Retail stocks have gone on sale after Kohl’s (KSS) and Home Depot (HD) earnings and guidance disappointed this morning. This sector (XRT), as well as Consumer Discretionary (XLY), are hurting the S&P 500.  The Dow is also lower.  Energy is getting hit today, as oil prices take another leg lower, with WTI down to 3.15% to $55.26.  The Nasdaq is higher.  Facebook is up 1.5%, as there is renewed buying in the stock.  The rest of the FAANG group is down slightly or flat.  Health Care, Financials and Technology are higher on the day.

A Bloomberg report suggesting that the baseline for current trade talks is the deal which was close to being reached in May helped stocks earlier. However, the most current news suggest that President Trump is threatening higher tariffs if China does not make a deal.  In a cabinet meeting, Trump stated “If we don’t make a deal with China, I’ll just raise the tariffs even higher.” So it’s just another day in the trade war reporting, and the markets in large part are yawning at the news.

The U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury is down slightly to 1.78%, while the 2 year is flat at 1.59%.  The greenback is also flat.