Wall Street Breakfast: Wal-Mart Set To Announce Jet.com Deal

Economy

Donald Trump will deliver his first major speech on economic policy today, speaking at the Detroit Economic Club about his tax plan and proposed policy changes related to the financial, energy and healthcare industries. Hillary Clinton is also due to focus on economic policy in a speech this coming Thursday in Detroit. The talks come amid mixed signals for the U.S. economy. July job creation of 255K positions crushed expectations, but a disappointing Q2 GDP reading showed growth at only a 1.2% annual rate.

There is an increasing risk that the U.S. economy has become trapped in a prolonged period of subdued growth that requires lower official rates than were previously expected, according to Fed Governor Jerome Powell. “With inflation below target, I think we can be patient,” he told the FT, arguing for a “very gradual” path for any rises as the U.S. outlook is still dogged by global risks.

Terrorist attacks are taking their toll on France’s tourism industry, with Paris bearing the brunt of a drop in visits by holidaymakers from outside Europe. Overnight stays fell about 10% on average this year through July, and the country’s tourist sector alone has lost an estimated €270M since late 2015. In the last few weeks, the U.S. State Department has also issued additional travel warnings for voyagers to Europe and Turkey.

Thailand has accepted a military-backed constitution at a referendum, which is the first ballot since the junta seized power in a coup two years ago. It’s the nation’s 20th constitution in 83 years. Investors are likely to look at the outcome favorably, as the mandate will buy Thailand some time for the government to come up with an actual economic plan for the country.

More than a million people gathered in Istanbul on Sunday in a “Democracy and Martyrs’ Rally” staged by President Tayyip Erdogan aimed at showing strength and unity after last month’s failed military coup. Speaking at the rally, Erdogan said he will continue fighting powers trying to destabilize the government and would approve the restoration of the death penalty if parliament voted for it, a move which would sink any hopes of EU membership.

Age and ill health could make it difficult for Japanese Emperor Akihito to carry out his official duties, potentially paving the way for his abdication and the most significant change to the imperial system in the postwar era. In a pre-recorded video message, the Emperor expressed concern that “society comes to a standstill and people lives are impacted in various ways,” as his condition becomes serious.

China’s exports and imports fell more than expected in July, making a rocky start for the third quarter and suggesting global demand remains weak in the aftermath of Britain’s decision to leave the EU. Exports fell 4.4% on-year, while imports fell 12.5% in U.S. dollar terms, resulting in a trade surplus of $52.31B. The trade figures will again steer attention to China’s economy, which slowed to a 25-year low in 2015.

Oil prices are getting a lift from fresh efforts to restrain crude output. “OPEC members including Venezuela, Ecuador and Kuwait are said to be behind this latest reincarnation. But just like previous endeavors, it seems doomed to fail, given key OPEC members (think: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran) persist in their battle for market share, ramping up exports apace,” said ClipperData’s Matt Smith. Russia’s also ready to join the talks, according to Energy Minister Alexander Novak, who sees no prerequisites to freeze oil output.

Stocks

“Pokemon Go” has raked in $200M in net revenue globally on the App Store and Google Play in its first month, beating other top-earning games like “Candy Crush” and “Clash Royale.” Despite the record cash, it’s still unclear how much of the money stakeholder Nintendo (OTCPK:NTDOY) will see (last month the firm said it would have “limited” impacts on its earnings). “Pokemon Go” went live in 15 more countries across Asia on Friday, but India and China are still on the waitlist.

Japan’s antitrust regulator has raided the office of Amazon Japan (NASDAQ:AMZN) on suspicion of pressuring retailers to offer products with more favorable conditions than rival sites, sources told the Nikkei, but didn’t say when the raid took place. A Fair Trade Commission spokesman said he couldn’t confirm the report but added: “I won’t say the contents are incorrect.”

The Rio 2016 Olympics are shaping up to be key event in the sponsorship calendar with brands battling it out for a slice of the sporting pie. Among the partners, sponsors and supporters: KO, DOW, GE, MCD, PG, V, CSCO. The U.S. has taken an early lead in the medal tallies boosted by strong results from swimmers Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky.

Creating the world’s “largest mattress distribution network,” Steinhoff International Holdings (OTCPK:SNHFY) has agreed to buy Sleepy’s owner Mattress Firm (NASDAQ:MFRM) for $3.8B, including debt. The $64 per share in cash offer represents a 115% premium to Mattress Firm’s closing price of $29.74 on Friday and has been unanimously approved by the boards of both companies. MFRM +111% premarket.

Aeropostale has been negotiating a potential sale to private equity firm Versa Capital Management that would save thousands of jobs at the company and see it take over 500 of the teen retailer chain’s leases. Versa’s offer would be a potential stalking horse bid in a bankruptcy auction for Aeropostale (NYSE:ARO) scheduled for later this month, setting the minimum price for other potential buyers. Additional bids are due Aug. 18.

Britain’s Serious Fraud Office has launched a formal investigation into suspected fraud, bribery and corruption in connection with commercial plane sales by Airbus (OTCPK:EADSY), escalating a probe that had been simmering for months. The move comes after U.K. Export Finance suspended the issue of export credits to the French planemaker, citing discrepancies in declarations on the use of third-party intermediaries during sales negotiations.

Thousands of Delta passengers around the world are experiencing delays due to a system-wide computer failure. “Our systems are down everywhere,” the airline told customers on Twitter. Passengers also reported delays at airports including London Heathrow, Tokyo and Los Angeles. DAL -1.8% premarket.

Widening the group of those affected by last week’s hack, Bitfinex said customers will lose just over 36% of the assets they had on its platform but would be compensated for the losses with tokens of credit. Hackers took 119,756 Bitcoins (COIN, OTCQB:BTCS) from the Hong Kong-based exchange Tuesday night, stealing $72M in the second-biggest breach of a crypto-currency exchange ever. The hack accounted for about 0.75% of all Bitcoins in circulation.

Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse will be dropped from the Stoxx 50 index (NYSEARCA:FEU) of European blue-chips starting today due to the so-called “fast-exit” rule. The law states that a component will be deleted if it ranks 75 or below on the respective index’s monthly selection lists for a consecutive period of two months. DB +2.9%; CS +0.4% premarket.

In a wide-ranging seven-year pact with Warner Bros. (NYSE:TWX) that takes effect in 2018, NBCUniversal (NASDAQ:CMCSA) will obtain commercial television rights to the eight Harry Potter movies and the coming Fantastic Beasts franchise. The media company will also be able to use the source material at several of its Universal theme parks. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but people familiar with the agreement said it could be valued as high as $250M, one of the largest for a movie franchise.

The German state of Lower Saxony, Volkswagen’s (OTCPK:VLKAY) second-largest shareholder, has no plans to sue the carmaker for damages caused by its emissions-test cheating scandal, Welt am Sonntag reports. Last week, the state of Bavaria said it would sue VW, the first regional government in Germany to take legal action against the company. U.S. authorities have also discovered three unapproved software programs in 3.0 liter diesel engines made by Audi (OTCPK:AUDVF), extending the Volkswagen emissions crisis.

After nearly a decade with the company, the chief technical officer of Google’s (GOOG, GOOGL) self-driving car project, Chris Urmson, is leaving along with two other veterans of the vehicle division. The engineer reportedly didn’t didn’t mesh well with John Krafcik, who was hired from Hyundai America last year to be chief of the car project. Earlier this year, another group of Google employees left the unit to begin making self-driving trucks at a newly formed startup called Otto.