Tuesday August 18, 2020 Trading Desk: (312) 236-8907
TODAY’S GAME PLAN: from the trading desk, this is not research
DATA/HEADLINES: 8:30ET Housing Starts/Building Permits
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
- Senate Republicans are preparing a scaled-back stimulus bill that would include a $300-a-week enhanced unemployment benefit, money for small business aid, additional U.S. Postal Service funding and protection for employers against lawsuits stemming from Covid-19 infections
- Joe Biden will send a message about his vision for the Democratic Party on Tuesday night, and it will sound a lot more like his center-left philosophy than the party’s progressive wing. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is only scheduled to speak for one minute.
- Oracle Said to be Weighing Bid for TikTok’s U.S. Business
- Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s biggest, lost $21 billion in the first half of the year
- Trump Says He Will Pardon “Very, Very Important” Person Today
- What we Know About Covid link
EQUITIES:
U.S. equity futures look set for only modest opening bell gains as investors focus on U.S.-China trade relations after President Trump stoked tensions by announcing tighter restrictions on Huawei. U.S. stock index futures edged higher, extending momentum from a tech-fueled rally in the prior session that saw the Nasdaq hit a record high, with Home Depot setting an upbeat tone for a slew of business updates from major retailers. Home Depot reported sales growth that was more than double the already brisk rate analysts had been expecting, sending shares higher in early trading. Same-store sales rose 23.4%, sharply beating the estimate for an 11.4% gain. Oracle Corp rose 3% in premarket trade after a report said the company had held preliminary talks with TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, and was seriously considering buying the app’s operations in the United States.
E-Mini S&P is up 0.1%, Nasdaq +0.25%, Russell 2000 futures +0.1%, Dow futures +0.15%. SPX has yet to put in a new all-time high as it has hovered within a quarter percent from this level the last few days.
