What will happen in the markets this week is anyone’s guess, plus stocks to watch today in the Money and Markets Wall Street Wake-Up.
The Top Story
Following last week’s epic sell-off, the biggest question on Wall Street on Monday is: What’s going to happen this week?
On Friday, stocks attempted a late rally to erase another 1,000-point loss for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and it ended up closing down 357 points.
Investors are looking to central banks around the world to step in, inject liquidity and shore up economic growth amid the free fall.
What happened last week: The Dow fell more than 3,000 points in the worst week for stocks since the Great Recession as fears surrounding the coronavirus pushed investors away. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also moved down into correction territory — dropping at least 10% from their previous market high.
What’s going to happen this week: Well, it’s hard to say. Friday’s late rebound offered some hope that U.S. equities won’t drop nearly as much as they did last week. However, the benchmark U.S. Treasury yield is already down to 1.06% Monday morning as investors continue to pour into safe havens.
What’s happening right now: As of 8 a.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.5% in premarket trading. The S&P 500 is off 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite has fallen 0.4%.
Stocks to Watch Today
Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) — The cruise line has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, along with other travel-related stocks. After jumping 5% on Friday, shares of Carnival are down more than 6% in premarket trading on Monday.
Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) — Shares of the social media giant were up 6.1% early Monday on the news that powerful hedge fund Elliott Management has purchased a large stake in the company and may want to push CEO Jack Dorsey out.
Forty Seven Inc. (Nasdaq: FTSV) — The cancer-therapy company is being acquired by Gilead Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) for $4.9 billion. Shares of Forty Seven have jumped 62% in early trading.
In the News
American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) officials said they have found a small number of cases where salespeople strong-armed small-business owners into applying for credit cards.
According to The Wall Street Journal, customer service representatives misrepresented card rewards, checked credit reports without consent and even issued cards that weren’t sought.
Current and former employees said the tactics date back to at least 2015 after AmEx lost a partnership with Costco Wholesale Corp. (Nasdaq: COST).
Chinese Manufacturing Has Weak February
Factories in China are on the decline as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread globally.
According to a private survey conducted by Caixin, China’s manufacturing purchasing index dropped to 40.3 in February. That’s down from 51.1 in January and lower than projections of 45.7.
The non-manufacturing index fell from 54.1 in January to 29.6 in February. The official survey results will be released later this week.
Oil Prices Are Dropping Fast. Can OPEC Come to the Rescue?
As the coronavirus continues to spread, stocks and bonds aren’t the only investments suffering.
Oil has now reached bear-market levels. That has put pressure on OPEC leaders to stabilize prices.
Member nations are scheduled to meet in Vienna at the end of the week to discuss what, if anything, should be done to curb the fall.
As of Friday, both Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate were at their lowest levels since 2018.
Other Morning Reads
Prepare for These 3 Huge Disappointments With Social Security (Money and Markets)
A New Use for McDonald’s Used Cooking Oil: 3D Printing (CNN Business)
Seigel Says Buy the Dip; Markets Will Recover From Coronavirus’ ‘One-year Shock’ (Money and Markets)
Earnings Report
Here are the companies releasing earnings reports today:
Amicus Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: FOLD)
GenMark Diagnostics Inc. (Nasdaq: GNMK)
StoneCo Ltd. (Nasdaq: STNE)
Travelzoo (Nasdaq: TZOO)
Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (Nasdaq: WVE)
Check back each morning before the opening bell for stocks to watch today with the Wall Street Wake-Up, here on Money and Markets.