The phase one US/China trade agreement was signed yesterday committing China to purchase $200B of US goods over 2 years including agriculture and energy in exchange for the US to rollback some tariffs on goods from China. The trade agreement also stipulates that China “enhance” protections for US intellectual property.
As a point of reference, Apple’s (AAPL) annual sales was $265B in 2018 and $260B in 2019. So, while the phase one trade agreement is a win for balancing trade between the US and China, it’s not an economic altering “huge” deal.
Apple purchased a Seattle startup Xnor.ai who develops artificial intelligence tools for image recognition. Look for Apple to be increasing their functionality on their iPhones and Webcams using AI in the future.
A major supplier to Apple, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) beat expectations, a healthy sign for smartphone demand.
XPO Logistics (XPO) is up over 17% premarket after announcing they would spin off their North American less-than-truckload business unit.
Earnings include MS, SCHW, BK, CSX, PRGS, and PPG.
The economic calendar includes Retail Sales and Philly Fed, Import Prices and Claims @ 8:30am ET, Business Inventories and NAHB @ 10:00am ET. Central Bank speakers include the Fed’s Bowman @ 10:00am ET and the ECB’s new president Lagarde @ 1:00pm ET.
Volatility is slowing as the ES continues to grind higher.
Size bias is long into the 8:30am numbers on relatively light Globex volume.
