The overall market is flattish, but “Dow”-type names are stronger while “Nasdaq” ones are weaker. Gold, silver, and crude oil aren’t doing much along with the dollar, though Treasuries are taking on water.
On the news front…
The Q2 earnings train keeps on rolling down the tracks. But a pair of Big Tech names look like they’re going to run off the rails here!
Start with the movie and television show streaming giant Netflix (NFLX). It reported an 8% increase in subscribers and a 2.7% rise in revenue to $8.19 billion. But investors were looking for more. They didn’t like the firm’s weaker-than-expected Q3 sales projection, or news of price cuts being implemented in certain markets. If the early sell off holds up, NFLX could have its worst day since December.
Tesla (TSLA) also reported results after the close yesterday, delivering a 20% rise in profit to $2.7 billion and a 47% gain in sales to $24.9 billion. But CEO Elon Musk also hinted that more price cuts may be necessary to drive sales volume, and he suggested production might need to be throttled back to allow for factory upgrades. TSLA joined NFLX in the penalty box as a result.
Wheat prices rose again, before taking a breather, after the US warned of Russian sea-mining activity off Ukraine’s coast. The latest move to cut off Ukraine’s port of Odesa – coupled with another night of missile attacks on the city – is putting upward pressure on a key soft commodity in strong demand around the world.
Wheat Futures
Source: CME Group
Finally, someone woke up to quite the Powerball payoff this morning, after a single ticket in California contained the right numbers to win the $1.08 billion lottery jackpot. That’s the third-highest in US history. Another three tickets are worth $2 million, while 36 more are worth $1 million each. Congratulations whoever you are!
