Here are five things you need to know before Friday, August 14th:
1. – Futures of the stock market fall as stimulus hopes to disappear
Stock futures fluctuated as investors continued to check the stalemate between lawmakers for further fiscal stimulus and looked ahead to retail sales data for signs of recovery from U.S. consumers.
Weaker-than-expected economic data from China, which recorded a surprising decline in retail sales for July, added to cautious trade.
Contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 126 points, S&P 500 futures fell 7 points and Nasdaq futures rose 11 points.
The S&P 500 ended Thursday at 3,373.43, down 0.2%, but at one point in the session went above its full density of 3,386.15 set in mid-February.
The Dow declined 80.12 points, or 0.3%, to 27,896.72, while the Nasdaq rose 0.3%.
Chamber member Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Democratic lawmakers and the White House will remain “miles apart” in their incentives. Senate lawmakers, meanwhile, are following House Democrats in the run-up to the summer break.
The number of Americans filing unemployment benefits for the first time fell to 963,000 in the week ending August 7th. It was the first time claims had come below 1 million since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March.
“Another larger-than-expected decline in jobless claims suggests job repayments are gaining momentum, but … a lot of labor market persecution continues to do,” said Lydia Boussour, senior economist at Oxford Economics.
2. – Earnings from retail sales and concepts are Friday highlights
The U.S. economic calendar Friday includes Retail Sales for July at 8:30 am ET. Retail sales rose 7.5% in June, fully recovered from levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic. Economists expect sales to grow 2% in July.
The calendar also includes Industrial Production for July at 9:15 a.m. and Consumer Tent for August at 10 a.m.
DraftKings (DKNG) – Get report posted a second-quarter loss of 55 cents per share, broader than analysts’ expectations for a 20-cent loss. Revenue for the period was $ 70.9 million, higher than forecasts of $ 66.4 million.
The sports betting operator said it expects pro forma revenue in 2020 from $ 500 million to $ 540 million.
The stock fell 2.36% Friday to $ 35.20 in premium trading.
3. – Fortnite Maker fits Apple and Google
Epic Games, maker of the popular “Fortnite” video game, has filed federal anti-trust lawsuits against Apple (AAPL) – Get report and alphabets (GOOGL) – Get report after tech giants removed Fortnite from their app stores.
Apple kicked Fortnite out of the App Store shortly after the game introduced new payment options, making Fortnite unavailable for download on Apple devices. Google removed Fortnite from its Play Store.
Fortnite announced that it was implementing direct payments for in-game purchases, to embrace Apple’s commission for transactions through the App Store. Under Apple’s App Store terms, Apple takes a cut of up to 30% from developers for payments made through the platform, including paid downloads and in-app purchases.
Epic is suing the companies in the US court, but is not seeking money from Apple or Google. Instead, it requires opaque relief to allow fair competition.
Fortnite is one of the most played games in the world, with an estimated 350 million registered accounts per year. According to SuperData Research, Fortnite generated $ 1.8 billion in revenue in 2019.
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4. – iQIYI tumbles over SEC Probe
iQIYI (IQ) – Get report, Baidu’s video subsidiary (BIDU) – Get report, tumbled 11.39% to $ 19.21 per U.S. receipt after the company revealed that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s application for financial and operating records dated Jan. 1, 2018, was part of a probe into issues raised by a short- sales clerk.
In April, short-seller Wolfpack Research accused iQIYI of inflating user numbers and revenue, and wrote in a report that the Chinese online entertainment company, which competes with Tencent (TCEHY) , inflated its 2019 revenue by about $ 1.13 billion to $ 1.98 billion, or between 27% and 44%.
According to Wolfpack, iQiyi also inflates its expenses, the prices it pays for content, acquisitions and other line items to burn counterfeit cash positions and hide the fraud from investors and auditors.
The SEC’s Department of Enforcement seeks the production of certain financial and operating records dated January 1, 2018, as well as documents related to certain acquisitions and investments identified in a report issued by short-seller firm Wolfpack Research in April 2020, ”iQiyi said in a statement.
The company is also conducting its own internal investigation, saying it would cooperate with the SEC.
Baidu, which owns 56% of iQIYI, fell 5.83% to $ 117.31 per ADR in pre-market trading. Baidu published adjusted revenue in the second quarter that beat analysts’ expectations, but said online advertising sales fell 8%.
5. – Amazon thinks some workers are moving out of Seattle
Amazon.com (AMZN) – Get report has offered to relocate Seattle employees to smaller offices outside the city, according to a Bloomberg report.
In a message to employees Thursday, Amazon asked which communities in Seattle – including Tacoma and Redmond, Washington – they prefer. The title of the post, which was shared on Reddit and later deleted, Bloomberg said, was “options for office workplace.”
Amazon declined to comment on the matter.
Bloomberg notes that the move suggests that the local Covid-19 outbreak and a new local employer tax have pushed the online retail giant to consider alternatives to Seattle.
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