Closing Bell
U.S. markets had a rough day of trading to open the week Monday with all three falling as trade tensions with foreign governments continue to weigh on the major indices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 fell for the fourth consecutive session, declining 0.5% and 0.4% respectively, while the Nasdaq fell 0.25%, or 19 points on the day.
Amazon's Ad Business Is Providing Sleeper Growth Opportunity
Analysts at Piper Jaffray are so bullish about Amazon's (AMZN) internet advertising business that it is forecasting that it will bring in more revenue than the company's Amazon Web Services cloud computing division by 2021.
"While the Street has been focusing on the trajectory of core retail, growth of AWS, and new categories such as grocery & pharma, Amazon's advertising business has been quietly growing into a massive driver of current and future profitability," analyst Michael Olson said in a note to clients Monday. "By 2021, we believe it is likely that advertising operating income will exceed AWS.
Amazon shares are up more than 1% Monday on the report.
AMD Jumps After Debuting 'World's Most Powerful' New Desktop Processor
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shares are up 2.7% on heavy volume Monday afternoon after the chipmaker debuted a new second-generation desktop processor that it says is the world's most powerful.
"We created Ryzen Threadripper processors because we saw an opportunity to deliver unheard-of levels of multithreaded computing for the demanding needs of creators, gamers, and PC enthusiasts in the HEDT market," said Jim Anderson, senior vice president and general manager, Computing and Graphics Business Group, AMD. "With the 2nd Gen processor family we took that challenge to a whole new level - delivering the biggest, most powerful desktop processor the world has ever seen."
On an average day over the last three months, AMD trades about 67 million shares. Monday morning with about four hours left in trading, nearly 50 million shares have changed hands.
National Retail Federation Says Retail Sales to Climb in 2018 Higher Than Expected
Retail sales in the U.S. will rise 4.5% in 2018, according to new estimates from industry trade organization National Retail Federation.
That estimate is up from previous forecasts ranging between 3.8% and 4.4%, according to CNBC.
"Higher wages, gains in disposable income, a strong job market and record-high household net worth have all set the stage for very robust growth in the nation's consumer-driven economy," NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement. "We knew this would be a good year, but it's turning out to be even better than expected."
Netflix CFO David Wells to Leave Company After 14 Years
Shares of Netflix Inc. (NFLX) were down 0.43% Monday morning after the company announced that David Wells will be leaving the company after nearly 8 years of being Netflix's CFO.
Wells first joined the company in 2004 and became the company's Chief Financial Officer in 2010.
"It's been 14 wonderful years at Netflix, and I'm very proud of everything we've accomplished," Wells said. "After discussing my desire to make a change with Reed, we agreed that with Netflix's strong financial position and exciting growth plans, this is the right time for us to help identify the next financial leader for the company."
Netflix said that it will consider both internal and external candidates to replace Wells.
Netflix has spent time in both positive and negative territory Monday.
Saudi Arabia Goes Back on Agreement, Cuts Oil Production
Saudi Arabia, OPEC's largest exporter, cut production in July, even as the rest of the oil cartel reported increased production in the month.
Saudi Arabia had previously agreed to increase production along with the rest of the oil producers in OPEC, Russia and others, but apparently, it did not live up to that agreement.
Saudi Arabia says it cut output by about 200,000 barrels per day, industry watchers estimate that production dropped by nearly 53,000 barrels per day, according to CNBC.
"Compared to a year earlier, there has been an overall improvement in crude oil prices in 2018," OPEC said in its monthly report. "At the same time, product prices have generally followed the upward trajectory of crude oil prices."
Premarket
U.S. futures are falling across the board Monday morning with the Dow leading the losing efforts.
Dow futures were falling 0.32%, indicating an open 80 points lower, while Nasdaq futures were down 0.25%, indicating an open 19 points lower, and S&P futures were down 0.27%, indicating an open 8 points lower.
Asian markets were routed Monday, led by the Nikkei dropping 1.98%, the Hang Seng falling 1.52% and the Shanghai Composite declined 0.34%.
Meanwhile, in Europe, the FTSE 100 declined 0.55%, the DAX fell 0.64%, and the CAC 40 fell 0.18%.
