Good evening,
Poor energy performance dragged stocks down Friday. The S&P 500 was down 0.2%, the Dow dipped 0.3%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.8%. Exxon Mobil reported a 52% profit drop for the second quarter, driving the stock down 4.58% Friday. Earnings were $1/share, down from the expected $1.11 a share. Chevron took a 30% revenue hit and earnings of 30 cents a share, and its stock fell about 4.89% Friday as well. Expectations were low for the oil giants, but they fell short of even those. August starts next week, so be on the look out for economic reports, including jobless claims Thursday and the employment situation Friday.
More emails from Hillz. The State Department released the second batch of Hillary Clinton’s emails, sent and received from her private account. The emails contain talks about 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, detainees at Guantanamo, and Clinton’s speech about sexual violence as a tool in armed conflicts. But don’t worry about her health. Clinton’s doctor confirmed that she is “fit to serve,” and has no lingering effects from her 2012 concussion. Vice, Reuters
Ai Weiwei gets U.K. visa. Chinese artist Ai was granted a full six-month visa to the U.K., reversing the initial decision to deny his application. The U.K. first limited his visa to 20 days for failing to declare his “criminal conviction” in 2011. Ai was detained in China for 81 days, but was never charged or convicted of a crime. BBC
Charleston shooter pleads not guilty. Dylann Roof, the white man accused of murdering nine black church members in South Carolina, has temporarily plead not guilty to all 33 federal changes against him. Roof’s lawyer says the plea is temporary until the government determines whether it will pursue the death penalty. BBC
Commodities slammed in July. Oil was poised to record the worst month of the year, down 20% in July. “Copper, considered a bellwether for global economic activity, was facing a 9 percent monthly loss as it stumbled to $5,238 an tonne. Gold was down over 7 percent on the month at $1,081.95 an ounce as it chalked up its longest run of week-on-week falls in 16 years.” MarketWatch, Reuters
Dollar dips as US employment costs post smallest gain ever. The Employment Cost Index gained just 0.2%, the Labor Department said Friday, the smallest gain second 1982. The euro briefly rose to $1.11 against the U.S. dollar before edging back down below $1.10 as some wonder the slowdown will prompt the Federal Reserve to delay the much-awaited rate hike. MarketWatch
Uber raises $1 billion at $50 billion-plus valuation. It’s the unicorn of unicorns, taking a seat next to Facebook, the only other startup to command that kind of pricing. Investors are said to include Microsoft and Bennett Coleman & Co., an Indian media conglomerate. The ride-sharing app is just five years old. Wall Street Journal (paywall)
Carlyle parts way with commodity hedge fund after assets shrink to $50 million from $2 billion. Vermillion Asset Management’s Viridian commodity fund lost 23% in 2014 and has suffered a wave of redemptions. Carlyle seems to be playing a losing hand in hedge funds: earlier this week, a consultant recommended that its clients withdraw funds from Claren Road Asset Management, a $4.9 billion hedge-fund owned by Carlyle. Wall Street Journal (paywall)
The Olympic committee chose Beijing to host the 2022 winter games, the first time a city has hosted both summer and winter events. Wall Street Journal
Photo: thierry ehrmann