BY THE NUMBERS
Wall Street was set to extend Monday's modest gains, as U.S. stock futures pointed higher ahead of the Tuesday open. The Dow and S&P 500 have now erased more than 70% of their May losses during June, with the Nasdaq regaining about 60% of its May decline. (CNBC)
Fed policymakers begin their two-day June meeting today, with an interest rate decision and policy statement set for tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. ET, followed by Chairman Jay Powell's news conference. The market believes a rate cut is coming, but only gives it about a 27% chance this week. Odds shoot up to over 80% for the July meeting and increase as the year goes on. (CNBC)
* Euro falls sharply as ECB's Draghi clears path for more stimulus (CNBC)
On today's U.S. economic calendar, the government is out with May housing starts at 8:30 a.m. ET. There are no earnings reports of note out this morning. Adobe Systems (ADBE), Jabil Circuit (JBL), and La-Z-Boy (LZB) are out with quarterly numbers after today's closing bell. (CNBC)
Shares of MoneyGram International (MGI) shot up over 150% to around $3.60 per share in premarket trading after blockchain start up Ripple bought a $30 million stake in the payment company. Ripple bought MoneyGram shares for $4.10 per share. The stock closed Monday at $1.45 per share with a market value of $82 million. (Reuters)
IN THE NEWS TODAY
Facebook (FB) shares were up over 2% in the premarket, after announcing that it's leading a consortium creating a new digital currency called Libra, which is set to launch early next year. The Libra currency will not be run by Facebook, but rather by a nonprofit association supported by a range of companies and organizations. Though it does have a plan to profit from it with a new subsidiary, Calibra, which is building a digital wallet of the same name for storing and exchanging the currency. (CNBC)
* Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency could alleviate some security challenges, introduce new ones (CNBC)
President Donald Trump returns to Florida tonight with Vice President Mike Pence to begin his re-election campaign. The Republican Trump narrowly won the state's vote in 2016, adding to his pressure to win voters' favor in the key 2020 state. (CNBC)
* Trump set to officially launch reelection, but hasn't he been running all along? (NPR)
* Donating to Trump might be a tough call for Corporate America in 2020 (CNBC)
Former Vice President Joe Biden said at a New York fundraiser he's already raised nearly $20 million for his presidential bid. It's more than any of the other candidates in the crowded Democratic field have raised in the first quarter, when Senator Bernie Sanders raised $18.2 million. (NY Times)
Trump tweeted that U.S. immigration agents will make mass arrests starting "next week," even though most large-scare U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations are kept secret to avoid tipping off targets. (Washington Post)
The Pentagon is preparing to send more troops to the Mideast amid increasing tensions between the U.S. and Iran. The latest revelation comes on the heels of last week's attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. (CNBC)
* US military releases new images of Japanese oil tanker attack (CNBC)
* Iran to breach limits of nuclear pact, as US to send more troops to the region (WSJ)
Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam said today she's committed to completing her term, following days of angry mass protests against a proposed bill that would allow criminal extraditions to mainland China. She said if the government, through its continued efforts to communicate with the public on the legislation, fails to gain the confidence of the people, "we will not proceed with the legislative exercise again." (CNBC)
With tensions between the U.S. and China threatening to slow down global trading volume even further, export-reliant economies such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan will likely be most badly hit, according to an economist from Moody's Analytics. (CNBC)
Electronic material that Infowars host Alex Jones turned over to the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims who are suing him contained images of child pornography, according to a court filing. Jones, who is being sued in Connecticut for allegedly defaming the Sandy Hook families, adamantly denied having known of the child porn images, and a court hearing is set for today. (CNBC)
Boeing received its first order for one of its jets at the Paris Air Show today. On day one of the show, Boeing did not announce a single new order for any of its airplanes, while Airbus recorded orders and options for 123 planes, according to the aviation consulting firm IBA.iQ. (CNBC)
* GE Aviation flying toward record air show haul (CNBC)
* American in talks for up to 50 Airbus A321XLR jets (Reuters)
* All-electric jet firm Eviation announces US regional airline as first customer (CNBC)
AT&T's (T) WarnerMedia unit is said to be near a large production deal with "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" director J.J. Abrams. Sources have estimated that the multiyear agreement could be worth about $500 million, according to the LA Times.
CBS (CBS), E.W. Scripps (SSP), Fox (FOXA), Tegna (TGNA), and Cox Enterprises settled with the Justice Department in a case involving alleged sharing of competitively sensitive information related to local ad sales. (Reuters)
A new retail website, Verishop, is going live today, with the goal of bringing "joy back to online shopping," as it goes head-to-head with platforms like Amazon (AMZN). It was created by Snap's former chief strategy officer, Imran Khan, and his wife, Cate Khan, who used to work at Quidsi and Avon. (CNBC)
STOCKS TO WATCH
Alibaba (BABA) announced a major management overhaul, highlighted by putting Chief Financial Officer Maggie Wu in charge of the China e-commerce giant's strategic investments.
Sanofi (SNY) and Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google unit announced a joint venture involving data technology and the delivery of drugs and health services.
Comcast (CMCSA), Charter Communications (CHTR), and Cox Communications announced a joint program to advance targeted advertising technology.
Caesars Entertainment (CZR) shareholder Carl Icahn believes the casino operator's board is demanding too much in buyout talks with Eldorado Resorts (ERI), according to a report in the New York Post.
Bank of America (BAC) was upgraded to "outperform" from "market perform" at BMO Capital, which cites both valuation and its belief that consensus estimates for the bank are too low.
Pinterest (PINS) was rated "outperform" in new coverage at Wedbush, which considers Pinterest as fundamentally different than other social media platforms in its ability to lead to sales of products and services.
WATERCOOLER
Are moviegoers growing tired of franchise films? The summer box office isn't sizzling as much as analysts had hoped in 2019, as tent pole films like "Godzilla: King of Monsters," "Dark Phoenix" and now "Men in Black: International" have dramatically underperformed with audiences. (CNBC)