Big Things Happening This Week

• A streak of gains comes to an end. While the week started off on a bright note, the markets took a breather on Tuesday, ending their longest rally this year. All three major indexes closed in the red. CNBC’s Jim Cramer reviewed Tuesday’s pullback and said the market was due for some declines. “We’re getting back to reality, where good is good and bad is bad and never the twain shall meet,” he said. “In short, the market’s rational again.”
• Asian markets anticipated to fall. Futures pointed to drops of at least 0.5% in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney after the US benchmark moved lower to put a stop to an eight-day winning streak.
• Gold continues to rally. Gold peaked at an all-time high of $2,560 an ounce on Tuesday.
• Oil prices dropped. Brent crude futures fell 9 cents to $77.11 a barrel by 0001 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude lost 10 cents at $73.07 per barrel.
• Bleek job data. More Americans are looking for jobs and unemployment worries are at their highest level in a decade, according to a new survey released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday.
• Walmart to sell off JD.com. Big box retailer Walmart is seeking to raise up to $3.74 billion by selling its stake in Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
• Amazon-backed company hit with a lawsuit. Anthropic, an Amazon-backed company was hit with a class-action lawsuit over copyright infringement this week. 
• China's Shein sues Temu. Shein has sued Temu for copyright infringement as it fends off similar allegations from a host of brands and independent artists.
• All eyes are now on the Fed. The main focus this week is heading to Fed Chair Powell's speech at Jackson Hole on Friday. Investors will be listening for an answer on the monetary policy's future during a 10 a.m. ET speech. The odds of a 25-basis point cut in September are at 73.5%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. The odds of a 50-basis point cut are at 26.5%.

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"We think that the time is approaching and if we do get the data that we hope we get, then a reduction in our policy rate could be on the table at the September meeting."

 - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell during a July 31 press conference

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In the Spotlight

Optics Equipment Supplier Fabrinet Hits Record High

On Tuesday Fabrinet's share price skyrocket by nearly 16%, thanks to an earnings report that was better than expected. The company closed out its fiscal 2024 in style, delivering fourth-quarter results that easily topped the average analyst estimates. For the period ended June 28, it took in more than $753 million in revenue, a figure that was 15% higher year over year. Non-GAAP (adjusted) net income leaped even higher, rising by 29% to hit $88 million, or $2.41 per share.

A Bar of Gold is Now Worth $1 Million for the First Time

Gold has been on an epic rally in 2024, following the big gains the precious metal saw in 2023. With gold well over $2,500 an ounce and at a record high, a bar of gold (which typically weighs about 400 ounces) is now valued at over $1 million.The milestone was reached Friday, when the precious metal’s spot price surpassed $2,500 per troy ounce, an all-time high. With gold bars typically weighing about 400 ounces, that would make each one worth more than $1 million. In the first half of this year, central bank net purchases of gold stood at 483.3 tons, equivalent to almost 40,000 bars, according to a Bloomberg calculation using figures from consultancy Metals Focus.