Six Billion-Dollar Companies Are Now Penny Stocks; Hope You Sold

Six members of the Standard & Poor's Total Market index and the S&P 500 commanded $1 billion or greater market values when this decade began — only to become penny stocks now. This is based on an Investor's Business Daily analysis of data from Marketsmith and S&P Global Market Intelligence. Suffering these kinds of losses is all the more painful given the powerful run the S&P 500 is on.

U.S Mortgage Rates Resume the Decline as Economic Woes Build

Mortgage rates resumed their decline in the week ending 22nd August. 30-year fixed rates fell by 5 basis points to 3.55% following a hold at 3.6% in the week prior. The fall left 30-year rates at their lowest level since late 2016 according to figures released by Freddie Mac.

Germany in Uproar as Negative Rates Threaten Saving Obsession

Most Germans live by the credo that saving is a virtue, but the European Central Bank's negative interest rates risk making a mockery of the national obsession, prompting politicians to seek ways to insulate thrifty citizens and keep the burden on the country's beleaguered banks. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz says he'll look into whether it's possible to prevent German banks from charging most retail-banking clients for deposits, after such a measure was proposed by the leader of Bavaria. Lenders have rejected the idea, saying bans don't ultimately help clients and could even destabilize financial markets.

Will China's Tariff Retaliation Bust Market Support Levels?

The S&P 500 (see below), DJIA, Nasdaq Composite, Nasdaq 1000 and Dow Jones Transports tested their resistance levels that were once again left intact. All of the near-term trends are neutral, in our view, with high "volume at price" (VAP) levels supportive on the DJIA and Nasdaq 100. They are resistant on the Nasdaq Composite, Dow Transports, MidCap 400 and Value Line index.

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  Corn, Soybeans Down After China Tariffs, Wheat Positive, All Eyes on Trump

  FX Empire
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  China announces tariff hike on $75 billion of US products in retaliation to Trump's planned increase

  KGO – San Francisco

4 China Stocks Getting Slammed as Trump Wages Currency War

Wall Street is getting hit hard on Friday after China announced overnight a new batch of trade tariffs on U.S. imports. President Donald Trump wasted no time responding, hinting on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) that he is preparing to take action to stop the U.S. dollar's rise to record highs. As a reminder, China responded to Trump's last salvo of import tariffs with an aggressive weakening of their currency — which then caused the U.S. Treasury to label the country a currency manipulator.

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  Forex Daily Recap – Ninja Dropped Sharply as China Retaliates with Tariffs

  FX Empire
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  Retailers Dealt Another Blow as Trump Steps Up China Tariffs

  Bloomberg

Volkswagen Explores China Auto Investments

Bloomberg has learned that Volkswagen is exploring potential investments in Chinese automotive suppliers. The German automaker is looking to secure access to key technology in what is the world's largest car market. Bloomberg's Chris Reiter reports on “Bloomberg Markets: European Open.

The U.S. stock market right now is riskier than you think

Will the stock market's real rate of return please stand up? Depending on your frame of reference, the U.S. stock market is either performing fantastically or dismally. For example, the dividend-adjusted S&P 500 (SPX)  has an annualized real (inflation-adjusted) return of 26.5% this year through Aug. 19 — including a full percentage point increase on Monday of this week.

Jobs in America: Here’s the No. 1 highest paid, most in-demand job in every state

Software developers, physical therapists and physician assistants crop up frequently among the highest-paid and fastest-growing jobs in every U.S. state, according to a new analysis by CareerBuilder. The site analyzed government data to project the careers most likely to be lucrative and in demand. Most of these jobs require some level of college education.

The Machine David Koch Helped to Build ‘Will Endure’ After His Death

David Koch's death Friday marks the end of an era in the worlds of business, politics, philanthropy and high society. For Koch Industries, the conglomerate he helped his brother Charles transform into the second-largest privately held U.S. company, the founding family retains firm control as a generational shift takes hold. Nothing changes,” Koch spokeswoman Christin Fernandez said in an email.

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  Billionaire industrialist, political activist David Koch dies at 79

  WLS – Chicago
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  How the Koch brothers used their massive fortune to power a conservative crusade that reshaped American politics

  Business Insider

5 Healthcare Stocks to Buy for Healthy Dividends

Even better is that recent market volatility has sent many investors into healthcare stocks for their high cash flows and strong dividend potential. Many healthcare stocks have long been dividend champions — offering both high initial yields and overall strong dividend growth. For investors looking for income and the ability to keep that income rising over the long haul, healthcare stocks can't be beaten.

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  Here's Why We're Wary Of Buying K-Bro Linen Inc.'s (TSE:KBL) For Its Upcoming Dividend

  Simply Wall St.
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  Why You Might Be Interested In First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) For Its Upcoming Dividend

  Simply Wall St.

VMware Stock: Screaming Buy or Screaming 'Death Cross'?

Friday morning, in Market Recon, I alluded to the fact that I had not traded Salesforce.com all that effectively of late, but took solace in that I had done a better job with VMware . Does this Friday 7%-ish decline make VMware a buy for me? For the second quarter, VMware reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.60 on revenue of $2.44 billion, both beats.

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  Why Is LogMein (LOGM) Down 4.5% Since Last Earnings Report?

