This is a syndicated repost published with the permission of Money Morning. To view original, click here. Opinions herein are not those of the Wall Street Examiner or Lee Adler. Reposting does not imply endorsement. The information presented is for educational or entertainment purposes and is not individual investment advice.
Stock market news today features uncertainty over Congress’s healthcare legislation and President Trump’s meeting with South Korean President Moon. Dow Jones futures are up 37 points this morning as rising global inflation is encouraging investors.
Here are the numbers from Thursday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
| Index | Previous Close | Point Change | Percentage Change |
| Dow Jones | 21,287.03 | -167.58 | -0.78% |
| S&P 500 | 2,419.70 | -20.99 | -0.86% |
| Nasdaq | 6,144.35 | -90.06 | -1.44% |
Energy Breakthrough: One gallon of this new “crystal fuel” could get you from New York to L.A. and back… seven times! Read more…
Now here’s a closer look at today’s most important market events and stocks, plus Friday’s economic calendar.
The Five Top Stock Market Stories for Friday
- President Donald Trump will continue his meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House in Washington. The two will continue to discuss global trade and the ongoing tension in the Korean peninsula. According to reports, South Korea just proposed a peace treaty to North Korea, and the United States wasn’t involved. Here are the details.
- In economic news, keep an eye out for the monthly reports on U.S. personal income and consumer spending, released by the U.S. Commerce Department. Economists anticipate a 0.3% uptick in personal income for May and a 0.4% uptick in consumer spending.
- Crude oil prices are on track for their first weekly gain since mid-May. For five weeks, oil prices have been declining thanks to a rise in U.S. shale production and ongoing uncertainty over OPEC’s deal to cap excessive production. The WTI crude oil price today added 0.5%. Brent crude gained 0.2%. Markets will be eyeing today’s weekly rig count report from Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) to determine the pace of rising U.S. production.
- Warren Buffett is back in the news today. His firm Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: A) exercised a huge number of warrants on shares of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). Berkshire purchased the stock for $7.14 per share. Following yesterday’s closing price, the firm is already up $12 billion on the deal, which was so large that Berkshire is now the largest shareholder of the bank.
- Elon Musk is back at it again. The CEO of Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) said that his firm will release “news on Sunday” about the company’s Model 3. The news came in a Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) message after a user request information on the date of the vehicle’s release. Roughly 400,000 people have already pre-ordered the vehicle, which was expected to be unveiled next month. TSLA stock is up nearly 1% this morning.
Five Stocks to Watch Today: NKE, MU, RAD, CARA, APRN
- Blue Apron Holdings Inc. (NYSE: APRN) were up slightly on their second day of trading. The company had a lackluster debut on the public markets yesterday. The company already faced pressures after it narrowed its IPO range this week. Investors have expressed concerns about the impact that Amazon will have in the global food and grocery business after its purchase of Whole Foods Market Inc. (NYSE: WFM). Blue Apron is the first meal-kit company to go public. Here’s everything you need to know about Blue Apron.
- In earnings news, shares of Nike Inc. (Nasdaq: NKE) jumped more than 5.7% in premarket hours. The company easily topped Wall Street earnings and revenue expectations and announced a pilot program to sell its shoes and apparel on Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN). The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.60 on $8.7 billion in revenue. That topped consensus expectations of $0.50 on $8.6 billion.
- Shares of Micron Technology(Nasdaq: MU) were up nearly 2% in premarket hours after the Chinese tech giant topped earnings expectations. The firm reported strong growth and hiked its forecast for sales in cloud computing and mobile chip demand. Company CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said on a conference call Thursday that he expects the semiconductor industry to experience healthy demand through 2018.
- Shares of Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) are off another 1% in premarket hours. The downturn comes a day after the stock crashed by 26% thanks to news that Walgreens Boots Alliance (NYSE: WBA) had abandoned its plans to acquire the company. Instead, Walgreens will simply purchase roughly half of Rite Aid’s available stores. Walgreens, which topped Wall Street earnings expectations Thursday, saw its shares tick slightly higher in premarket hours.
- Finally, shares of Cara Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CARA) slumped nearly 30% in premarket hours. The downturn comes after the biotech company reported disappointing results from a major pain treatment study.
Friday’s U.S. Economic Calendar (all times EST)
- Personal Income and Outlays at 8:30 a.m.
- Chicago PMI at 9:45 a.m.
- Consumer Sentiment at 10 a.m.
- Baker-Hughes Rig Count at 1 p.m.
To get full access to all Money Morning content, click here
About Money Morning: Money Morning gives you access to a team of ten market experts with more than 250 years of combined investing experience – for free. Our experts – who have appeared on FOXBusiness, CNBC, NPR, and BloombergTV – deliver daily investing tips and stock picks, provide analysis with actions to take, and answer your biggest market questions. Our goal is to help our millions of e-newsletter subscribers and Moneymorning.com visitors become smarter, more confident investors.
Disclaimer: © 2017 Money Morning and Money Map Press. All Rights Reserved. Protected by copyright of the United States and international treaties. Any reproduction, copying, or redistribution (electronic or otherwise, including the world wide web), of content from this webpage, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of Money Morning. 16 W. Madison St. Baltimore, MD, 21201.
The post Dow Jones News Today: Stocks Rise as Fate of Healthcare Bill Remains Uncertain appeared first on Money Morning – We Make Investing Profitable.
Join the conversation and have a little fun at Capitalstool.com. If you are a new visitor to the Stool, please register and join in! To post your observations and charts, and snide, but good-natured, comments, click here to register. Be sure to respond to the confirmation email which is sent instantly. If not in your inbox, check your spam filter.
