NEW YORK (Reuters) &#8211; There have only been two direct listings on the New York Stock Exchange in the last two years. There are about to be two more in a single day.



Data analytics company Palantir Technologies&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/PLTR.N">PLTR.N</a>&nbsp;and workplace software maker Asana Inc&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/ASAN.N">ASAN.N</a>&nbsp;are set to debut on the U.S. stock market on Wednesday bypassing an initial public offering (IPO).



The last direct listing was workplace messaging platform Slack Technologies Inc&#8217;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/WORK.N">WORK.N</a>&nbsp;debut in 2019, which came a year after music-streaming service Spotify Technology SA&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SPOT.N">SPOT.N</a>&nbsp;went public without an IPO.



It is a seminal moment for some investors and corporate executives who have been pushing to shed investment banks as their middlemen. For years, they have criticized IPOs as chummy deals that allowed bankers to allocate the most shares to their top clients.



“Ever since the IPO process has existed, entrepreneurs and their investors have believed that bankers have sub-optimized and taken too much for themselves,” said Ben Narasin, a partner at U.S. venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates.



“If Palantir and Asana are successful, which they should be, more and more companies will return to looking seriously at direct listings,” Narasin added.



IPOs have been on a tear this year, as companies rode the stock market rally that followed the coronavirus-induced slump. Companies have launched almost $50 billion in U.S. IPOs so far in 2020, excluding special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) IPOs. This has already outpaced the haul for all of 2019 and is on track to be the busiest since 2014 and second biggest since 2000.







In 2020, the price of a newly listed company’s shares has risen by an average of 38% on the first day of trading, according to IPOScoop data and Reuters calculations.



This has fueled renewed criticism among investors snubbed by the investment banks underwriting the IPOs, as well as suspicion among some companies that bankers are leaving money on the table in their IPO to help create a first-day trading “pop”.



Phil Hellmuth, an angel tech investor and poker player with over $20 million in career winnings, said in an interview that he tried to buy $500,000 worth of shares in data warehouse company Snowflake Inc&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SNOW.N">SNOW.N</a>&nbsp;during its $3.36 billion IPO earlier this month.



Hellmuth knocked on the door of four hedge funds, acquaintances in Silicon Valley, mutual fund Fidelity, and one of the banks underwriting the Snowflake listing, but had no success getting into what has been this year’s largest IPO. As a result, he missed out when Snowflake’s shares more than doubled in its debut.



“If I can’t get a piece, the average investor has no chance to get a piece,” said Hellmuth.



Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman told Reuters he had no regrets with how the company’s IPO went.Slideshow&nbsp;( 2 images )



Fidelity said it was not possible to ascertain why an investor was unable to participate in an IPO without knowing the customer’s details.



In a direct listing, no shares are sold in advance, as is the case with IPOs. The company’s share price in its market debut is determined by orders coming into the stock exchange.



The downside is that the companies involved cannot raise money, though both NYSE and Nasdaq have requested U.S. regulators allow them to change their rules to allow companies to sell new stock in a direct listing.



This inability to raise funds has so far curbed the enthusiasm for direct listings of many cash-hungry companies, especially during the economic downturn brought about by the pandemic.



“I think we were going to see more direct listings this year but for COVID-19. Many companies that were thinking about a direct listing switched to an IPO for the capital raise aspect,” said Ran Ben-Tzur, a capital markets lawyer at Fenwick &amp; West LLP.







<h2 class="wp-block-heading">NO MONEY RAISED</h2>



Palantir and Asana are two technology companies defying the coronavirus downturn.



Palantir will also be the first direct listing where the majority of shares will be restricted from being sold until after the company reports 2020 earnings early next year. Such lock-up agreements are standard in IPOs but have so far been absent from direct listings and can result in a company achieving a higher valuation.



“Banks have done the math on the impact of not having lock-up agreements in a traditional IPO and believe that without a lock-up structure a company will not able to raise at as high of a valuation because there’s no scarcity of shares,” Ben-Tzur said.



For Asana, whose investors will not be subject to any lock-up restrictions, one reason the company was attracted to a direct listing was the desire for a fairer way to price the shares, according to a person familiar with the matter.



Asana declined to comment.



Kevin Hartz, who took the event-ticketing company he co-founded, Eventbrite Inc&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/EB.N">EB.N</a>, public through an IPO two years ago, said in an interview that more companies are considering alternative ways to go public including direct listings in search of a better price-discovery process.







“It’s still a very broken process for new issuances like the Snowflake IPO. By underpricing, this brought significant dilution. That is not an optimal outcome for the company nor existing investors,” said Hartz.



Both Palantir and Asana hired banks to provide financial advice for their direct listings. On the direct listings done to date, a smaller group of banks have shared a smaller pot of fees.



For its 2019 listing, Slack, which was worth around $23 billion when it started trading, expected to pay $22.1 million in fees to three financial advisers. By comparison, 26 banks earned $85 million in commissions from the 2017 IPO of Snap Inc&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SNAP.N">SNAP.N</a>, which was worth about $31 billion at the time of its public listing.

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Wall Street’s IPO enemies ready one-two punch

(Reuters) &#8211; The Nasdaq was on track for its worst two-day fall since March on Friday as investors dumped heavyweight technology stocks, while concerns around a patchy economic recovery also hit the S&amp;P 500 and the blue-chip Dow.



The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell as much as 9.9% from Wednesday’s all-time record high and the S&amp;P 500 dipped briefly below its February peak.



Mega-cap companies Apple Inc, Microsoft Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Facebook Inc, were down between 1.9% and 3.6%.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/wall-street-1.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-376568" width="703" height="525"/><figcaption>Wall Street, New York</figcaption></figure>



“It’s just position squaring &#8230; not surprising since we’ve seen a pretty sizable run up in the tech space in the last three or four weeks,” said Jack Janasiewicz, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers in Greater Boston Area.



