My top 10 things to watch Wednesday, June 21
1. Classic: President Joe Biden calls Chinese President Xi Jinping a dictator. Could have said dictator-for-life and didn't. Still, angers Xi. A diversion for spies in Cuba? Biden remarks "extremely absurd and irresponsible," says Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson. Huawei and ZTE might be eavesdropping.
2. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is set to testify Wednesday morning before the House Financial Services Committee. In prepared remarks, Powell sees more interest rate hikes and says inflation has a "long way to go." Powell on Thursday will deliver the second part of his semiannual economic update to Congress before the Senate Banking Committee.
3. The Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq open lower Wednesday following back-to-back losing sessions. Bond yields are up Wednesday morning after Powell's prepared comments echoed last week's hawkish pause, which signaled two more hikes this year.
4. Bitcoin makes a remarkable move higher Wednesday as the Securities and Exchange Commission considers BlackRock's (BLK) application for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund. Coinbase (COIN), which has an existing partnership with BlackRock, is listed as the bitcoin custodian for the proposed ETF that was filed last week.
5. FedEx (FDX) lays an egg, or did it? Quarterly earnings beat but revenue miss. The margins improved even as the volumes dropped, which means it could be a coiled spring if it gets things right and volumes increase. FDX shares drop around 3%. Nothing yet from United Parcel Service (UPS) strike but could be meaningful.
6. Strike coming at Club name Ford (F)? Watch the labor talks that begin in July because the new president of the United Automobile Workers, Shawn Fain, is not like the previous leaders of the union. Fain says that billionaire corporations are the real enemy. Ford CEO Jim Farly decries that position.
7. Tesla (TSLA) moving into India, offering some very positive incentives for EVs. CEO Elon Musk meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But, Barclays says enough is enough: Tesla shares have run too far too fast. Though the analysts say there's still a significant long-term opportunity in the stock.
8. Citi analysts boost Club holding Constellation (STZ) price target to $280 per share from $265. Keeps buy rating on the Mexican beer powerhouse behind Corona, Modelo and Pacifico. Citi expects a "solid quarter" when STZ reports earnings a week from Friday. Cites accelerating recent beer scanner numbers.
9. Jefferies' Brent Thill, a good analyst, raises price target on Club holding Amazon (AMZN) to $150 per share from $135. Based on sum-of-the-parts (SOTP) valuation. Keeps buy rating. Lots of momentum. Thill sees better times ahead for Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company's huge cloud unit.
10. Barclays plays catch-up, cutting price target on Club name Disney (DIS) to $88 per share from $107, basically matching the stock's recent decline. Keeps equal weight (hold) rating. Needham says Wall Street is "distinctly negative."
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