SPDR® S&P 500 ETF

Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the US non-farm payroll data for August. The US economy added fewer-than-expected jobs last month.

Today, the third-quarter Coupa Business Spend Index was released. It’s a relatively new economic indicator that offers insights into corporate spending.

The currency can be weakened by the central bank or government intervention. If President Trump is reelected, a currency war seems obvious.

In August, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAC) suggested that investors not buy just yet. Their opinions are now changing.

On August 30, US crude oil October futures settled at $55.1 per barrel. On a week-over-week basis, US crude oil prices rose 1.7%.

Over the last few days, the trade war de-escalated. President Trump said that the US-China trade talks are resuming “at a different level.”

Gold hit a fresh six-year high on Friday as trade tensions between the US and China escalated. The SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) closed up 2%.

The recent slump in energy stocks provides investors with an opportunity to invest in well-placed stocks. Shell looks like an attractive investment option.

You’ve likely heard about it in the financial press recently: this ominous, notorious thing called the “yield curve inversion.”

Despite the trade war and the inverted yield curve, the S&P 500 Index is down 1.8% this month. Its resiliency reflects the US consumer sector’s strength.

White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow doesn’t see a looming recession. However, recession fears grew as the yield curve inverted last week.

JPMorgan Chase suggests waiting until September before returning to stocks. The markets will likely make new all-time highs in the first half of 2020.

The US Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the dollar against a basket of other currencies, has risen 2.2% in the past month.

The stock market has seen big moves both ways this week. The S&P 500 (SPY) has surged 1.3% today as bond yields have risen.

According to the regulatory filing from Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital, the fund has taken a new stake in Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B).

On Wednesday, US stock indexes fell due to recession signals. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) was the worst performer with a 3.05% fall.

On multiple occasions, Trump has said the US economy is doing phenomenally well, calling it “the greatest economy in the HISTORY of America.”

First Solar was the first solar power company to join the S&P 500 (SPY). We’ll take a look at the company’s operations before moving on to greater details.

Although the US doesn’t export much crude oil to China, the additional supply of cheap Iranian oil could pressure both Brent and WTI crude prices.

President Trump’s economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, said in an interview with CNBC today that the Chinese economy is “crumbling.”

On Friday, WTI crude oil active futures rose 3.2% to $55.66 per barrel. The day before, they saw their largest single-day fall in more than four years.

ExxonMobil’s (XOM) earnings fell in the second quarter. After the earnings, JPMorgan Chase cut its target price on ExxonMobil stock from $85 to $83.

MPC stock performed in line with the equity market and its peers on Thursday. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which represents the S&P 500 Index, fell 0.9%.

Although the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have recovered by 1.05% and 1.55% today, Beyond Meat stock (BYND) was down 9.6% this morning.

Last week, the S&P 500 (SPY) fell 2.6% due to a drastic fall in the energy, retail, consumer staples, and financial sectors.

On Tuesday, in-person US-China trade talks resumed in Shanghai. The two sides have been talking on the phone since the truce last month.

Morgan Stanley doesn’t believe the S&P 500’s current breakout above 3,000 will last. It also doesn’t expect Fed rate cuts to rekindle growth.

Pure Alpha, the flagship fund of Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates, fell 4.9% in the first half, the Financial Times reported.

On June 27, US crude oil’s implied volatility was 33.7%—12.7% below its 15-day average. Lower implied volatility might support oil prices.

Bill Ackman has made a huge comeback in 2019.

On April 17, US crude oil’s implied volatility was 22.1%, which is 5.5% below its 15-day average.

FAANG stocks performed pretty well in the first quarter of 2019 and outperformed the S&P 500 Index.

Barrick has reduced its debt more than 57% in the last four years from $13.4 billion at the end of 2014 to $5.7 billion at the end of 2018.

Buffett sees companies as businesses and not just tickers. Buffett avoids businesses that he doesn’t understand.

Newmont Mining (NEM) reported its fourth-quarter earnings results before the market opened on February 21.

According to the gold demand trend released by the World Gold Council on January 31, annual gold demand increased by 4% in 2018.

Today, US President Donald Trump tweeted, “Best January for the DOW in over 30 years.”

AT&T (T) posted fourth-quarter EPS of $0.86, in line with analysts’ estimates, on January 30.

I bet you may have heard a lot about investing defensively while the market faded.

Jeff Bezos invested about $15 million in Twitter (TWTR) just over a decade ago.

Boeing (BA) stock started 2018 on a positive note and carried this momentum forward up to November 7, with a return of ~26%.

We saw a sharp rally in US stocks on December 26. President Trump’s comments on US markets could have been the main driver.

The broader market sell-off started on December 1 when Huawei Technologies’ CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested by Canadian authorities.

Markets had been worried about the Fed’s continued aggressive stance on rate hikes, which could shorten economic expansion.

China’s major indices are still down 25-30% this year alone.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech did little to assuage investors’ concerns regarding the overheating of the US economy.

The trade war is expected to be a long-term affair, according to several observers including Alibaba’s (BABA) Jack Ma.

PPG Industries (PPG) has announced that it will announce its second-quarter earnings on July 19 before the market opens.

The consumer staples sector is an important sector in the S&P 500 Index (SPY).

Mattel, which is an American multinational toy manufacturing company, was the S&P 500’s top gainer on Wednesday.