Losses were more pronounced in the Nasdaq, which have powered the stock market’s stellar recovery from the coronavirus-led crash, climbing as much as 82% from March lows. The benchmark S&amp;P 500 and Dow have surged about 60% from their troughs.



Earlier in the day, the Labor Department’s closely watched employment report showed jobless rate fell to 8.4% from 10.2% in July, steeper than economists’ forecast of 9.8%. Nonfarm payrolls, however, increased less than expected last month.



The data added pressure on the White House and Congress to restart stalled negotiations over the next coronavirus relief package to lift the economy out of the worst recession since the Great Depression.



Technology, communication services and consumer discretionary indexes posted the steepest percentage declines among the major S&amp;P sectors.







Underperforming value stocks including banks and airlines rose between 1.0% and 1.6%. Both the indexes are down more than 30% this year.



“There are segments of the cyclical trade that you might be starting to see some rotation in to, but I don’t think it’s the big picture value-growth trade reversal yet,” Janasiewicz said.



Fund managers warned Thursday’s declines may be a preview of a rocky two months ahead as institutional investors return from summer vacations and refocus on potential economic pitfalls.



The run-up to the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election is also expected to add to the volatility.



Wall Street’s fear gauge hit a more than 11-week high earlier in the session.



At 12:58 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 303.91 points, or 1.07%, at 27,988.82 and the S&amp;P 500 was down 48.08 points, or 1.39%, at 3,406.98. The Nasdaq Composite was down 261.35 points, or 2.28%, at 11,196.75.



The S&amp;P 500 and Dow were headed for their worst two-day decline since mid-June.



Broadcom Inc gained 3.5% after the Apple Inc supplier forecast fourth-quarter revenue above analysts’ estimates.



Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 2.26-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 2.76-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.



The S&amp;P index recorded no new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 19 new highs and 84 new lows.

wall street

Tech rout deepens, Nasdaq set for worst two-day fall since March

(Reuters) &#8211; The S&amp;P 500 rose on Friday, extending a six-day rally led by technology stocks as the prospect of super-low interest rates for a prolonged period and bets on a medical solution to the COVID-19 pandemic spurred risk appetite.



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The tech sector’s 0.7% rise provided the biggest boost to the benchmark index. Energy stocks advanced 0.6% as hurricane Laura passed the heart of the U.S. oil industry in Louisiana and Texas without causing any widespread damage to refineries.



The Federal Reserve on Thursday unveiled a plan to support inflation and restore the U.S. economy from its biggest downturn since the Great Depression.



Data on Friday showed U.S. consumer spending increased more than expected in July, though momentum is likely to ebb as the COVID-19 pandemic lingers and fiscal stimulus dries up with no sight of the next round of coronavirus relief package.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">RELATED COVERAGE</h4>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-themes-graphic/take-five-sayonara-abenomics-idUSKBN25O1SD">Take Five: Sayonara Abenomics?</a></li></ul>



“There’s no question consumer spending is going to be under some stress until we get additional fiscal support,” said Albert Brenner, director of asset allocation strategy at People’s United Advisors in Bridgeport, Connecticut.



The S&amp;P 500 and the Nasdaq have scaled record highs and the benchmark is on track for its best August in 34 years, partly powered by a rally in technology stocks, while the blue-chip Dow traded above the break-even level for 2020.



“We’d like to see a sort of a broadening of (stocks in the rally); that would indicate to us some greater confidence of market participants in the economic recovery,” Brenner said.



Progress in the race to develop treatments and vaccines for COVID-19 have also added to the cheer. Johnson &amp; Johnson’s Janssen unit said it would expand testing for its experimental coronavirus vaccine to Spain, the Netherlands and Germany next week.



Meanwhile, the U.S. election campaign entered its final stretch with U.S. President Donald Trump’s Republican nomination for a second term. Analysts expect market volatility to increase again ahead of voting in November.



At 9:57 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 77.58 points, or 0.27%, at 28,569.85, the S&amp;P 500 was up 8.77 points, or 0.25%, at 3,493.32. The Nasdaq Composite was up 63.60 points, or 0.55%, at 11,688.94.



United Airlines rose 1.9% as it prepared for the biggest pilot furloughs of its history, a day after announcing the need to cut 21% jobs this year.



Coca-Cola Co gained 0.8% as it announced plans to nearly halve its operating units and offer voluntary separation to 4,000 workers.



In the latest sign that technology companies are booming in the pandemic, business software provider Workday Inc jumped 13.2% after raising its annual subscription forecast and Dell Technologies Inc gained 6.9% after reporting a quarterly profit beat.



Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.19-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.65-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.



The S&amp;P index recorded 12 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 43 new highs and nine new lows.

Tech stocks extend S&P 500’s rally to seventh straight session

(Reuters) &#8211; Fear is ebbing on Wall Street, with stocks on a bull run in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic.



The Cboe Volatility Index , known as Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” is near its lowest level since late February and options markets are showing diminishing concerns of a near-term drop in equities.



The S&amp;P 500&#8217;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.SPX">.SPX</a>&nbsp;run to fresh highs has come as some of Wall Street&#8217;s biggest banks, including Goldman Sachs, UBS Global Wealth Management and Morgan Stanley, turn more bullish on stocks and are urging clients to remain exposed to equities. The index ended at a record high on Tuesday, confirming a bull market, according to one definition.



Investors may well heed their advice: nearly 80% of fund managers surveyed by BofA Global Research, the highest level in more than a decade, expect the global economy to grow over the next year. The survey also showed falling allocations to cash, another sign of increasing bullishness.



