Stocks opened with modest gains and proceeded to move in a narrow range for most of the session. With the earnings season winding down, there was little for investors to key in on. The Turkish economic crisis remained in the minds of investors although direct U.S. exposure is fairly limited. The market had an early afternoon dip, with the Dow dropping more than 100 and posting a 4-day losing streak. Oil prices fell more than 0.5% and closed just above $67 a barrel. Investors sold the commodity on concerns of slowing growth in emerging growth economies. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., there were no major economic events. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Harley-Davidson (HOG) were under pressure on Monday after President Donald Trump renewed his criticism of the company over the weekend, applauding a potential boycott of the company amid its production shift overseas. In a tweet on Sunday, the President said: "Many @harleydavidson owners plan to boycott the company if manufacturing moves overseas. Great! Most other companies are coming in our direction, including Harley competitors. A really bad move! U.S. will soon have a level playing field, or better."... Shares of Netflix (NFLX) dropped over 1%, following the company's announcement that its CFO David Wells plans to step down after helping the streaming service choose his successor, and as Imperial Capital analyst David Miller cut his price target on the stock to $494... Tesla's (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk provided an update on taking the company private. In a blog post, the chief executive noted that "when I made the public announcement, just as with this blog post and all other discussions I have had on this topic, I am speaking for myself as a potential bidder for Tesla." Additionally, Musk pointed out that the Saudi sovereign wealth fund had approached him "multiple times" about taking the carmaker private and that he left a July 31 meeting "with no question that a deal with the Saudi sovereign fund could be closed, and that it was just a matter of getting the process moving." Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that Softbank (SFTBF), which has been touted as a potential source of capital for a buyout of Tesla, is not planning to participate in such a deal. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Twitter (TWTR), which gained about 2.5% after Citron Research predicted the stock will hit $52 within 12 months. Also higher was Nielsen (NLSN), which jumped 12% after Elliott Asset Management disclosed an 8.4% stake in a filing with the SEC that allows for activism. Additionally, SYSCO (SYY) advanced over 6% after reporting quarterly results.Among the notable losers was Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG), which slipped about 3% after Monsanto was ordered to pay $289M by a California court, who found it liable in a lawsuit alleging that the company's Roundup caused cancer. Also lower was Bayer (BAYRY), which recently acquired Monsanto for $63B. The shares trading in New York dropped about 11%. Additionally, Dycom Industries (DY) declined over 24% after quarterly results and being downgraded by KeyBanc to Sector Weight on its guidance cut. INDEXES: The Dow fell 125.44, or 0.50%, to 25,187.70, the Nasdaq lost 19.40, or 0.25%, to 7,819.71, and the S&P 500 declined 11.31, or 0.40%, to 2,821.97.
