Kristal Weekly Feed I 29th July 2019

All you need to know, in under 1 minute.

Here’s a concise report on what made headlines in the global market last week.

Positives

• U.S. markets close at at an all time high with S&P climbing 1.7% for the week
• Alphabet shares rise 10% after earnings beat expectations

Negatives

• China industrial profits fall in June increasing fears of slowdown
• FTC hits Facebook with a $5 billion fine, the largest ever imposed

Now, for more detail.

Positives 

1. U.S. markets close at at an all time high with S&P climbing 1.7% for the week

What You Should Know

The S&P 500 gained 0.7% to close at 3,025.86 on Friday, posting a record high yet again. The NASDAQ Composite also hit an all-time high, rising 1.1% to 8,330.21. For the week, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ climbed 1.7% and 2.3%, respectively. More than 40% of S&P 500 companies have reported quarterly earnings for the second quarter. Out of those companies, 76.4% have posted a stronger than forecasted profit.

What You Should Lookout For 

The U.S. economy expanded by 2.1% in the second quarter, compared to expectations of 1.8%. The consumer and government spending contributed to the gain in GDP as trade, inventories and investment reversed the Q1 gains. The data release comes as investors await a potential rate cut of 25 basis points from the Federal Reserve next week.

Suggested Reading:

S&P 500, Nasdaq notch another record close after strong earnings from Alphabet, Starbucks

2. Alphabet shares rise 10% after earnings beat expectations

What You Should Know

Alphabet shares rose 10% to close at $1250 after it reported revenues of $38.94 billion compared to expectation of. $38.15 billion and earnings per share of $14.21 per share compared to expectation of $11.30 per share. Google reported advertising revenue of $32.6 billion for Q2r, compared to $28.09 billion during the same period last year and this was the third largest driver of overall Alphabet revenue growth.

What You Should Lookout For 

Last quarter, shares of Alphabet tumbled when Google reported decelerating revenue growth, which it had blamed largely on YouTube. This time youtube was the second largest contributor to the revenue growth. Alphabet’s board of directors also approved a massive $25 billion share buyback program.

Suggested Reading:

Alphabet rises after earnings beat, announces $25 billion share repurchase

Negatives 

1. China industrial profits fall in June increasing fears of slowdown

What You Should Know

Industrial profits fell 3.1% in June from a year earlier to 601.9 billion yuan ($87.5 billion), following a 1.1% gain in May. In the first six months, industrial profits were 2.98 trillion yuan, down 2.4% from a year earlier, compared to a 2.3% drop in January-May. The drop in first-half profits was driven by declining profits in the auto, oil processing and steel industry. The declining profits are fuelling concern that a slowdown in manufacturing from an ongoing trade war will drag on economic growth and increase risks of a global slowdown.

What You Should Lookout For 

U.S. and Chinese negotiators will meet on Tuesday for the first time since their presidents, Trump and Xi Jinping, agreed to revive talks in a bid to end the year-long trade war. June was the first full month of higher U.S. tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods, that US imposed after trade talks broke down.

Suggested Reading:

China’s industrial profits fall in June, add to fears of slowdown

2. FTC hits Facebook with a $5 billion fine, the largest ever imposed

What You Should Know

The FTC finished its year long investigation into Cambridge Analytica and other privacy breaches. FTC alleged that Facebook violated the law by failing to protect data from third parties, and lying to users that its facial recognition software was turned off by default. In order to settle these Facebook will pay $5 billion, the largest fine levied by the FTC on a tech company.

What You Should Lookout For 

Apart from the multibillion-dollar fine, Facebook will be required to conduct a privacy review of every product or service it develops, and reviews must be submitted to the CEO and a third-party assessor every quarter. Facebook also reached a $100 million settlement with the SEC for “making misleading disclosures regarding the risk of misuse of Facebook user data.”

Suggested Reading:

FTC hits Facebook with record $5 billion fine for user privacy violations