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5 things to know before the stock market opens Tuesday May 18th

Here are the top news, trends, and analysis that investors need to get their trading day started:

1. Dow futures popping on Walmart, Home Depot strength

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Source: NYSE

The Dow should rise nearly 100 points on Tuesday, aided by gains at Walmart and Home Depot, two of the components in the 30-share average. As the pre-market rallied, weakness in technology stocks drove Wall Street down on Monday after higher-than-expected inflation levels last week caused equity markets to decline. In their worst weekly performances since February, the Dow and S&P 500 both fell more than 1% each last week, and the Nasdaq fell over 2%. A jump in the late week wasn’t enough to reverse the shellacking from earlier in the week.

2. Three major retailers outperformed earnings expectations for the first quarter

Shoppers wear masks while shopping at a Walmart store in Bradford, Pennsylvania on July 20, 2020.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Walmart’s earnings for the first quarter rose above estimates on Tuesday due to strong grocery sales and e-commerce growth. The retailer said more shoppers went to its stores and website to do stimulus checks and prepare to reconnect when Covid cases drop and vaccination rates go up. Earnings per share were $ 1.69. Revenue grew nearly 3% to $ 138.31 billion. Walmart raised its outlook for the year.

A customer wearing a protective mask loads wood onto a cart at a Home Depot store in Pleasanton, California on Monday, February 22, 2021.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Home Depot exceeded first quarter earnings and sales expectations on Tuesday morning as consumers were hit by the coronavirus pandemic for more than a year. Net sales rose nearly 33% to $ 37.5 billion than expected. Earnings per share were $ 3.86. Home Depot has not published an outlook for the 2021 financial year.

A man buys clothes in Macy’s department store in Herald Square in New York.

Trevor Collens | AFP | Getty Images

Macy’s shares rose around 6% in the premarket on Tuesday, shortly after the department store chain reported a surprising profit in the first quarter as stimulus checks and ongoing Covid vaccine rollouts gave consumers more money and more confidence in the Return to mall and freshen up their stores wardrobes. Better than expected, first quarter revenue rose 56% to $ 4.71 billion. Macy’s has also raised its financial outlook for the full year.

3. Amazon is reportedly in talks to buy MGM Studios for up to $ 9 billion

Daniel Craig plays James Bond in “No Time To Die”.

Source: MGM

Amazon wants to upgrade its video library and is in talks according to several media reports to buy the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios worth up to 9 billion US dollars. MGM’s film and TV treasury includes the franchises “James Bond” and “Rocky” as well as “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Fargo”. These conversations, first reported by The Information, emerged the day after AT&T agreed to merge the WarnerMedia film and television unit with Discovery.

4. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway builds new Aon stake and strengthens Kroger

Warren Buffett at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, California. May 1, 2021.

Gerard Miller | CNBC

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway made a number of changes to its stock portfolio last quarter, including adding a new bet on UK insurance company Aon and increasing its stake in grocery store owner Kroger. Berkshire also added its relatively new Verizon position and reduced its stake in Chevron, another new bet. Apple remained the largest single holding in Berkshire’s stock portfolio.

5. Michael Burry of ‘The Big Short’ reveals a bet against Tesla

Michael Burry attends the New York premiere of “The Big Short” on November 23, 2015 at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City.

Jim Spellman | WireImage | Getty Images

Famous investor Michael Burry announced a short position on Tesla worth more than half a billion dollars in a filing for approval on Monday. Burry, whose company is Scion Asset Management, became famous for betting against mortgage securities prior to the 2008 financial crisis. Burry was featured in Michael Lewis’ book “The Big Short” and the subsequent Oscar winner of the same name. Tesla stock had a tumultuous 2021, down 18% at close of trading on Monday, and down nearly 36% from its all-time high of $ 900 on Jan. 25.

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