BY THE NUMBERS
U.S. stock futures were higher this morning after China said it will hold a fresh round of trade talks with the United States in Washington later this month. The last round of talks was in early June. (Reuters)
* Sen. Elizabeth Warren: Trade deals help companies, not workers (CNBC)
Today's market strength comes after a negative session that saw Wall Street finish well off session lows. The Dow's Wednesday close was its lowest since July 23, while the S&P 500's drop was its biggest decline since June 27. (CNBC)
Dow stock Walmart (WMT) leads this morning's list of corporate earnings reports, with rival retailers J.C. Penney (JCP) and Dillard's (DDS) also reporting, along with China's JD.com (JD). After-the-bell reports today include Applied Materials (AMAT), Nordstrom (JWN), and Nvidia (NVDA). (CNBC)
* Walmart earnings top expectations as US e-commerce sales climb 40% (CNBC)
All three of today's economic reports come at 8:30 a.m. ET, with the government issuing U.S. jobless claims and housing starts and the Philadelphia Fed releasing its manufacturing index for the month of August. (CNBC)
IN THE NEWS TODAY
Jurors will begin deliberations in former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's financial fraud trial. The verdict will provide a measure of the special counsel's ability to make charges stick. (AP)
* Questions jurors in Manafort trial will be asking (NY Times)
* Here are charges Manafort faces as case goes to jury (CNBC)
Trump's lawyers are preparing to oppose a potential subpoena from special counsel Robert Mueller for a sit-down interview with the president. Trump's team are drafting a rebuttal that could set off a fight in federal courts. (Washington Post)
New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo mocked President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan by saying, "We are not going to make America great, America. It was never that great." (NY Times)
* Trump goes on Twitter rampage against Cuomo (CNBC)
An Alex Jones tweet that linked to content encouraging violence led to his temporary ban on Twitter (TWTR), CEO Jack Dorsey told NBC's Lester Holt in an interview. Twitter had previously defended its decision to keep Jones on its platform.
CNBC has learned that President Trump is preparing a new executive order expanding rules favoring American-made products in government projects. The effort, which has raised concerns with federal agencies, has been underway for more than six months.
Trump reversed an Obama-era memorandum dictating how and when the government can deploy cyberweapons against adversaries, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Journal said it's unclear what rules Trump is adopting to replace the existing ones.
* Trump revokes former CIA Director John Brennan's security clearance (CNBC)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren told CNBC's Jim Cramer about her plan to make companies more accountable to employees. She introduced legislation that would require corporations with more than $1 billion in annual revenue to obtain a federal charter.
* Warren's bill is 'a recipe for more crony capitalism,' economics professor says (CNBC)
The SEC served Tesla (TSLA) with a subpoena after CEO Elon Musk tweeted he was considering taking Tesla private and that he had the necessary funding lined up, according to several reports. A subpoena would be one of the first steps in a formal inquiry.
* Tesla whistleblower tweets details about allegedly flawed cars, scrapped parts (CNBC)
Amazon (AMZN) is considering putting together an insurance comparison site in the U.K., according to Reuters. Separately, Amazon is among those competing to buy movie theater chain Landmark, according to a Bloomberg report.
Ride-hailing company Uber is still on track to book more than $10 billion in revenue this year, although growth has slowed and its losses widened since the first quarter, according to the company's self-reported financials. (CNBC)
STOCKS TO WATCH
Cisco Systems (CSCO) reported adjusted quarterly profit of 70 cents per share, beating estimates by 1 cent. The networking equipment and software company also saw revenue top forecasts, and it also gave a better-than-expected current quarter forecast as its subscription-based software business gains traction.
NetApp (NTAP) beat estimates by 24 cents with adjusted quarterly profit of $1.04 per share, with the cloud data storage company's revenue slightly above Street forecasts.
U.K. regulators have confirmed a prior decision that Walt Disney (DIS) will have to pay at least 14 pounds per share for British broadcaster Sky, if it completes its deal to buy Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA) assets before either Fox or NBCUniversal parent Comcast (CMCSA) succeeds in taking control of Sky. Fox's 39 percent stake in Sky is among the assets Disney is buying.
Pfizer (PFE) has struck an alliance with privately held German biotech company BioNTech to develop more effective flu vaccines. BioNTech could receive up to $425 million depending on the achievement of certain development goals.
Best Buy (BBY) is buying health services company GreatCall for $800 million in cash in the electronics retailer's largest-ever acquisition. Best Buy already sells GreatCall merchandise, including emergency response services and mobile products aimed at senior citizens.
Activist investor Starboard Value has taken a 5.8 percent stake in cybersecurity software maker Symantec (SYMC), according to the Wall Street Journal, and has nominated five directors to the 11-person board. Starboard is said to be pushing for operational changes to improve profit margins.
WATERCOOLER
Elon Musk's Boring Company has proposed an approximately 3.6-mile underground tunnel to Dodger Stadium called the Dugout Loop. Passengers would load into "electric skates," which could help solve the constant traffic problems for baseball fans. (USA Today)