#corporate-earnings

#corporate-earnings

Thanks to strong earnings reports, investors are still shrugging off trade war fears and the fact that the U.S. government is now in its third week of a shutdown. Futures are up across the board, with Dow futures up 182 points. The Nasdaq is up about 141, as the S&P 500 tacks on about 27 points. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF ( NYSEMKT: VOO) is also showing big signs of life thanks to impressive earnings.

Chinese President Xi and U.S. President Trump aren't talking face to face yet, but they are talking person to person on the phone. At this very moment, reports CNBC, a call is in progress to discuss whether China will permit a controlling interest in TikTok's U.S. operations to be sold to a consortium of U.S. companies led by Oracle ( NYSE: ORCL), and whether TikTok will be permitted to continue operating here - or forced to shut down.

As CNBC reports, ADP's private payrolls report issued this morning shows that private employers added 54,000 net new jobs last month, about one-third worse than the 75,000 positions economists had predicted, and barely half the 106,000 jobs added in July. This is bad news for the economy, but arguably good news for stock traders hoping to see the Federal Reserve cut its target interest rate at the FOMC meeting two weeks from now. And because rate cuts are generally considered "good" for making the stock market rise, investors don't seem too upset by today's bad employment news.

Google dodged a breakup that would have included selling its Chrome browser after a judge ruled against the government's toughest proposals in the biggest antitrust case in three decades. The decision was also a big win for Apple, as Google will still be allowed to pay its partners. Apple gets about $20 billion a year for making Google search the default on iPhones. Alphabet shares rallied 8%, touching a record high; Apple rose 2%.

The latest U.S. Department of Labor report showed nonfarm jobs grew by 139,000 in May, contrasting sharply with ADP’s earlier report of only 37,000. This discrepancy raises questions about the accuracy of employment data.

Amid the tariff-fueled correction, many big-name analysts have dialed back their expectations and price targets for the S&P 500 as well as individual companies.