  Zacks
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  VMware Agrees to Buy Carbon Black, Pivotal Software

  Bloomberg

Dow Jones Dives 550 Points As Microsoft Faces This Key Sell Signal

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped as much as 550 points, or more than 2%, as Wall Street braced for potential moves by the White House to punish Chinese exporters with additional tariffs. China grabbed the spotlight earlier in the day by announcing plans to impose 5% to 10% tariffs on as many as 5,000 U.S.-made products worth roughly $75 billion a year. As many as 15 of the 30 components of the Dow industrials dropped 2 points or more, sending the blue-chip index further below its key 50-day moving average.

• Dow's 100-point drop led by losses for shares of Caterpillar, Dow Inc.

  MarketWatch
• Dow flat in spite of gains for Boeing, UnitedHealth stocks

  MarketWatch

Negative interest rates are coming and they are downright terrifying

Yes, the U.S. ten year Treasury yields 1.59%, not close to 0%, but negative rates seem to be creeping ever closer. For instance, negative interest rates haven't come to U.S. corporate debt, but Euro-denominated bonds issued by the likes of blue-chips Apple (AAPL), McDonald's (MCD), and Pepsi (PEP) carry negative yields. And in Europe, it was postulated that negative rates would never fly in the consumer sphere in terms of banks paying back depositors less than they put in their savings accounts, but that's now changing.

Investors are so bearish, it’s almost time to start buying stocks again, says Bank of America

As investors begin to absorb the Powell comments rolling out, it's clear that markets may be in for a struggle. His address may mark the last market sensitive event of what Bank of America Merrill Lynch refers to as “the summer of bonds” where bonds flew off the shelves as investors sought safety from the threat of global recession. The bank notes investors poured a record three-month $155 billion into bond funds, versus $98 billion that drained out in January 2019, Our call of the day comes from the Bank of America strategists, whose Friday “Flow Show” highlights a contrarian signal telling investors to get ready to love stocks again.

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  Jerome Powell makes first remarks since slashing interest rates

  Yahoo Finance Video
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  Dow ends more than 600 points lower as U.S.-China trade war intensifies

  MarketWatch

25 dividend stocks selected for value by an outperforming money manager

Buckingham did a special screen of stocks held within Prudent Speculator portfolios to narrow the group to 25 that meet additional criteria, as listed below. He also provided three- to five-year price targets for the group. That is in contrast to the 12-month targets and ratings used by most Wall Street analysts.

INTU Rises On Earnings

Sales growth accelerates at the software leader, up 15% to $994 million.STOCK MARKET TODAY is sponsored by Interactive Brokers. To open an account, go to ibkr.com/whyib

The 10 commandments of retirement

Many Americans aren't saving enough. They want to retire earlier than they can reasonably afford. They're effectively financially illiterate.

Yuan vs. Renminbi: What's the Difference?

Chinese currency is a hot topic these days for many reasons. Not only does it define the state of one of the world's biggest economic superpowers, but it is also central to one of the most debated issues involving China today—its perceived mercantilist policy of artificial undervaluation of its currency against the U.S. dollar to give its exports an unfair price advantage. In recent years, there has been a consensus among economists that the Chinese currency has been undervalued in the 15 percent to 40 percent range for many years.

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  U.S. dollar sinks as Trump tweets stoke intervention fears

  MarketWatch
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  The Impact of China Devaluing the Yuan

  Investopedia

5 Top Stock Trades for Monday: ROKU, ACB, VMW, CRM, BA

There is too much love for the ROKU stock. Meanwhile, ROKU stock fell on Friday but there should be support down to 133 and $127 per share. Fundamentally, I've been a critic of Roku because they've been in business for 16 years and they still haven't figured out how to be sustainability profitable.

Gold Price Prediction – Gold Breaks Out Following Trump Tweets

Gold prices surged higher on Friday in the wake of the Fed Chairs speech at Jackson Hole Wyoming and President Trump's tweet. President Trump reacted to the Chinese retaliating to the recent Trump threat of additional tariffs with specific tariffs on 75-billion dollars of goods that are exported to China. China specifically targeted cars and agricultural product which hurts people who live in red states.

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  Corn, Soybeans Down After China Tariffs, Wheat Positive, All Eyes on Trump

  FX Empire
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  China announces tariff hike on $75 billion of US products in retaliation to Trump's planned increase

  KGO – San Francisco

Factbox: From phone makers to farmers, the toll of Trump's trade wars

Trump also demanded that U.S. companies take steps to exit China, throwing a new twist into a bitter trade war now in its second year, although Trump cannot legally compel U.S. companies to abandon China immediately. Beijing's planned tariffs will add as much as 10% on top of existing rates after Trump said he would impose tariffs on another $300 billion worth of Chinese products. Washington has long pressed Beijing for wide-ranging economic reforms, including better protection for American intellectual property, ending subsidies that favour Chinese state-owned enterprises, and improving access to China's markets for U.S. companies.The United States has already imposed tariffs on $250 billio...

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  Forex Daily Recap – Ninja Dropped Sharply as China Retaliates with Tariffs

  FX Empire
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  Retailers Dealt Another Blow as Trump Steps Up China Tariffs

  Bloomberg