The S&P 500 fell for the fourth time in the last five sessions as U.S. politics and trade relations with China remain the dual focus of investors and of the press. After the initial release of the whistleblower report to lawmakers, the market opened lower and losses accelerated after Bloomberg headlines that the U.S. will not be extending Huawei waivers beyond the November 19 expiration date. Investors will continue to be on watch for further developments on both the trade and impeachment fronts.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the estimate of second quarter GDP growth held steady at the prior 2.0% pace. Initial jobless claims rose 3,000 to 213,000 in the week ended September 21. The advance trade report showed that the goods deficit widened fractionally to $72.8B in August. An index of pending home sales bounced 1.6% to 107.3 in August.
TOP NEWS: Shares of Beyond Meat (BYND) jumped 11.6% after McDonald's (MCD) announced it will be conducting a 12-week test in Canada of a new plant-based burger called the P.L.T. made with a Beyond Meat plant-based patty.
In vaping news, the CDC said that there have been 805 cases of lung injury and 12 deaths linked to vaping reported in 46 states and 1 U.S. territory. These figures are up from the 530 cases of lung injury and seven deaths reported by the CDC last week. Publicly traded companies in the tobacco products space include Altria Group (MO), British American Tobacco (BTI), Imperial Brands (IMBBY) and Philip Morris (PM).
The National Transportation Safety Board announced that it has issued seven safety recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration, calling upon the agency to address concerns about how multiple alerts and indications are considered when making assumptions as part of design safety assessments. The recommendations are derived from the NTSB's examination of the safety assessments conducted as part of the original design of Boeing's (BA) Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, on the 737 MAX and are issued out of the NTSB's concern that the process needs improvement given its ongoing use in certifying current and future aircraft and system designs, the regulator stated.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Elliott Management has built a stake in Mobile Mini (MINI) and is pushing the company to merge with WillScot (WSC). Those headlines followed last night's report from the news agency that WillScot has made an offer for Mobile Mini that values it in the mid-to-high $30-per-share range. Mobile Mini shares rose 6.6% after the news, while WillScot closed 6.2% higher.
In IPO news, Peloton (PTON) priced its IPO at $29.00 per share, opened at $27.00 per share and closed its first day at $25.76, making the fitness bike maker the latest high-profile company to stumble out of the gate in the public market.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Tesla (TSLA), which gained just over 6% after CEO Elon Musk reportedly said in a memo to employees that the company "has a shot" at delivering a record 100,000 cars this quarter. Also higher was Rite Aid (RAD), which gained 1.8% after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was Carnival (CCL), which slid 8.5% after it reported better than expected earnings and revenue for its third quarter but lowered its fiscal year outlook. Also lower after reporting quarterly results were Actuant (ATU) and FactSet (FDS), which fell a respective 11.8% and 9.4%.
INDEXES: The Dow fell 79.59, or 0.3%, to 26,891.12, the Nasdaq lost 46.72, or 0.58%, to 8,030.66, and the S&P 500 declined 7.25, or 0.24%, to 2,977.62.
Beyond Meat
+16.25 (+11.79%)
McDonald's
-0.025 (-0.01%)
Altria Group
+0.12 (+0.30%)
British American Tobacco
-0.27 (-0.74%)
Imperial Brands
+ (+0.00%)
Philip Morris
+0.06 (+0.08%)
Boeing
+0.75 (+0.19%)
Mobile Mini
+2 (+5.71%)
WillScot Mobile Mini
+0.96 (+6.14%)
Peloton
+ (+0.00%)
Tesla
+13.84 (+6.05%)
Carnival
-4.08 (-8.49%)
Actuant
-2.84 (-11.50%)
FactSet
-25.61 (-9.44%)