Markets are taking the shocking assassination attempt on former President Trump in stride, with equities rising, gold and silver mixed, and crude oil mostly flat.
In fact, “Trump Trades” appear to be gaining steam on the assumption the news could actually boost the Republican candidate’s election chances. That includes yield curve “steepeners” in the Treasury market, and buying in stocks that would benefit from potential tax cuts, higher tariffs, and looser regulation.
On the earnings front, mega-cap financial The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) turned in a hefty Q2 profit number of $3.04 billion on $12.7 billion in revenue. That represented increases of 150% and 17% from a year ago, respectively. Stronger results in investment banking, fixed-income trading, and wealth management helped pad the bottom line. GS shares are up 25% year-to-date.
The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS)
Finally, search giant Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) is reportedly considering the purchase of Wiz Inc. It may spend up to $23 billion to acquire the cybersecurity company in what would be Alphabet’s largest acquisition to date. The move would expand its offerings in the cloud computing space, allowing it to compete more effectively with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN).