The growing optimism is in contrast to the fear and gloom that prevailed on Wall Street only months ago, after the S&amp;P 500 plunged 34% in just 23 trading days and the economy entered a recession that would turn out to be its worst since the Great Depression.



Although financial pain remains acute for many Americans, monetary support from the Federal Reserve and expectations for advances in fighting the coronavirus pandemic have made investors more confident in betting on the future, said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial.



“You have a market that sees that we’re getting closer and closer to a more normal world,” she said.



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Options markets are among the areas reflecting fading investor worries. Demand for protection against drops in U.S. equities of 30% or more has fallen as volatility has eased in recent months, said Paul Sandhu, BNP Paribas Asset Management’s head of multi-assets quant solutions in the Asia-Pacific region.



“The fear has definitely lessened over the (past) couple of months,” he said.



Meanwhile, selling of protective put options in individual stocks is up over the past week, said Christopher Murphy, co-head of derivatives strategy at Susquehanna Financial Group. Put sellers profit if the underlying stock does not drop to a specified level.



The put selling suggests investors are less worried about the downside, Murphy said.



In futures markets, net long equity positioning is now at its highest level since early March, with increases in both large-cap and small-cap stocks, Deutsche Bank data showed.



The increasingly bullish positioning dovetails with the messages coming from big Wall Street banks. Goldman Sachs, for instance, raised its year-end target for the S&amp;P 500 earlier this week to 3,600 from 3,000, citing expectations for outsized growth in U.S. corporate earnings and gross domestic product next year.



Stocks have dipped since Tuesday, but several market strategists said they saw the pullback as routine rather than a sign that equities had been overbought.



Yet there are plenty of reasons for investors to be nervous and some remain skeptical of buying near all-time highs.



One concern is the potential of market volatility stemming from delayed or contested results in November&#8217;s U.S. presidential election. The Dow Jones Industrial Average&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.DJI">.DJI</a>&nbsp;fell 5% in two weeks on the heels of a vote recount in the 2000 presidential election, UBS noted.



Other risks include a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, delays in a vaccine or delays by lawmakers in providing more stimulus to the still-ailing economy.



Some of that uncertainty has been reflected in the price of gold, a popular haven that has climbed to record highs this month. Prices recently got an additional boost after Berkshire Hathaway Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/BRKa.N">BRKa.N</a>) disclosed a stake in Barrick Gold Corp (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/ABX.TO">ABX.TO</a>).



Still, some investors believe the prospect of economic recovery now outweighs those risks. Keith Lerner, chief market strategist at Truist/SunTrust Advisory Services, is maintaining an overweight position in U.S. equities.



“We’re not taking anything off the table,” he said. “We’re staying with the primary trend, which is still higher.”

Fear fading on Wall Street as investors learn to love the new bull market

NEW YORK (Reuters) &#8211; Investors are girding their portfolios for market moves ahead of the U.S. presidential vote, as election season kicks into higher gear with the Democratic National Convention in the coming week.



Though elections have loomed large on investors’ radar this year, their influence on markets has taken a backseat to the coronavirus pandemic and unprecedented stimulus from U.S. policymakers.



That may change in coming weeks, investors said. Some are beefing up cash positions or making bets on a flare-up in volatility as they eye a range of outcomes, including the possibility that the contest between President Donald Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden may yield a result that is not immediately certain or likely to be disputed.



“There’s plenty of reasons to believe that the election outcome is going to be drawn out,” said Lamar Villere, a portfolio manager at Villere &amp; Co. “That’s going to show the cracks in a market that’s been priced for perfection.”



Villere’s firm has raised its cash levels to as high as 20% of assets as a hedge against election-induced volatility in a stock market some say has become richly valued &#8211; the S&amp;P 500 has rallied more than 50% from its lows of the year and trades at its highest forward price-to-earnings multiple in around two decades.



Some investors believe the market’s performance over the next few months could point to which candidate will triumph in November.



The incumbent president has tended to win the White House when the S&amp;P 500 index has risen in the three months before the election, data from TD Securities going back to 1930 showed.



That may be bad news for Trump. While the index is up about 3% for this month, August kicks off what has historically been the weakest three-month stretch of the year for equities, where the average historic return stands at about 0%, according to data from BofA Global Research.



At the same time, no incumbent has been awarded a second term in the midst of a recession, TD securities wrote.



Biden leads Trump by 8 percentage points, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday after Biden had selected U.S. Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate.



A Biden victory &#8211; as well as a possible Democratic sweep of the House and Senate &#8211; could threaten policies championed by Trump and generally favored by Wall Street, including lower corporate tax rates and fewer regulations, analysts said.



“The full implications of a future Biden presidency could unsettle markets in the first instance,” analysts at Oxford Economics said in a recent note.



A proposed corporate tax rate increase to 28% could shave about 5.5% off 2021 S&amp;P 500 earnings, lower capital spending by around $50 billion and lead to a $100 billion decline in stock buybacks, according to J.P.Morgan.



At the same time, a Biden administration would likely move away from Trump’s trade tariffs in Europe and China, helping international and emerging market stocks outperform U.S. equities in the year ahead, said Stuart Katz, chief investment officer of Robertson Stephens Wealth Management.



At least one of Biden’s flagship policies &#8211; a $2 trillion increase in infrastructure spending &#8211; could further weigh on the already weakened U.S. dollar, Oxford Economics said.



A Trump re-election, meanwhile, could allay concerns over higher taxes but spark renewed fears of U.S.-China trade tensions, said Stephen Innes, Chief Global Market Strategist at AxiCorp.



A second term for Trump could also be positive for oil and gas companies which may benefit from a further relaxation of Obama-era regulations, Innes said.



Investors should also prepare for the possibility that the president could cast doubt on the veracity of the vote or pull out of the race altogether, wrote Joseph Amato, CIO of equities at Neuberger Berman, said in a recent note.



