Hercules Investments Premarket

  ●       The S&P 500 broke a four-day slide yesterday, gaining +1.05%, cyclical sectors like Banks (-1.89%), Autos (-1.13%) and Energy (-1.03%) continued to lag. ○       Retail (+3.64%), Media (+2.24%) and Software (+1.94%) all the led the S&P higher as the tech gains saw the NASDAQ rally +1.71% ○       Stay-at-home movement is coming back with further restrictions being seen in Europe.   ●       House passes spending bill to fund government until December 11 ○       $8 billion for nutrition assistance for schoolchildren and families ○       It also adds increased accountability for farm aid money to prevent it from going to large oil companies ○       Dems reaffirmed commitment to $1200 stimulus checks ●       Johnson & Johnson becomes 4th company to enter stage 3 vaccine testing ●       Powell: US Economy could start to decelerate without additional stimulus ○       Appears in front of House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Cri

  ●       Powell to House: “Fed will continue aid for as long as it takes” ○       Powell said the facilities overall have unleashed about half their potential funding and will be at the ready should market stresses reemerge   ●       Former White House official: “And I do think, unfortunately, we may not have an outcome immediately, probably going to be litigation that follows and I just hope that we can get this resolved in relative short order so there isn’t uncertainty come January ” ●       On Monday, the S&P 500 closed down 9% from its Sept 2 record high, just above correction territory ○         travel and leisure stocks among the worst performers as investors were faced with the prospect of further restrictions being imposed ○       US banks were also down -3.35% ●       The technology hardware industry (+1.90%), specifically Apple (+3.03%) led the rebound along with other large-cap tech stocks such as Microsoft (+2.71%) and Nvidia (+2.69%).

  ●       S&P on pace for worst September since 2011 ●       U.S. stock index futures dropped 1.8% on Monday hit by bank stocks following media reports that several global banks moved sums of allegedly illicit funds over nearly two decades. ○         Shares in JPMorgan Chase and Bank of New York Mellon Corp fell 4% and 3.3%, respectively ●       Shares of airlines, hotels and cruise operators led declines in premarket trading, tracking their European peers as the UK signaled the possibility of a second national lockdown ○       British cases rising by 6,000 new/week ●       MSCI world equity index was down 0.5%. European indexes opened lower, with the pan-European STOXX 600 down 1.7% at its lowest in nearly two weeks. London's FTSE 100 was at a two-week low, down 2.4% and Germany's DAX fell 2%, led by banking shares ●       In a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Ste

●       Inflation didn’t even get past 2% when the U.S. economy was running with a 3.5% pre-pandemic unemployment rate, its lowest in 50 years. ○       created asset inflation but not necessarily broad economic inflation ●       The total value of foreign direct investment and venture capital deals between the U.S. and China fell to a near nine-year low, research and consulting firm Rhodium Group said in a report.   ○       Completed U.S. direct investment into China fell 31% to $4.1 billion, while Chinese investment into the U.S. would have plunged if not for Tencent’s $3.4 billion minority stake in Universal Music ●       Of the 11 major S&P indexes, industrials, materials and energy have gained more than 2% so far this week, while communication and consumer discretionary posted the biggest declines. ○       Asian stocks gained, led by materials and IT, after falling in the last session   ●       France’s daily cases rose by more than 10,000 to the

  ●       The International Energy Agency on Tuesday cut its forecast for 2020 oil demand growth, citing what it calls a “treacherous” path ahead due to weakening market sentiment and an upsurge in the number of coronavirus cases reported across the globe ●       Morgan Stanley updates outlook to say fiscal stimulus no longer expected before the election ●       Expect the Fed’s forward guidance on interest rates to remain unchanged and for the Committee to reframe their asset purchases as being focused on providing accommodation, not aiding market functioning. ●       Import prices rose 0.9% MoM (well above the 0.5% expected) and Export prices rose 0.5% MoM (also better than the +0.4% expected). But despite both the beats, import and export prices remain underwater on a YoY basis. ●       Citigroup, Wells Fargo to resume job cuts after ending a pledge to pause staff reductions ●       JP Morgan sees drop in productivity from people working at home ●       The Federal

