Stock Market

The 20-day-old government shutdown had a minor impact on the economy so far, but it could start to have a bigger sting if it continues for much longer and hits consumer or business sentiment, economists said. As of Saturday, the shutdown will be the longest on record after it stretches beyond 21 days, going back

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Apple — Nikkei reported that Apple is cutting iPhone production by 10 percent between January and March. This would be the second time in two months that Apple trims iPhone production plans, according to the report. Facebook — CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he will host a

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Union Pacific — Shares of the freight-hauling railroad rose more than 7.5 percent in premarket trading after it hired a new chief operating officer. The Omaha, Nebraska-based railroad said Monday that it hired longtime Canadian National railroad executive Jim Vena as COO. Vena will take the

The trade war may be hurting China more than the U.S., but by spring, China could be looking up as the U.S. slows, particularly if the friction continues, economists said. According to Bank of America Merrill Lynch economists, the China slowdown could start to reverse in the next couple of months, due to large amounts

December’sstronger-than-expected jobs report shows the labor market remains solid, but does not alleviate fears that the economy is slowing down as the new year begins. The economy added 312,000 jobs in December, far more than the 177,000 that were expected and the largest increase in payrolls since February, 2018. The unemployment rate rose to 3.9

Trade talks between the U.S.and China will dominate the market’s focus in the week ahead, while investors are also watching to see whether other companies join the ranks of Apple and warn about an earnings miss. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, who sent stocks sharply higher Friday, speaks again Thursday at an Economics Club of Washington

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell changed his tone on Fed policy, walking back a comment he made in December that rattled markets and made him sound rigid about the Fed’s balance sheet. Following the Fed’s December meeting, Powell had said that the Fed’s balance sheet wind-down was on “autopilot.” That unnerved some investors who had been

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Apple – Apple issued a rare sales warning after Wednesday’s closing bell, with CEO Tim Cook pointing to slowing iPhone sales in China. Cook reportedly is set to address Apple employees today about the warning and take questions from workers. Celgene – The drugmaker agreed to

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Activision Blizzard – The video game producer is firing Chief Financial Officer Spencer Neumann for cause “unrelated to the company’s financial reporting,” according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. The Wall Street Journal reports that Neumann will be named as the new Netflix CFO

There’s a good chance that what ailed the market in 2018 could reverse sometime in 2019, providing strong tailwinds for stocks, some strategists said. After the worst December since 1931 and the worst year since the financial crisis, stocks enter 2019 tentatively but still susceptible to the volatility that resulted in historic intraday swings in

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Amazon.com – Amazon is planning a significant expansion of its Whole Foods grocery stores, according to The Wall Street Journal. The paper said Amazon is scouting new locations in more suburbs, and in areas where Whole Foods is already growing in popularity. Deutsche Bank – Deutsche

Investors are fearful the stock market is signaling that a recession could be on the way either because of a Fed policy misstep or trade wars, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Not all big market declines have signaled a recession, but once a market decline reaches 20 percent, the odds are higher,

Investors can bid farewell to the worst year for stocks in a decade, but they may not find a way to escape the volatility when the new year starts with a bang. By the first Friday of 2019, it’s back to business in a big way with the December jobs report and an unprecedented panel

The stock market is likely to remain highly volatile, but the economy is unlikely to fall into a recession and that makes it a good time to “buy the dips” again when stocks fall, Leuthold chief investment strategist Jim Paulsen said. “If there’s no recession, to me it’s a buyable correction. They don’t tend to

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: JD.com – JD.com is launching an extensive revamp of its operations, according to The Wall Street Journal. The paper said the Chinese internet company is planning to split its primary unit – JD Mall — into three business departments, citing an internal document. JPMorgan Chase –

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Intel – Intel received a $185 million grant from the Israeli government in return for a $5 billion expansion of its chip making operations in Israel. Walmart, Target, Macy’s – These and other retail stocks are on watch today, following holiday shopping season numbers that were

Stocks could look to bounce later in the week, after the worst Christmas Eve performance ever, but some strategists expect only a half-hearted rally attempt with more losses to come. The S&P 500 lost 2.7 percent Monday, to 2,351 in a half-day session, and is now officially in a bear market — or down 20

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Campbell Soup – Campbell is moving closer to divesting its international business, according to Reuters. Sources say Kraft Heinz and Mondelez International have been short-listed to participate in the second round of bidding. Tesla – Tesla has cut prices for its Model 3 in China by

For much of his presidency, the stock market has loved President Donald Trump, trading higher on his pro-growth policies, like tax cuts, as well as his hands-off regulatory stance. But now with the stock market well off its highs, the president has increasingly become a source of uncertainty and volatility. Trump and Washington politics are

Stocks head into the final full trading week of the year on the brink of a bear market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted in the past week in its worst performance since before the bull market began, in the very thick of the financial crisis in the fall of 2008. While the market is

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: CarMax – The auto retailer reported quarterly profit of $1.09 per share, 9 cents a share above estimates. Revenue was short of forecasts, however, as same-store sales declined by 1.2 percent. Nike – Nike reported quarterly profit of 52 cents per share, 6 cents a share

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Walgreens Boots Alliance – Walgreens earned an adjusted $1.46 per share for its latest quarter, 3 cents a share above estimates. Revenue also came in above analysts’ forecasts and the company announced plans to cut $1 billion in costs. Separately, Walgreens announced a strategic partnership with

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Thursday’s session are Lululemon Athletica Inc., Finisar Corp., and Target Corp. Lululemon Athletica LULU, -5.60%  is projected to report first-quarter earnings of 32 cents a share, according to a consensus survey by FactSet. “We believe, given the stock’s performance

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: General Mills – The food company earned an adjusted 85 cents per share for its latest quarter, 4 cents a share above estimates. Revenue was short of forecasts, however, and organic sales were down 1 percent. Overall sales were up by 5 percent from a year

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Darden Restaurants – The restaurant chain earned 92 cents per share for its second quarter, a penny a share above estimates. Revenue was very slightly below Street forecasts, and a same-restaurant sales increase of 2.1 percent was above the consensus forecast of a 2 percent rise.

Bloomberg/file 2012 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trading in Friday’s session are Intel Corp. and Finisar Corp. After Thursday’s closing bell, Intel INTC, -1.70%  said it is raising its second-quarter revenue outlook on improving PC demand. Intel now expects sales for the current quarter at $13.7

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Boeing, Embraer – The jet makers announced they had finalized the terms of a joint venture first announced in July, in which Boeing will pay $4.2 billion for an 80 percent stake. The partnership, which still needs Brazilian government approval, would be comprised of Embraer’s commercial

Bloomberg /file 2012 Disney is among the stocks worth watching because of its ties to soccer’s World Cup. MADRID (MarketWatch) — Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trading in Monday’s session are Medtronic Inc. and Covidien PLC , as well as Layne Christensen Co. Medtronic MDT, -3.55%  announced a deal on

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Wednesday’s session are FedEx Corp., Jabil Circuit Inc., and Red Hat Inc. FedEx FDX, -0.17%  is projected to post fourth-quarter earnings of $2.36 a share, according to a consensus survey by FactSet. Analysts at Nomura said they will look

The S&P 500 could be getting ready to test a new range around the lows of the year that it reached in February — a level that is as much as 3 percent below current levels. The S&P 500 closed at 2,599 Friday, below the psychological 2,600 level and the October low of 2,603. The