1. Wall Street to start the week higher
U.S. stock futures were pointing to additional gains at Monday's open after the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at record highs Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also saw a modest advance Friday but still remained 5.5% away from its Feb. 12 record close. All three major stock measures finished higher for the week.
Apple shares were higher in Monday's premarket after jumping Friday to an intraday high and a record close. The stock gained more than 8% last week. Apple's 4-for-1 stock split will be distributed to shareholders of record at Monday's close, with trading to begin on a split-adjusted basis next Monday.
2. Economists see a chance of a double-dip recession
There's a 1-in-4 chance the economy could fall into a double-dip recession, according to a majority of economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics. Two-thirds of NABE members believe the economy has not yet come out of the recession that started in February.
An update on the state of the economy and insight into the Federal Reserve's extraordinary measures to support growth during the coronavirus crisis will be on display at central bank's annual symposium. Held virtually this year, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell headlines the event Thursday.
3. FDA grants convalescent plasma treatment emergency use
The Trump administration granted emergency authorization of convalescent plasma to treat hospitalized Covid-19 patients. The announcement came on the eve of the Republican National Convention, and some top health officials have said the clinical data is too weak for approval. President Donald Trump said last week the FDA's decision to hold off on the plasma treatment may be politically motivated.
The White House is considering fast tracking an experimental coronavirus vaccine developed in the U.K. for use in the United States before November's presidential election, according to a Financial Times report. The vaccine candidate in question is being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
4. Republicans hold partly virtual convention this week
Republicans will make their case this week that the U.S. economic and political future depends on the reelection of Trump at a partly virtual convention designed to highlight the president's pre-pandemic record and sow doubt about Democratic opponent Joe Biden.
Ahead of Monday's start of the GOP convention, Kellyanne Conway, senior advisor to the president, said Sunday night she will be leaving the White House by the end of the month. Her husband, George Conway, is also leaving his role at the Lincoln Project, a group run by Republican operatives who oppose Trump. Both Conways said they wanted to spend more time with their family.
5. Marco and Laura threaten Gulf Coast of U.S.
The Gulf Coast, home to nearly half of the nation's refineries, prepared this week for a potentially devastating hit as two dangerous storms, Marco and Laura, swirled off shore. Officials fear a history-making onslaught of life-threatening wind and flooding along the coast, stretching from Texas to Alabama. The prospect of piggyback hurricanes was reviving memories Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast 15 years ago, causing as many as 1,800 deaths and catastrophic flooding.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow all the developments on Wall Street in real-time with CNBC's live markets blog. Get the latest on the pandemic with our coronavirus blog.
