Stocks opened lower and saw their lows a few minutes later. The averages spent the day hugging the flatline and closed little changed ahead of the next round of earnings reports. Oil prices were hit following the weekly Department of Energy inventory numbers, with Nymex crude oil settling down 3.2% at $66.94 a barrel. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In trade news, both the U.S. and China imposed a fresh round of $16B in 25% tariffs on each others’ goods. In other news related to China, the country’s exports were reported to rise 12.2% in July, while imports surged 27.3%, both of which topped analysts’ expectations. In energy, crude oil prices fell after EIA inventory data showed a 1.35M barrel fall in crude supplies versus the consensus call for a 2.16M barrel drawdown. COMPANY NEWS: Following yesterday’s news that Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk would like to see his company go private, analysts have debated whether his desire is realistic and what exactly he meant by “Funding secured” in his initial tweet on the matter. Meanwhile, members of Tesla’s board said they have “met several times over the last week” and are “taking the appropriate next steps to evaluate” Musk’s desire to take the company private. Bloomberg reported that Musk and SoftBank’s (SFTBF) Masayoshi Son held talks last year about the Japanese company investing in Tesla, though those talks stalled over disagreements about control of the company. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal revealed late in the day that the SEC has made inquiries to Tesla over Musk’s “taking private” tweet and is examining if his statements were truthful… Disney (DIS) reported third quarter earnings and revenue that missed expectations, but CEO Bob Iger said he was “pleased with our results in the quarter…and excited about the opportunities ahead for continued growth”… Shares of Snap (SNAP) fell 7% after the instant messaging service posted better than expected second quarter revenues but reported its first quarter-over-quarter decline in active users following Snapchat’s controversial resign… Mylan (MYL) reported Q2 results that were below consensus and lowered its 2018 guidance. The company also announced that its board has formed a strategic review committee and is actively evaluating “a wide range of alternatives” to unlock the true value of its “one-of-a-kind platform.” MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers were 3D Systems (DDD) and Endo (ENDP), which gained a respective 32% and 28% after reporting quarterly results. Among the notable losers was Axon (AAXN), which dropped 11.5% after Craig-Hallum analyst Steve Dyer downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy. Also lower were Extreme Networks (EXTR) and Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE), which fell 32% and 10.5%, respectively, after reporting quarterly results. INDEXES: The Dow fell 45.16, or 0.18%, to 25,583.75, the Nasdaq gained 4.66, or 0.06%, to 7,888.33, and the S&P 500 slid 0.75, or 0.03%, to 2,857.70.
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