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Stocks opened deep in negative territory amid renewed trade war fears after the White House said it was prepared to place 25% tariffs on $200B more in Chinese imports. The market saw its lows shortly after the open and eventually turned mixed as the Nasdaq moved into positive territory. The Dow remains lower for the third time in the past four sessions as trade related headlines continue to cause market gyrations and overshadow earnings. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., initial jobless claims rose 1,000 to 218,000 in the week ended July 28. Challenger reported announced layoffs came in at 27,100 in July, which was down 4.2% compared to the same month of last year. Factory orders rose 0.7% in June, as forecast. The 1.0% rise from the advance durable goods release was revised down to 0.8%. In Europe, the Bank of England voted by 9-0 to increase its Bank Rate by 0.25 percentage points, to 0.75%. The bank's committee also voted unanimously to maintain the levels of its non-financial investment-grade corporate bond purchase and government bond purchase programs. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Tesla (TSLA) have advanced 11% after the electric carmaker reported second quarter results last night. Despite losses per share that were worse than expected, the company backed its prior forecast for profitable third and fourth quarters, and its CEO Elon Musk apologized for "not being polite on the prior call." Several Wall Street analysts raised Tesla's price targets this morning, with Oppenheimer upgrading the stock to Outperform, citing the company's Model 3 gross margin guidance... DowDuPont (DWDP) reported better than expected second quarter revenue and adjusted earnings and said it continues to expect above-market growth through much of its business portfolio, driven by innovations, growth investments, geographic reach and "leading market positions"... Starbucks (SBUX) announced a strategic "New Retail" partnership with and Alibaba Group (BABA) that the company said will "transform the coffee industry in China." As part of the pact, Starbucks announced plans to pilot delivery services beginning September 2018, establish kitchens for delivery order fulfillment and integrate multiple platforms to co-create a "virtual Starbucks store" that it said will create a seamless experience between its stores and online for customers... Apple (AAPL), which rose another 2.5% to trade near $207 per share, became the first company with a $1 trillion dollar market cap, according to Bloomberg. There has been some debate as to the exact share price that represents that milestone given the fluctuations in the share count with the iPhone maker being a big buyer of its own stock. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), which rose 12.5% after it agreed to be acquired by Energy Transfer Equity (ETE). Energy Transfer Equity was up 1.7% after the news. Also higher was Boingo Wireless (WIFI) and DexCom (DXCM), which gained a respective 33% and 25% after reporting quarterly results. Among the notable losers was Energous (WATT), which plunged 21% as Roth Capital lowered its price target on the stock to $24.50 from $45.80 after the company's quarterly report. Also lower after reporting quarterly results were Exact Sciences (EXAS) and TripAdvisor (TRIP), which fell 17% and 16%, respectively. INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 71.69, or 0.28%, to 25,262.13, the Nasdaq was up 59.79, or 0.78%, to 7,767.08, and the S&P 500 was up 5.61, or 0.20%, to 2,818.97.

