The day ahead will see internet company executives attend a Senate hearing on liability law, earnings from Etsy and a rate decision in Canada.
MARKETS
Losses are accelerating across European markets on Wednesday morning. After months of delusion about the avoidance of new national lockdowns, reality is setting in.
This morning Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) has swung back to profit - like BP (LON:BP) did yesterday - but it doesn't seem to matter. Companies beating earnings estimates means nothing if we are on course for a another recession because governments are closing down economies again. On Tuesday, investors retreated into the safety of government bonds and gold – as well as Bitcoin. US treasury yields were down for a third day after touching 4-month highs.
Stocks in Europe are being hardest hit which is consistent with the pace of rising cases and new lockdown measures being implemented. France's benchmark CAC index is among the biggest fallers with French President Macron to address the nation on Wednesday on new COVID restrictions. It follows the country reporting a record 52,000 new cases in one day.
The price of Bitcoin continues to defy all odds, breaking its pattern this year of trading alongside risk on/off lines like the stock market. The idea of mainstream adoption has caught hold thanks to the moves made by PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) and Square (NYSE:SQ).
DAY AHEAD
Tech hearings
Internet company executives will attend a hearing on section 230, a law that limits liability for the content they host. The CEOs of Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) and YouTube-owner Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) will fight to keep the law unchanged despite rising political pressure to scrap it. Twitter and Facebook caught the ire of Republicans when the platforms blocked a story about Hunter Biden, Joe Biden's son – calling it election meddling. The hearing will likely not amount to anything but section 230 is critical for the way big tech operates its platforms.
Etsy earnings
It is the first quarterly report from Etsy as part of the S&P 500 index after it was included at the expense of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in the last index reshuffle. The company said it sold $356 million in masks in Q2 and we would expect many of those customers to become regulars and contribute to future sales. Analysts are looking for Etsy to earn 57 cents a share on revenue of $412.7 million. That compares with 75 cents in the previous quarter and EPS of 12 cents in the year-ago period.
Other earnings
Visa (NYSE:V), MasterCard (NYSE:MA), Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN), eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY). Ford, Pinterest (NYSE:PINS).