BEFORE THE OPEN BEFORE

MARKETS:

• Stock futures remain flat after August's downward trend

• Dow futures show minimal change, as do S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures

• H&R Block and Cava report strong earnings, leading to stock gains

• Prior session saw major indexes drop over 1%, snapping Dow's winning streak

• S&P 500 slips below its 50-day moving average, signaling possible downturn

• Financial stocks like JPMorgan and Wells Fargo decline after Fitch warns of potential credit rating downgrades

• Regional bank shares struggle following talks of increased capital regulation

• China's economic news impacts sentiment, with lower-than-expected retail sales and industrial production

• China's central bank issues interest rate cut

• Overall, negative developments shape market sentiment

• August's mid-month outlook predicts losses for major indexes: Nasdaq -5%, S&P 500 -3.3%, Dow -1.7%

• Focus shifts to upcoming economic data on housing, industrial production, and retail corporate earnings from Target and TJX Companies

EARNINGS

What we’re watching this week:

• Today: Cisco Systems (CSCO), PENN Entertainment (PENN), Roblox (RBLX), The Trade Desk (TTD),

• Thursday: Walmart (WMT), Tapestry (TPR)

• Friday: Palo Alto Networks (PANW)

• Full earnings calendar here

NEWS BRIEFING

Fitch Warns it May be Forced to Downgrade Dozens of Banks, Including JPMorgan Chase

Hollywood Studios Offer Writers a New Deal With Push From Netflix, Iger to End Strike

• US retail sales top forecasts, showcasing consumer resilience (more)

• Hedge funds land bonuses despite returns below bank savings rates (more)

• Homebuilder sentiment drops sharply, as mortgage rates surge over 7% (more)

• Regional banks slide after Fed’s Kashkari advocates ‘significantly further’ capital regulation (more)

• Russian central bank jacks up rates to 12% to support battered rouble (more)

• China surprises with rate cuts as economy grapples with ‘confidence crisis’ (more)

• Hedge funds dump Chinese stocks aggressively as growth outlook dims (more)

• China’s $138B shadow bank spirals at terrible time for Xi (more)

• Tesla launches lower-range Model X and Model S that are $10,000 cheaper (more)

• Apple poised to start paying $500M in ‘BatteryGate’ lawsuit payments (more)

• Southwest Airlines reaches tentative agreement with transport workers union (more)

• Esmark CEO says has money in bank account for $7.8B US Steel bid (more)

• Steve Schwarzman is pushing Blackstone growth to get its act together (more)

• America lost a whole lot of millionaires last year (more)

• Meme stock investors derail Wall Street Bets on AMC legal fight (more)

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DEALFLOW

• Citadel acquires Yellow debt owned by Apollo, other lenders (more)

• MTN Fintech unit seeks more investors after Mastercard deal (more)

• Esmark offers to buy US Steel for cash, trumping cliffs (more)

• Infosys, Liberty Global sign $1.64B deal to scale digital platforms (more)

• Play Ventures raised at least $78M for third gaming venture fund (more)

• India's Adani Group moves to buy remaining stake in Quintillion Business Media (more)

• Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) announced the completion of its acquisition of Versanis Bio (more)

• Parade acquired by Intimates Company Ariela & Associates International (more)

• Phreesia, a company specializing in patient intake, outreach and activation, acquired Access eForms, an electronic forms management and automation provider (more)

• Experity, a provider of on-demand healthcare solutions, acquired OnePACS, a SaaS PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication Systems) platform purpose-built for teleradiology (more)

• Bentley Systems, Incorporated (Nasdaq: BSY), an infrastructure engineering software company, announced the acquisition of Blyncsy, a provider of artificial intelligence services for departments of transportation to support operations and maintenance activities (more)

• Zurich Holding Company of America, a subsidiary of Zurich Insurance Group, acquired SpearTip, a cyber counterintelligence firm (more)

• Hero Digital, a customer experience transformation company, merged with Avionos, a digital technology consultancy focused on delivering B2B Commerce and Marketing Services, Managed Services, and demand generation solutions for enterprise brands (more)

• Zeelo, a transit-tech company, raised $14M in Series A extension funding (more)

• Tausight, a healthcare’s AI-powered data security company, raised $6M in additional financing (more)

• Grit, a platform that uses machine learning and static analysis to eliminate technical debt, is launching with $7M in funding (more)

• Altos Radar, an automotive radar startup, raised $3.5M in funding (more)

• Advanced Ionics, a developer of hydrogen electrolyzers for expanding green hydrogen production, raised $12.5M in Series A funding (more)

• EDAC Labs, a decarbonisation company providing electrosynthesizer devices, raised $3M in Seed funding (more)

• Beloit Kombucha (BK & Co.), an organic kombucha company, raised $800K in Seed funding (more)

CRYPTO

• Binance files for protective order against SEC (more)

• SEC delays set deadlines for Bitcoin ETF approval to early 2024 (more)

• XRP competitor Stellar gets equity in MoneyGram, plans to disrupt payments sector (more)

BULLISH BITES

💼 Meet Forbes’ 25 Next Billion Dollar Startups...
Time to polish the crystal ball. There are more than 50,000 venture-backed startups in the U.S., and only the tiniest fraction of them will ever reach a billion-dollar valuation (watch here)

⛪️ The Top 10 Holdings of the Mormon Church's $49 Billion Stock Portfolio
The $100 billion investment arm of the Mormon Church revealed some of its holdings in a 13F filing on Monday. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' has an investment portfolio topping $100 billion that includes $49.3 billion invested in stocks. These are the top 10 holdings of the Mormon Church's stock portfolio as of June 30...

🏚 The Airbnb Effect: Why Second Homes Have Become So Divisive...
The mayor of the Italian city of Florence announced an immediate ban on new short-term rentals last summer in its UNESCO-protected historic center. Local authorities worldwide followed suit, regulating the expansion of Airbnbs, second homes and short-term rentals due to overtourism and housing crisis... (more on the impact of housing commercialization)

DAILY SHARES

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