Stocks opened little changed despite a report showing Q2 GDP grew at its best quarterly pace since mid-2014 and the third fastest quarterly rate since 2008. However, that 4.1% growth rate was slightly below the expected 4.2% clip, which tempered the enthusiasm of investors. The market drifted throughout the morning session but began to pick up downside momentum by the afternoon. The losses were led by the Nasdaq, though the S&P and Dow also lost ground for the session. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., GDP was reported to have grown 4.1% in the second quarter, almost doubling the upwardly revised 2.2% rate of Q1. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey fell 0.3 points from the prior month to 97.9 in the final July reading, though that was above the 97.1 preliminary reading for July. In energy news, Baker Hughes reported that the U.S. rig count is up 2 rigs from last week to 1,048. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of CBS (CBS) dropped 6.1% after media reports that the New Yorker plans to publish an article by Ronan Farrow that includes allegations of sexual misconduct by CBS chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves. The company released a statement on the matter saying that its directors have "committed to investigating claims that violate the company's clear policies in that regard." The independent directors of CBS also noted that the "timing of this report comes in the midst of the company's very public legal dispute," after which a representative for Shari Redstone stated that "the malicious insinuation that Ms. Redstone is somehow behind the allegations of inappropriate personal behavior by Mr. Moonves or today's reports is false and self-serving." Shares of Viacom (VIAB), which Redstone had previously pushed to be merged with CBS, finished the day 4.6% higher... Amazon (AMZN) shares rose 0.5% after the e-commerce giant reported second quarter earnings that were much higher than Wall Street estimates, though revenue for the quarter and third quarter revenue guidance came in below consensus estimates... Twitter (TWTR) shares plunged 20.5% after the company reported declining monthly active users for Q2, though earnings per share for the quarter were in-line with consensus estimates... Shares of Starbucks (SBUX) added 1.3% after the coffee giant reported better than expected quarterly results for the third quarter and narrowed its adjusted EPS guidance for the year... 21st Century Fox (FOXA) and Disney (DIS) confirmed that shareholders of both companies approved all proposals related to Disney's acquisition of assets from Fox. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers were Expedia (EXPE) and Chipotle (CMG), which gained a respective 9.5% and 5.7% after reporting quarterly results. Among the notable losers was Exxon Mobil (XOM), which slipped 2.7% after reporting lower than expected quarterly earnings. Also lower after reporting quarterly results were Intel (INTC) and Western Digital (WDC), which fell 8.6% and 7.7%, respectively. INDEXES: The Dow fell 76.01, or 0.3%, to 25,451.06, the Nasdaq lost 114.77, or 1.46%, to 7,737.42, and the S&P 500 declined 19.65, or 0.69%, to 2,818.63.

Stocks had a somewhat muted open despite the strong GDP data point released before the open. Gross domestic product grew 4.1% in Q2, but analysts had forecast 4.2% growth, leading to the muted reaction. The averages opened little changed, but have weakened from there, with the Nasdaq the leader to the downside. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., GDP was reported to have grown 4.1% in the second quarter, almost doubling the upwardly revised 2.2% rate of Q1. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey fell 0.3 points from the prior month to 97.9 in the final July reading, though that was above the 97.1 preliminary reading for July. COMPANY NEWS: Amid the quarterly earnings storm of last night and this morning, Amazon (AMZN) reported second quarter earnings that were much higher than Wall Street estimates, though revenue for the quarter was a miss and third quarter revenue guidance was below the consensus estimate. Of note, the company said its Amazon Web Services sales for the quarter were over $6.1B, compared to $4.1B in the same quarter of the previous year. Shares of Amazon are 1% higher near noon... Twitter (TWTR) shares plunged 19% after the company reported declining monthly active users for Q2, though earnings per share for the quarter were in-line with consensus estimates. In addition, the company said it expects MAUs for Q3 to be down mid-single digit millions on a sequential basis... Shares of Starbucks (SBUX) rose 2% after the coffee giant reported better than expected quarterly results for the third quarter and narrowed its adjusted EPS guidance for the year. Of note, the company said on its quarterly call that it plans to automate certain in-store tasks... Meanwhile, 21st Century Fox (FOXA) and Disney (DIS) confirmed that shareholders of both companies approved all proposals related to Disney's acquisition of assets from Fox. The proposals included the adoption by 21st Century Fox stockholders of the merger agreement with Disney and the distribution merger agreement for the spin-off of "new Fox." MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was AMD (AMD), which gained 2% after Intel (INTC) provided commentary that has analysts voicing concerns around the company's ramp of its 10nm process. Also higher were Expedia (EXPE), Chipotle (CMG), and Chevron (CVX), which gained a respective 8%, 5%, and 2% after reporting quarterly results. Among the notable losers was Exxon Mobil (XOM), which slipped 2% after reporting lower than expected quarterly earnings. Also lower after reporting quarterly results were Intel, AbbVie (ABBV), and Western Digital (WDC), which fell 8%, 4%, and 8%, respectively. INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 40.64, or 0.16%, to 25,486.43, the Nasdaq was down 85.27, or 1.09%, to 7,766.91, and the S&P 500 was down 13.18, or 0.46%, to 2,824.26.