10 things you need to know before the opening bell
Here's what you need to know before markets open.
1. New Zealand's stock exchange was shut down on 2 straight days after a cyberattack likely launched by a 'mafia type' group. Trading activity in New Zealand's stock exchange was halted on both Tuesday and Wednesday after being targeted by hackers.
2. Apple and Tesla's upcoming stock splits could push them 33% higher in the next 12 months, an analyst who looked at 60 years of data says. Retail trading firm eToro analyzed 60 years of stock splits by major US firms, and found that on average, the companies' stocks climbed a third in the following year.
3. US investing champion David Ryan famously garnered a compounded return of 1,379% in just 3 years. Here is the 11-part criteria he uses to find the next big winner. "To me it is like a giant treasure hunt. Somewhere in here [he pats the weekly chart book] there is going to be a big winner, and I am trying to find it."
4. BlackRock unpacks the 4 biggest changes it has made to portfolios since the crisis began 6 months ago — and shares how it's positioning to thrive in a post-COVID world. It hasn't been a particularly easy year so far for portfolio managers.
5. GOLDMAN SACHS: The stocks most loved by hedge funds have smashed the market this year. Here are 15 that those investors flooded into last quarter. Hedge funds love mega-cap tech, and their FANMAG fandom isn't going anywhere. But some new ideas are on the rise for the world's biggest investors.
6. Elon Musk says his AI brain chip company Neuralink will run a live tech demo of a 'working device' on Friday. Musk didn't provide any further details about what the demo will include and what the device is.
7. China to import $300 billion of chips for third straight year: industry group. China is likely to import at least $300 billion worth of semiconductors for the third year running, an industry association official said, in a sign of continuing reliance on foreign know-how despite efforts to gain local capability.
8. Stocks are mixed. European stocks are mostly up, Asian stocks are mostly down. US futures are pointing to a mixed open with the Dow 30 pointing to a 0.2% fall and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq pointing to a slightly higher open.
9. Earnings coming in. National Bank of Canada Q3 2020 and STADA Q2 2020 earnings are coming in.
10. On the economic front. US EIA Crude Oil Stocks change and US Durable Goods orders are due.