Wall Street Backs Off of Records After London Terror Attack, Crude Oil Drop - TheStreet
Wall Street wasn't able to extend a record-breaking streak into a third session on Monday as a terror attack in London and lower oil prices teamed up to take down stocks.
The S&P 500 was down 0.12%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.10%, and the Nasdaq decreased 0.16%.
Still, stocks held close to records with market reaction to terrorism appearing restrained and cautious. Wall Street largely overlooked weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs growth in May on Friday, with major benchmark indexes closing at records for the second day in a row.
"There is little market reaction to another terrorism event in London, and oil is barely budging on a political spat in the Middle East," said James "Rev Shark" Deporre in his daily column over on our premium site for investors, Real Money. Get his insights with a free trial subscription to Real Money.
Seven people have died and 50 more have been injured in a terrorist attack near the busy London Bridge Station in the center of the British capital late Saturday, Metropolitan Police have confirmed. Police said three men drove a white transit van at high speed toward London Bridge just after 10 p.m. local time, deliberately targeting pedestrians before continuing to the busy restaurant and pub district of Borough Market, which was packed with revelers enjoying the unusually warm summer Saturday evening.
"Enough is enough," U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May said in a statement. "There is far too much tolerance of extremism in our country ... we cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are." May said the general election would take place as scheduled on June 8, though campaigning was suspended for the day.
President Donald Trump reacted to the terror attack by criticizing London Mayor Sadiq Khan and railing against "political correctness." In a series of tweets, Trump said, "We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!" The White House had previously asked for Trump's twice-blocked travel "ban" to be reviewed by the Supreme Court.
Scenes from London over the weekend. Trump announced on Monday his intention to push Congress to privatize air traffic control. U.S. airlines and a number of Republicans in Congress support the measure which would remove air traffic control activity from the Federal Aviation Administration's responsibilities.
Market activity should accelerate toward the back half of the week with several catalysts likely to trigger trading. The United Kingdom will hold its general election on Thursday -- Prime Minister Theresa May is still a lead in the polls over Labour's Jeremy Corbyn. Also on Thursday, the European Central Bank will announce a decision on monetary policy. Improving economic data in the eurozone could affect members' growth forecasts.
Finally, former FBI director James Comey will deliver his public testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday. Trump fired Comey earlier in May while the FBI was investigating the Trump transition team's ties to Russia. News reports also indicated that Trump had asked Comey for his loyalty and requested he stop investigating his former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
Apple (AAPL) fell nearly 1% Monday after arare downgrade for the world's biggest tech company by Pacific Crest Securities, which advised clients to buy shares in Google ownerAlphabet (GOOGL) instead. Pacific Securities analyst Andy Hargreaves said that while Apple "anticipates strong performance in the iPhone 8 cycle" it has given "relatively little weight to risks through the cycle or the potential for iPhone sales to decline" in fiscal 2019. Pacific Crest also noted that "recent supply checks suggest iPhone 8 (OLED) may be delayed until October with limited initial supply that ramps through" to the first quarter of Apple's fiscal 2019, which begins on Oct. 1.Hargreaves reduced his view on Apple to sector weight, from a previous rating of overweight, and thinks the stock could fall by $10 over the next year. Apple shares close Friday at $155.45.
TheStreet's Jim Cramer noted the unusual downgrade on his Twitter account early Monday, and in particular questioned the timing of the move, given Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday.
At the conference, the company unveiled a new Apple Watch face powered by Siri. CEO Tim Cook also said Amazon Prime video would be added to Apple TV later in the year.
Apple and Alphabet are holdings in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells AAPL or GOOGL? Learn more now.
Services activity in the U.S. expanded at a slower-than-expected pace in May, according to the Institute for Supply Management. The ISM non-manufacturing index came in at 56.9 in May, down from 57.5 previously. Analysts anticipated a reading of 57.
U.S. factory orders declined as expected in April. The Census Bureau reported a 0.2% decline in orders over April, in-line with consensus, after a 1% increase in March.
First-quarter productivity in the U.S. was left unchanged, while unit labor costs weakened from a previous estimate. U.S. productivity over the first three months of the year was down 0.6%, while output was increased to 1.7% from a previous 1% estimate. Hours worked increased to 1.7% from 1.6%, while unit labor costs fell to 2.2% growth from 3%.
The new Apple Homepod. Four countries -- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt -- have cut diplomatic ties with Qatar over its ties with terrorism. The move escalates a rumbling dispute between Qatar, its sometime partner Iran, and their regional neighbors. Tensions between the country could erode cooperation among the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. OPEC recently agreed to extend their output cut agreement by nine months to address a global supply imbalance.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil gave up earlier gains to fall 0.6% to settle at $47.40 a barrel on Monday.
Herbalife (HLF) fell 6.6% after increasing its current-quarter adjusted profit guidance, but lowering sales forecasts. The company anticipates earnings between 95 cents and $1.15 a share over its current quarter, up from a previous target of 88 cents to $1.08 a share. However, sales are expected to come in 1.5% below previous estimates. Herbalife cited the transition to the new FTC rules in the U.S. along with softness in its Mexico business as reason for lower-than-anticipated revenue.
Forestar (FOR) jumped 12% after homebuilder D.R. Horton (DHI) proposed to purchase a 75% stake in the company for $520 million, or $16.25 a share. The purchase price represents a 14% stake over an existing merger agreement between Forestar and investment firm Starwood Capital Group.
Time Warner (TWX) shares rose slightly after its film Wonder Woman topped the domestic box office over the weekend. The DC comic book film earned $100.5 million in its debut weekend, the best opening in the U.S. for a female-directed movie.
Mallinckrodt (MNK) was one of the worst performers on the S&P 500 following a report from short-seller Citron Research. Citron accuses the company of working with Express Scripts (ESRX) to sell Acthar gel for a large mark-up.
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