Trump escalated fears of a contested election in a late July tweet, suggesting the election be delayed until people can “properly, securely and safely vote.”



“The further behind he is in the polls, the more provocative his decision-making could become,” Amato wrote.

Wall Street Week Ahead: Biden victory? Disputed election? Wall Street prices in November outcomes

(Reuters) &#8211; Shares of Eastman Kodak Co (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/KODK.N">KODK.N</a>) fell about 40% on Monday and were on track for their worst single-day decline after the U.S. government blocked a $765 million loan to the company, which was going to make drug ingredients for use in possible COVID-19 vaccines, because of “alleged wrongdoing” by executives.



The U.S. International Development Finance Corp (DFC) was slated to grant the loan to Eastman Kodak, which is looking to move deeper into the pharmaceutical arena.



But alarms were raised after senior Democratic lawmakers asked federal regulators to investigate securities transactions made by the company and its executives around the time it learned it could receive the government loan.



U.S. President Donald Trump said last week the government would investigate the circumstances surrounding the announcement of the loan.



“Recent allegations of wrongdoing raise serious concerns,” U.S. International Development Finance Corp (DFC) said late on Friday in a tweet.



The company’s shares have soared more than five-fold, with retail traders on the popular Robinhood trading app piling into the stock since DFC announced it would sign a letter of interest to provide the loan to the company.



More than 900 million shares have exchanged hands since the loan announcement, nearly 12 times the company’s outstanding shares.



Shares of the company were down 39.50% at $9 in pre-market trading on Monday.

Snap ! Kodak shares plunge after U.S. blocks $765 million loan deal

(Reuters) &#8211; The S&amp;P 500 and Dow rose on Monday, as investors rotated into value stocks from heavyweight tech-focused companies while awaiting word on progress in the fiscal support bill for the country’s battered economy.FILE PHOTO: The 11 Wall St. door of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is seen in New York City, New York, U.S., June 26, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid



The Nasdaq&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.IXIC">.IXIC</a>, which hit a record high every day of last week, was dragged lower by Microsoft Corp (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/MSFT.O">MSFT.O</a>), Amazon.com Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/AMZN.O">AMZN.O</a>) and Facebook Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/FB.O">FB.O</a>). The Dow index touched a more than five-month high, boosted by growth-linked industrial and financials stocks.



Bets on a potential coronavirus vaccine, historic fiscal and monetary support, and more recently, a better-than-expected second quarter earnings season have brought the S&amp;P 500 to within 1% of its February record high.



“Particularly for many people who missed the rally, (cyclicals) is the only place where you can still find value,” said Thomas Hayes, managing member at Great Hill Capital Llc in New York.



All three indexes opened higher after U.S. President Donald Trump signed executive orders that partly restored enhanced unemployment benefits after talks between the White House and top Democrats in Congress about fresh stimulus broke down last week.



U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, in an interview to CNBC on Monday, said the Trump administration and Congress could reach an agreement as soon as this week if Democrats are “reasonable.”



Value stocks, which tend to outperform growth coming out of a recession, have gotten a lift in recent days. The Russell 1000 value .RLV index rose 0.7% on Monday, while the Russell 1000 growth .RLG index slipped 0.3%.



“It’s going to take a while before we can see some real good growth, but the market seems to be betting otherwise,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.



At 13:03 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.DJI">.DJI</a>&nbsp;was up 272.55 points, or 0.99%, at 27,706.03, the S&amp;P 500&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.SPX">.SPX</a>&nbsp;was up 6.08 points, or 0.18%, at 3,357.36. The Nasdaq Composite&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.IXIC">.IXIC</a>&nbsp;was down 41.80 points, or 0.38%, at 10,969.18.



Energy .SPNY and industrials .SPLRCI, among the worst performers this year, led gains among major S&amp;P sectors. Technology .SPLRCT and communication services .SPLRCL fell about 0.8% each.



Among individual movers, Eastman Kodak Co (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/KODK.N">KODK.N</a>) sank 27.5% after its $765-million loan agreement with the U.S. government to produce pharmaceutical ingredients was put on hold due to “recent allegations of wrongdoing.”



Microsoft Corp (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/MSFT.O">MSFT.O</a>) fell 2.2% as sources said its bid to carve out parts of TikTok from its Chinese owner ByteDance will be a technically complex endeavor.



Mall owner Simon Property Group (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SPG.N">SPG.N</a>) rose 7.3% after a report that it has been in talks with Amazon.com Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/AMZN.O">AMZN.O</a>) about turning some of its department-store sites into Amazon fulfillment centers. The company’s quarterly results are due after markets close on Monday.



Nike (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/NKE.N">NKE.N</a>) surged 4.4% to a record high after footwear retailer Foot Locker (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/FL.N">FL.N</a>), to which Nike supplies, said same-store sales increased about 18% in the second quarter. Foot Locker shares rose 6.3%.



Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.60-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.66-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.



The S&amp;P index recorded 36 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 95 new highs and nine new lows.

Wall Street mixed with stimulus in focus; Dow hits over five-month high

NEW YORK (Reuters) &#8211; U.S. stocks climbed on Wednesday on the heels of a surprise quarterly profit from Disney and as investors stayed optimistic that a deal was near for a U.S. coronavirus fiscal aid package.



Walt Disney Co’s (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/DIS.N">DIS.N</a>) shares jumped, to put it among the biggest boosts to the S&amp;P 500 and Dow. The stock notched its biggest daily percentage gain since March 24 as revenue declines for Disney parks and media networks were not as bad as feared.



“That is helping the Dow and that has been a laggard versus the S&amp;P this year, but it is more than that,” said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird in Milwaukee. “At a time when everyone is talking about how big and how important these megacaps are to the S&amp;P, kind of quietly you are starting to see a little bit of a leadership rotation.”



Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.DJI">.DJI</a>&nbsp;rose 373.71 points, or 1.39%, to 27,202.18, the S&amp;P 500&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.SPX">.SPX</a>&nbsp;gained 21.52 points, or 0.65%, to 3,328.03 and the Nasdaq Composite&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.IXIC">.IXIC</a>&nbsp;added 58.22 points, or 0.53%, to 10,999.39.



Square Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SQ.N">SQ.N</a>) surged after the payments processor reported a 64% rise in second-quarter revenue, as consumers increased online buying and used its peer-to-peer Cash App platform during the pandemic.



As quarterly results have come in better-than-feared and heavyweight technology and technology-related companies have surged, a heavy dose of fiscal and monetary stimulus have helped fuel a rally in equities to bring the S&amp;P 500 to less than 2% from its closing record on Feb. 19.



With 384 companies in the S&amp;P having reported earnings through Wednesday morning, results are coming in 23.5% above expectations, in aggregate, according to Refinitiv data, the highest on record back to 1994.



Economic data painted a mixed picture, as U.S. services industry activity gained momentum in July, according to an ISM survey, with new orders jumping to a record high. However, hiring declined, supporting views that a recovery in the labor market was faltering.



Earlier, the ADP National Employment Report, which can be an inconsistent precursor to the government payrolls report set for Friday, showed U.S. private employers hired far fewer workers than expected last month.



“We know we had this tremendous rebound off the lows but what we need now is sustained strength,” said Delwiche.



U.S. Congressional Democrats and White House officials were set to resume negotiations on coronavirus relief legislation on Wednesday, with administration officials aiming for an agreement by Friday.



Financials .SPSY, industrials .SPLRCI and materials .SPLRCM, that track economic growth, outperformed among the major S&amp;P sectors.



Teladoc Health Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/TDOC.N">TDOC.N</a>) fell after agreeing to buy chronic care provider Livongo Health Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/LVGO.O">LVGO.O</a>) in a deal valuing the company at $18.5 billion, betting on a boom in online care and consultations spurred by the coronavirus crisis. Livongo shares also fell.



Electric truck maker Nikola Corp NKLA.O slumped after it reported a bigger quarterly loss in its first results as a listed entity.



Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by David Gregorio

Wonderful world of Disney boosts Wall Street

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) &#8211; Twitter Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/TWTR.N">TWTR.N</a>) on Thursday reported its highest-ever yearly growth of daily users who can view ads, beating analysts’ estimates on usage and sending its shares up 4%.



Twitter’s average monetizable daily active users (mDAU) increased 34% year over year to 186 million, above analysts’ estimate of 176 million, in a rise it said was primarily driven by external factors such as shelter-in-place requirements and increased conversation around the COVID-19 pandemic.



But the company missed Wall Street’s lowered expectations for quarterly revenue, as the coronavirus-spurred economic slowdown battered the company’s largely events-oriented digital ads business.





Ad sales, which make up 82% of Twitter’s revenue, sank 23% to $562 million, a drop the company attributed to brand spending pauses tied to the pandemic and U.S. civil unrest. Analysts had expected $585 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.



Chief Executive Jack Dorsey opened a conference call with analysts by apologizing for the hack that compromised the accounts of high-profile users last week, saying “we feel terrible.” In a statement, Dorsey said Twitter had taken steps to improve its security and “resiliency against targeted social engineering attempts.”



Total revenue came in at $683 million, down 19% year-over-year, helped by steadier sales growth from the licensing of users’ posts to researchers and marketers.



Twitter has struggled to build out its ad offerings, leaving it reliant on a suite of promotional tools geared toward advertising around big events and product launches, which have all but vanished during the pandemic.



The company said it finished rebuilding its ad management technology in the second quarter, which would support faster development of new formats going forward, and was rolling out measurement tools for “direct response” ads used by app developers.



On the conference call, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal declined to give details about the impact of a July social media advertising boycott that was intially focused on Facebook (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/FB.O">FB.O</a>) but spread to other platforms. Dorsey said Twitter’s actions to protect conversations on the platform were being noted by advertisers.



Twitter also said it was exploring “subscriptions and other approaches to complement our advertising business,” such as commerce, though it was not expecting any revenue to result this year Dorsey said on the call that the company would have a “really high bar for when we would ask consumers to pay for aspects of Twitter.”



The company reported a second-quarter loss of $1.2 billion, largely driven by the reversal of a tax benefit established last year, when the company transferred intellectual property to Ireland. Because of the second quarter’s steep coronavirus-related losses, Twitter did not make enough money to take advantage of the tax benefit.



Adjusted to exclude the tax considerations, the company incurred a loss of $127 million, or 16 cents per share, roughly in line with analyst expectations of a $125 million loss. It had an adjusted profit last year of $37 million.



Echoing earlier guidance, Twitter said it expects data licensing revenue to “moderate” for the rest of the year.



Costs and expenses grew 5% to $807 million, below the increase in the low teens that Twitter had forecast. The company said it anticipated expense growth of 10% or more in the third quarter.



Social media rival Snap Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SNAP.N">SNAP.N</a>) missed user growth estimates earlier this week, as its usage bump from coronavirus lockdowns petered out sooner than expected, but it beat targets for revenue gains.

Wall Street retweets: Twitter shares rise on record yearly growth in daily users

NEW YORK (Reuters) &#8211; Investors are searching for bargains in the world of U.S. small-caps, as the beaten-down asset class prepares for what may be the worst earnings season in its history amid a resurgent coronavirus pandemic.



Small-cap companies are expected to post a year-over-year earnings declines of approximately 90% as companies report their second-quarter results over the next several weeks, compared to a 67% hit for mid-caps and 44% for large-caps, according to Jefferies. That would be the largest drop since the fourth quarter of 2008, data from S&amp;P Dow Jones Indices showed.



