Shein takes on Amazon

BEFORE THE OPEN

Markets:

Friday saw a dip in stocks, concluding a week of losses, as Wall Street grappled with apprehensions of a potential Federal Reserve rate hike later in the month.

• S&P down 0.29%, closing at 4,398.95.

• Nasdaq dips 0.13% to 13,660.72 close.

• Dow drops 187.38 points (0.55%), settling at 33,734.88.

• All major averages end week in red: S&P down 1.16%, Nasdaq 0.92%, Dow loses 1.96% - worst since March.

• Labor Department's June jobs report: 209,000 payrolls added, less than expected, unemployment at 3.6%.

• Stronger wage numbers, up 0.4% in June (4.4% YoY), stir central bank hike fears.

• Unemployment rate declined from May's 3.7%.

• Post data release, traders' bets on rate hike this month still strong - 92% probability of quarter-point hike on July 26. Odds remain consistent with previous days, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. Policymakers hinted at potential two additional rate hikes in 2023 during June meeting.

EARNINGS

What we’re watching:

• Today: PriceSmart (PSMT), WD-40 (WDFC)

• Wednesday: AngioDynamics (ANGO), MillerKnoll (MLKN)

• Thursday: 

  • 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

Shein Takes on Amazon in the Business of Selling Everything

• Yellen’s trip to China: No breakthroughs but 10 hours of talks (more)

• US will protect its own 'national security' after China's espionage law threatens American firms, Yellen vows (more)

• Jobs report misses expectations as labor market cools (more)

• ETFs revived with $69B boost in June, best since October (more)

• Threads, Twitter Drama…

  • Jack Dorsey took aim at Meta's Threads and accused it of ripping off Twitter: 'We wanted flying cars, instead we got 7 Twitter clones' (more)

  • Meta's 'friendly' Threads collides with unfriendly internet (more)

  • 'Concerning': Zuck trolls Musk on Threads with one-word responses, just like the Twitter owner (more)

• Huawei unveils latest AI model as ChatGPT boom rolls on (more)

• A glut of made-in-China plastic will dent oil’s growth machine (more)

• UPS strike threat tests strength of labor market (more)

• Amazon CEO explains how they'll compete in Microsoft, Google A.I. race (more)

• Why Tesla’s EV charging plugs are becoming industry standard (more)

• Tesla rolls out global customer referral incentive as EV price war heats up (more)

• Taylor Swift’s Eras tour will be the first tour to gross $1B (more)

• FDA asked to look into Logan Paul's energy drink, which has the caffeine of 6 Coke cans (more)

• The fight is on over future of digital news in Canada (more)

• The $100 million Barbie movie Is a make-or-break for Mattel (more)

DEALFLOW

• Birkenstock owner said to weigh $6 billion IPO (more)

• Ant to buy back shares at 70% lower valuation than at IPO (more)

• Thermo Fisher Scientific to acquire CorEvitas (more)

• WM Partners acquires Allergy Research Group (more)

• Artemis acquires SightLine Applications (more)

• Cox Communications completes acquisition of Unite Private Networks (more)

• RealTime Software Solutions acquires Devana Solutions (more)

• Ubiquity acquires EdgePresence (more)

• WasteFuel raises $10M from bp (more)

CRYPTO

• Binance unravels as executives flee and layoffs proliferate (more)

• Ripple Labs to revolutionize real estate industry through tokenization (more)

• Multichain attack triggers Twitter phishing scheme for FTM distribution (more)

• BlackRock CEO’s turnabout on Bitcoin elicits cheers, skepticism of crypto cred (more)

• Coinbase knew it may have been violating the law prior to the SEC's lawsuit (more)

SHARES

Quite a start to the week. Enjoy the rest of your day… -mb