Good morning,
Markets moved modestly lower Thursday. Earnings reports are turning into a mixed bag. GM beat expectations, and is now up more than 4%. But American Express disappointed, and its stock moved down more than 3%. Market darling Under Armour turned in a gold-medal-winning quarter and is now up more than 7%. Still onboard: Amazon.
New York’s financial regulator is asking pesky questions about Symphony (paywall) Communication Services, the new super-secure chat service a consortium of investment banks is backing as a Bloomberg-killer. The financial overseers don’t seem to like that chats can be completely deleted. Why wouldn’t regulators trust Wall Street?
At least the markets are grinning: Greek parliament passes a second group of Troika-demanded measures in order to resume bailout talks tomorrow. While the European markets soared in approval, targets for the Club Med country still remain out of reach for an economy deep in recession. Over in China, Chinese markets clocked in their sixth-straight day higher as major buyers (banned from shorting) are actually adding to their positions. The Shanghai Composite rallied over 2.4%, Shenzhen was up over 2.8%, and the CSI 300 Index added nearly 2.3%. Hong Kong and Japan meanwhile were a little more muted, finishing the day up 0.6% and 0.4% respectively.
Amazon, Under Armour, McDonald’s, Starbucks, AT&T, Catepillar are teeing up to announce quarterly results. Will anyone ever be able to explain how Amazon makes money? Nexchange
Apple plans to cut spending by $1 billion. That’s 8% less it will shell out on capex. The high tech wonder will still spend $12 billion. It’s cash horde of $181 billion oversea is safe. Wall Street Journal (paywall)
Credit Suisse profits beat estimates. Embattled Swiss bank Credit Suisse surprised analysts by posting over a $1 billion in net profit, nearly $300 million more than expected. The bank’s new CEO plans on pushing hard on wealth management, especially in Asia while demoting the importance of investment banking. MarketWatch
Who do you think is the likely buyer of the Financial Times? Pearson is an advanced negotiations to sell the FT Group so it can focus on its education business, the prime source of profits at the UK company. Bloomberg
U.K. retail sales unexpectedly drop. Defying the market’s expectations, U.K. June retail sales came in down 0.2%, a 0.5% drop from May and well below the 0.4% estimate. The Pound promptly relinquished some of its recent gains against the Euro. Bloomberg
Japan’s trade deficit shrinks as exports rip higher. A surge in car sales as well as electronics sent Japan’s exports soaring at their fastest pace in five months. The nation’s trade deficit meanwhile shrank to $560 million, a dramatic improvement from the $1.8 billion deficit it posted in May. SCMP (paywall)
Hyundai announced its first ever interim dividend. In an effort to calm investors over weak sales, lackluster profits, and a contentious $10 billion land purchase, Hyundai is set to pay over $230 million to its investors. Financial Times (paywall)
Photo: Christine Puccio