July 02 (Tuesday)

Beach Reading: Forbes Picks Dr. Ed’s Book. It’s summer time and time for backyard barbecues and sitting in beach chairs. It’s also time for summer reading. At the end of June, Forbes picked six of The Best Investing Books. My book is third on the list with the following review: “One way to invest is to look at megatrends. Often these are about technology transformations, such as the internet, cloud computing and social networking. To help analyze trends, Edward Yardeni’s Predicting the Markets is a great resource. Keep in mind that—during the past four decades—he has a solid track record of anticipating waves. Just some include globalization and disinflation. He also has a knack for predicting bull-bear turns in the markets.”

Markets
S&P 500 closes at new record as chipmakers get a boost from US-China trade truce (C)
Here are the biggest stock winners from the US-China trade ceasefire (C)
Bond Exchange-Traded Funds Pass $1 Trillion in Assets (W)
OPEC Agrees to Keep Output-Cut Pact Into 2020 (W)
U.S. Drilling Slowdown Triggers Oil Bankruptcy (W)

Central banks
Fed’s Barkin Warns of Business Investment Chill From Trade Uncertainty (W)

Global
Global Factory Output Contracts for the First Time in 80 Months (B)

US
U.S. Factory Gauge Drops Less Than Forecast But Orders Stall (B)
Companies are warning that earnings results are going to be brutal (C)
Leadership needed in the policy swamp as CBO projects ‘unprecedented’ debt (The Hill)
American Suburbs Swell Again as a New Generation Escapes the City (W)
More than 8 million homeowners are leaving big money on the table by not refinancing (C)

US politics
Democrats Push Left but Need Moderate Swing States (W)

Geopolitics & trade
Hong Kong Police Fire Tear Gas to Disperse Protesters (W)
Russia will only make a few units of a hypersonic weapon Putin bragged about: US intel (C)
U.S. companies tentatively step back into business with Huawei, but a long fight looms (C)

Industries & companies
Biotech: Top market technician says the biotech breakout is just getting started (C)
Consumer: Coca-Cola and Monster Resolve Energy Drink Dispute (W)
Cosmetics: Struggling Beauty Giant Coty to Restructure Operations (W)
Financials: Goldman Sachs Could Be a New Safety Stock (W)
Financials: Empty Desks and Early Beers: Life at Deutsche Bank in New York (B)

Corporate finance
Genesee & Wyoming to Go Private in Roughly $6.5 Billion Deal (W)
Applied Materials to Buy Kokusai Electric From KKR for $2.2 Billion (W)

Offbeat
Japan Resumes Commercial Whaling. But Is There an Appetite for It? (N)