Wall Street rewriting record books despite uncertainty in Washington
BY THE NUMBERS
U.S. stock futures were mixed this morning as traders focused on several key economic reports after a long Memorial day weekend. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed Friday at records. today by the S&P would give it its first eight-day win streak since July 2013. (CNBC)
April personal income and consumer spending data will release at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Case-Shiller report on home prices for March will be out at 9:00 a.m. ET. And at 10:00 a.m. ET, the Conference Board's May Consumer Confidence Index is expected to come in at 119, slightly lower than April's 120.3. (CNBC).
IN THE NEWS TODAY
The leader of Venezuela's National Assembly, Julio Borges, threatened that a later government may refuse to pay $2.8 billion in bonds that Goldman Sachs purchased, accusing the bank of trying to "make a quick buck off the suffering of the Venezuelan people." (CNBC)
President Donald Trump reportedly told "confidants," including the head of the EPA, that he plans to leave a landmark international agreement on climate change. (Axios).
A top Russian banker and ally of President Vladimir Putin, Andrei Kostin, accuses the "American elite" of waging a political witch hunt against President Donald Trump, that leaves the two powers in a "very dangerous" situation. (Financial Times)
Confusion surrounding President Donald Trump's trade policies means U.S. companies no longer know the rules of the game, Alan Hassenfeld, a board member and former CEO of Hasbro, told a conference in Portugal. "We don't know whether we are friendly with Mexico, whether we are friendly with Canada, whether we are friendly with China, whether we are friendly with Russia," he said. (Reuters)
President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner was asked by a few individuals to "lay low," in the aftermath of reports and new revelations that he sought to set up a secret back-channel with Russia. (NBC News).
Tiger Woods apologized for his DUI arrest on Monday, saying an unexpected reaction to prescribed medication was to blame. In a statement released by his spokesman, Woods said alcohol was not a factor in his arrest, but added he took full responsibility. (Reuters)
British Airways expects to run a full schedule today at London's Heathrow Airport after a worldwide computer system failure stranded 75,000 passengers over the holiday weekend. On Twitter, BA said it was working with Heathrow to get delayed bags to passengers "as soon as possible." (Reuters)
Citigroup will sell its fixed income analytics and index businesses to the London Stock Exchange for a total cash consideration of $685 million. The deal includes the bank's fixed income analytics platform, yield book and indices such as its world government bond index. (Financial Times)
Greece's finance minister dismisses a report in a German paper which said the country may not make a debt payment in July if creditors can't strike a debt relief deal. Euro zone finance ministers failed to reach an agreement with the IMF last week, but did come close. (Reuters)
STOCKS TO WATCH
Credit Suisse (CS) has been reprimanded by Swiss financial watchdog FINMA over its dealings with Malaysia's state fund 1MDB, which was embroiled in a money-laundering scandal.
Philip Morris (PM), Altria (MO), Reynolds American (RAI) and other tobacco stocks could be affected by a World Health Organization report saying that the tobacco growing process is causing massive harm to the environment.
Canadian National Railway (CNI) reached an agreement with a union representing 3,000 conductors on Monday, narrowly averting a strike deadline that had been set for this morning.
Restaurant Brands International's (QSR) Burger King unit is in hot water with Belgium's King Philippe, over its ad campaign asking Belgians to vote online to "crown" it the true ruler of the country. Burger King is planning to launch in Belgium next month.
PPG Industries (PPG) said it is still considering whether to make another bid for rival paint maker Akzo Nobel. It issued the statement after a court rejected a request by investors in the Dutch company to take action against it for rejecting PPG's overtures.
Activision Blizzard (ATVI) and Electronic Arts (EA) shares could be affected today, following an analysis by gaming data firm SuperData that digital video game sales pulled back from March's record high of $8 billion. April sales totaled $7.7 billion, according to the firm.
WATERCOOLER
Apple is working on a computer chip that would be dedicated to powering artificial intelligence capabilities on its devices. (Bloomberg)
Lyft will ditch its pink mustache ornament in favor of a piece of hardware for connecting drivers and passengers. (CNBC)