JakeNovakNews.com
STOCKS/ECONOMY
-Stock futures are flat after Tuesday's 23-point loss for the Dow and higher percentage losses for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. More key earnings are due this morning, along with data on housing starts and oil stockpiles.
-Gold continues to cool off and is now just above the $1,400 level at $1,403 per ounce. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond is holding steady at 2.09 percent. Bitcoin has falled back below the $10,000 mark and is at the $9,100 level this morning.
-Tuesday's June U.S. retail sales report beat expectations, as did the report on U.S. manufacturing output. This contradicts widely-held expectations that the trade war with China would badly slow down both sales and production.
-Mortgage applications fell 1.1% last week compared to the previous week, but refinancing rose. New home and refinancing activity was still a combined 36% higher than a year ago. The average 30-year mortgage loan rate is up to 4.12 percent.
OIL/ENERGY
-U.S. crude prices are up this morning to the $58 a barrel level after Tuesday's sell off.
-Gasoline prices are holding at $2.79 a gallon, national average.
EARNINGS SCORECARD
-Bank of America reported better than expected profits on strong retail banking numbers, but it came in slightly lower than expectations on revenues. Bank of America shares are flat in the premarket.
TRADE WARS
-President Trump tweeted Tuesday that the U.S. and China still have a "long way to go" to make a trade deal. The comments helped send stocks lower for the day.
AMAZON PROBE
-The European Union will investigate Amazon's third party dealings with merchants and whether they break anti-competitive laws.
OBAMACARE VOTE
-The House of Representatives is expected to strike down Obamacare's added tax on higher-end private insurance plans, or the "Cadillac tax." The tax was never actually implemented, but remains scheduled to go into effect until the House acts. The move has bipartisan support.
DOCTOR SHORTAGE
-California has already begun spending $340 million to pay off student loans to lure doctors and dentists to work in the state.
DEMOGRAPHICS 2020
-The AARP is warning 2020 presidential candidates not to ignore older voters. Elderly Americans are expected to make up 23% of the voting public in 2020, the most since 1970.
HAPPY WORKERS
-A U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics study says firefighters are the happiest workers in America.