The markets broke their losing streak today as stocks were mostly higher, though just slightly. The Dow 30 was higher by 76, the S&P 500 added 1, and the Nasdaq 100 gained 9. Though the markets were positive today it was not enough to recover from the losses seen in the first few days of the week. Tomorrow traders will focus in on manufacturing numbers which are due out in the morning.
Walmart (WMT ) started their process to more efficiently compete with Amazon (AMZN ) today. The company attempted to bury their announcement to cut "at least" 1,000 jobs in the news headlines today. Just weeks after dominating headlines for their bonus announcement the company is making good on it's promise to close 63 of its Sam's Club stores while using some of them as distribution centers. In the previous release the company said they would offer the employees opportunities in the new centers, but it appears that they will be looking for more qualified workers.
Fox (FOXA ) shares were lower by 3.5% today as the company seems to have paid up for the rights to Thursday night NFL games. The company is expected to pay more than the $450M NBC and CBS paid last season, according to reports despite the lower ratings seen this year. The company would not comment but media sources uncovered the $3 billion price tag for the next five seasons. NBC and CBS previously had the rights.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD ) shares popped 6.5% today. News from Wall street analysts came out that the company is "Executing on all fronts" and will likely begin to take more and more market share from Intel (INTC ). The company reported earnings that were better than expected, and reiterated positive guidance going forward. Shares of Intel were lower by 1.69% on the news.
In other news, Facebook announced it would ban ads promoting Bitcoin which helped keep Bitcoin futures under the 10,000 mark. Facebook continues to crack down on advertising and they type of content shown to their users. Facebook will report earnings after the bell.
Shares of Amazon (AMZN ) continued higher today following yesterday's announcement that it was partnering with other firms to "simplify healthcare." The company also announced that users of Amazon Echo can now send SMS text messages over voice, but only for android users initially.