While some investors had counted on a third-quarter rebound, many are now concerned that potential coronavirus-fueled economic shutdowns in California, Florida and Texas will deal a disproportionate hit to smaller firms, which are more directly tied to domestic spending and have been among the biggest beneficiaries of stimulus measures delivered by the Federal Reserve and Congress.



People fear a “‘Night of the Living Dead’ of small-cap companies that would otherwise go bankrupt without the benefit of the stimulus and record-low interest rates,” said Brian Jacobsen, senior investment strategist at Wells Fargo Asset Management.



Small-cap stocks are often considered a barometer of investor sentiment and tend to be among the first to recover in an economic revival. Their lackluster performance this year has led to concerns over the sustainability of a nascent recovery in unemployment and other key metrics after devastating declines.



The Russell 2000 index of small-cap companies is down approximately 12% for the year to date, compared with a less than 1% decline in the S&amp;P 500 index, according to Refinitiv data. The Russell 2000 is up just 16.5% over the last 5 years, compared with an approximately 52% gain in the S&amp;P 500.



There are signs that recent economic gains may already be faltering. Real-time measures of the economy such as retail foot traffic and employee work hours have stalled recently, as states have implemented new restrictions to try to halt the spread of coronavirus pandemic.



Still, some investors believe a patient approach will win out over time.



Jon Christensen, a portfolio manager at Kayne Anderson Rudnick, said the recent jump in coronavirus cases will likely make small-caps more volatile until there is a vaccine or effective treatment.



As a result, Christensen is buying companies he believes will outperform over the next three years, despite recent hits to their share prices. He recently added shares of daycare provider Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/BFAM.N">BFAM.N</a>), which are down 23.1% for the year to date.



“Over the long term, even if we have more people working from home we know that Bright Horizon centers will continue to benefit from people needing childcare away from home,” he said.



Joe Van Cavage, a portfolio manager at Intrepid Capital, is focusing on companies that were gaining market share ahead of the economic shutdowns. He has purchased shares of discount retailers Burlington Stores Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/BURL.N">BURL.N</a>) and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/OLLI.O">OLLI.O</a>), which he believes could benefit from a prolonged economic recession as consumers trade down and spend less.



With fewer companies providing earnings guidance, “we say ‘Let’s stay on the edge of the storm and see what we can scoop up and not fly into the middle and try to hold onto dear life,” he said.

WEEKEND READ: Wall Street Week Ahead: Fund managers navigate ‘Night of the Living Dead’ in small caps

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NEW YORK (Reuters) &#8211; Wall Street’s three major indexes gained ground on Monday with the biggest boost from technology stocks as investors appeared to look past the potential economic impact of rising coronavirus cases in the United States and other major economies.



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FILE PHOTO: Traders exit the 11 Wall St. door of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, New York, U.S., June 11, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid



The World Health Organization reported a record rise in global coronavirus cases on Sunday, driving demand for perceived safe havens including gold and longer-term U.S. Treasuries. [US/][GOL/]



While New York City on Monday celebrated the lifting of many coronavirus restrictions, a dozen states in the U.S. South and Southwest reported record increases in new cases with 10% to 20% of people testing positive in some.



However White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told CNBC earlier in the day that there was no second wave of the pandemic and that it is unlikely there will be widespread shutdowns across the country.



Investors were also looking past the current quarter and into 2021, when earnings are expected to start improving according to Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA.



Analysts expect a 42.7% drop in earnings per share for the second quarter, according to estimates gathered by Refinitiv.



“It can’t get much worse than this. People are hoping that and concluding that you can’t injure yourself by falling out of a basement window,” said Stovall.



But he asked, “How can you really get optimistic about what you don’t know? &#8230; Wall Street looks to the other side of the valley but we still don’t know how low or wide the valley is.”



At 2:18 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 72.31 points, or 0.28%, to 25,943.77, the S&amp;P 500 gained 12.51 points, or 0.40%, to 3,110.25 and the Nasdaq Composite added 80.83 points, or 0.81%, to 10,026.96.



Of the S&amp;P’s 11 major sectors, technology was leading with a 1.6% gain. However the next biggest gainer was the defensive utilities sector, up 1.3%, suggesting that investors were not throwing all caution to the wind.



The market took a step back on Friday after Apple Inc’s move to temporarily shut some U.S. stores again underscored concerns of a delay in the recovery.



But Apple shares were up more than 2% on Monday and trading at record highs as the company announced new products at its annual conference for software developers.



Travel-related stocks were some of the weakest as investors in those companies have been hit hard in the past by the virus lockdowns.



The S&amp;P 1500 airlines index dropped 0.7%, while shares of cruise operators Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean Cruises both tumbled about 7%.



The S&amp;P 500 has climbed some 42% from its March lows and the Nasdaq hit a record high earlier this month thanks to trillions of dollars in monetary and fiscal support, the reopening of businesses and improving economic data.



The S&amp;P 500 was last about 8% off its Feb. 19 record high.



U.S.-based meat processor Tyson Inc slipped 2.8% as China’s customs authority suspended imports of poultry products from a plant owned by the company that had been hit by the coronavirus.



American Airlines Group Inc fell 7% as it planned to secure $3.5 billion in new financing by selling shares and convertible senior notes to boost liquidity.Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc soared 12.5% as it signed up with NASA to develop a program to promote private missions to the International Space Station.



Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.06-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.04-to-1 ratio favored advancers.



The S&amp;P 500 posted 12 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 110 new highs and seven new lows.