  ●       The International Energy Agency on Tuesday cut its forecast for 2020 oil demand growth, citing what it calls a “treacherous” path ahead due to weakening market sentiment and an upsurge in the number of coronavirus cases reported across the globe ●       Morgan Stanley updates outlook to say fiscal stimulus no longer expected before the election ●       Expect the Fed’s forward guidance on interest rates to remain unchanged and for the Committee to reframe their asset purchases as being focused on providing accommodation, not aiding market functioning. ●       Import prices rose 0.9% MoM (well above the 0.5% expected) and Export prices rose 0.5% MoM (also better than the +0.4% expected). But despite both the beats, import and export prices remain underwater on a YoY basis. ●       Citigroup, Wells Fargo to resume job cuts after ending a pledge to pause staff reductions ●       JP Morgan sees drop in productivity from people working at home ●       The Federal

  ●       The International Energy Agency on Tuesday cut its forecast for 2020 oil demand growth, citing what it calls a “treacherous” path ahead due to weakening market sentiment and an upsurge in the number of coronavirus cases reported across the globe ●       Morgan Stanley updates outlook to say fiscal stimulus no longer expected before the election ●       Expect the Fed’s forward guidance on interest rates to remain unchanged and for the Committee to reframe their asset purchases as being focused on providing accommodation, not aiding market functioning. ●       Import prices rose 0.9% MoM (well above the 0.5% expected) and Export prices rose 0.5% MoM (also better than the +0.4% expected). But despite both the beats, import and export prices remain underwater on a YoY basis. ●       Citigroup, Wells Fargo to resume job cuts after ending a pledge to pause staff reductions ●       JP Morgan sees drop in productivity from people working at home ●       The Federal

  ●       The number of Covid cases was growing by a weekly average of at least 5% in 11 U.S. states as of Sunday ○       Despite that, weekly average is down to 35,000 ○       Trump defies health officials, holds indoor rally in Nevada ●       The Federal Reserve begins its two-day September meeting on Tuesday. The Fed releases its policy statement on Wednesday afternoon followed by a news conference from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. ●       Industrial Production Index, Poverty Rate, Uninsured Rate out Tuesday ●       Pfizer on Saturday submitted a proposal to the FDA to expand its late-stage trial to include up to 44,000 participants, a third more than its previous target. ○       Could distribute to Americans by end of year, says CEO ●       Trump releases order aimed at lowering drug prices ○       calls for Medicare to test paying the same price for certain expensive prescription drugs that other developed countries do, a most-favored-nation pr

 The FANG+ index of big 10 tech companies has lost 5.4% so far this week, its biggest weekly loss since March ● CPI comes in at an 0.4% increase for August, vs. 0.3% expected ● Core CPI also comes in at 0.4%, driven by used car prices ○ Brings annual inflation to 1.4% vs. 1.3% in July ● The seven-day average of daily new cases has fallen to 35,219, down more than 12% compared with a week ago. ● Senate Republicans failed to advance their latest coronavirus stimulus bill. ● UK strikes historic trade deal with Japan, would allow 99% of British exports to cross the border tariff-free ● London’s Heathrow Airport said passenger numbers fell 81.5% in August compared with last year ● Israel is preparing to enter a second nationwide lockdown in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus ● China and Russia to kick off joint military exercises ● Chinese fighter jets swarm over Taiwan, tensions simmer

 The Labor Department reported 884,000 first-time filings for unemployment insurance, compared to the 850,000 expected ● Continuing claims from those filing for at least two weeks rose from the previous week, hitting 13.385 million, an increase of 93,000 from a week ago ● kept both its rates and the size (€1.35T) and duration of its PEPP program unchanged, both as expected. ● Electric Vehicle sales outperform automobile sales in Europe and China ● Democrat Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump in six 2020 swing states           ○ Holds 3+% advantage in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin ● Mitch McConnell and Senate GOP introduce new COVID-19 ‘skinny’ bill           ○ Includes a $300 federal boost for unemployment benefits           ○ Fresh relief for small businesses           ○ Cuts out money for a second round of stimulus checks that were included in an earlier GOP                              proposal           ○ Also doesn't offer new fundin