4 billion YoY, the Boca Raton-based office supply retailer said Wednesday. Same-store sales — those open at least a year — fell 6%, Office Depot said. Retail sales were $1.1 billion for the quarter compared with $1.2 billion a year ago. Office Depot had lower traffic, transaction counts and average order value, according to its regulatory filing. It saw lower sales in most categories, including ink and toner, computer and technology products, offset in part by cleaning and break-room products. Office Depot had previously said 2017 sales would be lower due to store closures. The company said it closed 31 stores during the quarter, ending with a total of 1,408. For 2017, 75 stores are scheduled to close.
The airlines of the Lufthansa Group welcomed 13.1 million passengers on board in July 2017. This shows an increase of 16.9% YoY. The available seat kilometers were up 12.4% over the previous year, at the same time, sales increased by 12.8%. The seat load factor improved accordingly, rising 0.3 percentage points to 86.3%, compared to July 2016. In total the airlines of the Lufthansa Group carried more than 73 million passengers this year until July. The overall seat load factor reached a historical record with 80.2 percent.
Todays Economic Calendar:
- MBA Mortgage Applications
- Productivity and Costs
- Wholesale Trade
- EIA Petroleum Status Report
Sir of Finance 