10 things you need to know before the opening bell
Here's what you need to know before markets open.
1. The US economy doesn't need more fiscal stimulus for a V-shaped recovery, veteran strategist Ed Yardeni says. Republicans and Democrats have been at loggerheads in the US for weeks over the size of the next stimulus plan, but one strategist thinks the US economy is on course for a V-shaped recovery regardless of whether there is another government program
2. The US and China could be headed for a 'new cold war' lasting a generation that forces countries to pick sides, one analyst says. A split in ideology between the US and China could lead to a "new cold war" in the coming decades, Darren Tay of Fitch Solutions said at a virtual seminar, CNBC reported.
3. Tokyo Stock Exchange froze trading for an entire day in its worst outage ever due to a hardware error. The Tokyo Stock Exchange completely halted trading for the first time in its history after a hardware error caused a system collapse.
4. Trump accused Warren Buffett of taking 'massive' tax deductions in 2016. The future president paid just $750 in federal income tax that year. Warren Buffett may be feeling vindicated by the New York Times report this week that President Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes in both 2016 and 2017, and no income taxes in 10 of the preceding 15 years.
5. A fund manager who's beaten 99% of her peers over the past 5 years told us why she remains bullish on growth stocks despite the recent sell-off — and listed her 3 favorite stocks for continued gains in the decade to come. It was a banner first half of the year for Brooke de Boutray. The Zevenbergen Genea Fund (ZVGIX) she comanages with four colleagues was the seventh-best-performing US stock fund in the first half of 2020, according to The Wall Street Journal, during a time of high uncertainty and massive market shifts.
6. BANK OF AMERICA: Buy these 29 high-quality value stocks primed to cash in on the economic recovery. There's no denying that value-centered investment approaches have seen better days. Depending on how you carve it up, for about a decade now, investment strategies focused on stocks that are cheap relative to their companies' fundamentals have underperformed growth-oriented strategies by a considerable margin.
7. Michael Smith returned 39% to investors last year and is outpacing most of his rivals again in 2020. He breaks down how his fund differentiates itself from the competition and shares 4 of his top stock picks today. Michael Smith wants investors to understand the value of time. "In investing, you want to make sure that time is your friend," said Smith, a portfolio manager of the $2.6 billion Wells Fargo Discovery Fund, which returned 39.18% last year, according to Morningstar.
8. Global stocks rise after robust US economic data and a hint of a deal over stimulus. Global stock indices rose on Thursday, taking their lead from a rally on Wall Street, when shares were encouraged by a pickup in employment and housing, and signs of progress on a deal over government stimulus, which in turn dented the dollar, but lifted commodities.
9. Earnings coming in. Kewpie Corp and PepsiCo Q3 2020 earnings are coming in.
10. On the economic front. US Continuing Jobless Claims and Initial Jobless Claims are due.