Inflation Hits 2-Year Low

BEFORE THE OPEN

Markets:

• S&P 500 futures up 0.1% after reaching year-high.

• Disney stocks rise by nearly 1% post CEO contract extension.

• Nasdaq 100 futures gain almost 0.2%, Dow Jones futures up 0.1%.

• Eased recession fears fuel Wednesday's market surge after cooler June CPI report.

• S&P 500, Nasdaq attain highest closing since April 2022; Dow Jones adds 86.01 points.

• Market trends suggest "soft landing" scenario per Fundstrat's Tom Lee.

• Investors eyeing Thursday's producer price index for future inflation insights and rate hikes.

EARNINGS

What we’re watching this week:

• Today: 

  • Conagra (CAG)

  • Delta Airlines (DAL)

  • Fastenal (FAST)

  • PepsiCo (PEP)

  • Progressive (PGR)

  • Washington Federal (WAFD)

• Friday: 

  • BlackRock (BLK)

  • Citigroup (C)

  • JPMorgan Chase (JPM)

  • State Street (STT)

  • UnitedHealth Group (UNH)

  • Wells Fargo (WFC)

• Full earnings calendar here

NEWS BRIEFING

Sean 'Diddy' Combs Officially Launches ‘Empower Global’ Curated Online Marketplace for Black Businesses

• Inflation hits 2-year low - gas prices plummeted, rent got more expensive (more)

  • Dollar falls after U.S. inflation slows (more)

  • Gold advances as cooling U.S. inflation boosts Fed pause bets (more)

• Microsoft, Broadcom deals shows mega cap M&A 'is back,' Jefferies says (more)

• FTC reportedly leaning toward quick appeal of Microsoft-Activision loss (more)

• Whistleblower alleges Medtronic engaged in bribery scheme at veterans hospital (more)

• Amazon Prime Day pushes US online sales up 6% in first 24 hours (more)

• Elon Musk launches his new company, xAI (more)

• Cathie Wood's ARK fund hits 11-month high as inflation ebbs (more)

• US airline stock valuations stuck on runway despite travel boom (more)

• Disney extends CEO Bob Iger’s contract through 2026, two years longer than planned (more)

• Domino’s strikes deal to list its menu on Uber Eats and Postmates in the U.S. (more)

• Google’s AI for medicine shows clinical answers more than 90% accurate (more)

• Wall Street Is fighting New York’s ban on non-compete agreements (more)

• Goldman breaks its own rule to flag results much worse than rivals (more)

• Meta to fight EU charges over Facebook Marketplace abuse (more)

• China's Huawei poised to overcome US ban with return of 5G phones (more)

• Shopify shames employees with cost calculator for pointless meetings (more)

• Sinclair names Nickolas James Vice President, Social Media (more)

DEALFLOW

• Coca-Cola Company and Eight Leading Bottling Partners announce creation of sustainability-focused venture capital fund in Partnership with Greycroft (more)

• OpenAI's Sam Altman takes nuclear startup public (more)

• BlackRock, KKR Near Sale of Adnoc Oil Pipeline Stake to ADQ (more)

• Buy Buy Baby stores set to shutter as Go Global's deal falls apart (more)

• Safe Security acquires RiskLens (more)

• Allonnia raises $30M in Series A extension (more)

• Arthrosi Therapeutics raises $75M in Series D funding (more)

• CarePredict receives $29M in Series A-3 funding (more)

• InvGate raises $35M in growth funding (more)

• Gamercraft raises $5M in funding (more)

• Affect Therapeutics raises $16M in Series A funding (more)

• Certificial raises $15M in funding (more)

• SineWave Ventures raises more than $160M for Fund III (more)

• Attn: Grace raises $2M in funding (more)

• Ad Fontes Media closes $4.2M funding round (more)

CRYPTO

• Cathie Wood’s ARK sells 135K Coinbase shares as price hits $90 (more)

• Coinbase adds ability to direct message any Ethereum address (more)

• Bank of China trials offline payments for digital yuan via SIM cards (more)

• Crypto miner Hive drops ‘Blockchain’ from name in pivot to AI (more)

SHARES

The early innings of Q2 earnings season continues tomorrow… -mb