COVID-19: Investing for Roubini’s Greater Depression

Wall Street rises as investors look beyond rising virus cases – Reuters

By Dr Adrian Saville, CE, Cannon Asset Managers



In September 2006, economics professor Nouriel Roubini warned an incredulous audience of fellow economists at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the US housing market was at risk of collapsing – an event that could ruin the global financial system. This was at a time when the global economy had recorded its fastest patch of growth in 30 years and, in the space of a decade, US house prices had doubled, making for the sturdiest gain in house prices in the post-war era.



Unfortunately, Roubini was right. Soon after his address, the global financial crisis (GFC) struck, and the little-known scholar of emerging markets quickly became the Wall Street celebrity “Dr Doom”.



The lessons learned from the GFC encouraged policymakers worldwide to work furiously to get economies back into shape through a series of fierce and co-ordinated policy responses to the impacts of Covid-19. In turn, this has encouraged a consensus view amongst economists that the recovery from the crisis will be V-shaped. Wall Street&nbsp; agrees, with the S&amp;P500 and NASDAQ having rebounded sharply since March’s meltdown. In fact, it seems that markets anticipate that the bold responses from the world’s leading policymakers will produce an equally fierce rebound in economies and earnings.



Groundhog Day



Yet, as if trapped in the tragicomedy of Groundhog Day, Dr Doom again disagrees with this consensus, and suggests the economic trajectory is likely to be L-shaped. Admittedly, Roubini expects an economic rebound in the pandemic’s immediate aftermath, but insists that this recovery will quickly collapse beneath the weight of the global economy’s accumulated debts, giving rise to the prospect of an economic depression.



It’s tempting to dismiss Roubini as having been “spectacularly right” the first time because he was banging on the disaster drum for many years before the GFC struck. But there is more than enough evidence in the post-pandemic makeup to suggest that we should be paying close attention to a depression scenario.



Markers for concern include a collapse in vehicle sales; the imposition of trade barriers to protect domestic markets; falling commodity prices; a wave of consumer debt thanks to easy money; a dive in the federal funds rate; a surge in unemployment; sharp market swings; deepening fiscal deficits; and the risk of a deflationary price spiral.



The risk is that Roubini is right



This list bears eerie similarity to the features that characterised the Great Depression of the 1930s. So, in deliberating on Roubini’s diagnosis and the implications for policymakers and investors, the risk is not that he is wrong, but that he is right.



We ignore this risk at our peril. In depression scenarios, conventional economic policy stops working, and markets behave differently. For example, in terms of policy, economists Lawrence Summers and J. Bradford DeLong have shown the importance of fiscal expansion – rather than fiscal prudence – in depressions.



Depressions also offer a good reason to seek and maintain some price inflation. Nominal interest rates of zero can’t be lowered much further. But the real rate of interest – the nominal interest rate minus expected inflation – can be taken far below zero by policies that push inflation rates higher.



Positioning portfolios for a depression scenario, then, means preparing for a world of higher rates of price inflation, government spending stimuli, nominal interest rates of zero, and negative real interest rates.



Diversify, diversify, diversify …



In this world, the first three rules of investing must be enforced with the strictest discipline: diversify, diversify, diversify. Portfolio diversification is a free lunch available to every investor, and the surest form of risk management.



We don’t know how or when the pandemic period will end – and we can’t be sure that Roubini is right. But diversifying your portfolio across asset classes, geographies, currencies and industries has a surer prospect of getting you to your investment destination than investment decisions that, in the absence of diversification, could be perfectly right or exactly wrong. This means gold and growth assets, not gold or growth assets; it means China and the US, not China or the US; and it means healthcare and resource stocks, not healthcare or resource stocks.



… and look for transformative assets



Additionally, investors should consider investing in transformative assets. If Roubini is right, it’s likely that even in an environment of hardship and misery, investments that are inclusive, co-operative, and collaborative will thrive. Covid-19 bonds could be one such asset, where issuers include the African Development Bank, or even the Bank of America, which has come to market with a $1 billion four-year Covid-19 bond to fund lending to hospitals, nursing facilities and healthcare manufacturers.



Then there are transformative businesses that will do better in hard times by doing good business, taking the place of current portfolios winners. In March, Kenyan telecom operator Safaricom made all person-to-person transactions under 1,000 Kenyan shillings free on the mobile money service M-Pesa. Near term, this put one-quarter of Safaricom’s revenue at risk, but long term is likely to entrench the business’s position in the payments market. Likewise, British restaurant chain Leon has reinvented itself by converting 57 sites into shops selling groceries and takeaway meals, saving 1,500 jobs and looking after 70 suppliers.



In other words, depression times do not spell the end for businesses or investors. Rather, as Joseph Schumpeter implores, our task is to create out of the destruction, by redesigning, reinforcing and reinventing.



For more coverage on COVID-19 visit: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/covid-19/">https://www.cnbcafrica.com/covid-19/</a>

Key Points



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>A “bear market” is when stocks see a 20 percent decline or more from a recent high — but they’re also marked by overall pessimism on Wall Street.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Since World War II, bear markets have lasted 13 months on average, and stock markets tend to lose 30.4 percent of their value.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>During those conditions it usually takes stocks an average 22 months to recover, according to analysis from Goldman Sachs and CNBC.</li></ul>



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It’s helpful to know what a “bear market” is, because based on history it looks like we could be here for a while.



The term on Wall Street is synonymous with serious, long-lasting declines in stock markets. In numeric terms, a bear market is a 20 percent or more drop from a recent peak.



The hit that milestone on Monday, dropping 20 percentfrom its 52-week high. Markets have stumbled through what is usually one of their best months of the year, with indexes on track for their <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/17/worst-start-to-december-for-the-stock-market-since-great-depression.html">worst December performances since 1931, during the Great Depression</a>.



Aside from a percentage drop, there are other, more emotional ways to measure a bear market.



Pessimism tends to prevail. When good news isn’t enough to hold off sellers and despite solid economic conditions, markets continue to tank — that’s a bear market. The glass-half-full scenario is often overlooked, and any positive news seems to be forgotten by the close of trading.



In December, oversold markets have struggled to make a comeback, suggesting that investors are worried about something bigger. Still, economic fundamentals are not giving red flags of a recession, which is usually a necessary condition for a full-fledged bear market.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/yeezy.1545664055081-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-362964" width="694" height="169" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/yeezy.1545664055081-1.png 596w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/yeezy.1545664055081-1-300x73.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 694px) 100vw, 694px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">When do stocks bounce back?</h2>



If this bear market is anything like the last time, it could take some time to recover.



Since World War II, bear markets on average have fallen 30.4 percent and have lasted 13 months, according to analysis by Goldman Sachs and CNBC. When that milestone has been hit, it took stocks an average of 21.9 months to recover.



Even when stocks enter “correction” territory, which is defined by at least a 10 percent drop from a recent high, there’s a long road to recovery. History shows corrections last four months, and equities slide 13 percent before finding a bottom.



Traders have a laundry list of things to watch heading into next year. The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates, making it more expensive to borrow money. Last week, the central bank hiked its benchmark interest rate for a fourth time this year while Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signaled it would continue to unwind its balance sheet at the current pace.



Investors are also focused on tense trade talks with China, a government shutdown that could last through the end of this week and oil prices.



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(CNBC’s Michael Santoli contributed to this report.)



This article was first published on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/24/whats-a-bear-market-and-how-long-do-they-usually-last-.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/24/whats-a-bear-market-and-how-long-do-they-usually-last-.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

COVID-19: South Africa eases lockdown to revive battered economy

We are now in a bear market — here’s what that means

Lukman Otunuga, Research Analyst | FXTM
Global equity bears marched into Thursday’s trading session with a mission to sow chaos across stock markets, as fears mount over a potential global trade war.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-9513 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/stock_exchange_board_-_aids_research.jpg" alt="JSE’s top performing stocks in March 2015" width="1365" height="1024" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/stock_exchange_board_-_aids_research.jpg 1365w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/stock_exchange_board_-_aids_research-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/stock_exchange_board_-_aids_research-820x615.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/stock_exchange_board_-_aids_research-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/stock_exchange_board_-_aids_research-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/stock_exchange_board_-_aids_research-160x120.jpg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1365px) 100vw, 1365px" />
&nbsp;
Asian stocks were mostly depressed during early trading thanks to risk aversion, and this caution could trickle down into the European markets. With Wall Street pummelled by rising fears of U.S protectionism on Wednesday, U.S stocks are at risk of extending losses this afternoon if the negative sentiment prevails. Risk aversion could become a dominant market theme moving forward, as concerns intensify over escalating trade tensions negatively impacting global growth.
Sterling supported by Dollar weakness…
The story around Sterling’s appreciation this week continues to revolve around a weakening U.S Dollar.
With investor appetite for the British Pound limited amid Brexit uncertainty, bulls are finding it increasingly difficult to keep prices buoyed. While Dollar weakness has the ability to support the GBPUSD in the near term, price action suggests some fatigue is already starting to take place, with bears lingering in the vicinity. Taking a look at the technical picture, Sterling’s appreciation has been halted on two occasions this week by the stubborn gatekeeper known as 1.4000.  Sustained weakness below this resistance level could invite a decline back towards 1.3850. Alternatively, a breakout above 1.4000 could trigger an incline towards 1.4050 and 1.4120, respectively.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-301850 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Graph-1_FXTM.png" alt="" width="443" height="362" />
Commodity spotlight – WTI Oil 
WTI Crude held steady on Thursday morning, after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday that gasoline supply dropped thanks to demand jumping to a seven-month high.
While recent reports of rising demand could offer the oil price some support in the short term, soaring production from U.S Shale is likely to present many headwinds down the road. With OPEC warning that Trump’s trade policies could negatively impact oil demand, the outlook for WTI Crude remains tilted to the downside. The unsavoury combination of surging U.S Shale oil production and the threat of demand softening amid a potential trade war could spell trouble for OPEC.
From a technical standpoint, WTI Crude remains under pressure on the daily charts below $62.00. Repeated weakness below the $62.00 resistance level could open a path back towards $60.00.
Bitcoin sinks below $8,000 
Bitcoin simply failed to shield itself against an onslaught of negativity during Wednesday’s trading session, with prices eventually sinking below $8,000 on Thursday morning.
In a move that eroded investor appetite towards Bitcoin, Google announced that it will ban online advertisements promoting cryptocurrencies. The downside was fuelled by the International Monetary Fund who called for a global crackdown on cryptocurrencies. With members of Congress delivering the knockout blow on Wednesday amid scepticism around digital currency, the outlook for Bitcoin is looking increasingly gloomy.
Focusing purely on the technical picture, Bitcoin is bearish on the daily charts with $10,000 acting a solid psychological resistance level. Sustained weakness below $8,000 could open a path back towards $7,000 and $6,000, respectively.

Investors on edge as fears of trade war mount

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The VIX, also known as Wall Street&#8217;s fear gauge, is hovering close to its lowest levels since its creation in 1993, barely in double digits and the last time these levels were seen was right before the 2008 crisis.

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Wall Street’s IPO enemies ready one-two punch

Tech rout deepens, Nasdaq set for worst two-day fall since March

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WEEKEND READ: Wall Street Week Ahead: Fund managers navigate ‘Night of the Living Dead’ in small caps

Wall Street rises as investors look beyond rising virus cases – Reuters

COVID-19: Investing for Roubini’s Greater Depression

We are now in a bear market — here’s what that means

Investors on edge as fears of trade war mount

Why markets need volatility

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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